"The Coming of the Ship" Summary

Almustafa, the chosen and beloved, waits twelve years in Orphalese for a ship to take him home. When he sees the ship from the hillside, he feels bittersweet about boarding, but he cannot remain. He envies the mariners, who enjoy peace and freedom. As people flock in from the fields to see him off, Almustafa wonders what he can give them now and muses about what he has been to them: harp, flame, seeker of silence and guardian of the night. He cannot speak his innermost secret. The elders beg him to remain and priests and priestesses proclaim their love. Tears keep Almustafa from speaking until Almitra, a seer, says that she understands his longing for his homeland but asks for posterity's sake that he tell the truth about what separates birth and...