sympathy with the majesty of nature, he felt aroused in him a need of
personal grandeur which nothing could satiate. In vain his father sought
to calm his savage temper, and restrain his vagabond spirit; nothing was
of any use. As obstinate as intractable, he set at defiance all efforts
and all precautions. If they shut him up, he broke the door or jumped
out of the window; if they threatened him, he pretended to comply,
conquered by fear, and promised everything that was required, but
only to break his word the first opportunity. He had a tutor specially
attached to his person and charged to supervise all his actions. He
constantly deluded him by fresh tricks, and when he thought himself free
from the consequences, he maltreated him with gross violence. It
was only in his youth, after his father's death, that he became more
manageable; he even consented to learn to read, to please his mother,
whose idol he was, and to whom in return he gave all his affection.

If Kamco had so strong a liking for Ali, it was because she found in
him, not only her blood, but also her character. During the lifetime of
her husband, whom she feared, she seemed only an ordinary woman; but
as soon as his eyes were closed, she gave free scope to the violent
passions which agitated her bosom. Ambitious, bold, vindictive, she
assiduously cultivated the germs of ambition, hardihood, and vengeance
which already strongly showed themselves in the young Ali. "My son,"
she was never tired of telling him, "he who cannot defend his patrimony
richly deserves to lose it. Remember that the property of others is only
theirs so long as they are strong enough to keep it, and that when you
find yourself strong enough to take it from them, it is yours. Success
justifies everything, and everything is permissible to him who has the
power to do it."

Ali, when he reached the zenith of his greatness, used to declare that