file which includes the original illustrations4 ,see #fegbj-;h4htm or #fegbj-;h4zip3 7https3_/_/www4gutenberg4org_/cache_/epu b_/#fegbj_/pg#fegbj-;images4html7 or 7https3_/_/www4gutenberg4org_/files_/#fe gbj_/fegbj-;h4zip7 ,images of the original pages are available through ,internet ,archive4 ,see https3_/_/archive4org_/details_/cu#caibd jbhicafbi ,transcriber's note3 ,text that was in italics is enclosed by underscores 7italics74 ,,the ,,place ,,of ,,animals ,,in ,,human ,,thought ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,illustration3 ,,the ,,emperor ,,akbar personally directing the tying up of a wild ,elephant4 ,tempera painting by ,abu'l ,fazl4 7#aeig-ih47 ,photographed for this work from the original in the ,india ,museum4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,the ,,place ,,of ,,animals ,,in ,,human ,,thought by ,,the ,,countess ,,evelyn ,,martinengo ,,cesaresco 8,on ne connait rien que par bribes40--,m4 ,,berthelot ,new ,york ,charles ,scribner',s ,sons #aec-aeg ,fifth ,avenue #aiji ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- 8,c'est l'ternel secret qui veut tre gard40 7,all rights reserved47 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,preface ,,at the ,congress held at ,oxford in ,september1 #aijh1 those who heard ,count ,goblet d',alviella's address on the 8,method and ,scope of the ,history of ,religions0 must have felt the thrill which announces the stirring of new ideas1 when1 in a memorable passage1 the speaker asked 8whether the psychology of animals has not equally some relation to the science of religions80 ,at any rate1 these words came to me as a confirmation of the belief that the study which has engaged my attention for several years1 is rapidly advancing towards recognition as a branch of the inquiry into what man is himself4 ,the following chapters on the different answers given to this question when extended from man to animals1 were intended1 from the first1 to form a whole1 not complete1 indeed1 but perhaps fairly comprehensive4 ,i offer them now to the public with my warmest acknowledgments to the scholars whose published works and1 in some cases1 private hints have made my task possible4 ,i also wish to thank the ,editor of the ,contemporary ,review for his kindness in allowing me to reprint the part of this book which appeared first in that periodical4 ,some chapters refer rather to practice than to psychology1 and others to myths and fancies rather than to conscious speculation1 but all these subjects are so closely connected that it would be difficult to divide their treatment by a hard-and-fast line4 ,with regard to the illustrations1 ,i am glad to bear grateful testimony to the facilities afforded me by the ,directors of the ,british ,museum1 the ,victoria and ,albert ,museum1 the ,hague ,gallery1 the ,national ,museum at ,copenhagen1 the ,egypt ,exploration ,fund1 and by the ,secretary of ,state for ,india4 ,h4,e4 ,monsieur ,camille ,barrre1 ,french ,ambassador at ,rome1 has allowed me to include a photograph of his remarkably fine specimen of a bronze cat2 and ,i have obtained the sanction of ,monsieur ,marcel ,dieulafoy for the reproduction of one of ,madame ,dieulafoy's photographs which appeared in his magnificent work on 8,l',art ,antique de la ,perse40 ,messrs4 ,macmillan ,co41 ,limited1 and ,messrs4 ,chapman and ,hall1 ,limited1 have permitted photographs to be taken of two plates in books published by them4 ,finally1 ,dr4 ,c4 ,waldstein and ,mr4 ,e4 ,b4 ,havell have been most kind in helping me to give the correct description of some of the plates4 ,,sal1 ,,lago ,,di ,,garda4 ,february #ae1 #aiji4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,contents ,i ,,page ,,soul-,,wandering ,,as ,,it ,,concerns ,,animals #aa ,,ii ,,the ,,greek ,,conception ,,of ,,animals #bb ,,iii ,,animals ,,at ,,rome #dd ,,iv ,,plutarch ,,the ,,humane #fb ,v ,,man ,,and ,,his ,,brother #hd ,,vi ,,the ,,faith ,,of ,,iran #aac ,,vii ,,zoroastrian ,,zoology #ada ,,viii ,a ,,religion ,,of ,,ruth #aff ,,ix ,,lines ,,from ,,the ,,adi ,,granth #bja ,x ,,the ,,hebrew ,,conception ,,of ,,animals #bje ,,xi 8,a ,,people ,,like ,,unto ,,you0 #bba ,,xii ,,the ,,friend ,,of ,,the ,,creature #bde ,,xiii ,,versipelles #bfe ,,xiv ,,the ,,horse ,,as ,,hero #bha ,,xv ,,animals ,,in ,,eastern ,,fiction #cjf ,,xvi ,,the ,,growth ,,of ,,modern ,,ideas ,,about ,,animals #ccf ,,index #cfg ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,illustrations ,,the ,,emperor ,,akbar ,,personally ,,directing ,,the ,frontispiece ,,tying ,,up ,,of ,a ,,wild ,,elephant4 ,tempera painting in the 8,akbar ,namah10 by ,abu'l ,fazl 7#aeig-ih74 ,india ,museum4 ,photographed for this work4 ,,deer ,,worshipping ,,the ,,wheel ,,of ,,the ,,law4 ,tope of ,sanchi1 drawn #aa by ,lieut4-,col4 ,maisey ,from ,fergusson's 8,tree and ,serpent ,worship40 ,by permission of the ,india ,office4 ,,the ,,buddhistic ,,tiger #ba ,from a painting on silk by ,ko-,t in the ,british ,museum4 ,photographed for this work4 ,in ,japanese ,buddhism the ,tiger is the type of ,wisdom4 ,,orpheus #cb ,fresco found at ,pompeii4 7,sommer47 ,,stele ,,with ,,cat ,,and ,,bird #dj ,athens ,museum4 ,,capitoline ,,she-,,wolf #dd 7,bruckmann47 ,bronze statue4 ,early ,etruscan style4 ,the twins are modern4 ,,lion ,,being ,,led ,,from ,,the ,,arena ,,by ,a ,,slave #dg ,from the mosaic pavement of a ,roman villa at ,nennig4 ,,bacchus ,,riding ,,on ,a ,,panther #gd ,mosaic found at ,pompeii4 7,sommer47 ,,bronze ,,statue ,,of ,,an ,,egyptian ,,cat #hb ,from the ,collection of ,h4,e4 ,monsieur ,camille ,barrre1 ,french ,ambassador at ,rome ,,reindeer ,,browsing4 ,,older ,,stone ,,age #hf ,found in a cave at ,thayngen in ,switzerland4 ,,horse ,,drawing ,,disc ,,of ,,the ,,sun4 ,,older ,,bronze ,,age #hf ,national ,museum at ,copenhagen4 ,,hathor ,,cow #ajb ,found in #aijf by ,dr4 douard ,naville at ,deir-el-bahari4 ,by permission of the ,egypt ,exploration ,fund4 ,,wild ,,goats ,,and ,,young #ajh ,assyrian ,relief4 ,british ,museum4 7,mansell47 ,,assyrian ,,god ,,carrying ,,antelope ,,and ,,wheat-,,ear #aaf ,british ,museum4 7,mansell47 ,,counting ,,cattle #abh ,egyptian ,fresco4 ,british ,museum4 7,mansell47 ,,king ,,fighting ,,griffin 78,,bad ,,animal07 #adb ,relief in ,palace of ,darius at ,persepolis4 ,photographed by ,jane ,dieulafoy4 ,from 8,l',art ,antique de la ,perse40 ,by permission of ,m4 ,marcel ,dieulafoy4 ,,the ,,real ,,dog ,,of ,,iran #aeb ,bronze ,statuette found at ,susa4 ,louvre4 ,from ,perrot's 8,history of ,art in ,ancient ,persia40 ,by permission of ,messrs4 ,chapman ,hall1 ,ltd4 ,,buddha ,,pacifying ,,an ,,intoxicated ,,elephant ,,which ,,had ,,been ,,sent #ahh ,,to ,,destroy ,,him4 ,,the ,,elephant ,,stoops ,,in ,,adoration ,grco-,buddhist sculpture from a ruined monastery at ,takt-i-,bahi4 ,india ,museum4 ,photographed for this work4 ,,reclining ,,bull #aib ,ancient ,southern ,indian sculpture4 ,from a photograph in the ,india ,museum4 ,,wild ,,bulls ,,and ,,tamed ,,bulls #bja ,reliefs on two gold cups found in a tomb at ,vapheio near ,amyclae4 ,fifteenth century ,b4,c4 7possibly earlier74 ,from ,schuckhardt's 8,schliemann's ,excavations40 ,by permission of ,messrs4 ,macmillan ,co41 ,ltd4 ,,the ,,garden ,,of ,,eden #bjh ,by ,rubens4 ,hague ,gallery4 7,bruckmann47 ,,genesis ,,viii4 #bab ,loggie di ,raffaello4 ,in the ,vatican4 ,drawn by ,n4 ,consoni4 ,,daniel ,,and ,,the ,,lions #baf ,from an early ,christian ,sarcophagus in ,s4 ,vitale1 ,ravenna4 7,alinari47 8,,an ,,indian ,,orpheus0 #bbb ,inlaid marble work panel originally surmounting a doorway in the ,great ,hall of ,audience in the ,mogul ,palace at ,delhi 7about #afej74 ,photographed for this work from a painting by a native artist in the ,india ,museum4 ,imitated from a painting by ,raphael4 ,,moslem ,,beggar ,,feeding ,,dogs ,,at ,,constantinople #bbf ,from life4 ,,st4 ,,jerome ,,extracting ,a ,,thorn ,,from ,,the ,,paw ,,of ,a ,,lion #bec ,by ,hubert van ,eyck4 ,naples ,museum4 7,anderson47 ,,st4 ,,eustace 7,,or ,,st4 ,,hubert7 ,,and ,,the ,,stag #bef ,by ,vittore ,pisano4 ,national ,gallery4 7,hanfstngl47 8,,le ,,meneur ,,des ,,loups0 #bgf ,designed and drawn by ,maurice ,sand4 ,,the ,,assyrian ,,horse #bhd ,from a relief in the ,british ,museum4 7,mansell47 ,,arabian ,,horse ,,of ,,the ,,sahara #bhh ,from life4 ,,the ,,banyan ,,deer #cbh ,from 8,stpa of ,bharhut40 ,by ,general ,cunningham4 ,by permission of the ,india ,office4 7,griggs47 ,,egyptian ,,official1 ,,with ,,his ,,wife1 ,,engaged ,,in ,,fowling ,,in ,,the #ccj ,,papyrus ,,swamp4 ,,his ,,hunting ,,cat ,,has ,,seized ,,three ,,birds4 ,mural painting in ,british ,museum4 7,mansell47 ,,assyrian ,,lion ,,and ,,lioness ,,in ,,paradise ,,park #ccf ,british ,museum4 7,mansell47 ,the ,king's reservations for big game were called 8paradises40 ,,lambs #cch ,relief on a fifth century tomb at ,ravenna4 7,alinari47 8,,il ,,buon ,,pastore0 #cdf ,mosaic in the ,mausoleum of ,galla ,placidia at ,ravenna4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,illustration3 ,,lt ,,col4 ,,maisey ,,del4 ,w4 ,,briggs1 ,,lith4 ,,deer ,,worshipping ,,the ,,wheel ,,of ,,the ,,law4 ,tope of ,sanchi4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,the ,place of ,animals in ,human ,thought ,i ,,soul-,,wandering ,,as ,,it ,,concerns ,,animals ,,in one of these enigmatic sayings which launch the mind on boundless seas1 ,cardinal ,newman remarked that we know less of animals than of angels4 ,a large part of the human race explains the mystery by what is called transmigration1 metempsychosis1 ,samsara1 ,seelenwanderung2 the last a word so compact and picturesque that it is a pity not to imitate it in ,english4 ,the intelligibility of ideas depends much on whether words touch the spring of the picture-making wheel of the brain2 8,soul-wandering0 does this4 ,ancient as the theory is1 we ought to remember what is commonly forgotten--that somewhere in the distance we catch sight of a time when it was unknown1 at least in the sense of a procession of the soul from death to life through animal forms4 ,traces of it are to be found in the ,sutras and it is thoroughly developed in the ,upanishads1 but if the ,sutras belong to the thirteenth century and the ,upanishads to about the year #gjj before ,christ1 a long road still remains to the ,vedas with their fabulous antiquity4 ,in the ,vedas it is stated that the soul may wander1 even during sleep1 and that it will surely have a further existence after death1 but there is nothing to show that in this further existence it will take the form of an animal4 ,man will be substantially man1 able to feel the same pleasures as his prototype on earth2 but if he goes to a good place1 exempt from the same pains4 ,what1 then1 was the ,vedic opinion of animals8 ,on the whole1 it is safe to assume that the authors of the ,vedic chants believed that animals1 like men1 entered a soul-world in which they preserved their identity4 ,the idea of funeral sacrifices1 as exemplified in these earliest records1 was that of sending some one before4 ,the horse and the goat that were immolated at a ,vedic funeral were intended to go and announce the coming of the man's soul4 ,wherever victims were sacrificed at funerals1 they were originally meant to do something in the after-life2 hence they must have had souls4 ,the origin of the ,suttee was the wish that the wife should accompany her husband1 and among primitive peoples animals were sacrificed because the dead man might have need of them4 ,not very long ago an old ,irish woman1 on being remonstrated with for having killed her dead husband's horse1 replied with the words1 8,do you think ,i would let my man go on foot in the next world80 ,on visiting that wonderfully emotion-awakening relic1 the ,viking ship at ,christiania1 ,i was interested to see the bones of the ,chief's horses and dogs as well as his own4 ,did the ,norsemen1 passionately devoted to the sea as they were1 suppose1 that not only the animals1 but also the vessel in which they buried their leader1 would have a ghostly second existence8 ,i have no doubt that they did4 ,apart from what hints may be gleaned from the ,vedas1 there is an inherent probability against the early ,aryans1 any more than the modern ,hindu1 believing that the soul of man or beast comes suddenly to a full stop4 ,to destroy spirit seems to the ,asiatic mind as impossible as to destroy matter seems to the biologist4 ,leaving the ,vedas and coming down to the ,sutras and ,upanishads1 we discover the transmigration of souls at first suggested and then clearly defined4 ,whence came it8 ,was it the belief of those less civilised nations whom the ,aryans conquered1 and did they1 in accepting it from them1 give it a moral complexion by investing it with the highly ethical significance of an upward or downward progress occasioned by the merits or demerits of the soul in a previous state of being8 ,a large portion of mankind finds it as difficult to conceive a sudden beginning as a sudden end of spirit4 ,we forget difficulties which we are not in the habit of facing2 those who have tried to face this one have generally stumbled over it4 ,even ,dante with his subtle psychophysiological reasoning hardly persuades4 ,the ramifications of a life before stretched far3 8,whosoever believes in the fabled prior existence of souls1 let him be anathema10 thundered the ,council of ,constantinople1 ,a4,d4 #edc4 ,which shows that many ,christians shared ,origen's views on this subject4 ,from the moment that soul-wandering became1 in ,india1 a well-established doctrine1 some three thousand years ago1 the conception of the status of animals was perfectly clear4 8,wise people10 says the ,bhagavad ,gita1 8see the same soul 7,atman7 in the ,brahman1 in worms and insects1 in the outcasts1 in the dog and the elephant1 in beasts1 cows1 gadflies1 and gnats40 ,here we have the doctrine succinctly expounded1 and in spite of subtleties introduced by later philosophers 7such as that of the outstanding self7 the exposition holds good to this day as a statement of the faith of ,india4 ,it also described the doctrine of ,pythagoras1 which ancient traditions asserted that he brought from ,egypt1 where no such doctrine ever existed4 ,pythagoras is still commonly supposed to have borrowed from ,egypt2 but it is strange that a single person should continue to hold an opinion against which so much evidence has been produced2 especially as it is surely very easy to explain the tradition by interpreting ,egypt to have stood for 8the ,east0 in common parlance1 exactly as in ,europe a tribe of low caste ,indians came to be called gypsies or ,egyptians4 ,pythagoras believed that he had been one of the ,trojan heroes1 whose shield he knew at a glance in the ,temple of ,juno where it was hung up4 ,after him1 ,empedocles thought that he had passed through many forms1 amongst others those of a bird and a fish4 ,pythagoras and his fire-spent disciple belong to times which seem almost near if judged by ,indian computations3 yet they are nebulous figures2 they seem to us1 and perhaps they seemed to men who lived soon after them1 more like mysterious1 half ,divine bearers of a word than men of flesh and blood4 ,but ,plato1 who is real to us and who has influenced so profoundly modern thought1 ,plato took their theory and displayed it to the ,western world as the most logical explanation of the mystery of being4 ,the theory of transmigration did not commend itself to ,roman thinkers1 though it was admirably stated by a ,roman poet3-- 8,omnia mutantur3 nihil interit4 ,errat1 et illinc ,huc venit1 hinc illuc1 et quoslibet occupat artus ,spiritus1 eque feris1 humana in corpora transit1 ,inque feras noster1 nec tempore deperit ullo4 ,utque novis facilis signatur cera figuris1 ,nec manet ut fuerat1 nec formas servat easdem1 ,sed tamen ipsa eadem est3 animam sic semper eandem ,esse40 ,this description is as accurate as it is elegant2 but it remains a question whether ,ovid had anything deeper than a folk-lorist's interest in transmigration joined to a certain sympathy which it often inspires in those who are fond of animals4 ,the enthusiastic folk-lorist finds himself believing in all sorts of things at odd times4 ,lucian's admirers at ,rome doubtless enjoyed his ridiculous story of a ,pythagorean cock which had been a man1 a woman1 a prince1 a subject1 a fish1 a horse and a frog1 and which summed up its varied experience in the judgment that man was the most wretched and deplorable of all creatures1 all others patiently grazing within the enclosures of ,nature while man alone breaks out and strays beyond those safe limits4 ,this story was retold with great gusto by ,erasmus4 ,the ,romans were a people with inclusive prejudices1 and they were not likely to welcome a narrowing of the gulf between themselves and the beasts of the field4 ,cicero's dictum that1 while man looks before and after1 analysing the past and forecasting the future1 animals have only the perception of the present1 does not go to the excess of those later theorists who1 like ,descartes1 reduced animals to automata1 but it goes farther than scientific writers on the subject would now allow to be justified4 ,it is worth while asking1 what was it that so powerfully attracted ,plato in the theory of transmigration8 ,i think that ,plato1 who made a science of the moral training of the mind1 was attracted by soul-wandering as a scheme of soul-evolution4 ,instead of looking at it as a matter of fact which presupposed an ethical root 7which is the ,indian view71 he looked upon it as an ethical root which presupposed a matter of fact4 ,he was influenced a little1 no doubt1 by the desire to get rid of ,hades1 8an unpleasant place10 as he says1 8and not true10 for which he felt a peculiar antipathy1 but he was influenced far more by seeing in soul-wandering a rational theory of the ascent of the soul1 a ,darwinism of the spirit4 8,we are plants10 he said1 8not of earth but of heaven10 but it takes the plants of heaven a long time to grow4 ,we ought to admire the ,indian mind1 which first seized the idea of time in relation to development and soared out of the cage of history 7veritable or imaginary7 into liberal ons to account for one perfect soul1 one plant that had accomplished its heavenly destiny4 ,but though the ,indian seer argues with ,plato that virtue has its own reward 7not so much an outward reward of improved environment as an inward reward of approximation to perfection71 he disagrees with the ,greek philosopher with regard to the practical result of all this as it affects any of us personally4 ,plato found the theory of transmigration entirely consoling2 the ,indian finds it entirely the reverse4 ,can the reason be that ,plato took the theory as a beautiful symbol while the ,indian takes it as a dire reality8 ,the ,hindu is as much convinced that the soul is re-born in different animals as we are that children are born of women4 ,he is convinced of it1 but he is not consoled by it4 ,let us reflect a little3 does not one life give us time to get somewhat tired of it2 how should we feel after fifteen hundred lives8 ,the wandering ,jew has never been thought an object of envy1 but the wandering soul has a wearier lot2 it knows the sorrows of all creation4 8,how many births are past ,i cannot tell1 ,how many yet may be no man may say1 ,but this alone ,i know and know full well1 ,that pain and grief embitter all the way40#a ,footnote #a3 8,folk-,songs of ,southern ,india10 by ,charles ,e4 ,gover1 a fascinating but little-known work4 ,rather than this--death4 ,how far deeper the gloom revealed by these lines from the folk-songs of an obscure ,dravidian tribe living in the ,nilgiri ,hills1 than any which cultured ,western pessimism can show6 ,compared with them1 the despairing cry of ,baudelaire seems almost a hymn of joy3-- 8',tis death that cheers and gives us strength to live1 ',tis life's chief aim1 sole hope that can abide1 ,our wine1 elixir1 glad restorative ,whence we gain heart to walk till eventide4 ,through snow1 through frost1 through tempests it can give ,light that pervades th' horizon dark and wide2 ,the inn which makes secure when we arrive ,our food and sleep1 all labour laid aside4 ,it is an ,angel whose magnetic hand ,gives quiet sleep and dreams of extasy1 ,and strews a bed for naked folk and poor4 ',tis the god's prize1 the mystic granary1 ,the poor man's purse and his old native land1 ,and of the unknown skies the opening door40 ,folk-songs are more valuable aids than the higher literature of nations in an inquiry as to what they really believe4 ,the religion of the ,dravidian mountaineers is purely ,aryan 7though their race is not72 their songs may be taken1 therefore1 as ,aryan documents4 ,they are particularly characteristic of the dual belief as to a future state which is1 to this day1 widely diffused4 ,how firmly these people believe in transmigration the quatrain quoted above bears witness2 yet they also believe that souls are liable to immediate judgment4 ,this contradiction is explained by the theory that a long interval may elapse between death and re-incarnation and that during this interval the soul meets with a reward or punishment4 ,to say the truth1 the explanation sounds a rather lame one4 ,is it not more likely that the idea of immediate judgment1 wherever it appears1 is a relic of ,vedic belief which has to be reconciled1 as best it can1 with the later idea of transmigration8 ,the ,dravidian songs are remarkable for their strong inculcation of regard for animals4 ,in their impressive funeral dirge which is a public confession of the dead man's sins1 it is owned that he killed a snake1 a lizard and a harmless frog4 ,and that not mere lifetaking was the point condemned1 is clearly proved by the further admission that the delinquent put the young ox to the plough before it was strong enough to work4 ,in a ,dravidian vision of ,heaven and ,hell certain of the ,blest are perceived milking their happy kine1 and it is explained that these are they who1 when they saw the lost kine of neighbour or stranger in the hills1 drove them home nor left them to perish from tiger or wolf4 ,surely in this1 as in the ,jewish command which it so closely resembles1 we may read mercy to beast as well as to man4 ,it is sometimes said that there is as much cruelty to animals in ,india as anywhere4 ,some of this cruelty 7as it seems to us7 is caused directly by reluctance to take life2 of the other sort1 caused by callousness1 it can be only said that the human brute grows under every sky4 ,one great fact is admitted3 children are not cruel in ,india3 ,victor ,hugo could not have written his terrible poem about the tormented toad in ,india4 ,i think it a mistake to attribute the ,indian sentiment towards animals wholly to transmigration2 nevertheless1 it may be granted that such a belief fosters such a sentiment4 ,indeed1 if it were allowable to look upon the religion of the many as the morality of the one1 it would seem natural to suppose that the theory of transmigration was invented by some creature-loving sage on purpose to give men a fellow-feeling for their humbler relations4 ,even so1 many a bit of innocent folk-fable has served as 8protective colouration0 to beast or bird3 the legend of the robin who covered up the ,babes in the ,wood2 the legend of the swallow who did some little service to the crucified ,saviour1 and how many other such tender fancies4 ,who invented them1 and why8 ,if ,plato had wished simply to find a happy substitute for ,hades1 he might have found it--had he looked far enough--in the ,vedic kingdom of the sun1 radiant and eternal1 where sorrow is not1 where the crooked are made straight1 ruled over by ,yama the first man to die and the first to live again1 death's bright angel1 lord of the holy departed--how far from ,pluto and the 8,tartarean grey40 ,it would not have provided a solution to the mystery of being1 but it might have made many converts1 for after a happy heaven all antiquity thirsted4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,buddhistic ,,tiger4 ,british ,museum4 7,from a painting on silk by ,ko-,t47 ,it is not sure if the scheme of existence mapped out in soul-wandering is really more consoling for beast than for man4 ,it is a poor compliment to some dogs to say that they have been some men4 ,then again1 it is recognised as easier for a dog to be good than for a man to be good1 but after a dog has passed his little life in well-doing he dies with the prospect that his spirit1 which by his merits becomes again a man1 will be sent down1 by that man's transgressions1 to the society of jackals4 ,according to the doctrine of soul-wandering1 animals are1 in brief1 the ,purgatory of men4 ,just as prayers for the dead 7which means1 prayers for the remission to them of a merited period of probation7 represent an important branch of ,catholic observances1 so prayers for the remission of a part of the time which souls would otherwise spend in animal forms constitute the most vital and essential feature in ,brahmanical worship4 ,of course1 this is also true of ,buddhism1 to which many people think that the theory of soul-wandering belongs exclusively1 unmindful that the older faith has it as well4 ,the following hymn1 used in ,thibet1 shows how accurately the name of ,purgatory applies to the animal incarnations of the soul3-- 8,if we human beings have amassed any merit ,in the three states1 ,we rejoice in this good fortune when we consider ,the unfortunate lot of the poor lower animals1 ,piteously engulphed in the ocean of misery2 ,on their behalf1 we now turn the ,wheel of ,religion40 ,there are grounds for thinking that the purgatorial view of animals was part of the religious beliefs of the highly civilised native races of ,south ,america4 ,the ,christianised ,indians are very gentle in their ways towards animals1 while among the savage tribes in ,central ,peru 7which are probably degraded off-shoots from the people of the ,incas7 the belief still survives that good men become monkeys or jaguars1 and bad men parrots or reptiles4 ,for the rest1 soul-wandering has an enduring fascination for the human mind4 ,in ,january1 #aijg1 ,leandro ,improta1 a young man well furnished with worldly goods1 shot himself in a caf at ,naples4 ,his pocket was found to contain a letter in which he said that the act was prompted by a desire to study metempsychosis2 much had been written on the subject1 but it pleased him better to discover than to talk3 8so ,i determined to die and see whether ,i shall be re-born in the form of some animal4 ,it would be delightful to return to this world as a lion or a rat40 ,it might not prove delightful after all6 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,ii ,,the ,,greek ,,conception ,,of ,,animals 8,,the heralds brought a sacred hecatomb to the gods through the city and the long-haired ,grecians were assembled under the shady grove of far-darting ,apollo1 but when they had tasted the upper flesh and had drawn it out1 having divided the shares1 they made a delightful feast40 ,in this description the poet of the ,odyssey not only calls up a wonderfully vivid picture of an ancient fte-day1 but also shows the habit of mind of the ,homeric ,greeks in regard to animal food4 ,they were voracious eaters--although the frequent reference to feasts ought not to make us suppose that meat was their constant diet2 rather the reverse1 for then it would not have been so highly rated4 ,but when they had the chance1 they certainly did eat with unfastidious copiousness and unashamed enjoyment4 ,it is not pleasant to read about1 for it sets one thinking of things by no means far away or old2 for instance1 of the disappearance of half-cooked beef at some ,continental tables d'hte4 ,we find that ,homer is painfully near us4 ,but in ,homeric times the ghost of a scruple had to be laid before the feast could be enjoyed4 ,animal food was still closely connected with the idea of sacrifice4 ,sacrifice lends distinction to subject as well as object2 it was some atonement to the animal to dedicate him to the gods4 ,he was covered with garlands and attended by long-robed priests2 his doom was his triumph4 ,the devoted heifer or firstling of the flock was glorified beyond all its kind4 ,some late sceptic of the ,anthology asked what possible difference it could make to the sheep whether it were devoured by a wolf or sacrificed to ,herakles so that he might protect the sheepfold from wolves8 ,but scepticism is a poor thing4 ,from immolation to apotheosis there is but a step2 how many human victims willingly bowed their heads to the knife6 ,the sacrificial aspect of the slaughter of domestic animals took a strong hold of the popular imagination4 ,it is still suggested by the procession of garlanded beasts which traverses the ,italian village on the approach of ,easter3 the only time of year when the ,italian peasant touches meat4 ,in the tawdry travesty of the ,buf gras1 though the origin is the same1 every shred of the old significance is lost1 but among simple folk south of the ,alps1 unformed thoughts which know not whence they come still contribute a sort of religious glamour to that last pageant4 ,far back1 indeed1 stretches the procession of the victims1 human and animal--for wherever there was animal sacrifice1 at some remote epoch1 8the goat without horns0 was also offered up4 ,the ,homeric ,greeks had no butchers2 they did the slaying of beasts themselves or their priests did it for them4 ,agamemnon kills the boar sacrificed to ,zeus with his own hands1 which are first uplifted in prayer4 ,the commonest meat was the flesh of swine1 as may be seen by the pig of sop which replied1 on being asked by the sheep why he cried out when caught1 8,they take you for your wool or milk1 but me for my life40 ,in ,homer1 however1 there is much talk of fatted sheep1 kids and oxen1 and there is even mention of killing a cow4 ,the ,athenians had qualms about slaughtering the ox1 the animal essential to agriculture--though they did it--but the ,homeric ,greek was not troubled by such thoughts4 ,he was not over nice about anything2 he was his own cook1 and he did not lose his appetite while he roasted his bit of meat on the spit4 ,a ,greek repast of that age would have shocked the abstemious ,indian as much as the ,hindu reformer1 ,keshub ,chunder ,sen1 confessed to have been shocked by the huge joints on ,english sideboards4 ,putting aside his meat-eating proclivities1 for which we cannot throw stones at him1 the ,greek of the ,iliad and of the ,odyssey is the friend of his beast4 ,he does not regard it as his long-lost brother1 but he sees in it a devoted servant2 sometimes more than human in love if less than human in wit4 ,his point of view1 though detached1 was appreciative4 ,practically it was the point of view of the twentieth century4 ,homer belongs to the ,western world1 and in a great measure to the modern ,western world4 ,he had no racial fellow-feeling with animals2 yet he could feel for the sparrow that flutters round its murdered young ones and for the vulture that rends the air with cries when the countryman takes its fledglings from the nest4 ,he could shed one immortal tear over the faithful hound that recognises his master and dies4 8,there lay the dog ,argus1 full of vermin40 ,if it had not been a living creature1 what sight could have more repelled human eyes8 ,but with dog as with man1 the miserable body is as naught beside--what in the man we call the soul4 8,he fawned with his tail and laid down both his ears1 but he could no more come nearer his master40 ,all the sense of disgust is gone and there is something moist1 perhaps1 in our eyes too1 though it is not the ichor of immortality4 ,giving names to animals is the first instinctive confession that they are not things4 ,what sensible man ever called his table ,carlo or his inkpot ,trilby8 ,homer gives his horses the usual names of horses in his day2 this is shown by the fact that he calls more than one horse by the same name4 ,hector's steeds were ,xanthus1 thon and noble ,lampus2 often would ,andromache mix wine for them even before she attended to the wants of her husband1 or offer them the sweet barley with her own white hands4 the is the name of ,agamemnon's graceful and fleet-footed mare4 ,xanthus and ,balius1 offspring of ,podarges1 are the horses which ,achilles received from his father4 ,he bids them bring their charioteer back in safety to the body of the ,greeks--and then follows the impressive incident of the warning given to him of his impending fate4 ,the horse ,xanthus bends low his head3 his long mane1 which is collected in a ring1 droops till it touches the ground4 ,hera gives him power of speech and he tells how1 though the steeds of ,achilles will do their part right well1 not all their swiftness1 not all their faithful service can save their master from the doom that even now is drawing near4 8,the furies restrain the voice03 the laws which govern the natural order of things must not be violated4 8,o ,xanthus10 cries ,achilles1 8,o ,xanthus1 why dost thou predict my death8444 ,well do ,i know myself that it is my fate to perish here1 far away from my dear father and mother60 ,it is the passionate cry of the ,greek1 the lover of life as none has loved it1 the lover of the sweet air gladdened by the sun4 ,many a soldier may have