to see who was the strongest of heart, and whose poison was the most deadly.

The first rival made a little poison, which with its putrescence would melt a black stone. The other took a draught of it, and as it reminded him of sugar, drank it easily. Then he made a decoction of herbs, and stopped the course of the poison with an antidote. He burnt like the moth, but found his wings again; he appeared again in the assembly. He brought a flower from the garden, recited a charm over it, and breathed upon it; then gave to his enemy this flower more effectual than his own poison. His enemy, receiving that flower, was overwhelmed with fear, became senseless, and expired. One with a remedy drove the poison out of his body; the other died through imagination of a single flower.

Each of the many-coloured flowers blooming in the garden of the earth is a drop of blood from the heart of a man.

DCLXXIV.

Heb.
Gen.

The Voice of Blood.

And Cain said to Abel his brother, 'Let us go into the field.' And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. And Jehovah said to Cain, Where is Abel thy brother?' And he said, 'I know not. Am I my brother's keeper?' And Jehovah said, ' What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth to me from the ground. And now art thou cursed from the earth which hath opened its mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand. If thou tillest the ground, it will no more yield to thee its strength: a fugitive and a wanderer

shalt thou be in the earth.' And Cain said to Jehovah, My punishment is greater than I can bear. Lo! thou drivest me out this day from the face of this land, and from thy presence I shall be hidden; and I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth; and it shall come to pass that whosoever findeth me will slay me.' God set a mark upon Cain, that no one should slay him.

DCLXXV.

Recoil.

Heb.

Whoso casteth a stone on high casteth it on his own head; and a deceitful stroke maketh (two) Ecclesiasticus wounds.

Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein; and he that setteth a trap shall be taken therein.

He that worketh mischief, it shall fall upon him, and he shall not know whence it cometh.

Malice and wrath, even these are abominations; and the sinful man shall have them both.

When the evil man curseth his adversary, he curseth his own soul.

The Right Fear.

DCLXXVI.

The excellent will fear to do wrong.

Арос.
comp.

Hind.

Because evil produces evil, therefore should it be Cural

feared more than fire.

To do no evil even to enemies will be called the chief of virtues.

Justice will meditate the ruin of him who meditates the ruin of another.

Commit not wrong, saying, 'I am poor;' if you do, you will become poorer still.

Sufi
Abdal
Khalek.
(D'Herb.)

Let not him do evil to others who desires not that sorrows should pursue himself.

Men may live amid many enmities, but will not escape the enmity and pursuit of their own sin. This shadow at their heels will not leave them, which means destruction.

If a man love himself, let him commit no wrong, however small.

Reality.

DCLXXVII.

Tremble in the presence of an earnest believer : he possesses the art of physiognomy in perfection, and has a discernment of his own which pierces to that which is most secret in the heart of men.

DCLXXVIII.

Persian.
(D'Herb.)

Oriental
Fables.

Patience.

Have patience, and thou shalt see reduced to dust those who have trampled others in the dust.

Have patience, and thou shalt see those whom the world hated as thorns blooming as roses.

Two Serpents.

DCLXXIX.

The learned Saib, who was entrusted with the education of the son of the Sultan Carizama, related to him each day a story. One day he told him this from the annals of Persia :- A magician presented himself before King Zohak, and breathing on his breast, caused two serpents to come forth from the region of the king's heart. The king in wrath was about to slay him, but the magician said, "These two serpents are tokens of the glory of your reign. They must be

fed, and with human blood. This you may obtain by sacrificing to them the lowest of your people; but they will bring you happiness, and whatever pleases you is just." Zohak was at first shocked; but gradually he accustomed himself to the counsel, and his subjects were sacrificed to the serpents. But the people only saw in Zohak a monster bent on their destruction. They revolted, and shut him up in a cavern of the mountain Damavend, where he became a prey to the two serpents whose voracity he could no longer appease.'

What a horrible history!' exclaimed the young prince, when his preceptor had ended it. Pray tell me another that I can hear without shuddering.' Willingly, my lord,' replied Saib. Here is a very simple one :-A young sultan placed his confidence in an artful courtier, who filled his mind with false ideas of glory and happiness, and introduced into his heart. pride and voluptuousness. Absorbed by these two passions, the young monarch sacrificed his people to them, insomuch that in their wretchedness they tore him from the throne. He lost his crown and his treasures, but his pride and voluptuousness remained, and being now unable to satisfy them, he died of rage and despair.'

The young prince of Carizama said, 'I like this story better than the other.' 'Alas, prince!' replied his preceptor, 'it is nevertheless the same.'

Consuming Fire.

DCLXXX.

Love is the hell-spark that burneth up the mountain of iniquity.

Mahomet.
(Tradition.)

Heb.

Solomon.

Ab.

DCLXXXI.

Pleasure: Transient and Permanent.

Some have said, reasoning with themselves, but Wisdom of not aright:-Our life is short and tedious, and in the death of a man there is no remedy, neither was there any man known to have returned from the grave. We are born at all adventure, and we shall be hereafter as though we had never been, for the breath in our nostrils is as smoke, and a little spark in the moving of our heart, which being extinguished, our body shall be turned into ashes, and our spirit shall vanish as the soft air. Our name shall be forgotten in time, and no man shall have our works in remembrance, and our life shall pass away as the trace of a cloud. Our time is a very shadow that passeth away. Come on, therefore, let us enjoy the good things that are present. Let us fill ourselves with costly wine and ointments. Let no flower of the spring pass by

us.

Let us crown ourselves with roses before they be withered. Let none of us go without his part of volup tuousness let us leave tokens of our joyfulness in every place; for this is our portion, and our lot is this. Let our strength be the law of justice; for that which is feeble is found to be nothing worth. Let us lie in wait for the righteous. He abstaineth from our ways as filthiness, saying, 'He pronounceth the end of the just to be blessed, and maketh his boast that God is his father. Let us see if his words be true; for if the just man be the son of God, he will help him.'

Such things they did imagine, and were deceived; for their own wickedness hath blinded them. They hoped not for the wages of justice, nor discerned a