After some years had passed, he said to himself, 'Needs must I
repair to the city of the owner of the dish, which the dog
bestowed on me, and carry him its price, together with a fit
and handsome present.' So he took the price of the dish and a
suitable present and setting out, journeyed night and day, till
he came to the city and entering, went straight to the place
where the man's house had been; but lo, he found there nothing
but mouldering ruins and dwelling-places laid waste, over which
the raven croaked; for the place was desert and the environs
changed out of knowledge. At this, his heart and soul were
troubled and he repeated the words of him who saith:
The privy chambers are void of all their hidden store, As
hearts of the fear of God and the virtues all of yore.
Changed is the vale and strange to me are its gazelles, And
those I knew of old its sandhills are no more.
And those of another:
The phantom of Saada came to me by night, near the break of
day, And roused me, whenas my comrades all in the desert
sleeping lay.
But, when I awoke to the dream of the night, that came to visit
me, I found the air void and the wonted place of our
rendezvous far away.
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