spoken to his horse1 half in jest1 as ,achilles spoke to ,xanthus and ,balius3 8bring me safely out of the fray40 ,the supernatural and terrible reply comes with the shock of the unforeseen1 like a clap of thunder on a calm day4 ,this incident is a departure from the usual ,homeric conventionality1 for it takes us into the domain of real magic4 ,the belief that animals know things that we know not1 and see things that we see not1 is scattered over all the earth4 ,are there not still good people who feel an 8eerie0 sensation when a cat stares fixedly into vacancy in the twilight8 8,eerie0 sensations count for much in early beliefs1 but what counts for more is the observation of actual facts which are not and1 perhaps1 cannot be explained4 ,the uneasiness of animals before an earthquake1 or the refusal of some animals to go to sea on ships which afterwards come to grief--to refer to only two instances of a class of phenomena the existence of which cannot be gainsaid--would be sufficient to convince any savage or any primitive man that animals have foreknowledge4 ,if they know the future on one point1 why should they not know it on others8 ,the primitive man generally starts from something which he deems certain2 he deals in 8certainties0 far more than in hypotheses1 and when he has seized a 8certainty0 in his own fashion he draws logical deductions from it4 ,savages and children have a ruthless logic of their own4 ,the prophetic power of animals has important bearings on the subject of divination4 ,in cases of animal portents the later theory may have been that the animal was the passive instrument or medium of a superior power2 but it is not likely that this was the earliest theory4 ,the goddess did not use ,xanthus as a mouthpiece3 she simply gave him the faculty of speech so that he could say what he already knew4 ,the second sight of animals was believed to be communicable to man through their flesh1 and especially through their blood4 ,porphyry says plainly that diviners fed on the hearts of crows1 vultures1 and moles 7the heart being the fountain of the blood71 because in this manner they partook of the souls of these animals1 and received the influence of the gods who accompanied these souls4 ,the blood conveyed the qualities of the spirit4 ,in my opinion the ,hebrew ordinance against partaking of the blood was connected with this idea2 the soul was not to be meddled with4 ,i do not know if attention has been paid to the remarkable juxtaposition of the blood prohibition with enchantment in ,leviticus xix4 #bf4 ,the ,institutes of ,manu clearly indicate that the blood was not to be swallowed because1 by doing so1 could be procured an illicit mixing up of personality3 the most awful of sins1 more awful because so much more mysterious than our medival 8pact10 or selling the soul to the devil4 ,a knowledge of magic is essential to the true comprehension of all sacred writings4 ,that animals formerly talked with human voices was the genuine belief of most early races1 but there are few traces of it in ,greek literature4 ,a hint of a real folk-belief is to be found1 perhaps1 in the remark of ,clytemnestra1 who says of ,cassandra1 when she will not descend from the car that has brought her1 a prisoner1 to ,agamemnon's palace3-- 8,i wot--unless like swallows she doth use ,some strange barbarian tongue from over sea1 ,my words must bring persuasion to her soul40 ,but such hints are not frequent4 ,the stories of 8talking beasts0 which enjoyed an immense popularity in ,greece were founded on as conscious 8make-believe0 as the ,beast tales of the ,middle ,ages4 ,from the 8,battle of the ,frogs and ,mice0 to sop's fables1 and from these to the comedies of ,aristophanes1 the animals are meant to hold up human follies to ridicule or human virtues to admiration4 ,the object was to instruct while amusing when it was not to amuse without instructing4 sop hardly asks the most guileless to believe that his stories are of the 8all true0 category--which is why children rarely quite take them to their hearts4 ,at the same time1 he shows a close study of the idiosyncrasies of animals1 so close that there is little to alter in his characterisation4 ,out of the mass of stories in the collection attributed to him1 one or two only seem to carry us back to a more ingenuous age4 ,the following beautiful little tale of the 8,lion's ,kingdom0 is vaguely reminiscent of the world-tradition of a 8,peace in ,nature40 8,the beasts of the field and forest had a lion as their king4 ,he was neither wrathful1 cruel1 nor tyrannical1 but just and gentle as a king could be4 ,he made during his reign a proclamation for a general assembly of all the birds and beasts1 and drew up conditions for an universal league in which the ,wolf and the ,lamb1 the ,panther and the ,kid1 the ,tiger and the ,stag1 the ,dog and the ,hare1 should live together in perfect peace and amity4 ,the ,hare said1 #8,oh1 how ,i have longed to see this day1 in which the weak shall take their place with impunity by the side of the strong4'0 ,the temper of a people towards animals can be judged from its sports4 ,it has been well said1 ,who could imagine ,pericles presiding over a 8,roman holiday08 ,wanton cruelty to animals seemed to the ,greeks an outrage to the gods4 ,the ,athenians inflicted a fine on a vivisector of the name of ,xenocrates 7he called himself a 8philosopher07 who had skinned a goat alive4 ,in ,greece1 from ,homeric times downwards1 the most favourite sport was the chariot-race which1 at first1 possessed the importance of a religious event1 and always had a dignity above that of a mere pastime4 ,the horses received their full share of honour and glory2 for many centuries the graves of ,cimon's mares1 with which he had thrice conquered at the ,olympian games1 were pointed out to the stranger1 near his own tomb4 ,in the ancient ,greek as in the modern world1 while the majority held the views about animals which ,i have briefly sketched1 a small minority held views of quite a different kind4 ,it may be that no outward agency is required to cause the periodical appearance of men who are driven from the common road by the nostalgia of a state in which the human creature had not learnt to shed blood4 ,the earliest tradition agrees with the latest science in testifying that man did not always eat flesh4 ,it seems as if sometimes1 in every part of the earth1 an irresistible impulse takes hold of him to resume his primal harmlessness4 ,it is natural1 however1 that students should have sought some more definite explanation for the introduction of the ,orphic sect into ,greece1 where it can be traced to about the time generally given to ,buddha--the sixth century ,b4,c4 ,some have conjectured that dark-skinned1 white-robed missionaries from ,india penetrated into ,europe as we know that they penetrated into ,china1 bringing with them the gospel of the unity of all sentient things4 ,others agree with what seems to have been thought by ,herodotus3 that wandering pilgrims brought home treasured secrets from the temple of ,ammon or some other of those ,egyptian shrines with which the ,greeks constantly kept up certain rapports4 ,it may be1 now1 that these two theories will be abandoned in favour of a third which would refer the origin of the ,orphists to gean times and suppose them to be the last followers of an earlier faith4 ,when they do come into history1 it is as poor and ignorant people--like the ,doukhobors of to-day--whose obscurity might well account for their having remained long unobserved4 ,but this is no reason for concluding that their beginnings were obscure4 ,what is best understood about them is that they abstained rigorously from flesh except during the rare performance of some rite of purification1 in which they tasted the blood of a bull which was supposed to procure mystic union with the divine4 ,as happened with the performers of other cruel or horrid rites1 the transcendent significance they ascribed to the act paralysed their power of recognising its revolting nature4 ,a diseased spiritualism which ignores matter altogether is the real key to such phenomena4 ,it is too soon to say whether any link can be established between the ,orphic practices and the so-called 8bull-fights0 of which traces have been found in ,crete4 ,despised and tabooed though they were in historical ,greece1 the ,orphists are still held to have exercised some sure though undefined influence on the development of the greatest spiritual fact of ,hellenic civilisation1 the ,eleusinian ,mysteries4 ,illustration3 7,photo3 ,sommer7 ,,orpheus4 7,fresco at ,pompeii47 ,the popular description of ,orpheus as founder of the ,orphists must be taken for what it is worth4 ,the sect may have either evolved or borrowed the legend4 ,christianity itself appropriated the myth of ,orpheus1 pictorially1 at least1 in those rude tracings in the ,roman catacombs showing the ,good ,shepherd in that character1 which inspired ,carlyle to write one of the most impassioned passages in ,english prose4 ,the sweet lute-player who held entranced lion and lamb till the one forgot his wrath and the other his fear1 was the natural symbol of the prototype of a humane religion4 ,out of the nebulous patches of ,greek enthusiasts who cherished tender feelings towards animals1 emerges the intellectual sun of the ,samian sage4 ,it is difficult not to connect ,pythagoras in some way with the ,orphists1 nor would such a connexion make it the less probable that he journeyed to the sacred ,east in search of fuller knowledge4 ,little1 indeed1 do we know about this moulder of minds4 ,he passed across the world's stage dark 8with excess of light0--an influence rather than a personality4 ,yet he was as far as possible from being only a dreamer of dreams2 he was the ,newton1 the ,galileo1 perhaps the ,edison and ,marconi of his epoch4 ,and it was this double character of moral teacher and man of science which caused the extraordinary reverence with which he was regarded4 ,science and religion were not divorced then2 the ,prophet could present no credentials so valid as an understanding of the laws which govern the universe4 ,mathematics and astronomy were revelations of divine truth4 ,it was the scientific insight of ,pythagoras1 the wonderful range and depth of which is borne out more and more by modern discoveries1 that lent supreme importance to whatever theories he was known to have held4 ,the doctrine of transmigration had not been treated seriously while it was only preached by the ,orphists1 but after it was adopted by ,pythagoras it commanded a wide attention1 though it never won a large acceptance4 ,one expounder it had1 who was too remarkable an original thinker to be called a mere disciple--the greatly-gifted ,empedocles1 who denounced the eaters of flesh as no better than cannibals1 which was going further than ,pythagoras himself had ever gone4 ,even in antiquity1 there were some who suspected that at the bottom of the ,pythagorean propaganda was the wish to make men more humane4 ,without taking that view1 it may be granted that a strong love of animals prepares the mind to think of them as not so very different from men4 ,a thing that tends in the same direction is the unfavourable comparison of some men with some beasts3 the sort of sentiment which made ,madame de ,stal say that the more she knew of men the more she liked dogs4 ,did not ,darwin declare that he would as soon be descended from that heroic little monkey who braved his dreaded enemy to save the life of his keeper1 or from that old baboon who1 descending from the mountains1 carried away in triumph his young comrade from a crowd of astonished dogs1 as from various still extant races of mankind8 ,darwinism is really the theory of ,pythagoras with the supernatural element left out4 ,the homogeneity of living things is one of the very old beliefs from which we strayed and to which we are returning4 ,among the ,greeks1 sensitive and meditative minds which did not place faith in the ,pythagorean system of life were attracted1 nevertheless1 by its speculative possibilities which they bent to their own purposes4 ,thus ,socrates borrowed from ,pythagoras when he suggested that imperfect and earth-bound spirits might be re-incorporated in animals whose conventionally ascribed characteristics corresponded with their own moral natures4 ,unjust1 tyrannical1 and violent men would become wolves1 hawks1 and kites1 while good commonplace people--virtuous ,philistines--would take better forms1 such as ants1 bees1 and wasps1 all of which live harmoniously in communities4 ,it is pleasant to find that ,socrates did justice to that intelligent insect1 the undeservedly aspersed wasp4 ,men who are good in all respects save the highest1 may re-assume human forms4 ,socrates does not explain why it is that humanity progresses so slowly if it is always being recruited from such good material8 ,he passes on from these righteous men to the super-excellent man to whom alone he allots translation into a divine and wholly immaterial sphere2 he it is who departs from this world completely pure of earthly dross2 who cannot be moved by ill-fortune1 poverty1 disgrace2 who has 8overcome the world0 in the ,pauline sense1 who has died while living1 in the ,indian sense4 ,though ,socrates does not say so1 it is this super-excellent man who really convinces him of the immortality of the soul according to the meaning which we attach to these words4 ,that the more tender and poetic aspects of ,pythagorean speculations had deeply impressed ,socrates can be seen by the fact that they recurred to his mind in the most solemn hour of his life4 ,from these he drew the lovely parable with which he gently reproved the friends who were come to take leave of him for their surprise at finding him no wise depressed4 ,he asks if he appears to them inferior in divination to the swans1 who1 when they perceive that they must die1 though given to song before1 then sing the most of all1 delighted at the prospect of their departure to the deity whose ministers they are4 ,mankind has said falsely of the swans that they sing through dread of death and from grief4 ,those who say this do not reflect that no bird sings when it is hungry or cold or afflicted with any other pain1 not even the nightingale or swallow or hoopoe1 which are said to sing a dirge-like strain1 8but neither do they appear to me to sing for grief nor do the swans1 but as pertaining to ,apollo they are skilled in the divining art1 and having a foreknowledge of the bliss in ,hades1 they express their joy in song on that day rather than at any previous time4 ,but ,i believe myself to be a fellow-servant of the swans and consecrated to the same divinity1 and that ,i am no less gifted by my master in the art of divination1 nor am ,i departing with less good grace than they40 ,socrates would not have been 8the wisest of men0 if he had dogmatised about the unknowable2 to insist1 he says1 that things were just as he described them1 would not become an intelligent being2 he only claimed an approximate approach to the truth4 ,in appearance ,plato went nearer to dogmatic acceptance of the theory of the transmigration of souls1 but probably it was in appearance only4 ,like his master1 he thought it reasonable to suppose that the human soul ascended if it had done well1 and descended if it had done ill1 and of this ascent and descent he took as symbol its attirement in higher or lower corporeal forms till1 freed from the corruptible1 it joined the incorruptible4 ,the ,greeks were the first people to have an insatiable thirst for exact knowledge2 they showed themselves true precursors of the modern world by their researches into scientific zoology1 which were carried on with zeal long before ,aristotle took the subject in hand4 ,we cannot judge of these early researches because they are nearly all lost2 but ,aristotle's 8,history of ,animals10 even after the revival of learning1 was still consulted as a text-book1 and perhaps nothing that he wrote contributed more to win for him the fame of 8444 maestro di color che sanno40 ,the story goes that this work was written by desire of ,alexander the ,great or1 as some say1 ,philip of ,macedon1 and that the writer was given a sum which sounds fabulous in order that he might obtain the best available information4 ,what interest most the modern reader are the 8sayings by the way0 on the moral qualities or the intelligence of animals4 8,man and the mule10 says ,aristotle1 8are always tame0--a classification not very complimentary to man4 ,the ox is gentle1 the wild boar is violent1 crafty the serpent1 noble and generous the lion4 ,except in the senses of touch and taste1 man is far surpassed by the other animals--a remark that was endorsed by ,st4 ,thomas ,aquinas1 who inferred from the limitation of man's senses that he would have made bad use of them if they had been more acute4 ,aristotle laid down the axiom that man alone can reason1 though other animals can remember and learn1 but he never pursued this theory as far as it was pushed by ,descartes1 much less by ,malebranche4 ,he believed that the soul of infants differed in no respect from that of animals4 ,all animals present traces of their moral disposition1 though these distinctions are more marked in man4 ,animals understand signs and sounds1 and can be taught4 ,the females are less ready to help the males in distress than the males are to help the females4 ,bears carry off their cubs with them if they are pursued4 ,the dolphin is remarkable for the love of its young ones2 two dolphins were seen supporting a small dead dolphin on their backs1 that was about to sink1 as if in pity for it1 to keep it from being devoured by wild creatures4 ,in herds of horses1 if a mare dies1 other mares will bring up the foal1 and mares without foals have been known to entice foals to follow them and to show much affection to them1 though they die for want of their natural sustenance4 ,aristotle says that music attracts some animals2 for instance1 deer can be captured by singing and playing on the pipe4 ,animals sometimes show fore-thought1 as the ichneumon1 which does not attack the asp till it has called others to help it--which reminds one of the dog whose master took him to ,exeter1 where he was badly treated by the yard-dog of the inn2 on this1 he escaped and went to ,london1 whence he returned with a powerful dog-friend who gave the yard-dog a lesson which he must have long remembered4 ,hedgehogs are said by ,aristotle and other ancient authors to change the entrance of their burrows according as the wind blows from north or south2 a man in ,byzantium got no small fame as a weather prophet by observing this habit4 ,he thinks that small animals are generally cleverer than larger ones4 ,a tame woodpecker placed an almond in a crevice of wood so as to be able to break it1 which it succeeded in doing with three blows4 ,aristotle does not mention the similar ingenuity of the thrush which ,i have noticed myself2 it brings snails to a good flat stone on which it breaks the shell by knocking it up and down4 ,he admired the skill of the swallow in making her nest4 ,although he knew of the migrations of birds1 and declared that cranes go in winter to the sources of the ,nile1 8where there is a race of pigmies--no fable1 but a fact10 he was not free from the erroneous idea 7which is to be found in modern folk-lore7 that some birds hybernate in caves1 out of which they emerge1 almost featherless1 in the spring4 ,of the nightingale1 he says that it sings ceaselessly for fifteen days and nights when the mountains are thick with leaves4 ,the spider's art and graceful movements receive due praise1 as do the cleanly habits of bees1 which are said to sting people who use unguents because they dislike bad smells4 8,bright and shiny bees0 ,aristotle asserts to be idle1 8like women40 ,of all animals his favourites are the lion and the elephant4 ,the lion is gentle when he is not hungry and he is not jealous or suspicious4 ,he is fond of playing with animals that are brought up with him1 and he gets to have a real affection for them4 ,if a blow aimed at a lion fails1 he only shakes and frightens his attacker1 and then leaves him without hurting him4 ,he never shows fear or turns his back on a foe4 ,but old lions that are unable to hunt sometimes enter villages and attack mankind4 ,this is the first observation of the 8man-eating0 lion or tiger1 and the reason given for his perverse conduct is still believed to be the right one4 ,aristotle assigned the palm of wisdom to the elephant1 a creature abounding in intellect1 tame1 gentle1 teachable1 and one which can even learn how to 8worship the king0--which is what many of us saw the elephants do at the ,delhi ,durbar4 ,illustration3 ,,stele ,,with ,,cat ,,and ,,bird4 ,athens ,museum4 ,in a later age1 ,apollonius of ,tyana confirmed from personal observation all ,aristotle's praise2 he watched with admiration the crossing of the ,indus by a herd of thirty elephants which were being pursued by huntsmen2 the light and small ones went first1 then the mothers1 who held up their cubs with tusk and trunk1 and lastly the old and large elephants4 ,pliny gave a similar account of the way in which elephants cross rivers1 and it is1 ,i believe1 still noticed as a fact that the old ones send the young ones before them4 ,the officer whose duty it was to superintend the embarcation of ,indian elephants for ,abyssinia during the campaign of ,sir ,robert ,napier told me how a very fine old elephant1 who perfectly understood the business in hand1 drove all the others on board1 but after performing this useful service1 when it came to be his turn1 he refused resolutely to move an inch1 and had to be left behind4 ,the sympathy with animals for which ,apollonius was remarkable made him feel for these great beasts brought into subjection2 he declares that at night they mourn over their lost liberty with peculiar piteous sounds unlike those which they make usually2 if a man approaches1 however1 they cease their wailing out of respect for him4 ,he speaks of their attachment to their keeper1 how they eat bread from his hand like a dog and caress him with their trunks4 ,he saw an elephant at ,taxila which was said to have fought against ,alexander the ,great three hundred and fifty years before4 ,alexander named it ,ajax1 and it bore golden bracelets on its trunk with the words3 8,ajax4 ,to the ,sun from ,alexander son of ,jove40 ,the people decked it with garlands and anointed it with precious salves4 ,several classical writers bore witness to the pleasure which elephants took in music2 they could be made to dance to the pipe4 ,it was also said that they could write4 ,their crowning merit--that of helping away wounded comrades1 which is vouched for by no less an authority than ,mr4 ,f4 ,c4 ,selous--does not seem to have been observed in ancient times4 ,in ,greek mythology the familiar animals of the gods occupy a place half-way between legend and natural history4 ,viewed by one school as totems1 as the earlier god of which the later is only an appendix1 to more conservative students they may appear to be1 in the main1 the outgrowth of the same fondness for coupling man and beast and fitting man with a beast-companion suited to his character1 which gave ,st4 ,mark his lion and ,st4 ,john his eagle4 ,the panther of ,bacchus is the most attractive of the divine menagerie1 because ,bacchus1 in this connexion1 is generally shown as a child and the friendships of beasts and children are always pleasing4 ,the affection of ,bacchus for panthers has been attributed to the fact that he wore a panther-skin1 but there seems no motive for deciding that the one tradition was earlier than the other2 the rationale of a myth is often evolved long after the myth itself4 ,perhaps1 after all1 the stories of gods and animals often originated in the simple belief that gods1 like men1 had a weakness for pets6 ,in the ,pompeian collections at ,naples there are several designs of ,bacchus and his panther2 one of them shows the panther and the ass of ,silenus lying down together2 in another1 a very fine mosaic1 the winged genius of ,bacchus careers along astride of his favourite beast2 in a third1 a chubby little boy1 with no signs of godhead about him1 clambers on to the back of a patient panther1 which has the long-suffering look of animals that are accustomed to be teased by children4 ,it may be noticed that children and animals1 both somewhat neglected in the older art1 attained the highest popularity with the artists of the age of ,pompeii4 ,children were represented in all sorts of attitudes1 and all known animals1 from the cat to the octopus and the elephant to the grasshopper1 were drawn not only with general correctness but with a keen insight into their humours and temperaments4 ,it is said that a panther was once caught in ,pamphylia which had a gold chain round its neck with the inscription in ,armenian letters3 8,arsaces the king to the ,nysan god40 ,oriental nations called ,bacchus after ,nysa1 his supposed birthplace4 ,it was concluded that the king of ,armenia had given its freedom to this splendid specimen to do honour to the god4 ,the panther became very tame and was fondled by every one1 but when the spring came it ran away1 chain and all1 to seek a mate in the mountains and never more came back4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,iii ,,animals ,,at ,,rome ,,rome1 the eternal1 begins with a ,beast-story4 ,however much deeper in the past the spade may dig than the reputed date of the humanitarian ,she-wolf1 her descendant will not be expelled from the grotto on the ,capitol1 nor will it cease to be the belief of children 7the only trustworthy authorities when legends are concerned7 that the grandeur that was ,rome would have never existed but for the opportune intervention of a friendly beast6 ,the fame of the ,she-wolf shows how eagerly mankind seizes on some touch of nature1 fact or fable1 that seems to make all creatures kin4 ,rome was as proud of her ,she-wolf as she was of ruling the world4 ,it was the 8luck0 of ,rome2 even now1 something of the old sentiment exists1 for ,i remember that during ,king ,edward's visit old-fashioned ,romans were angry because this emblem was not to be seen in the decorations4 ,illustration3 7,photo3 ,bruckmann47 ,,capitoline ,,she-,,wolf4 ,the story did not make such large demands on credulity as sceptics pretend4 ,the wolf is not so much the natural enemy of man as the cat is of the mouse3 yet cats have been known to bring up families of mice or rats which they treated with affection4 ,in recent times a ,russian bear was stated to have carried away to the woods a little girl whom it fed with nuts and fruits4 ,the evidence seemed good1 though the story did sound a little as if it were suggested by ,victor ,hugo's 8pope du ,lion40 ,but in ,india there are stories of the same sort--stories actually of ,she-wolves--which appear to be impossible to set aside4 ,in a paper read before the ,bombay ,natural ,history ,society1 the well-known ,parsi scholar1 ,jivanji ,jamsedji ,modi1 described how he had seen one such 8wolf-boy0 at the ,secundra ,orphanage3 the boy had remained with wolves up to six years old when he was discovered and captured1 not without vigorous opposition from his vulpine protectors4 ,the historical record of ,rome as regards animals is not a bright one4 ,the cruelty of the arena does not stain the first ,roman annals2 the earliest certified instance of wild-beast baiting belongs to #ahf ,b4,c41 and after the practice was introduced it did not reach at once the monstrous proportions of later times4 ,still1 one does not imagine that the ,roman of republican times was very tender-hearted towards animals4 ,cato related1 as if he took a pride in it1 that when he was ,consul he left his war-horse in ,spain to spare the public the cost of its conveyance to ,rome4 8,whether such things as these10 says ,plutarch1 who tells the story1 8are instances of greatness or littleness of soul1 let the reader judge for himself60 ,when the infatuation for the shows in the arena was at its height1 the ,romans felt an enormous interest in animals3 indeed1 there were moments when they thought of nothing else4 ,it was an interest which went along with indifference to their sufferings2 it may be said to have been worse than no interest at all1 but it existed and to ignore it1 as most writers have done1 is to make the explicable inexplicable4 ,if the only attraction of these shows had been their cruelty we should have to conclude that the ,romans were all afflicted with a rare though not unknown form of insanity4 ,much the same was true of the gladiatorial shows4 ,up to a certain point1 what led people to them was what leads people to a football match or an assault-at-arms4 ,beyond that point--well1 beyond it there entered the element that makes the tiger in man1 but for the most part it was inconscient4 ,illustration3 ,,lion ,,being ,,led ,,from ,,the ,,arena ,,by ,a ,,slave4 7,nennig ,mosaic47 ,when we see ,pola or ,verona or ,nmes2 when we tread the crowded streets to the ,roman ,colosseum or traverse the deserted high-road to ,spanish ,italica2 most of all1 when we watch coming nearer and nearer across the wilderness between ,kairouan and ,el ,djem the magnificent pile that stands outlined against the ,african sky--we all say the same thing3 8,what a wonderful race the ,romans were60 ,it is an exclamation that forces itself to the lips of the most ignorant as to those of the scholar or historical student4 ,at such moments1 it may be true1 that the less we think of the games of the arena the better2 the remembrance of them forms a disturbing element in the majesty of the scene4 ,but they cannot be put out of mind entirely1 and if we do think of them1 it is desirable that we should think of them correctly4 ,it so happens that it is possible to reconstruct them into a lifelike picture4 ,there exists one1 though1 as far as ,i know1 only one1 faithful1 vivid1 and complete contemporary representation of the ,roman ,games4 ,this is the superb mosaic pavement which was discovered in the middle of the last century by a peasant striking on the hard surface with his spade1 at the village of ,nennig1 not far from the ,imperial city of ,treves4 ,the observer of this mosaic perceives at once that the games were of the nature of a 8variety0 entertainment4 ,there was the music which picturesque-looking performers played on a large horn and on a sort of organ4 7,the horn closely resembles the pre-historic horns which are preserved in the ,national ,museum at ,copenhagen1 where they were blown with inspiring effect before the members of the ,congress of ,orientalists in #aijh47 ,there was the bloodless contest between a short and tall athlete1 armed differently with stick and whip4 ,in the central division1 because the most important1 is shown the mortal earnest of the gladiatorial fight1 strictly controlled by the ,games-master4 ,in the sexagion above this is a hardly less deadly struggle between a man and a bear3 the bear has got the man under him but is being whipped off so that the 8turn0 may not end too quickly1 and1 perhaps1 also to give the more expensive victim another chance4 ,to the right hand1 a gladiator who has run his lance through the neck of a panther1 holds up his hand to boast the victory and claim applause3 the dying panther tries vainly to free itself from the weapon4 ,to the left is a fight between a leopard and an unfortunate wild ass1 which has already received a terrible wound in its side and is now having its head drawn down between the fore-paws of the leopard4 ,i hear that in beast-fights organised by ,indian princes1 these unequal combatants are still pitted against each other4 ,lastly1 the ,nennig ,mosaic depicts a fat lion that has also conquered a wild ass1 of which the head alone seems to remain3 it has been inferred1 though ,i think rashly1 that the lion has eaten up all the rest2 at any rate he now seems at peace with the world and is being led back to his cage by a slave4 ,everything is quiet1 orderly1 and a model of good management4 ,the custodian of the little museum told me that the 7surprisingly few7 visitors to ,nennig were in the habit of remarking of this representation of the ,roman ,games that it made them understand for the first time how the cultivated ,romans could endure such sights4 ,unhappily1 conventional propriety joined to the sanction of authority will make the majority of mankind endure anything that causes no danger or inconvenience to themselves4 ,except with a few1 at whom their generation looks askance1 the sense of cruelty more than any other moral sense is governed by habit1 by convention4 ,it is even subject to latitude and longitude2 in ,spain ,i was surprised to find that almost all the ,english and ,american women whom ,i met had been to1 at least1 one bull-fight4 ,insensibility spreads like a pestilence2 new or revived forms of cruelty should be stopped at once or no one can say how far they will reach or how difficult it will be to abolish them4 ,one might have supposed that the sublime self-sacrifice of the monk who threw himself between two combatants--which brought the tardy end of gladiatorial exhibitions in ,christian ,rome--would have saved the