and vowed, unless Col. Gardner would take him into the boat, he would perish: Colonel Gardner remained unmoved, until, seeing his son exhausted, and on the point of sinking, paternal feelings triumphed; he put forth his hand, and saved him. "Whatever a man does who is afflicted with love, he is to be excused for it[1]."
"Durd ishk-e kushīdu'um ki m ' purs
Zahir hijree chushīdu'um ki m ' purs"
"Hum ne dil sunum ko dya
Phir kissee ko kya?"
"I have felt the pain of love, ask not of whom:
I have felt the pangs of absence, ask not of whom:"
"I have given my heart to my beloved,
What is that to another?"
Mulka was divorced from Mirza Selīm, and legally married to her present husband. We dined with Mr. Gardner in the outer house; the dinner was of native dishes, which were most excellent. During the repast, two dishes were sent over from the Begam, in compliment to her guests, which I was particularly desired to taste, as the Timoorian ladies pride themselves on their cookery, and on particular occasions will superintend the making of the dishes themselves; these dishes were so very unlike, and so superior to any food I had ever tasted, that I never failed afterwards to partake of any dish when it was brought to me, with the mysterious whisper, "It came from within." It would be incorrect to say, "The Begam has sent it;" "It came from within," being perfectly understood by the initiated.
In the evening we returned to the zenāna, and were ushered into a long and large apartment, supported down the centre by eight double pillars of handsome native architecture. The floor of the room was covered with white cloth; several lamps of brass (chirāgh-dāns) were placed upon the ground, each stand holding, perhaps, one hundred small lamps. In the centre of the room a carpet was spread, and upon that the gaddī and
- ↑ Oriental Proverbs, No. 71.
