gdom. Ali Hafed listened, and was
no longer a rich man. He had been touched with discontent, and with
that all wealth vanishes. Early the next morning he woke the priest
who had been the cause of his unhappiness, and anxiously asked him
where he could find a mine of diamonds. "What do you want of
diamonds?" asked the astonished priest. "I want to be rich and place
my children on thrones." "All you have to do is to go and search until
you find them," said the priest. "But where shall I go?" asked the
poor farmer. "Go anywhere, north, south, east, or west." "How shall I
know when I have found the place?" "When you find a river running over
white sands between high mountain ranges, in those white sands you will
find diamonds," answered the priest.

The discontented man sold the farm for what he could get, left his
family with a neighbor, took the money he had at interest, and went to
search for the coveted treasure. Over the mountains of Arabia, through
Palestine and Egypt, he wandered for years, but found no diamonds.
When his money was all gone and starvation stared him in the face,
ashamed of his folly and of his rags, poor Ali Hafed threw himself into
the tide and was drowned. The man who bought his farm was a contented
man, who made the most of his surroundings, and did not believe in
going away from home to hunt for diamonds or success. While his camel
was drinking in the garden one day, he noticed a flash of light from
the white sands of the brook. He picked up a pebble, and pleased with
its brilliant hues took it into the house, put it on the shelf near the
fireplace, and forgot all about it. The old priest of Buddha who had
filled Ali Hafed with the fatal discontent called one day upon the new
owner of the farm. He had no sooner entered the room than his eye
caught that flash of light from the stone. "Here's a diamond! here's a
diamond!" the old priest shouted in great excitement. "Has Ali Hafed
returned?" said the priest. "No," said the farmer, "nor is that a
diamond. That is but a stone." They went into the garden and stirred
up the white sand with their fingers, and behold, other diamonds more
beautiful than the first gleamed out of it. So the famous diamond beds
of Golconda were discovered. Had Ali Hafed been content to remain at
home, had he dug in his own garden, instead of going abroad in search
for wealth, and reaping poverty, hardships, starvation, and death, he
would have been one