Vulgar words in Tales of Three Hemispheres (Page 1)
This book at a glance
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~ ~ ~ Sentence 3 ~ ~ ~
TALES OF THREE HEMISPHERES Lord Dunsany CONTENTS The Last Dream Of Bwona Khubla How the Office of Postman Fell Vacant In Otford-under-the-Wold The Prayer Of Boob Aheera East And West A Pretty Quarrel How The Gods Avenged Meoul Ki Ning The Gift Of The Gods The Sack Of Emeralds The Old Brown Coat An Archive Of The Older Mysteries A City Of Wonder Beyond the Fields We Know Publisher's Note First Tale: Idle Days on the Yann Second Tale: A Shop In Go-By Street Third Tale: The Avenger Of Perdóndaris [Note that the tale "Idle Days on the Yann" also appears in the collection "A Dreamer's Tales".]
~ ~ ~ Sentence 89 ~ ~ ~
THE PRAYER OF BOOB AHEERA In the harbour, between the liner and the palms, as the huge ship's passengers came up from dinner, at moonrise, each in his canoe, Ali Kareeb Ahash and Boob Aheera passed within knife thrust.
~ ~ ~ Sentence 90 ~ ~ ~
So urgent was the purpose of Ali Kareeb Ahash that he did not lean over as his enemy slid by, did not tarry then to settle that long account; but that Boob Aheera made no attempt to reach him was a source of wonder to Ali.
~ ~ ~ Sentence 91 ~ ~ ~
He pondered it till the liner's electric lights shone far away behind him with one blaze and the canoe was near to his destination, and pondered it in vain, for all that the eastern subtlety of his mind was able to tell him clearly was that it was not like Boob Aheera to pass him like that.
~ ~ ~ Sentence 92 ~ ~ ~
That Boob Aheera could have dared to lay such a cause as his before the Diamond Idol Ali had not conceived, yet as he drew near to the golden shrine in the palms, that none that come by the great ships ever found, he began to see more clearly in his mind that this was where Boob had gone on that hot night.
~ ~ ~ Sentence 94 ~ ~ ~
Boob Aheera had been before him.
~ ~ ~ Sentence 95 ~ ~ ~
Ali did not blame himself for being late, the thing had been planned before the beginning of time, by gods that knew their business; only his hate of Boob Aheera increased, his enemy against whom he had come to pray.
~ ~ ~ Sentence 96 ~ ~ ~
And the more his hate increased the more clearly he saw him, until nothing else could be seen by the eye of his mind but the dark lean figure, the little lean legs, the grey beard and neat loin-cloth of Boob Aheera, his enemy.
~ ~ ~ Sentence 109 ~ ~ ~
No one had been that night but Boob Aheera.
~ ~ ~ Sentence 110 ~ ~ ~
The fury of Ali rose and surged to his heart, he clutched his knife till the hilt of it bruised his hand, yet he did not utter the prayer that he had made ready about Boob Aheera's liver, for he saw that Boob Aheera's prayers were acceptable to the idol and knew that divine protection was over his enemy.
~ ~ ~ Sentence 111 ~ ~ ~
What Boob Aheera's prayer was he did not know, but he went back to the beach as fast as one can go through cacti and creepers that climb to the tops of the palms; and as fast as his canoe could carry him he went down the winding harbour, till the liner shone beside him as he passed, and he heard the sound of its band rise up and die, and he landed and came that night into Boob Aheera's hut.
~ ~ ~ Sentence 112 ~ ~ ~
And there he offered himself as his enemy's slave, and Boob Aheera's slave he is to this day, and his master has protection from the idol.
~ ~ ~ Sentence 113 ~ ~ ~
And Ali rows to the liners and goes on board to sell rubies made of glass, and thin suits for the tropics and ivory napkin rings, and Manchester kimonos, and little lovely shells; and the passengers abuse him because of his prices; and yet they should not, for all the money cheated by Ali Kareeb Ahash goes to Boob Aheera, his master.