The Broadway Anthology | Page 9

whirled as only Dervish whirl.
Then as a climax the village boy essayed?To span the four trained camels?Who at Abdullah's soft-spoke word?Moved just enough apart to make the boy fall short.?And then our sinewed lad would make the leap,?The camels crowding close together?At another soft command.?Our lad making good his jump,?The populace would grant our greater skill;?A goatskin filled with wine,?And honey mixed with melted butter?Was offered us within the caravanserai.?Then we moved out beyond the town?And pitched our tents of camels' hair,?Rising before the sun to face the friendless desert wastes?Until we reached another habitation on the camel trail,?I (who played the dumb boy of the tribe?Lest my Christian tongue betray me)?Trudging behind with all the salary--?Chasing the desert after two new sheep,?Our net receipts for that Moroccan one-night stand.
Now twice each day within the Hippodrome?I, a buffoon in absurd clothes,?Strive to make the thousands laugh;?And when my act is done?There comes the tread of camels' feet,?Followed by Slayman Ali and his Arab troupe,?Who tumble, jump and build pyramids?Before a canvas Sphinx upon a painted desert....?When I saw Slayman last?He was a boy?Chasing the sheep with me?Beneath Morocco's moon.?Tell me, where dwells romance, anyway??In Manhattan, or Arabian, nights?
PRE-EMINENCE
I once knew a man?Who'd met Duse,?(Or so he said)?And talked with her;?As she came down a windy street?He turned a corner?Headlong into her.?"I am so sorry," Duse said,?"I was looking at the stars."
My envy of that man?Withstood the years?Until one day I met a Dane?Who'd talked with Henrik Ibsen:?This man, with head bowed to the wind,?Was walking up a Stockholm way?When 'round the corner came the seer,?And he plumped into him.?And that great mind?Whose thinking moved the world?Surveyed my friend?Through his big eyes?And slowly spoke:?"Since when have codfish come to land?"
With all the awe?One has for those who've known the great,?These two I've envied?Until the other day?When blundering 'round behind the scenes?I stepped upon Pavlowa's toe.
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Broadway Anthology by Edward L. Bernays, Samuel Hoffenstein, Walter J. Kingsley, Murdock Pemberton
? END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BROADWAY ANTHOLOGY ***
? This file should be named 15120-8.txt or 15120-8.zip ***** This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
? http://www.gutenberg.net/1/5/1/2/15120/
Produced by Ted Garvin, Melissa Er-Raqabi and the PG Online Distributed Proofreading Team at .
Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will be renamed.
Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is subject to the trademark license, especially commercial?redistribution.
? START: FULL LICENSE ***
THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE?PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at ).
Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works even without complying with the