“Come, we must hurry, Saleem, and leave this place under cover of night. We must go down to the coast and board a ship that will take us to distant unknown lands. Let us go now, so that when dawn comes we will be safe from the hands of our enemies. Look, look at this golden jewelry, these expensive necklaces and rings, these precious gems. They will provide for our future. The price will be sufficient for us to live like princes! Why do you say nothing, Saleem? Why don’t you look at me? Why do you not kiss me? Do you not hear the cry of my heart and the screaming of my soul? Do you not believe that I have left my bridegroom, my father, my mother, and come in a wedding gown to flee with you? Say something, or let us hurry, for these moments are more precious than diamonds, more expensive than the crowns of kings.”

As the bride spoke, her voice was a song sweeter than the whisper of life, more bitter than the cry of death, softer than the rustle of wings, deeper than the thunder of the surf—a song that vibrated with the alternation of despair and hope, of pleasure and pain, of joy and misery, of all the yearnings and emotions that are in the heart of a woman.

As the youth listened, love and honor struggled within his soul—the love that would make the rough path smooth and turn darkness into light, and the honor that stands before the soul and diverts it from its desires and passions. That love is sent down by God upon the heart. That honor is poured by human conventions into the brain.

Silent, terrifying moments passed, moments like dark centuries in which nations rise and fall. The youth raised his head. The nobility of his soul had gained control over its desire. He turned his eyes away from the frightened waiting girl and slowly said, “Woman, go back to the arms of your husband. The matter is settled, and awaking has erased the pictures painted by dreams. Go back to your wedding feast before watchful eyes see you and people start to say, ‘She betrayed her husband on her wedding night just as she betrayed her lover while he was far away.’”