The Sun.
London, England, 1841-10-27 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

MRZA. 3 VZ. Bentley, London, 1841.
The " Mirza" iq a collection of Eastern stories,
chiefly Persian, supposed to have been told to
the author, while he was residing in the country,
by the 3lirza, or favourite poet of the Shah. The. most
ostentertaining of these stories is the one en-
titled" The Foolish Husband and the Virtuous
IVirc,” which relates the adventures of a beautiful
girl who is married to a rich fool of Ispahan, and
Is over-persuaded by him to allow herself to be
seen by the Shah on whom she makes just the
ravourable impression that her conceited and
unprincipled husband had calculated on. The
_virtuous Fatmeh, however-=such is the young
lady's name—resolutely refuses lending an ear
to the Shah's dishonourable proposals; and,
:with some difficulty, she succeeds in mak-
ing• her escape from Ispahan, in company
with her brother Ali, who assists her in her
flight. The eunuchs and chief officers of the
Court of course pursue the fair fligitive with all
Possible dispatch, and after a variety of wander-
ings they trace her to the mountain cave of a rob-
ber chief; with whom she and her brother have
taken refuge. On the Shah's being inthrmed of
he sets out for the cavern in question at the
=bean
°A a well-appointed bodyguard, and corn-
In'anes a desperate assault on the robber's strong
mountain fastness. After one or two fierce at-
ttaeks, which were as fiercely repulsed, the royal
r°°Ps succeed in capturing the robber chieftain,
Who
!nth,wishen asked by the Shalt what he had done
in the t'a,dyratnieb, replies, that she is hidden
where however she will never he dis-
ccorvnred, as she is under the express guardianship
goblins and spirits who infest the spot.
4,1,18 answer does not satisfy the enraged monarch,
fo;4titecordingly he resolves to search himself
ame runaway, and at the head of his body-
trus, enters
andi b the cave, which is of vast dime.nsio.ns,
turns ~T7,4,riches off into a hundred labyrinthine
-.iidnissap-p-oin'twindings. To his infinite surprise and
th v:;1; °lent, however, his search is altogether
,;-11,g; no female—nothing even that bears
ande rawiance of the human form—is visible;
6, is just about to pursue his way back, when,
tejklane ',ed glimmer of the torches which his at-
in nts
.carry in their hands, he perceives,
Lice a small nook or recess, something that looks
is Woncian. Ile hastens joyfully towards
that it PI combo. close to the figure, finds
Lt Is a statue stone, and is artfully per-
e aded by the captive robber, and his own offi-
niers) who are anxious to get back to the enjoy-
tbe,„rls of a Court-life at Ispahan, that this is
in
tu,
Patmeh, who has been thus petrified
at
I.lxl her stone by the fairy spirits of the cavern,
:o own special request, as she was
us to
harern. escape
the degradation of the
royalThe' story concludes with
itaildallusion to the second successful flight of the
I:l,,Y.,„andra• her brother, and their safe arrival at
We have here given merely the lead-
ing outlines of the tale ; but may add that seve-
IV of the characters introduced—especially Kaka
r;rlTheh, the Shah's favourite jester—are spi-
c.oLd:ll7 a-
rh lid naturally drawn, and that a vein of
pe—le humour, of the quietest and archest sort,
r_rvades the narrative, and forms its principal
"ornMendation.

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