ntar rose, and called out to
Mocriul-Wahsh:--"O Knight of Syria," said he, "let all the he and she
camels, high-priced horses, and all the various rarities I have received
this day, be a present from me to you. But the perfumes of ambergris,
and fragrant musk, belong to my cousin Ibla; and the slaves shall form
my army and troops." And the Arab chiefs marveled at his generosity....

And now Ibla was clothed in the most magnificent garments, and superb
necklaces; they placed the coronet of Chosroe on her head, and tiaras
round her forehead. They lighted brilliant and scented candles before
her--the perfumes were scattered--the torches blazed--and Ibla came
forth in state. All present gave a shout; while the malicious and
ill-natured cried aloud, "What a pity that one so beautiful and fair
should be wedded to one so black!"

[The selections are from Hamilton's translation. Two long
episodes in 'Antar' are especially noteworthy: the famous
horse race between the champions of the tribes of Abs and
Fazarah (Vol. iv., Chapter 33), and the history of Khalid and
Jaida (Vol. ii., Chapter 11).]

LUCIUS APULEIUS

(Second Century A. D.)

Lucius Apuleius, author of the brilliant Latin novel 'The
Metamorphoses,' also called 'The [Golden] Ass,'--and more generally
known under that title,--will be remembered when many greater writers
shall have been forgotten. The downfall of Greek political freedom
brought a period of intellectual development fertile in prose
story-telling,--short fables and tales, novels philosophic and
religious, historical and satiric, novels of love, novels of adventure.
Yet, strange to say, while the instinct was prolific in the Hellenic
domain of the Roman Empire, it was for the most part sterile in Italy,
though Roman life was saturated with the influence of Greek culture. Its
only two notable examples are Petronius Arbiter and Apuleius, both of
whom belong to the first two centuries of the Christian epoch.

[Illustration: Apuleius]

The suggestion of the plan of the novel familiarly known as 'The Golden
Ass' was from a Greek source, Lucius of Patrae. The original version was
still extant in the days of Photius, Patriarch of the Greek Church in
the ninth century. Lucian, the Greek satirist, also utilized the same
material in a condensed form in his 'Lucius, or the Ass.' But Apuleius
greatly expanded the legend, introduced into it numerous episodes, and
made it the backgro