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Born in Egypt:--

Levi Judah Kohath Pharez Hezron 1. Amram 1. Ram 2. Aaron 2. Amminadab 3. Eleazar 3. Nahshon 4. Phine?s 4. Salma

A conspicuous character in Numbers is Caleb. In the first chapter of Judges Caleb still appears, and Othniel, the son of his younger brother Kenaz is the first of the so-called Judges . This also disposes of the 400 years and confirms the view that the Exodus took place in the fourth generation born in Egypt. Other similar proofs may be omitted--these are amply sufficient.

But there is another series of objections to these two millions, which I have never seen stated or even hinted, to which I pray your attention.

The area of Palestine differs little from that of the three American States, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, the most densely peopled of the Union, containing by the last census a population of somewhat less than two and a half millions.

Accepting the statement that Moses led over 600,000 men "able to go to war" out of Egypt, and Joshua an equal number to the conquest of Canaan, the story of the Exodus, of that conquest and of the subsequent subjugations of various tribes by the neighbouring kings are all nonsense; the books of Joshua and Judges are incredible. The difficulty is fully met and overcome, if we suppose the number to have been exaggerated, as it would be by adding a cypher to the right of a line of Arabic numerals, by which 60,000 is made 600,000; the 76,500 warriors of Judah are reduced to 7,650, and so on.

With an army of 60,000 only, and an aggregate of half a million of people led out of Egypt, all the history becomes instantly rational and trustworthy.

There remains one more bubble to be exploded.

Look at these figures, in which a quadruple increase--at least 25 per centum too great--is granted.

But Jacob and his sons brought with them herdsmen, shepherds, servants, etc. Bunsen puts the number of all, masters and men, at less than 2,000.

Let the proportion in this case be one able-bodied man in four persons, and the increase triple.

Were these people, while Joseph is still alive, the subjects of slavery as described in Ex. i.? Did they build Pithom and Ramses, store-cities?

A. W. THAYER.

THE TALE OF THE WARLOCK AND THE YOUNG COOK OF BAGHDAD.

FINIS.