world for ever from that particular barbarity2 but in the fourteenth century we actually find gladiatorial shows come to life again and in full favour at ,naples6 ,this little-known fact is attested in ,petrarch's letters4 ,writing to ,cardinal ,colonna on ,december #a1 #acdc1 the truly civilised poet denounces with burning indignation an 8infernal spectacle0 of which he had been the involuntary witness4 ,his gay friends 7there has been always a singular identity between fashion and barbarism7 seem to have entrapped him into going to a place called ,carbonaria1 where he found the queen1 the boy-king1 and a large audience assembled in a sort of amphitheatre4 ,petrarch imagined that there was to be some splendid entertainment1 but he had hardly got inside when a tall1 handsome young man fell dead just below where he was standing1 while the audience raised a shout of applause4 ,he escaped from the place as fast as he could1 horror-struck by the brutality of spectacle and spectators1 and spurring his horse1 he turned his back on the 8accursed spot0 with the determination to leave ,naples as soon as possible4 ,how can we wonder1 he asks1 that there are murders in the streets at night when in broad daylight1 in the presence of the king1 wretched parents see their sons stabbed and killed1 and when it is considered dishonourable to be unwilling to present one's throat to the knife just as if it were a struggle for fatherland or for the joys of ,heaven8 ,very curious was the action of the ,vatican in this matter2 ,pope ,john ,,xxii4 excommunicated every one who took part in the games as actor or spectator1 but since nobody obeyed the prohibition1 it was rescinded by his successor1 ,benedict ,,xii41 to prevent the scandal of a perpetual disregard of a ,papal ordinance4 ,so they went on cutting each other's throats with the tacit permission of the ,church until ,king ,charles of the ,peace succeeded in abolishing the 8sport40 ,the action of the ,church in respect to bull-fights has been much the same2 local opinion is generally recognised as too strong for opposition4 ,the ,french bishops1 however1 did their best to prevent their introduction into the ,south of ,france1 but they failed completely4 ,i have strayed rather far from the ,roman shows1 but the savagery of ,christians in the fourteenth century 7and after7 should make us wonder less at ,roman callousness4 ,all our admiration is due to the few finer spirits who were repelled by the slaughter of man or beast to make a ,roman's holiday4 ,cicero said that he could never see what there was pleasurable in the spectacle of a noble beast struck to the heart by its merciless hunter or pitted against one of our weaker species6 ,for a single expression of censure such as this which has come down to us1 there must have been many of which we have no record4 ,of out-spoken censure there was doubtless little because violent condemnation of the arena would have savoured of treason to the ,state which patronised and supported the games just as ,queen ,elizabeth's ministers supported bull-baiting4 ,rome must have been one vast zoological garden1 and viewing the strange animals was the first duty of the tourist4 ,pausanias was deeply impressed by the 8,ethiopian bulls which they call rhinoceroses0 and also by ,indian camels in colour like leopards4 ,he saw an all-white deer1 and very much surprised he was to see it1 but1 to his subsequent regret1 he forgot to ask where it came from4 ,he was reminded of this white deer when he saw white blackbirds on ,mount ,cyllene in ,arcadia4 ,i remember a white blackbird which stayed in the garden of my old ,english home for more than two years3 a wretched 8sportsman0 lay in wait for it when it wandered into a neighbouring field and shot it4 ,the feasibility of the transport of the hosts of animals destined to the arena will always remain a mystery4 ,at the inauguration of the ,colosseum1 five thousand wild beasts and six thousand tame ones were butchered1 nor was this the highest figure on a single occasion4 ,probably a great portion of the animals was sent by the ,governors of distant provinces who wished to stand well with the home authorities4 ,but large numbers were also brought over by speculators who sold them to the highest or the most influential bidder4 ,one reason why ,cassius murdered ,julius ,csar was that ,csar had secured some lions which ,cassius wished to present to the public4 ,every one who aimed at political power or even simply at being thought one of the 8smart set0 7the odious word suits the case7 spent king's ransoms on the public games4 ,for vulgar ostentation the wealthy ,roman world eclipsed the exploits of the modern millionaire4 ,if any one deem this impossible1 let him read1 in the ,satyricon of ,petronius1 the account of the ftes to be given by a leader of fashion of the name of ,titus4 ,not merely gladiators1 but a great number of freedmen would take part in them3 it would be no wretched mock combat but a real carnage6 ,titus was so rich that he could afford such liberality4 ,contempt is poured upon the head of a certain ,nobarnus who offered a spectacle of gladiators hired at a low price and so old and decrepit that a breath threw them over4 ,they all ended by wounding themselves to stop the contest4 ,you might as well have witnessed a mere cock-fight6 ,i should think that not more than one animal in three survived the voyage4 ,this would vastly increase the total number4 ,the survivors often arrived in such a pitiable state that they could not be presented in the arena1 or that they had to be presented immediately to prevent them from dying too soon4 ,symmachus1 last of the great nobles of ,rome1 who1 blinded by tradition1 thought to revive the glories of his beloved city by reviving its shame1 graphically describes the anxieties of the preparations for one of these colossal shows on which he is said to have spent what would be about #hj1jjj of our money4 ,he began a year in advance3 horses1 bears1 lions1 ,scotch dogs1 crocodiles1 chariot-drivers1 hunters1 actors1 and the best gladiators were recruited from all parts4 ,but when the time drew near1 nothing were ready4 ,only a few of the animals had come1 and these were half dead of hunger and fatigue4 ,the bears had not arrived and there was no news of the lions4 ,at the eleventh hour the crocodiles reached ,rome1 but they refused to eat and had to be killed all at once in order that they might not die of hunger4 ,it was even worse with the gladiators1 who were intended to provide1 as in all these beast shows1 the crowning entertainment4 ,twenty-nine of the ,saxon captives whom ,symmachus had chosen on account of the well-known valour of their race1 strangled one another in prison rather than fight to the death for the amusement of their conquerors4 ,and ,symmachus1 with all his real elevation of mind1 was moved to nothing but disgust by their sublime choice6 ,rome in her greatest days had gloried in these shows3 how could a man be a patriot who set his face against customs which followed the ,roman eagles round the world8 ,how many times since then has patriotism been held to require the extinction of moral sense6 ,sometimes the humanity of beasts put to shame the inhumanity of man4 ,there was a lion1 commemorated by ,statius1 which had 8unlearnt murder and homicide10 and submitted of its own accord to a master 8who ought to have been under its feet40 ,this lion went in and out of its cage and gently laid down unhurt the prey which it caught3 it even allowed people to put their hands into its mouth4 ,it was killed by a fugitive slave4 ,the ,senate and people of ,rome were in despair1 and ,imperial ,csar1 who witnessed impassible the death of thousands of animals sent hither to perish from ,africa1 from ,scythia1 from the banks of the ,rhine1 had tears in his eyes for a single lion6 ,in later ,roman times a tame lion was a favourite pet3 their masters led them about wherever they went1 whether much to the gratification of the friends on whom they called is not stated4 ,another instance of a gentle beast was that of a tiger into whose cage a live doe had been placed for him to eat4 ,but the tiger was not feeling well and1 with the wisdom of sick animals1 he was observing a diet4 ,so two or three days elapsed1 during which the tiger made great friends with the doe and when he recovered his health and began to feel very hungry1 instead of devouring his fellow-lodger he beat with his paws against the bars of the cage in sign that he wanted food4 ,these stories were1 no doubt1 true1 and there may have been truth also in the well-known story of the lion which refused to attack a man who had once succoured him4 ,animals have good memories4 ,one pleasanter feature of the circus was the exhibition of performing beasts4 ,though the exhibitors of such animals are now sometimes charged with cruelty1 it cannot be denied that the public who goes to look at them is composed of just the people who are most fond of animals4 ,all children delight in them because1 to their minds1 they seem a confirmation of the strong instinctive though oftenest unexpressed belief1 which lurks in every child's soul1 that between man and animals there is much less difference than is the correct1 8grown-up0 opinion2 this is a part of the secret lore of childhood which has its origins in the childhood of the world4 ,the amiable taste for these exhibitions--in appearance1 at least1 so harmless--strikes one as incongruous in the same persons who revelled in slaughter4 ,such a taste existed1 however1 and when ,st4 ,james said that there was not a single beast1 bird or reptile which had not been tamed1 he may have been thinking of the itinerant showmen's 8learned0 beasts which perambulated the ,roman empire4 ,horses and oxen were among the animals commonly taught to do tricks4 ,i find no mention of monkeys as performing in the arena1 though ,apuleius says that in the spring ftes of ,isis1 the forerunners of the ,roman carnival1 he saw a monkey with a straw hat and a ,phrygian tunic--we can hardly keep ourselves from asking3 what had it done with the grind-organ8 ,but in spite of this startlingly modern apparition1 monkeys do not seem to have been popular in ,rome2 ,i imagine even1 that there was some fixed prejudice against them4 ,the cleverest of all the animal performers were1 of course1 the dogs1 and one showman had the ingenious idea of making a dog act a part in a comedy4 ,the effects of a drug were tried on him1 the plot turning on the suspicion that the drug was poisonous1 while1 in fact1 it was only a narcotic4 ,the dog took the piece of bread dipped in the liquid1 swallowed it1 and began to reel and stagger till he finally fell flat on the ground4 ,he gave himself a last stretch and then seemed to expire1 making no sign of life when his apparently dead body was dragged about the stage4 ,at the right moment1 he began to move very slightly as if waking out of a deep sleep2 then he raised his head1 looked round1 jumped up and ran joyously to the proper person4 ,the piece was played at the theatre of ,marcellus in the reign of old ,vespasian1 and ,csar himself was delighted4 ,i wonder that no manager of our days has turned the incident to account2 ,i never yet saw an audience serious enough not to become young again at the sight of four-footed comedians4 ,even the high art-loving public at the ,prince ,regent's theatre at ,munich cannot resist a murmur of discreet merriment when the pack of beautiful stag-hounds led upon the stage in the hunting scene in 8,tannhuser0 gravely wag their tails in time with the music6 ,the pet lions were only one example of the aberrations of pet-lovers in ancient ,rome4 ,maltese lap-dogs became a scourge3 ,lucian tells the lamentable tale of a needy philosopher whom a fashionable lady cajoles into acting as personal attendant to her incomparable ,mirrhina4 ,the ,maltese dog was an old fad2 ,theophrastus1 in the portrait of an insufferable lgant1 mentions that1 when his pet dog dies1 he inscribes 8pure ,maltese0 on its tombstone4 ,many were the birds that fell victims to the desire to keep them in richly ornamented cages in which they died of hunger1 says ,epictetus1 sooner than be slaves4 ,the canary which takes more kindly to captivity was unknown till it was brought to ,italy in the sixteenth century4 ,parrots there were1 but ,roman parrots were not long-lived3 they shared the common doom3 8,to each his sufferings1 all are pets40 ,the parrots of ,corinna and of ,melior which ought to have lived to a hundred or1 at any rate1 to have had the chance of dying of grief at the loss of their possessors 7as a parrot did that ,i once knew71 enjoyed fame and fortune for as brief a span as ,lesbia's sparrow4 ,melior's parrot not only had brilliant green feathers but also many accomplishments which are described by its master's friend1 the poet ,statius4 ,on one occasion1 it sat up half the night at a banquet1 hopping from one guest to another and talking in a way that excited great admiration2 it even shared the good fare and on the morrow it died--which was less than surprising4 ,i came across an old-fashioned criticism of this poem in which ,statius is scolded for showing so much genuine feeling about 444 a parrot6 ,the critic was right in one thing--the genuine feeling is there2 those who have known what a companion a bird may be1 will appreciate the little touch3 8,you never felt alone1 dear ,melior1 with its open cage beside you60 ,now the cage is empty2 it is 8la cage sans oiseaux0 which ,victor ,hugo prayed to be spared from seeing4 ,some translator turned this into 8a nest without birds10 because he thought that a cage without birds sounded unpoetical1 but ,victor ,hugo took care of truth and left poetry to take of itself4 ,and whatever may be the ethics of keeping cage birds1 true it is that few things are more dismal than the sight of the little mute1 tenantless dwelling which was yesterday alive with fluttering love4 ,we owe to ,roman poets a good deal of information about dogs1 and especially the knowledge that the ,british hound was esteemed superior to all others1 even to the famous breed of ,epirus4 ,this is certified by ,gratius ,faliscus1 a contemporary of ,ovid4 ,he described these animals as remarkably ugly1 but incomparable for pluck4 ,british bull-dogs were used in the ,colosseum1 and in the third century ,nemesianus praised the ,british greyhound4 ,most of the valuable dogs were brought from abroad2 it is to be inferred that the race degenerated in the climate of ,rome1 as it does now4 ,concha1 whose epitaph was written by ,petronius1 was born in ,gaul4 ,while ,martial's too elaborate epitaph on 8,the ,trusty ,lydia0 is often quoted and translated1 the more sympathetic poem of ,petronius has been overlooked4 ,he tells the perfections of ,concha in a simple1 affectionate manner2 like ,lydia1 she was a mighty huntress and chased the wild boar fearlessly through the dense forest4 ,never did chain hamper her liberty and never a blow fell on her shapely1 snow-white form4 ,she reposed softly1 stretched on the breast of her master or mistress1 and at night a well-made bed refreshed her tired limbs4 ,if she lacked speech1 she could make herself understood better than any of her kind--yet no one had reason to fear her bark4 ,a hapless mother1 she died when her little ones saw the light1 and now a narrow marble slab covers the earth where she rests4 ,cicero's tribute to canine worth is well known3 8,dogs watch for us faithfully2 they love and worship their masters1 they hate strangers1 their powers of tracking by scent is extraordinary2 great is their keenness in the chase3 what can all this mean but that they were made for man's advantage80 ,it was as natural to the ,roman mind to regard man as the lord of creation as to regard the ,roman as the lord of man4 ,for the rest1 his normal conception of animals differed little from that of ,aristotle4 ,cicero says that the chief distinction between man and animals1 is that animals look only to the present1 paying little attention to the past and future1 while man looks before and after1 weighs causes and effects1 draws analogies and views the whole path of life1 preparing things needful for passing along it4 ,expressed in the key of antique optimism instead of in the key of modern pessimism1 the judgment is the same as that of ,burns in his lines to the field-mouse3 8,still thou art blest1 compared wi' me6 ,the present only touches thee3 ,but1 och6 ,i backward cast my e'e ,on prospects drear6 ,and forward1 tho' ,i canna see1 ,i guess and fear40 ,and of ,leopardi in the song of the ,syrian shepherd to his flock3-- 8,o flock that liest at rest1 ,o blessed thou ,that knowest not thy fate1 however hard1 ,how utterly ,i envy thee60 ,cicero's more virile mind would have spurned this craving to renounce the distinguishing human privilege for the bliss of ignorance4 ,wherever we fix the limits of animal intelligence1 there is no question of man's obligation to treat sentient creatures with humanity4 ,this was recognised by ,marcus ,aurelius when he wrote the golden precept3 8,as to animals which have no reason 444 do thou1 since thou hast reason1 and they have none1 make use of them with a generous and liberal spirit40 ,here we have the broadest application of the narrowest assumption4 ,from the time1 at least1 that ,rome was full of ,greek teachers1 there were always some partisans of a different theory altogether4 ,what ,seneca calls 8the illustrious but unpopular school of ,pythagoras0 had a little following which made up by its sincere enthusiasm for the fewness of its members4 ,seneca's own master ,sotio was of this school1 and his teaching made a deep impression on the most illustrious of his pupils1 who sums up its chief points with his usual lucidity3 ,pythagoras gave men a horror of crime and of parricide by telling them that they might unawares kill or devour their own fathers2 all sentient beings are bound together in a universal kinship and an endless transmutation causes them to pass from one form to another2 no soul perishes or ceases its activity save in the moment when it changes its envelope4 ,sotio took for granted that the youths who attended his classes came to him with minds unprepared to receive these doctrines1 and he aimed more at making them accept the consequences of the theory than the theory itself4 ,what if they believed none of it8 ,what if they did not believe that souls passed through different bodies and that the thing we call death is a transmigration8 ,that in the animal which crops the grass or which peoples the sea1 a soul resides which once was human8 ,that1 like the heavenly bodies1 every soul traverses its appointed circle8 ,that nothing in this world perishes1 but only changes scene and place8 ,let them remember1 nevertheless1 that great men have believed all this3 8,suspend your judgment1 and in the meantime1 respect whatever has life40 ,if the doctrine be true1 then to abstain from animal flesh is to spare oneself the committal of crimes2 if it be false1 such abstinence is commendable frugality2 8all you lose is the food of lions and vultures40 ,sotio himself was a thorough ,pythagorean1 but there was another philosopher of the name of ,sestius who was an ardent advocate of abstinence from animal food without believing in the transmigration of souls4 ,he founded a sort of brotherhood1 the members of which took the pledge to abide by this rule4 ,he argued that since plenty of other wholesome food existed1 what need was there for man to shed blood8 ,cruelty must become habitual when people devour flesh to indulge the palate3 8let us reduce the elements of sensuality40 ,health would be also the gainer by the adoption of a simpler and less various diet4 ,sotio used these arguments of one whom he might have called an unbeliever1 to reinforce his own4 ,seneca does not say if many of his schoolfellows were as much impressed as he was by this teaching4 ,for a year he abstained from flesh1 and when he got accustomed to it1 he even found the new diet easy and agreeable4 ,his mind seemed to grow more active4 ,that he was allowed to eat what he liked without encountering interference or ridicule shows the considerable freedom in which the youth of ,rome was brought up3 this made them men4 ,but at the beginning of the reign of ,tiberius there went forth an edict against foreign cults1 and abstinence from flesh was held to show a leaning towards religious novelties4 ,for this reason the elder ,seneca advised his son to give up vegetarianism4 ,seneca honestly confesses that he went back to better fare without much urging2 yet he always remained frugal1 and he seems never to have felt quite sure that his youthful experiment did not agree best with the counsels of perfection4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,iv ,,plutarch ,,the ,,humane ,,plutarch was the ,happy ,philosopher--and there were not many that were happy4 ,a life of travel1 a life of teaching1 an honoured old age as the priest of ,apollo in his native village in ,botia3 what kinder fate than this8 ,he was happy in the very obscurity which seems to have surrounded his life at ,rome1 for it saved him from spite and envy4 ,he was happy1 if we may trust the traditional effigies1 even in that thing which likewise is a good gift of the gods1 a gracious outward presence exactly corresponding with the soul within4 ,a painter who wished to draw a type of illimitable compassionateness would choose the face attributed to ,plutarch4 ,finally1 this gentle sage is happy still after eighteen hundred years in doing more than any other writer of antiquity to build up character by diffusing the radiance of noble deeds4 ,nevertheless1 were he to come back to life he would have one disappointment1 and that would be to find how few people read his essays on kindness to animals3 they would stand a better chance of being read if they were printed alone1 but to arrive at them you must dive in the formidable depths of the ,moralia3 a very storehouse of interesting things1 but hardly attractive to the general in a hurried age4 ,some of its treasures have been revealed by ,dr4 ,oakesmith in his admirable monograph on 8,the ,religion of ,plutarch40 ,the mine of nobly humane sentiment remains1 however1 almost unexplored4 ,the essays devoted to animals are three in number1 with the titles3 8,whether terrestrial or aquatic animals are the more intelligent80 8,that animals have the use of ,reason02 8,on the habit of eating flesh40 ,the two first are in the form of dialogues1 and the third is a familiar discourse1 a confrence1 such as those which now form a popular feature of the ,roman season4 ,through these studies there runs a vein of transparent sincerity3 we feel that they were composed not to show the author's cleverness or to startle by paradoxes1 but with the real wish to make the young men for whom they were intended a little more humane4 ,plutarch did not take up the claims of animals because good 8copy0 could be made out of them4 ,as his wish is to persuade1 he does not ask for the impossible4 ,it is the voice of the highly civilised ,greek addressing the young barbarians of ,rome3 for to the ,greek's inmost mind the ,roman must have always remained somewhat of a barbarian4 ,there is great restraint3 though ,plutarch must have loathed the games of the arena1 he speaks of them with guarded deprecation4 ,he makes one of his characters say that the chase 7which he did not himself like7 was useful in keeping people from worse things1 8such as the combats of gladiators40 ,he is genuinely anxious by all means to persuade some1 and for this reason he refrains from scaring away his hearers or readers by extreme demands4 ,though he has a strong personal repugnance to flesh-eating1 he does not insist on every one sharing it4 ,anyhow1 he says1 ,be as humane as you can2 cause as little suffering as is possible2 no doubt it is not easy1 all at once1 to eradicate a habit which has taken hold of our sensual nature1 but1 at least1 let us deprive it of its worst features4 ,let us eat flesh if we must1 but for hunger1 not for self-indulgence2 let us kill animals but still be compassionate--not heaping up outrages and tortures 8as1 alas1 is done every day40 ,he mentions how swans were blinded and then fattened with unnatural foods1 which is only a little worse than things that are done now4 ,what is certain is1 that extreme and habitual luxury in food has spelt decadence from the banquets of ,babylon downwards4 ,plutarch goes on to ask whether it is impossible to amuse ourselves without all these excesses8 ,shall we expire on the spot1 are the resources of men totally exhausted1 if the table be not supplied with pts de foies gras8 ,is life not worth living without slaughter to make a feast1 slaughter to find a pastime2 cannot we exist without asking of certain animals that they show courage1 and fight in spite of themselves1 or that they massacre other animals which have not the natural energy to defend themselves8 ,must we for our sport tear the mother from the little ones which she suckles or hatches8 ,plutarch implores us not to imitate the children of whom ,bion speaks1 who amused themselves by throwing stones at the frogs1 but the frogs were not at all amused--they simply died4 8,when we take our recreation1 those who help in the fun ought to share in it and be amused as well40 ,thus does the kind ,greek philosopher exhort us 8,never to blend our pleasure or our pride ,with sorrow of the meanest thing that feels40 ,did ,wordsworth know that his thought had been expressed so long before8 ,it matters little2 the counsels of mercy never grow old4 ,with good sense and in that spirit of compromise which is really the basis of morality1 ,plutarch argued that cruelty to animals does not lie in the use but in the abuse of them2 it is not cruel to kill them if they are incompatible with our own existence2 it is not cruel to tame and train to our service those made by nature gentle and loving towards man which become the companions of our toil according to their natural aptitude4 8,horse and ass are given to us10 as ,prometheus says1 8to be submissive servants and fellow-workers2 dogs to be guardians and watchers1 goats and sheep to give us milk and wool40 7,cow's milk seems to have been rarely drunk1 as is still the case in the ,mediterranean islands and in ,greece47 8,the ,stoics10 says ,plutarch1 8made sensibility towards animals a preparation to humanity and compassion because the gradually formed habit of the lesser affections is capable of leading men very far40 ,in the 8,lives0 he insists on the same point3 8,kindness and beneficence should be extended to creatures of every species1 and these still flow from the breast of a well-natured man as streams that issue from the living fountain4 ,a good man will take care of his horses and dogs not only when they are young1 but when old and past service4444 ,we certainly ought not to treat living creatures like shoes or household goods1 which1 when worn out with use1 we throw away1 and were it only to learn benevolence to human kind1 we should be merciful to other creatures4 ,for my own part ,i would not sell even an old ox40 ,here ,i may say that ,plutarch should have thanked ,fate which made him a philosopher and not a farmer4 ,for how1 alas1 can the farmer escape from becoming the accomplice of that which the ,italian poet apostrophizes in the words-- 8,natura1 illaudabil maraviglia1 ,che per uccider partorisci e nutri60 ,how can well-cared-for old age be the lot of more than a very few of the animals that serve us so faithfully8 ,the exception must console us for the rule4 ,the beautiful story of one such exception is told by both ,plutarch and ,pliny the ,elder4 ,when ,pericles was building the ,parthenon a great number of mules were employed in drawing the stones up the hill of the ,acropolis4 ,some of them became too old for the work1 and these were set at liberty to pasture at large4 ,but one old mule gravely walked every day to the stone-yard and accompanied1 or rather led1 the procession of mule-carts to and fro4 ,the ,athenians were delighted with its devotion to duty1 and decided that it should be supported at the expense of the ,state for the rest of its days4 ,according to ,pliny1 the mule of the ,parthenon lived till it had attained its eightieth year1 a record that seems startling even having regard to the proverbial longevity of pensioners4 ,plutarch does not mention it1 perhaps1 because he had some doubts about its accuracy4 ,in other respects the story may be accepted as literally true2 and does it not do us good to think of it1 as we look at the most glorious work of man's hands bathed in the golden afterglow8 ,does it not do us good to think that at the zenith of her greatness ,athens 8444 ,mother of arts ,and eloquence1 native to famous wits0 stooped--nay1 rose--to generous appreciation of the willing service of an old mule8 ,in dealing with animal psychology ,plutarch makes a strong point of the inherent improbability that1 while feeling and imagination are the common share of all animated beings1 reason should be apportioned only to a single species4 8,how can you say such things8 ,is not every one convinced that no being can feel without also possessing understanding1 that there is not a single animal which has not a sort of thought and reason just as he comes into the world with senses and instinct80 ,nature1 which is said to make all things from one cause and to one end1 has not given sensibility to animals simply in order that they should be capable of sensations4 ,since some things are good for them1 and others bad1 they would not exist for a single instant if they did not know how to seek the good and shun the bad4 ,the animal learns by his senses what things are good and what are bad for him1 but when1 in consequence of these indications1 of his senses1 it is a question of taking and seeking what is useful and of avoiding and flying from what is harmful1 these same animals would have no means of action if ,nature had not made them up to a certain point capable of reason1 of judgment1 of memory1 and of attention4 ,because1 if you completely deprived them of the spirit of conjecture1 memory1 foresight1 preparation1 hope1 fear1 desire1 grief1 they would cease to derive the slightest utility from the eyes or ears which they possess4 ,plutarch might have added that a mindless animal would resemble not a child or a savage1 but an idiot4 ,he does point out that they would be better off with no senses at all than with the power of feeling and no power of acting upon it4 ,but1 he adds1 could sensation exist without intelligence8 ,he quotes a line from ,i do not know what poet3-- 8,the spirit only hears and sees--all else ,is deaf and blind40 ,if we look with our eyes at a page of writing without seizing the meaning of a word of it1 because our thoughts are preoccupied1 is it not the same as if we had never seen it8 ,but even were we to admit that the senses suffice to their office1 would that explain the phenomena of memory and foresight8 ,would the animal fear things1 not present1 which harm him1 or desire things1 not present1 which are to his advantage8 ,would he prepare his retreat or shelter or devise snares by which to catch other animals8 ,only one theory can be applied to mind in man and mind in animals4 ,it will be seen from this summary that ,plutarch traversed the whole field of speculation on animal intelligence which has not really extended its boundaries since the time when he wrote1 though it is possible that we are now on the verge1 if not of new discoveries1 at least of the admission of a new point of view4 ,the study of the dual element in man1 the endeavour to establish a line of demarcation between the conscious and subliminal self1 may lead to the inquiry1 how far the conscious self corresponds with what was meant1 when speaking of animals1 by 8reason10 and the subliminal self with what was meant by 8instinct08 ,but the use of a new terminology would not alter the conclusion3 call it reason1 consciousness1 spirit2 some of it the 8paragon of animals0 shares with his poor relations4 ,the case is put in a homely way but not without force by the heroine of a forgotten novel by ,lamartine3 the speaker is an old servant who is in despair at losing her goldfinch3 8,ah6 ,on dit que les btes n'ont pas l'me10 she says4 8,je ne veux pas offenser le bon ,dieu1 mais si mon pauvre oiseau n'avait pas d'me1 avec quoi done n'aurait-il tant aime8 ,avec les plumes ou avec les pattes1 peut-tre80 ,plutarch reviews--to reject--the 8,automata0 argument1 which had already some supporters4 ,certain naturalists1 he says1 try to prove that animals feel neither pleasure nor anger nor yet fear2 that the nightingale does not meditate his song1 that the bee has no memory1 that the swallow makes no preparations1 that the lion never grows angry1 nor is the stag subject to fear4 ,everything1 according to these theorists1 is merely delusive appearance4 ,they might as well assert that animals cannot see or hear2 that they only appear to see or hear2 that they have no voice1 only the semblance of a voice2 in short1 that they are not alive but only seem to live4 ,the moral aspects of any problem are those which to a moralist seem the most important1 and ,plutarch did not