their own manner,
without observation, and of lying hid in the obscurity of multitudes:
for in a city, populous as Cairo, it is possible to obtain, at the same
time, the gratifications of society, and the secrecy of solitude.

"From Cairo I travelled to Suez, and embarked on the Red sea, passing
along the coast, till I arrived at the port from which I had departed
twenty years before. Here I joined myself to a caravan, and reentered my
native country.

"I now expected the caresses of my kinsmen, and the congratulations of
my friends, and was not without hope that my father, whatever value he
had set upon riches, would own, with gladness and pride, a son, who was
able to add to the felicity and honour of the nation. But I was soon
convinced that my thoughts were vain. My father had been dead fourteen
years, having divided his wealth among my brothers, who were removed to
some other provinces. Of my companions, the greater part was in the
grave; of the rest, some could, with difficulty, remember me, and some
considered me, as one corrupted by foreign manners.

"A man, used to vicissitudes, is not easily dejected. I forgot, after a
time, my disappointment, and endeavoured to recommend myself to the
nobles of the kingdom; they admitted me to their tables, heard my story,
and dismissed me. I opened a school, and was prohibited to teach. I then
resolved to sit down in the quiet of domestick life, and addressed a
lady that was fond of my conversation, but rejected my suit, because my
father was a merchant.

"Wearied, at last, with solicitation and repulses, I resolved to hide
myself for ever from the world, and depend no longer on the opinion or
caprice of others. I waited for the time, when the gate of the happy
valley should open, that I might bid farewell to hope and fear: the day
came; my performance was distinguished with favour, and I resigned
myself with joy to perpetual confinement."

"Hast thou here found happiness at last?" said Rasselas. "Tell me,
without reserve; art thou content with thy condition? or, dost thou wish
to be again wandering and inquiring? All the inhabitants of this valley
celebrate their lot, and, at the annual visit of the emperour, invite
others to partake of their felicity."

"Great prince," said Imlac, "I shall speak the truth; I know not one of
all your attendants who does not lament the hour when he entered this
retreat. I am less unhappy than the rest, because I have a mind replete
w