"A valiant gentleman lies here,
So brave that, to his latest breath,
Immortal glory was his care,
And made him triumph over death.
Of small account he held the world,
Whose fears its ridicule belied;
And if he like a madman lived,
At least he like a wise one died."
THE ARABIAN NIGHTS
THE STORY OF ALADDIN; OR, THE WONDERFUL LAMP
I
In one of the large and rich cities of China there once lived a tailor named Mustapha. He was so poor that by the hardest daily labor he could barely support himself and his family, which consisted only of his wife and a son.
This son, Aladdin, was a very careless, idle, and disobedient fellow. He would leave home early in the morning and play all day in the streets and public places. When he was old enough, his father tried to teach him the tailor's trade, but Mustapha no sooner turned his back than the boy was gone for the day. He was frequently punished, but in vain; and at last the father gave him up as a hopeless idler, and in a few months died of the grief Aladdin caused him.