"Anon a troop of females form'd a dance, Their ancles bound with bracelet bells That made the modulating harmony. Transparent garments to the greedy eye Exposed their harlot limbs, Which moved, in every wanton gesture skill'd." But there is no cause for alarm. Thalaba is a determined adversary of the polygamy of his native country. Like a young Englishman travelling abroad, he fortifies himself with the thought of the girl at home to whom he is engaged:-- "And Thalaba, he gazed, But in his heart he bore a talisman, Whose blessed alchemy To virtuous thoughts refined The loose suggestions of the scene impure. Oneiza's image swam before his sight. His own Arabian maid." Thalaba was born in England about the time when Aladdin saw the light in Denmark. (_The Curse of Kehama_ was published in 1810, _Aladdin_ in 1804, Thalaba in 1801.) What a cold-blooded animal he is compared with his Danish brother! He attains the object of his desire; he is married to his "own Arabian maid." That everything may be thoroughly edifying and pious, the bride is made to die on the wedding night. To restore the Oriental character to the proceedings, Thalaba is compelled by his fate to kill an innocent young girl, named Laila. But that things may end in a satisfactorily Christian manner, his last recorded act is to forgive the sorcerer who has caused all his misfortunes--who proves to be the man he has been in search of all his life for the purpose of avenging the death of his father--and who is now unable to escape from him. In the course of a pompous funeral oration-- "'Old Man, I strike thee not!' said Thalaba; 'The evil thou hast done to me and mine Brought its own bitter punishment.'" Thalaba! you speak like a book--but like one of the books we open only to close again.