onest
means. For in the city, at least, success well deserves the
compliments which those who fail bestow upon it. What Montaigne said
of greatness, therefore, Khalid must have said of success. If we can
not attain it, let us denounce it. And in what terms does he this, O
merciful Allah! We translate a portion of the apostrophe in the K. L.
MS., and not the bitterest, by any means.

"O Success," the infuriated failure exclaims, "how like the Gorgon of
the Arabian Nights thou art! For does not every one whom thou favorest
undergo a pitiful transformation even from the first bedding with
thee? Does not everything suffer from thy look, thy touch, thy breath?
The rose loses its perfume, the grape-vine its clusters, the bulbul
its wings, the dawn its light and glamour. O Success, our lords of
power to-day are thy slaves, thy helots, our kings of wealth. Every
one grinds for thee, every one for thee lives and dies.... Thy palaces
of silver and gold are reared on the souls of men. Thy throne is
mortised with their bones, cemented with their blood. Thou ravenous
Gorgon, on what bankruptcies thou art fed, on what failures, on what
sorrows! The railroads sweeping across the continents and the steamers
ploughing through the seas, are laden with sacrifices to thee. Ay, and
millions of innocent children are torn from their homes and from their
schools to be offered to thee at the sacrificial-stone of the
Factories and Mills. The cultured, too, and the wise, are counted
among thy slaves. Even the righteous surrender themselves to thee and
are willing to undergo that hideous transformation. O Success, what an
infernal litany thy votaries and high-priests are chanting to thee....
Thou ruthless Gorgon, what crimes thou art committing, and what crimes
are being committed in thy name!"

From which it is evident that Khalid does not wish for success. Khalid
is satisfied if he can maintain his hold on the few spare feet he has
in the cellar, and continue to replenish his little store of lentils
and olive oil. For he would as lief be a victim of success, he assures
us, as to forego his _mojadderah_. And still having this, which he
considers a luxury, he is willing to turn his hand at anything, if he
can but preserve inviolate the integrity of his soul and the freedom
of his mind. These are a few of the pet terms of Khalid. And in as
much as he can continue to repeat them to himself, he is supremely
content. He can be a menial, if while cri