order to regain my peace of mind, and obtain relief from my present state of weariness and disgust ?"

"When the wise Sassa had heard from his Sovereign this detail of his grievances, he instantly bethought him of a rare game, known to him by report, the invention of an ancient Grecian sage, by name Hermes, which had recently been introduced into India by Alexander and his soldiers, who used to play at it at times of leisure. This was, in truth, the Shatranji Kamil," or Perfect Chess' of which the Hindus had acquired a crude notion; but not one of them could play it correctly, because they were a stupid and ignorant race of people. This much, however, Sassa had learned, that the Game of Chess, the invention of Hermes, the Grecian sage, represented an exact image of war, such as might have been carried on between two Kings; and consequently that it might, in reality, prove to be a seasonable remedy in the case of his own Sovereign. Then said Sassa to the King, Sire, grant me a little time in this important business, and I believe I shall be able to accomplish something in your behalf, so that you may still enjoy all the excitements of war, and the delights of victory, while at the same time your servants and subjects may live safe and secure in the enjoyment of peace and prosperity.' At this proposal the King was highly pleased; he granted the Minister the time required, and said to him, 'On that day when you shall have relieved my mind from its present state of misery, I will freely confer upon you whatever boon you may ask.'

"Sassa immediately sent messengers in quest of the chess-board and men, which were accordingly procured

1 By the so-called "Perfect Chess," the anonymous writer means the Great Chess, commonly known as Timur's game, of which an ample account will be given in our eleventh chapter.

for him. Inasmuch as he was a man of great penetration, he soon succeeded in discovering the moves of the pieces, and the nature of the game. This done, he said to himself, Verily the inventor of this game was a profound philosopher; the sages of Hind could never have accomplished this; nor are they capable of understanding it. Now, if I were to present the game in this perfect state, before my own sovereign, assuredly he would never learn to play it, neither would his mind find any delight therein. Let me then simplify this rare invention of the Grecian sage, so that it may fall within the scope of the Royal understanding and capacity; for hath not our prophet Muhammad (on whom be peace), said to one of his companions, 'you must address yourself to mankind in accordance with the nature of their intellects and the extent of their capacities."1

Hereupon, Sassa, the wise Minister, reduced the fifty-six pieces of the 'Perfect Chess' to thirty-two in number; having thus discarded twenty-four pieces from the great board of the Grecian sage. All that had been difficult in the original game he rendered easy; and he conferred on all the Pawns the very same privileges, viz., that of becoming Farzins only, on reaching the opposite extremity of the board; and not that of becoming a Rook, a Knight, or a Fil, according to circumstances, as in the older game. And he made the board to consist only of eight squares by eight, that is altogether sixty-four squares the form in which it is now used; and then he presented it to the King. The latter soon acquired the theory and practice of the game, and night and day it formed his supreme delight, so that he thenceforth gave

1 The author overlooks the trifling circumstance, that Muhammad his prophet (on whom be peace), was not born till some seven or eight centurics after the period here alluded to.

up all thoughts of war and bloodshed in the real battlefield. One day he thus addressed his wise Minister, ‘O Sassa, did I not promise you that I would give you as a boon whatever you would be pleased to ask of me? Now is your time to claim your reward. I am a King of my word; for base and contemptible is that Sovereign who dealeth in falsehoods, and who shrinketh from the fulfilment of his promise.'

"The sage Minister replied, O, my Sovereign, may you live a thousand years; I merely ask as my reward that for the first square on the board you give me one silver diram, two for the second square, four for the third, and so on, doubling the number for each square, till the sixty-fourth square is attained.' To the King this demand seemed very insignificant, and thus he spoke, Friend Sassa, I have hitherto looked upon you as a man of wisdom; why will you render me ridiculous by limiting your demand to such a contemptible and trifling sum? You ought to have asked for something worthy at once of my munificence and of your own merit.' The Minister made his obeisance and said, 'Sire, I am quite satisfied with what I have asked, nor would it be becoming in your servant to alter his demand, merely because your Majesty is bountiful and liberal.' Once more the King said, 'Sassa, have you ever found me backward or niggardly in rewarding the faithful services of my friends? Your wits have altogether forsaken you; ask me at least to make you ruler over one of my kingdoms, or possessor of one of my well-stored treasuries.' To this Sassa replied, 'Sire, I will thus far comply with your commands, that if, after my present demand is settled, you should think that aught further is due to me, I will freely accept the same as a mark of your Majesty's bounty and liberality.'

