Time fails to tell of Camaralzaman and Badur's further adventures, their separation on the way to the prince's father's home, the loss of Badur's talisman, Camaralzaman's danger in the city of the idolators, his discovery of an underground treasure, the miraculous recovery of the talisman, the happy reunion, etc. It is a tale of pure romance, and about it hangs the glamor of the East.

We have all dwelt in this enchanted land and have been enthralled at some time or other by these wonderful tales. The very titles bring back vivid memories: "Story of the Three Calenders," "Voyages of Sindbad the Sailor," "History of Ganem, the Slave of Love," "Story of the Hunchback," "Story of Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp," "Story of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves," "Story of the Enchanted Horse." And we feel grateful to the sultan of the Indies who needed entertainment to cure him of his cruel designs, and to the lovely Scheherazade who told the tales.

"A thousand and one nights had passed away in these innocent amusements, which contributed so much towards removing the sultan's unhappy prejudice against the fidelity of women. His temper was softened. He was convinced of the merit and great wisdom of the sultaness Scheherazade. He remembered with what courage she had offered to be his wife, without fearing the death to which she knew she exposed herself, as so many sultanesses had suffered within her knowledge.

"These considerations, and the many other good qualities he knew her to possess, induced him at last to forgive her. 'I see, lovely Scheherazade,' said he, 'that you can never be at a loss for these little stories, which have so long diverted me. You have appeased my anger. I freely renounce the law I had imposed on myself. I restore your sex to my favourable opinion, and will have you to be regarded as the deliverer of the many damsels I had resolved to sacrifice to my unjust resentment.'

"The sultaness cast herself at his feet, and embraced them tenderly with all the marks of the most lively and perfect gratitude.

“The grand vizier was the first who learned this agreeable intelligence from the sultan's own mouth. It was instantly carried to the city, towns, and provinces; and gained the sultan, and the lovely Scheherazade his consort, universal applause, and the blessings of all the people of the extensive empire of the Indies."1

1 Translation by Scott.

A Few General Reference Works

WARNER. Library of the World's Best Literature (45 vols.). United States Publishers Association.

LOLIÉE. A History of Comparative Literature. G. P. Putnam's Sons. MOULTON. World Literature. The Macmillan Company.

CARLYLE. Lectures on the History of Literature. Charles Scribner's Sons. Lectures on Literature. Columbia University Press.

There are several collections of classics, of which Everyman's Library is the most complete. Send to E. P. Dutton & Company for list.

Reference List

BREASTED. Ancient Times. Ginn and Company.

BREASTED. History of Egypt. Charles Scribner's Sons.

Warner Library. Articles on Egyptian literature and other similar articles. MAX MÜLLER (Ed.). Sacred Books of the East (50 vols.). Oxford University Press.

TRÜBNER. Oriental Series (about 50 vols.). Kegan Paul, London.

LUZAC. Semitic Text and Translation Series (18 vols.). Luzac and Company, London.

HORNE (Ed.). Sacred Books and Early Literature of the East (14 vols.). Parke, Austin, and Lipscomb.

Literatures of the World. D. Appleton and Company. Volumes on Chinese, Japanese, Sanskrit, and Arabic literatures.

FRAZER. A Literary History of India. Charles Scribner's Sons.

BROWNE. A Literary History of Persia (2 vols.). Charles Scribner's Sons. NICHOLSON. A Literary History of the Arabs. Charles Scribner's Sons. BREASTED. Development of Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt. Charles Scribner's Sons.

MASPERO. Popular Stories of Ancient Egypt. G. P. Putnam's Sons. HARPER. Assyrian and Babylonian Letters. University of Chicago Press. HOPKINS. The Great Epic of India. Charles Scribner's Sons.

DUTT (Tr.). The Ramayana and the Mahabharata (Everyman's Library). E. P. Dutton & Company.

TAYLOR. Prophets, Poets, and Philosophers of the Ancient World. The Macmillan Company.

TAGORE. Several volumes. The Macmillan Company.

Several other works have been mentioned in the text of the chapter.

Suggested Topics

Egyptian literature and thought.

A geographical study of Asia.

The maxims of Confucius.

The migrations of the Indo-Europeans.

Religions of Asia—a comparative view.

The epics of India.

Rabindranath Tagore and his writings.

The Shah Namah of Persia.

Omar Khayyám and his philosophy of life. The typical life and thought of the East. Tales from the Arabian Nights.

CHAPTER III

THE BIBLE AS LITERATURE

The Hebrew people have made by far the greatest contribution to the literature of the East. It is the East that has developed the religious systems of the world, and here too the Hebrew contribution is preeminent-unmatched in purity of thought, in profound understanding of the problems of life, and in depth of spiritual insight. The poetic imagery and the sustained and pellucid narrative, to say nothing of the religious ideas, of the books of the Old and the New Testament make a universal appeal. It is not to be wondered at that a few centuries ago our ancestors were called "the people of a Book," or that in our more complex days the Bible continues to be the most widely distributed of books in our language, as in most languages. It has been used on occasion as a source of despotic dogma and as an authority on all matters of history and science, but more commonly as the determining rule of life for the guidance of men. Our own study of it, however, in this place will be based upon its value as a work of literature.

Contents. The Old Testament, as given in our English Bible, consists of thirty-nine books, comprising prophetical, or propheticalhistorical, legal, and poetic writings dating from approximately 1000 to 100 B.C. The New Testament contains twenty-seven books, all written probably in the first one hundred and fifty years of our era, and presents the life and sayings of Jesus and the history and literature of the early Christian Church. These sixty-six books. form a library produced by many authors widely separated in time and circumstances of life-practically all, however, of one race and with an underlying purpose in their writings that gives the entire work a marvelous unity and coherence.

Matters of history. The traditions of the Hebrew people carry them back to the patriarch Abraham, who, reputed to have come

from Mesopotamia, settled in Palestine at a very early period. His descendants, nomads like himself, dwelt in that land for some generations until, driven by famine, they entered Egypt and there remained for a few centuries, first as welcome visitors and then as slaves. Under the leadership of Moses, a striking national figure, they escaped from Egypt and, after many vicissitudes in the wilderness, reached the borders of their ancestral home, Palestine (the "Promised Land"). Here Moses died, leaving the leadership to Joshua, who entered the land and began the slow process of winning it over from the more highly civilized peoples (nearly all Semites, like the Hebrews) who dwelt there.

From this point forward we are on more certain historic ground. The close of a rude period of conquest and settlement came with the establishment of a monarchy. David, the second king, is on the whole a fine, heroic type of man, notable for his courage, his attractive personality, his abounding vitality, and his instinct for leadership. The height of his reign was approximately 1000 B.C. He unified the kingdom, subjugated the enemies within his borders, extended his territory from the edge of the desert at the south to the foothills of Mount Hermon at the north (one hundred and fifty miles), and was a prominent factor in creating a national spirit and advancing literature and religion. The despotism of his successor, however, led to the disruption of the kingdom. Israel at the north and Judah at the south presented thereafter a divided front to their greedy neighbors, and in the end (Israel 722 B.C. and Judah 586 B.C.) were taken into captivity by the Assyrians and Babylonians. The remnant that returned under the edict of Cyrus (538 B.c.) and thereafter were mainly people of Judah. By this time members of the Hebrew race had come to be known generally as Jews, and this is their designation to this day.

Jerusalem, the capital city, remained the center of thought and faith during the closing centuries of the Old Testament period. For six hundred years the chief spokesmen of the Jews were the prophets, whose double function it was to give a message to their times and to look forward to better days and the coming of a deliverer. Palestine was ruled successively by Babylonians, Persians,