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Contents
INTRODUCTION
Premarital relations—Prostitution—Chastity—Virginity—
The double standard—Modesty—The relativity of morals—
The biological rôle of modesty—Adultery—Divorce—
Abortion—Infanticide—Childhood—The individual
III. SOCIAL MORALITY
Primitive atheists
1. THE SOURCES OF RELIGION
Fear—Wonder—Dreams—
The soul—Animism
2. THE OBJECTS OF RELIGION
Magic—Vegetation rites—
Festivals of license—Myths
of the resurrected god—
Magic and superstition—
Magic and science—Priests
4. THE MORAL FUNCTION OF RELIGION
Origins—Mathematics—Astronomy—Medicine—Surgery
III. ART
Tools—Fire—Painting—
Sculpture
II. NEOLITHIC CULTURE
Copper—Bronze—Iron
2. WRITING
Polynesia—“Atlantis”
4. CRADLES OF CIVILIZATION
Central Asia—Anau—Lines
of Dispersion
BOOK ONE
THE NEAR EAST
The soil—Industry—Trade—
Classes—Science
3. GOVERNMENT
Writing—Literature—
Temples and palaces—
Statuary—Ceramics
—Jewelry-Summary of
Sumerian civilization
III. PASSAGE TO EGYPT
1. IN THE DELTA
Alexandria—The Nile—The
Pyramids—The Sphinx
2. UPSTREAM
Memphis—The masterpiece
of Queen Hatshepsut—The
“Colossi of Memnon”—Luxor
and Karnak—The grandeur
of Egyptian civilization
II. THE MASTER BUILDERS
Paleolithic—Neolithic—The
Badarians—Predynastic—
Race
3. THE OLD KINGDOM
1. AGRICULTURE
2. INDUSTRY
Miners—Manufactures—
Workers—Engineers—
Transport—Postal service—
Commerce and finance—
Scribes
3. GOVERNMENT
The bureaucrats—Law—The
vizier—The pharaoh
4. MORALS
Character—Games—
Appearance—Cosmetics—
Costume—Jewelry
6. LETTERS
Education—Schools of
government—Paper and ink
—Stages in the development
of writing—Forms of
Egyptian writing
7. LITERATURE
Texts and libraries—The
Egyptian Sinbad—The Story
of Sinuhe—Fiction—An
amorous fragment—Love
poems—History—A literary
revolution
8. SCIENCE
Architecture—Old Kingdom,
Middle Kingdom, Empire
and Saïte sculpture—Bas-
relief—Painting—Minor arts
—Music—The artists
10. PHILOSOPHY
Hunting—Tillage—Food—Industry—Transport—The perils
of commerce—Money-lenders—Slaves
III. THE LAW
Cuneiform—Its decipherment—Language—Literature—The
epic of Gilgamesh
VII. ARTISTS
Mathematics—Astronomy—The calendar—Geography—
Medicine
IX. PHILOSOPHERS
X. EPITAPH
Chapter X: ASSYRIA
I. CHRONICLES
Beginnings—Cities—Race—The conquerors—Sennacherib
and Esarhaddon—“Sardanapalus”
II. ASSYRIAN GOVERNMENT
Palestine—Climate—Prehistory—Abraham’s people—The
Jews in Egypt—The Exodus—The conquest of Canaan
II. SOLOMON IN ALL HIS GLORY
Race—Appearance—Language—Organization—Judges and
kings—Saul—David—Solomon—His wealth—The Temple—
Rise of the social problem in Israel
III. THE GOD OF HOSTS
Polytheism—Yahveh—Henotheism—Character of the
Hebrew religion—The idea of sin—Sacrifice—Circumcision-
-The priesthood—Strange gods
IV. THE FIRST RADICALS
BOOK TWO
INDIA AND HER NEIGHBORS
Sceptics—Nihilists—Sophists—Atheists—Materialists—
Religions without a god
II. MAHAVIRA AND THE JAINS
Tamerlane—Babur—Humayun—Akbar—His government—
His character—His patronage of the arts—His passion for
philosophy—His friendship for Hinduism and Christianity—
His new religion—The last days of Akbar
VIII. THE DECLINE OF THE MOGULS
Sexual modesty—Hygiene—Dress—Appearance—The
gentle art among the Hindus-Faults and virtues—Games—
Festivals—Death
Superstitions—Astrology—Phallic worship—Ritual—
Sacrifice—Purification—The sacred waters
V. SAINTS AND SCEPTICS
Origin—Shankara—Logic—
Epistemology—Maya—
Psychology—Theology—
God—Ethics—Difficulties of
the system—Death of
Shankara
III. THE CONCLUSIONS OF HINDU PHILOSOPHY
Decadence—Summary—Criticism—Influence
Schools—Methods—Universities—Moslem education—An
emperor on education
III. THE EPICS
Primitive—Buddhist—Gandhara—Gupta—“Colonial”—
Estimate
V. ARCHITECTURE
1. HINDU ARCHITECTURE
Before Ashoka—Ashokan—
Buddhist—Jain—The
masterpieces of the north—
Their destruction—The
southern style—Monolithic
temples—Structural temples
2. “COLONIAL” ARCHITECTURE
Ceylon—Java—Cambodia—
The Khmers—Their religion
—Angkor—Fall of the
Khmers—Siam—Burma
3. MOSLEM ARCHITECTURE IN INDIA
BOOK THREE
THE FAR EAST
A. CHINA
Geography—Race—
Prehistory
3. THE UNKNOWN CENTURIES
Lao-tze—The Tao—On
intellectuals in government
—The foolishness of laws—A
Rousseauian Utopia and a
Christian ethic—Portrait of a
wise man—The meeting of
Lao-tze and Confucius
II. CONFUCIUS
A fragment of logic—The
philosopher and the urchins
—A formula of wisdom
4. THE WAY OF THE HIGHER MAN
Popular sovereignty—
Government by example—
The decentralization of
wealth-Music and manners
—Socialism and revolution
6. THE INFLUENCE OF CONFUCIUS
1. MO TI, ALTRUIST
A model mother—A
philosopher among kings—
Are men by nature good?—
