Miscellany: Hafed's Dream: Or The "chance World."

At the foot o' one of tlmse gigant ie rnountnitis in Asm, whiéh lift up their íien'dá so far nbove ihe clouds that the eye óf man npvcr saw their sutntriils, slood a beauliful cottage fncing the east. Te niountain slreain MnYped and murmured On the iVo'rthp the verdant [ilnin; vtioic the brighl evpd gnzellespo'rted, lay Spread óüt n front; tho garden and the oliveyard, filled With every fjov?er nnd fruit which a'n Oriental sun cnuld pencil and ripen, lay on the soüth; while bnek, 6'n the west, roso iho everhnsiing nïoutituitj. llere we.re. walks and sliados, and fruits, siich as were lound nowhere else. The sim sho'ne u'jio'n no'spot m'oi'e luxuiiant; the monnbeanrcs struggled to enter no placa more deliglitful;1 ihe soft wings of the hreezes of evening iannéd nosuch óbode in all the east. The howl of the wolf was never heard here; the sly fox Aevercame here to destroy; and' here the serneni's hiss was never heard.This cottage was ihe home of Hafed, ihe nged and thé prosperous. He rea red íhis cottage; he" adftfrned this spot; and fcere for more tlian fourscore years he nnd lived and studied. ITuring all tliis time, the sun had never forgotten. to visit hini daily; the hnrvest had rïcver fniled, fho pestilence had never desfroyed, and the mountain stream had never dried up. The wife of his youth stül lived to cheer nnd biess him; and his son find daughter were such as were not to be found in all thnt province. No youth could rein the norse, hurl the javelin, chasc the lion, or delight the social circl?, like tliis son. No daughter of kings could be found so beniitiful and perfect, ns was this daughter, with an eye so bright nnd joyous, nnd a form so symmetrical ás hers. But whocan ensure enrthly happiness? In one short week, Hafed was stripped of all his jbys. His wife want to see a new white peacock, which it was snid a neighbor, who Hv6d a mile off in tho ravine, had just bfought home. She took cold, and aquick fever followed; and on her return Hnfed saw that she must die. Before iwo days wero gone the old man was standing at her open grave. He gazed long, nnd said impaiiently - t:cover her. cover the only woman that I ever loved." Tlie son nnd daughfer both returned fYom the burial of their moiher, fatigued w.dsick. The nurse gave lliem, us slie ihought, a simple medicine. In n few houis it was found to be poison. 1 1 a t ttd saw that they musl die; lor the laws of nature are fixed, and poison kills. He Ijuried thfitn in one wide, deep grave, and it seemed ns if in that grave he bu ried his reason and his religión. He ture his grey hair, he cursed the light o;' da}-, and wished the moon lurned inlo bloocl; and above all, he blasphemed his God, declaring thal the laws whjch he had established were all wrong, and useless, and worse than none. He wished tlieworld were governed by chance; but as t his was a hopeless wisli, he wished that at hisdeath he might go to a wöVld wlrere there was no God to fix unalterahle laws. He arraigned the wisdom of God n his Government over he world, declaring that his plans were wenk, and worse than none, and that it would be lar better to have no God in the universe! In the centre of Hafed's garden stood i largo palm tree. Under it was Hafed sitting, the second evening after closing the grave of hls children. The seat on Svhich he sat had been reared by bis son. On the ep f of 'the tree which lny before liim, were some exquisite verses, wriiten by ihe pencil of his daughter. Bofore hirp ; y the beauliful country, covered wi'.h green, spriukled iicre and there, as far as the eye could see, witli the liabil?lions of men. and upon this great landscape the shadows of the mighty mounlainswere scíting. In theeast, the moon was just pusliing up her modest face, and the eöid of day was softening into the silver of night. While Haffd iooked on all this, grief began toswell in histhroat; his tongue murmured; liis heart was full of hard thoughls of God, which ncarly amouijted to hktshphsmy.As the nighl deepened, llafed, r.s he I thcn llio.ight, fe!l asleep with a heavy l.eart. When lie supposed he nwóke, it I was in n new spot. The mountair.s, ihe t landscape, the home were all gone. All was new. 1 1 As ho slood womlering where he was, f he saw n crtature approaching him. i wliich, nt first, he mistoök for .1 hahnon; ' bnt on its coming near, he discovered that it was a crealure somewhat i 'ing a man, but every way mal-formed, iü-shaped, and monslrous. 