matter, 'twas to me, in truth,
A promise scarcely earthly.'

And so he makes a covenant 'with one not richer than myself' that each
should save up until their joint savings were sufficient to purchase the
complete work. But alas!

'Through several months,
In spite of all temptation, we preserved
Religiously that vow; but firmness failed,
Nor were we ever masters of our wish.'

There must be few books in the world from which we may learn so much
while being so rapturously entertained. Burton's edition is perhaps the
best known to English readers, though Lane's version is much to be
preferred. Of the latter there are many editions.[29]

How much has been written on the Art of Reading, and what scanty
knowledge of that art have the most industrious of readers! Outside the
Universities, reading is apt nowadays to be looked upon as a light form
of recreation, generally to be indulged in on a rainy day. 'There's
nothing to do but sit indoors and read,' one frequently hears remarked in
country houses when the weather is too inclement to permit of motoring.
Novel-reading has indeed become a part of our fashionable life.

How often, too, does one come across readers of both sexes who possess,
seemingly, a wide knowledge of books, even of the great books of the
world. Yet in nine cases out of ten such knowledge is of the most
superficial kind, acquired by 'dipping into' such and such an author to
ascertain whether he be to his or her taste. Frankly, the great author is
almost invariably _not_ to the modern reader's taste; but the scanty
knowledge acquired by perusing the first chapter, the headings of the
remaining chapters, and the last chapter, enables the reader (save the
mark!) to discourse at large on this particular writer among his own
_coterie_. Perchance one of his friends has similarly insulted the great
author, and they are enabled to discuss the book for nearly a minute by
the clock, each thinking the other a devilish well-read fellow. Truly it
has been said that 'just as profligacy is easy within the strict limits
of the law, a boundless knowledge of books may be found with a narrow
education.'[30]

More rarely one comes across a man who, being the fortunate possessor of
a truly wonderful memory, is enabled to retain the bulk of the
information which he has acquired by wide reading. There is a story told
of a certain don at one of our older universities who, being posses