It is said that there abode in such a village a man which was a Shaykh of long standing, one gifted with fair rede and right understanding. Now he had on his farm a plenty of poultry, male and female, and these he was wont to breed and to eat of their eggs and their chickens. But amongst his cocks was a Chanticleer, well advanced of age and wily of wit, who had long fought with Fortune and who had become wise and ware in worldly matters and in the turns and shifts of Time. It fortuned one day that this Cock went forth to wander about the farm-lands pecking and picking up as he went such grains of wheat and barley and holcus and sesame and millet as chanced fall in his way; but, being careless of himself, he had left the village afar off without thinking of what he did, and ere he took counsel with himself he found him amiddlemost the wilderness. So he turned him rightwards and leftwards but espied nor friend nor familiar, whereat he stood perplext as to his affair and his breast was straitened and still he knew not what to do. Now while thus bewildered in his wits touching his next step, behold, his glance fell upon a Fox who was approaching him from afar, whereat he feared and trembled and was agitated with mighty great agitation. At once he turned him about and presently espied a high wall arising from the waste, whereto was no place of ascending for his foe; so he spread his wings and flew up and perched upon the coping where he took his station. Presently the Fox came forward to the foot of the wall, and, finding no means of climbing it and getting at the fowl, he raised his head and said, "The Peace be upon thee, ho thou the soothfast brother and suitable friend!" But as the Cock would not turn towards him nor return aught of reply to his salutation, the Fox resumed, "What is to do with thee, O dear my brother, that my greeting thou acknowledgest not and to my words inclinest thee not?" Still the Cock requited not his courtesy and declined to reply, whereat the Fox resumed, "Wottest thou not, O my brother, the glad tidings wherewith I came theewards, with what suitable intelligence and counsel veridical and information at once sincere and self-evident? and, didst know what it is hath come to mine ears, verily thou hadst embraced me and kissed me on the mouth." But the Cock feigned absence of mind and ignored him and answered him naught, but stood with rounded eyes and fixed upon the far when the Fox resumed, "O my brother, the King of the Beasts which be the Lion and the King of the Birds which be the Eagle have alighted from a journey upon the meads where grass is a-growing and by the marge where waters are a-flowing and blossoms are a-blowing and browsing gazelles are a-to-ing and a-fro-ing; and the twain have gathered together all manner of ferals, lions and hyenas, leopards and lynxes, wild cattle and antelopes and jackals and even hares, brief, all the wild beasts of the world; and they have also collected every kind of bird, eagle and vulture, crow and raven, wild pigeon and turtle-dove, poultry and fowls and Kat?s and quails and other small deer, and these two liege lords have bidden the herald proclaim, throughout the tracts of the upland wold and the wild lowland, safety and security and confraternity and peace with honour and sympathy and familiar friendship and affection and love amongst wild beasts and cattle and birds; also that enmity be done away with and wrongs be forbidden nor might one transgress against other; nay, if any chance to injure his fellow this offence might be for his scourging a reason, and for his death by tearing to pieces a justification. The order hath also come forth that all do feed and browse in one place whichever they please, never venturing to break the peace but dwelling in all amity and affection and intimacy one with other. Moreover they have commissioned me, very me, to overroam the wastes and gladden with good tidings the peoples of the wilds and proclaim that one and all without exception must assemble together, and also that whoso delayeth or refuseth obedience shall not escape punishment nor let each and every fail to make act of presence and to kiss hands. And of thee, O my brother, I especially require that thou descend from thy high stead in safety and security and satisfaction, and that henceforward thy heart be not startled nor thy limbs shake for fear." All this description was described by the Fox to the Cock who paid no heed to him as though he had never heard the news; and he remained silent without return of reply or without so much as turning to regard him; nay, he only kept his head raised and gazed afar. Hereat quoth to him the Fox , "O brother mine, why and wherefore dost thou not acknowledge me by an answer or address to me a word or even turn thy face towards me who am a Commissioner sent by Leo, Sovran of the beasts, and Aquila, Sultan of the birds? Sore I fear lest thou refuse to accompany me and thus come upon thee censure exceeding and odium excessive seeing that all are assembled in the presence and are browsing upon the verdant mead." Then he added , "O my brother, I bespeak thee and thou unheedest me and my speech; and, if thou refuse to fare with me, at least let me know what may be thy reply." Hereupon the Cock inclined towards him and said, "Sooth hast thou spoken, O my brother, and well I wot thou be an Envoy and a Commissioner from our King, and the special Messenger of him: but my condition is changed by that which hath befallen me." "And what calamity, O my brother, hath betided thee?" "Dost thou espy what I am at present espying?" "And what is it thou espiest?" "Verily, I see a dust-cloud lowering and the Saker-falcons in circles towering;" and quoth the Fox , "Look straitly, O my brother, lest there happen to us a mishap." So Chanticleer gazed as one distraught for a full-told hour, after which he turned to the Fox and said, "O my brother, I behold and can distinguish a bird flying and a dust-trail hieing." "Consider them narrowly, O my brother," cried the Fox , "lest this be sign of greyhound;" and the other replied, "The Truth is known to Allah alone, yet I seem now to see a something lengthy of leg, lean of flank, loose of ears, fine of forehand and full of quarter, and at this moment it draweth near and is well nigh upon us--O fine!" Now when the Fox heard these words he cried to the Cock, "O my brother, I must farewell thee!" and so saying he arose and committed his legs to the wind and he had recourse to the Father of Safety. Seeing this, the Cock also cried, "Why thus take to flight when thou hast no spoiler thy heart to affright?" Replied the Fox, "I have a fear of the Greyhound, O my brother, for that he is not of my friends or of my familiars;" and the Cock rejoined, "Didst thou not tell me thou camest as Commissioner of the Kings to these wastes proclaiming a peace and safety amongst all the beasts and the birds?" "O my brother Chanticleer," retorted the other, "this feral, Greyhound hight, was not present at the time when pacification was proclaimed, nor was his name announced in the Congress of the beasts; and I for my part have no love lost with him, nor between me and him is there aught of security." So saying the Fox turned forthright to fly, routed with the foulest of routing, and the Cock escaped the foe by his sleight and sagacity with perfect safety and security. Now after the Fox had turned tail and fled from him Chanticleer came down from the wall and regained his farm, lauding Allah Almighty who had conveyed him unharmed to his own place. And here he related unto his fellows what had befallen him with the Fox and how he had devised that cunning device and thereby freed himself from a strait wherein, but for it, the foe had torn him limb by limb.