seek to deny the force of the objection3 ,if virtue be the true aim of reason1 how can ,nature have bestowed reason on creatures which cannot direct it to its true object8 ,but he denied the postulate that animals have no ethical potentialities4 ,if the love of men for their children is granted to be the corner-stone of all human society1 shall we say that there is no merit in the affection of animals for their offspring8 ,he sums up the matter by remarking that the limitation of a faculty does not show that it does not exist4 ,to pretend that every being not endowed at birth with perfect reason is1 by its nature1 incapable of reason of any kind1 would be to ignore the fact that although reason is a natural gift the degree in which it is possessed by any individual depends on his training and on his teachers4 ,perfect reason is possessed by none because none has perfect rectitude and moral excellence4 ,animals exhibit examples of sociability1 courage1 resource1 and again1 of cowardice and viciousness4 ,why do we not say of one tree that it is less teachable than another1 as we say that a sheep is less teachable than a dog8 ,it is1 of course1 because plants cannot think1 and where the faculty of thought is wholly wanting1 there cannot be more or less quickness or slowness1 more or less of good qualities or of bad4 ,yet it must be allowed that man's intelligence is amazingly superior to that of animals4 ,but what does that prove8 ,do not some animals leave man far behind in the keenness of their sight and the sharpness of their hearing8 ,shall we say1 therefore1 that man is blind or deaf8 ,we have some strength in our hands and in our bodies although we are not elephants or camels4 ,in the same way1 we should be careful not to infer that animals lack all reasoning faculties from the fact that their intelligence is duller and more defective than man's4 8,boatfuls0 of true stories can be cited to show the docility and special aptitudes of the different children of creation4 ,and a very amusing occupation it is1 says ,plutarch1 for young people to collect such stories4 ,in the course of his work1 he sets them a good example1 for he brings together a real 8boatful0 of anecdotes of clever beasts1 but at this point he contents himself with observing that madness in dogs and other animals would be alone sufficient to show that they had some mind3 otherwise1 how could they go out of it8 ,the stoics who taught the strictest humanity to animals rejected1 nevertheless1 the supposition that animals had reason1 for how1 they asked1 can such a theory be reconciled with the idea of eternal justice8 ,would it not make abstinence from their flesh imperative and entail consequences which would make our life impracticable8 ,if we were to give up using animals for our own purposes1 we should be reduced ourselves almost to the condition of brutes4 8,what works would be left for us to do by land or sea1 what industries to cultivate1 what embellishments of our way of living1 if we regarded animals as reasonable beings and our fellow-creatures1 and hence adopted the rule 7which1 clearly1 would be only proper7 to do them no harm and to study their convenience40 ,many a sensitive modern soul has pondered over this crux without finding a satisfactory solution4 ,plutarch says that ,empedocles and ,heraclites admitted the injustice1 and laid it to the door of ,nature which permits or ordains a state of war and necessity1 in which nothing is accomplished without the weaker going to the wall4 ,for himself1 he would propose to those 8who1 instead of disputing1 gently follow and learn0 the better way out of the difficulty--which was introduced by the ,sages of ,antiquity1 then long lost1 and found again by ,pythagoras4 ,this better way is to use animals as our helpers but to refrain from taking life4 ,plutarch here evades a stumbling-block which he does not remove4 ,the dialogue1 as it has come down to us1 breaks off suddenly after one final objection3 how can beings have reason which have no notion of ,god8 ,some scholars imagine that ,plutarch hurried the dialogue to a close because this query completely baffled him2 others 7and they are the majority7 attribute the abrupt finish to the loss of the concluding part4 ,would ,plutarch have contented himself with citing the analogy of young children who1 although not without the elements of reason1 know very little of theology1 or would not he rather have contended with ,celsus1 that animals do possess religious knowledge8 ,if he took the last course1 it may well be that the disappearance of the end of the dialogue was not accidental4 ,at ,ravenna there is a terrible mosaic1 alive with wrath and energy1 which shows a ,christ we know not 7for ,he looks like a grand ,inquisitor7 thrusting into the flames heretical books4 ,as ,i looked at it1 ,i thought how many valuable classical works1 vaguely suspected on the score of faith or morals1 must have shared the fate of 8unorthodox0 polemics in the merry bonfires which this mosaic holds up for imitation6 ,the argument 8that it sounds unnatural to ascribe reason to creatures ignorant of ,god10 suggests familiarity with a passage in ,epictetus 7,plutarch's contemporary71 where he says that man alone was made to have the understanding which recognises ,god--a recognition which he elsewhere explains by the hypothesis that every man has in him a small portion of the divine4 ,having this intuitive sense1 man is bound1 without ceasing1 to praise his ,creator1 and1 since others are blind and neglect to do it1 ,epictetus will do it on behalf of all3 8for what else can ,i do1 a lame old man1 than sing hymns to ,god8 ,if ,i was a nightingale1 ,i should do the part of a nightingale2 if ,i were a swan1 ,i would do like a swan2 but now ,i am a rational creature1 and ,i ought to praise ,god3 this is my work2 ,i do it1 nor will ,i desert this post so long as ,i am allowed to keep it1 and ,i exhort you to join in this song40 ,the words are among the sweetest and most solemn that ever issued from human lips2 yet those who care to pursue the subject farther may submit that there was some one before ,epictetus1 who called upon the beasts1 the fishes and the fowls to join him in blessing the name of the ,lord1 and there was some one after him who commanded the birds of the air to sing the praises of their ,maker and ,preserver6 ,it is strange that1 despite the hard-and-fast line which the moulders of the ,catholic ,faith were at pains to trace between man and beast1 if we would find the most emphatic assertion of their common privilege of praising ,god1 we must leave the ,pagan world and take up the ,bible and the 8,fioretti0 of ,st4 ,francis6 ,illustration3 7,photo3 ,sommer47 ,,bacchus ,,riding ,,on ,a ,,panther4 ,naples ,museum4 7,mosaic found at ,pompeii47 ,of the anecdotes with which ,plutarch enlivens his pages1 he says himself that he puts on one side fable and mythology1 and limits his choice to the 8all true0 category1 and if he appears to be at times a little credulous1 one may well believe that he is always candid4 ,just as in his 8,lives0 he tried to ennoble his readers by making noble deeds interesting1 so in his writings on animals1 he tried to make people humane by making his dumb clients interesting4 ,he did not start with thinking the task an easy one1 for he was convinced that man is more cruel than the most savage of wild beasts4 ,but he aims at pouring1 if not a full draught of mercy1 at least some drops1 into the heart that never felt a pang1 the mind that never gave a thought4 ,many of his stories are taken straight from the common street life of the ,rome of his day1 as that of the elephant which passed every day along a certain street where the schoolboys teased it by pricking its trunk with their writing stylets 7men may come and go1 but the small boy is a fixed quantity674 ,at last1 the elephant1 losing patience1 picked up one of his tormentors and hoisted him in the air2 a cry of horror rose from the spectators1 no one doubted that in another moment the child would be dashed to the ground4 ,but the elephant set the offender down very gently and walked away1 thinking1 no doubt1 that a good fright had been a sufficient punishment4 ,the ,syrian elephant1 of whom ,plutarch tells how he made his master understand that in his absence he had been cheated of half his rations1 was not cleverer than some of his kind on service in ,india1 who would not begin to eat till all three cakes which formed their rations were set before each of them--a fact that was told me by the officer whose duty it was to preside at their dinner4 ,plutarch speaks of counting oxen that knew when the number of turns was finished which constituted their daily task at a saw-mill3 they refused to perform one more turn than the appointed figure4 ,as an instance of the discrimination of animals1 he tells how ,alexander's horse1 ,bucephalus1 when unsaddled1 would allow the grooms to mount him1 but when he had on all his rich caparisons1 no one on earth could get on his back except his royal master4 ,there is no doubt that animals take notice of dress4 ,i have been told that when crinolines were worn1 all the dogs barked at any woman not provided with one4 ,plutarch was among the earliest to observe that animals discover sooner than man when ice will not bear1 which he thinks that they find out by noticing if there is any sound of running water4 ,he says truly that to draw such an inference presupposes not only sharp ears1 but a real power of weighing cause and effect4 ,plutarch mentions foxes as particularly clever in this respect1 but dogs possess the same gift4 ,the ,french ,ambassador at ,rome--who1 like all persons of superior intelligence1 is very fond of animals--told me the following story4 ,one winter day1 when he was ,french ,minister at ,munich1 he went alone with his gun and his dog to the banks of the ,isar4 ,having shot a snipe1 he ordered the dog to go on to the ice to fetch it1 but1 to his surprise1 the animal1 which had never disobeyed him1 refused4 ,annoyed at its obstinacy1 he went himself on to the ice1 which immediately gave way1 and had he not been a good swimmer he might not be now at the ,palazzo ,farnese4 ,the two creatures that have been most praised for their wisdom are the elephant and the ant1 but of the ant's admirers from ,solomon to ,lord ,avebury1 not one was ever so enthusiastic as ,plutarch4 ,horace1 indeed1 had discoursed of her foresight3 8,she carries in her mouth whatever she is able1 and piles up her heap1 by no means ignorant or careless of the future2 then1 when ,aquarius saddens the inverted year1 never does she creep abroad1 wisely making use of the stores which were provided beforehand40 ,but such a tribute sounds cold beside ,plutarch's praise of her as the tiny mirror in which the greatest marvels of ,nature are reflected1 a drop of the purest water1 containing every ,virtue1 and1 above all1 what ,homer calls 8the sweetness of loving qualities40 ,ants1 he declares1 show the utmost solicitude for their comrades1 alive and dead4 ,they exhibit their ingenuity by biting off the ends of grains to prevent them from sprouting and so spoiling the provender4 ,he speaks1 though not from his own observation1 of the beautiful interior arrangements of ant-hills which had been examined by naturalists who divided the mount into sections1 8,a thing ,i cannot approve of60 ,tender-hearted philosopher1 who had a scruple about upsetting an ant-hill6 ,of other insects1 he most admires the skill of spiders and bees4 ,it is said that the bees of ,crete1 when rounding a certain promontory1 carried tiny stones as ballast to avoid being blown away by the wind4 ,i have seen more than once a tiny stone hanging from the spider-threads which crossed and re-crossed an avenue--it seemed to me that these were designed to steady the suspension bridge4 ,plutarch insists that animals teach themselves even things outside the order of their natural habits1 a fact which will be confirmed by all who have observed them closely4 ,just as no two animals have the same disposition1 so does each one1 though in greatly varying degree1 display some little arts or accomplishments peculiar to itself4 ,plutarch mentions a trained elephant that was seen practising its steps when it thought that no one was looking4 ,but he allots the palm of self-culture to an incomparable magpie that belonged to a barber whose shop faced the temple called the ,agora of the ,greeks4 ,the bird could imitate to perfection any sort of sound1 cry or tune2 it was renowned in the whole quarter4 ,now it happened one morning that the funeral of a wealthy citizen went past1 accompanied by a very fine band of trumpeters which performed an elaborate piece of music4 ,after that day1 to every one's surprise1 the magpie grew mute6 ,had it become deaf or dumb or both6 ,endless were the surmises1 and what was not the general amazement when1 at last1 it broke its long silence by bursting forth with a flood of brilliant notes the exact reproduction of the difficult trills and cadences executed by the funeral band6 ,evidently it had been practising it in its head all that while1 and only produced it when it had got it quite perfect4 ,several ,romans and several ,greeks witnessed the facts and could vouch for the truth of the narrative4 ,the swallow's nest and the nightingale's song make ,plutarch pause and wonder2 he believes1 with ,aristotle1 that the old nightingales teach the young ones1 remarking that nightingales reared in captivity never sing so well as those that have profited by the parental lessons4 ,he gives a word to the dove of ,deucalion which returned a first time to the ark because the deluge continued1 but disappeared when it was set free again1 the waters having subsided4 ,plutarch confesses1 however1 that this is 8mythical10 and though he admits that birds deserved the name by which ,euripides calls them of 8,messengers of the gods10 he is inclined to attribute their warnings to the direct intervention of an over-ruling deity of whom they are the inconscient agents4 ,it is a pleasure to find that ,plutarch had a high appreciation of the hedgehog--the charming 8urchin0 which represents to many an ,english child an epitome of wild nature1 friendly yet untamed1 familiar yet mysterious4 ,he does not say that it milks cows--a calumny which is an article of faith with the ,british ploughman--but he relates that when the grapes are ripe1 the mother urchin goes under the vines and shakes the plants till some of the grapes fall off2 then1 rolling herself over them1 she attaches a number of grapes to her spines and so marches back to the hole where she keeps her nurslings4 8,one day10 says ,plutarch1 8when we were all together1 we had the chance of seeing this with our own eyes--it looked as if a bunch of grapes was shuffling along the ground1 so thickly covered was the animal with its booty40 ,dogs that threw themselves on their masters' pyre1 dogs that caused the arrest of assassins or thieves1 dogs that remained with and protected the bodies of their dead masters1 clever dogs1 devoted dogs1 magnanimous dogs--these will be all found in ,plutarch's gallery4 ,how high-minded1 he says1 it is in the dog when1 as ,homer advises1 you lay down your stick1 even an angry dog ceases to attack you4 ,he praises the affectionate regard which many have shown in giving decent burial to the dogs they cherished1 and recalls how ,xantippus of old1 whose dog swam by his galley to ,salamis when the ,athenians were forced to abandon their city1 buried the faithful creature on a promontory which 8to this day0 is known as the ,dog's ,grave4 ,very desolate was the case of the other animals that ran up and down distraught when their masters embarked1 like the poor cats and dogs which helped the ,english soldiers in the block-houses to while away the weary hours1 and which1 by superior orders1 were left to their fate1 though their comrades in khaki were anxious enough to carry them away4 ,as a proof of the affection of the ,greeks for their dogs ,plutarch might have spoken of the not uncommon representation of them on the ,stel in the family group which brings together all the dearest ties between life and death4 ,one animal is missing from ,plutarch's portrait gallery--the cat1 to which he only concedes the ungracious allusion 8that man had not the excuse of hunger for eating flesh1 like the weasel or cat40 ,can we make good the omission from other sources8 ,there is a general notion that cats 8were almost unknown to ,greek and ,roman antiquity0--these are the words of so well-informed a writer as ,m4 ,s4 ,reinach4 ,yet instances exist of paintings of cats on ,greek vases of the fifth century1 and ,i was interested to see in the ,museum at ,athens a well-carved cat on a stele4 ,aristotle1 who1 like ,plutarch1 mentions cats in connexion with weasels 7both1 he says1 catch birds71 reckons the time they live at six years1 less than half the life of an average modern cat2 this may indicate that though known1 they were not then acclimatised in ,europe4 sop has four fables of cats3 #a4 ,a cat dressed as a physician offers his services to an aviary of birds2 they are declined4 #b4 ,a cat seeks an excuse for eating a cock2 he fails to find the excuse1 but eats the cock all the same4 #c4 ,a cat pretends to be dead so that mice may come near her4 #d4 ,a cat falls in love with a handsome young man and induces ,venus to change her into a lovely maiden4 ,but on a mouse coming into the room1 she scampers after it4 ,venus1 being displeased1 changes her back into a cat4 ,this belongs to a large circle of folk-tales1 and probably all these fables came from the ,east4 ,herodotus tells as a 8very marvellous thing0 that cats are apt to rush back into a burning house1 and that the ,egyptians try to save them1 even at the risk of their lives1 but rarely succeed3 hence great lamentation4 ,also1 that if a cat die in a house all the dwellers in it shave their eyebrows2 8the cats1 when they are dead1 they carry for burial to the city of ,bubastis40 ,the ,egyptian name for light 7and for cat7 is ,mau1 and the inference is irresistible1 that the ,egyptians supposed the cat to be constantly apostrophizing the sacred light of which she was the symbol4 ,nothing shows the strength of tradition better than the existence of an endowment at ,cairo for the feeding and housing of homeless cats4 ,if the cat in ,europe had been a rarity so great as most people think1 it would have been more highly prized4 ,it seems nearer the truth to say that it was not admired4 ,its incomplete domestication which attracts us1 did not attract the ancient world4 ,tame only so far as it suits their own purposes1 cats patronize man1 looking down upon him from a higher plane1 which1 if only the house-top1 they make a golden bar4 8,chat mystrieux1 ,chat sraphique1 chat trange 444 ,peut-tre est-il fe1 est-il dieu80 ,greeks and ,romans preferred a plain animal to this half-elf1 half-god4 ,the ,greek comic writer1 ,anaxandrides1 said to the ,egyptians3 8,you weep if you see a cat ailing1 but ,i like to kill and skin it40 ,the fear lest cats should be profanely treated in ,europe led the ,egyptians to do all they could to prevent their exportation2 they even sent missions to the ,mediterranean to ransom the cats borne into slavery and carry them back to ,egypt4 ,but these missions could not have reached the cats that had been taken inland1 and as the animal increases rapidly1 it may have been fairly common from early times4 ,there is no doubt1 however1 that the number went up with a bound when ,egypt became ,christian1 and every monk who came to ,europe brought shoals of cats1 the date corresponding with that of the first invasion of the rat in the trail of the ,huns4 ,illustration3 ,,bronze ,,statue ,,of ,,an ,,egyptian ,,cat4 7,collection of ,h4,e4 ,monsieur ,camille ,barrre1 ,french ,ambassador at ,rome47 ,antiquity regarded the cat1 before all things1 as a little beast of prey4 ,nearly every reference to it gives it this character4 ,in the stele at ,athens the cat is supposed to be looking at a bird-cage to which the man is pointing2 the man holds a bird in his left hand1 presumably the pet of the child who stands by him4 ,it seems as if the cat meditated if it had not performed some fell deed4 ,seneca observed that young chickens feel an instinctive fear of the cat but not of the dog4 ,the fine mosaic at ,pompeii shows a tabby kitten in the act of catching a quail4 ,only one ancient poet1 by a slight magician-like touch1 calls up a different vision3 ,theorcitus makes the voluble ,praxin say to her maid3 8,eun1 pick up your work1 and take care1 lazy girl1 how you leave it lying about again2 the cats find it just the bed they like40 ,there--at last--is the cat we know6 ,but after all1 it is an ,egyptian cat3 a cat sure of her privileges1 a cat who relies on her goddess prototype1 and has but a modicum of respect for the chattering little ,syracusan woman in whose house she condescends to reside4 ,such were not cats of ancient ,greece and ,rome1 who1 from being un-appreciated1 fell back to the morals of the simple ravager4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,v ,,man ,,and ,,his ,,brother ,,traditional beliefs are like the coco de mer which was found floating1 here and there1 on the sea1 or washed up on the shore1 and which gave birth to the strangest conjectures2 it was supposed to tell of undiscovered continents or to have dropped from heaven itself4 ,then1 one day1 some one saw this peculiar cocoanut quietly growing on a tall palm-tree in an obscure islet of the ,indian ,ocean4 ,all we gather of primitive traditions is the fruit4 ,yet the fruit did not grow in the air1 it grew on branches and the branches grew on a trunk and the trunk had a root4 ,to get to the root of even the slightest of our own prejudices--let alone those of the savage--we should have to travel back far into times when history was not4 ,lucretius placed at the beginning of the ages of mankind a berry-eating race1 innocent of blood4 ,the second age belonged to the hunter who killed animals1 at first1 and possibly for a long time1 for their skins1 before he used their flesh as food4 ,in the third age animals were domesticated2 first the sheep1 because that was gentle and easily tamed 7which one may see by the moufflons at ,monte ,carlo71 then1 by degrees1 the others4 ,this classification was worthy of the most far-seeing mind of antiquity4 ,had not human originally meant humane we should not have been here to tell the tale4 ,the greater traditions of a bloodless age are enshrined in sacred books2 minor traditions of it abound in the folk-lore of the world4 ,man was home-sick of innocence2 his conscience1 which has gone on getting more blunted1 not more sensitive1 revolted at the 8daily murder40 ,so mankind called upon heaven to provide an excuse for slaughter4 ,the ,kirghis of ,mongolia say that in the beginning only four men and four animals were made3 the camel1 the ox1 the sheep1 and the horse1 and all were told to live on grass4 ,the animals grazed1 but the men pulled up the grass by the roots and stored it4 ,the animals complained to ,god that the men were pulling up all the grass1 and that soon there would be none left4 ,god said3 8,if ,i forbid men to eat grass1 will you allow them to eat you80 ,fearing starvation1 the animals consented4 ,from the first chapter of ,genesis to the last of the 8,origin of ,species0 there is one long testimony to our vegetarian ancestor1 but beyond the fact that he existed1 what do we know about him8 ,we may well believe that he lived in a good climate and on a plenteous earth4 ,adam and ,eve or their representatives could not have subsisted in ,greenland4 ,i think that the killing of wild animals1 and especially the eating of them1 began when man found himself confronted by extremes of cold and length of winter nights4 ,the skins of animals gave him the only possibility of keeping warm or even of living at all1 if he was to brave the outer air1 while their flesh may have been often the only food he could find4 ,he was obliged to eat them to keep alive1 as ,arctic explorers have been obliged to eat their sledge-dogs4 ,not preference1 but hard necessity1 made him carnivorous4 ,these speculations are confirmed by the doings of the earliest man of whom we have any sure knowledge2 not the proto-man who must have developed1 as ,i have said1 under very different climatic conditions4 ,perhaps he sat under the palm-trees growing on the banks of the ,thames1 but though the palm-trees have left us their fruit1 man1 if he was there1 left nothing to speak of his harmless sojourn4 ,by tens of thousands of years the earliest man with whom we can claim acquaintance is the reindeer hunter of ,quartenary times4 ,he hunted and fed upon the reindeer1 but he had not tamed them4 ,he wore reindeer skins1 but he could not profit by reindeer milk2 no children were brought up by hand1 possibly to the advantage of the children4 ,it is likely1 by the by1 that the period of human lactation was very long4 ,the horse also was killed for food at a time infinitely removed from the date of his first service to man4 ,illustration3 ,,reindeer ,,browsing4 ,older ,stone ,age4 ,illustration3 ,,horse ,,drawing ,,disc ,,of ,,the ,,sun4 ,older ,bronze ,age4 ,the reindeer hunter was a most intelligent observer of animals4 ,he was an artist and a very good one4 ,the best of his scratchings on reindeer horn and bone of horses and reindeer in different attitudes are admirable for freedom1 life1 and that intuition of character which makes the true animal painter4 ,for a time which makes one dizzy to look down upon1 no such draughtsman appeared as the pre-historic cave dweller4 ,the men of the age of ,polished ,stone and of the early ages of metals produced nothing similar in the way of design4 ,they understood beauty of form and ornament or1 rather1 perhaps1 they still shared in that ,nature's own unerring touch2 it took millenniums of civilisation for man to make one ugly pot or pan4 ,but these men had not the gift or even the idea of sitting down to copy a grazing or running animal4 ,we need not go far1 however1 to find a man who1 living under nearly the same conditions as the reindeer hunter of ,southern ,france1 has developed the same artistic aptitude4 ,i shall always recall with pleasure my visit to a ,laplander's hut2 it was in the broad daylight of ,arctic midnight--no one slept in the hut1 except an extraordinarily small baby in a canoe-shaped cradle4 ,the floor was spread with handsome furs1 and its aspect was neither untidy nor comfortless4 ,i reflected that this was how the cave dweller arranged his safe retreat4 ,much more strongly was he brought to my mind by the domestic objects of every sort made of reindeer horn and adorned with drawings4 ,as ,i write ,i have one of them before me1 a large horn knife1 the sheath of which ends with the branching points4 ,it is beautifully decorated with graffiti1 showing the good and graceful creature without whom the ,laplander cannot live4 ,the school of art is distinctly ,troglodite4 ,a theory has been started that the man of the ,quartenary age drew his horses and his reindeer solely as a magical decoy from the idea that the pictures 8called0 the game as whistling 7i4e41 imitating the sound of the wind7 8calls0 the wind4 ,i do not know that the ,lapps1 though practised in magic1 have any such purpose in view4 ,it is said that it would be absurd to attribute a motive of mere artistic pleasure to the ,troglodite4 ,why8 ,some races have as natural a tendency to artistic effort as the bower-bird has to decorate its nest4 ,conditions of climate may have given the hunter periods of enforced idleness1 and art1 in its earliest form1 was1 perhaps1 always an escape from ennui1 a mode of passing the time4 ,that the early hunter dealt in magic is likely enough2 he is supposed1 though not on altogether conclusive grounds1 to have been a fetich-worshipper1 and fetich-worship is akin to some kinds of magic4 ,but it does not follow that all his art had this connexion4 ,how animals appeared to his eyes we know2 what he thought about them he has not told us4 ,the ,eskimo1 the modern pre-historic man who is believed to be a better-preserved type than even the ,lapp1 may be asked to speak for him4 ,the ,eskimo can say that he had a friendly feeling towards all living things1 notwithstanding that he fed on flesh1 and that wild beasts sometimes fed on him4 ,not that he had ever talked of wild beasts1 for he had no tame ones4 ,he had not a vocabulary of rude terms about animals4 ,he was inclined to credit every species with many potential merits4 ,the ,eskimo is afraid--very much afraid--of bears4 ,yet he is the first to admit that the bear is capable of acting like the finest of fine gentlemen4 ,a woman was in a fright at seeing a bear and so gave him a partridge2 that bear never forgot the trifling service1 but brought her newly killed seals ever after4 ,another bear saved the life of three men who wished to reward him4 ,he politely declined their offer1 but if1 in winter time1 they should see a bald-headed bear1 will they induce their companions to spare him8 ,after so saying1 he plunged into the sea4 ,next winter a bear was sighted and they were going to hunt him1 when these men1 remembering what had happened1 begged the hunters to wait till they had had a look at him4 ,sure enough it was 8their own bear06 ,they told the others to prepare a feast for him1 and when he had refreshed himself1 he lay down to sleep and the children played around him4 ,presently he awoke and ate a little more1 after which he went down to the sea1 leapt in1 and was never seen again4 ,even such lovely imaginings1 we may believe1 without an excessive stretch of fancy1 gilded the mental horizon of the ,troglodite4 ,he had long left behind the stage of primal innocence1 but no supernatural chasm gaped between him and his little brothers4 ,the reindeer hunters were submerged by what is more inexorable than man--,nature4 ,the reindeer vanished1 and with him the hunter1 doomed by the changed conditions of climate4 ,he vanished as the ,lapp is vanishing2 the poignantly tragic scene which was chronicled by two lines in the newspapers during the early summer of #aijf--the suicide of a whole clan of ,lapps whose reindeer were dead and who had nothing to do but to follow them--may have happened in what we call fair ,provence4 ,thousands of men paid with their lives for its becoming a rose garden4 ,the successors of the reindeer hunters1 ,turanian like them1 but far more progressive1 were the lake dwellers1 the dolmen-builders1 with their weaving and spinning1 their sowing and reaping1 their pottery and their baskets1 their polished flints and their domestic animals4 ,man's greatest achievement1 the domestication of animals1 had been reached in the unrecorded ages that divide the rough and the polished stone4 ,man1 8excellent in art10 had mastered the beast whose lair is in the wilds2 8he tames the horse of shaggy mane1 he puts the yoke upon its neck2 he tames the tireless mountain bull40 ,the great mind of ,sophocles saw and saw truly that these were the mighty works of man2 the works which made man1 man4 ,we know that when the ,neolithic meat-eater of what is now ,denmark threw away the bones after he had done his meal1 these bones were gnawed by house-dogs4 ,a simple thing1 but it tells a wondrous tale4 ,did these dogs come with their masters from ,asia1 or had they been tamed in their ,northern home8 ,the answer depends on whether the dog is descended from jackal or wolf4 ,in either case it is unlikely that the most tremendous task of domestication was the first4 ,not everywhere has man domesticated animals1 though we may be sure that he took them everywhere with him after he had domesticated them4 ,if man walked on dry land across the ,atlantic as some enthusiastic students of sub-oceanic geography now believe that he did1 he led no sheep1 no horses1 no dogs4 ,in ,america1 when it was discovered1 there was only one domestic animal1 and in ,australia there was none4 ,of native animals1 the ,american buffalo could have been easily tamed4 ,it may be said that in ,australia there was no suitable animal1 but the dog's ancestor could not have seemed a suitable animal for a household protector2 a jackal is not a promising pupil1 still less a wolf1 unless there was some more gentle kind of wolf than any which now survives4 ,might not a good deal have been made out of the kangaroo8 ,possibly the whole task of domestication was the work of one patient1 intelligent and widely-spread race1 kindred of the ,japanese1 who in making forest trees into dwarfs show the sort of qualities that would be needed to make a wild animal not only unafraid 7that is nothing71 but also a willing servant4 ,the ,neolithic man's eschatology of animals and of himself was identical4 ,he contemplated for both a future life which reproduced this one4 8,the belief in the deathlessness of souls10 said ,canon ,isaac ,taylor1 8was the great contribution of the ,turanian race to the religious thought of the world40 ,this appears to claim almost too much4 ,would any race have had the courage to start upon its way had it conceived death as real8 8,it is a modest creed and yet ,pleasant if one considers it1 ,to own that death