gliding from the well?" 'Let me be quickly rich," said Ortogrul; "let the golden stream be quick and violent." "Look round thee," said his father "once again." Ortogrul looked, and perceived the channel of the torrent dry and dusty; but, following the rivulet from the well, he traced it to a wide lake, which the supply, slow and constant, kept always full. He waked, and determined to grow rich by silent profit and persevering industry. 9. Having sold his patrimony, he engaged in merchandise, and in twenty years purchased lands, on which he raised a house equal in sumptuousness to that of the vizier. To this he invited all the ministers of pleasure, expecting to enjoy all the felicity which he had imagined riches able to afford. Leisure soon made him weary of himself, and he longed to be persuaded that he was great and happy. He was courteous and liberal; he gave all that approached hopes of pleasing him, and all who should please him hopes of being rewarded. Every art of praise was tried, and every source of adulatory fiction was exhausted. 10. Ortogrul heard his flatterers without delight, because he found himself unable to believe them. His own heart told him its frailties, his own understanding reproached him with his faults. "How long," said he, with a deep sigh, "have I been laboring in vain to amass wealth which at last is useless! Let no man hereafter wish to be rich, who is already too wise to be flattered. Dr. Johnson. WORD ANALYSIS AND DEFINITIONS. Ad'u la to ry, giving excessive praise; flattering. Af'flu ence (af, for ad, to; flu, flow; ence, ing), a flowing to; an abundant supply; wealth. De lib'er ate, to weigh in the mind; to consider. DI văn', the Turkish Council of State. Fluct u a'tion (fluctu, a wave; ation, a making), a moving like the waves; wavering; indecision. Im pend'ing (pend, to hang), hanging over. Ob struct' (ob, against; struct, build), to hinder; to oppose. здесь LESSON XXIX. CROESUS AND SOLON. 1. The name of Croesus, the fifth and last King of Lydia,* who reigned five hundred fifty-seven years before Christ, has become a proverb to describe the possession of immense riches. When Solon, the legislator of Athens, and one of the most celebrated of the ancient sages of Greece, came to Sardis, where Croesus held his court, he was received in a manner suitable to the reputation of so great a man. The king, attended by his courtiers, appeared in all his regal pomp and splendor, dressed in the most magnificent apparel. Solon, however, did not discover surprise or admiration. This coldness and indifference astonished and displeased the king, who next ordered that all his treasures, his magnificent apartments, and costly furniture, his diamonds, statues, and paintings, should be shown to the philosopher. 2. When Solon had seen all, he was brought back to the king, who asked whether he had ever beheld a happier man than he. "Yes," replied Solon, "one Tellus, a plain but worthy citizen of Athens, who lived all his days above indigence, saw his country in a flourishing condition, had children who were universally esteemed, and, having had the satisfaction of seeing those children's children, died gloriously fighting for his country." Such an answer, in which gold * Lydia, an ancient kingdom situated in Asia Minor, now a part of Turkey. and silver were accounted as nothing, seemed to Croesus to indicate a strange ignorance and stupidity. However, as he flattered himself that he should be ranked in the second degree of happiness, he asked whether, after Tellus, he knew another happier man. 3. Solon answered, "Cle'obis and Bi'ton of Argos, two brothers, perfect patterns of fraternal affection, and of the respect due from children to their parents. Upon a solemn festival, their mother, a priestess of Juno, was obliged to go to the temple; and, the oxen not being ready for her chariot, they put themselves in the harness, and drew it thither amidst the blessings of the people. Every mother present congratulated the priestess on the piety of her sons. She, in the transport of her joy and thankfulness, earnestly entreated the goddess to reward her children with the best thing that Heaven could give to man. Her prayers were heard; when the sacrifice was over, they fell asleep in the temple, and there died in a soft and peaceful slumber." 4. "What, then!" exclaimed Croesus, "you do not reckon me in the number of the happy?" "King of Lydia," replied Solon, "true philosophy, considering what an infinite number of vicissitudes and accidents the life of man is liable to, does not allow us to glory in any prosperity we enjoy ourselves, or to admire happiness in others, which, perhaps, may prove only transient or superficial. No man can be esteemed happy but him whom Heaven blesses with success to the last. As for those who are perpetually exposed to dangers, we account their happiness as uncertain as the crown to a champion before the combat is determined.” 5. It was not long before Croesus experienced the truth of what Solon had told him. Being defeated by Cyrus, King of Persia, and his capital taken, he was himself made prisoner, and, by order of the conqueror, laid bound upon a pile, to be burned alive. The unfortunate prince now recollected the admonition of the Athenian sage, and cried aloud, "O Solon, Solon, SOLON!" Cyrus, who was present with the chief officers of his court, was curious to know why Croesus pronounced that name with so much vehemence. Being told the reason, and reflecting upon the uncertainty of all sublunary things, he was touched with commiseration, ordered the monarch to be taken from the pile, and treated him afterwards with the utmost respect. Rollin. (Adapted.) WORD ANALYSIS AND DEFINITIONS. Fra ter'nal (frater, a brother), brotherly. In'fin îte (in, not; finite, bounded), boundless; endless. Leg'is la tor (legis, law; lator, one who brings), a lawgiver; one who makes laws for a state. Mon ́arch (mon, alone; arch, rule), a sole ruler; a king. Re'gal (reg, a king; al, pertaining to), kingly. Sub ́lu na ry (sub, under; luna, the moon), earthly. Tran'sient (trans, across; ient, going), passing over or away; of short duration. Vi cis'si tudes, regular changes; revolutions; mutations. LESSON XXX. TRUE WISDOM. 1. Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they fine it. Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is molten out of the stone. He setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out all perfection: the stones of darkness, and the shadow of death. 2. The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant; even the waters forgotten of the foot: they are dried up, they are gone away from men. As for the earth, out of it cometh bread; and under it is turned up as it were fire. The stones of it are the place of sapphires; and it hath dust of gold. 3. There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath not seen; the lion's whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it. He putteth forth His hand upon the rock; He overturneth the mountains by the roots. He cutteth out rivers among the rocks; and His eye seeth every precious thing. He bindeth the floods from overflowing, and the thing that is hid bringeth He forth to light. 4. But where shall WISDOM be found? and where is the place of understanding? Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living. The depth saith, It is not in me; and the sea saith, It is not with me. It can not be gotten for gold; neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof. 5. It can not be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious o'nyx, or the sapphire. The gold and the crystal can not equal it; and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels. of fine gold. No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls; for the price of wisdom is above rubies. The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold. 6. Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding? Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air. Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears. God understandeth the way thereof, and He knoweth the place thereof. For He looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven; to make the weight for the winds; and. He weigheth the waters by measure. 7. When He made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder, then did He see it, and declare it: He prepared it, yea, and searched it out. And unto man He said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is WISDOM; and to depart from evil is UNDERSTANDING. Book of Job. |