"And why should I not be kept in that character? Do you think me wiser than others? They have done me that justice, which they ought to do to all the inhabitants of Bagdad. I cannot complain: I was condemned by my equals, and they are so attentive as to come here every day to visit me."
"I understand you," said Mesrour: "we have all a small grain of madness. However, when it does not pass certain bounds, we are very properly allowed to enjoy our liberty. It is only extraordinary madness——"
"Ah, you are right," interrupted the smoker: "men excuse all their ordinary follies, however ridiculous; but when any one raises himself, by his ideas, knowledge, and observation, above others, he is a kind of reproach to them for the debasement into which they allow themselves to fall, and they endeavour to remove him from their sight. This is my history: I knew more than the vulgar, and therefore was separated from them."
"In what branch did you excel?" inquired Mesrour.
"In that science which is the chief of all others—astrology."
"And were you in possession of that science?"
"I endeavoured after it, but my progress was interrupted."
"You were in correspondence with the stars, then?"
"Yes, indeed."
"And by whom were you chiefly favoured?"