n every direction, he raised his hands in amazement, and cried
with warmth, "The wise Confucius might well say, 'Blessed is he who
recognises the end of his destiny! The way that he must go to reach
his goal stands marked before his eyes. Uncertainty and doubt leave
him as soon as he enters on that way. Peace and tranquillity strew
roses on his path.' But he also truly said, 'Unhappy is he who
mistakes the branches of the tree for its roots, the leaves for fruit,
the shadow for the substance, and who knoweth not how to distinguish
the means from the end."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Ali.

"Sadi has said," replied the little slave, "that the most unprofitable
of human beings, is a learned man who does not benefit his
fellow-creatures by his learning; we hear the mill clapping but see no
flour; a word without a deed is a cloud without rain, and a bow without
a string."

Ali now wished to try whether the knowledge of the slave went beyond
these and similar maxims. He examined him and was astonished at his
proficiency in the Arabian, Persian, Hindoo, and Chinese philosophy.

"What is your name?" continued Ali.

"When I was born," replied the hunchback, "my mother was of opinion
that I was so easily distinguishable as to require no name, thinking
that people would soon enough separate the ram from the goats without
tying a red ribbon round his neck."

"Are you a Mohammedan?" asked Ali, again.

"Mahomet could neither read nor write; I worship Mithra; to him I bow
the knee, not to the rising in the east but to the setting in the west."

"Then you worship the sun?"

"The sun itself is cold, and produces warmth only when combined with
the atmosphere of our earth. The fire has beautiful yellow locks and
sparkling eyes, it vivifies every thing with its love, and burns most
beautifully at night."

"Still I must call you by a name," said Ali.

"I am as diminutive, deformed, and ugly, as the renowned _Lockman_,"
said the slave, "and he was as shrewd and knew as much as I do. It was
the same with AEsop. Many are of opinion that they are one and the same
person; if this may be said of two it may also be applied to three.
Call me _Lockman_, and believe in the _metempsychosis_. It is the
cheapest belief, as it costs the creator least."

Ali knew not whether to smile or be angry at this frivolous joke.
Indeed, he did not know whether he was joking; for every thing that
_Lockman_ (as we shall call the slave,)