` What have you done with her ? ' she asked anxiously . ` We had to leave her in the wood , ' they replied , ` for she had picked up an iron mortar , and could not manage to carry it . ' So the old woman set off at once for the forest , calling to her daughter as she hurried along . ` Do go home , ' cried the townspeople , as they heard her ; ` we will go and look for your daughter ; you are only a woman , and it is a task that needs strong men . ' But she answered , ` Yes , go ; but I will go with you ! Perhaps it will be only her corpse that we shall find after all . She has most likely been stung by asps , or eaten by wild beasts . ' The men , seeing her heart was bent on it , said no more , but told one of the girls she must come with them , and show them the place where they had left Dschemila . They found the bundle of wood lying where she had dropped it , but the maiden was nowhere to be seen . ` Dschemila ! Dschemila ! ' cried they ; but nobody answered . ` If we make a fire , perhaps she will see it , ' said one of the men . And they lit a fire , and then went , one this way , and one that , through the forest , to look for her , whispering to each other that if she had been killed by a lion they would be sure to find some trace of it ; or if she had fallen asleep , the sound of their voices would wake her ; or if a snake had bitten her , they would at least come on her corpse . All night they searched , and when morning broke and they knew no more than before what had become of the maiden , they grew weary , and said to the mother : ` It is no use . Let us go home , nothing has happened to your daughter , except that she has run away with a man . ' ` Yes , I will come , ' answered she , ` but I must first look in the river . Perhaps some one has thrown her in there . ' But the maiden was not in the river .
For four days the father and mother waited and watched for their child to come back ; then they gave up hope , and said XXXXX each other : ` What is to be done ?
If So after as at by on through to with