Or selfish, mercenary flirt? Quoth Echo, sharply,-"Nary flirt!" What if, aweary of the strife That long has lured the dear deceiver, And sin no more; can I believe her? But if some maiden with a heart But what if, seemingly afraid To bind her fate in Hymen's fetter, What if, in spite of her disdain, So closely that I can't get out? But if some maid with beauty blest, As pure and fair as Heaven can make her. Will share my labor and my rest Till envious Death shall overtake her? NOTE.-The Arabian Nights' Entertainment, from which Aladdin and Sinbad the Sailor are taken, is a celebrated collection of Eastern tales. It is supposed that the Arabians got them from the people of India, who in their turn are supposed to have received them from Persia. They were introduced into Europe in a French translation about the beginning of the eighteenth century, and have always been very popular, not only on account of the interest of the stories, but because they give excellent pictures of life and customs in the East. In certain Mohammedan lands to-day people tell and believe stories of genii which are quite as extraordinary as some of those contained in the Arabian Nights. The tales, although they are separate stories, are fancifully connected as follows: A certain sultan, Schahriar, having found that his wife was unfaithful to him, had her put to death and vowed that each day thereafter he would marry a new wife, who should be put to death on the following morning. At length Scheherazade, a daugh ter of the vizier, determined to try by a clever device to stop the sultan's cruelty. By her own request she became the wife of the sultan, but in the morning, before he had a chance to order her beheaded, she began to tell him a most interesting story. In the middle of this tale she broke off, and the sultan was so curious as to what was to follow, that he declared she should live until the following day. Each day the sultaness practiced the same device, and each day the sultan's curiosity got the better of his cruelty, so that he allowed her to live on. For a thousand and one nights she kept up her story telling, and by the end of that time, the sultan had fallen so in love with his wife that he declared she should live. Thus by her heroism and her accomplishments she prevented the death of many girls, who might have become victims of the sultan's cruel vow. N one of the great, rich cities of China, there once lived a poor tailor named Mustapha. Although his family consisted only of his wife and a son, he could scarcely by the hardest labor support them. Aladdin, the son, was an idle fellow, careless and disobedient. Every morning early he would go out into the streets, and there he would stay all day, playing in the public places with other shiftless children of his own age. When he was old enough to learn a trade, his father took him into his own shop and taught him how to use a needle, but no sooner was the father's back turned than Aladdin was gone for the day. Mustapha punished him again and again, but everything failed to keep Aladdin off the street, and finally his father was compelled to abandon him to his evil ways. The poor old tailor felt his son's disobedience so keenly that he fell sick, and in a few months died of sorrow. Aladdin, no longer restrained by the fear of his father, was never out of the streets by day, and gave himself up wholly to idleness and play till he was fifteen years old. At about that time, as he was one day playing with some rough boys in the street, a stranger who was passing stopped and eyed the boy keenly. Though the stranger looked like any other man, he was in reality an African magician, who had but recently arrived in the Chinese city. Aladdin was an attractive boy, and because of his habits the sorcerer felt that the boy was well suited to his purposes. Accordingly, after talking with the other boys and learning Aladdin's history, he called the youngster away from his playmates. "Child," he asked, "was not your father called Mustapha the tailor?" "Yes, sir," said the boy, "but he has been dead for some time." At these words the magician threw his arms about Aladdin's neck, and, with tears in his eyes, kissed the boy several times, saying, "I am your uncle; your father was my own brother. I knew you as soon as I saw you, you are so much like him. Go, my son," he continued, handing the boy some money, "to your mother! Give her my love and tell her that I will visit her to-morrow." Overjoyed with the money his uncle had given him, Aladdin ran to his home. "O mother," he cried, "have I an uncle?" "No, my son," she replied, "you have no uncle either on your father's side or on mine." "I am just now come," said Aladdin, "from a man who says he is my uncle and my father's brother. He cried and kissed me when I told him my father was dead, and gave me money, sending his love to you, and promising to come and pay you a visit, that he may see the house my father lived and died in." "Indeed, child,” replied the mother, "your father had no brother, nor have you an uncle." The next day the magician found Aladdin playing in another part of the town, and embracing him as before, put two pieces of gold into his hand, and said to him, "Carry this, child, to your mother; tell her that I will come and see her to-night, and bid her get us something for supper; but first show me the house where you live." Aladdin showed the African magician the house, and carried the two pieces of gold to his mother, who went out and bought provisions. She spent the whole day in preparing the supper; and at night, when it was ready, said to her son, "Perhaps the stranger knows not how to find our house; go and bring him, if you meet with him.” Aladdin was just ready to go, when the magician knocked at the door, and came in loaded with wine and all sorts of fruits, which he brought for a dessert. After he had given what he brought into Aladdin's hands, he saluted his mother, and desired her to show him the place where his brother Mus |