Single tax—Mencius and the
communists—The profit-
motive—The right of
revolution
4. HSUN-TZE, REALIST
IV. PAINTING
Population—Appearance—Dress—Peculiarities of Chinese
speech—Of Chinese writing
III. THE PRACTICAL LIFE
1. IN THE FIELDS
Handicrafts—Silk—Factories
—Guilds—Men of burden—
Roads and canals-
Merchants—Credit and
coinage—Currency
experiments—Printing-
press inflation
3. INVENTION AND SCIENCE
B. JAPAN
Chronology of Japanese Civilization
Stature—Cosmetics—Costume—Diet—Etiquette—Saki—
The tea ceremony—The flower ceremony—Love of nature—
Gardens—Homes
V. THE FAMILY
The language—Writing—Education
II. POETRY
1. FICTION
The historians—Arai
Hakuseki
3. THE ESSAY
Industrialization—Factories—Wages—Strikes—Poverty—
The Japanese point of view
III. THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION
Photographs
Notes
Our story begins with the Orient, not merely because Asia was the
scene of the oldest civilizations known to us, but because those
civilizations formed the background and basis of that Greek and Roman
culture which Sir Henry Maine mistakenly supposed to be the whole
source of the modern mind. We shall be surprised to learn how much of
our most indispensable inventions, our economic and political
organization, our science and our literature, our philosophy and our
religion, goes back to Egypt and the Orient,II At this historic moment—
when the ascendancy of Europe is so rapidly coming to an end, when
Asia is swelling with resurrected life, and the theme of the twentieth
century seems destined to be an all-embracing conflict between the
East and the West—the provincialism of our traditional histories, which
began with Greece and summed up Asia in a line, has become no merely
academic error, but a possibly fatal failure of perspective and
intelligence. The future faces into the Pacific, and understanding must
follow it there.
But how shall an Occidental mind ever understand the Orient? Eight
years of study and travel have only made this, too, more evident—that
not even a lifetime of devoted scholarship would suffice to initiate a
Western student into the subtle character and secret lore of the East.
Every chapter, every paragraph in this book will offend or amuse some
patriotic or esoteric soul: the orthodox Jew will need all his ancient
patience to forgive the pages on Yahveh; the metaphysical Hindu will
mourn this superficial scratching of Indian philosophy; and the Chinese
or Japanese sage will smile indulgently at these brief and inadequate
selections from the wealth of Far Eastern literature and thought. Some
of the errors in the chapter on Judea have been corrected by Professor
Harry Wolf son of Harvard; Dr. Ananda Coomaraswamy of the Boston
Institute of Fine Arts has given the section on India a most painstaking
revision, but must not be held responsible for the conclusions I have
reached or the errors that remain; Professor H. H. Gowen, the learned
Orientalist of the University of Washington, and Upton Close, whose
knowledge of the Orient seems inexhaustible, have checked the more
flagrant mistakes in the chapters on China and Japan; and Mr. George
Sokolsky has given to the pages on contemporary affairs in the Far East
the benefit of his first-hand information. Should the public be indulgent
enough to call for a second edition of this book, the opportunity will be
taken to incorporate whatever further corrections may be suggested by
critics, specialists and readers. Meanwhile a weary author may
sympathize with Tai T’ung, who in the thirteenth century issued his
History of Chinese Writing with these words: “Were I to await perfection,
my book would never be finished.”III
Since these ear-minded times are not propitious for the popularity of
expensive books on remote subjects of interest only to citizens of the
world, it may be that the continuation of this series will be delayed by
the prosaic necessities of economic life. But if the reception of this
adventure in synthesis makes possible an uninterrupted devotion to the
undertaking, Part Two should be ready by the fall of 1940, and its
successors should appear, by the grace of health, at five-year intervals
thereafter. Nothing would make me happier than to be freed, for this
work, from every other literary enterprise. I shall proceed as rapidly as
time and circumstance will permit, hoping that a few of my
contemporaries will care to grow old with me while learning, and that
these volumes may help some of our children to understand and enjoy
the infinite riches of their inheritance.
WILL DURANT.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
They sent these two near a teacher to learn letters and sciences.