itself must be ,like all the rest1 a mockery40 ,it is a creed which springs from the very instinct of life4 ,two pelicans returning to their nest found their two young ones dead from sunstroke4 ,the careful observer who was watching them has recorded that they did not seem to recognise the inert1 fluffy heap as what was their fledglings2 they hunted for them for a long while1 moving the twigs of the nest1 and at last threw one of the dead birds out of it4 ,so the primitive man in presence of the dead knows that this is not he and he begins to ask3 where is he8 ,but if every race in turn has asked that question1 it was asked with more insistence by some peoples than by others1 and above all1 it was answered by some with more assurance4 ,the ,neolithic ,turanians had nothing misty in their vision of another world4 ,it was full of movement and variety3 the chase1 the battle1 the feast1 sleep and awakening1 night and day--these were there as well as here4 ,animals were essential to the picture1 and it never struck the ,neolithic man that there was any more difficulty about their living again than about his living again4 ,if he philosophised at all1 it was probably after the fashion of the ,eskimo who holds the soul to be the 8owner0 of the body3 the body1 the flesh1 dies and may be devoured1 but he who kills the body does not kill its 8owner40 ,vast numbers of bones have been found near the dolmens in ,southern ,france4 ,the steed of the dead man galloped with him into the ,beyond4 ,the faithful dog trotted by the little child1 comrade and guardian4 ,in the exquisite ,hebrew idyll ,tobias has his dog as well as the angel to accompany him on his adventurous earthly journey4 ,the little ,neolithic boy had only the dog and his journey was longer2 but to some grieving fathers would it not be a rare comfort to imagine their lost darlings guarded by loving four-footed friends along the ,path of ,souls8 ,the ,celtic conquerors of the dolmen-builders took most of their religious ideas4 ,when successful aid in mundane matters was what was chiefly sought in religion1 a little thing might determine conversion en masse4 ,if the divinities of one set of people seemed on some occasion powerless1 it was natural to try the divinities of somebody else4 ,when success crowned the experiment1 the new worship was formally adopted4 ,this is exactly what happened in the historic case of ,clovis and 8,clothilde's ,god10 and it doubtless happened frequently before the dawn of history4 ,druidism is believed to have arisen in this way in a grafting of the new on the old4 ,the ,celts had the same views about the next world as the dolmen-builders4 ,they are thought to have taken them from the conquered with the rest of their religious system1 but to me it seems unlikely that they had not already similar views when they arrived from ,asia4 ,in the early ,vedas goats and horses were sacrificed to go before and announce the coming of the dead2 ,vedic animals kept their forms1 the renewed body was perfect and incorruptible1 but it was the real body4 ,a celebrated racehorse was deified after death4 ,such beliefs have a strong affinity to the theory that animals 7or slaves7 killed at the man's funeral will be useful to him in the after-life4 ,however derived1 our ,european ancestors embraced that theory to the full4 ,only a few years ago a second ,viking ship was found at ,oseberg1 in ,norway1 in which were the remains of ten horses1 four dogs1 a young ox1 and the head of an old ox4 ,three more horses were found outside4 ,the dogs had on their own collars with long chains4 ,there were also sledges with elaborately carved animals' heads4 ,it was a queen's grave2 her distaff and spinning-wheel told of simple womanly tasks amidst so much sepulchral splendour4 ,in those late times the law by which religious forms grow more sumptuous as the faith behind them grows less1 may have come into operation4 ,lavish but meaningless tributes may have taken the place of a provision full of meaning for real wants4 ,so the sacrifices to the gods may have been once intended to stock the pastures of heaven4 ,it cannot be doubted that the victim was never killed in the mind of the original sacrificer1 it was merely transferred to another sphere4 ,the worser barbarity comes in when the true significance of the act is lost and when it is repeated from habit4 ,after animals were domesticated they were not killed at all for a long time--still less were they eaten4 ,of this there can be no shadow of doubt4 ,the first domestic animals were far too valuable possessions for any one to think of killing them4 ,as soon would a showman kill a performing bull which had cost him a great deal of trouble to train4 ,besides this1 and more than this1 the natural man1 who is much better than he is painted1 has a natural horror of slaying the creature that eats out of his hand and gives him milk and wool and willing service4 ,there are pastoral tribes now in ,south ,africa which live on the milk1 cheese and butter of their sheep1 but only kill them as the last necessity4 ,in ,east ,africa the cow is never killed1 and if one falls ill1 it is put into a sort of infirmary and carefully tended4 ,we all know the divinity which hedges round the ,hindu cow4 ,the same compunction once saved the labouring ox4 ,when ,i was at ,athens for the ,archological ,congress of #aije1 ,dr4 ,r4 ,c4 ,bosanquet1 at that time head of the ,british school1 told me that he had observed among the peasants in ,crete the most intense reluctance to kill the ox of labour4 ,in several places in ,ancient ,greece all sorts of devices were resorted to in order that the sacrificial knife might seem to kill the young bull accidentally1 and the knife--the guilty thing--was afterwards thrown into the sea4 ,this last custom is important2 it marks the moment when the slaughter of domestic animals1 even for sacrificial purposes1 still caused a scruple4 ,the case stands thus3 at first they were not killed at all2 then1 for a long time1 they were killed only for sacrifice4 ,then they were killed for food1 but far and wide relics of the original scruple may be detected as in the common invocation of divine permission which every ,moslem butcher utters before killing an animal4 ,animal and human sacrifices are one phenomenon of early manners1 not two4 ,the people who sacrificed domestic animals to accompany their dead generally1 if not always1 also sacrificed slaves for the same purpose1 and the sacrifice of fair maidens at the funerals of heroes was to give them these as companions in another world4 ,i am not aware that ,gift ,sacrifice ever led to cannibalism nor1 in its primitive forms1 did it lead to eating the flesh of the animal victim which was buried or burnt with the body of the person whom it was intended to honour4 ,this is what was done by the dolmen-builders4 ,the earlier reindeer hunters had no domestic animals to sacrifice1 and it is unlikely that they sacrificed men4 ,at all events1 they were not cannibals4 ,on the other hand1 cannibalism is closely connected with ,pact ,sacrifice1 which there is a tendency now to regard as antecedent to ,gift ,sacrifice1 especially among those scholars who think that the whole human race has passed through a stage of ,totemism4 ,psychologically the ,totemist's sacrifice of a reserved animal to which all the sanctity of human life is ascribed1 resembles the sacrifice by some ,african tribes of a human victim--as in both cases not only is a pact of brotherhood sealed1 but also those who partake of the flesh are supposed to acquire the physical1 moral1 or supersensual qualities attributed to the victim4 ,indeed1 it would be possible to argue that the ,totem was a substitute for a human victim1 and a whole new theory of ,totemism might be evolved from that postulate1 but it is wiser to observe such affinities without trying to derive one thing from another which commonly proves a snare and a delusion4 ,it is sufficient to note that among fundamental human ideas is the belief that man grows like what he feeds upon4 ,the sacrifice of the ,totem1 though found scattered wherever ,totemism prevails1 is not an invariable or even a usual accompaniment of it4 ,when it does occur1 the ,totem is not supposed to die1 any more than the victim was supposed to die in the primitive ,gift ,sacrifice4 ,it changes houses or goes to live with 8our lost others10 or returns to eternal life in the 8lake of the dead40 ,the death of the soul is the last thing that is thought of4 ,the majority of ,totemists do not kill their ,totems under any circumstances1 and when the ,totem is a wild beast they believe that it shows a like respect for the members of its phratry4 ,if one dies they deplore its loss2 in some parts of ,east ,africa where the ,totem is a hyena not even the chief is mourned for with equal ceremony4 ,totemism is the adoption of an animal 7or plant7 as the visible badge of an invisible bond4 ,the word ,totem is an ,american ,indian word for 8badge10 and the word ,taboo a ,polynesian term meaning an interdiction4 ,the ,totemist generally says that he is descended from his ,totem3 hence the men and the beasts of each ,totem clan are brothers4 ,but the beast is something more than a brother1 he is the perpetual reincarnation of the race-spirit4 ,numerical problems never trouble the natural human mind2 all the cats of ,bubastis were equally sacred1 and all the crows of ,australia are equally sacred to the clans who have a crow for ,totem4 ,to the mass of country folks every cow is the cow1 every mouse is the mouse2 the ,english villager is practically as much convinced of this as the ,american ,indian or the ,australian native is convinced that every ,totem is the ,totem4 ,men and women of the same ,totem are taboo3 they cannot intermarry4 ,but ,i need not speak of ,totemism here as a social institution4 ,my business with it is limited to its place in the history of ideas about animals4 ,in ,totemism we find represented not one idea1 but an aggregation of most of the fundamental ideas of mankind4 ,this is why the attempt to trace it to one particular root has failed to dispose of the question of its origin in a final and satisfactory manner4 ,for a time there seemed to be a general disposition to accept what is called the 8,nickname theory0 by which ,totemism was attributed to the custom of giving animal nicknames4 ,we have a peasant called ,nedrott 7in the ,brescian dialect 8duck072 ,i myself never heard his real name--his wife is 8la ,nedrott0 and his children are 8i ,nedrotti40 ,it is alleged that his father or grandfather had flat feet4 ,but ,i never heard of a confusion between the ,nedrotti and their nicknamesakes4 ,it may be said that this would be sure to happen were they less civilised4 ,how can we be sure that it would be sure to happen8 ,an eminent scholar who objects to the nickname theory on the ground that it assigns too much importance to 8verbal misunderstanding10 proposes as an alternative the 8impregnation theory40 ,a woman1 on becoming aware of approaching motherhood1 mentally connects the future offspring with an animal or plant which happens to catch her eye at that moment4 ,this is conceivable1 given the peculiar notions of some savages on generation1 but if all ,totemism sprang from such a cause1 is it not strange that in ,australia there are only two ,totems1 the eagle-hawk and crow8 ,as a mere outward fact1 the ,totem is what its name implies1 a badge or sign2 just as the wolf was the badge of ,rome1 or as the lion is taken to represent the ,british ,empire4 ,the convenience of adopting a common badge or sign may have appeared to men almost as soon as they settled into separate clans or communities4 ,besides public ,totems there exist private and secret ,totems1 and this suggests that the earliest communities may have consisted of a sort of freemasonry1 a league of mutual help of the nature of a secret society4 ,around the outward and so to speak heraldic fact of ,totemism are gathered the impressions and beliefs which make it a rule of life1 a morality and a religion4 ,the time may come when the desire to give a reason for an emotion will be recognised as one of the greatest factors in myth-making4 ,the ,totemist thinks that he spares his ,totem because it is his ,totem4 ,but man is glad to find an excuse for sparing something4 ,altruism is as old as the day when the first bird took a succulent berry to its mate or young ones instead of eating it4 ,where men see no difference between themselves and animals1 what more natural than that they should wish to spare them8 ,when it was found difficult or impossible to spare all1 it was a katharsis of the wider sentiment to spare one1 and ,totemism gave a very good excuse4 ,it appealed to a universal instinct4 ,this is not the same as to say that it had its origin in keeping pets2 it would be nearer the truth to describe the love of pets as a later birth of the same instinctive tendency which the ,totemist follows when he cherishes and preserves his ,totem4 ,the primitive man is a child in the vast zoological garden of ,nature2 a child with a heart full of love1 curiosity and respect1 anxious to make friends with the lion which looks so very kind and the white bear who must want some one to comfort him4 ,the whole folk-lore of the world bears witness to this temper1 even leaving ,totemism out of the question4 ,the ,bechuanas make excuses to the lion before killing him1 the ,malays to the tiger1 the ,red ,indians to the bear--he says that his children are hungry and need food--would the bear kindly not object to be killed8 ,some writers see ,totemism in all this1 and so it may be1 but there is something in it deeper than even ,totemism--there is human nature4 ,take the robin--has any one said it was a ,totem8 ,yet ,mrs4 ,somerville declared she would as soon eat a child as a robin1 a thoroughly ,totemist sentiment4 ,a whole body of protective superstition has crystallised around certain creatures which1 because of their confiding nature1 their charming ways1 their welcome appearance at particular seasons1 inspired man with an unusually strong impulse to spare them4 ,i was interested to find the stork as sacred to the ,arabs in ,tunis and ,algeria as he is to his ,german friends in the ,north4 ,a ,frenchman remarked that 8sacred birds are never good to eat10 but he might have remembered the goose and hen of the ancient ,bretons which ,csar tells us were kept 8for pleasure0 but never killed2 not to speak of the pigeons of ,moscow and of ,mecca4 ,it should be observed how quickly the spared or cherished bird or beast becomes 8lucky40 ,in ,germany and ,scandinavia it is lucky to have a stork's nest on the roof4 ,the regimental goat is the 8luck of his company40 ,m4 ,s4 ,reinach's opinion that in ,totemism is to be found the secret of the domestication of animals offers an attractive solution to that great problem1 but it has not been1 nor do ,i think that it will ever be1 generally accepted4 ,it1 is however1 plain1 that where population is sparse1 and dogs and guns undreamt of1 wild animals would be far less wild than in countries with all the advantages of civilisation2 the tameness of birds on lonely islands when the explorer first makes his descent is a case in point4 ,no doubt1 therefore1 with the encouragement they received1 the animal ,totems acquired a considerable degree of tameness1 but from that to domestication there is a long step4 ,our household 8,totem10 the robin1 is relatively tame2 he will even eat crumbs on the breakfast-table1 but he flies away in springtime and we see him no more4 ,besides being a social institution and a friendly bond between man and beast1 ,totemism is an attempt to explain the universe4 ,its spiritual vitality depends on the widely rooted belief in archetypes2 the things seen are the mirror of the things unseen1 the material is unreal1 the immaterial the only reality4 ,we are ourselves but cages of immortal birds4 ,the real 8,i0 is somewhere else2 it may be in a fish1 as in the ,indian folk-tale1 or it may be in a god4 ,i do not know1 by the by1 if it has been remarked that a man can be a ,totem3 the incarnation of the indwelling race-spirit4 ,the ,emperor of ,japan corresponds exactly to this description4 ,the deified ,csar was a ,totem4 ,a god can be a ,totem3 among the ,hidery 7islanders of the ,north ,pacific whose interesting legends were published by the ,chicago ,folk-lore ,association7 the raven1 which is their ,totem1 is the manifestation of the god ,ne-kilst-lass who created the world4 ,here ,totemism approaches till it touches ,egyptian zoomorphism4 ,was this form an earlier or a later development than that in which the ,totem is merely an ancestor8 ,our inability to reply shows our real want of certainty as to whether ,totemism is a body of belief in a state of becoming or in a state of dissolution4 ,illustration3 ,photo3 ,egypt ,exploration ,fund4 ,,hathor ,,cow4 ,cairo ,museum4 7,found in #aijf by ,dr4 ,e4 ,naville at ,deir-el-bahari47 ,we do know that ,egyptian zoomorphism is not old1 at least in the exaggerated shape it assumed in the worship of the bull ,apis4 ,it is a cult which owed its success to the animistic tendency of the human mind1 but its particular cause is to be looked for in crystallised figurative language4 ,the stupendous marble tombs of the sacred bulls that seem to overpower us in the semi-obscurity of the ,serapeum remind one of how easy it is to draw false conclusions relative to the past if we possess only half-lights upon it3 had ,egyptian hieroglyphics never yielded up their secret we might have judged the faith of ,egypt to have been the most material1 instead of one of the most spiritual of religions4 ,in ,egyptian 7as in ,assyrian7 cosmogony the visible universe is the direct creation of ,god4 8,the god who is immanent in all things is the creator of every animal3 under his name of ,ram1 of the sheep1 ,bull1 of the cows3 he loves the scorpion in his hole1 he is the god of the crocodile who plunges in the water3 he is the god of those who rest in their graves4 ,amon is an image1 ,atmee is an image1 ,ra is an image3 ,,he alone maketh himself in millions of ways40 ,amon ,ra is described in another grand hymn as the maker of the grass for the cattle1 of fruitful trees for men yet unborn2 causing the fish to live in the river1 the birds to fill the air1 giving breath to those in the egg1 giving food to the bird that perches1 to the creeping thing and to the flying thing alike1 providing food for the rats in their holes1 feeding the flying things in every tree4 8,hail to thee1 say all creatures4 ,hail to thee for all these things3 the ,one1 ,alone with many hands1 awake while all men sleep1 to seek out the good of all creatures1 8,amon ,sustainer of all60 ,this is1 indeed1 a majestic psalm of universal life4 ,contrary to what was long the impression1 the ,wheel of ,being was not an ,egyptian doctrine1 but the dead1 or rather some of them1 were believed to have the power of transforming themselves into animals for limited periods4 ,it was a valued privilege of the virtuous dead3 the form of a heron1 a hawk or a swallow was a convenient travelling dress4 ,four-footed beasts were reserved to gods4 ,there was no prejudice against sport if carried on with due regard to vested sacred rights4 ,the first hunting-dog whose name we know was ,behkaa1 who was buried with his master1 his name being inscribed over his picture on the tomb4 ,the injury of animals sacred to the gods was1 of course1 a grave sin4 ,among the protests of innocence of a departing soul we read3 8,i have not clipped the skins of the sacred beasts2 ,i have not hunted wild animals in their pasturages2 ,i have not netted the sacred birds2 ,i have not turned away the cattle of the gods2 ,i have not stood between a god and his manifestation40 ,the ,egyptian mind1 which was essentially religious1 saw the 8god who is immanent in all things0 yet standing outside these things to sustain them with a guiding providence2 the highly trained ,chinese mind1 with its philosophic trend1 saw the divine indivisible intelligence without volition illuminating all that lived3 8,the mind of man and the mind of trees1 birds and beasts1 is just the one mind of heaven and earth1 only brighter or duller by reflection3 as light looks brighter when it falls on a mirror than when it falls on a dark surface1 so divine reason is less bright in cow or sheep than in man40 ,this fine definition was given by ,choo-,foo-,tsze1 the great exponent of ,confucianism1 who1 when he was four years old1 surprised his father by asking1 on being told that the sky was heaven1 8,what is above it80 ,choo-,foo-,tsze in the thirteenth century anticipated some modern conclusions of geology by remarking that since sea shells were found on lofty mountains as if generated in the middle of stones1 it was plain 8that what was below became lifted up1 what was soft became hard02 it was a deep subject1 he said1 and ought to be investigated4 ,long before the ,nolan1 ,confucius had conceived the idea of the great ,monad3 8one ,god who contains and comprehends the whole world40 ,it was an idea entirely incomprehensible to all but a few educated men in any age4 ,confucianism1 ,buddhism and ,taoism left the ,chinese masses what they found them--a people whose folk-lore was their religion4 ,were they asked to believe in the ,wheel of ,being8 ,they made that folk-lore too4 ,dr4 ,giles tells the folk-tale of a certain gentleman who1 having taken a very high degree1 enjoyed the privilege 7which is admitted to be uncommon7 of recollecting what happened between his last death and birth4 ,after he died1 he was cited before a ,judge of ,purgatory and his attention was attracted by a quantity of skins of sheep1 dogs1 oxen1 horses1 which were hanging in a row4 ,these were waiting for the souls which might be condemned to wear them2 when one was wanted1 it was taken down and the man's own skin was stripped off and the other put on4 ,this gentleman was condemned to be a sheep2 the attendant demons helped him on with his sheep-skin when the ,recording ,officer suddenly mentioned that he had once saved a man's life4 ,the ,judge1 after looking at his books1 ruled that such an act balanced all his misdoings3 then the demons set to work to pull off the sheep-skin bit by bit1 which gave the poor gentleman dreadful pain1 but at last it was all got off except one little piece which was still sticking to him when he was born again as a man4 ,this story is amusing as showing what a mystical doctrine may come to when it gets into the hands of the thoroughgoing realist4 ,for the ,chinese peasant the supernatural has no mystery4 ,to him it is a mere matter of ordinary knowledge that beasts1 birds1 fishes and insects not only have ghosts but also ghosts of ghosts--for the first ghost is liable to die4 ,if any of these creatures do not destroy life in three existences1 they may be born as men--a belief no doubt due to the ,buddhists1 who in ,china seem to have concentrated all their energies on humanitarian propaganda and let metaphysics alone4 ,taoism has been called an 8organised animism40 ,organised or unorganised1 animism is still the popular faith of ,china4 ,it is too convenient to lightly abandon1 for it explains everything4 ,for instance1 whatever is odd1 unexpected1 very lucky1 very unlucky1 can be made as plain as day by mentioning the word 8fox40 ,any one may be a fox without your knowing it3 the fox is a jinnee1 an elf who can work good or harm to man2 who can see the future1 get possession of things at a distance1 and generally outmatch the best spiritualist medium4 ,in ,chinese folk-lore the fox has1 as it were1 made a monopoly of the world-wide notion that animals have a more intimate knowledge of the supernatural than men4 ,soothsayers are thought to be foxes because they know what is going to happen4 ,man's speculations about himself and the universe arrange themselves under three heads3 those which have not yet become a system1 those which are a system1 those which are the remains of a system4 ,it is impossible that any set of ideas began by being a system unless it were revealed by an angel from heaven4 ,but no sooner do ideas become systematic than they pass into the stage of dogma which is accepted not discussed4 ,everything is made to fit in with them4 ,thus to find the free play of the human mind one must seek it where there are the fewest formul1 written or unwritten1 for tradition is as binding as any creed or code4 ,there are savage races which1 if they ever had ,totemism1 have preserved few if any traces of it4 ,to take them one by one and inquire into their views on animals would be well worth doing1 but it is beyond my modest scope4 ,i will say this1 however--show me a savage who has not some humane and friendly ideas about animals6 ,the impulse to confess brotherhood with man's poor relations is everywhere the same3 the excuses or reasons given for it vary a little4 ,the animal to be kindly treated is the sanctuary of a god1 the incarnation of a tribe1 or simply the shelter of a poor wandering ghost4 ,the ,amazulu1 one of the finest of savage races1 believe that some snakes are ,amatongo--some1 not all4 ,in fact1 these snakes which are dead men are rather rare4 ,one kind is black and another green4 ,an ,itongo does not come into the house by the door1 nor does it eat frogs or mice4 ,it does not run away like other snakes4 ,some say1 8,let it be killed40 ,others interfere1 8,what1 kill a man80 ,if a man die who had a scar and you see a snake with a scar1 ten to one it is that man4 ,then1 at night1 the village chief dreams and the dead man speaks to him4 8,do you now wish to kill me8 ,do you already forget me8 ,i thought ,i would come and ask you for food1 and do you kill me80 ,then he tells him his name4 ,without any teaching1 without any system1 the savage thinks that the appearances which stand before him in sleep are real4 ,if they are not real1 what are they8 ,the savage may not be a reasonable being1 but he is a being who reasons4 ,in the morning the village chief tells his dream and orders a sin-offering to the ,itongo 7ghost7 lest he be angry and kill them4 ,a bullock or a goat is sacrificed and they eat the flesh4 ,afterwards they look everywhere for the snake1 but it has vanished4 ,a snake that forces its way rapidly into a house is known to be a liar and he is a liar still4 ,do they turn him out of doors with a lecture on the beauty of veracity8 ,far from that4 8,they sacrifice something to such an ,itongo40 ,a few men turn into poisonous snakes1 but this is by no means common4 ,if offended1 the ,amatongo cause misfortune1 but even if pleased they do not seem to confer many benefits2 perhaps they cannot1 for surely it is easier to do evil than good4 ,once1 however1 a snake which was really the spirit of a chief1 placed its mouth on a sore which a child had2 the mother was in a great fright1 but happily she did not interfere and the snake healed the sore and went silently away4 ,illustration3 ,photo3 ,mansell4 ,,wild ,,goats ,,and ,,young4 ,british ,museum4 7,assyrian ,relief47 ,other animals are sometimes human beings as well as snakes4 ,the lizard is often the ,itongo of an old woman4 ,a boy killed some lizards in a cattle-pen with stones4 ,then he went and told his grandmother1 who said he had done very wrong--those lizards were chiefs of the village and should have been worshipped4 ,i think the grandmother was a humane old person2 ,i even suspect that she said the lizards were chiefs and not old women to make the admonition more awful4 ,the man who told this story to ,canon ,callaway 7from whose valuable work on the ,amazulu ,i take these notes7 added that1 looking back to the incident1 he doubted if the lizards were ,amatongo after all1 because no harm came of their murder4 ,he thought that they must have been merely wild animals which had become tame owing to people mistakenly thinking that they were ,amatongo4 ,what can one say to boys who ill-treat lizards8 ,i own that ,i have threatened them with ghostly treatment of the same sort4 ,i even tried the supernatural argument with a little ,arab boy1 otherwise a nice intelligent child1 who was throwing stones at a lizard which was moving at the bottom of the deep ,roman well at ,el ,djem3 ,i did not know then that the persecution of lizards in ,moslem lands is supposed 7,i hope erroneously7 to have been ordered by ,mohammed 8because the lizard mimics the attitude of the ,faithful at prayer40 ,the lizard1 one of the most winsome of ,god's creatures1 has suffered generally from the prejudice which made reptile a word of reproach4 ,it is the more worthy of remark1 therefore1 that in a place where one would hardly expect it1 protective superstition has done its work of rescue3 ,sicilian children catch lizards1 but let them go unhurt to intercede for them before the ,lord1 as the lizard is held to be 8in the presence of the ,lord in heaven40 ,one wonders if this is some distant echo of the text about the angels of the children 7their archetypes7 who always see ,god4 ,not always were reptiles scorned1 but1 possibly1 they were always feared4 ,man's first idea is to worship what he fears2 his second idea1 which may not come for many thousand years1 is to throw a stone at it4 ,the stone1 besides representing physical fear1 at a given moment also represents religious reprobation of what had been an object of worship in a forsaken faith4 ,primitive man took the interest of a wondering child in the great ,saurian tribe4 ,how did he know that they flew1 that there were 8dragons0 on the earth8 ,how did he know that the snake once had legs8--for if the snake of ,eden was ordered to go on its belly1 the inference seems to be that he was thought once to have moved in another way4 ,the snake has lost his legs and the lizard his wings1 and how the ancient popular imagination of the world made such accurate guesses about them must be left a riddle1 unless we admit that it was guided by the fossil remains of extinct monsters4 ,the serpent of the ,biblical story was1 says ,dr4 ,h4 ,p4 ,smith1 8simply a jinnee--a fairy if you will--possessed of more knowledge than the other animals1 but otherwise like them40 ,here1 again1 we meet in the most venerable form1 the belief that animals know more than men4 ,can we resist the conclusion that to people constantly inclined towards magic like the old-world ,jews1 it must have appeared that ,eve was dabbling in magic--by every rule of ancient religion1 the sin of sins8 ,the cult of the serpent in its many branches is the greatest of animal cults1 and it is the one in which we see most clearly the process by which man from being an impressionist became a symbolist1 and from being a symbolist became a votary4 ,we have only to read the ,indian statistics of the number of persons annually killed by snake-bite to be persuaded that fear must have been the original feeling with which man regarded the snake4 ,fear is a religious feeling in primitive man1 but other religious feelings were added to it--admiration1 for the snake1 as all who have had the good luck to observe it in its wild state must agree1 is a beautiful1 graceful1 and insinuating creature2 a sense of mystery1 a sense of fascination which comes from those keen eyes fixed fearlessly upon yours1 the simple secret1 perhaps1 of the much discussed power of snakes to fascinate their prey4 ,what wonder if man under the influence of these combined impressions1 symbolised in the serpent a divine force which could be made propitious by worship6 ,in the forming of cults there has always been this unconscious passage from impressions to symbols1 from symbols to 8manifestations40 ,but there has been also the conscious use of symbols by the priests and sages of ancient religions1 in imparting as much of divine knowledge to the uninitiated as they thought that the uninitiated could bear4 ,the origin of serpent worship has a probable relationship with this conscious use of symbols as well as with their unconscious growth4 ,besides the prejudice against reptiles1 modern popular superstition has placed several animals under a ban1 and especially the harmless bat and the useful barn owl4 ,traditional reasons exist1 no doubt1 in every case2 but stronger than these are the associations of such creatures with the dark in which the sane man of a certain temperament becomes a partial lunatic2 a prey to unreal terrors which the flap of a bat's wing or the screech of an owl is enough to work up to the point of frenzy4 ,it is a most unfortunate thing for an animal if it be the innocent cause of a frisson1 a feeling of uncanny dread4 ,the little ,italian owl1 notwithstanding that it too comes out at dusk1 has escaped prejudice4 ,this was the owl of ,pallas ,athene and of an earlier cult4 ,as in the case of the serpent1 its wiles to fascinate its prey were the groundwork of its reputation for wisdom4 ,of this there cannot be1 ,i think1 any doubt1 though the droll bobs and curtesies which excite an irresistible and fatal curiosity in small birds1 have suggested in the mind of the modern man a thing so exceedingly far from wisdom as civetteria1 which word is derived from civetta--8the owl of ,minerva0 as ,italian class-books say4 ,the descent from the goddess of wisdom to the coquette is the cruellest decadence of all6 