man, like the Arab, such beauty
was only a flower, casually plucked, and carelessly thrown away.
Whatever pleasures he might find among them, they were not those of
friendship or society. When they were playing about him, he looked on
them with inattentive superiority: when they vied for his regard, he
sometimes turned away disgusted. As they had no knowledge, their talk
could take nothing from the tediousness of life; as they had no choice,
their fondness, or appearance of fondness, excited in him neither pride
nor gratitude; he was not exalted in his own esteem by the smiles of a
woman, who saw no other man, nor was much obliged by that regard, of
which he could never know the sincerity, and which he might often
perceive to be exerted, not so much to delight him, as to pain a rival.
That which he gave, and they received, as love, was only a careless
distribution of superfluous time, such love as man can bestow upon that
which he despises, such as has neither hope nor fear, neither joy nor
sorrow."

"You have reason, lady, to think yourself happy," said Imlac, "that you
have been thus easily dismissed. How could a mind, hungry for knowledge,
be willing, in an intellectual famine, to lose such a banquet as
Pekuah's conversation?"

"I am inclined to believe," answered Pekuah, "that he was, for sometime,
in suspense; for, notwithstanding his promise, whenever I proposed to
despatch a messenger to Cairo, he found some excuse for delay. While I
was detained in his house, he made many incursions into the neighbouring
countries, and, perhaps, he would have refused to discharge me, had his
plunder been equal to his wishes. He returned always courteous, related
his adventures, delighted to hear my observations, and endeavoured to
advance my acquaintance with the stars. When I importuned him to send
away my letters, he soothed me with professions of honour and sincerity;
and, when I could be no longer decently denied, put his troop again in
motion, and left me to govern in his absence. I was much afflicted by
this studied procrastination, and was sometimes afraid, that I should be
forgotten; that you would leave Cairo, and I must end my days in an
island of the Nile.

"I grew, at last, hopeless and dejected, and cared so little to
entertain him, that he, for awhile, more frequently talked with my
maids. That he should fall in love with them, or with me, might have
been equally fatal, and I was not much pleased with the growi