After a number of years, one day, in order to look at this Prince’s
learning, the King, having gone near the teacher who teaches the
sciences, and made inquiry regarding the Prince’s lessons,
[ascertained that] the King’s Prince was not able to [understand] any
science; the Carpenter’s son was conversant (nipuna) with all
sciences.
Then the Queen said to the Prince, “As you have not got any
learning he has settled to behead you. Because of it, leave this city,
and go somewhere or other.” Having said [this], and, unknown to
the King, tied up and given the Prince a package of cooked rice, and
given him a horse and a sword and a thousand masuran, she sent
him on his journey.
This Prince and the Carpenter’s son were very great confidential
friends. Because of it, the Prince, having said that he must go [after]
having spoken to his friend, went near his friend, and said, “Our
father, because I am unable to [understand] letters and sciences,
has settled to behead me. Because of it, I am going to another
country.”
Thereupon the Carpenter’s son said, “If you, Sir, are leaving this city
and going away, I also must go to the place where you are going.”
Having said [this], the Carpenter’s son set out to go with the Prince.
Then the Prince said, “As for me, blame having fallen on me from
the King, I am going; there is no reason at all for you to go.” That
word the Carpenter’s son would not hear. Both of them having
mounted on the horse, entered the jungle, and began to go away.
At the time when they had gone a number of gawuwas (each of four
miles), it became night; and having gone upon a high rock, and
eaten the packet of cooked rice that was brought, at the time when
the two persons were talking the Prince saw that a great light had
fallen somewhat far away. Having said, “Friend, get up and look
what is that light,” when that one arose and looked, a great Nāgayā,
having ejected a stone, is eating food.
The Carpenter’s son said, “You go, and, taking the stone, come back
running, without having looked back. The Cobra will come running;
then I will cut it down.”
Having gone very far, after they halted they looked at the stone. On
the stone was written, “There is a well in this jungle. When one has
held the stone to the well, the water will dry up. Having descended
into the well, when one has looked there will be a palace; there will
also be a Princess in the palace. If there should be a person who has
obtained this stone, it is he himself whom this Princess will marry.”
[This] was written upon the stone.
Thereafter, after it became light, these two persons began to seek
the well. At the time when they were seeking and looking for it they
met with the well. When they held the stone to the well the water
dried up. Both of them having descended into the well, when they
looked about, they met with the palace also; the Princess, too, was
there.
The Carpenter’s son said to the Prince, “You, Sir, are a great fool.
You are my royal Prince; it is not right to say this word to me.”
Thereafter, having married the Princess to the Prince, and united the
two persons, and set that Nāga gem in a ring, and put it on the
Prince’s finger, he said, “On the Princess’s asking for this ring on any
day whatever,3 don’t give it. Women are never to be trusted.” Having
taught the Prince [this], having said, “In any difficulty whatever,
remember me,” the Carpenter’s son, plunging into the water, came
to the surface of the ground, and went [back] to their city.
While this Prince and Princess were [there], one day she begged and
got the ring that was on the Prince’s hand, in order to look at it.
When she begged and looked at it, this Princess saw that these
matters were written in Nāgara letters.
On the following day, begging the ring from the Prince, and having
gone noiselessly, when she held it out to the well the water dried up.
Thereupon, the Princess, having mounted upon the well mouth, and
stayed looking about, came again to the palace. In that manner,
several times begging for the ring she stayed on the well mouth, and
came back.
One day, at the time when the Vaeddā who goes hunting for the
King of that city was going walking [in the forest], the Vaeddā,
having heard that this Princess sitting on the mouth of the well is
singing, went and peeped, and remained looking at her. Thereafter
he went and told the King of that city, “In such and such a jungle
there is a well. Sitting on the well mouth, a Princess was singing and
singing songs. Having stayed there, she jumped into the well. When
I went and looked there is only water. The beauty of her figure is
indeed like the sun and moon. In this city there is not a woman of
that kind.”
At the time when they were going in the street beating the
notification tom-toms, a widow woman stopped the notification tom-
toms, and asked, “What is it?”
The notification tom-tom beater said, “The King said that to a person
who brought and gave him the Princess who is in the well in such
and such a jungle, he will give these goods, and a share from the
kingdom.”
Thereupon the widow woman said [to the King], “I can.4 Having
constructed a watch-hut near the well in that jungle, you must give
it to me,” she said. The King very speedily sent men, and built a
watch-hut, and gave it.
This old woman went [there], and at the time when she was in the
watch-hut, the Princess came, and sitting down upon the well
mouth, sang songs.
The Princess asked, “What, mother, are you weeping and weeping
for?”
“Anē! Daughter, there is a male child of mine. The child does not
give me to eat, and does not give me to wear. Having beaten me he
drove me away, to go to any place I like.”
Then the Princess said, “I will give you to eat and to wear. There is
not anyone with me.” Calling this old woman she went to her palace.
The Prince also having become pleased, amply provided for the old
woman.
Very many times calling this old woman, [the Princess] having gone
to the well-mouth, and stayed [there] singing songs, returned.
One day this old woman, taking a piece of stone in her hand,
unknown (himin) to the Princess, asked at the hand of the Princess,
“Anē! Daughter, how does the water dry up in this well? How does it
fill?”
