He told of girls, a happy rout!
Who quit their folds with dance and shout,
Their pleasant Indian town,
To gather strawberries all day long;
Returning with a choral song
When daylight is gone down.

He spake of plants, divine and strange,
That every hour their blossoms change,
Ten thousand lovely hues!

With budding, fading, faded flowers,
They stand the wonder of the bowers
From morn to evening dews.

He told of the magnolia, spread
High as a cloud, high over head!
The cypress and her spire,

Of flowers that with one scarlet gleam
Cover a hundred leagues, and seem
To set the hills on fire.

The youth of green savannahs spake,
And many an endless, endless lake,
With all its fairy crowds
Of islands, that together lie
As quietly as spots of sky

Among the evening clouds.

And then he said, "How sweet it were
A fisher or a hunter there,

A gardener in the shade,

Still wandering with an easy mind
To build a household fire, and find
A home in every glade!

"What days, and what sweet years! Ah me!
Our life were life indeed with thee
So passed in quiet bliss,

And all the while," said he, "to know
That we were in a world of woe,
On such an earth as this !"

And then he sometimes interwove
Dear thoughts about a father's love;
"For there," said he, are spun
Around the heart such tender ties,
That our own children to our eyes
Are dearer than the sun.

"Sweet Ruth! and could you go with me,
My helpmate in the woods to be,
Our shed at night to rear;
Or run, my own adopted bride
A sylvan huntress at my side,
And drive the flying deer?"

William Wordsworth.

THE TRANSMIGRATIONS OF INDUR.

PART I.

Indur as an Antelope.

At the time when fairies and genii possessed the powers which we have now lost, there lived in the country of the Brahmins a man named Indur, who was distinguished, not only for that gentleness of disposition and humanity towards all living creatures which are so much cultivated among those people, but for an insatiable curiosity respecting the nature and way of life of all animals.

In pursuit of knowledge of this kind he would frequently spend the night among lonely rocks, or in the midst of thick forests; and there, under shelter of a hanging cliff or mounted upon a high tree, he would watch the actions and motions of all the animals that seek their prey in the night. Remaining in the same spot till the break of day, he would observe this tribe of creatures retiring to their dens, and all others coming forth to enjoy the beams of the rising sun.

On these occasions, if he saw an opportunity of exercising his benevolence towards animals in distress, he never failed to make use of it; and he many times rescued the small birds from the pitiless hawk, and the lamb or kid from the grip of the wolf or lynx,

One day, as he was sitting on a tree in the forest, a little frolicsome monkey, in taking a great leap from one bough to another, chanced to miss his hold, and fell from a great height to the ground. As he lay there unable to move, Indur espied a large venomous serpent advancing to make the poor, defenceless creature his prey. He immediately descended from his post, and, taking the little monkey in his arms, ran with it to a tree and gently placed it upon a bough. In the meantime the enraged serpent, pursuing him, overtook him before he could mount the tree and bit him in the leg. Presently the limb began to swell, and the effects of the venom became visible over Indur's whole frame. He grew faint, sick, and pale; and, sinking on the ground, was sensible that his last moments were fast approaching.

As thus he lay he was surprised to hear a human voice from the tree, and, looking up, he beheld on the bough where he had placed the monkey a beautiful woman, who thus addressed him: "Indur, I am truly

grieved that thy kindness to me should have been the cause of thy destruction. Know that, in the form of the poor monkey, it was the potent fairy Perezinda to whom thou gavest succour. Obliged to pass a certain number of days every year under the shape of a certain animal, I had chosen this form; and, though not mortal, I should have suffered extreme agonies from the bite of the serpent hadst thou not so humanely assisted me. It is not in my power to prevent the fatal effect of the poison; but I am able to grant thee any wish that thou shalt form respecting the future state of existence to which thou art now hastening. Speak, then, before it be too late, and let me show my gratitude."

"Great Perezinda," replied Indur, "since you design so bounteously to return my service, this is the request that I make in all my transmigrations may I retain a rational soul, with the memory of the adventures I have gone through; and, when death sets me free from one body, may I instantly animate another in the prime of its powers and faculties, without passing through the helpless state of infancy." "It is granted," answered the fairy; and, immediately breaking a small branch from the tree and breathing on it, she threw it down to Indur and bid him hold it fast in his hand. He did so and expired.

Instantly he found himself in a green valley by the side of a clear stream, grazing amid a herd of antelopes. He admired his elegant shape, sleek spotted skin, and polished spiral horns; and drank with delight of the cool rivulet, cropped the juicy herb, and sported with his companions. Soon an alarm was given of the approach of an enemy, and they all set off with the swiftness of the wind to the neighbouring immense plains, where they were soon out of the reach of danger.

Indur was highly delighted with the ease and rapidity of his motions; and, snuffing the keen air in the desert, bounded away, scarcely deigning to touch the ground with his feet. This way of life went on very pleasantly for some time, till at length the herd was one morning alarmed with noises of trumpets, drums, and loud shouts on every side. They started, and ran first to the right, then to the left, but were continually driven back by the surrounding crowd, which now appeared to be a whole army of hunters, with the king of the country and all his nobles assembled on a solemn chase, after the manner of the Eastern people. And now the circle began to close, and numbers of affrighted animals of various kinds thronged together in the centre, keeping as far as possible from the dangers that approached them from all quarters. The huntsmen were now come near enough to reach their game with their arrows; and the prince and his lords shot at them as they passed and repassed, killing and wounding great numbers. Indur and his surviving companions, seeing no other means of escape, resolved to make a bold push towards that part of the ring which was the most weakly guarded; and, though many perished in the attempt, yet a few, leaping over the heads of the people, got clear away, and Indur was among the number.

But whilst he was scouring over the plain rejoicing in his good fortune and conduct, an enemy swifter than himself overtook him. This was a falcon, who, let loose by one of the huntsmen, dashed like lightning over the fugitives; and, alighting upon the head of Indur, began to tear his eyes with his beak and flap his wings over his face. Indur, terrified and blinded, knew not which way he went; and, instead of proceed