Told to the Sultan.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 8084, 14 April 1906, Page 4

Told to the Sultan.

In Stamboul, in the Kassirn-Pacha quariei, there once lived two boyß, one ot whom was named Abdul and the other Hafiz. They attended the same school, sire, and being ro lated by blood they sat together and learned the wisdom of the Koran from the same booh Not only was there a bond of blood reinBonship between them, but also their tastui ran together, for each, sire, was a skilful Testifier, albeit the way of Hafiz in verse won not the way of Abdul. For Abdul's verses were all of things tbs \ happened in the sohool or in the street, s i that a boycouldnotbe beaten or an ass fal' beneath its load but Abdul would make i rhyme upon tt, whereas for Hafiz it was suf ficient for a swallow to pass in the sky, or i sunbeam to fall upon the floor, or a breath of perfumed wind to enter through the doorway, and he, too, had made a verse. And even as a boy being beaten or an ass tumbling beneath its load makes more noise than the passage of a swallow through the >ky, the passing ol a breath through a doorway, or the falling ol a sunbeam upon the floor, so was it with the verse of Abdul, which made more noise in the KassimPacha quarter than the verse of Hafiz. Even the schoolmaster praised the talent of Abdul, though, perhaps, of all persons, the sohoolmaster was most marked as a butt for. Abdul's quatrains; but as be knew not bis own delects he saw not his own portrait, though often he might have beheld it in a verse of his scholar, even as a man may see bis face reflected in a spoonful of vinegar. As for Hafiz, he felt no jealousy at all the praise that fell to the share of Abdul, and his verse passed men by like the swallow, the beam of light, and the breeze : things which neither bray like an ass, nor cqy out like a beaten boy, nor scold like an angry woman, and so draw to themselves little attention from they who only hear with their ears and see with their eyes. One afternoon it happened that Abdul and Hafiz walked home together from the school, ft was the last day upon which they would attend school, for, having leamt all that the schoolmaster could teach them, they were now about to enter the world and see what fortune held for them in her hand. As they neared the Kassim-Pacha quarter their way led through a narrow and dirty street wherein there was nothing to be seen but a few dogs lying asleep, a stray goose seeking food in the gutter, or a blind man tapping with his staff, as if asking of the earth his way. They had never entered this street before, and it puzzled them not a little to think in what manner it had existed without theii knowledge ; for schoolboys, sire, have a bet ter knowledge of the town and all that lie: therein than those guides who hire themselves to strangers, or those beggars whoai blindness leads them to back doors that hav.i been left open, and there leaves them. Halfway down this street they came to i great gateway set upon the right-hand sid< of the way. It was very old, and the pillari on either side were of marble, sculptured with curious figures representing all tin forms of fruits and flowers known to man, rod here and there a marble face peeped from a space in the marble foliage, or tb hoof of a faun broke through as if by mi J obance, or the marble thigh of a woman, or a band appeared grasping one of trie bunchei of marble grapes, so that one might imagine behind the foliage, fruits and flowers a hosl of things and people biding yet half revealed.

At the gate sat an old man with a board o: the color of withered leaves, who stared a> Abdul and Hufiz as they paused and glanced over his head at the glimpse of garden through the gateway. Or rather, I should say, gardens, for the gateway disclosed nn avenue which wandered a little way and then divided, becoming two paths, and each of these paths led to a garden of which little could bo seen but a dim golden space of sunlight filled with the silvery threads of fountain waters playing beneath the sky, and the color of flowers that grew in parterres about the fountains.

The old man smiled upon the boys and bade them enter, but first be took from Ihem their pens, their ink horns and school books, which he placetTby his side. Then Abdiil and Haliz entered by the Kateway and walked together till they reached that part of the way where it divided, and from the way upon the left there came a sound like the niusic of a*'whole grove of nightingales mingled with" the songs of lesser birds, anil from the right-hand way a sound like the laughter of women inlaid like music of gold upon the silvery music of the fountains.

Haliz, sire, chose ths left-hand way, allured by the voices of the birds, and he pursued it, crying, " Wait for me, Abdul, till I return." But Abdul did not hear him, for he had chosen the right-hand way, and was now standing in a garden path gazing at the wonders around him. The flowers were unlike earthly flowers; they wculd never fade, for the petals were of enamelled gold and the blossoms grew upou stalks of jasper; their leaves would never, wither, for their leaves were cunningly carved from sismodine and the marble which is na-ued Verde Antique, and the dew upon tu«w would never dry, shine the sun as he might, for the dew-drops were of diamond and pearl. On the trees hung wonderful fruit, pomegranates with silken skins, and oranges of hammered gold, and lemons of frosted silver.

' There were pears, sire, each a pearl, and Blusters of grapes and each grape a garnet or carbuncle. •

Abdul, astonished at these wonders, plucked a pomegranate from a tree, and, tearing the rubies, all pressed together after the fashion of the pip in a pomegranate ; and, plucking another, he found the pips to be all sapphires; in another were emeralds, whilst yet another of these pomegranates he found to he a purse 811 ed with sequins bright from the mint; and, filling his robe with these treasures, he went qn his way rejoicing and gathering more. Meanwhile, sire, Haliz found himself in a garden where all the flowers were flowers, beautiful, but condemned to fade, yet in his eyes they were the more beautiful for that. And on the trees grew fruit, beautiful, but condemned to die, and the birds in the garden of Hafiz sang of the sweetness of life and love and the sadness of death, and as Hafiz listened he wept, and plucking flowers and frnit he filled his robe and then went on his way gathering more. Suddenly, sire, Abdul and Hafix met, and they were standing in a court whose walls were cypress trees planted in rows. Their wanderings had brought them to the selfsame spot, yet they knew not each other, for sach inliis wanderings had turned to an old man, and their beards were white as snow. A great statue stood in the centre of the wurt, upon whose pedestal was written ;

"TIME." It was of granite-; with a veiled face it stood, and in its right hand it held an hourglass whose upper globe was filled, not with grains of sand, but pictures, pictures of flowers and fair women and brave men, horses and slaves, and chariots most beautiful. And from all these a thin stream of mist poured into the lower glpbe of the glass, which became filled with a cloud, and this (loud was created from all the forms above, Wiicii were dissolving away. Then, when the npper globe became empty, the glass turned, andlo! the globe filled with cloud became again a globe of pictures—new forms, new faoei, new fashions, and all living, yet /oi demned to die and dissolve away into mist; Abdul approached fee statue, and opening his rich robe, disclosed all the jewels he had gathered, and lo I sire, the jewels in the pomegranates, the golden apples, and the silver lemons had become converted into withered leave: He cast them before the statue with a cry and vanished for evermore. Then came Ifafiz to the statue and opened his tattered nbe, which was worn as that of a beggar: jnd behold ! sire, the poor flowers he had I lacked and the ephemeral fruiis had turned f a Hafiz >o everlasting cems-.