[The Princess] having said, “Appoyi! Mother, you dropped the stone!”
the two persons, striking and striking themselves, began to cry,
saying and saying, “For us, in the midst of this forest, from whom
will there be a protection from everything (saw-saranak)?”
At the time when they were weeping and weeping, having said, “It
is becoming night,” the old woman said to the Princess, “Now then,
daughter, for us two to remain thus, a fine place (hari taenak) is this
forest wilderness! There will be elephants, bears, leopards. Because
of that, let us go. There is my house; having gone [there], early to-
morrow morning let us come again here.” Having said [this],
deceiving the Princess, they went away.
The old woman with dishonest secrecy having sent word to the King,
the King came, and calling the Princess went [with her] to the
palace.
At the time when they were beating the notification tom-tom, that
Carpenter’s son, having caused the notification tom-tom to halt,
said, “I can construct the Wooden Peacock machine.” Thereupon,
summoning the Carpenter’s son, they went to the royal house.
The King ordered that he should receive from the palace many
presents. The King commanded that having quickly constructed the
Wooden Peacock machine, and also prepared a person to row it, he
should bring it.
While constructing it, he made inquiry how this widow woman was,
[and learnt that] a male child of this widow woman’s was lost while
very young (lit., from his small days).
“What are these for, son? Look; I have received from the King much
goods, and a part of the kingdom,” she said to the Carpenter’s son.
The old woman thought he was her own son. Having allowed him to
press her eyes while she is lying down, the old woman said, “Son, I
have still got something.”
Having said, “Anē! Mother, where is it? Please let me look at it,”
begging for it, when he looked [it was] that gem-treasure.
Thereafter, having given it [back] into the hand of the old woman,
and waited until the time when the woman goes to sleep, stealing
that stone the Carpenter’s son came away.
At that time, the King and the Princess, both of them, having
mounted on the Wooden Peacock machine [after] putting on the
royal ornaments, these three persons rowed [aloft in] the Wooden
Peacock machine.
Having rowed very high above the sea, and stopped the Wooden
Peacock machine, the Carpenter’s son, taking the sword in his hand,
asked the King whence the King obtained this Princess. Thereupon
the King said that a widow woman of this city brought and gave him
the Princess who stayed at a well in the midst of the forest.
Then the Carpenter’s son said, “Why do you desire others’ wives?
How much [mental] fire will there be for this Princess’s husband!
What His Highness (tumā) did is a great fault.”
Having said this, he cut down the King and dropped him into the
sea, and, taking the Princess, rowed near that well in the jungle.
Having gone [down the well] to the palace, and caused that Prince
to put on these royal ornaments, the Prince, and the Princess, and
the Carpenter’s son, the whole three persons, having gone on the
Wooden Peacock machine to the city, and said that the King and the
Princess had contracted the marriage, that day with great festivity
ate the [wedding] feast; but any person of the city was unaware of
this abduction9 [of the King] which he effected.
The Carpenter’s son became the Prince’s Prime Minister. The Prince
exercised the sovereignty with the ten [royal] virtues, it is said.
North-western Province.
The ten royal virtues are: Almsgiving, keeping religious precepts, liberality,
uprightness, compassion, addiction to religious austerities, even temper,
tenderness, patience, and peacefulness (Clough).
Regarding the flying wooden Peacock, see also the next story and No. 198 in vol.
iii. In Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues (Chavannes), vol. ii, p. 378, there is also an
account of a similar flying-machine called a Peacock, on which a young man,
accompanied by the maker, first went to marry a girl, and afterwards, against the
advice of its maker, flew aloft to show the people his own skill. He did not know
how to make it return, and at last the cords broke, it fell in the sea, and he was
drowned.
In Folklore of the Santal Parganas (collected by Rev. Dr. Bodding), pp. 378, 380,
etc., there are several accounts of houses under the water; these were the
residences of Bongas or deities.
In The Indian Antiquary, vol. i, p. 115, Mr. G. H. Damant gave a Bengal story in
which a King’s son descends into a well, and finds there a Princess in a house,
imprisoned by Rākshasas.
In Folk-Tales of Bengal (L. Behari Day), p. 17 ff., a Prince and a Minister’s son who
was his bosom friend, while on their travels obtained a Cobra’s jewel, and by
means of it saw a palace under the water of a tank. They dived down to it, found
a Princess who had been imprisoned there by the Cobra, which had died on losing
its magic jewel, and the Prince married her by exchanging garlands of flowers.
After the Minister’s son left them in order to prepare for their return, the Princess,
while the Prince was asleep, by means of the magic jewel ascended to the surface
of the water, and sat on the bathing steps. On the third occasion when she did
this, a Rāja’s son saw and fell in love with her. As soon as she observed him she
descended to her palace, and the young man went home apparently mad. The
Rāja offered his daughter’s hand and half his kingdom to anyone who could cure
his son. An old woman who had seen the Princess offered to do it, and a hut was
built for her on the embankment of the tank. When the Princess came to the bank
the woman offered to help her to bathe, secured the jewel, and the Princess was
captured. When the Minister’s son returned on a day previously arranged, he
heard that the Princess was to be married in two days. He personated the widow’s
son, who was absent, and was well received by the widow, who handed him the
magic jewel. He saw the Princess, managed to escape with her, and they joined
the Prince.