FINIS.

HISTORY OF WHAT BEFEL THE FOWL-LET WITH THE FOWLER.

They relate that there abode in Baghdad-city a huntsman-wight in venerie trained aright. Now one day he went forth to the chase taking with him nets and springes and other gear he needed and fared to a garden-site with trees bedight and branches interlaced tight wherein all the fowls did unite; and arriving at a tangled copse he planted his trap in the ground and he looked around for a hiding-place and took seat therein concealed. Suddenly a Birdie approaching the trap-side began scraping the earth and, wandering round about it, fell to saying in himself, "What may this be? Would Heaven I wot, for it seemeth naught save a marvellous creation of Allah!" Presently he considered the decoy which was half buried in the ground and salam'd to it from afar to the far and the Trap returned his salutation, adding thereto, "And the ruth of Allah and His blessings;" and presently pursued, "Welcome and fair welcome to the brother dear and the friend sincere and the companionable fere and the kindly compeer, why stand from me so far when I desire thou become my neighbour near and I become of thine intimates the faithful and of thy comrades the truthful? So draw thee nigh to me and be of thy safety trustful and prove thee not of me fearful." Quoth the Fowl-let, "I beseech thee by Allah, say me who art thou so I may not of thee feel affright and what be thy bye-name and thy name and to which of the tribes dost trace thy tree?" And quoth the Trap, "My name is Holdfast and my patronymic is Bindfast and my tribe is hight the Sons of Fallfast." Replied the Birdie, "Sooth thou sayest; for such name is truly thy name and such bye-name is without question thy bye-name nor is there any doubt of thy tribe being the noblest of the tribes." The Trap answered him saying, "Alhamdolillah--laud to the Lord--that me thou hast recognised and that I be of thy truest friends thou hast acknowledged, for where shalt thou find a familiar like unto me, a lover soothful and truthful and my fellow in mind? And indeed I a devotee of religious bent and from vain gossip and acquaintances and even kith and kin abstinent; nor have I any retreat save upon the heads of hills and in the bellies of dales which be long and deep; and from mundane tidings I am the true Holdfast and in worldly joys the real Bindfast." The Fowl replied, "Sooth hast spoken, O my lord; and all hail to thee; how pious and religious and of morals and manners gracious art thou? Would to Heaven I were a single hair upon thy body." Rejoined the Trap, "Thou in this world art my brother and in the next world my father;" and the other retorted, "O my brother, fain would I question thee concerning matters concealed within thy thoughts;" whereto the Trap, "Enquire of whatso thou requirest, that I make manifest to thee what in heart thou desirest; for I will truly declare to thee mine every aim and disclose to thee soothly all my case and my thoughts concealed, nor shall remain unrevealed of mine intent aught." So the Birdie began, "O my brother, why and wherefore see I thee on this wise abiding in the dust and dwelling afar from relations and companeers and thou hast parted from thy family and peers and hast departed from the fondness of thy dears?" "Hast thou not learned, O my brother," answered the Trap, "that retirement is permanent heal and farness from folk doth blessings deal and separation from the world is bodily weal;" and on this matter hath one of the poets said, and said right well:--

Fly folk, in public ne'er appearing, ? And men shall name thee man God-fearing; Nor say I've brother, mate and friend: ? Try men with mind still persevering: Yea, few are they as thou couldst wish: ? Scorpions they prove when most endearing.

