He gave them his orders in Arabic, received the
answer that "to hear was to obey," when, taking the animal in
their arms, they removed him, without much resistance on his
part; for though his eyes turned to his master, he was too weak
to struggle.
"Fare thee well, Roswal, then," said Sir Kenneth--"fare thee
well, my last and only friend--thou art too noble a possession to
be retained by one such as I must in future call myself!--I
would," he said, as the slaves retired, "that, dying as he is, I
could exchange conditions with that noble animal!"
"It is written," answered the Arabian, although the exclamation
had not been addressed to him, "that all creatures are fashioned
for the service of man; and the master of the earth speaketh
folly when he would exchange, in his impatience, his hopes here
and to come for the servile condition of an inferior being."
"A dog who dies in discharging his duty," said the knight
sternly, "is better than a man who survives the desertion of it.
Leave me, Hakim; thou hast, on this side of miracle, the most
wonderful science which man ever possessed, but the wounds of the
spirit are beyond thy power.
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