The Progress. (Shreveport, La.) 1892-1900, 1894-02-10

James WhitcOmb Riley.
The Seven Sleepcrs.
The first and perhaps the most
unique Of these sleeper'slcgcnds occurs
IN Egyptian mythology. Osiris the
lord of the earth, was a great king,
who, setting out from Egyp&, tray
ersed the world, leading a host of
fsnns and satyrs. On lis return
Typhon laid a strGtagem for him. He
had chest made exactly Osiris's size
and studded heavily with jewels. Al
a banquet he offered the chest to the
one whose body fit the interior. When
Osiris made the trial number of
Typhon's slaves rushed in ana nailed
down the lid, afterwards pouring
pitch upon the chest and throwing it
into the Nile. 90
AS soor@ as Osiris wife, Isis, learned
IF this, she went in search Of the
chest and found 1T many months after
wards on the coast of Byblos, lodged
in the branches of as tamarsl1 bush,
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 Roman legend Of the Seven
Sleepers is perhaps the best known
Of all. In the year A. D. 439, when
the Emperor Decius prosecuted the
Christians, seven noted youths of
Ephesus concealed themselves in a
cave, the entrance of which was i'm
mediately after chokcd with shuge
stones by the emperor's orders. They
immediatelyofell into slumber, last
ing 1877 years, at the end of which
time the stonesswere removed. Upon
theii awakening the sleepers dis
patched one Of their number to Sc
cretly return to the city to procure
bread. The youth Gf we may still
employ that appellation) could no
longer recognize the once familiar
aspect of his native country. He
heard peopleo using the Lords name,
and was more perplexed. I'll
yesterday no one dared to pro-
nounce the name of Jesus; now it is
Oh everyone's lips"
MHis singular dress and obsolete Ian
guage COMPOUNDED the baker, to whom
he offered an ancient medal of Decius
us the current coin of the empire. The
shopman seized him, crying:
Whoever you are. you have found
a secret treasure. Show US where it
is that we may share it with YOU"
The youth being too frightened to
answer, they put 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, IF this be Ephesus." "Send
for your relations, then" said the
judge. 81 The youth mentioned their
names, but no such names were known
in the town. Then the Judge ex-
claimed:
'How dare you say that the money
belonged toyour parents, when it dates
back nearly 200 years?"
81 implore YOU" said he youth,
"where is the Emperor Dedrhs gomez
"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 Theodorus himself, FASTENED
to visit the cavern of the seven Sleep
ers, who bestowed their benediction,
told their story and instantly expired.
This story has been adopted by the
nations from Bengal to Africa, and is
found in the Syrian, scandinavian,
Abyssinian and Russian calendars.
The Persian legend states that the sun
altered its course twice day for the
whole period, so as to shine into the
cavern, and faithful dog stood watch
at the mouth of the cave for the whole
two centuries.