Night came, and stillness reigned; the full moon rose swaying across the blue vault; the creatures took to their dwellings and the birds to their nests; and the shepherds went back to their encampments to console themselves with the calm of slumber for the toils of the day — all but one shepherd, with the strength of giants, the beauty of the gods, and the vigor of youth, who stayed behind, leaving his sheep to graze as they pleased; the arrow of passion had struck him home, and he poured out the melting of his soul in the breathings of his enchanted old flute.

He communed with the beloved and she listened to him; he sang a melody and she answered it; he called her and she came to him, brimming over with freshness and beauty, proud in enchantment and coquetry; and she flung herself down on a carpet of "velvet" grass that smiled at the dew in the moonlight of spring. The handsome shepherd read the book of life in her eyes and sipped love from the red of her lips, and grew drunk on the fragrance of beauty and the wine of desire. Rapture lifted him, and he breathed into his flute a joyous air that summoned the daughter of the dawn to the dance; and she danced, while the leaves of the trees clapped for her, the nightingales sang to her, and the virgin stars beat the tambourine for her.

She took her fill of the beloved's kiss and leaned upon his strong forearm, and he carried her off, drunk with the sweetness of the night and the scent of the great Arabian oasis. They walked entwined, the light robing her, the desert breeze playing with her sleeves, while there beckoned to them a lamp glimmering in a little temple ringed with palm trees shedding fresh, ripe dates.

And here they are on the threshold of the temple, longing urging them on, awe holding her back, love moving them to cross the sacred threshold. They saw the door standing open; so they took courage and walked in entwined, the sash of purity enfolding them, love and hope bearing them aloft.

He knelt, and she knelt close beside him, her eyes fixed upon the lamp burning on the altar. They felt the light steal through their souls,