The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1876-09-15
HAKIM, THE DREAMER.

Hakim, surnamed the Dreamer, was
the only son of Hamet, one of the prin-
cipal Ulemas of Constantinople, a priv
ileged class who hold their lands inde-
pendently of the will of the Grand
Signior, and can only be dispossessed
according to law. Having wealthy and
indulgent father, he was free to follow
the bent of that inclination for indolent
repose which ID one of the leading traits
of the followers of Mohammed, who, be-
ieving that Allah governs all things,
take little pains to obtain the good
graces or avoid the frowns of fortune.
Among the race of indolent Mussul-
mans, Hakim was the most indolent.
He was never known to go out of his
way to ayoid a misfortune or attain
qualification; and great portion of his
time was passed in indolent contempla-
ton, SO profound that, in time, he be-
came known by no other name than that
of Hakim, the Dreamer.
His favorite place of resort was Sou
ari, an extensive cemetery, charmingly
situated on projecting point nearly op-
posite to the Seven Towers of the Sc
raglio, and where, amid the dead of past
ages, he smoked his pipe, gazed around
unconscious of the inspiration of the
magnificent scene spread out before him,
and fell into q state of mind, betwixt
sleeping and waking, in which, though
the senses are not actually dormant, the
imagination often usurps their empire
and palms upon them thousand de-
ceptions. One calm summer evening,
when the long, lingering twilight threw
its soft, hazy vail over the face of nature,
and the Propontis lay spread ont before
him without ripple, hakim was seated
under the shade Of an aged tree that
threw its wide branches over the tomb of
the famous Derrina AL Hader, renowned
for his sanctity among all orthodox Mus
sulmans. The scene was beautiful be-
yond description. On one hand lay
stretched out before him the vast capital
of the empire of the Crescent, which,
though shorn of its beams, still retains
the vestiges of its former magnifcence,
rising from whose bosom might be seen
the glittering domes and minarets of the
splendid mosques of st. Sophia, of the
Sultan Valida, and of Solyman, the
Magnificent. On the other hand, the
CLASSY mirror of the Propontis, glowing
with the purple rays of the setting sun,
and thickly covered with vessels, whose
white sails hung idly from the mast,
spread far and wide, bounded, in the
distance, by the smiling coast of the
ancient Nicomedia. In another direc-
ton might be seen the opening of the
far-famed Bosphorus, ON whose shorre
the adventurous Argonauts landed es
their search for the golden fleece whein
Pollux slew the giant Amycus where
good old Phineus was prosecuted by the
Harpies, and which is infamous in the
eyes of all the advocates of free trade
for being the first place on record where
q custom house was established.
But HaBim saw not these beauties.
He was unconscious of the present, and
of the past he was ignorant. His eyes
indeed roved from one object to another,
but without seeing anything, and his
mind vas equally exclusive without
dwelling on any one object. But his
imagination remained wide awake, ex-
cited as ii was by the fumes of his pipe,
REINFORCED by pill of opium, which
Hakim, being an absolute teetotaler, was
accustomed to swallow to give additional
zest to his reveries. At length, by de.
grees, the entire scene around him
faded away, or at least he became for q
time totally unconscious of it's existence
as well as his own, and the following
pageant passed over his head:
1t seemed as If he were transported,
he knew not how, to those times and
regions in which mankind embodied
their own passions, feelings and appe
tites in the form of gods and worshipped