1 Me ca me up and walkod around Ilnfed as hö would fi superior being, exelaiining "beautiful, heautiful crea Ui re!" "Slinine, shame on thee!" said PÏnfèd; "dost thou trcat a stranger, thus with insults? Leave off thy jestF, and teil me where I am and how 1 came here?" "1 do not know how you c:une here, but hore yóti are i'n our vor:d, wliich we cali chance-worfdy brcause everylhing happens here f ('.lifinCc." "Ah! is t so? This inüst be delightl'ul ! This isjust tho world lor me. - Oh! had I alwnys üved here, my bfniiti'irl childrcn would not have died undor a tbolish otid inexorable law! Cume, show ino this world - for I long to see it. Uut ! have you really no Gud, nor any ono to tnnke laws and govern you jusl as he Í sees ñt?" "I don't know what you mran hy God; we have nothing of ihat kind here - noth. ing bu: qhnrröe; hut g-" with moand you will understnnd all about it." As they proceeded, llafed began to notice that evervthing looked queer and orid." Some of the grnsi was grefn, some red, some white, some new, and some dying; some grew with the top downwrirdsj nnd on the whole thesight was very painftil. Ile stopped to examine n orchard; heje chance had been nt work. -On a fine looking apple-t ree, he saw no fruit but large, coarse cucuinbers. A smnll peach tree was break ing down under its lixid of gwiirds. Some of the trees were growing with their lops downwards, nnd the roots branohiug out into the air. - Here and there were great holes dug, by whieh somebody hi.d tried to get down ■ twenty or thirty fcef, fn order to get the fruit. The guide lold llafed thero was no certainty about these trees; nnd you ■ could never teil what fruit a tree would hnppen to bear. The tree which this 1 year bears cucumbers, mny hear potatoes next year, and perhapsyou would havo to dig twenty feet for every potatoe you obtained. They soon mol another of the e:ohance men." His legs Were very unequal in length, one had no knee, and the other no ancle. II is eai's were set upon his shoulder, and around his head was a thick, black bandage. He came groping his L way, and Hafed at once asked how long l sinco he had lost his sight?"I have not lost it," he said; ltbut when Ï wns born, my eye-balls happened to be üirned in instead ot' out, and the back parís being outward, nnd very pninful in the ligbl, ond so I put on a covering." "Well, hut cans't thou see nny ihing? Melhinks thou mayest see strange tiiings within." "True, but the difficulty is to get any light in there. I have uonlrived various wnys to doso; have had it pourcd inlo my eifra and nose; but all will not do. Yet I nm as well otï as others. My brother has had one good cye in the top of bis head; but he only looks direclly up wilh I t to ïhe clouds; nnd the sun al most puts I it out. He siuits it up most of the time during the day; but it happens to be one Í that will not stay shut, and so when he í sldOjft the fliestrouble him badly. 1 have í q sister whö hns nineteen eyes in her 1 head. j She seea eighteen lhings to many l Even now she can't realize tlial she not nineteen fnthers, and as many niolhers. d She goes to bed, and falls on the floor nineteen times nt least before she gels in. r She goes to drink, and sise sees nineteen c-ups, nnd knows not which is lbo real cup. But so it happened; and she is as ■ i wel! off as most in this 'chance world.' - But, after all, it is a glorious world, 1 do assure you.' 'Wonderful !' said Hafed. As they proceeded a little further, they met a young lady. 'Thnt young lady,' said the guide, 'is the greatest beauty in all these parts. - All our young men are bewitched by her; and there have been no less than twenty duels on her account alrendy. You uili be aronzed at seeing a being so perfect.' As they met, Ilaled sta red more fully ihan is usually considered pijüte among the Orientáis. The beauty had a face not altogether unlike the human face, excepting that the mouth vvas under the chin - the eyes looked separate ways, and the color of the hair was a mixture of red, light blue, white and yellow. One foot had the heel fonvard, and one arm vvas altogether want ing. 'Wonderftil, wonderful, truly !' criedíafed. 'Twenty duels ! bul I hpe they veré not nll killed, werc tlioy?1 Here t!ie beauty began to oglo and to ; niñee in her steps most enchantJngly. 