In The Kathākoça (Tawney), p. 91, a serpent Prince saved a Queen who had been
pushed into a well by her stepmother, and made a palace in the well, in which she
lived until she was able to rejoin her husband.
In Folk-Tales of Hindustan (Shaik Chilli), p. 52, a Princess who had been carried off
and was about to be married to a Rāja’s son, stated (by pre-arrangement with her
husband’s party, who had come to rescue her) that it was “the custom of her
family to float round the city in a golden aerial car with the bridegroom and
match-maker.” The Rāja sent men to find a car. Two of her husband’s friends, a
goldsmith and a carpenter, now produced such a car. When the Rāja, his son, the
Princess, and the witch who had abducted her, began to sail above the city in it, at
the Princess’s request the car was stopped at a pre-arranged place, the Prince and
his four friends sprang into it, took it high in the air, drowned the Rāja, his son,
and the witch, and returned with the Princess to their own city.
In the Arabian Nights (Lady Burton’s ed., vol. iii, p. 137 ff.) there is an account of a
flying ebony horse, which rose or descended when suitable pegs were turned.
When it was brought to a Persian King, his son tried it, was carried away like the
Prince in the next story, and at last descended on the roof of a palace, where he
saw and fell in love with the royal Princess, and returning afterwards, carried her
off.
In the Totā Kahānī (Small), p. 139, a young man made a flying wooden horse, by
means of which a merchant’s daughter, who had been abducted by a fairy, was
recovered.
In the Kathā Sarit Sāgara (Tawney), vol. i, p. 57, a young Brāhmaṇa who plunged
into the Ganges to rescue a woman who appeared to be drowning found a temple
of Śiva, and a palace in which the girl who was a Daitya (an Asura) lived.
In The Indian Antiquary, vol. x, p. 232 (Tales of the Panjab, p. 42), in the story of
Prince Lionheart, by Mrs. F. A. Steel, his carpenter friend went in search of a
Princess who had been carried off by a King. He made a flying palankin, and
returned in it with her.
One day the royal Prince said to the Carpenter’s son, “Anē! Friend,
will you let me row and look at the Wooden Peacock machine?” he
asked.
Thereupon the Carpenter’s son, having said, “It is good,” and having
told him the manner of treading on the chain, gave him it. Just as
the Prince was taking hold of the chain, he went [up] in the Wooden
Peacock machine, and was fixed among the clouds in the sky. At that
time the King of the city and the multitude were frightened.
Thereupon the soothsayers said, “After he has gone for the space
of3 three years and three months, having come back he will fall in
the sea.”
Thereupon the King said to the Ministers, “Having been marking that
number of years and number of days, surrounding the sea (i.e.,
keeping a watch all along the shore), and having been laying nets,
as soon as the Prince falls you must take him ashore,” he
commanded.
Thereafter, at the time when the Prince was holding the cords of the
Wooden Peacock machine, it began to descend lower. At a burial
ground at another city the Wooden Peacock machine came down
upon a Banyan-tree.
As soon as she saw him, the Princess thought, “If I marry the Prince
it is good.” The Prince also thought, “If I marry this Princess it is
good.” Except that the two thought to themselves of each other,
there was no means of talking together. Because of it, the Princess,
plucking a blue-lotus flower in the pool, placed it on her head after
having smelt (kissed) it; and again, having crushed it, threw it down,
and trampled on it. The Princess did thus for the Prince to perceive
that when he married her she would be submissive and obedient to
him. The Prince understood it, and kept it in mind.
Thereafter, at the time when the Prince was going walking in the
city, he met with the palace in which is the Princess. At the time
when the Prince had been there a little while, the Princess opened a
window of the upper story, and when she was looking in the
direction of the street, saw that this Prince was [there], and spoke to
him. At that time she said to the Prince, “After it has become night I
[shall] have opened this window. You come [then].”
Then the Prince having come after all in the palace got to sleep,
when he looked the window was opened. Having spoken to the
Princess, he entered the palace. The two having conversed, the
Prince, before it became light, got out of the palace, and having
gone away, and waited until the time when it became night, comes
again.
The smith having gone, and made the lamp-stand in the manner the
Princess said, brought it near the King. Then the Princess having
come and said, “I want this,” took it, and put it in the palace. To the
smith the King gave five hundred masuran.
When several days had gone by, this woman, having perceived that
a man is inside that lamp-stand, one day having gone taking also a
package of fine sand, during the visit, while she stayed talking and
talking with the Princess put the sand of the package round the
lamp-stand, and having spread it thinly, came away. The Princess
was unable to find this out.
When that woman went on the morning of the following day, and
looked, the Prince’s foot-prints were in that sand. As soon as she
saw it, the woman went and said to the King, “I caught the thief. Let
us go to look.” The old woman having gone, said, “There! It is inside
that lamp-stand, indeed, that the thief is,” and showed them to the
King. At that time, when the King broke the lamp-stand and looked,
the thief was [there].
Thereafter the King gave orders that having tortured the thief, and
taken him away, they were to behead him, he said to the
executioners. Thereupon the executioners [after] pinioning the
Prince, beating the execution tom-tom, took him to that burial-
ground.
