edges of the palmyra branches being rough and hard, the "riding of the palmyra stalk" or the palmyra "horse," as it is called, is a veritable penance. The young folks of the village mock at the love-lorn pilgrim and perhaps refer to the object of his passion by name even (Ch. 115). The outcry reaches the ears of the parents and other relations of the maiden in the village. They reproach her for entering into matrimony without their consent (1147), but there is no remedy now but to give their consent, and everything ends happily for the lovers. The idea of the "palmyra horse" may be compared with the following verses of the Twelfth Night, I. v:—
Make me a willow cabin at your gate,
And call upon my soul within the house
With loyal cantons of contemned love,
And sing them loud even in the dead of night,
Holla your name to the reverberate hills
And make the babbling gossip of the air
Cry out, Olivia !
