effort alike
with our quietude will achieve."

"And," demanded the Rajah, "is it then life to breathe? Such
tranquillity will breed torpor rather than dream. If the immobility of
Fate be the theme and burden of my days I dare the more. Let us bare our
breasts to the arrows of Fortune, let us invite the shafts of Chance,
let us taunt Fate, let us dare our doom, why should we fear? The hands
of Destiny are also bound, and not one pang the more shall we feel for
our hardihood."

But one who reclined on a couch of roses and breathed their languorous
fragrance, chided the fervency of this discourse, saying:

"If Life be a flower,
Light, facile, and free,
Be the grasp that would hold it;
From a halcyon sea
Let the breezes that stir it
Blow thoughtlessly;
No breath of care should chill it,
Nor sad foreboding thrill it,
For honey-dew lies hid
Beneath a fragile lid,
And ardent clutch will spill it."

"Ay," cried the Rajah, "I like the counsel of the flowers.

Obeissance to the blast
Make, mock when it is past,
And rise like a washen rose, deliciously,
Forgetful of sorrow,
Unheeding the morrow,
And meeting all destinies, mad, merrily;
If Life be a flower, 'tis fairest of all
If for it you fear fortune's pitiless thrall,
With the Tulip's proud beauty
Its wisdom combine,
And bear to the contest
A goblet of wine!"

"Ah," sighed the pensive one, "but the flower is the poppy, for he who
possesses it presently falls asleep."

But his gentle conceit was unheard, for Nawab Khan related a story.

"One sought," said he, "the cave where dwelt a holy hermit of great
reputation for wisdom and learning. He sate him down before the
entrance, and listened with patience and fortitude to the grave and
weighty saws which like bats increase in darkness. Having presently
earned the right of a disciple, he plied the sage with questions,
as:--What is the material and constitution of the soul? Where are laid
the bones of Seth? What bounds the credulity of mankind? These and many
more did the Wise answer in difficult words whose sound carried
conviction. 'He knows all things,' thought the inquirer, 'I need not to
ply him with riddles to whom all things are plain. I will rather seek
counsel for myself concerning what lies at han