with rest; he was animated with hope; he was incited by desire;
he walked swiftly forward over the valleys, and saw the hills gradually
rising before him.

2. As he passed along, his ears were delighted with the morning song of
the bird of paradise; he was fanned by the last flutters of the sinking
breeze, and sprinkled with dew by groves of spices; he sometimes
contemplated towering height of the oak, monarch of the hills; and
sometimes caught the gentle fragrance of the primrose, eldest daughter of
the spring; all his senses were gratified, and all care was banished from
his heart.

3. Thus he went on, till the sun approached his meridian, and the
increasing heat preyed upon his strength; he then looked round about him
for some more commodious path. He saw, on his right hand, a grove that
seemed to wave its shades as a sign of invitation; he entered it, and
found the coolness and verdure irresistibly pleasant. He did not, however,
forget whither he was traveling, but found a narrow way, bordered with
flowers, which appeared to have the same direction with the main road, and
was pleased, that, by this happy experiment, he had found means to unite
pleasure with business, and to gain the rewards of diligence without
suffering its fatigues.

4. He, therefore, still continued to walk for a time, without the least
remission of his ardor, except that he was sometimes tempted to stop by
the music of the birds, which the heat had assembled in the shade, and
sometimes amused himself with picking the flowers that covered the banks
on each side, or the fruits that hung upon the branches. At last, the
green path began to decline from its first tendency, and to wind among the
hills and thickets, cooled with fountains, and murmuring with waterfalls.

5. Here Obidah paused for a time, and began to consider whether it was
longer safe to forsake the known and common track; but, remembering that
the heat was now in its greatest violence, and that the plain was dusty
and uneven, he resolved to pursue the new path, which he supposed only to
make a few meanders, in compliance with the garieties of the ground, and
to end at last in the common road.

6. Having thus calmed his solicitude, he renewed his pace, though he
suspected he was not gaining ground. This uneasiness of his mind inclined
him to lay hold on every new object, and give way to every sensation that
might soothe or divert him. He listened to every echo, he mounted every
h