and his benefit; and if he is headstrong and dies, that will be a punishment for him, and you will be rid of him forever."

But September did not quite share their view — yet what was to be done, when eight stern sisters opposed her, and all of them older than she? So she consoled herself with the hope that perhaps he would grow used to his cage by the morrow. But when the morrow came, and she cried out her morning greeting and received no answer, she leapt from her bed and ran toward the cage. Then she shrieked in terror.. for there.. on the floor of the golden cage, lying on his side, was the little bird, his eyes closed, as though he had departed this life and followed the fate of his predecessor!! She opened the door quickly and took him out, and let out a deep sigh of relief that spoke all the burning that had been in her breast, when she felt that the little heart was still beating with life.

She said to him, the tears dripping from her eyes onto his feathers:

"Get up, get up, my little bird."

He opened his eyes and felt that the bars of the cage had vanished from around him, and said to her:

"I cannot sing unless I am free.. and if I do not sing, I die!!"

Choking back a sob, she said:

"Here, then, is your freedom, my bird.. I wanted you to be mine alone, but I did not know that this would be the cause of your misery. Go. Soar far away among the trees and fly over the lake. I love you, and I will leave you your happiness as you desire it. Go and come as you will, and wherever it pleases you."

Then she opened the window and set him gently upon its ledge. He shook himself a little and said:

"I will come back, Princess, for

I love you, and I will sing you the loveliest of songs. I shall go far away, but I will never forget you."

And he shook his little body again and said:

"Good heavens, how cramped my wings have grown!!"

Then he spread them and flew far into the blue of the sky. Upon his departure the Princess burst out weeping — and no wonder: it is hard to put the happiness of the one you love before your own happiness. And with her bird out of sight, she felt a desolate loneliness.

And when her sisters learned of her affair they laughed at her and assured her that he would not return. But her small companion did not forget her: he came back to her and sat on her shoulders and picked up grain

from her hand, and sang her the beautiful melodies he had composed and shaped and set to music in his wanderings over God's wide lands.

And so Princess September used to leave the window of her room open night and day, so that the bird might come whenever longing stirred him to see her. The effect of this on her health and her growth was great, and when she grew up she was a bewitching beauty, and she married the King of Cambodia, and was carried the whole length of the road on a white elephant.

As for her sisters, they did not sleep in rooms with open windows, and for this reason they grew ugly of form; and when the time of their marriage came, they were given to the King's ministers, along with an uqiyya of tea and a Siamese cat!

The Palestine Question (Dar al-Kitab)

To the dear reader

Najib Sadaka

The Palestine Question

With prefaces by

Abd al-Rahman Azzam Pasha and General Ismail Safwat

Publishers

Dar al-Kitab

Beirut — Lebanon