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5. Saying these words, although nothing had been brought to eat, he began as if he had taken something on his plate, and pretended to put it in his mouth and chew it, adding, "Eat, I beg of thee; for a hungry man, thou seemest to have but a poor appetite. What thinkest thou of this bread?"

6. SHAC. (to himself). loveth to jest with others.

(to himself). "Verily this is a man that (To the Barmacide.) O my master, never in my life have I seen bread more beautifully white than this, or of a sweeter taste. Where didst thou procure it?"

BARM. "This was made by a slave of mine whom I purchased for five hundred pieces of gold. (Calling aloud.) Boy! bring to us the dish the like of which is not found among the viands of kings.- Eat, O my guest! for thou art hungry,-violently so, and in absolute want of food."

7. SHAC. (twisting his mouth about as if eating heartily). "Verily this is a dish worthy the table of the great Solomon."

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BARM. "Eat on, my friend. Boy! place before us the lamb fattened with almonds. - Now, this is a dish never found but at my table, and I wish thee to eat thy fill of it."

8. As he said this, the Barmacide pretended to take a piece in his hand, and put it to Shacabac's mouth. Shacabac held his head forward, opened his mouth, pretended to take the piece, and to chew and swallow it with the greatest delight.

"O my master! verily this dish hath not its equal in sweetness of flavor."

BARM. "Do justice to it, I pray, and eat more of it. The goose, too, is very fat. Try only a leg and a wing. Ho there, boy! bring us a fresh supply."

9. SHAC. "O no, my lord! for in truth, I can not eat any more."

BARM. "Let the dessert, then, be served, and the fruit brought. Taste these dates: they are just gathered, and very good. Here, too, are some fine walnuts, and here some delicious raisins. Eat, and be not ashamed."

Shacabac's jaws were by this time weary of chewing nothing. "I assure thee," said he, "I am so full that I can not eat another morsel of this cheer."

10. BARM. "Well, then, we will now have the wine. -Boy, bring us the wine!-Here, my friend, take this cup: it will delight thee. Come, drink my health, and tell me if thou thinkest the wine good."

But the wine, like the dinner and dessert, did not appear. However, he pretended to pour some out, and drank the first glass, after which he poured out another for his guest.

11. Shacabac took the imaginary glass, and, first holding it up to the light to see if it was of a good bright color, he put it to his nose to inhale its perfume; then, making a profound reverence to the Barmacide, he drank it off with every mark of keen appreciation.

12. The Barmacide continued to pour out one bumper after another so frequently, that Shacabac, pretending that the wine had got into his head, feigned to be tipsy. This being the case, he raised his fist, and gave the Barmacide such a violent blow that he knocked him down.

BARM. "What, thou vilest of creation! mad?"

Art thou

13. SHAC. "O my master! thou hast fed me with thy provisions, and regaled me with old wine; and I have become intoxicated, and committed an outrage upon thee. But thou art of too exalted dignity to be angry with me for my ignorance!"

14. He had hardly finished this speech before the Barmacide burst into laughter. "Come," said he, “I have long been looking for a man of thy character. Let us be friends. Thou hast kept up the jest in pretending to eat: now thou shalt make my house thy home, and eat in earnest."

15. Having said this, he clapped his hands. Several slaves instantly appeared, whom he ordered to set out the table and serve the dinner. His commands were quickly obeyed, and Shacabac now enjoyed in reality the good things of which he had before partaken only in dumb show.

LANGUAGE STUDY.

Write the analysis of: relate (ferre); suffer (ferre); reduce (ducere); reverse (vertere); admission (mittere); suppose (ponere); appetite (petere).

25.-The Snowstorm.

in-věsts', closes in, hides.

är-tif'i-çer, artist, artisan.

băs'tions, projecting parts of a mau'ğer, in spite of.

fortification.

mim'ie, imitate.

PREPARATORY NOTES.

This vivid descriptive poem is by Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), a native of Concord, Mass., where he passed all his life. Emerson ranks as the most subtle of American thinkers, and his volumes of Essays have had a wide influence on all young and aspiring minds. His poetry, though small in quantity, is very choice in quality.

(1) Parian, i.e., white. The most famous statues of ancient sculptors were carved from the beautiful marble quarried in the Grecian island of Paros.

I.

Announced by all the trumpets of the sky,
Arrives the snow, and, driving o'er the fields,
Seems nowhere to alight: the whited air
Hides hills and woods, the river, and the heaven,
And veils the farmhouse at the garden's end.
The sled and traveler stopped, the courier's feet
Delayed, all friends shut out, the housemates sit
Around the radiant fireplace, inclosed

In a tumultuous privacy of storm.

II.

Come see the north wind's masonry.
Out of an unseen quarry evermore
Furnished with tile, the fierce artificer

Curves his white bastions with projected roof
Round every windward stake, or tree, or door;

Speeding, the myriad-handed, his wild work
So fanciful, so savage, nought cares he
For number or proportion. Mockingly
On coop or kennel he hangs Parian wreaths;
A swanlike form invests the hidden thorn;
Fills up the farmer's lane from wall to wall,
Mauger the farmer's sighs; and, at the gate,
A tapering turret overtops the work.

And when his hours are numbered, and the world
Is all his own, retiring, as he were not,
Leaves, when the sun appears, astonished Art,
To mimic in slow structures, stone by stone,
Built in an age, the mad wind's night work,
The frolic architecture of the snow.

LANGUAGE STUDY.

I. Write the analysis of: arrive (ripa); river (ripa); courier (currere); inclosed (claudere); artificer (ars); projected (jacere); savage (silva); appear (parere).

Write the analysis of: unseen; fanciful; mockingly; farmer; traveler.

II. What two adjective phrases modify "snow"? (1) What adverbial phrase modifies "inclosed"? (1) Select an imperative sentence in stanza 2. What verb is modified by the adverb " 'mockingly"? (2) Write the possessive plural of garden; farmer; wind.

III. In what measure is this poem written? (See Definition 22.) To what class of composition does it belong? (See Definition 17.) By what metaphor does the poet express the thought that the signs of the heavens indicate a snowstorm? Notice the expression, "tumultuous privacy of storm:" (1) i.e., the "housemates" (household) are sitting quietly around the great fireplace, secluded from the storm. What is the figure in "north wind's masonry"? (2) (See Definition 3.) Point out other expressions that carry out this metaphor. Notice the felicity of the expression, "the frolic architecture of the snow."

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