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,vi ,,the ,,faith ,,of ,,iran ,,the ,zoroastrian theory of animals cannot be severed from the religious scheme with which it is bound up4 ,it is not a side-issue1 but an integral part of the whole4 ,it would be useless to attempt to treat it without recalling the main features in the development of the faith out of which it grew4 ,in the first place1 who were the people1 occupying what we call ,persia1 to whom the ,sage1 who was not one of them1 brought his interpretation of the knowledge of good and evil8 ,the early ,iranians must have broken off from the united body of the ,aryans at a time when they spoke a common language1 which though not ,sanscrit1 was very like it4 ,the affinities between ,sanscrit and the dialect called with irremediable inaccuracy 8,zend0 are of the strongest4 ,from this we conclude that1 on their establishment in their new home1 the ,iranians differed little from the race of whose customs the ,rig-,veda gives--not a full picture--but a faithful outline4 ,pastoral folk1 devoted to their flocks and herds1 but not unlearned in the cultivation of the earth and the sowing of grain1 they had reached what may be called the highest stage of primitive civilisation4 ,though milk1 butter and cooked corn formed their principal food1 on feast days they also ate meat1 chiefly the flesh of oxen and buffaloes1 which they were careful to cook thoroughly4 ,the progressive ,aryans1 who called half-raw meat by a term exactly corresponding to the too familiar 8rosbif saignant10 denounced the more savage peoples who consumed it as 8wild men0 or 8demons40 ,they kept horses1 asses and mules2 horses were sacrificed occasionally2 for instance1 kings sacrificed a horse to obtain male issue4 ,the wild boar was hunted1 if not in the earliest1 at least in very early times4 ,the dog was prized for its fidelity as guardian of the house and flocks1 but there is no trace of its having been protected by extraordinary regulations such as those which later came into force in ,iran4 ,on the other hand1 the name of dog had never yet been used in reproach4 ,it seems to have been among ,semitic races that the contempt for man's best friend arose1 but it is morally certain that it arose nowhere till dogs became scavengers of cities4 ,it was the homeless pariah cur that gave the dog the bad name from which have sprung so many ugly words registered in modern vocabularies4 ,even now1 when ,jew or ,moslem uses 8dog0 in a bad sense1 he means 8cur02 he knows quite well the other kind of dog--he knows ,tobit's dog1 which1 bounding on before the young man and the angel1 told the glad tidings of his master's return2 ,tobit's dog which was one of the animals admitted by ,mohammed into highest heaven4 ,but 8pariah dog0 became synonymous of pariah1 and notwithstanding the present tendency to attribute the opprobrium of the pig to original sanctity 7and consequent reservation71 ,i am inclined to think that the pig likewise came to be scorned because he was a scavenger4 ,in some ,indian cities herds of wild pigs still enter the gates just before they are closed at dusk1 to pass out of them as soon as they are opened in the morning3 during the night they do their work excellently1 and by day they take a well-earned sleep in the jungle4 ,they deserve gratitude1 for they keep the cities free from disease1 but1 like other public servants1 they scarcely get it4 ,in ,vedic times every home had its watch-dog1 whose warning bark was as unwelcome to lovers as it was to robbers4 ,the ,rig-,veda preserves the prayer of a young girl who asks that her father1 her mother1 her grandfather1 and the watch-dog may sleep soundly while she meets her expected lover3 a charming glimpse of the chaste freedom of early ,aryan manners4 ,the newly-wedded wife enters her husband's house as mistress1 not as slave2 the elders say to the young couple3 8,you are master and mistress of this house2 though there be father-in-law and mother-in-law1 they are placed under you40 ,if that was not quite what happened1 yet the principle was granted1 and there is much in that4 ,the bride rode to her new home in a car drawn by four milk-white oxen2 when she alighted at the threshold1 these golden words were spoken to her3 8,make thyself loved for the sake of the children that will come to thee2 guard this house1 be as one with thy husband2 may you grow old here together4 ,cast no evil looks1 hate not thy spouse1 be gentle in thought and deed even to the animals of this home40 ,bride and bridegroom are exhorted to be of one heart1 of one mind1 8to love each other as a cow loves her calf10 a simple and true metaphor full of the country-side1 full of the youth of the world4 ,if these were the customs and this was the life which the ,iranians may be supposed to have taken with them1 what was the religion8 ,the early ,aryans had a ,nature-cult more spiritualised under the form of ,varuna and more materialised under the form of ,indra4 ,some students of the ,avesta have thought that here could be found the elements of the ,dualism which formed the essential doctrine of ,mazdaism4 ,but it is almost certain that no real ,dualism existed in oldest ,iran4 ,the ,avesta once contrasts the worshippers of ,god with the worshippers of ,daevas1 of those who breed the cow and have the care of it with those who ill-treat it and slaughter it at their sacrifices4 ,but ,indra-worship has no connexion with devil-worship1 nor does this or similar texts prove that devil-worship1 properly so called1 ever flourished in ,iran4 ,other religious reformers than ,zoroaster have named the devotees of former religions 8devil-worshippers40 ,for the rest1 there is reason to think that in the ,avesta the term was applied to ,turanian raiders1 not to true ,iranians4 ,illustration3 ,photo3 ,mansell4 ,,assyrian ,,god ,,carrying ,,antelope ,,and ,,wheat-,,ear4 ,british ,museum4 ,in an ,assyrian inscription1 ,ahura ,mazda is said to have created joy for all creatures3 a belief which ,mazdean ,dualism impugns4 ,so far as can be guessed1 the earliest ,iranian faith was the worship of good spirits--of a ,good ,spirit4 ,less pure extra-beliefs may1 or rather must1 have existed contemporaneously1 but they remained in the second rank4 ,the cult of good spirits was the home-cult of shepherd and herdsman offered to the genii of their flocks and herds4 ,while these genii answered the purpose of the lares or little saints everywhere dear to humble hearts1 it is probable that in character they already resembled the ,fravashis or archetypes that were to play so great a part in ,mazdean doctrine4 ,the cult of the ,good ,spirit1 the national and kingly cult1 was the worship of one ,god whose most worthy symbol1 before ,zoroaster as after1 was the sun and whose sacrament with men was fire4 ,the early ,iranian had no temple1 no altar3 he went up into a high place and offered his prayer and sacrifice without priest or pomp4 ,if we wish to trace his faith back to an ,indian source1 instead of bringing on the scene ,varuna and ,indra1 it will be better to inquire whether there were elements of the same faith underlying the unwieldy fabric of ,vedic religion4 ,the answer is1 that there were4 ,the grandest text in the ,rig-,veda1 the one text recognised from farthest antiquity as of incalculable value1 is the old ,persian religion contained in a formula3 8,that ,sun's supremacy--,god--let us adore ,which may well direct40 8,enable with perpetual light1 ,the dulness of our blinded sight40 ,so great a virtue was attributed to the ,gayatri that the mind which thought it was supposed to unite with the object of thought3 the eyes of the soul looked on ,truth1 of which all else is but the shadow4 ,this is the spirit in which it is still repeated every day by every ,hindu4 ,the sacrosanct words were 8,vishnu1 ,brahma1 and ,shiva10 or1 yet more often1 they are described as 8the mother of the ,vedas10 which1 if it means anything1 means that they are older than the ,vedas4 ,the point most to be noticed about the ,gayatri is that its importance cannot be set aside by saying that this text is to be explained by ,henotheism3 the habit of referring to each god immediately addressed as supreme4 ,nor was the text selected arbitrarily by ,western monotheists3 for thousands of years before any ,european knew it1 the natives of ,india had singled it out as the most solemn affirmation of man's belief in the ,unseen4 ,it is open to argument1 though not to proof1 that the ,gayatri crystallises a creed which the ,iranians took with them in their migration4 ,peoples then moved in clans1 not in a motley crowd gathered on an emigrant steamer4 ,the clan or clans to which the ,iranians belonged may have clung to a primordial faith1 not yet overlaid by myths which materialised symbols and mysteries which made truth a secret4 ,such speculations are guess-work1 but that the primitive religion of ,persia was essentially monotheistic is an opinion which is likely to survive all attacks upon it4 ,on less sure grounds stands the identification of that primitive religion with ,zoroastrianism4 ,the great authorities of a former generation1 and amongst them my distinguished old friend1 ,professor ,jules ,oppert1 believed that ,cyrus was a ,mazdean4 ,but there is a good deal to support the view that ,zoroastrianism did not become the ,state religion till the time of the ,ssnians1 who1 as a new dynasty1 grasped the political importance of having under them a strong and organised priesthood4 ,before that time the ,magians seem to have been rather a sort of ,salvation ,army or ,society of ,jesus than the directors of a national ,church4 ,as late as the reign of ,darius the ,persians frequently buried their dead1 a practice utterly repugnant to the ,mazdean4 ,again1 from ,greek sources we know that the ,persian kings sacrificed hecatombs of animals2 thousands of oxen1 asses1 stags1 c41 were immolated every day4 ,darius ordered one hundred bullocks1 two hundred rams1 four hundred lambs to be given to the ,jews on the dedication of the new ,temple 7as well as twelve he-goats as sin-offerings for the twelve tribes7 so that they might offer 8sacrifices of sweet savours unto the ,god of heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons40 ,evidently ,darius considered profuse animal sacrifices as a natural part of any great religious ceremony4 ,can it be supposed that such slaughter would have pleased a strict ,zoroastrian8 ,the ,mazdeans retained the sacrifice of flesh as food3 a small piece of the cooked meat eaten at table was included in the daily offering with bread1 grain1 fruits and the ,homa juice1 which was first drunk by the officiating priest1 then by the worshippers1 and finally thrown on the sacred fire4 ,the small meat-offering was not animal sacrifice or anything at all like it4 ,the ,parsis substitute milk even for this small piece of meat1 perhaps because the meat was usually beef1 which would have caused offence to their ,hindu fellow-citizens4 ,i asked a ,parsi ,high ,priest who lunched with me at ,basle during the second ,congress for the ,history of ,religions1 what viands were eschewed by his community8 ,he replied that they avoided both beef and the flesh of swine1 but only out of respect for their neighbours' rules3 to them oil alone was forbidden--probably because of its virtue as a light-giver4 ,in the ,zoroastrian sacrifice it was never lost sight of that the outward act was but one of piety and obedience2 the true sacrifice was of the heart3 8,i offer good thoughts1 good words1 good deeds40 ,it is hardly needful to say that the ,mithraic taurobolium was in sheer contradiction to ,mazdean law4 ,heretical sects were the bane of ,zoroastrianism1 and with one of these sprang up the strange practices which the ,romans brought into ,europe4 ,possibly its origin should be sought in some infiltration from the ,west1 for it is more suggestive of ,orphic rites than of any form of ,eastern ceremonies4 ,a ,christian writer of the name of ,socrates1 who lived in the fifth century1 said that at ,alexandria1 in a cavern consecrated to ,mithra1 human skulls and bones were found1 the inference being that human sacrifice was the real rite1 symbolised by the slaying of the bull4 ,the source of this information is suspect1 but even if not guilty of such excesses1 the ,mithra-worshippers of ,western ,persia must have been rank corrupters of the faith4 ,in the ,avesta1 ,mithra is the luminous ther2 sometimes he appears as an intercessor2 sometimes he dispenses the mercy or wields the vengeance of ,god4 ,but in reality he is an attribute1 about the nature of which members of the faith had less excuse for making mistakes than we have4 ,it is difficult for the ,indian or ,japanese not to make analogous mistakes concerning some forms of worship in ,southern ,europe4 ,in ,old ,iran the ,sacred ,fire was kept perpetually alight4 ,sweet perfumes were spread around the place of prayer1 for which a little eminence was chosen1 but there were no images and no temples4 ,archologists have failed to find traces of a building set apart for religious worship among the splendid ruins of ,persepolis3 the 8forty towers0 only tell of the pleasure-palace of an ,eastern king4 ,was it that the profound spirituality of this people shrank not only from carving a graven image of the deity1 but also from giving him a house made with hands8 ,what could the maker of the firmament want with human fanes8 ,some such thought may have caused the ,iranians to suppress for so long a time the instinct which impels man to build temples4 ,in any case1 it seems as if ,cyrus and after him ,darius threw themselves into the scheme for rebuilding the ,hebrew temple with all the more enthusiasm from the fact that immemorial custom held them back from temple-building at home4 ,the cuneiform inscriptions bear witness that these kings were monotheists3 they believed in one sole creator of heaven and earth1 by whose will kings reign and govern1 and if they invoked the aid of heavenly hierarchs they never confused the creatures1 however powerful1 with the creator4 ,that ,creator they called by the name of ,ahura ,mazda1 but they recognised that he was one1 whatever the name might be by which he was called4 8,thus saith ,cyrus1 king of ,persia3 the ,lord ,god of ,heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth1 and ,he hath charged me to build ,him a house at ,jerusalem1 which is ,judah40 ,in the uncanonical ,book of ,esdras1 it is said more significantly that ,king ,cyrus 8commanded to have the house of the ,lord in ,jerusalem built where they should worship with eternal fire40 ,the recently deciphered ,babylonian inscriptions have been brought forward to show that the ,jews were mistaken in thinking that ,cyrus was a monotheist1 because he honoured ,merodach in ,babylon just as he had honoured ,jehovah at ,jerusalem4 ,he was1 it is said1 a 8polytheist at heart40 ,if he was1 his honouring ,merodach does not prove it4 ,to my mind it proves exactly the reverse4 ,cyrus understood the monotheism which was at the bottom of the ,babylonian religious system and which these very tablets have revealed to modern scholarship4 ,he understood that 8however numerous and diversified the nations of the earth may be1 the ,god who reigns over them all can never be more than one40#b ,footnote #b3 ,words written by a ,japanese reformer named ,okubo about fifty years ago4 ,he was governed by expediency in his respect for the faiths of his subject peoples1 but he was governed also by something higher than expediency4 ,that ,darius ,hystaspis1 who is allowed to have been a monotheist1 continued his policy1 shows that it was not thought to involve disloyalty to ,ahura ,mazda since of such disloyalty ,darius would have been incapable4 ,if we grant that the ,iranians were1 in the main1 monotheistic at a date when not more than a part of the population professed ,zoroastrianism1 the question follows1 of what was the difference between the reformed and the unreformed religion8 ,to answer this satisfactorily1 we must remember that the paramount object of ,zoroaster was less change than conservation4 ,like ,moses whom an attractive if not well-founded theory makes his contemporary1 he saw around a world full of idolatry1 and he feared lest the purer faith of ,iran should be swamped by the encroachments of polytheism and atheism 7for1 strangely enough1 the ,avesta abounds in references to sheer negation74 ,the aim of every doctrine or practice which he introduced was to revivify1 to render more comprehensible1 more consistent1 the old monotheistic faith4 ,with regard to practice1 the most remarkable innovation was that which concerned the disposal of the dead4 ,it cannot be explained as a relic of barbarism3 it was introduced with deliberation and with the knowledge that it would shock human sensibility then1 just as much as it does now4 ,the avowed reason for giving the dead to vultures or animals is that burial defiles the earth4 ,it was recognised that this argument was open to the objection that birds or beasts were likely to drop portions of dead bodies on the earth4 ,the objection was met with scholastic resourcefulness not to say casuistry3 it was declared that 8accidents0 do not count4 ,though so strongly insisted on in the ,avesta1 the practice only became general at a late period3 even after ,mazdeism had made headway1 bodies were often enveloped in wax to avoid defilement of the earth while evading the prescribed rite4 ,cremation1 the natural alternative to burial1 would have polluted the sacred fire4 ,it was observed1 no doubt1 that the consumption of the dead by living animals was the means employed by ,nature for disposing of the dead4 ,why do we so rarely see a dead bird or hare or rabbit or squirrel8 ,the fact is not mysterious when we come to look into it4 ,it may have been thought that what ,nature does must be well done4 ,the ,parsis themselves seem to suppose that this and other prescriptions of their religious law were inspired by sanitary considerations1 and they attribute to them their comparative immunity from plague during the recent epidemics at ,bombay4 ,defilement of water by throwing any impurity into rivers is as severely forbidden as the defilement of the earth4 ,possibly another reason against burial was the desire to prevent anything like the material cult of the dead and the association of the fortunes of the immortal soul with those of the mortal body1 such as prevailed among the ,egyptians1 whose practices doubtless were known to the ,magi by whom1 rather than by any one man1 the ,mazdean law was framed4 ,finally1 the last rites provided a recurrent object-lesson conducive to the mental habit of separating the pure from the impure4 ,they reminded the ,mazdean that life is pure because given by ,ormuzd2 death impure because inflicted by ,ahriman4 ,the rule of every religion is designed largely1 if not chiefly1 as a moral discipline4#c ,footnote #c3 ,among the ,buddhists of ,thibet the dead are given to dogs and birds of prey as a last act of charity--to feed the hungry4 ,the true originality of ,zoroastrianism as a religious system lies in the dualistic conception of creation which is the nexus that connects all its parts4 ,this was seen at once1 when the ,avesta became known in ,europe1 but the idea was so entirely misunderstood and even travestied1 that ,zoroaster was represented as a believer in two gods whose power was equal1 if1 indeed1 the power of the evil one were not the greater4 ,recently among the manuscripts of ,leopardi were found these opening lines of an unfinished 8,hymn to ,ahriman03-- 8,re delle cose1 autor del mondo1 arcana ,malvagit1 sommo potere e somma ,intelligenza1 eterno ,dator de' mali e regitor del moto44440 ,they are fine lines1 but if ,anro-,mainyus might fitly be called 8arcana malvagit0 and 8dator de' mali10 nothing could be farther removed from the ,zoroastrian idea than the rest of the description4 ,ahriman possessed neither supreme power nor supreme intelligence1 nor was he author of the world1 but only of a small portion of it4 ,to this day1 however1 it has pleased pessimists to claim ,zoroaster1 the most optimist of prophets1 as one of their fraternity4 ,the real ,ahriman gains in tremendous force from the vagueness of his personality4 ,sometimes he acts as a person3 as in the ,temptation of ,zoroaster when he offers him the kingdoms of the world if he will but serve him4 ,but no artist would have dared to give him human form4 ,and surely no one in ,iran would have alluded to him by mild or good-humoured euphemisms4 ,he shares this1 however1 with the medival devil1 that he works at an eternally pre-destined disadvantage4 ,he is fore-doomed to failure4 ,good is stronger than ,evil1 and ,good is lasting1 ,evil is passing4 ,in the end1 ,evil must cease to be4 ,though not immortal1 ,ahriman was primordial4 ,unlike the fallen star of the morning1 what he is1 that he was4 ,he did not choose ,evil3 he is ,evil as ,ormuzd is ,good4 ,he can create1 but only things like himself4 ,the notion that both ,ormuzd and ,ahriman proceeded from a prior entity1 ,boundless ,time1 is a late legend4 ,ormuzd and ,ahriman existed always1 the one in eternal light1 the other in beginningless darkness4 ,an immense vacuum divided the light from the darkness and ,ahriman knew not ,ormuzd1 ,evil knew not ,good1 till ,good was externalised in the beneficent creation4 8,young life lowed through the meadows1 the woods and the echoing mountains1 ,wandered bleating in valleys and warbled on blossoming branches40 ,the sight of created things gave ,ahriman the will to create corresponding things1 evil instead of good4 ,he made sin1 disease1 death1 the flood1 the earthquake1 famine1 slaughter1 noxious animals4 ,so the pieces were set down on the chess-board of being1 and1 as in all religions1 man's soul was the stake4 ,the difference from other religions lay in the determined effort to grapple with the problem of the origin of evil4 ,the tribe of divine students among whom ,mazdeism sprang up saw in that unsolved problem the great cause of unbelief1 and they set themselves to solve it by the theory which ,j4 ,s4 ,mill said was the only one which could reconcile philosophy with religion--the theory of primal forces at war4 ,the ,indian did not attempt to fathom it2 the ,egyptian and ,assyrian set it aside2 we know the offered ,hebrew solution3 8,i form the light and create darkness2 ,i make peace and create evil1 ,i1 the ,lord1 do all these things40 ,but this is a statement1 not a solution1 because though it may be believed1 it cannot be thought4 ,the attraction of the dualistic conception is shown by nothing more clearly than by the extraordinary vitality of ,manichism in the face of every kind of persecution both in the ,east and ,west1 although ,manichism1 with its ascription of the creation of mankind to the ,evil ,principle1 its depreciation of woman1 its out-and-out asceticism which included abstinence from animal food 7a rule borrowed by ,mani from the ,buddhists in his journey in ,india7 contrasts unfavourably with the faith that did not make a single demand on human nature except to be good1 even as its ,creator was good4 ,the origin of the ,magians was ,semitic1 or1 as some think1 pr-,semitic and pr-,aryan4 ,travellers brought tales of them to the ancient world which listened with a fascinated interest1 while it failed to see the importance of the mighty religious phenomenon of ,israel4 ,the 8,wise men of the ,east0 had a charm for antiquity1 as they were to have for the ,infant ,church which never tired of depicting them in its earliest art4 ,mention of the 8,persarum ,magos0 is frequent from ,herodotus to ,cicero1 who speaks of them under that name4 ,according to ,herodotus the ,magi sang the ,theogony1 and ,pausanias describes them as reading from a book which was certainly the ,avesta1 though it must not be overlooked that never but once does it contain the smallest reference to them4 ,this tribe of divine students enjoyed a high reputation at the ,babylonian ,court1 which seems less unexpected by the light of recent research than it did when the ,babylonians and ,assyrians were thought to be destitute of any trace of an esoteric religion tending to monotheism4 ,that the ,magians were monotheists cannot be disputed4 ,probably they were skilled in astronomy and in medicine1 the two sciences which almost covered what was meant then by learning in the ,east4 ,probably also they were astrologers like other searchers of the heavens1 but they were not magic-workers1 a calling that had a bad name4 ,the ,magi in the ,gospel story are supposed to have been guided by astronomical calculations2 whatever these may have been1 they could not have been ignorant of the prophecy in their own ,scriptures of a ,virgin who should give birth to the ,saviour and ,judge of men4 ,the ante-natal soul of this ,virgin had been venerated for centuries in ,iran4 ,an infiltration of ,messianic prophecies might induce them to conclude that the ,child would be 8,king of the ,jews40 ,it was not likely that they would take so long a journey to do homage to any new-born earthly king1 but it was quite possible that they might go in search of the promised ,saviour4 ,illustration3 ,photo3 ,mansell4 ,,counting ,,cattle4 ,british ,museum4 7,egyptian ,fresco47 ,in ,media we know that the people lived at one time in tribes1 without kings4 ,in one form or another1 the tribal organisation existed and exists everywhere in the ,east4 ,what is caste but a petrified tribal system8 ,the first discovery which a ,european makes on landing on the skirts of the ,east1 is that everything is done by tribes4 ,the ,algerian conjurors who swallow fire1 drive nails into their heads and do other gruesome feats are a semi-religious tribe which has thrived from time immemorial on the exercise of the same profession4 ,the dwarfs of the late ,bey of ,tunis1 whom ,i saw at ,bardo1 belonged to a tribe which does nothing but furnish dwarfs4 ,apply to a high or worthy end this corporate pursuit of a given object and it must produce remarkable results4 ,the unanimous belief of the ,greeks that ,zoroaster was founder of the ,magians is held no longer1 but he is still thought to have been one of them4 ,moslem tradition made him the servant of a ,hebrew prophet1 and even serious ,western students were inclined to trace ,mazdeism to the ,jewish prisoners who were brought into ,media by the ,assyrians4 ,it is unnecessary to say that at present the ,jews are regarded as the debtors4 ,there is no figure of a religious teacher so elusive as that of ,zoroaster1 and they are all elusive4 ,but in the case of ,zoroaster it is not only the man that eludes us--it is also his environment4 ,brahmanical ,india of to-day reflects as in a glass the society into which ,sakya ,muni cast his seed2 in fact1 we understand the seed-sowing better than the harvest2 ,buddhism at its apogee seems of the nature of an interlude in the history of the changeless ,east4 ,china still throws light on its passionless sage1 passionless in a sense so far deeper than the ,indian recluses1 who1 though they knew it not1 did but substitute for the passion of the flesh the more inebriating passion of the spirit4 ,from the splendid treasury of pr-,islamic poetry1 we know that the ,arab race had acquired its specialised type before the ,muezzin first called the faithful to prayer4 ,the moral petrifaction of the many and the religious and patriotic ferment of the few which formed the milieu of nascent ,christianity1 can be realised without any stretch of the imagination4 ,buddha1 ,confucius1 and ,he that was greater than they1 came into highly civilised societies in organised states2 ,mohammed came into an unorganised state which lacked political and religious cohesion1 but the unity of race was already developed3 the ,emirs of the ,soudan whose star set at ,omdurman were the living pictures of the ,arabs who first rallied to the ,prophet's banner4 ,of the society of ,old ,iran to which ,zoroaster spoke1 it is difficult to form a distinct idea and to judge how far it had moved away from early ,aryan simplicity4 ,we gather that it was still a society in which sheep-raising and dairy-farming played a preponderant part4 ,those modern expressions may serve us better than to say 8shepherds0 and 8herdsmen10 since fixity of dwelling with the possession of what then was considered wealth seems to have been a very common case4 ,nomadic life lasted on1 but it was held in disrepute4 ,there appears to have been nothing like a national or warlike spirit such as that possessed by the ,jews1 though occasional ,turanian incursions had to be repelled4 ,there were few towns and many scattered villages and homesteads4 ,we are conscious that these impressions derived from the ,avesta may be partially erroneous4 ,teachers of religion only take note of political or other circumstances so far as it suits their purpose4 ,zoroaster 7the ,greek reading of ,zarathustra1 which in modern ,persian becomes ,zardusht71 was born1 as far as can be guessed1 in ,bactria1 which became the stronghold of ,avestic religion and the last refuge of the national monarchy on the ,arab invasion4 ,there was a time when his existence was denied1 but no one doubts it now4 ,eight hundred years before ,christ is the date which most modern scholars assign to him1 though some place him much farther back1 while others think they discern reasons for his having appeared after ,buddha4 ,the legend of his life 7not to be found in the ,avesta7 begins in the invariable way3 he was descended from kings2 as a young man he retired to a grotto in the desert1 where he lived an austere life of reflection for seven years4 ,zoroaster never taught asceticism1 but tradition attributes to him the season of solitude and self-collection without which perhaps1 in fact as well as in fable1 the supreme power over other men's minds was never wielded by man4 ,various marvellous particulars are related3 he was suckled by two ewes2 wild animals obeyed his voice2 when thrown under the feet of oxen and horses1 they avoided hurting him4 ,in his seven years' retirement he meditated on idol-worship1 on false gods and false prophets4 ,the people of ,iran1 substantially monotheist but prone to sliding into degrading superstition1 offered a field for his mission4 ,he took to him a few disciples and began to preach to as many as would hear1 but he met with great difficulties4 ,at last1 he found favour with a king by curing his favourite horse1 and he might have ended his days in peace but the spirit urged him to continue his apostolate4 ,not to princes but to peasants did he chiefly address himself2 he did not call them away from their work but exhorted them to pursue it diligently4 8,he who cultivates the earth will never lack1 but he who does not1 will stand idly at the doors of others to beg food40 ,labour is not an evil1 man who earns his bread by the sweat of his brow is not under a curse3 he is the fellow-worker with ,god6 ,this was the grandest thing that ,zoroaster taught4 ,it is singular to note the affinity between his teaching and the ,virgilian conception of the husbandman as half a priest4 ,in the ,middle ,ages the same thought arose where one would not look for it3 among those religious orders which had the luminous inspiration that in work not in indolence lay the means of salvation3 8,laborare est orare40 ,the care of the ,god-created animals brought with it a special blessing3 it was actually a way to heaven4 ,if a friend gave us a cherished animal1 should not we treat it well for that friend's sake as well as for its own value8 ,would not it remind us of the giver8 ,would not we be anxious that he should find it in good health if by chance he came on a visit8 ,this is how ,zoroaster wished man to feel about the cow1 the sheep1 the dog4 ,auguste ,comte considered domestic animals as a part of humanity4 ,zoroaster considered them as a trust from ,god4 ,moslem traditions finish the story of the ,mazdean prophet by telling that he was beaten to death by 8devil-worshippers10 probably ,turanian raiders4 ,zoroastrian authorities are silent about his end1 which is thought to bear out the legend that it was unfortunate4 ,the ,parsis hold that the whole ,avesta was the work of ,zoroaster4 ,much of the original material has disappeared1 and although ,western writers are disposed to throw all the blame on the ,moslem invaders1 the steady ,persian tradition which accuses 8,alexander the ,rman0 of having caused the destruction of an important part of it1 cannot be well answered by saying that such barbarism was not likely to be committed by the ,macedonian conqueror4 ,when ,persepolis was reduced to ruins some of the sacred books 8written with gold ink on prepared cow-skins0 may have been destroyed by accident1 but as it was certain that the ,zoroastrian priests would do all they could to foment resistance to the hated idolater1 we cannot be too sure that the deed was not done on purpose4 ,the way of disposing of the dead set the ,greeks against the ,zoroastrians1 and they even thought or affected to think that the dying as well as the dead were given to dogs4 ,the ,arabs1 no doubt1 burnt what they could lay their hands on of what was left1 and it tells much for the devotion of the faithful few1 the persecuted