Explore "Itmi'Nán Al-Nafs, or "the Peace of the Soul"" by Hilaire Belloc on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
"We had arrived," said the excellent old merchant to his nephews when they were once more seated round him for the last of these entertaining relations. "We had arrived, my dear boys, in the story of my life, at my considerable increase of fortune through the financial aid I had given to two states, one of which after a long and exhaustive war had conquered and annexed the other.
"My position (if you recollect) at the close of this adventure was that without having spent any money of my own I was now receiving permanently and forever a very large yearly revenue set aside from the taxes of both states.