diamond. I know one when I see it. Tell me how and where you found it." "One day," replied the farmer slowly, "having led my camel into the garden to drink, I noticed, as he put his nose into the water, a sparkle of light coming from the white sand at the bottom of the clear stream. Stooping down, I picked up the black pebble you now hold, guided to it by that crystal eye in the center, from which the light flashes so brilliantly." - "Why, thou simple one," cried the priest, "this is no common stone, but a gem of the purest water. Come, show me where thou didst find it." Together they fled to the spot where the farmer had found the "pebble," and turning over the white sands with eager fingers, they found, to their great delight, other stones even more valuable and beautiful than the first. Then they extended their search, and, so the Oriental story goes, "every shovelful of the old farm, as acre after acre was sifted over, revealed gems with which to decorate the crowns of emperors and moguls." 1. What is a legend? Distinguish between "legend" and "story." In what country is the scene of this legend laid? 2. What is your opinion of Ali Hafed? What happened to his family? 3. Do we have any Ali Hafeds in this country to-day? What do we mean by "Get-rich-quick" schemes? Illustrate. 4. If you were writing this story in these days of intensive farming, in what form would you have the "diamonds" come to the farmer? This is a British legend of the days "when good King Arthur ruled the land." In his castle at Caerleon, according to legend, Arthur had gathered the most famous of his knights about the Round Table; and thither every aspiring knight journeyed in quest of adventure. PRINCE KILHUGH blushed. The love of Olwen, the daughter of Thistlehair, filled his heart, although he had not heard her name before. His face flushed with happiness, and his eyes shone with joy. "What is the matter, my son?" asked his father. "Why 5 are you so gay and glad?" "Father," answered Kilhugh, "my stepmother says that no one but Olwen shall be my wife." "Well," quoth the king, "I doubt not there will be trouble enough before that saying comes true. But do 10 Thou art first cousin to King Arthur. not fear, my son. Who but he should cut thy hair and be thy lord? Go to him, and crave this of him as a boon." To Arthur's Hall, therefore, Prince Kilhugh made ready to go; and his father chose fifty of his bravest knights 15 to go with him, that he might present himself to King Arthur in a befitting manner. So gayly the youth rode forth upon a steed of dappled gray, four summers old, with shell-shaped hoofs and wellknit limbs. His saddle was of burnished gold, his bridle 20 |