The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-03-19

/ ShiraH- There was no reason why we should
not listen so the caliph, aud for many
nights he read to us-for many, many
nights.
The commander Of the faithful was q
reasonable man on the whole, even though,
when, as frequently happened, Cogia
Arsian grunted disspprovsl he threatened
60 bowstrinE the man ana hRmsCriuQ his
camel. Hs paid most attention TO Mush-
tapha ibn abb, the tailor, and when this
porson made SOM more or less incisive
criticism. Harouu-which, by the way, is
only a fancy way Of spelling Aaron-would
smile and always say, 'Ietlgit acu,' which
remark Mustapba always received as
compliment
When at last the thOusand-and-first tale
had been ended the caliph-and, by the
wsy, what an abomInation TO the Just is
not that modern way Of pedants TO spell
that name khaleef threw himself back in
| his chair and said
"'They think that because 1 am COM
mander of the faithful and bear on my
shoulders the burden Of Bagdad l can't
| write novels May their faces be turned
upside down and may jsokasses sit upon
their fathers graves! Eickabac thinks 30,
aud Huddud the Weaver, and Tomato
| Khan, the pOtentste Of China, and MOomO,
the daughter OF Gha1, the imaum. But
what do you think, gentlemena Give me
| your candid opinion
Casting mysef at the caliphs feet,
| said: Commando OF the faithful, l am one
OF four brothers and two sisters who are all
| OF literary turn OF mind. What we do
not know can hardly be worth knowing,
! and l swear by the beard of the prophet and
the great seal OF Solomon that never in
Egyptian papyrus or on the rolls of As
syria, is hieroglyphic or hieratic text, have
read such wonderful tales as those of your
majesty. You should lay IN a stock OF
fresh goods and live in an honorable way
on the proceeds of your pen alone. Dismiss
your harem; send Giafar and Mesrour pack
ing, and devote yourself TO writing for the
remainder of your days, and your name
will shine like Aldebaran aud Orion in the
literary world forever
"hTis we'll spoken said the Caliph.
What is your opinion, CoRta Arslan the
| fisherman
"The fisherman Frustrated himself and
said: Commander of the faithful, l am
one of thirty sons and seven sisters, all Of
literary turn of mind, well instructed in
Koran from our earliest youth, punctual at
the mosque, and continuous in the practice
of pairing the nails Of cur hands and feet
and cutting our hair on Friday, as was the
custom of our holy prophet, whose name be
exalted My father was wealthy merchant
Of Mossul, who became Impoverished
through the malignancY Of a friGhtful
keulS, dAu Whs lOFCeu W DSCDulS u lsu5T-
man, though through the kind offices of a
peri named Pari- Bauon'-aud, by the way,
boys, do you know that Psri-BanOn
ia the same as Il Q Parasatis Of Ken j.
phon and the mother OF Kho. Khos-
ron, that is to say, Of Cyrus! If you don't,
just look the thing up. This peri SO
managed affairs shat my father always
caught large fish, which be sold for great
price TO the Emperor Of Persia, and so be-
riOb GnaiO kbia n Faa1
qualified TO say that as a novelist your
highness is TO Others as the full moon to
the moon two days DID,
LIT is we'll spoken said the caliDh.
what is your opinion, Mustapha ibn Abb
the tailor?
"Mustapha cast himself at the caliph's
feet and said: Commander of the faithful.
l am one of forty brothers and an equal
number OF sisters, aud I own toothless
donkey with no hair on its tail and lame in
its Off fore leg. We are all OF literary
turn OF mind and honest to a painful de-
gree. You ask my opinion. On my head
be 1t. our novels are very good in their
way, and are marked at once 10y grace and
! charm. They are, however, grossly dis1g-
| ured by the element of improbability that
| largely enters into Them
CON your head be itr said the caliph,
making a note in his note book. And
wherein, pray, do you dnd this element of
improbabiiity, which element | hold, with
other critics and men OK letters, Co be the
true mark of Iucapability aud lack OF lit
erary cultureP
log said Mustapha, the whole book
Is full of it. The grosesque jumps on the
back of the wonderful, even as the Old
Man Of the Sea jumped On the back Of
Sinbad, and comes nigh to strangling it.
Do you suppose, for example, that the pre-
tended uncle of Aladdin would have walked
all the way from Africa to China when he
might have summoned an atreet or a genie to
bear him thither in an Instant Do you
think for moment that anybody will be-
lieve your tale Of Prince Beder when you
say there that Persian merchant paid
10000 pieces of gold for a female slave,
when at that time the market price was
only 5000 pieces at the highest! Can it be
possible that you can attempt to foist on
the public such an improbable and prepos-
ferrous story that Bahia Mustapha, in the
Forty Thieves, could, when blindfolded, re-
trace his steps through a great city and
stop precisely at Cassim's door, to which,
when blindfolded, he had been but onos
ledl
"'Where Is your critical acumen, where
is your sense OF congruity when you tell US,
as In the tale of Ali Cogia, that a common
street beggar would, whom receiving aims,
always insist on receiving a whack on the
cur Win IL? are YOU so lOSG TO every Ieol-
ing OF the likely, the probable, that you can
try 90 impose on discerning public with
the ridiculous humbug that in we'll
ordered household a servant maid like Nor
gtana would for an instant be permitted to
make remarks about the way in which
guest aud a gentleman eats his dinner? And
SO on, and so on throughout the whole book.
Nothing but improbability on improha-
bility piled till the eye of the critic CLOVIS
with fire and his impatient and rsbukiDg
pen quivers in his trembling hand On my
head be itr
''This is really too bad said the COM
mander OF the faithful, and l confess thai
you are eminently right. Come and dine
with me tomorrow night. There will be
only three other guests, and | am sure you
will like them. These are an atreet, genie
and peri, with eyes like sapphires and
arms like those of houris in Paradise.
shall expect you promptly at o'clock
AS to these other gentlemen and scowi-
ing Indignantly he withdrew from the
housetop.
THAT very night Cogia Arslan hanged
himself, and before the next sun arose l was
in the desert and half way TO Bussorah,
seated on the back of Cogia Arslan's Legged
| camel.
RAIL AND CROsSTIE.
The custom among railroad lines Of hav-
ing some pet train upon which they bestow
unusual attention and favor is becoming