Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1886-02-05
CHAPTER II.

ion.

The discontent Of RasselaS in the happy
rdIey
Here the sons and daughters of Abyssin-
ia lived only to know the soft vicissitudes
of pleasure and repose, attended by all
that were skilful to delight, and gratified |
with whatever the senses can enjoy. They !
wandered in gardens of fragrance, and |
slept in the fortresses of security. Every |
art was practised to make them pleased
with their own condition. The sages who
instructed them told them of nothing but
the mseries of public life, and described
all beyond the mountains as regions of
calamity, where discord was always rag
ing, and where man preyed upon man.
To heighten their opinion of their own
felicity, they were daily entertained with
songs, the subject of which was the
happy rdlley. Their appetites were excit-
ed by frequent enumerations of different
enoyments and revelry and merriment
was the business of every hour from the
dawn of morning to the close of even.
These methods were generally success
full: few of the princes had ever wished
to enlarge their bounds, but passed their
lives in full conviction that they had all
within their reach that art or nature could
bestow. and ptied those whom fate had
excluded from this seat of tranquility, as
the sport of chance and the slaves of
misery.
Thus they rose in the morning and lay
down at night, pleased with each other
and with themselves: all but Rasselas,
who in the twenty-siXth year of his age
began to withdraw himself from their
pastimes and assemblies, and to delight
i'm solitary walks and silent meditation.
He often sat before tables covered with
luxury, and forgot to taste the dainties
that were placed before him; he rose alb
ruptly in the midst of the song and hastily
retired beyond the sound of music. Ills
attendants observed the change and en-
deavored to renew his love of pleasure;
he neglected their ofliciousnesS, and re-
pulsed their invitations, and spent day
after day on the banks of rivulets shelter
ed with trees, where he sometimes listened
to the birds in the branches, sometimes
observed the fish playing i'll the stream,
and anon cast his eyes upon the pastures
and mountains filled with animals, of
which some were biting the heritage, and
some sleeping among the bushes.
, This singularity of his humor made
: him much observed. One of the sages, in
whose conversation he had formerly de-
lighted followed him secretly, in hope of
discovering the cause of his disquiet.
Rasselas. who knew not that any one
was near him, having for some time fixed
his eyes upon the goats, that were brows-
!, ing among the rocks, began to compare
their condition with his own.
what" said he, ''malles the difference
between man and all the rest of the ami
nal creation: Every beast that stray,
beside me has the same corporal necessi
ties with myself; he is hungry and crops
the grass. he is thirsty and drinks the
stream. his thirst and hunger are appeaS
ed, he is satisfied and sleeps; he rise
again anu II llullSl Nv - h-hli iva "ii'
is at rest | am hungry and thirsty lik'
II him. but when thirst and hunger cease
# am not at rest; | am, like him, paine'
- with want. but am not like him, satisfied
"a with fullncss. The intermediate hour
m are tedious and gloomy; long again t.
nj be hungry, that | may again quicker
ri my attention. The birds pick the berrie
ga or the corn. and fly away to the groves
H. where they sit in seeming happiness o.
If the branches, and waste their lives in tun
of ing one UNMARRIED series of sounds. | like
IL, wise can call the lutanist and the singer
re but the sounds that pleased me yesterda
ne weary me to-day, and will grow yet NOR
Y. wearisome tomorrow. | can discove
o. within me no power of perception whic
Id ia not glutted with its proper pleasure
y. vet do not feel myself delighted. Ma
go surely has some latent sense for whic
Id this place affords no qualification; or b
IT. has some desires, distinct from sense
lie which must be satisfied before he can b
IN happy
ht After this he lifted up his head, anC
he seeing the moon rising, walked toward ii
or palace. As he passed through the field
~ and saw the animals around him, "Ie,
MS said he, "are happy, and need not env
le- me that walk thus among you, burdene
m with myself; nor do |, We gentle being
envy your felicity; for it is not the felic
ed ty of man. have many distresses fro
of which We are free : ! fear pain when c