ng in the Persian language, which we do not understand. If you
will have the goodness to go to him you may get rewarded; for he
possibly may be dictating his will." When I sat down by his bedside I
heard him reciting:--"I said, I will enjoy myself for a few moments.
Alas! that my soul took the path of departure. Alas! at the variegated
table of life I partook a few mouthfuls, and the fates said, enough!"

I explained the signification of these lines in Arabic to the Syrians.
They were astonished that, at his advanced time of life, he should
express himself so solicitous about a worldly existence. I asked him:
"How do you now find yourself?" He replied: "What shall I say?--Hast
thou never witnessed what torture that man suffers from whose jaw they
are extracting a tooth? Fancy to thyself how excruciating is his pain
from whose precious body they are tearing an existence!"

I said: "Banish all thoughts of death from your mind, and let not doubt
undermine your constitution; for the Greek philosophers have remarked
that although our temperaments are vigorous, that is no proof of a long
life; and that although our sickness is dangerous, that is no positive
sign of immediate dissolution. If you will give me leave, I will call in
a physician to prescribe some medicine that may cure you." He replied:
"Alas! alas! The landlord thinks of refreshing the paintings of his
hall, and the house is tottering to its foundation. The physician smites
the hands of despair when he sees the aged fallen in pieces like a
potsherd; the old man bemoans himself in the agony of death while the
old attendant nurse is anointing him with sandal-wood. When the
equipoise of the temperament is overset, neither amulets nor medicaments
can do any good."

* * * * *

III

In the territory of Diarbekr, or Mesopotamia, I was the guest of an old
man, who was very rich, and had a handsome son. One night he told a
story, saying: "During my whole life I never had any child but this boy.
And in this valley a certain tree is a place of pilgrimage, where people
go to supplicate their wants; and many was the night that I have
besought God at the foot of that tree before he would bestow upon me
this boy." I have heard that the son was also whispering his companions,
and saying: "How happy I should be if I could discover the site of that
tree, in order that I might pray for the death of my father." The
gentleman was rejoicing and sa