The Oregon daily journal., March 29, 1908, Page 41, Image 41

, print oxraoM Sihtday joxttCXAt, Portland, Sunday' morning,- march m - .
i m m. ...in. u.i. ii m j i 1 1 i iiiiiiniiii i ii ii -i -1 i - '".)"" r r"""T! "" 'T" ".'m.i. " i n hut " t"i-"" m hi- , nuni,,,; t , ,,, ,
.. . , i. f,!!l:riii.,i.. 'liili'iPii ':' '" ' '!:'': yvP:Ky",lnu W'U'-nl Ii iliji'i , mi .-hi ",! ' " ' " AW "iU -'N' y" '-"'tH t&MPWi.' .!! w v.Vii '-'"'"n ;:"J","". Ty" "'" "
By Margaret Johnson.
. ' ""?v h. as brown as ft nnt from hit bare little
'toes "
To th tip of his truly Assyrian nose,
The flsher-boy, little Tlglates,
Among the uil rushes sat fishing for carp
With line Yery long and ft hook Yery sharp,
As he sat every day,
Merry-hearted and gay,
And fished In his ancient Assyrian way.
By the banks of the rlrer Euphrates.
A cloud on the highway, a .sound In the air
Now who eould be coming, bis flahes to sea: .
And his basket not yet over-brimming!
Ills line from the water be carefully drew,
And after a gay little flourish or two
On the pipe he had made
From the rushes that swayed
In the rlTer, a tune sp enchanting he plsyed
That the fishes to listen came swimming.
But the king was out hunting that day by the shore
Some twenty ferocious big lions or more,
And 't was this that had startled Tlglates;
With thunder of hoof-beat and rattle of wheel, '
And shimmer of satin and sparkle of steel,
The grand cavalcade and the royal parade
Their glittering way, as it happened, had made
To the banks of the rlrer Euphrates.
But even a king may grow weary in time
Of a royal amusement, however sublime,
And now by the river be halted;
His bow waa too heavy,, his arrows were dull.
His fan-bearers served but the breezes to lull;
The flies they' were rude.
And the sun would Intrude,
And in short his Assyrian Majesty's mood
Scarce befitted a rank bo exalted!
MllUJIMIIllllI.T
mimiinmimiiffts
"QUITE AS SWEET TO AN EARLY 'ASSYRIAN
EAR AS THE MUSIC OFi BACH
OR BEETHOVEN." N
r i
The king, a he turned his Imperial frown
On the stream, tor presuming to spatter hia gown,
Ho spied In the rushes the flBherboy brown,
With his pipe .and his basket of wicker;
And, seized with a sudden and royal caprice,
. . . ' .
'
.
'
iie voweu ne must, nave ior. nis supper a piece
Of that very same flsh; '
And t waa also his wish
That the piper should play, ere he tasted the dish, ,
That the moments might pass for him quicker.
rv
Then ran the prime minister, 'florid and fat, 5
In a little gold fillet instead of ft hat, W 7";
And a lot of gold tassels and fringe and all that,
And a dozen proud nobles behind him; : v
And down on' the wondering, flsher they pounced,
and the fish from his basket they speedily bounced,
And We him away, , --. , 4 '
Never stopping to say
"By your leave!" for his Majesty's humor that day
Made It wise very promptly to mind him
In state on his throne with Us purple-fringed tent
(For he carried one with him wherever he went),
And its cushions with gold Interwoven,
He sat, while Tlglates, a trifle abashed
By the splendor that round him, bewildering.
flashed,
Played a melody clear,
And you may think it queer!
Quite as sweet to an early Ansyrlaa ear
As the music of Bach or Beethoven. .
The king was delighted. "This flsher." he cried,
"No more In the wilderness here shall abide!
He shall come to my palace, shall stand at my side;
For, whatever his name and his fate, he's
A genius!" And Btralght, ere the boy could draw
back.
They had hustled him into a no, not a hack,
But a chariot proud;
And away like a cloud
He was whirled, with the rest of the glittering crowd,
From the banks of the .river Euphrates.
