“My history is brief. Though in bondage, I have done nothing to disgrace my parentage. I was born free, though in poverty; I am lineally descended from Yezdijerd, the last of the Persian monarchs, who, as you no doubt well know, when flying from his enemies, during the Caliphate of Othman, was murdered at a water-mill near the town of Murv. His family, being left in Toorkistan, formed connexions among the people, and his descendants have become Toorks. I am now a Toork. “I was brought into the world amid poverty and destitution; but the very wants to which my youth was subjected forced me to exert the energies with which the Omnipotent had endowed me, and I became at an early age skilled in the sports of the field, of a hardy frame and daring temperament, with the determination of seeking and securing my own fortune. My father, a man of information and letters, in spite of the pressure of penury, did not neglect to instil into my mind the obligations of virtue, and store it with the seeds of wisdom; I may therefore be said to have been better educated than many who figure in the courts of princes. “From my earliest days, I had entertained a presentiment that the poor Toorkoman’s son was born for something better than to pass his life in indigence and obscurity. Under this impression, false as it has hitherto proved, I quitted my father’s house in my nineteenth year, and was on my way to join the armies of Ghizny, when I fell into the hands of robbers, and have in consequence become the slave of a most generous master.” Aluptugeen was pleased with the history of his dependent, whom he soon raised to still higher honours under his government. The favourite did not disgrace his freedom, but rose rapidly into favour, until at length was conferred upon him the distinguished title of Ameer-ool-Omrah, chief of the nobles. He became now the first man in Khorassan, and was finally placed at the head of Aluptugeen’s armies. He brought them to a state of the highest order and discipline, led them on to conquest, and was the idol of the troops. The enemies of his master were awed into submission by the superior genius of his general, and peace and prosperity prevailed throughout the empire. His rise to distinction was as signal as it was rapid, and he could not help frequently reverting to his dream in the forest, which appeared gradually advancing towards its accomplishment. His father lived not to see the exaltation of his son, but that son had his mother conveyed to Khorassan, where she enjoyed the happiness of seeing him hailed by the public voice as a great and good man.