Edgar Alfred Bowring

“ Poor Faristan
Skips here and there, does all he can,
Upon the back he thumps her,
He shakes her, bumps her, jumps her,
He tries to push it down, he upwards tries to pull it,—
In vain! She’s choked by that small bone inside her little gullet! ”

“ The lady came—good Faristan
Was so much dazzled by the splendour
Of her gold clothes and jewels, that, poor man,
He knew her scarce, and felt like some pretender.
But Fatima in half a second
Knew him too well, stepp’d back, turn’d deadly white,
Then fiery red; but soon she reckon’d
With woman’s wit the way to win the fight. ”

“ Your Highness had the goodness to extract me,
Half-naked, thanks to his impertinence!”
On hearing his dear wife thus speak,
Poor Faristan turns pale as death,
Stares wildly round, feels faint and weak,
His senses swim, he gasps for breath. ”