"No," sighed the poet; "you do me wrong,
For sorrow is ever the nest of song."
The Shoes of Happiness.
Everywhere that he wandered in search he found some touch of unhappiness. He tried Youth and Age, but,
"The young were restless that youth should stay,
The old were sad that it went away."
The Shoes of Happiness.
He thought to find the shoes on the feet of the Lover, but heard the
Lover say:
"Yes, yes; but love is a tower of fears,
A joy half torment, a heaven half tears!"
The Shoes of Happiness.
He had heard of a wise old Sage, who had been to Mecca, and sought him only to hear, "I am not glad; I am only wise." At last he heard of a man from far Algiers. With hurried steps he sought in vain. At last one day he found a man lying in a field:
"'Ho,' cried Halil, 'I am seeking one
Whose days are all in a brightness run.'—
'Then I am he, for I have no lands,
Nor have any gold to crook my hands.
Favor, nor fortune, nor fame have I,
And I only ask for a road and a sky—
These, and a pipe of the willow-tree
To whisper the music out of me.'
"Out into the field the vizier ran.
'Allah-il-Allah! but you are the man;
Your shoes then, quick, for the great sultan—
Quick, and all fortunes are yours to choose!'
'Yes, mighty Vizier,… but I have no shoes!'"