ll. "I was one
day sitting with Abu 'l-Jahm, when a man came in and said to him: 'You
made me a promise, and it depends on your kindness to fulfil it.'

"Abu 'l-Jahm answered that he did not recollect it, and the other
replied: 'If you do not recollect it, 'tis because the persons like me
to whom you make promises are numerous; and if I remember it, 'tis
because the persons like you to whom I may confidently address a
request are few.'

"'Well said! Blessings on your father!' exclaimed Abu 'l-Jahm, and the
promise was immediately fulfilled."

That blind men should be self-protective is of course, natural, and the
East has always been rich in them. "The learned Muwaffak Ad-Din
Muzaffar, the blind poet of Egypt, having gone to visit Al-Kadi As-Said
Ibn Sana Al-Mulk, the latter said to him: 'Learned scholar! I have
composed the first hemistich of a verse, but cannot finish it, although
it has occupied my mind for some days.'

"Muzaffar asked to hear what he had composed, and the other recited as
follows: _The whiteness of my beard proceeds from the blackness of her
ringlets--_

"On hearing these words, Muzaffar replied that he had found their
completion, and recited as follows:--_even as the flame with which I
burn for her acquired its intensity from her pomegranate-flower [her
rosy cheeks]_.

"As-Said approved of the addition, and commenced another verse on the
same model; but Muzaffar said to himself: 'I must rise and be off, or
else he will make the entire piece at the expense of my wits.'"

XII.--AN EARLY CHESS CHAMPION

Much has been written of the origin of chess, and many countries contend
for the honour of its inception. According to my encyclopaedia, China,
India, Persia, and Egypt have each a claim, but it is probable that the
game existed, in some form or other, before history. The theory is that
the Arabs introduced it to Europe in the eighth century. Thus the
cautious encyclopaedia; but Ibn Khallikan has no such hesitancy. From him
we get names and dates. Ibn Khallikan gives the credit boldly to one
Sissah, who, says he, "imagined the game for the amusement of King
Shihram." Whether Sissah built it out of a clear sky, or had foundations
on which to erect, is not stated. Anyway, the pastime was a complete
success. "It is said that, when Sissah invented the game of chess and
presented it to Shihram, the latter was struck with admiration and
filled with joy; he ordered chess-boards to be placed in the