and of lying hid in the obscurity of multitudes; for in a city
populous as Cairo it is possible to obtain at the same time the
gratifications of society and the secrecy of solitude.

"From Cairo I travelled to Suez, and embarked on the Red Sea,
passing along the coast till I arrived at the port from which I had
departed twenty years before. Here I joined myself to a caravan,
and re-entered my native country.

"I now expected the caresses of my kinsmen and the congratulations
of my friends, and was not without hope that my father, whatever
value he had set upon riches, would own with gladness and pride a
son who was able to add to the felicity and honour of the nation.
But I was soon convinced that my thoughts were vain. My father had
been dead fourteen years, having divided his wealth among my
brothers, who were removed to some other provinces. Of my
companions, the greater part was in the grave; of the rest, some
could with difficulty remember me, and some considered me as one
corrupted by foreign manners.

"A man used to vicissitudes is not easily dejected. I forgot,
after a time, my disappointment, and endeavoured to recommend
myself to the nobles of the kingdom; they admitted me to their
tables, heard my story, and dismissed me. I opened a school, and
was prohibited to teach. I then resolved to sit down in the quiet
of domestic life, and addressed a lady that was fond of my
conversation, but rejected my suit because my father was a
merchant.

"Wearied at last with solicitation and repulses, I resolved to hide