remnant in ,persia1 and the band of exiles who found a happier fate in ,india1 that nevertheless the ,avesta has been preserved in a representative though incomplete form1 to take its place in among the sacred literatures of the world4 ,when the ,parsis return1 as they hope to do1 to a free ,persia1 they may carry the ,avesta proudly before them as the ,sikhs carried the ,granth to the prophet-martyr's tomb at ,delhi3 they have done more than keep the faith1 they have lived it4 ,the present ,avesta consists of five books4 ,the ,gths or hymns alone really claim to have been composed by ,zoroaster himself1 and this claim is admitted by ,european scholars who disagree with the ,parsis in denying that the other four books are by the same author4 ,they are3 the 8,yasna10 a ceremonial liturgy1 the 8,vispered10 a work resembling the 8,yasna10 but apparently less ancient2 the 8,venddd10 which contains the ,mazdean religious law1 and the 8,khordah ,avesta10 a household prayer-book for the laity4 ,the original text was written in an ,aryan dialect related to ,sanscrit2 after a time1 this tongue was understood by no one but the priests and not much by them2 it was decided1 therefore1 to make a translation1 which was called the 8,zend10 or 8interpretation10 or1 as we should say1 8the authorised version40 ,at first ,europeans thought that 8,zend0 meant the original tongue in which the work was written4 ,curiously enough1 the language into which the ,scriptures were rendered was not ,iranian or ,old ,persian1 but ,pahlavi1 a lingua franca full of ,semitic words1 which had been coined for convenience in communicating with the ,assyrians and ,syrians when they were under one king4 ,pahlavi was also used for official inscriptions1 for coinage1 for commerce2 it was a sort of ,esperanto4 ,the text and the translation enjoyed equal authority1 but the former was called 8the ,avesta of ,heaven0 and the latter 8the ,avesta of ,earth40 ,the first fragment of the 8,avesta0 that reached ,europe was a copy of the 8,yasna0 brought to ,canterbury by an unknown ,englishman in #afcc4 ,other scraps followed1 but no real attempt to translate it was made till the adventurous ,anquetil ,duperron published in #agga the version which he had made with the assistance of ,parsi priests and which was rejected in unwise haste by ,sir ,william ,jones as a supercherie littraire1 chiefly on the score that its contents were for the most part pure nonsense1 and hence could not be the work of ,zoroaster4 ,germany at once was more just than ,england to the man who1 though he had not succeeded in making a good translation1 deserved the highest honour as a pioneer4 ,even now that better translations are available1 the ,avesta is apt to dishearten the reader on his first acquaintance with it4 ,many passages have remained obscure1 and the desire to be literal in this as in some other ,oriental works has hindered the translators from writing their own languages well4 ,it needs a ,sir ,richard ,jebb to produce a translation which is a classic and is yet microscopically accurate4 ,i once asked ,professor ,f4 ,c4 ,burkitt why the ,septuagint did not make more impression on the ,hellenic and ,roman students of ,alexandria by mere force of the literary power of the ,bible8 ,he replied that he thought it was to be explained by the poor degree of literary skill possessed by the ,greek translators or by most of them4 ,another reminiscence comes to my mind here3 ,i recollect that eminent scholar and deeply religious-minded man1 ,albert ,rville1 saying to me3 8,the ,bible is so much more amusing than the ,koran60 ,i am afraid one must confess that the ,koran is so much 8more amusing0 than the ,avesta4 ,it is a good rule1 however1 to approach all religious books with patience and with reverence1 for they contain1 even if concealed under a bushel1 the finest thoughts of man4 ,when we have grown accustomed to the outward frame of the ,avesta1 the inner sense becomes clearer4 ,it is like a piece of music by ,tschaikowsky3 at first the modulations seem bizarre1 the themes incoherent2 then1 by degrees1 a consecutive plan unwinds itself and we know that what appeared meaningless sound was divine harmony4 ,the essential teaching of the ,avesta is summed up in the text3 8,adore ,god with a pure mind and a pure body1 and honour ,him in ,his works40 ,force1 power1 energy1 waters and stagnant pools1 springs1 running brooks1 plants that shoot aloft1 plants that cover the ground1 the earth1 the heavens1 stars1 sun1 moon1 the everlasting lights1 the flocks1 the kine1 the water-tribes1 those that are of the sky1 the flying1 the wild ones--8,we honour all these1 ,thy holy and pure creatures1 ,o ,ahura ,mazda1 divine artificer60 8,the ,voice said3 ,call ,my works thy friends40 ,if the lyric note of great religious expression is rarely reached 7only1 perhaps1 in a few pieces1 such as the noble hymn to the sun-symbol71 the sustained exposition of life is so reasonable and yet so lofty that to contemplate it after gazing at the extravagances of pillar-saints and ,indian ,yogi1 signals1 as it were1 a return to sanity and health after the nuit blanche of fever4 ,the 8,khordah ,avesta0 contains this counsel or good wish3 8,be cheerful2 live thy life the whole time which thou wilt live40 ,man is not asked to do the impossible or even the difficult3 he is asked to enjoy4 ,to the extreme spirituality which shrank from making even a mental image of ,god is joined a 8this worldliness0 which saw in rational enjoyment a religious duty4 ,instead of choosing poverty1 man was ordered to make good use of wealth2 instead of mortifying the flesh1 he was to avoid calumny1 evil-speaking1 quarrels1 to give clothes to the poor1 to pray not only for himself but for others4 ,if he does wrong1 let him repent honestly in his heart and do some practical good work as a pledge of his repentance4 ,the soul which grieves for its wrongdoing and sins no more comes back into the light of 8,god the giver1 ,forgiver1 rich in ,love1 who always is1 always was1 always will be60 ,when it was asked1 8,what is in the first place most acceptable to this earth80 the answer came3 8,when a holy man walks on it1 ,o ,zarathustra60 ,good men work with ,god1 who1 sure of ultimate triumph1 is yet ,himself struggling now against the ,power of ,darkness4 ,there is no religion without a good life3 8,all have not the ,faith who do not hear it2 all hear it not who are unclean2 all are unclean who are sinners40 ,god did not send calamities to ,his servants1 but ,he compassionates them in their trials3 8,the voice of him weeping1 however low1 mounts up to the star-lights1 comes round the whole world40 ,it is no sin to desire riches3 8,thy kingdom come1 ,o ,ahura1 when the virtuous poor shall inherit the earth40 ,in spite of the sufferings of good people1 even on this fair earth there is more of pleasantness for the good than for the wicked1 and in the next world there is bliss eternal4 ,i do not think that ,robert ,browning studied the ,avesta1 but to the thoroughly ,zoroastrian line quoted above ,i am tempted to add this other which is not less so3-- 8,never dreamed1 though right were worsted1 wrong would triumph40 ,for the individual1 as for the universe1 ,right must triumph4 ,if the prophet of optimism has a harder task than the oracle of despair1 it is1 perhaps1 a more profitable task4 ,the ,parsi repeats daily1 as his ancestors did before him1 the so-called ,honover or 8,ahuna-,vairya10 or logos which brings ,god down to man as the ,gayatri lifts man up to ,god3 8,one ,master and ,lord1 all holy and supreme2 one teacher of ,his ,law1 appointed by ,god's almighty will as shepherd to the weak40 ,the ,mazdean 8law0 was a thought-out system to prevent idolatry and atheism1 and to make men lead good lives4 ,there is no racial exclusiveness in it3 the ,mazdeans had no shibboleth or peculiar sign2 ,zoroaster1 himself a foreigner1 did not appeal to a chosen people or to a miraculously evolved caste3 he only knew of good men and bad4 ,a really good man1 truthful and charitable in all his ways1 had three heavens open to him even though he 8offered no prayers and chanted no ,gths02 only the fourth heaven1 a little nearer the presence of ,god1 was reserved for those who had devoted their lives to religion4 ,temperance was enjoined1 as without temperance there could not be health4 ,the family was sacred and marriage meritorious3 children1 the gift of ,ahura ,mazda1 were recruits for the great ,salvation ,army of the future4 ,immorality was severely censured1 but the victims of it were befriended4 ,stringent and most humane religious laws protected the fille-mre from being driven 8by her shame0 to destroy herself or her offspring4 ,girls were married at sixteen3 the address to young brides may be compared with that in the ,rig-,veda3 8,i speak these words to you1 maidens who wed4 ,i say them unto you--imprint them on your hearts4 ,learn to know the world of the ,holy ,spirit according to the ,law4 ,even so1 let one of you take the other as the ,law ordains1 for it will be to you a source of perfect joy40 ,at the time when ,zoroastrianism was the ,state religion1 the ,ssnian period1 we find that the kings frequently had harems4 ,it is certain1 however1 that if in this as in other things the priests were complacent1 they were untrue to orthodox ,zoroastrian doctrine and custom1 which only permitted the taking of a second wife in some rare cases1 as when there was no issue by the first4 ,even then1 it does not seem to have been encouraged4 ,the blot on ,avestic morality is the strange recommendation of consanguineous marriages1 which the ,parsis interpret as far as possible in a figurative sense1 but it must have been intended to be followed1 though it is plain that such unions were never popular4 ,the declared object was the hypothetical maximum purity of race3 exactly the same object as that contemplated in the union of ,siegemund and ,siegelind in the ,nibelungenlied--a curious parallel4 ,to my mind1 the desire to keep agricultural property together may have had something to do with it4 ,the present moral ideas of the ,parsis do not differ from those of ,europeans1 and when they requested to be placed under the ,english instead of the ,hindu marriage law1 their wish was granted4 ,in ,avesta times the priests both married and toiled like the rest of the people4 ,when their prosperity under the ,ssnians tended to make them a class apart1 they seem to have become less faithful to the ideals of their master1 less stern in opposing evil in high places4 ,it is a common experience of history4 ,originally they were true citizen-priests1 mixing with the people as being of them4 ,there was no life better or holier than the common life of duty and work4 ,isolation of any kind was contrary to the central ,zoroastrian view of man as a social being4 ,among the wicked souls in hell1 each one thinks itself utterly alone3 it has no sight or knowledge of the host around it4 ,nothing could illustrate more powerfully than this the saying of a great ,french writer3 8,seul a un synonyme3 mort60 ,solitude is the death of the soul4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,vii ,,zoroastrian ,,zoology ,,no investigator of early ,iran can afford to neglect the ,shahnameh of ,firdusi1 which was as good history as he could make it2 that is to say1 it was founded on extremely old legendary lore collected by him with a real wish to revive the memory of the past4 ,firdusi sang the glories of the 8fire-worshippers0 with such enthusiasm that one cannot be surprised if1 when he died1 the ,sheikh of ,ts doubted whether he ought receive orthodox ,moslem burial3 a doubt removed by an opportune dream in which the ,sheikh saw the poet in ,paradise4 ,in ,firdusi's epic we are told that the earliest ,persian king 7who seems to have been not very far off the first man7 lived in peace with all creation4 ,wild animals came round and knew him for their lord4 ,he had a son who was killed by demons and a grandson named ,hsheng1 who1 as soon as he was old enough1 made war on the demons 7,turanians87 to avenge his father's murder4 ,every species of wild and tame beast obeyed ,hsheng3-- 8,the savage beasts1 and those of gentler kind1 ,alike reposed before him and appeared ,to do him homage40 ,in his war on the demon's brood1 ,hsheng was helped by wolf1 tiger1 lion1 and even by the fowls of the air4 ,all this while mankind had lived on fruit and the leaves of trees4 ,hsheng taught his people to bake bread4 ,he was succeeded by his son ,taliumen1 in whose reign panthers1 hawks1 and falcons were tamed4 ,the next king introduced weaving and the use of armour4 ,his successor was remembered for having kept a herd of #a1jjj cows whose milk he gave to the poor4 ,then came ,zork1 who owned #aj1jjj horses4 ,zork was seduced by ,ibls1 the evil spirit1 who1 in order to accomplish it1 became his chief cook4 ,ibls was the real founder of the culinary art2 till then1 people lived still almost entirely on bread and fruit1 but the king's new chef prepared the most savoury dishes1 for which he used the flesh of all kinds of birds and beasts4 ,finally1 he sent to table a partridge and a pheasant1 after which ,zork promised the devil to grant him any request he might make4 ,illustration3 ,photo3 ,j4 ,dieulafoy4 ,,king ,,fighting ,,griffin ,,with ,,scorpion',s ,,tail4 ,palace of ,darius4 7,by permission of ,m4 ,marcel ,dieulafoy47 ,here there are fugitive reminiscences of parallel legends in the ,bundehesh1 a ,parsi religious book belonging to post-,avestic times4 ,the first human couple served ,god faithfully till1 for some unexplained reason1 they were induced to ascribe creation and supreme power to the daevas4 ,this was the 8unforgivable sin10 the ascription of the miraculous power of ,god to the devil4 ,ahriman rejoiced at their treason1 though it is not said that he was the cause of it3 man could choose between good and evil4 ,after their defection1 the man and the woman clothed themselves in leaves and took to hunting4 ,ahriman put it into their heads to kill a goat and then to light a fire by rubbing two sticks3 they blew on the fire to fan the flame and roasted a piece of the goat4 ,one bit they threw in the air as a sacrifice to the ,nature spirits1 saying1 8,this for the ,yazatas60 ,a kite flew past and carried off the sacrifice4 ,afterwards1 the man and woman dressed in skins and told innumerable lies4 ,going from bad to worse1 they engendered a large family whence sprang the twenty-five races of mankind4 ,how this story got into the ,bundehesh ,i do not know1 but ,i am sure that ,zoroaster would have disowned it4 ,he knew of no collective 8fall of man10 whether in connexion with partridges1 pheasants1 or goat-flesh4 ,the ,avesta1 in its sober cosmogony1 is content to speak of the proto-man1 ,gayo ,marathan 7mortal life71 and the proto-good-animal1 ,geus ,urva1 from whom all human beings and all animals of the good creation are derived4 ,nevertheless1 ,ahura ,mazda is described frequently as creating each animal2 the proto-creature was only the modus operandi of the divine power4 ,as in biology1 divided sex was a secondary development4 ,from the bull1 ,geus ,urva1 proceeded first his own species1 and then sheep1 camels1 horses1 asses1 birds1 water-animals4 ,the distinguishing qualification given him of good and laborious is the most striking proof of the originality of ,magian ideas3 instead of the strong bulls of ,basan roaring in their might1 the bull we have here is one with the ploughing ox3-- 8,t'amo1 o pio bove2 e mite un sentimento ,di vigore e di pace al cor m'infondi44440 --the patient1 the long-suffering1 the gentle1 though strong-limbed helper of man in his daily toil1 good in his vigour1 good in his mildness1 but good most of all in his labour1 for ,zoroaster called labour a holy thing4 ,the animal which did most to cultivate ,god's earth and make the desert flower like a rose1 was the paragon of creatures4 ,it must not be thought that to the ,geus ,urva or his kind was ever rendered the homage due to their ,creator4 ,if there was one thing more abhorrent1 to the ,zoroastrian mind than idolatry it was zoolatry3 when ,cambyses killed a new ,apis with many of his followers in ,egypt1 he had no reason to fear ,mazdean criticism4 ,the soul of the bull receives dulia not latria4 8,we honour the soul of the bull 444 and also our own souls and our cattle's souls who help to preserve our life2 the souls by which they exist and which exist for them40 ,so runs one of the ,gths1 one of the hymns of ,zoroaster himself4 8,we honour the souls of the swift1 wild animals2 we honour the souls of just men and women in whatever place they are born1 whose pure natures have overcome evil4 ,we honour saintly men and saintly women1 living immortal1 always living1 always increasing in glory--all man and woman souls faithful to the ,spirit of ,god40 ,in this song of praise we have brought before us vividly a fundamental doctrine of the ,avesta which pervades every page of it3 the belief in the ,fravashi1 the soul-partner1 the double or angel1 which exists before birth as during life and after death4 ,this belief has a great interest for us as it would seem that it was only by chance that it did not pass into the body of ,christian dogma4 ,the ,jews of the new school had held it for quite two hundred years before ,christ4 ,besides other allusions1 are the three distinct references to the soul-partner in the ,new ,testament4 ,christ ,himself speaks of the angels of the children who are always in the presence of ,god and who complain to ,him if the children are ill-treated4 ,secondly1 when ,peter issued from prison1 those who saw him said1 8,it is his angel40 ,thirdly1 it is stated that the ,sadducees believed that there was no resurrection1 8neither angel nor ,spirit10 but that the ,pharisees1 of whom ,paul was one1 8confessed both40 ,these three references become intelligible for the first time after reading the ,gths4 ,true it is that he who knows only one religion1 knows none4 ,ahriman inflicted every sort of suffering on the primal creature--this was the beginning of cruelty to animals4 ,at last1 he caused its death4 ,the soul of the ,bull dwells in the presence of ,god1 and to it1 as intercessor1 all suffering creatures lift their plaints4 ,why were they made to suffer wrath1 ill-usage1 hunger8 ,will no one lead them to sweet pastures8 ,the creature-soul carries the cry of the creatures to ,god4 ,ahura ,mazda promises the advent of ,zoroaster1 redresser of all wrongs4 ,but the ,bull-soul weeps and complains3 how can the voice of one weak man avail to help8 ,it invokes stronger and more effectual aid4 ,the hymn is really a litany of suffering animals1 the grandeur of the thought flashing across obscurities which make it almost impossible to translate4 ,very mysterious is the expression of incredulity in the efficacy of the help of ,zoroaster1 an expression which stands quite alone1 and in which some have seen a proof that this hymn was not written by the ,prophet4 ,but would any one else have dared to question his power or to call him 8one weak man08 ,can it be that ,zoroaster was distressed to find his efforts to prevent cruelty so unavailing1 and that he here covertly invokes the 8strong arm of the law0 to do what he had failed in doing8 ,in the pages of the ,avesta everything is tried to enforce humanity3 hopes of reward1 threats of punishment1 appeals to religious obedience1 common gratitude1 self-interest4 ,it cannot but appear singular that among an ,eastern pastoral and agricultural people such reiterated admonitions should have been needful4 ,the cow and the horse1 8animals manifestly pure which bring with them words of blessing10 inflict terrible anathemas on their tormentors3-- ,the cow curses him who keeps her3 8,mayest thou remain without posterity1 ever continuing of evil report1 thou who dost not distribute me food1 and yet causest me to labour for thy wife1 thy children and thy own sustenance40 ,the horse curses his owner3 8,mayest thou not be he who harnesses swift horses1 not one of those who sit on swift horses1 not one who makes swift horses hasten away4 ,thou dost not wish strength to me in the numerous assembly1 in the circle of many men40 ,the cow which is led astray by robbers calls to ,mithra 8ever with unlifted hands1 thinking of the stall10 and ,mithra1 here figuring as the vengeance of ,god1 destroys the house1 the clan1 the confederacy1 the region1 the rule of him who injured her4 ,she is the type of prosperity3 8,o thou who didst create the cow1 give us immortal life1 safety1 power1 plenty40 ,she is dear to her ,creator3 8,thou hast given the earth as a sweet pasture for the cow40 ,she is praised because she furnishes the offerings1 flesh1 milk1 and butter4 ,this reminds us of the differences of point of view between the ,persian and the ,indian humanitarian4 ,the ,indian1 in theory at least1 simply forbade taking animal life4 ,he had the great advantage of the argument of the straight line4 ,the ,zoroastrian was handicapped by his moderation4 ,it is easier far to teach extraordinary than ordinary well-doing2 every moralist who has set out to improve mankind has found that4 ,zoroaster had not the smallest doubt about his contention that man has imperative duties in regard to what used to be called 8the brute creation40 ,man could not live as man at all without it3 we who have harnessed steam and trapped the electric spark might entertain such a possibility1 but to ,zoroaster the idea would have seemed absurd4 ,as we owe so much to animals1 the least we can do is to treat them well4 ,yet1 though he included wanton and useless slaughter in 8ill-treatment10 he allows the killing of animals for food4 ,herodotus remarked that1 unlike the ,egyptians1 the ,magian priests did not think it pollution to kill animals with their own hands--except dogs and oxen4 ,it is to be supposed that the framers of ,zoroastrian law believed that animal food was necessary for man's health and strength1 perfect health being the state most acceptable to the ,creator4 ,believing this1 they could not forbid the temperate use of it4 ,gargantuan feasts were not dreamt of2 if they had been1 they would have received the condemnation given to all excesses4 ,we are apt to fall into the way of thinking of sacred books which is that of their own adepts2 we think of them as written by unpremeditated impulse4 ,but commonly this was not the case4 ,the ,avesta1 especially1 bears signs of conclusions reached by patient reasoning4 ,while1 however1 the ,magians permitted the slaughter of animals1 they bowed to the original scruple which has no race-limits1 by ordering that such slaughter should be accompanied by an expiatory rite without the performance of which it was unlawful4 ,this was the offering of the head of the animal to ,homa3 regarded1 in this instance1 as the archetype of the 8wine of life0--the sacred or sacramental juice of the plant which has been identified with the ,indian ,soma4 ,the ,homa juice was much the most sacred thing that could be eaten or drunk2 if it is true that it contained alcohol1 the little jet of flame that would start upwards as it was thrown on the sacrificial fire might seem actually to bear with it the spirit of the offering4 ,whatever was the exact idea implied by the dedication of slaughtered animals to ,homa1 the fact that they were killed for food did not1 of course1 in any way affect their extra-mortal destiny4 ,the 8souls of our cattle0--their archetypes--could not suffer death4 ,as a careful observer1 which he is now allowed to have been1 ,herodotus remarked that not only might the priests take animal life1 but that they thought it highly meritorious to take the life of certain animals such as ants1 serpents1 and some kinds of birds4 ,it required no profound knowledge of the ,east to notice something unusual in this4 ,even the ,jews1 with their classification of clean and unclean beasts1 cast no moral slur on the forbidden category1 and if the serpent of ,eden was cursed1 later snakes regained their character and inspired no loathing2 the snake-charmer with his crawling pupils was a well known and popular entertainer4 ,farther ,east1 every holy man respected the life of an ant as much as of an elephant4 ,zoroaster alone banned the reptile and the major part of the insect world4 ,no penance was more salutary than to kill ten thousand scorpions1 snakes1 mosquitoes1 ants that walk in single file1 harvesting ants1 wasps1 or a kind of fly which was the very death of cattle4 ,the innocent lizard suffered by reason of his relationship with the crocodile2 the harmless frog and tortoise excited a wrath which they had done nothing to merit4 ,among mammals1 the mouse is singled out for destruction3 although the wolf is a legionary of ,ahriman1 he is more often classed with the 8wicked two-legged one0--perverse man--than with the evil creation properly so called4 ,in one place ,ahriman is said to have created 8devouring beasts10 but on closer examination these devouring beasts proved to be only the harvesting ants which were reckoned deadly foes of the agriculturist4 ,any one who has seen how much newly-sown grass seed these favourites of ,solomon will remove in a shining hour will understand the prejudice1 though he will not1 ,i hope1 share it4 ,roughly speaking1 the diligent1 old-fashioned gardener who puzzles his pious mind as to why 8those things0 were ever created1 is a born ,zoroastrian4 ,to tell him with ,paul that 8every creature of ,god is good0 does not comfort him much4 ,zoroaster's answer is as philosophically complete as it is scientifically weak4 ,certain creatures are noxious to man2 a good ,creator would not have made creatures noxious to men1 ergo1 such creatures were not made by a good ,creator4 ,besides the scientific objection to any hard-and-fast line of division between animals1 there is another3 the pity of it4 ,i wonder that some velvet-coated field-mouse1 approaching softly on tip-toe as ,zoroaster lay in his grotto1 did not inquire with its appealing eyes3 8,do you really think that ,i look as if ,i were made by the ,evil ,one80 ,in spite of the numerous advantages of a theory which1 in a literal sense1 makes a virtue of necessity 7a sad necessity to some of us71 the theological ban of creatures for no other reason than that they are inconvenient to man detracts from the ideal beauty of ,zoroastrian faith4 ,darwin1 in a letter to ,asa ,gray1 the ,american botanist1 said that the sufferings of caterpillars and mice made him doubt the existence of 8a beneficent and omnipotent ,creator40 ,how often does doubt seem more religious than belief6 ,the eschatology of the creatures deemed of darkness is not clear1 but ,i believe there is no mention of their ,fravashis3 it is permissible to suppose1 therefore1 that1 all along1 they are rather appearances than realities3 things that cannot feel1 though ,ahriman feels defeat in their destruction4 ,for the rest1 though ,zoroaster treated wasps or mice much as ,torquemada treated heretics1 he made it no merit to torment them3 he simply desired their extermination as every fruit-grower or farmer desires it to this day4 ,students of ,zoroastrianism have been mystified by the seeming detachment of the dog from the other 8good0 animals and the separate jurisdiction designed for it4 ,in my opinion this arose only from the fact that the dog was not a food-providing animal4 ,hence it could be made penal 7by religious1 not by civil1 law1 it must be remembered7 to kill a dog1 and it was natural that his body should be disposed of in the same way as a man's4 ,what else could be done with it8 ,it was natural also that since his death was inflicted by ,ahriman 7since it came of itself71 purification ceremonials should be performed to remove the pollution4 ,the religious scope of such ceremonials was like that of reconsecrating a church in which suicide or murder has been committed4 ,that the dog was highly appreciated1 that he was valued as an essential helper in the existing conditions of life1 is amply proved1 but that he was 8reverenced0 more than some other animals--e4g41 the cow--is open to doubt4 ,the dog was recognised as more human which made him more liable to err4 ,it was the celebrated chapter on the dog which convinced ,sir ,w4 ,jones that ,anquetil ,duperron's translation was a forgery4 ,it should have struck him that this was not how a ,european would have made ,zoroaster speak about the favoured animal4 ,in the comparisons of canine qualities with those of certain human beings1 there is more of satire than of panegyric4 ,the whole ,fargard ,,xiii4 has been interpreted as purely mystical3 the dog symbolising the 8will10 a meaning which1 according to this argument1 fits the term 8,dog0 in all passages of the scriptures of ,iran4 ,this is a hard saying4 ,more reasonable is the supposition that ,fargard ,,xiii4 formed part of a treatise on animals and got into the ,venddd by chance4 ,however that may be1 the 8eight characters0 of the dog show observation though not reverence3 he loves darkness like a thief1 and at times has been known to be one2 he fawns like a slave1 he is a self-seeker like a courtezan1 he eats raw meat like a beast of prey4 ,the words relative to his 8chasing about the well-born cow0 have been interpreted to mean that he chased her back home when she had strayed1 but ,i seem to have seen dogs chasing about well-born cows from no such benevolent motive4 ,some of the comparisons are neither flattering nor critical but descriptive3 the dog loves sheep like a child1 he runs here and there in front1 like a child2 he dodges in and out like a child4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,real ,,dog ,,of ,,iran4 ,louvre4 7,by permission of ,messrs4 ,chapman ,hall1 ,ltd47 ,the jeu d'esprit of the 8eight characters0 is followed by what appears to be a serious statement of how to treat the dog which misconducts himself4 ,there is no capital punishment1 nothing like the stoning of the ox which gores a man or woman1 in the ,bible4 ,if a dog attacks man or cattle he is to lose an ear2 if he does it a third time his foot is to be cut off1 or1 as ,bleeck humanely suggests1 he is to be rendered so far lame that it is easy to escape from him4 ,the 8dumb dog0 of vicious disposition is to be tied up4 ,if a dog is no longer sane in his mind and has become dangerous on that account1 you are to try and cure him as you would a man1 but if this fails1 you must chain him up and muzzle him1 using a sort of wooden pillory which prevents him from biting4 ,this passage is curious1 because1 while it seems to allude plainly to hydrophobia1 it contains no hint of the worser consequences to man than a simple bite4 ,we find that there were four if not more breeds of dogs1 each of which was carefully trained for its work4 ,the house-dog1 the personal dog 7which may have been a blood-hound71 sheep and herd-dogs are all mentioned1 but there is no mention of sporting-dogs or of sport in the ,avesta4 ,the dogs must have been powerful1 as they were required to be a match for the wolf1 8the growing1 the flattering1 the deadly wolf10 which was the dread of every homestead in ,iran4 ,there were also 8wolves with claws0 7tigers71 but they were comparatively few4 ,the kinship of wolf and dog was recognised1 and there was an impression that the most murderous wolf was the half-breed of a wolf and a bitch4 ,perhaps the wolf of dog-descent came more boldly to the dwelling of man1 having no instinctive fear of him4 ,it is said1 too1 that the deadliest kind of dog was the dog that had a wolf-mother4 ,possibly such cross-breeding was tried experimentally in the hope of obtaining dogs which could best resist the wolf4 ,if the dog is never represented as a creature of faultless perfection1 it yet remains an established truth that 8dwellings would not stand fast on the earth created by ,ahura ,mazda were there not dogs which pertain to the cattle and to the village40 ,it is the ,lord of ,creation who says3 8,the dog ,i have made1 ,o ,zarathustra1 with his own clothing and his own shoes2 with keen scent and sharp teeth1 faithful to men1 as a protector to the folds4 ,for ,i have made the dog1 ,i who am ,ahura ,mazda60 ,to attack the dog was like an attack on the police4 ,slitting the ear of the house or sheep-dog out of malice1 or cutting off his foot1 or belabouring him so that thieves got at the sheep1 were not unfrequent crimes and they are dealt with no more severely than they deserve4 ,who killed a house-dog outright1 or a sheep-dog or personal dog or well-trained dog1 was warned that in the next world his soul would go howling worse than a wolf in the depths of the forest2 shunned by all other souls1 growled at by the dogs that guard the bridge ,chinvat4 ,eight hundred blows with a horse-goad are adjudged to the wretch who so injures a dog that it die4 ,to strike or chase a bitch with young brings a dreadful curse4 ,much is said about the proper care of the mother and the puppies4 ,to give a dog too hot food or too hard bones is as bad as turning apostate4 ,his right food is milk and fat and lean meat4 8,of all known creatures that which ages soonest is the dog left foodless among people who eat--who seeks here and there his food and finds it not40 ,as a rule unnamed wild animals may be supposed to have