who has nothing; for the Prophet has not given
him the sense to enjoy it." Thus spake the people; they laughed at him
and passed on.

One evening, as the sheik again sat under the palms before his door, in
all his pomp, some young men standing in the street looked at him and
laughed.

"Truly," said one, "Sheik Ali Banu is a foolish man; had I his wealth,
I should make a different use of it. Every day I would live sumptuously
and in joy; my friends should dine with me in the large _salons_ of the
house, and song and laughter should fill these sad halls."

"Yes," rejoined another, "all that might be very fine; but many friends
would make short work of a fortune, even were it as large as that of
the sultan (whom the Prophet preserve); but if I sat there under the
palms, fronting this beautiful square, my slaves should sing and play,
my dancers should come and dance and leap and furnish all sorts of
entertainment. Then, too, I should take pleasure in smoking the
nargileh, should be served with the costly sherbet, and enjoy myself in
all this like a king of Bagdad."

"The sheik," said a third young man, who was a writer, "should be a
wise and learned man; and really his lectures on the Koran show him to
be a man of extensive reading; But is his life ordered as is beseeming
in a man of sense? There stands a slave, with an armful of scrolls; I
would give my best suit of clothes just to read one of them, for they
are certainly rare treasures. But he! Why, he sits and smokes, and
leaves books--books--alone! If I were Sheik Ali Banu, the fellow should
read to me until he was entirely out of breath, or until night came on;
and even then he should read to me till I had fallen asleep."

"Ha! you will grant that my plan for enjoying life is the best,"
laughed a fourth. "Eating and drinking, dancing and singing, hearing
the tales and poems of miserable authors! No, I would have it all
another way. He has the finest of horses and camels, and abundance of
money. In his place, I would travel--travel to the ends of the earth,
to the Muscovites, to the Franks; no distance should prevent my seeing
the wonders of the world. That's what I would do, if I were that man
yonder."

"Youth is a beautiful season, and the age at which one is joyful," said
an old man, of insignificant appearance, who stood near them, and had
overheard their conversation. "But permit me to say that youth is also
foolish, and talks thoughtlessly now and then with