Now all of the wonderful things that befell
At the end of the Journey, I really can't tell,
For the time, If we tried it, would fail us.
Each room In the palace was big as a church
And although for a window in vain you might
search,
There were portals a score,"
And beside every door
Such a great winged bull as delighted of yore
The mighty King Sardanapalua.
.''. ri v.
"THEY SHOWED
Here' little Tlglates, the flsher unknown,
They dressed up in silks of ad exquisite tone,5f
Perfumed ; with Assyrian eau-decologne, jv
. And embroidered with sphinx! and With grifflnl;'
They fed hinj with locusts (you wouldn't like that!),
'Pomegranates, pineapples,; and partridges: fat; '
" They showed him the queen, iV;
! 1 Who, majestic of mien,:
Couldn't move (so I Judge from the pictures. I've -
.. keen) ,4 : . '. . y-s
For the jewel her garments were stiff In!
They showed him the. gardens,
ens, the pride of the
$-:-- '4 . .yU
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,wona; j.f.v,-.vi.fl
They ' had all hie ringlets exquisitely curled
By , fine Babylonian barber. ,
' .He played tor the king, and right merrily, too:
, Yet I knowxyou will hardly believe It is true
- " That he had", with all this,
' ' The presumption to miss
' A low hut by the river, while tasting the bliss
Of ft feast In his Majesty's arbor!
; , . x :
But for halls that were splendid and bulls that were
big.
If the' truth must be spoken, he cared not a fig,
. Nor for garments of tints that were Tyrlan;
He wanted his mother,, he wanted his home,
. He Wanted the dear muddy marshes to roam,
And the reed's by the stream
Just a beautiful dream
MWW-
M 1
"T. f .id i U
THEY TOOK HIM AWAY."
Had begun, ere the first day was ended, to seem
To the pobr little homesick Assyrian.
And when, at the close of the banquet, the king,
Who s boon to this gem of a piper would fling.
"Your wish? it is yours, by the seal on my ring!"
Cried aloud to the watting Tlglates.
The heart of the boy overflowed like the tide;
"Oh, your Majesty's pardon!" (he kneeled as he
cried),
"I have but one wish
To go back to my flsh,
And to hear the sweet waters that ripple and swish
J3y the thorea of the river Euphrates!"
The king almost fainted; his lady likewise;
The waltert they staggered with doubt and surprise.
And the guards fairly reeled in the gateway:
A flsher, who might have bad favors galore.
And who asked but for freedom to roam by the shore.
In ft solitude dread!
HIM THE QUEEN."
Well, the word l was said, j
And the king rather peevishly nodded hia head,
. And dismissed the whole circumstance straightway.
V '.' ' .''''' ' "' Vi-'i-'; " " .
' ; i -V S- ,
That brare little lad, ere the morning was done, '
For Joy, fairly danced and hallooed in the sun
(From the monarch, of course, a safe distance!).
And went Speeding away in a chariot proud
Over meadow and marsh, like a glittering 'cloud;
And with never so much as a penny endowed,
Bare ftnd browa as before, v ;. J.
He was dropped at his door.
And he never saw horseman or chariot more,
All the days; of hls,happy existence.- - ;'
" -0 Copyright 11 the Century Company)
Tot! think t was a pity? Why, then you have Shut up In a palace, wlth pleasure and pelf v. '
k . blssed C . '. ' " Wny' even Kla Sardanapalus himself,.
Andt la yonrs to find out-ofmy atory the gist! In hU oweignty high.
. . lV . . A Might have thought with a sigh
For to roam like the breeses wherever you list, ri, ... .. . . 1V ...
Of the flsher, content with the reeds and the sky
Or to dwell in exceedingly great ease By lhe baDki of tne rlr Eaphratesl . :
r
OknjEE--5l)ii)ijY
THE
)oose or a.
A a. , mtr-i-s
urne t
5 Tf Sv no1iona like berst! '
f II, I lived in an .evergreen fnrf
I'd. never be cold ! gne avers".; '
rxi hov could ibai, happen, my' dearesft
16? 1 e fir-iree newest, .
-And buy me a nice set of
SPELLING CLASS.
- v.; . : .
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