'Killed !' said ihe guide; 'you seem to ;now nothing about us. They nll met ind fought toge'.her; but as every thing joés here by chance, it is not oAen that vé can get o)r powder to burn. ín this ;ase only ene got his gun nfi nt all, and xnd that did nut happen togonfftill niglit, ivhon he was going to bed, when it wounJed his hand, which has been bleeding ;ver since.' 'Ever since! How long ago wns thif ? She did not look as if it could have been .ione to-dny.' 'Oh, it was two yíars ago.' 'Two yé'á'rs ago ! and why don't you seek :he leech, and have the poor boy saved from bleeding to death - even tho' she was a fool - for more reasons than ouel' 'Ah! yon don't understand it. Every thing goes by chance here; and there is only a chance that a man who is wounded will ever be henled.' '1 don't understand it, truly:' said Hafed. They stopped to tóoR nt sofno 'chancecattle' in a yard. Some had three legs; sonie liad the hond on the vvrong part of the body; some were covercd with wool under wliich lhey were sweltering in o ciimatc alwnys tropical. Some were half l.orse, half ox. Young elephants were ihere, witli flocks of shcep; horses with claws like lions, and geese clamping round t4ie yard with hoofs like horses. - It was all the work of chance. 'Thií,' said the guidp, 'is a choice collection of cattlej you never saw the iike befo re. 'That is true - truth itself,'cried Ha fed. 'Ah! bu the owner has been at almost infinite painsand expense to collect them. I don't believe there is another such a colleclion nnywhere in all this 'chanceworld 'I hope nof,' said Ha fed. Jusl as they were lsaving the premises the owner ca me out to admire and show and tolk over bis fine trensures. Hewanted to gaze at Hafed - but his head happened to be near the ground between his ieet, so that he had to mounl upon n stone wall bèfore ho could get a fair clue to tlie stranger. 'Don't you think lama happy man,' said he to Hafed, 'in having so many and such perfect animáis. Alas! eveninthis happy and perfect world, there are always drawbacks. That finé Icokingcow vonder happens to give nolhing but warm water for milk. Some of them have good' looking but fróm some defect are stone blind. Some cannot live in the light, and few of them hear. No two eat of the same food, and it is a great labör te talie care of them, I sometimes feelsil' I had ahnost as liefbo a poor man.' I 'I think I should rnther,' said Hafed. I Wliilc they vvëre talking, in an instant t thoy were in midhight darkness. The 1 sun was gone and Hafed could not lbrjii sometime see his guide. a 'Whnt has happcned'' said he. , i 'Oh, nothing unconimon sir,' said the e guide. 'The sun happened to go down 1 now. There is no regular time for him i to shine - but he goes and comes just as it - happens, and leaves us as suddeniv a& t you see.' 'As I don't see," said Hafed; 'but I t :iope he will come back at the oppointed b me, nt any rHte.' 'Thai sir, will be just os it happens - s Sometimes he is gone for monihs, and a lometimes for weeks, and sometimes only r r a few minutes. Just as it happens, si We mny not see him again for inonths, ir ut perhapse he will come soon.' s 'But liow do you talk about inonths and a lays when you have no such things.' tl 'I will soon teil you about that. We it neasure time by the yard - " lBy the yard?' a 'Yes - we cal! that time wliich the a nost perfect men among us take in 1. ng a yard, to be the sixtieth part of an h ïour. These hours we reckon into days, j c ná these days into years. To be sure f we are not very exact, because some men c walk so nnich faster than others - but this r. is just as thëir legs happen to be longor i short.' i As the guide was proceeding. to the ! e.xpressible joy of all, the sun al once broke out. The light was sosudden, ihat : Hafed at first thought he tmist bestruek with lightning, and actually put his hands to his eyes to see if they were safe. He ihen clapped his hands over his eyes, I till he could gradually bear the jight. - There was a splendor aboul the sun which he had never before seen, ond it was intolerably hot. The airseemed like a furnace. 