The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1881-04-29
The FIVE SLABS or K0REISA
M EpwARp EvEsrrr HALE.

me FfKE SJaHS OF hOhEISH.
NJ EDWARD EvEsFTT HALE.
An Arab sheik, owner of one hundred
camels. and three hundred horses and
one thousand sheep, always kept his en-
campment ut some distance from his
kinsmen. He had five sons and two
daughters, who, as they grew, were re-
garded in all that region as the flower of
the country. so careful was their train
ing, so thorough their accomplishments,
and so pure their lives One evening
when the father and his son were return
ing TO the encamPment, having ridden
nearly seventy miles III search of some
camcls which had strayed, the boy asked
permission to speak, and then asked his
father why he and his brothers and SIS
ters were ted from day to day on dates
and bread. with "A strip of dry meat at
noon, when the boys and girls IN neigh
boring eucampmeuts shared this luxury,
and that-fresh meat, killed daily, fruits
of names unknown from Yemen, and
spices from the ships Of India.
And his father said; care not your
bodies strong? And can you not ride as
well as they
The son replied: "There Is not a youth
in either camp who can throw me IN
wrestling: and You know if 1 have asked
to draw bride or dismount to-day"
His father said: THAT Is what your
food is given for If our fare Is simple,
it Is that you may not be tempted to
prize the food more than the strength for
which the food IS given"
Another day the father of the shiek
had sent a courier to all the camps to ask
the attendance Of ms sons, and of their
friends, that they might hear an embas-
sador who had come from Yemen. He
took with him his second son, 10 take
care Of the horses and to learn the meth
ods of embassies. One day they went,
one day they remained at the encamp-
ment, one day they returned On the
third day, when they had ridden ten
hours. they saw in the horizon the black
tents of their tribe. Then the son asked
leave to speak, and said to his father:
80 my father, why do you sleep upon
the ground, when your kindred had
cushions and woven mats brought by thy
slaves. and had furs from the north ready,
should the night be cold, Why, IN our
camp, do we have neither furs, cushions
nor slaves?"
And his father said: ''We sleep at
night that we may be strong tomorrow.
Are not your bodies as strong, and can
YOU not ride rs well rs they?
And his son wered: There is not
n youth IN their tents who can throw me
in wrestling; you know if / have asked
to draw bride or to dismount to-day"
His father said: This Is what sleep
is given TO US for. If our beds are
simple, it is that we may not be tempted
To prize the sleep more than the
strength for which the sleep Is given.
At another time there came a massage
that the elder brother of the shelk was
i'll. and had sent for him. The shelk
rode across the desert on the swlftes
dromedary. and took with him his third
son. Two days they rode, two days they
watched with the dying man, two days
they Joined IN the lamentations over
him, and for two days they rode on their
return. On the eighth day, as the sun
went down, the boy asked leave OF his
father to speak, and said:
"Whv do my cousins dress in shawls
of cashmere. in silks of Ispahan, and
wear clasps of gold and pearl from
Screnden. while we are dressed IN camels
hair. and wool of our own tiocks and
herds. which my sisters spun and my
mother wove?"
And the father said: care you not as
warm as they? Are you not as strong
as they? Are not your clothes as easy
for running and for riding?
And the boy said: "On the evening
when we came to the camp there was a
wrestling match. l threw all my cousins
in their turn; and, when the turn came
round. I threw them all again. We have
idden in two days so far that the ravens
are weary of following You know II /
have asked to dismount or draw rein.
And his father said: "Our clothes are
given us to screen us from sun and rain,
and the pestilence which walketh IN
darkness. If your clothing Is simpler
than your kinsmen's, 1t Is that you may
not be tempted TO value the things more
than the strength and swlftness for
which the thing is given.
Again. the word came that the chiefs
and their children should carry each his
offering to the temple at Mecca. And
this father. with his wife and children,
and forty attendants, went to the city.
with forty horses. The offering that he
made was oezoar and onyx and myrrh.
Seventy days were they in going, In so
iourning and returning. On the seven
tieth day as they approached the date
palms which they knew, the fourth son
asked leave to speak to his father and
said:
'Why do the people of the city go to
the mosque to worship God, and we
kneel before the open sky?"
And his father was troubled, and his
countenance fell, and he said: "Since
we left the city have either your brothers
or sisters spoken untruly?"
Never, my father.
cor impurely?"
"Never.
COR meanly"
"Never"
''Have they turned from a beggar
Have they failed to share their salt %
Never
''And has God seemed far away from
you because the sky is higher than the
temple dome?"
''Never so near, my father, as when
sleep on the sands beneath the stars"
And his father said: ''The temple is
built, lest in cities men forget the God Of
love. If you worship beneath the stars,
it is that you may not be tempted tc
| honor the stones more than Him whC
made the stones, to value His house
more than Him who dwells everywhere.
At last, the old man was sick untC
death. His four eldest sons had gone
with their households, one North, ont
South, one East, one West He called
his youngest son to close his eyes, and
said to him:
my son, hast thou ever seen Satan 2
And the son said: "Never y