The Northern Pacific farmer. [volume] (Wadena, Minn.) 1878-1885, 1881-02-03


THE FIVE STARS OF KOREFSH.
An Arab .sheik, owner of 100 cam
els,~ s0o~horses~and-~l, 600 sheep, always
kept his encampment at some distance
FROM his kihshen,-1 He hap five SONS and
four'daushtess, Wild, as thby grew, were re-
garded in that region as the flower of that
country: SO rartfnl> was thur 1traaining, SO
pure their litess One SVening, when the
father and HIS ~eldeet 4oA were returning
to the encampment, having ridden nearly
seventy miles in search Of ~ gomeecamels
which had strayed the boy asked lglEsermfe4
sion to speak, and then asked his father
why he and his-1brothers and sisters were
fed from day TO- daygdn dates and bread,
with strip of dry meat at noon; when the
boys and girls in neighboring encampments
shared this luxury and that-fresh meat,
killed daily, fruits of names unknown
from Yemen, and spices from the ships of
ln Ana his ts,.er said: Are 81 your bodies
strong? An1cannot you rideas well as they?"
The son replied: There is9 rot a youth in
either camp who can throw me in wrestling;
and s you knorw.iif have asked'to draw bri-
llleor to dism6unt to- day. '.:A~ :: ~
Il HI father said: This is Ehat your foaod
isagiven for II our fare is simple, it is that
YOU may not be tempted to prize the food
morest than the strength for which the food
Another day day 1.-The father of the sheik had
sent courier til all the camps to ask the:at-
tendance of his Sons, and of their friends,
that they might hear an ambassador who
had come from Yemen. He took with him
his second son, to care for the horses and
to learn the methods'of embassies. One day;
they went, one day they remained at tho
encampment, one day they returned e! " On
hours. thew saw in the horizon the black
tents Of their tribe. Then the son asked
leave to speak, and said to his father:
ooh, my father, why do you sleep upon
the ground, when your kindred had eush-
ions and woven mats brought by their slaves,
and had furs from the North ready, should
the night be cold. Why, in our camp do
We have neither furs, cushions Or 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
as we'll as they?" <.s,z,..s... 49,. ~,
And his son answered.: There is not a
youth in their tents who can throw me in
wrestling. you know if I ask to draw bride
or dismount to- day" ~; ~ Il:
His father said: This is what sleep is
given to us for. If our beds are simple, it
sleep more than the strength for which the
sleep is given" - q p
At another time there came a message
that the elder brother of the ssheik was i'll,
and had sent for him. The shiek rode
across the desert on the swiftest 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 lamen-
tations over him. and for two days they rode
on their return. On the eight day, as the
sun went down, the boy asked leave of, his,
father to speak, and said:
''Why do my cousins dress in shawls Of
cashmere, in silks of Ispaham, and wear
clasps of gold and pearl from Se:enaib,
while we are dressed in camels HAIR and
wool of our own docks and herds, which
my sisters spun and my mother wove?'
And his father said: care you not as
they? Are not your clothes as easyfo run
ming and riding?" - -
And the boy said: ION the evening when
We came to the camp, there was a wrestling
match. threw all my cousins in their
turn; and, when the turn came round 1
threw them all again. We have ridden in
two DAYS so far that the ravens are weary of
following. You know if have asked to
dismount or draw rein."
And his father said: "Our clothes are
given to us to screen us from the sun and
rain, and the pestilence which walketh in
darkness. If your clothing is simpler than
your kinsmen's, it is that you may not be
tempted to value the thing more than the
strength and swiftness for which the thing
is given" - !& 'tly.-, ':'f Il. :. I'll -
Again, the word came that the chiefs and
their children should carry each his Offering
to the temple at Mecca. And his father,
with his wife and children, and forty atten-,
dants, went to the city, with fty cameh and
fifty horses. The Offering that he made
was bezoar and onyx and myrrh. Seventy
days were they in going, in sojourning and
in returning. On the SEVENTEEN day.. as
theyaapproached: the date palms which,
they knew, the forth SOM 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 be-
meath 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
your sisters spoken untruely?"'e>'' :: Fl
never, my 1aCneI.
"or impurely?'
''Never." .... s.
:..Or mean1ys" f. - -.
''Never."
Have they turned from beggar? Have
they failed to share theirTsalt?" :'tt ,t.:':t
Never"
Have they refused to their mother all
that was due herr"
Meyer. xD4~<,g Is :
"'Apd LAS GOD seemed tar away from you
because the sky is higher than the temple
dome?"
sleep on the sands beneath the stars" -