Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1877-03-01
EASTERN PARALLELS.

i 1AOAkAN FAkABLES. -
Lsttoof was 1 poor man who l,ved in
the kings capital. He vas very poor,
Icr though industrious, be was always
having some misfortune. He made
many plans for Improving his circum-
stances, but they always miscarried.-
He often wondered Why Il vas that
eehefs succeeded better in the world,
hpt somehow be could never get more
te:n barely suaieed Tor his daily neees-
one sisHk when hs mad fallen s.aeep,
- sgee - ~ l11rsltiss. - hsd
= seNG = = 61eoi6Is q II - !
He thought be was in heaven; and
the thing that struck him particularly,
as he walked about in the upper world,
was this, that the floor on which he trod
was all perforated with holes Of differ.
ent sizes.
He summoned up courage to accost
one Of the shining ones whom he saw
there, and to ask him the meaning OF
these holes.
These" said the angel, "are the
openings through which the bounties OF
heaven descend upon the inhabitants OF
the earth. And whereas some ofthem,
as you see, are Of q great size; these
are the passages Tor the supply of those
who are on earth called rich and pros
porous, for they receive large share
OF heavens good things. And where
as others, as you see, are smaller; these
are the openings for the lots Of men in
humber station, each one receiving ac-
cording to the size Of the hole assigned
to him.
"And could you not show me the
opening Of my LOTT" said Lattoof with
some eagerness.
"Come this way" said the angel,
land you shall see it,
So he led the way for some distance,
and indicated very small opening-it
seemed as small as pin point.-and
Lattoof understood that that represe ented
the supply Of Heavens blessings he re-
ceived.
"Now" thought he, "if the angel
would but turn his back for little,
might widen this opening" And when
he had waited tor little, till no one
observed him, he essayed to execute his
purpose. Finding no tool Of any kind,
he set to work with his finger, and pro-
ceeded to scrape and pick and dig with
his nail to widen the hole. His work
was proceeding slowly but satisfactory
ly, when, to his great misfortune, he
t-gave his finger sudden turn and
wrenched off the nail, thus not only FL
ling the hole but causing him great pain;
so he cried out in bis sleep, "Oh, oh +!
alas, alas murder!'
Now it happened that at that moment
the nightwatch was passing Lattoofs
door; hearing such cries, they burst
open the door to see the cause Of the
alarm, and found Luttoof in bed, pre-
tending. as they thought, to be asleep.
"You are cunning fellow" they
said; "come, get up, and tell Us what
is this you are abouti"
The poor man, what between his
strange dream and the sudden appear
ance Of the policeman, did not we'll
know what TO say, and of course he was
marched of to prison.
In the morning he was brought before
the Agha Of the police; aud when the
watchman had recounted how they had
heard the cries of murder within his
house at the dead Of night, he was Or
dered to give an account Of himself.
| Now all he could tell was the story
of his dream, as We related it; but the
Agha looked upon that as tale concoc.
ted TO conceal some dreadful crime, and
ordered him to be kept under arrest till
an examination could be made.
Still no trace Of murder could be found
in Lattoofs house. nor was any person
reported, as murdered, and when ques-
:. toned repeatedly, he adhered to the
same tale of his wonderful dream.
Now the king was in the habit OF in
quiring for all the news of the day, and
among other things told him to besuile
the time was the story Of Lattoof, in
which he was SO interested that he or
dered the man to be brought before him.
The king was satisfied. on inquiry,
that Lattoof was simple-minded fellow
and had compassion on him in his pow
erty.
"Cheer up" he said, eve shall see
If We cannot widen the opening Of this
lot of yours"
So taking him out to an open space
near the palace, he said, take a stone
and throw II as tar as you can, and all
the space traversed by the stone shall
be yours"
"Now," thought Lattoof. "here is a
| chance; for who is greater than the
king:"
$50 he picked up a stone, poised it,
and threw II with all his might.
do not know what it was-whether
beam oil wood overhead, or stone
archwsy, or telegraph wire: but some
thing was right in the path OF the stone
that arrested its flight. so tha. il re.
bounded on Lattoof head and laid him
dead on the ground.
la that hour the king said.
"verily. Iperceive that what is shut
in heaven cannot be opened on earth.
Once upon a time there were two
brothers that lived in the same town.
The one named Assad was very rich,
for God had prospered him, and he had
houses, and lands, much money besides.
But the world had not been so propitious
10 his brother Selim, for he had to earn
his bread by hard daily labor. But for
all that Selim was the happier of the
two. When his days labor was done,
he would come home and, after frugal
meal, take down hrs tambourine, and