ART. IV.-ORIENTAL FOLKLORE, BY E. REHATSEK. Mámún and the old Persian.

IT

T is related that, when it occurred to the mind of the Prince of the Believers, Muhammad Amyn, to deprive of the succession, and of the Khalifate, his brother A'bdullah Mámún, who was at that time Governor of Khorásán, he wrote him a letter to inform him that he stood greatly in need of his presence in order to entrust him with a most important affair; he requested him to leave, as his substitute in Khorásán, a man capable of governing that province with a strong hand, and forthwith himself to travel to Baghdad. At the same time the spies entertained by Mámún in the capital, wrote to him that Amyn intended to deprive him of the succession, and to proclaim his own son Músa, heir presumptive to the Khalifate. When Mámán had received and perused the letters, he consulted his viziers, who advised him to temporize, to keep the Khalif at bay, to allege as an excuse the vastness of the territory of Khorásán surrounded as it was by infidel nations, who were always on the look-out for attacking it; and lastly, that he could not find any one who might take his place. After Mámún had replied to his brother in these terms, Amyn again sent him letters, soliciting him to come; adding also that he would detain him in Baghdád for a very short time, merely to avail himself of his advice in an affair of the greatest moment, the import of which he could not communicate in writing. Mámún showed these new letters of the Khalif again to his viziers, whom he requested to tell him what to do, but they could only repeat their former advice; accordingly Mámún replied nearly in the same terms as before. On the other hand, the spies whom Amyn maintained in that province, informed him in their turn, that Mámún was on his guard, preparing for defence, and that all his viziers concurred with him in his resolution to offer resistance. Then Amyn, despairing to decoy his brother into the net, imprisoned all the partizans and friends of Mámún who happened to be in Baghdad, and deprived them of all the property he could get hold of

When this news reached Mámún, he was greatly troubled, and again assembled his viziers in council, who unanimously persisted in their first advice, and encouraged Mámún to persevere whilst waiting for a better turn of fortune. This he did; and Amyn, finding his brother so unwilling to come, no longer waited for him, but invited all his subjects to pay homage to his infant son.

All complied, and swore allegiance to Músa, who received the surname, Nátek-bi-l-hagg (speaker of truth), although he was not yet able to utter a truth or a falsehood. Amyn entrusted the education of this child to A'ly B. E'sa B. Mahán, who had for a long time been Governor of Khorásán, and had so well treated the people and captivated the nobles by his liberality, that he had acquired immense popularity. Being questioned by the Khalif on the affairs of Khorásán, A'ly gave him all the information required, and added, that if he were again to be sent to that province, scarcely two men would refuse to obey him. Therefore Amyn appointed him Governor of Khorásán, and of any other countries he might occupy; he gave him large sums of money, the greater portion of his army, and as great a quantity of ammunition as he wanted,

When Mámún heard of these preparations, he wavered, because it appeared to him that he had not sufficient forces to oppose to Aly B. E'sa, He having mounted a horse to ride to one of his villas, where his viziers had assembled to deliberate concerning the present emergency, a decrepit old Persian made his appearance, who requested him in the Persian language, to redress some grievance. Taking compassion on the decaying age of the Persian, Mámún ordered him also to be mounted, to be led to the place where he himself was going, and there to be introduced to his presence without any further permission.

Thus it happened, that, whilst Mámún was sitting with his viziers in the council-chamber, the old man was ushered in, and he beckoned to him to take a seat; then, turning to his councillors, he informed them of the doings of Amyn, of the imprisonment of his own adherents, of the confiscation of their property, and of the mission of A'ly B. E'sa. Mámún believed that the old man had no knowledge of Arabic, and that, being burdened with anxiety concerning his own affairs, he would pay no attention to the discussions of the council; wherefore also the viziers, who perceived that Mámún entertained no suspicions whatever about the old man, spoke freely on the subjects for which they had been assembled.

The affair in hand being under discussion, one of the viziers said:"I, for my part, am of opinion, that foreign soldiers ought to be enlisted who know not A'ly B. E'sa, and that he ought to be attacked with such forces."

"It seems to me," continued another, turning to Mámún," that you ought immediately to send envoys to the Khalif to excuse yourself, and that you ought to obey all his behests, whilst waiting for the aid of God. Because, if you abandon your right of succession in consequence of superior force, as is well known to

everybody, you will always have a most evident ground for re-vindicating your rights when you are able,"

"My opinion is," said a third, "that you should collect all your faithful adherents, and with them attack some infidel province to allay their scruples against disobeying the Khalif. We shall fight bravely, and hope that God will grant us the victory. Having become masters of a powerful State, our position will be more firm, so that we shall gain many adherents in the empire of the Khalif, and shall be able to wage a holy war, until God has accomplished His high design."

Another said:"Let us shut ourselves up in some fortress in which we may wait what turn affairs will take."

Lastly, another spoke as follows:-" According to my opinion, O! Amyr, the best plan for you would be, to take refuge with the king of the Turks, and so claim his protection against a treacherous and covenant breaking brother. Do not all princes, when a calamity befalls them from which they cannot escape, act thus"?

This expedient pleased Mámún greatly at first, but after a little reflection he said :-"Am I then to give an opportunity to the Turks, who are infidels, to attack Musalmáns"? Then he gave his councillors leave to depart, and they did so.

