Читать книгу Tales of Wonder Every Child Should Know - Various - Страница 3

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I wonder if in Samarcand

Grave camels kneel in golden sand,

Still lading bales of magic spells

And charms a lover's wisdom tells,

To fare across the desert main

And bring the Princess home again—

I wonder!

I wonder in Japan to-day

If grateful beasts find out the way

To those who succoured them in pain,

And bring their blessings back again;

If cranes and sparrows take the shape

And all the ways of mortals ape—

I wonder!

In Bagdad, may there still be found

That potent powder, finely ground,

Which changes all who on it feast,

Monarch or slave, to bird or beast?

Do Caliphs taste and unafraid,

Turn storks, and weeping night-owls aid?

I wonder!

I wonder if in far Cathay

The nightingale still trills her lay

Beside the Porcelain Palace door,

And courtiers praise her as before I

If emperors dream of bygone things

And musing, weep the while she sings—

I wonder!

Such things have never chanced to me.

I wonder if to eyes that see

These magic visions still appear

In daily living, now and here;

If every flower is touched with glory,

If e'en the grass-blades tell a story—

I wonder!

N. A. S.