St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-10-30
HUNDRED-YEAR SLEEPS.
THEY WER E NOT so UNCOMMON I'M
EARLY DA rs,
SOME HISTORIC INSTANCES.

Rip Van Wrinkle Had Good Many
Predecessors Whose SAUNDERS
Are Vouched for Both by Ira
dftion and by Grave Historians
Witness the Seven Sleep
ers.
Brooklyn Eagle.
No incident so well eXemplifies the
analogy of human nature as it has eX-
listed under all conditions and times as
the tales which every nation has some
time fostered of long sleepers. Our
modern story of the sleeper of the
Catskills may be tracked back to Egyp-
tan annals. The first and perhaps the
most unique of these sleeper legends
occurs in Egyptian mythology; Osiris,
the lord of the earth, was a great king,
who, setting out from Egypt, ira
versed the world, leading host
of fauns and satyrs. On his return Ty-
phon laid a stratagem for him. He had
a chest made exactly Osiris size and
studded heavily with jewels. AT a
banquet he offered the chest to the one
whose body fit the interior. When
Osiris made his trial number of Ty-
phOn'S slaves rushed IN and nailed down
the lid, afterward pouring pitch upon
the chest and throwing it into the Nile.
AS soon as Osiris wife, Isis, learned Of
this she went in search of the chest,
and found it many months afterward
on the coast of Byblos, lodged in
the branches of tamarik brush.
She took it down, cut it open with care,
and to her amaZement was claSped in
her husbands arms, the godS having
preserved him in deep slumber the
while. isis afterward became the
mother of HarpOcrates by Osiris, and
for centuries afterward on the day Isis
discovered the chest the Egyptians
carried to the seashore a sacred box,
containing all ark of gold. into which
they poured fresh water, and at the
same time raised a shout, "Osiris is
found!"
The Grecian legends commence with
the beautiful youth EndymlOn, who, on
the Mount of Latmus, in place which
today is called the Grotto of Endymion,
slept for a hundred years, preserved in
unfading youth and beauty by Jupiter
and Diana, the moon cOu.ing each night
and embracing him. In Olympia, at
MetapOntuS, was statue Of him, all i'll
ivory except the drapery.
Another Grecian legend is that of
Epimenides, the epic poet of Crete,
reckoned one of the seven sages. and
f1ourishing at the time of Scion. While
tending his sheep one day he retreated
into Cave. where he slept for forty
seven years. After his death, at the
age of 2S9. lie was revered as god.
The Roman legend of the seven sleep
ers is perhaps the best known of all.
In the year A. ID. 439, when Emperor
Decius prosecuted the Christians. seven
noble youths of Ephesus concealed
themselves in cave. the entrance of
which was Immediately choked by huge
stones by the emperor'S orders. They
Immediately fell into a sluinber lasting
1S7 years, at the end of which time the
stones were removed. Upon their
awakening, the sleepers dispatched
one OF their number to secretly
return to the city to procure
bread. The youth Gf We may still en-
ploy that appellatiom could no longer
recognize the once familiar aspect of
his native country. He heard people
using the Lords name, and was more
perpleAed. - eSterday no one dared to
pronounce the name of Jesus, and now
it is oil every ones lips" The singular
dress and obsolete language COMPOUNDED
the baker to whom he offered an ancient
medal of Decius as the current coin of
the empire. The shopman seized him, cry
ing. "Whosoever you are, you have
found secret treasure; show us where
1t Is that we may share it with YOU"
The youth. being TOO frightened to
answer, they put a rope around his neck
and drew him through the streets into
the market place before the Judge, who
asked him whence he came. He replied
that he was a native of EpheSuS, eff
this be EphesuS." "Send for your re-
lations them" said the Judge. The youth
mentioned their names. but no such
names were known in the town. Then
, the judge exclaimed: How dare you
say that the money belonged to your
parants. when it dates back nearly 2CO
years" ~ implore you," said the youth,
"where is the emperor Decius gone
top My son." was the answer, she
who was thus called died long ago."
The bishop of Ephesus. the clergy, the
magistrates and, it is said, the emperor
Theodosius himself, fastened to visit
the cavern of the seven sleepers, who