And one of the Sages hath said, "Solitude and not ill associate." Also quoth they to Al-Bahl?l, Why this tarrying of thine amid the homes of the dead and why this sojourning in a barren stead and wherefore this farness from kinsmen and mate and lack of neighbourly love for brother and intimate? But quoth he, "Woe to you! my folk did I dwell amongst them would some day unlove me and the while I abide far from them will never reprove me; nor indeed would they remember my affection nor would they desire my predilection; and so satisfied with my solitude am I that an I saw my family I should start away as in fear of them, and were my parents quickened anew and longed for my society verily I would take flight from them." Replied the Fowl-let, "In good sooth, O my brother, truth thou hast pronounced in all by thee announced and the best of rede did from thee proceed; but tell me, prithee, anent that cord about thy middle wound and despite thine expending efforts that abound why thou art neither a-standing nor a-sitting on ground?" To him replied the Trap, "O my brother, learn that I spend every night of every month in prayer, during which exercise whenever sleep would seize me I tighten this cord about my waist and drive slumber from my eyes and become therefrom the more wide-awake for my orisons. Know thou also that Allah affectioneth his servants when devout are they, and stand in worship alway, ever dight to pray and praise Him by night and by day; and who turn on their sides loving the Lord to obey in desire and dismay and doling their good away. And quoth Allah :--'And for scanty while of the night they take not gentle rest and at rising morn His pardon they obtest and their Lord granteth unto them their request.' And wottest thou not, O my brother, what said the poet?--

These busy are with worldly gear ? Those of their moneys proud appear: But some be rich by God's approof-- ? Praise Him o' nights with love sincere: Their Guardian's eye regards them aye ? Praying, confessing sins to clear: They wot nor worship aught but Him ? And hail His name with love and fear."

Therewith quoth the Fowl-let: "Sooth hast thou said, O my brother, in each word by thee sped and right eloquently was announced all by thee pronounced; however , do thou tell me why I see thee one half buried in earth and the other half above ground?" And quoth the Trap, "For the reason that I thereby resemble the dead and in life I am shunning the pernicious lusts of the flesh; and Almighty Allah said in His August Volume:--'From earth have We created you and unto her We will return you and from her will We draw you forth a second time.'" Replied the Birdie, "The truth thou hast told in whatso thou dost unfold, but why do I see thee so bent of back?" and rejoined the Trap, "Learn, O my brother, that the cause for this bowing of my back is my frequent standing in prayer by day and my upstanding by night in the service of the King, the Clement, the One, the Prepotent, the Glorious, the Omnipotent; and verily upon this matter right well the poet hath spoken:--

None save the pious Youth gains boon of Paradise ? , Whose back by constant prayer through murk o' night is bent ? And longs to merit Heaven in sore and painful guise. Hail to the slave who ever would his lord obey ? And who by death is saved when he obedient dies."

The Fowl-let continued, "O my brother, of truth the token is that whereof thou hast spoken and I have understood thee and am certified of thy sooth. But yet, I see upon thee a robe of hair!" and the Trap rejoined, "O my brother, knowest thou not of hair and wool that they be the wear of the pious and the religious, whereof one of the poets hath spoken in these words:--

Folk who in fear of long accompt for naught of worldly care ? Hail to them! haply garb of wool they'll change for silken wear: In life for provaunt shall suffice them salt and barley-bread ? Who seek th' Almighty Lord and bow the head in sedulous pray'r."

