He "was not past six years old, and the play was 'Artaxerxes!' I had dabbled a little in the 'Universal History'-- the ancient part of it--and here was the Court of Persia.

It was being admitted to a sight of the past.
I took no proper interest in the action going on, for I understood not its import, but I heard the word Darius, and I was in the midst of 'Daniel.' All feeling was absorbed in vision.

Gorgeous vests, gardens, palaces, princesses, passed before me.

I knew not players.

I was in Persepolis for the time, and the burning idol of their devotion almost converted me into a worshipper.