At that time the Prince said to the executioners, “If you kill any
person, having given him the things he thinks of to eat and drink—is
it not so?—you kill him. Because of it, until the time when I come
[after] going into this Banyan-tree and eating two Banyan fruits,
remain on guard round this tree. There is no opportunity (taenak)
for me to bound off and go elsewhere.”
The executioners having said that blame will fall [on them] from the
King, caught and cut a lizard (kaṭussā), and having gone [after]
rubbing the blood on the sword, showed it to the King, and said that
they beheaded the thief.
From that day, the Princess from grief remained without eating and
drinking. Several days afterwards, the Prince, having come rowing
the Wooden Peacock machine, and caused it to stop on the palace in
which is the Princess, and having removed the tiles, dropped the
jewelled ring that was on the Prince’s hand at the place where the
Princess is. He also dropped a robe of the Prince’s.
At the time when they were going, ten months were completed for
the Princess. While they were going, pains began to seize her. [The
Prince] having lowered the Wooden Peacock machine in a great
forest jungle, and in a minute having made a house of branches, the
Princess bore [a child].
Thereupon the Prince said, “Remain here until I go and bring a little
fire.” Saying [this] to the Princess, the Prince went rowing the
Wooden Peacock machine. Having gone, at the time when, taking
the fire in a coconut husk, he was coming rowing the Wooden
Peacock machine over the midst of the sea, the coconut husk having
burnt, the fire seized the Wooden Peacock machine, and it burnt
away.
The Prince having come [there], fell in the sea. That foretold number
of years also had been finished on that day. The person who stayed
casting nets in the sea [there], as soon as the Prince fell got him
ashore. The Prince, planting a vegetable garden at the city,
remained there.
While the Princess who bore [the child] in that forest jungle was
without any protection from all things (sawu-saranak), this trouble
having become visible to an ascetic person who practises austerity in
that forest jungle, he came to the place where the Princess was, and
spoke to her.
Thereupon the Princess, after she saw the ascetic, having a little
abandoned the trouble that was in her mind, said to the ascetic,
“While I walk into the midst of this forest seeking a little ripe fruit,
will you look after this child until I come?” she asked.
The ascetic said, “Should I hold the child it is impure (kilutu) for me.
Because of it, you having made a stick platform (maessak), and
hung it by a creeper, and having tied a creeper to the platform, go
after having sent the child to sleep on the platform. At the time
when the child cries I will come, and hold the creeper by the end,
and shake it; then the child will stop.” Having done in the manner
the ascetic said, the Princess, seeking ripe fruits, ate.
One day, the Princess having suckled the child, and sent it to sleep
on the platform, went to seek ripe fruits. Thereafter, that child
having rolled off the stick platform and fallen on the ground, at the
time when it was crying the ascetic heard it, and came; when he
looked, the child having rolled over had fallen on the ground.
Thereupon, because it was impure for the ascetic to hold the child,
he plucked a flower, and having performed an Act of Truth for the
flower, thought, “May a child be created just like this child.”
Thereafter, a child was created just like it.
The Princess having come back, and having seen, when she looked,
that two children are [there], the Princess asked the ascetic, “What
is [the reason of] it? To-day two children!”
The ascetic said, “When I was coming, the child, having fallen, was
crying and crying. Because it is impure for me to hold the child, I
created a child just like it.”
The Princess said, “I cannot believe that word. If so, you must
create a child again, for me to look at it.”
“No matter. [Please] create and give me it; I can rear it.”
One day, at the time when these three are going walking, they met
with a great river. When they looked, on the other bank of the river
a great vegetable garden is visible. Thereupon these three having
said [to each other], “Can you swim?” swam a considerable distance,
and came back, saying, “Let us come to-morrow morning.” Having
gone seeking a very few ripe fruits, they gave them to their mother.
On the following day, early in the morning, taking bows and arrows,
the whole three went to the edge of the river. Having gone [there],
and the whole three having gone swimming to the vegetable
garden, when they looked many kinds of ripe fruits were [there].
The following day, also, those three persons came, and at the time
when they are plucking [the fruit], the gardeners went and told him.
Thereupon the King, taking bows and arrows, came and shot at
them. When he shot, the arrow having gone, when near these
Princes turned (lit., looked) back, and fell down.
Thereafter, that party shot at the King. Then also, in the very [same]
way, the arrow having gone, when near the King turned (looked)
back, and fell down.
Thereupon, the whole two parties, after having come near [each
other], spoke, “This was a great wonder. The circumstance that out
of the two parties no one was struck, is a great wonder. Because of
it, let us, the whole two parties, go near the paṇḍitayās [for them]
to explain this.”
Thereupon, the whole of the two parties having gone, told the
paṇḍitayās this circumstance that had occurred. Then the
paṇḍitayās, having explained it, said to the King, “You, Sir, now
above three or four years ago, summoned a Princess [in marriage].
The Princess’s, indeed, are these three, the children born to you, Sir.
Because of it, the Gods have caused this to be seen. Go, and
summoning the Princess from the place where she is, [be pleased]
to come,” the paṇḍitayās said to the King.
North-western Province.