The Birdie resumed, "In very deed thy speech the sooth doth teach; but say me what be this staff thou hendest in hand?" Replied the Trap, "O my brother, know that I have become an olden man well shotten in years and my strength is minished, wherefor I have taken me a staff that I may prop me thereon and that it aid my endeavour when a-fasting." The Fowl-let pursued, "Thy speech is true, O my brother, and thou speakest as due, yet would I ask thee of a matter nor refuse me information thereanent: tell me why and wherefore this plenty of grain scattered all about thee?" The Trap answered, "Indeed the merchants and men of wealth bring to me this victual that I may bestow it in charity upon the Fakir and the famisht;" and the Birdie rejoined, "O my brother, I also am an-hungered; so dost thou enjoin me to eat thereof?" "Thou art my companion," cried the Trap, "so upon me such injunction is a bounden duty," presently adding, "Be so kind, O my brother, and haste thee hither and eat." Hereat the Fowl-let flew down from off his tree and approaching little by little picked up a few grains which lay beside it until he came to the corn set in the loop of the springe. Hereupon he pecked at it with one peck nor had he gained aught of good therefrom ere the Trap came down heavily upon him and entangled his neck and held him fast. Hereupon he was seized with a fit of sore affright and he cried out "Z?k! z?k!" and "M?k! m?k! Verily I have fallen into wreak and am betrayed by friendly freke and oh, the excess of my trouble and tweak, Z?k! Z?k! O Thou who kennest my case, do Thou enable me escape to seek, and save me from these straits unique and be Thou ruthful to me the meek!" Thereupon quoth to him the Trap, "Thou criest out Zik! Zik! and hast fallen into straits unique and hast strayed from the way didst seek, O Miscreant and Zind?k, and naught shall avail thee at this present or brother or friend veridique or familiar freke. Now understand and thy pleasure seek! I have deceived thee with a deceit and thou lentest ear and lustedst." Replied the Bird, "I am one whom desire hath cast down and ignorance hath seduced and inordinate greed, one for whose neck the collar of destruction is fitted and I have fallen along with those who lowest fall!" Hereupon the Fowler came up with his knife to slaughter the Fowl-let and began saying, "How many a birdie have we taken in all ease for desire of its meat that we may dress their heads with rice or in Har?sah or fried in pan and eat thereof pleasurably myself or feed therewith great men and grandees. Also 'tis on us incumbent to feed privily upon half the bodies and the other half shall be for our guests whilst I will take the wings to set before my family and kinsmen as the most excellent of gifts." Hearing these words the Bird fell to speaking and saying:--

"O Birder, my mother's in misery ? And blind with weeping my loss is she. I suffice not thy guest nor can serve for gift: ? Have ruth and compassion and set me free! With my parents I'll bless thee and then will I ? Fly a-morn and at e'en-tide return to thee."

Presently resumed he, "Seest thou not how my meat be mean and my maw be lean; nor verily can I stand thee in stead of cate nor thy hunger satiate: so fear Allah and set me at liberty then shall the Almighty requite thee with an abundant requital." But the Fowler far from heeding his words, made him over to his son saying, "O my child, take this bird and faring homewards slaughter him and of him cook for us a cumin-ragout and a lemon-stew, a mess flavoured with verjuice and a second of mushrooms and a third with pomegranate seeds and a fourth of clotted curd cooked with Summ?k, and a fine fry and eke conserves of pears and quinces and apples and apricots hight the rose-water and vermicelli and Sikb?j; and meat dressed with the six leaves and a porridge and a rice-milk, and an 'Aj?j?yah and fried flesh in strips and Kab?bs and meat-olives and dishes the like of these. Also do thou make of his guts strings for bows and of his gullet a conduit for the terrace-roof and of his skin a tray-cloth and of his plumage cushions and pillows." Now when the Fowl-let heard these words , he laughed a laugh of sorrow and cried, "Woe to thee, O Birder whither be wended thy wits and thine understanding? Art Jinn-mad or wine-drunken? Art age-foolish or asleep? Art heavy-minded or remiss in thought? Indeed had I been that long-necked bird the 'Ank?, daughter of Life, or were I the she-camel of S?lih to be, or the ram of Isaac the sacrificed, or the loquent calf of Al-S?miri or even a buffalo fattened daintily all this by thee mentioned had never come from me." Hereat he fell to improvising and saying:--

"The Ruthful forbiddeth the eating of me ? And His Grace doth grace me with clemency: A Camel am I whom they overload ? And the Birder is daft when my flesh seeth he: From Solomon's breed, O my God I have hope: ? If he kill me the Ruthful his drowning decree."

"When Fortune easy was, from duty didst forbear ? Nor from that malady hast safety or repair: Then blame thyself nor cast on other wight the fault ? And lacking all excuse to death of misery fare!"

