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My husband is away on service ,
And I know not when he will return .
Where is he now ?
The fowls roost in their holes in the walls ;
And in the evening of the day ,
The goats and cows come down [from the hill] ;
But my husband is away on service .
How can I but keep thinking of him ?

My husband is away on service ,
Not for days [merely] or for months .
When will he come back to me ?
The fowls roost on their perches ;
And in the evening of the day ,
The goats and cows come down down and home ;
But my husband is away on service .
Oh if he be but kept from hunger and thirst !