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Many joms passed, and there was only one thing that sustained me the hope of seeing Almah yet again, though it were but for a moment. That hope, however, was but faint. There was no escape. The gate was barred without and within. I was surrounded by miscreants, who formed the chief class in the state and the ruling order.
When I did go she was with me in thought and suffered all that I felt, until the moment when I was brought back and laid senseless at her feet. "Then," said Almah, "I felt the full meaning of all that lies before us." "What do you mean by that?" I asked, anxiously. "You speak as though there were something yet worse than what has already been; yet nothing can possibly be worse.
There was nothing now left but to retrace my steps and this I accordingly did. I went back to the shore, and returned on my steps, shouting all the time, until at length I was rejoiced to hear the answering shout of Almah. After this it was easy to reach her. We now took up the grapple and once more mounted.
I did not even know whether she was alive or not, but believed that she must be; for I thought that if she had died I should have heard of it, as the Kosekin would have rejoiced greatly over such an event. For every death is to them an occasion of joy, and the death of one so distinguished and so beloved as Almah would have given rise to nothing less than a national festival.
The Hebrew word "almah" used in the original Hebrew text of Isaiah, does not mean "virgin" as the term is usually employed, but rather "a young woman of marriageable age a maiden," the Hebrews having an entirely different word for the idea of "virginity," as the term is generally used.
Layelah was not at all offended at my declaration of love for Almah. She uttered these words in a lively tone, and then said that it was time for her to go. I retired to bed, but could not sleep. The offer of escape filled me with excited thoughts.
I fastened the grapple securely to the head of the dead monster, and leaving the athaleb to feed upon it, Almah and I went up the beach. On our way we found rocks covered with sea-weed, and here we sought after shell-fish. Our search was at length rewarded, for suddenly I stumbled upon a place where I found some lobsters. I grasped two of these, but the others escaped.
But Layelah was quite ready with her reply. "If you love Almah," said she, "that is the very reason why you should marry me." This made me feel more embarrassed than ever. I stammered something about my own feelings the manners and customs of my race and the fear that I had of acting against my own principles. "Besides," I added, "I'm afraid it would make you unhappy."
Life and light seemed to them as actual evils, and death and darkness the only things worthy of regard. Almah told me that they were going to bring the monster home, and had sent for opkuks to drag it along. The dead were also to be fetched back. There was no further necessity for us to remain, and so we returned at once. On the way, Almah said, "Do not use the sepet-ram again.
Yet where else could we go? Almah could not tell where under the sky lay that land which she loved; I could not guess where to go to find the land of the Orin. Even if I did know, I did not feel able to guide the course of the athaleb; and I felt sure that if we were to mount again, the mighty monster would wing his flight back to the very place from which we had escaped the amir.
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