"To this proposal the King readily agreed. He then

sent for his treasurer, and said to him, 'Take with thee the sage Sassa, and pay to him from our treasury the small sum he hath demanded of us.'

'Hereupon the treasurer, together with the accountants and the sage Sassa, went to the Royal Treasury, and betook themselves to the calculation of the gross sum.' At first matters went on smoothly and rapidly, and the accountants indulged in sundry facetious remarks, not overcomplimentary to Sassa, on the score of his worldly wisdom. But by the time they had passed the thirty-second square or so, their mirth was changed into gravity. The treasurer clearly perceived that all the dirams on the face of the earth, if multiplied millions of times over, would not suffice to satisfy Sassa's demand.' This astounding fact was explained to the King; who, after due reflection, said, 'I now perceive the full extent of Sassa's profound wisdom. Verily I know not which I ought most to admire, the ingenuity of the game itself or that of the Minister's demand. It is evident that what he asks is not in my power to give; but all that I possess in the

1 I have a distinct recollection of having calculated the amount of this sum at school. It is merely an affair of patience, requiring no higher degreeof science than simple multiplication by two. For the delectation of the curious, I here subjoin the result on the authorities, both of the Arabian writers and of Augustus, Duke of Luneburg, (better known as Gustavus Selenus,) which I have no doubt are quite correct. The whole number of silver dirams then, amounted to 18,446,744,073,709,551,615, (assuming the silver dīnār or diram to be equal to our sixpence, the above sum if melted into a solid mass would form a silver cube of nearly fifteen miles for its basis), and supposing the relative value of gold and silver, to have been, then and there, the same as with us, i.e., about 14 to 1, the amount would form a cube of gold, having nearly six miles for its basis; a very pretty nugget truly. Sometimes the reward is said to have been in grains of wheat; in which case I have an impression of having once calculated that the heap of grain thus realised, would suffice to cover the whole of our globe, both sea and land, eight times over. My friend Mr. Bland, in his Essay, quotes a Persian writer, who asserts "that the whole sum amounted to two thousand four hundred times the size of our whole globe in gold!!" Pretty strong that; there must be a very serious mistake somewhere ; but whether on the part of the author or on that of the translator, I cannot say, as I have not been able to attain access to the original.

F

way of territories and treasures I will freely bestow upon him. The whole of my possessions are henceforth his, and in the disposal of them his commands shall be paramount; all I ask is, to be allowed to pass the remainder of my days under his shadow, in the enjoyment of the game of Chess.'

"Here Sassa thus spake :-'Sire, I will have none of your territories and treasures; I am far happier in what I already enjoy—that is, your Majesty's esteem. As to mere worldly wealth, of what use is it to me? Have I not hitherto lived upon your bounty? Your property has at all times been to me as my own; and, should I ever want aught, I will freely ask it of your Majesty, without any fear of disappointment. Sire, you have been pleased to acknowledge that I possess some wisdom; and that is the only wealth I really covet. It is a species of property which no one can take from me by force or fraud; while territories and treasures, and palaces and thrones, are all liable to decay.''

SECOND ACCOUNT.

"It is related that once upon a time there reigned in Hind a certain King, whose name was Für. He possessed great wealth, extensive territories, and a numerous army. On his death he was succeeded by an only son, then under age; and the consequence was, that the neighbouring Kings, who had stood in awe of the father, endeavoured to wrest his territories from the youthful and inexperienced From all quarters of the kingdom tidings arrived of the approach of enemies from without, and of the insolence of rebels within. In this state of things the elders of the people assembled together and said—'O, Prince, your enemies are collecting their forces, with a view to

son.