"Enough! thou hast convinced me that no human being can ever be a
poet. Proceed with thy narration."

"To be a poet," said Imlac, "is indeed very difficult."

"So difficult," returned the Prince, "that I will at present hear
no more of his labours. Tell me whither you went when you had seen
Persia."

"From Persia," said the poet, "I travelled through Syria, and for
three years resided in Palestine, where I conversed with great
numbers of the northern and western nations of Europe, the nations
which are now in possession of all power and all knowledge, whose
armies are irresistible, and whose fleets command the remotest
parts of the globe. When I compared these men with the natives of
our own kingdom and those that surround us, they appeared almost
another order of beings. In their countries it is difficult to
wish for anything that may not be obtained; a thousand arts, of
which we never heard, are continually labouring for their
convenience and pleasure, and whatever their own climate has denied
them is supplied by their commerce."

"By what means," said the Prince, "are the Europeans thus powerful?
or why, since they can so easily visit Asia and Africa for trade or
conquest, cannot the Asiatics and Africans invade their coast,
plant colonies in their ports, and give laws to their natural
princes? The same wind that carries them back would bring us
thither."

"They are more powerful, sir, than we," answered Imlac, "because