Fourteen Days of Happiness out of Fifty Years' Reign.
ABDOULTRAHMAN was one of the richest kings in history. He was one of the Moorish kings in Spain, and his life runs somewhat like Soloman. His palaces were among the finest in the world; more than one thousand marbles, brought from Spain, Africa, and Germany, adorned his mansion. His chairs, knives, forks and plates were made of gold, and his waiters were dressed in the most gorgeous manner. Pictures framed with gold and marble, inlaid with gold and precious metals, were set about the walls. His subjects were all servants. At the chase, twelve thousand horsemen, dressed in the most brilliant and gorgeous apparel, attended him. His hunting pavilion was of vast dimensions. He had all the earth could give, and yet he had no enjoyment and a few years after his death the following was published:— “From the moment when I began to reign, I have recorded those days in which I enjoyed real and undisturbed pleasure. They amount to fourteen. Nothing seemed wanting to my happiness; riches, honors, to say everything, sovereign power. Fifty years have I reigned, and in so long a course of time can count but fourteen days which have not been poisoned by some vexation. Mortal man, consider what this world is and what dependence is to be placed upon its enjoyment. Alas! such moralizings are idle to change the course of the moralist, for they come from the late discovery that all is vanity.”