'Ah !' said theowner of ihe ca,ltle, 'we must now scorch for it. My poor wool ox must die at once. Bad luck, bad luck to us ! Tiie sun has come back much ntarer thon he was before. But we hope he wül happen to go away ngain soon, and ihen happen to coine back iunher off next time.'The sun was now pouring down his heat so intensely ihat ihey were ghid lo go info the house Por shelter - a misernble looking place indeed. Hafed could not l)iit comparo t with l)is own beautiful cottage. Sonie limbers were rotten - for ihe 1ree was not, as I ha;;pened, llie same thing m all iis paris. Someof the boards happened to be like paper, and ihe nnüs tore out, nnd these were loose, and coming off. They hnd to do thrir coolung out tinder the burning sun - for when tlio smoke once got into tlie house, lhere was nq getting it out, unless it happened to go, whieh was not very often. 'Yhey invited Hafed to eat. On siiiing down at the table, he noticed that each one hnd a different kind of food, and that no two could eat out of the some dih.- He wns told that it so happened, that the food wbïch one could eat, was poison to the other, nnd what wasngreeable to one wns nauseating to nnolher. Selecting ihe food which lookod most inviting, Hafed atlempted to eat. Whnt wns his surprise, when he found thnt Iiis hands did not happen to b? under ihe control of his will, and instesd of carrying the fo. i to his mouih, these active servants pi.it it into his right ear ! On examining he found that t was so with nll the rest. and by imiiating the company, and twisiing his hand round over his right shoulder, and placing his muuth uhero his ear was, he manngod to eat. In amuze:nent heasked how ihis happened. 'AJi !' snid they laughing at his ignorance of the world, 'we have no fixed laws here. All is chance. Sometimes we have one or more limbs for a long lime which are not under the control of our will. It is justas it happens. 'I suppose thnt to becoffee,' soid fiafed, :and I wij] iliank you for n cup.' It was lianded hirn. He had been lroubled witha tooth-ache for some hours, and how did he qunil, when on filling his mouih, he found it was ice, in little pieces about as large as pigeon-shot. 'Do you cali this ce water, cofiee, here!' snid Hafed, pressing his hand upon the cheek where the tooth was nów dancing wiih pnin. 'That is just ns it happens. We pui water over the fire, and sometimes it heats t, and somelimps it freczesit. Moav can it be oiherwise, when we have here ric fixed laws of any kind. It is all chance work.' Hafed rose from the tnble in anguish of spirit. Ho remembered iho world where hs had lived, anda.'l that was past. He had desired to live in a world where there was no God - where nll wasgoverncd by chance, ab far as there waa any thing that looked liko govornment. Hergie was, here he must live. lle thrcw jimself on a bed and rtcalled tlio pa?l - ho beatitiful world in ivhích lie had once ived - his ingraiitude - lus murmurings. ind his blnsphemy ngainst the wisdün md iho goodness of God. He wejit likf nfancy. Me would have prnved, ánd Jvén begin a prayer; but ihen hn recolected that there was no God here - nohing to direct evenls; nothing but chance -he shed many nnd bïitcr tears of repenence. At last he wepl himself to sle,ep. When Ilafed again nwokp, he vas siling uuder hisown palm tree, in liis own leauiiful garden. It was mom ing. - i the appointed moment, the glorious ;nn rose up in the east - ihe fields were ill green and fresh - ihe trees were all ight endupwards, and covcred with blosoms - the benutifui deer were bounding n their gladness over fhe lawn, and the nngsters in the trees, which in plumogp ud sweeiness, migJit have vied wiih tl)ose J bat sung in Eden, were uttering their lorning song. Bafed arose, recalled that ugly dream, nd then wept for joy. Was lie again in warld where clir.ncodoes not reign. He ooked up, and then turned to the God of ïeaven and earth, the God of laws and of jrder. He gave glory to hirn, and conessed that his ways, to us iinsearchable, ire full of wisdom; he was a new man. - Fears indeed feil at the graves of liis family; but now he lived to do good lo men. and to makc others happy. He callcd a a young and worthy couple, disiant relatives, to fill his house; his home again smüed, and peace and conteniment came back, and werejiis atininggucsts. HnPedould never venluíe to afiiriTi whether this was a dream, or a reality.On ihe whole he was ii.clined to tliink it real, and that there is somewhere a chance world - but heahvays shook his head, and declared thst so far from wishing to live there, ncthing gave hi'm grenter oause of grotituda as he knelt in daily prayer, than the fact that he lived in a world where God ruled - nnd ruled by laws fixed, wise and merciful.