[64] This is the name which, in the form of Aladdin, is so familiar to us from the story of the Wonderful Lamp.
[65] Malcolm's History of Persia, vol. i. In the clever work called "Traits and Stories of the Irish Peasantry," which is the best picture ever given of the language, manners, and modes of thinking of that class, there is an amusing account (and an undoubtedly true one) of the "Abduction of Mat Kavanagh," one of that curious order of men called in that country hedge-schoolmasters, which, as indicative of a passion for knowledge, may be placed in comparison with this anecdote of Ala-ed-deen.
"And Day, with his banner of radiance unfurled,
Shines in through the mountainous portal that opes
Sublime from that valley of bliss to the world,"
says Mr. Moore in his "Lalla Rookh," undoubtedly without any knowledge of the eastern song. His original was perhaps Campbell's
"Andes, giant of the western star,
His meteor standard to the winds unfurled,
Looks from his throne of clouds o'er half the world;"
which was again, in all probability, suggested, like Gray's
"Loose his beard, and hoary hair
Stream'd like a meteor to the troubled air,"
by Milton's
"Imperial ensign, which, full high advanced,
Shone like a meteor streaming to the wind."