The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-09-12

by al hdC6s IA bbSAASh u sumner
Still Unsolved.
From the Brooklyn Eagle.
No incident so we&l exemplifes the an
s.ory of human nature az it has existed
under all conditions and times as the
tales which every nation has some time
fstered of long sleepers. Our modern
story Of the sleeper of the Catskills may
be traced back TO Egyptian annals. The
tale has undergone many transmutations
and appears embodied under different
forms. but the informing spirit which
laptivates the attention is the same.
whatever shape it assumes or language it
speaks.
Traced through every nation in Europe
we find it among the wild traditions of
the north and the romantic love of the
east. To the ancients sleep, night and
death were gods of equal Importance
According to Hesiod, Homer and Virgil
sleep is the son of night, and the brother
and image of death. Orpheus calls sleep
1.-THE king of gods and men and every
thing that breathes upon the earth" On
their tombs the ancients frequently in
scrbed ETERNAL Somno," invoking of
the gods eternal sleep for the inhabitant.
The Lacedamonians placed in their tenn
pies images of sleep and death repre-
sented as two children in the arms of
mother night,
The Greeks. worshiped the god of sleep
under the names of Brine and Brio, and
represented as a child buried in slumber,
h111 Of yrrl1i oh, ho oh Cd
upon weary mortals, Homer placed the
mansion of sleep on the Island of Lemnos,
and there Juno came in quest of the
drowsy god to lull Jupiter asleep. The
other poets placed this gods residence in
the country of the CimmerianS, which
was ''oerspread with eternal darkness. -
Virgil makes the habitation of sleep and
dreams to be the OLD ash tree that grew
at the mouth of hell
BY the foregoing it will be seen that the
mystery and universal effect of sleep was
profoundly respected and appreciated by
the childish mind, which caused it to en-
body the phenomenon into fables, which
each succeeding race has added to or
Umbellished.
The first and, perhaps, the most unique
of these sleepers legends occurs in Egypt
ian mythology; Osiris, the lord of the
earth, was a great king, who, setting out
from Egypt, traverscd the world, leading
host of fauns and satyrs. On his re-
turn TyphOn laid a strategem for him
He had a chest made exactly Osiris size
and studded heavily with jewels. At
banquet he offered the chest to the one
whose body would fit in the interior
When Osiris made the trial a number of
IyphOn's slaves rused in and nailed down
the lid, after pouring pitch upon the
chest and throwing it into the Nile
As soon as Osiris wife Isis learned of
this, she sent in search Of the chest and
found it many months afterward on the
coast of Byblos, lodged in the branches of
a tamarisk bush, She took it down, cut
. 1t open with care, and to her amazement
was clasped in her husbands arms, the
gods having preserved him in deep slum-
Der the while Isis afterWard became
4 The mother of HarpOgrates by Osiris, and
for centuries afteward on the day that
Isis discovered the chest the Egyptians
carried to the seashOre a sacred box, con
tanning an ark Of gold, into which they
poured fresh water and at the same time
raised a shout, "Osiris is found!"
The Greciau legends commence with the
beautiful youth Endymion, who, on the
Mount of Latmus, in II place which to-day
IS called the Grotto of EndymiOn, slept
Tor 700 year, preserved in unfaded youth
and beauty by Jupiter and Diana, the
moon coming each night and embracing
him. In Olympia, at Metapontus, was Il
stutue of him, all in ivory except the
drapery
Another Grecian legend is that of Epi-
menldeS, the epic poet Of Crete, reckOned
one Of tho seven sages and flourished at
the time of Scion. While tending his
sheep one day he reiterated into cave,
where he slept for forty-seven years.
After his death, at the age Of 2S9, he was
revered as god
The Roman legend of the seven sleepers
is perhaps the best known of all.
In the year A. D, 439, when the Emperor
Declus prosecuted the Christians, seven
noble youths of EpheSus concealed them
selves In cave, the entrance of which
was immediately afler choked with huge
stones by the emperor's orders. They i'm
medlately fell into slumber, lasting rs
years, at the end of which time the stones
were removed. Upon their awakening
the sleepers dispatched one of their num-
per TO secretly return to the city to pro-
cure bread. The youth Gf we may still
employ that appellatiOn) could no longer
recognize the once familiar aspect of his
native country. He heard people using
The Lords name, and was more per-
picked
Yesterday no one dared to pronounce
the name of Jesus; now it is on every
ones lips" His singular dress and obso-
Iele language COMPOUNDED the baker to
Whom he offered an ancient medal of
Declus as the current coin of the empire
Inc shOpman seized him, crying: "Who-
ever you are, you have found a secret
treasure; show us where it is that we
may share it with you'll" The youth be-
ing too frightened to answer, they put a
rope around his neck and drew him
through the streets into the market place
ueIOre the judge, who asked him whence
ne came. He replied that he was anative
OF hphesus "it this be Ephesus." "Send
10 IOr your relations, then" said the judge.
Inc youth mentioned their names, but no
sue names were known in the town.
Ihen the judge exclaimed: "How dare
you say that the money belonged to your
parents, when it dates back nearly 200
implore YOU" said the youth, "where
Is Ine Emperor Decius gone to!"
MY son, " was the answer, che who
was as thus called died long ago"
me Bishop of Ephesus, the clergy, the
magistrates, and, IL is said, the Emperor
1hedosius himself, fastened to visit the
cavern Of the seven sleepers, who bestow-
Gu thelr Denediction, recited the story
ana instantly expired. This story
mas been adapted by the nations from
bengal to Africa, and is found in the
19Sfan, scandinavian, Abyssiuian and
russian calendars. The Persian legend
states that the sun altered il course twice
a. Jay Tor the whole period, so as to shine
mo t.{ the cavern, and faith
III dog stood watch at the mouth