Noureddin had hitherto kept him to his studies, and had not yet brought him into public; but now he carried him to the palace, on purpose to have the honour of kissing the hand of the sultan, who received him very graciously.  The people who saw him in the streets were charmed with his genteel mien, and gave him a thousand blessings.  His father, purposing to make him capable of supplying his place, spared no cost for that end, brought him up to business of the greatest moment, and in short omitted nothing to advance a son he loved so well.  But as he began to enjoy the fruits of his labour, he was all of a sudden taken with a violent fit of sickness; and, finding himself past recovery, disposed himself to die like a good Mussulman.  In his last moments he forgot not his son Bedreddin, but called for him, and said, My son, you see this world is transitory; there is nothing durable but that to which I shall speedily go.  You must therefore from henceforth begin to fit yourself for this change, as I have done; you must prepare for it without murmuring, so as to have no trouble of conscience for not acting the part of a really honest man.  As for your religion, you are sufficiently instructed in it by what you have learned from your tutors, and by your own study.  As to what belongs to an honest man, I shall give you some instructions, of which I hope you will make good use; and as it is a necessary thing to know one’s self, and you cannot come to that knowledge unless you first understand who I am, I shall now tell you.  I am a native of Egypt; my father, your grandfather, was first minister to the sultan of that kingdom.  I myself had the honour to be vizier to that same sultan, and so has my brother, your uncle, who, I suppose, is yet alive; his name is Schemseddin.  I was obliged to leave him, and come into this country, where I have raised myself to the high dignity which I now enjoy.  But you will understand all these matters more fully by a manuscript which I shall leave you.  Noureddin pulled out his pocket-book, which he had written with his own hand, and carried always about him, and giving it to Bedreddin, Take it, says he, and read it at your leisure; you will find, among other things, the day of my marriage, and that of your birth; these are such circumstances as perhaps you may hereafter have occasion to know; therefore you must keep it very carefully.  Bedreddin, being most afflicted to see his father in that condition, and sensibly touched with his discourse, could not but weep when he received the pocket-book, and promised never to part with it.

That very moment Noureddin fainted, so that it was thought he would have expired; but he came to himself again, and uttered these words:  My son, the first instruction I give you is, not to make yourself familiar with all sorts of people.  The way to live happy is to keep your mind to yourself, and not tell your thoughts too freely.  Secondly, Not to do violence to any body whatever, for in that case you will draw