Casting a glance at the spot where the old Persian was sitting, Mámún recollected him and made him a sign to come forward, Then he called for an interpreter through whom he intended to ask the man who he was, and what he wanted. The old man replied in Arabic, "O! Amyr," said he, "I have come about an affair, but have here found one more important and more worthy of solicitude." Mámún replied :-" Say what you like; it will serve for talk," and the old man continued: "O! Amyr, when I presented myself to you, I could not be numbered among those who love you. But now, God has filled my heart with great affection toward the Amyr."

It is said that there are three kinds of love. The first and greatest, which embraces the interior and the exterior of a man, is innate love, and such is love towards God, the Maker and Producer of everything. The second is factitious, such as the love of the benefited towards the benefactor. Lastly, the third is accidental love, of which there are two species: the first is, that which resembles innate love, because its power extends to the interior and to the exterior; and the second is, the love of subjects for their princes, and of slaves for their masters.

"But I say to the Amyr, may God exalt him, that I feel myself attached to the Amyr by three kinds of love: that of attachment, of benefit, and of the occasion. If the Amyr

accepts my affection, realizes my hope, accomplishes my wish, invests me with the robe of intimacy, and honours me by allowing me to consider myself one of his followers, he does a mere act of generosity without having any need of it; but his servant hopes to reciprocate his benevolence by gratitude, and his condescending familiarity by true affection and sincere counsels"! "What religion do you profess"? asked the Amyr, "I am one of the Magi," replied he; whereon Mámún dropped his head as if to reflect on these words, and the Persian added: "Do not despise me, O! Amyr, because my condition is humble, and because you abhor my faith."

It is said:-Do not refute the opinions of any one; for, whatever they are, he may be useful to you. He may be a noble or a plebeian; if the former, you may adorn his retinue, if the latter, he can defend your life or property."

Speaking of the humbleness of my condition to the Amyr, I meant to imply neither baseness of character nor of blood. As to my character it depends upon the Amyr to test it, when, and how he pleases; and as to my blood, it is of the royal lineage of Persia. I wished only to inform the Amyr, that my religion may be abject according to the opinion of the Amyr, and that I live in the bonds of vassalage, and as a tributary in a state of inferiority."

"No, I entertain no aversion whatever towards you," replied Mámán, "and if you would make a profession of our religion we might employ you in an office of the State." The old man said:"I heartily desire to comply with the wishes of the Amyr, but cannot do so now; though afterwards I perhaps shall. If the Amyr will permit me to reason upon the argument which he had a little while ago considered with his councillors, I may perchance tell him something about it." "Speak," replied Mamún; and the old man continued :-"I fully appreciate the advice just now imparted to the Amyr by his viziers. All endeavoured to solve the difficulty, but none of their suggestions meet with my approval." "Then, give me your own opinion," said Mámún; and the old man continued:-" Among the maxims inherited by my fathers from their ancestors, I met with the following:

"If a wary man encounters a difficulty which he cannot avert, he must commit his affairs with a firm trust to the Dispenser of all things, but, for all that, not abandon his own, and defend it against all comers. If, acting thus, he fails to gain the victory, he will at least escape blame."

"Old man," interrupted Mámún, "no one is fit to impart advice, unless he knows what is true. We have accorded you

our confidence without knowing by any proof that you deserve it; by thus acting we wished to disregard the injunctions of prudence, and to give you a sign of our confidence by speaking to you frankly in pledge of having favourably accepted your offer. For this reason I also inform you, that A'ly B. E'sa, the man sent against us, is more master of this country thau we ourselves are. Moreover, if we desired to offer resistance, we could not do it, for want of money."

"O! Amyr," replied the old man, "you must dismiss all these ideas from your head; and not pay any attention to what has been announced to you."

It is said :-Do not go to meet him who is impelled by injustice. He will not reign who is aided by wickedness, nor he who has ascended the throne by violence.

"I shall narrate to you the story of a man, continued the Persian, which, if your case be adapted to his, may aid you to obtain the same advantage as he did."

of Persia,

"Relate it," said Mámún; and the old man continued as follows: "Khoshnaváz, the king of the Hephthalites, determined to liberate Firúz, the son of Yezdegerd, and king of Persia, whom he had made prisoner, on the promise of Firúz not to wage war The king of the white against him, nor to seek to offend him by Huns, and Firuz the king fraud, and placed at the extreme limit of the Hephthalite territory a stone, which Firúz engaged by a solemn promise not to overstep. Trusting in the conditions of peace, the king of the Hephthalites allowed Firúz to depart; but the latter had no sooner returned to the capital of his realm, than-full of shame, and disgusted with the above treaty-he determined to wage war again against Khoshnaváz. When he, however, declared his intention to his viziers, they warned him to be careful of breaking treaties, and represented to him that he would meet the fate reserved for the iniquitous, if he did so. Their words made no impression upon him, and when they reminded him of the conditions stipulated by Khoshnaváz, he replied: "I have sworn not to overstep that stone, very well; I shall get it carried on an elephant at the head of the army; and thus not one of my soldiers will overstep it."

Seeing him ruled by his passion instead of considering the reasons advanced by his viziers, they concluded, that his intellect allowed itself to be guided by his desires; therefore, they became silent, and determined henceforth not so say any thing more to him about this affair.

It is said :-He who is too unsteady in his own intentions, will slip, and he who domineers over others, will be humbled.