A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder James De Mille

144
This was a perilous and a tremendous moment. The fact is, I did like
Layelah very much indeed, and I wanted to tell her so; but my
ignorance of the language did not allow me to observe those nice
distinctions of meaning which exist between the words "like" and
"love." I knew no other word than the one Kosekin word meaning "love,"
and could not think of any meaning "like." It was, therefore, a very
trying position for me.
"Dear Layelah," said I, floundering and stammering in my confusion, "I
love you; I--"
But here I was interrupted without waiting for any further words; the
beautiful creature flung her arms around me and clung to me with a
fond embrace. As for me, I was utterly confounded, bewildered, and
desperate. I thought of my darling Almah, whom alone I loved. It
seemed at that moment as though I was not only false to her, but as if
I was even endangering her life. My only thought now was to clear up
my meaning.
"Dear Layelah," said I, as I sat with her arms around me, and with my
own around her slender waist, "I do not want to hurt your feelings."
"Oh, Atam-or! oh, my love! never, never did I know such bliss as
this."
Here again I was overwhelmed, but I still persisted in my effort.
"Dear Layelah," said I, "I love Almah most dearly and most tenderly."
"Oh, Atam-or, why speak of that? I know it well. And so by our Kosekin
law you give her up; among us, lovers never marry. So you take me,
your own Layelah, and you will have me for your bride; and my love for
you is ten thousand times stronger than that of the cold and
melancholy Almah. She may marry my papa."
This suggestion filled me with dismay.
"Oh no," said I. "Never, never will I give up Almah!"
"Certainly not," said Layelah; "you do not give her up--she gives you