en turned again
to the vision which I had been so long contemplating: but instead of the
rolling tide, the arched bridge, and the happy islands, I saw nothing
but the long, hollow valley of Bagdat, with oxen, sheep, and camels
grazing upon the sides of it.

_Riches not productive of Happiness: The Story of Ortogrul of Basra._

IDLER, No. 99.

1. As Ortogrul of Basra was one day wandering along the streets of
Bagdat, musing on the varieties of merchandize which the shops altered
to his view, and observing the different occupations which busied the
multitude on every side, he was awakened from the tranquillity of
meditation by a crowd that obstructed his passage. He raised his eyes,
and saw the Chief Vizier, who, having returned from the Divan, was
entering his palace.

2. Ortogrul mingled with the attendants, and being supposed to have some
petiton for the Vizier, was permitted to enter. He surveyed the
spaciousness of the apartments, admired the walls hung with golden
tapestry, and the floors covered with silken carpets, and despised the
simple neatness of his own little habitation.

3. Surely, said he to himself, this palace is the seat of happiness,
where pleasure succeeds to pleasure, and discontent and sorrow can have
no admission. Whatever nature has provided for the delight of sense, is
here spread forth to be enjoyed. What can mortals hope or imagine, which
the master of this palace has not obtained? The dishes of luxury cover
his table, the voice of harmony lulls him in his bowers; he breathes the
fragrance of the groves of Java, and sleeps upon the down of the cygnets
of Ganges. He speaks, and his mandate is obeyed; he wishes, and his wish
is gratified! all whom he sees obey him, and all whom he hears flatter
him.

4. How different, Ortogrul, is thy condition, who art doomed to the
perpetual torments of unsatisfied desire, and who hast no amusement in
thy power that can withhold thee from thy own reflections! They tell
thee that thou art wise, but what does wisdom avail with poverty? None
will flatter the poor, and the wise have very little power of
flattering themselves. That man is surely the most wretched of the sons
of wretchedness, who lives with his own faults and follies always before
him, and who has none to reconcile him to himself by praise and
veneration. I have long sought content, and have not found it; I will
from this moment endeavour to be rich.

5. Full of his new resolution, h