In Indian Fairy Tales (M. Stokes), p. 158, a Prince who had stolen a magic bed
which transported those who sat on it wherever desired, visited a Princess at night
by means of it, and afterwards married her.
In the same work, p. 208, a Prince and Princess saw each other at a fair. While the
Prince watched her from his tent, she took a rose in her hand, put it to her teeth,
stuck it behind her ear, and lastly laid it at her feet. The Prince could not
understand her meaning, but a friend explained it, and said that she intended him
to know that her father’s name was Raja Dānt (King Tooth), her country the
Karnātak (karṇa = ear), and her own name Pānwpattī (Foot-leaf).
In the Kathā Sarit Sāgara (Tawney), vol. i, p. 487, it is stated that while Sītā, the
wife of Rāma, was dwelling at Vālmīki’s hermitage with her infant son Lava, she
took the child with her when she went to bathe one day. The hermit, thinking a
wild beast had carried it off, created another child resembling it, from kuśa grass,
and placed it in the hut. On her return he explained the matter to her, and she
adopted the infant, to which the name Kuśa was given.
In the same work, vol. ii, p. 235, a girl who came to bathe gave signals to a Prince
by means of a lotus flower, which she put in her ear, and then twisted into the
form of an ornament called dantapatra, or tooth-leaf. After this she placed another
lotus flower on her head, and laid her hand on her heart.
In Folk-Tales of Kashmir (Knowles), 2nd ed., p. 215, a Princess covered her face
with lotus petals, and held up an ivory box to be seen by a Prince who was looking
at her. By these signals he learnt her name and that of her city. He went to the
city, visited her each day in a magic swing, and at length they eloped and were
married.
In Sagas from the Far East, p. 110, a wood-carver’s son fashioned a hollow flying
Garuḍa (possibly in the form of a Brahminy Kite), inside which a friend whose wife
had been abducted flew to the Khan’s palace where she was detained, and
brought her away.
In the same work, p. 316, a Princess made signals to a King’s young Minister as
follows: She raised the first finger of her right hand, then passed the other hand
round it, clasped and unclasped her hands, and finally laid one finger of each hand
beside that of the other hand, and pointed with them towards the palace.
In the Mahā Bhārata and Rāmāyana javelins or arrows are sometimes represented
as returning to the sender, who in such cases was a being possessing supernatural
power. Thus, according to one story of Daksha’s sacrifice, when the energy of a
dart thrown by Rudra at Vishṇu was neutralised, it returned to Rudra. In the fight
between Karṇa and Arjuna some arrows which the former discharged returned to
him (Karṇa Parva, lxxxix.).
In performing an Act of Truth such as is mentioned in this story, the person first
states a fact and then utters a wish, which in reality is a conjuration, the efficacy
of which depends on the truth of the foregoing statement.
Thus, in the Jātaka No. 35 (vol. i, p. 90) the Bōdhisatta in the form of a helpless
quail nestling5 extinguished a raging bush fire that was about to destroy it and
other birds, by an Act of Truth, which took this form:—
The account then continues: “Even as he performed his Act of Truth, Jātaveda [the
Fire Deity] went back a space of sixteen lengths; and in going back the flames did
not pass away to the forest, devouring everything in their path. No; they went out
there and then, like a torch plunged in water.”
There are several other examples in the Jātaka stories, and one in No. 83 in this
volume. In the first volume, p. 140, the Prince cut in two the gem through the
efficacy of an Act of Truth expressed in a slightly different form: “If so-and-so be
true, may so-and-so happen.” This is the usual type of the conjuration; it occurs
also in the story numbered 11. See also the Mahāvansa, Professor Geiger’s
translation, p. 125, footnote.
Other examples are given in the Kathā Sarit Sāgara (Tawney), vol. i, p. 330, vol. ii,
p. 82; Sagas from the Far East, p. 47; Von Schiefner’s Tibetan Tales (Ralston), p.
284; Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues, vol. ii, pp. 358, 396; and in the Mahā
Bhārata.
With regard to the messages given by signals, the reader may remember Rabelais’
account of the argument by signs between Panurge and Thaumaste (Pantagruel,
cap. xix.).
Kandian girls make almost imperceptible signals to each other. If without moving
the head the eyes be momentarily directed towards the door, the question is
asked, “Shall we go out?” An affirmative reply is given by an expressionless gaze,
a negative one by closing the eyes for an instant.
After that, the King, bringing a sword, told them to [go elsewhere
and] learn the sciences [or he would kill them].
So all the four Princes, tying up a bundle of cooked rice, went away,
and having gone to yet a city and sat down at a halting-place
(rūppayak), the eldest Prince said, “At the time when we are coming
back we must assemble together at this very halting-place.”
“You must go and send me to the house where they say sooth,” he
said. Then they went and sent him. The Prince learnt sooth.
The next Prince went and arrived at a city. “What is the science that
is [known] in this city?” he asked. “Archery is [known] in this city,”
they said.
“Please go and send me to the house where there is archery,” he
said. They went and sent him. That one learnt archery.
The next Prince went and arrived at a city. “What is the science that
is [known] in this city?” he asked. “In this city there is carpenter’s
work,” they said.
