"Have patience," quoth my censurer, "and thou shalt win them
yet," And I, "O thou that blamest me, whence should I
patience get?"
All this time, Kemerezzeman abode with the gardener, weeping and
repeating verses night and day, bewailing the seasons of
enjoyment and the nights of delight, whilst the gardener
comforted him with the assurance that the ship would set sail for
the land of the Muslims at the end of the year. One day, he saw
the folk crowding together and wondered at this; but the gardener
came in to him and said, 'O my son, give over work for to-day
neither water the trees; for it is a festival day, on which the
folk visit one another. So rest and only keep thine eye on the
garden, whilst I go look after the ship for thee; for yet but a
little while and I send thee to the land of the Muslims.' So
saying, he went out, leaving Kemerezzeman alone in the garden,
who fell to musing upon his condition, till his courage gave way
and the tears streamed from his eyes. He wept till he swooned
away, and when he recovered, he rose and walked about the garden
pondering what fate had done with him and bewailing his long
estrangement from those he loved. As he went thus, absorbed in
melancholy thought, his foot stumbled and he fell on his face,
striking his forehead against the stump of a tree.
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