E SPILT PEARLS

His courtiers of the caliph crave:
"O say how this may be,
That of thy slaves this Ethiop slave
Is best beloved by thee?

"For he is hideous as the night:
Yet when has ever chose
A nightingale for its delight
A hueless, scentless rose?"

The caliph then: "No features fair,
No comely mien are his;
Love is the beauty he doth wear;
And love his glory is.

"Once when a camel of my train
There fell, in narrow street,
From broken casket rolled amain
Rich pearls before my feet.

"I nodding to my slaves that I
Would freely give them these,
At once upon the spoil they fly
The costly boon to seize.

"One only at my side remained--
Beside this Ethiop none;
He, moveless as the steed he reined,
Behind me sat alone.

"'What will thy gain, good fellow, be,
Thus lingering at my side?'
'My king, that I shall faithfully
Have guarded thee,' he cried.

"True servant's title he may wear,
He only, who has not,
For his lord's gifts, how rich soe'er,
His lord himself forgot!"

So thou alone dost walk before
Thy God with perfect aim,
From him desiring nothing more
Beside himself to claim.

For if thou not to him aspire,
But to his gifts alone,
Not love, but covetous desire,
Has brought thee to his throne.

While such thy prayer; it climbs above
In vain--the golden key
Of God's rich treasure-house of love
Thine own will never be.

--Saadi, tr. by Richard Chenevix Trench.

THE HIGHER PRIVILEGE

For some the narrow lane of "must,"
Be mine the big, broad "may";
Better to love--be happy--trust,
Than simply to obey.

O troubled over many things,
Choose thou the better part;
Service unconscious of itself,
And childlikeness of heart.

Why cast your burden on the Lord
And strive to drag it, too?
Call work an opportunity
Till it grows joy to you.

"Ought" is a servant's work, not mine;
I sign no grudging pledge;
I am a child and son; my toil
Is only privilege.

Who'd be a thrall to vain debates
Of "were this right or wrong,"
When he might toss these cares to God
And catch instead a song!

Why breathe earth's heavy atmosphere,
Forgetful we can fly,
When th