After that, the soothsayer [Prince] looked into the sooth, [to
ascertain] on what day the other three persons would come. When
he looked, it appeared that on the very day when the eldest Prince
comes back the other three persons also will come.
The eldest Prince having set off and come, returned to the halting-
place (rūppē) at which they stayed that day. Having come, while he
was there the other three also came and arrived at that halting-
place.
“What is the science you learnt?” they asked from the eldest Prince.
“I learnt sooth,” he said.
They asked the next Prince, “What is the science you learnt?” “I
learnt theft,” he said.
They asked the next Prince, “What is the science you learnt?” “I
learnt archery,” he said.
They asked the young Prince, “What is the science you learnt?” “I
learnt carpenter’s work,” said the young Prince.
The three persons asked the eldest Prince, “What is there at our
house?” Then he said, “On the Palmira-tree a female crow (kawaḍi),
having laid three eggs, is sitting on them,” he said.
“What is missing from our house?” they asked. “The Rākshasa
having taken the King’s Queen to that [far] shore of the sea, [after]
putting her in the middle room (lit., house) in the midst of seven,1
has put the seven keys in his mouth,” he said.
After that, the whole seven came to the city. The King having come
rubbing (whetting) a sword, asked the eldest Prince, “What is the
science you learnt?” “I learnt sooth,” he said.
He asked the next Prince, “What is the science you learnt?” “I learnt
theft.” He asked the next Prince; “I learnt archery.” He asked the
youngest Prince, “What is the science you learnt?” “I learnt
carpenter’s work,” he said.
Having caused the egg to be buried under the rice winnowing tray,
he said, “Archer, without swerving to that side or this side, shoot [for
the arrow] to go cutting it quite across.” He shot so as to go quite
across.
“Can you bring back this Queen?” he asked. “We can,” they said.
The whole four persons having gone, the thief went into the
[Rākshasa’s] house, and brought out the Queen successfully. When
he was bringing her the Rākshasa was asleep. Taking the Queen,
they came away.
When they were coming, they told [the soothsaying Prince] to look
by [means of] sooth [what the Rākshasa was doing]. Still he slept.
Having come very far in that way, they told him to look [again]. “He
is now coming on the path,” he said.
When they were returning thus, [the Rākshasa], having come quite
near, sprang at them. At that very time the archer shot [at him; the
arrow] having gone cutting his neck, he fell.
The ship in which they had gone was damaged (tuwāla wunā). The
carpenter made [the damage good]. Then, [after crossing the sea]
they brought the Rākshasa’s head and the Queen, and gave them to
the King. Thereupon the King gave them the sovereignty.
After he stayed there many days, this Princess asks this nobleman’s
son, “What do you know of the sciences?” Then he says, “I don’t
know a single one.” Having said, “If so, you cannot stay near me; go
you away,” she drove him away.
This nobleman’s son came home. The nobleman asks his son, “What
have you come for?”
“The Princess asked me, ‘What do you know of the sciences?’ I said,
‘I don’t know anything.’ ‘If so, you cannot stay near me,’ she said.
Because of that I came,” he said.
Immediately, this nobleman says to all his five sons, “Unless you five
learn five sciences, without [doing so] don’t come to my house.”
Having said it he drove them away. Thereupon, these five persons
went to five cities, and learning five sciences, after much time came
home. [One was a soothsayer, the second was a marksman, the
third a thief, the fourth made very rapid journeys, and the fifth could
bring the dead to life.]
This nobleman, after that having summoned the eldest son, asked,
“What is the science that thou knowest?”
After he asked it, this one says, “Father, you have asked me if a
female crow has laid eggs in a tree. Is it not so?” he asked.
Thereupon, the nobleman said to the one who was able to shoot,
“Come here. Without the female crow’s knowing it, and without
breaking the egg, shoot thou so that it may become marked [only],
—an egg out of the eggs that are in that nest,” he said. The
nobleman’s son having said, “It is good,” shot in the manner he told
him.
Then this nobleman, having summoned the thief, says, “Go thou,
and without the crow’s knowing, bring thou only the egg which this
one shot.” Having said, “It is good,” he brought that very egg.
Then the nobleman said, “Go again, and place thou it [back in the
nest].” He said, “It is good,” and went and put it [back].
Thereupon, [having called the eldest son again], what sooth did the
nobleman ask? Thinking it in his mind [only], he asked, “How are
now the happiness and health of the Princess whom you at first
summoned [in marriage]?”
After he asked, this one having looked at the sooth, says, “The
Princess having now died, they have taken her to bury,” he said.
Then this nobleman said to the one who causes life to be restored,3
“Go and restore the life of the Princess, and come thou back to my
city.” Having said, “It is good,” this one went, and, causing her life to
be restored, the person who made rapid journeys, and the one who
caused life to be restored, and the Princess, all three persons, came
to the nobleman’s city.
Then the person who went on rapid journeys says, “Unless I had
gone quickly, and had not allowed them to bury her, and if they had
buried her, how would you take her? Because it is so, I shall take
her.”
Then the soothsayer says, “If I had not looked at the sooth, and told
[you about her death], how would you two take her? Because it is
so, I shall take her.”
Now then, out of these four persons, to whom does she belong?
According to our thinking, indeed, she belongs to the nobleman.
North-western Province.
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