Then resumed the Fowl-let, "Woe to thee, O mean and mesquin, thou wottedst not that which thou hast lost in me, for indeed baulked is thy bent and foiled is thy fortune and near to thee is poverty and nigh to thee is obscurity. Hadst thou when taking me cut my throat and cloven my crop thou hadst found therein a jewel the weight of an ounce which I picked up and swallowed from the treasury of Kisr? An?sh?rw?n the King." But when the Birder heard the Birdie's words he scattered dust upon his head and buffeted his face and plucked out his beard and rent his raiment, and at last slipped down a-swooning to the ground. And presently recovering his senses he looked towards his late captive and cried, "O Father of Flight, O thou The Wind hight, say me is there any return for thee me-wards, where thou shalt with me abide, and thee within the apple of mine eye will I hide, and after all this toil and turmoil I will perfume and fumigate thee with ambergris and with Comorin lign-aloes, and I will bring thee sugar for food and nuts of the pine and with me thou shalt tarry in highmost degree?" Replied the Birdie, "O miserable, past is that which passed; I mean, suffice me not thy fraud and thy flattering falsehood. And laud to the Lord, O thou meanest of men, how soon hast thou forgotten the three charges wherewith I charged thee! And how short are thy wits seeing that the whole of me weighteth not ten drachms and how then can I bear in crop a jewel weighing an ounce? How far from thee is subtilty and how speedily hast thou forgotten mine injunctions wherewith I enjoined thee saying:--Believe not aught save that whereon thine eye is cast nor regret and bemourn the past nor at what cometh rejoice too fast. These words of wisdom are clean gone from thy memory, and hadst thou been nimble of wits thou hadst slaughtered me forthright: however, Alhamdolillah--Glory to God, who caused me not to savour the whittle's sharp edge, and I thank my Lord for my escape and for the loosing of my prosperity from the trap of trouble." Now when the Birder heard these words of the Birdie he repented and regretted his folly, and he cried, "O my sorrow for what failed me of the slaughter of this volatile, and as he sank on the ground he sang:--

"O brave was the boon which I held in my right ?; Yet, O Maker of man, 'twas in self-despight. Had my lot and my luck been of opulence, ? This emptiness never had proved my plight."

Hereupon the Fowl-let farewelled the Fowler and took flight until he reached his home and household, where he seated him and recited all that had befallen him with the Birder, to wit, how the man had captured him, and how he had escaped by sleight, and he fell to improvising:--

"I charged you, O brood of my nestlings, and said, ? Ware yon Wady, nor seek to draw near a stead Where sitteth a man who with trap and with stakes ? Entrapped me, drew knife and would do me dead. And he longed to destroy me, O children, but I ? Was saved by the Lord and to you was sped."

And here endeth the History of the Fowl-let and the Fowler entire and complete.

TALE OF ATTAF.

Mr. Alexander J. Cotheal, of New York, a correspondent who already on sundry occasions has rendered me able aid and advice, was kind enough to send me his copy of the Tale of Attaf . It is a small 4to of pp. 334, size 5 3/4 by 8 inches, with many of the leaves injured and repaired; and written in a variety of handwritings, here a mere scribble, there regular and legible as printed Arabic. A fly-leaf inserted into the Arabic binding contains in cursive hand the title, "A Book embracing many Tales of the Tales of the Kings and named 'Stories from the Thousand Nights and a Night.'" And a note at the end supplies the date; "And the finish thereof was on Fifth Day , 9th from the beginning of the auspicious month Rab?'a 2nd, in the year 1096 of the Hijrah of the Apostle, upon whom be the choicest of blessings and the fullest of greetings; and Allah prospereth what he pleaseth, and praise be to God the One." Thus the volume is upwards of 200 years old. It was bought by Mr. Cotheal many years ago with other matters among the effects of a deceased American missionary who had brought it from Syria.

THE TALE OF ATTAF BY ALEXANDER J. COTHEAL.

