Antar was at the summit of his happiness and delight, congratulating himself on his good fortune and perfect felicity, all trouble and anxiety being now banished from his heart.  Praise be to God, the dispenser of all grief from the hearts of virtuous men.

[The three hundred and sixty tribes of the Arabs were invited to the feast, and on the eighth day the assembled chiefs presented their gifts—­horses, armor, slaves, perfumes, gold, velvet, camels.  The number of slaves Antar received that day was five-and-twenty hundred, to each of whom he gave a damsel, a horse, and weapons.  And they all mounted when he rode out, and halted when he halted.]

Now when all the Arab chiefs had presented their offerings, each according to his circumstances, Antar rose, and called out to Mocriul-Wahsh:—­“O Knight of Syria,” said he, “let all the he and she camels, high-priced horses, and all the various rarities I have received this day, be a present from me to you.  But the perfumes of ambergris, and fragrant musk, belong to my cousin Ibla; and the slaves shall form my army and troops.”  And the Arab chiefs marveled at his generosity....

And now Ibla was clothed in the most magnificent garments, and superb necklaces; they placed the coronet of Chosroe on her head, and tiaras round her forehead.  They lighted brilliant and scented candles before her—­the perfumes were scattered—­the torches blazed—­and Ibla came forth in state.  All present gave a shout; while the malicious and ill-natured cried aloud, “What a pity that one so beautiful and fair should be wedded to one so black!”

[The selections are from Hamilton’s translation.  Two long episodes in ‘Antar’ are especially noteworthy:  the famous horse race between the champions of the tribes of Abs and Fazarah (Vol. iv., Chapter 33), and the history of Khalid and Jaida (Vol. ii., Chapter 11).]

LUCIUS APULEIUS

(Second Century A. D.)

Lucius Apuleius, author of the brilliant Latin novel ’The Metamorphoses,’ also called ’The [Golden] Ass,’—­and more generally known under that title,—­will be remembered when many greater writers shall have been forgotten.  The downfall of Greek political freedom brought a period of intellectual development fertile in prose story-telling,—­short fables and tales, novels philosophic and religious, historical and satiric, novels of love, novels of adventure.  Yet, strange to say, while the instinct was prolific in the Hellenic domain of the Roman Empire, it was for the most part sterile in Italy, though Roman life was saturated with the influence of Greek culture.  Its only two notable examples are Petronius Arbiter and Apuleius, both of whom belong to the first two centuries of the Christian epoch.

[Illustration:  Apuleius]