They say God is omniscient, knowing the past and the future, and we learn from the histories of the peoples that there was in ancient times and bygone seasons a Caliph of the Caliphs of the orthodox and he was Harun er-Rashid who one night became very restless and from the drowsiness that came upon him he sat down upon the bed and dressed himself in sleeping-clothes; then it was that he called to his service Mesr?r the sword-bearer of grace who came immediately into his presence and said to him, O Mesrur, the night is very oppressive and I wish thee to dispel my uneasiness. Then Mesrur said to him, O Commander of the Faithful, arise now and go to the terrace-roof of the palace and look upon the canopy of heaven and upon the twinkling stars and the brightness of the moon, while listening to the music of the rippling streams and the creaking norias as they are spoken of by the poet who said:--

A Noria that discharges by the spouts of her tears resembles the actions of a distracted lover: She is the lover of her branches by the magic in her heart until she laughs: She complains and the tears run from her eyes, she rises in the morning to find herself weeping and complaining.

My favorite is a damsel dispensing drink, and my recreation is a running stream; A damsel whose eyes are a garden of Paradise, and a garden whose springs make a running brook.

Save your life if menaced by evil , and leave the house to complain of the builder: You'll find a land upon a land, but not another life for your own life.

When he had finished, his father and his brother said to him, Do not do so, for probably the Caliph will be merciful to you. And Ja'afar answered, Only good will come of my travel. Then he went to his treasure-room and took out a purse containing 1,000 dinars, mounted his horse, put on his sword, bade adieu to his father and brother and set forth in his time and hour; then, not taking with him any servants, either slave or boy, he hastened on his journey, travelling day and night for twenty days until he reached the city of Aleppo without stopping, passing by Hamah and Homs until he reached Teniy?t al-Ig?b and arrived at Damascus where he entered the city and saw the Minaret of the Bride from bottom to top covered with gilded tiles; and it surrounded with meadows, irrigated gardens with all kinds of flowers, fields of myrtle with mountains of violets and other beauties of the gardens. He dwelt upon these charms while listening to the singing of the birds in the trees; and he saw a city whose like has never been created in any other country of the world. Turning then to the right hand and to the left he espied a man standing near him and said to him, O my brother, what's the name of this city? and he answered, O my lord, this city in ancient times was called Jullag the same that is mentioned by the poet who says:--

I am called Jullag and my heart I attach, in me flow the waters, in and out; The Garden of Eden upon the earth, birth-place of the fairies: I will never forget thy beauties, O Damascus, for none but thee will I ever long:-- Blessed be the wonders that glitter on thy roofs .

Evil to whoever have their heart in possession of their lovers, for in obtaining it they will kill it: They have abandoned it when they have seen it amorous: when they see it amorous they abandon it. Nursling, they pluck it out from the very entrails: O bird, repeat "Nursling they have plucked thee out!" They have killed it unjustly: the loved plays the coquette with the humble lover. The seeker of the effects of love, love am I, brother of love, and sigh Behold the man stricken by love, though his heart change not they bury it

The Rawi said that Ja'afar was pleased and he rejoiced at hearing the song and all his organs were moved at the voice of the damsel and he said, Wallahy, it is fine. Then she began again to sing, reciting the following verses:--

With these sentiments thou art in love, it is not wonderful that I should love thee: I stretch out my hand to thee asking for mercy and pity for my humility--mayst thou be charitable; My life has passed away soliciting thy consent, but I have not found it in my confidence to be charitable, And I have become a slave in consequence of her possession of love my heart is imprisoned and my tears flow.

When the poem was finished Ja'afar gave himself up more and more to the pleasure of hearing and looking at the damsel. The youth, who was reclining, sat up and calling some of his boys said to them, Don't you see that young man standing there in front of us? They answered, Yes, and he said, He must be a stranger for I see on him the signs of travel: bring him to me and take care not to offend him. They answered, With joy and gladness, and went towards Ja'afar, who, while contemplating the damsel, perceived the boy that came and who said to him, In the name of God, O my lord, please have the generosity to come in to our master. Ja'afar came with the boy to the door of the tent, dismounted from his horse and entered at the moment when the youth was rising upon his feet, and he stretched out his two hands and saluted him as if he had always known him, and after he had chanted the prayer to the envoy he sang:--

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