been protected4 ,the fox was considered a powerful daeva-scarer1 which shows that not only in ,china did the fox seem an 8uncanny0 beast4 ,in ,iran his supernatural services made him highly esteemed4 ,there seem to have been no cats though so many mice4 ,the later ,iran was destined to be a great admirer of cats1 witness the praise of them by ,persian poets1 but it is not easy to fix the date when they were introduced4 ,monkeys were known and were attributed by a post-,avestic superstition to the union of human women and daevas4 ,vultures were sacred because they devoured good ,mazdeans4 ,on the whole1 not much attention was paid to wild nature1 with one striking exception3 the extraordinary respect for the water-dog1 beaver or otter4 ,suddenly the solid utilitarian basis of ,zoroastrian zoology gives way and we behold a fabric of dreams4 ,we might understand it better could we know the early animistic beliefs of ,iran1 though the trend of the ,avesta apparently ran counter to old popular credences far more than with them4 ,it should be remembered that water was only a little less sacred than fire in the ,zoroastrian system2 the defilement of rivers was strictly forbidden4 ,the ,udra1 or beaver1 became the 8luck0 of the rivers3 to destroy it would provoke a drought4 ,if it was found roaming on the land1 the ,mazdean was bound to carry it to the nearest stream4 ,in later legend1 the ,udra1 even more than the fox1 was a daeva-foe4 ,but by far its most important characteristic is its mythical connexion with the dog4 ,to the question3 8,what becomes of the aged dog when his strength fails him and he dies80 follows the answer3 8,he goes to the dwelling in the water1 where he is met by two water-dogs40 ,these are his conductors to the dogs' paradise4 ,a fair sward beneath the waters1 cool and fresh in the summer heat1 is at least a pleasant idea1 but when the two water-dogs are described as consisting of one thousand male and one thousand female dogs1 the myth seems to lose its balance which no proper myth ought to do4 ,myths have the habit of proceeding rationally enough in their own orbit4 ,later commentators reject this fantastic interpretation and suppose the verse to mean that the dog-soul is received1 not by two1 but by two thousand water-dogs1 which in ,oriental hyperbole would mean merely 8a great many40 ,be this as it may1 ,udra-murder was a frightful sin1 and frightful were the penalties attached to it4 ,besides undergoing the usual blows with a horse-goad 7to be self inflicted87 the murderer must kill ten thousand each of some half-dozen insects and reptiles3 this1 at least1 is how it looks1 but as a matter of fact the long lists of penalties in the ,venddd must be taken not as cumulative1 but as alternative4 ,this is evident1 though it is never stated1 and it explains many things4 ,a large number of the alternative punishments for beaver-killing take the form of offerings to the priests4 ,arms1 whips1 grindstones1 handmills1 house-matting1 wine and food1 a team of oxen1 cattle both small and large1 a suitable wife--the young sister of the sinner--these are among the specified offerings4 ,the culprit may also build a bridge1 or breed fourteen dogs as an act of expiation2 in short1 he may do any kind of meritorious deed1 but something he must do1 or it will be the worse for him in the world to come4 ,the ,venddd was not a code of criminal law enforced by the civil power1 but an adjugation of penances for the atonement of sin4 ,this was not understood at first1 which caused the selection of punishments to appear more extravagant than it really is4 ,for the most part the penances were active good works or things which were reckoned as such4 ,charity and alms-giving were always contemplated among the means of grace1 and if they were not dwelt upon more continually1 it was because there existed nothing comparable to modern destitution4 ,moreover1 it was understood better than in other parts of the ,east that not every beggar was a saint3 too often he was a lazy fellow who had shirked the common obligation of labour4 ,the repetition of certain prayers was another practice recommended to the repentant sinner4 ,but no good work or pious exercise was of any avail unless accompanied by sincere sorrow for having done wrong4 ,the ,law opened the door of grace1 but to obtain it the heart must have become changed4 ,god forgives those who truly desire ,his forgiveness4 ,it is impossible to doubt that the spurious ,mazdeism which got into ,europe1 distorted though it was1 yet took with it the two great ,mazdean doctrines of repentance and the remission of sin4 ,great ideas conquer1 and it was by these two doctrines that ,mithraism so nearly conquered the ,western world--not by its unlovely rites4 ,on one or two points the human eschatology of ,zoroastrianism is associated with dogs4 ,a dog is brought into the presence of the dying man4 ,this has been explained by reference to the dogs of ,yama1 the ,vedic lord of death1 and the ,european superstition about the howling of a dog being a death-portent is explained in the same way1 but in both instances the immediate cause seems nearer at hand4 ,an ,indian officer once remarked to me that any one who had heard the true 8death-howl0 of a dog would never need any recondite reason for the uncomfortable feeling which it arouses4 ,as regards the ,zoroastrian dog1 the immediate cause of the belief that he drives away evil spirits lies in the fact that he drives away thieves and prowlers in the night4 ,death being a pollution as the work of ,ahriman1 evil spirits beset the dying1 but they flee at the sight of the dog1 created by ,ahura ,mazda to protect man4 ,the dead wander for three days near the tenantless body3 then they go to the bridge ,chinvat1 where the division takes place between the good and the wicked4 ,the bridge is guarded by dogs1 who drive away all things evil from the path of the righteous1 but do nothing to prevent bad spirits from tripping up sinners so that they fall into the pit4 ,the good go into light1 sinners into darkness1 where ,ahriman1 8whose religion is evil10 mocks them1 saying3 8,why did you eat the bread of ,ahura ,mazda and do my work8 and thought not of your own ,creator but practised my will80 ,nothing is told of the punishment of ,ahriman--the doom of ,evil is to be ,evil--but in the end he will be utterly extinguished4 ,through time1 but not through eternity the wicked remain in his power4 ,in the ,khordah ,avesta it is said that ,god1 after purifying all the obedient1 will purify the wicked out of hell4 ,in the words of a living ,parsi writer3 8,the reign of terror1 at the end of the stipulated time1 vanishes into oblivion1 and its chief factor1 ,ahriman1 goes to meet his doom of total extinction1 whilst ,ahura ,mazda1 the ,omnipotent ,victor1 remains the ,great ,all in ,all40 ,the ,zoroastrian was as free as ,socrates himself from the materialism which looks upon the body after death as if it were still the being that tenanted it4 ,some kind of renewed body the dead will have3 meanwhile1 this is not they6 ,the hope of immortality was so firm that it was thought an actual sin to give way to excessive mourning3 the wailing and keening of the ,jews seem to be here condemned1 though they are not mentioned1 there being no direct allusion to the religions of other peoples in the ,avesta4 ,there is a river of human tears which hinders souls on their way to beatitude3 the dead would fain that the living check their tears which swell the river and make it hard to cross over in safety4 ,the same idea is to be found in one of the most beautiful of ,scandinavian folk-songs4 ,the small work known as the ,book of ,ard ,vrf is a document of priceless worth to the student of ,mazdean eschatology1 and it is also of the greatest interest in its relation to ideas about animals4 ,if printed in a convenient form1 every humane person would carry it in his pocket4 ,like the vision of the ,seer of ,patmos this work is purely religious2 it attempts no criticism of life and man such as that embodied in the 8,divina ,commedia10 but in spite of this difference in aim1 there is an astonishing resemblance between its general plan and that of the poem of ,dante4 ,without going into this subject1 ,i may say that ,i cannot feel convinced that with the geographical1 astronomical1 and other knowledge of the ,east which is believed to have reached ,dante by means of conversations with merchants1 pilgrims and perhaps craftsmen 7for that ,italian artists worked in ,india at an early date the ,madonna-like groups in many a remote ,hindu temple bear almost certain testimony71 there did not come to him also some report of the travels of the ,persian visitant to the next world4 ,the author of the ,persian vision was a pious ,mazdean whose whole desire was to revive religious feeling amid growing indifference4 ,he is supposed to have lived not earlier than #ejj1 and not later than #gjj ,a4,d4 ,the former is the likelier date4 ,had the assault of ,islam begun1 the book must have borne traces of the struggle with invaders who threatened to annihilate the faith4 ,the author states that the work was intended as an antidote in the first place to atheism and in the second to 8the religions of many kinds0 that were springing up4 ,this probably contains a reference to ,christian sects1 but it is not the way that allusion would have been made to propagandists with a sword in their hands4 ,christian sects managed to recover from the first persecution in #cdd ,a4,d41 after which they were more often than not tolerated1 though the ,zoroastrian priesthood feared a ,church that possessed an organisation so much like their own4 ,they were accused1 moreover1 as at ,rome1 of being anti-national3 everywhere the sentiment against the ,christians took a form closely resembling the anti-,semiticism of our days4 ,such accusations can hardly fail to create1 to some extent1 the thing they predicate1 and it is no great wonder if in the end the ,persian ,christians received the ,moslem invaders with favour4 ,though the essence of ,mazdeism is peace to men of good-will1 it is to be feared that the ,zoroastrian priests 7like others7 were less tolerant than their creed1 and that the harassing of the ,christians generally originated with them4 ,they are known to have counselled this policy to ,homizd ,,iv41 who gave them the memorable answer that his royal throne could not stand on its front legs alone1 but needed the support of the ,christians and other sectaries as well as of the faithful4 ,it was one of the wisest sayings that ever fell from the lips of a king and more ,mazdean than all the bigotry of ,zoroastrian clericalism4 ,the author of ,ard ,vrf tried the perfectly legitimate means of persuasion in rallying his countrymen to their own religion4 ,he tells the story of how1 in an age of doubt1 it was agreed that the best thing would be to send some one into the next world to see if ,mazdeism were1 indeed1 the true religion4 ,lots fell on a very virtuous man named ,ard ,vrf1 who was commissioned to make the journey in a trance-state produced by the administration of a narcotic4 ,even now1 in ,india1 children and others are given narcotics1 sometimes of a dangerous sort1 in order to obtain knowledge which is supposed to come to them whilst insensible4 ,to a ,mazdean the ordeal would be particularly terrible1 because sleep1 like death1 was created by ,ahriman4 ,the calm fortitude with which ,ard ,vrf submits1 while his family break into loud weeping1 almost reminds one of the bearing of ,socrates on the eve of a similar departure but one with no return4 8,it is the custom that ,i should pray to the departed souls and make a will10 he says2 8when ,i have done that1 give me the narcotic40 ,his body was treated as though dead1 being kept at the proper distance from fire and other sacred things1 but priests stayed near it night and day1 praying and reading the ,scriptures1 that the powers of ill might not prevail4 ,at the end of seven days the wandering spirit of ,ard ,vrf re-entered his inanimate form1 and after he had taken food and water and wine he called for a ready writer1 to whom he dictated the tale of what he had seen4 ,guided by ,srosh the ,pious and ,ataro the ,angel 7,virgil and ,beatrice7 the traveller visited heaven and hell4 ,at the outset he saw the meeting of a righteous soul and its ,fravashi4 ,this soul crosses the ,chinvat bridge in safety1 and on the other side passes into an atmosphere laden with an ineffably sweet perfume which emanates from the direction of the presence of ,god4 ,here it meets a damsel more wondrously fair than aught it has beheld in the land of the living4 ,enraptured at the sight1 it asks her name and receives the answer3 8,i am thine own good actions40 ,every good deed embellishes the human soul's archetype1 every evil deed mars and stains it with the hideousness of sin4 ,this poetic and beautiful conception was not due to the author of ,ard ,vrf3 it is taken from the venerable pages of the ,avesta itself4 ,in the abode of ,punishment the most impressive penalties are those undergone by the souls which have tortured helpless infants or dumb animals4 ,the mother who feeds another's child from greed and starves her own1 is seen digging into an iron hill with her breasts while the cry of her child for food comes ever from the other side of the hill1 8but the infant comes not to the mother nor the mother to the infant40 ,here the supreme anguish is mental3 it is caused by the awakening of that maternal instinct which the woman stifled on earth4 ,has the ,inferno any thought so luminously subtle as this8 ,the woman-soul will never reach her child 8till the renewal of the world40 ,till the renewal of the world6 ,across the hell-fog penetrates the final hope6 ,the unfaithful wife who destroys the fruit of her illicit love suffers a horrible punishment4 ,it is strange that if we wish to find an analogy to these severe judgments on offences against infancy1 we must go to a small tribe of ,dravidian mountaineers in the ,nilgiri hills1 among whose folk-songs is one which describes a vision of heaven and hell4 ,in this a woman is shown who is condemned to see her own child continually die1 because she refused help to a stranger's child1 saying3 8,it is not mine60 ,those who treated their beasts cruelly1 who overworked them1 overloaded them1 gave them insufficient food1 continued to work them when they suffered from sores caused by leanness instead of trying to cure the sores1 are seen by ,ard ,vrf hung up head downwards while a ceaseless rain of stones falls on their backs4 ,those who wantonly killed animals have a knife driven ceaselessly into their hearts4 ,those who muzzled the ox which ploughed the furrows are dashed under the feet of cattle4 ,the same punishment falls to those who forget to give water to the oxen in the heat of the day or who worked them when hungry and thirsty4 ,demons like dogs constantly tear the man who kept back food from shepherds'-dogs and house-dogs or who beat or killed them3 he offers bread to the dogs1 but they eat it not and only tear the more4 ,ard ,vrf tells a story which belongs to the cycle of 8,sultan ,murad10 immortalised by ,victor ,hugo4 ,a certain lazy man named ,davns1 who never did any other thing of good during all the years when he governed many provinces1 once cast a bundle of grass with his right foot to within the reach of a ploughing-ox4 ,hence his right foot is exempted from torment while the rest of his body is gnawed by noxious creatures4 ,it is easy to imagine that the realistic picture of heaven and hell by a poet of no little power produced the deepest effect on the minds of people1 who for the most part took it to be literally true4 ,no ,oriental work ever became more popular or was more widely read and translated4 ,people still living can remember the time when it was the habit of the ,parsis at ,bombay to have public readings of ,ard ,vrf1 on which occasions the audience1 especially the feminine part of it1 broke into violent sobbing from the excitement caused by the description of the punishment of the wicked4 ,the ,parsis have abandoned now the theory that the book is other than a work of imagination1 but it may be hoped that they will not cease to regard it as a cherished legacy from their fathers and a precious bequest to their children4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,viii ,a ,,religion ,,of ,,ruth ,,an ,englishman who went to see a ,hindu saint was deterred from entering the cave where the holy man lived by the spectacle of numerous rats4 ,the hermit1 observing his hesitation1 inquired what was the matter8 8,don't you see them80 answered his visitor4 8,yes10 was the brief reply4 8,why don't you kill them80 asked the ,englishman4 8,why should ,i kill them80 said the native of the land4 ,finding the whole onus of the discussion thrown on his shoulders1 the ,english traveller felt that it would be difficult with his limited knowledge of the language to express a ,european's ideas about rats4 ,he thought to sum up the case in one sentence3 8,we people kill them40 ,to which the saint answered3 8,we people don't kill them40 ,in another country1 but still among a race which has inherited the habit of looking at questions between man and animals not exclusively from the man's point of view1 a learned professor proposed to an old gardener at ,yezd that they should dig up an ant-hill to ascertain if the local prejudice were true which insisted that inside each ant-hill there lodged two scorpions4 ,the old ,persian declined to be a party to any such proceeding4 8,as long as the scorpions stay inside10 he said with decision1 8we have no right to molest them and to do so would bring ill-luck40 ,these anecdotes show1 amusingly and convincingly1 the wall of demarcation between ,eastern and ,western thought by which the son of the ,west is apt to find his passage barred4 ,they serve my purpose in quoting them the better because they are not connected with the religious sect whose precepts ,i am going to sketch4 ,they illustrate what ,i believe to be true1 namely1 that this sect and ,buddhism itself would not have made their way in so wonderful a manner1 seemingly almost without effort1 had they not found the ground prepared by a racial tendency to fly to the doctrine of ,ahimsa1 or 8non-killing10 which forms part of their systems4 ,no religion prevails unless it appeals to some chord1 if not of the human heart everywhere1 at least of the particular human hearts to which it is directed4 ,in the ,west a religion based on ,vegetarianism would not have a chance4 ,not that there exists no trace of the life-preserving instinct among ,western peoples--far from that4 ,all nice children have it and all saints of the type of him of ,assisi4 ,other people have it who are neither children1 nor saints1 nor yet lunatics 78though by your smiling you seem to say so074 ,i know an old hero of the ,siege of ,delhi who to this day would stoop to lift a worm from his path4 ,but the sentiment1 which in the ,west is rather a secret thing1 forming a sort of freemasonry among those who feel it1 asserts its sway in the ,east in the broad light of day4 ,no one there would mind giving the fullest publicity to his opinion that the scorpion has as good a right to live undisturbed in his domestic ant-hill as you have in your suburban villa4 ,long before the ,jainas made ,ahimsa a gateway to perfection1 innumerable ,asiatics practised and even preached the very same rule4 ,it was the bond of union between all the religious teachers and ascetics who constituted a well-defined feature in ,indian life from remote if not from the earliest antiquity4 ,the founders of ,jainism and of ,buddhism1 too1 were ,gurus like the rest1 only they possessed an intensified magnetic influence and1 at least in ,buddha's case1 an unique genius4 ,every ,eastern religion has been taught by a ,guru1 not excepting the most divine of them all4#d ,footnote #d3 8,it is stated of the ,divine ,founder of the ,christian religion that without a parable spoke ,he not to the people4 ,christ1 in fact1 acted and taught as an ,oriental ,guru1 a character which none of the ,european writers of ,christ's life has invested ,him with0 7,rev4 ,j4 ,long3 v4 8,oriental ,proverbs0 in the ,report of the ,proceedings of the ,second ,congress of ,orientalists74 ,in the occurrence of a new religious evolution much depends on the individual1 but much also on the fulness of time4 ,when ,buddhism and ,jainism arose1 the psychological moment was come for a change or modification in the current faith4 ,to some degree1 both were a revolt against ,sacerdotalism4 ,men were told that they could work out their salvation without priestly aid or intervention4 ,the new teachers1 though each springing from the class of the feudal nobility1 won to their side the surging wave of the only kind of democratic yearning which1 till now1 ,asia has known--the yearning for religious equality4 ,professor ,hermann ,jacobi 7the foremost authority on ,jainism1 to whom all who study the subject owe an unbounded debt7 suggests that there was a certain friction between the highly meritorious of the noble and the priestly castes because the priests were inclined to look down on the layman saint4 ,to this category belonged ,sakya ,muni1 who was the younger son of a prince1 or1 as we should say1 a feudal lord1 and who renounced rank and riches to become a recluse4 ,the same family history is told of ,mahavira1 whom the ,jainas claim to be their founder4 ,for a long time ,europeans believed the two religions to have but one source1 and ,jainism was dismissed as a ,buddhist sect4 ,the ,jainas1 however1 always strongly held that they had a founder of their own1 namely1 ,mahavira1 and they even declared that ,buddha was not his master but his disciple4 ,after much research1 ,professor ,jacobi decided the case in their favour by assigning to them a separate origin4 ,both ,sakya ,muni and ,mahavira are generally believed to have flourished in the sixth century ,b4,c4 ,the confusion of the ,jainas with the ,buddhists and even with the ,brahmans has made it difficult to reckon their present numbers3 in the census of #aija they are estimated at #a1ccd1ach1 chiefly living in the ,bombay ,presidency1 but this does not tell us their real number4 ,jainas are to be found almost everywhere in ,upper ,india1 in the ,west and ,south and along the ,ganges4 ,they inhabit the towns more than the country4 ,in treating ancient ,indian religions the living document is always round the corner1 ready to be called into the witness-box1 and the ,jainas of to-day can give a good account of themselves4 ,every one has a good word for them2 a friend of mine1 than whom few know ,india better1 describes them thus3 8,a tall1 fair1 handsome1 good and humble lot they are and terribly bullied they are by their more bellicose fellow-countrymen1 who all look on ,jainas as made for them to pilfer1 but the ,jainas never turn on their persecutors40 ,in spite of their meekness1 they are good men of business1 which is proved by their remarkable success in commerce4 ,perhaps it is not such bad policy to be peaceful1 and helpful1 and honest as a cynical century supposes4 ,the ,jainas say of ,mahavira that he was one of a long line of holy ascetics twenty-four of whom are venerated in their temples under the name of ,tirthakaras or ,jinas1 8,conquerors0 in the sense of having conquered the flesh4 ,needless to point out that the founders of great religious systems invariably accept this principle of evolution3 they complete what others began1 and in due time a new manifestation will arrive either in the form of a more perfect revelation of themselves or in that of a fore-destined successor4 ,the ,buddhists now await ,matreya1 or 8the ,buddha of kindness40 ,the ,jainas have not added to their twenty-four glorified beings1 but there is nothing to prevent them from doing so4 ,to these specimens of perfected humanity they have raised some of the most glorious temples ever lifted by the hand of man towards heaven4 ,tier on tier mount the exquisitely beautiful towers of the ,jaina cathedrals in the most lonely part of the ,muklagerri hills4 ,they seem like the ,parsifal music turned into stone3 an allegory of the ascent of the soul from corruption to incorruption1 from change to permanency4 ,the desire to worship something finds a vent in the reverence paid to the ,tirthakaras1 but the ,jaina religion admits neither relics nor the iteration of prayers4 ,the building of splendid shrines and of refuges for man and beast are the particular means of grace open to the ,jaina who cannot comply in all respects with the exacting demands of his scriptures1 which1 were they literally fulfilled1 would leave no one on the world but ascetics4 ,the wealthy ,jaina is only too glad to avail himself of the chance of acquiring some merit1 however far it must fall short of the highest4 ,besides this1 in moments of religious fervour temple-building becomes a frenzy3 whole races are swept along by the blind impulse to incarnate their spiritual cravings in spires or pagodas or minarets pointing to the sky--the eternal symbol4 ,the greatest of ,jaina temples mark the epoch of some such wave of spiritual emotion4 ,the ,jaina scriptures1 which were first collected from aural report and written down by a learned man in the sixth century ,a4,d41 are really a ,rule of ,discipline for monks1 and not a guide for the mass of mankind4 ,if we could imagine the only ,christian ,scripture being the immortal book of ,thomas ,kempis1 we should form the idea of a very similar state of things4 ,it is surprising not how little but how much of this rigid rule is followed by every ,jaina to this day1 be he monk or layman4 ,the vegetarian principle involved in ,ahimsa is observed rigorously by all--clearly with no bad effect on health after a trial of about twenty-four centuries1 for the ,jainas' physique is excellent1 and they are less subject to disease than the other communities4 ,they strain and boil water before drinking1 and whatever may be said of the motive1 the practice must be highly commended4 ,they are also often to be seen wearing a mouth-cloth to prevent them from swallowing flies1 and they carry little brooms with which they sweep insects out of their path4 ,the hospitals for sick animals begin to be better managed than formerly1 when they incurred much censure as mere conglomerations of hopeless suffering to relieve which practical means were not taken4 ,a folly adopted by the more fanatical ,jainas at the time of their origin was that of going 8sky-clad10 which makes it probable that they were the gymnosophists known to the ,greeks4 ,they saw well later to limit this practice to certain times and occasions or to abandon it for the far more pleasant one of wearing white garments4 ,buddha warned his followers against the 8sky-clad0 aberration4 ,he disagreed with the ,jainas on a more vital point in the view he took of penance and self-inflicted torture4 ,it shows the high intellectuality of the man that towards the end of his life he pronounced penance1 though he had gone through much of it himself1 to be vanity of vanities4 ,the ,jainas took the opposite view3 8,subdue the body just as fire consumes old wood40 ,they hold that merit is bound up with a certain definite and tangible thing3 the ,buddhist1 more philosophically1 makes it consist in intention4 ,this is the chief doctrinal difference between ,jaina and ,buddhist1 and though each is bound to charity and the ,jaina is particularly enjoined by his scriptures not to turn other people's religion into ridicule1 it has to be confessed that in their frequent disputes they spare no pains and neglect no arts of ,socratic reasoning to reduce each other's theories to an absurdity4 ,irony is a weapon always used in ,indian religious discussion4 ,mahavira himself 8fulfilled the law0 by allowing gnats1 flies1 and other things to bite him and crawl over him for four months without ever once losing his equanimity4 ,it is told that he met all sorts of pleasant or unpleasant events with an even mind whether they arose from divine powers1 men1 or animals4 ,the ,jainas did not deny that there were divine powers3 there might be any number of them1 and the influence they wielded for good or for ill 7,i think especially for ill7 was not inconsiderable4 ,only they were not morally admirable like a man victorious through suffering4 ,the greater willingness of the ,jainas to admit gods into the wheel of being1 and even to allow some homage to be paid to them1 was one reason why they clashed less with the ,brahmans4 ,after the subsidence of ,buddhism the ,jainas managed to go on existing1 somewhat despised and annoyed1 but tolerated4 ,while both ,buddhists and ,jainas place the prohibition to take life at the head of their law1 its application is infinitely more thoroughgoing among the ,jainas1 who also attach to it ideas which have no place in ,buddhist metaphysics4 ,from the ,jaina position1 it seems to imply a tendency to primitive animism1 though it is hard to say whether this comes from a real process of retrogression or simply from the ,indo-,aryan desire for a synthesis--the more easily attained the more you assume4 ,it is startling to hear that in the last census over eight millions were returned as animists--it proves that the old credences die hard4 ,the ,jainas took into their soul-world fire1 water1 wind1 shooting plants and germinating seeds4 ,the disciplinary results must have been inconvenient1 but a religion was never less popular because it put its devotees to inconvenience4 ,those who still clung to animistic beliefs were already prepared to see a soul in the flickering fire1 the rushing water1 the growing blade4 ,we all have odds and ends of animism2 did not ,coventry ,patmore say3 8,there is something human in a tree80 ,with more detail the ,jaina observes that trees and plants are born and grow old2 they distinguish the seasons1 they turn towards the sun1 the seeds grow up3 how1 then1 shall we deny all knowledge to them8 8,the asoka buds and blossoms when touched by a fair girl's feet40 ,can we help recalling the familiar lines in the 8,sensitive ,plant80-- 8,i doubt not the flowers of that garden sweet ,rejoiced in the sound of her gentle feet2 ,i doubt not they felt the spirit that came ,from her glowing fingers thro' all their frame40 ,now1 ,science1 which is on the way to becoming very kind to man's early beliefs1 comes forward in the person of ,mr4 ,francis ,darwin to tell us that plants have 8mind0 and 8intelligence10 especially the hop and the bryony4 ,all fairy-tales will come true if we wait long enough4 ,once1 and once only1 in ,jaina writings ,i have noticed it given as a distinct reason for sparing plants and trees1 that they may contain the transmigrated soul of a man4 ,even in the case of animals the doctrine of transmigration is rarely adduced as the reason for not killing them1 though it is fully accepted by ,jainas in common with all the ,indian sects sprung from ,brahmanism by which it was started4 ,coming to the ,indian views of animals from those which antiquity represented as the preaching of ,pythagoras1 we expect to see this argument put forward at every turn1 but it is not4 ,in ,jaina writings the incentive is humanity3 to do to others as we would be done by4 ,it is true that as an aid to this incentive1 the cruel are threatened with the most awful punishments4 ,in ,indian sacred writings one is wearied by the nice balance constantly drawn between every deed and its consequences to the doer for a subsequent millennium4 ,in medival monkish legends we find exactly the same device for keeping the adept in the paths of virtue1 but wherever we find it1 we sigh for the spontaneous emotion of pity of the ,good ,samaritan who never reflected 8,if ,i do not get off my ass and go to help that ,jew1 how very bad it will be for my ,karman60 ,we ought not to forget in this connexion that rewards and punishments have not the same meaning to the ,indian as to us3 they are not extraneous prizes or penalties1 but the working out of a mathematical problem which we both set and solve for ourselves4 ,it is utterly impossible to escape from the consequences of our evil acts3 they are debts which must be paid1 though we may set about performing good acts which will make our future happiness exceed our future misery in time and extent4 ,the highest good comes of itself1 automatically1 to him who merits it1 as is illustrated with great beauty in the ,jaina story of the ,white ,lotus4 ,this flower1 the symbol of perfection1 bloomed in the centre of a pool and was descried by many who made violent efforts to reach it1 but they were all set fast in the mud4 ,then came a holy ascetic who stood motionless on the bank4 8,o white ,lotus1 fly up60 he said1 and the ,white ,lotus flew to his breast4 ,even among ,indian sects which all abound in this kind of composition the ,jainas are remarkable for their wealth of moral tales and apothegms4 ,as is well known1 they possess a parable called 8,the ,three ,merchants10 closely resembling the parable of the ,talents as told by ,matthew and ,luke1 and still more exactly agreeing with the version given in the so-called 8,gospel according to the ,hebrews40 ,the theory of ,karman suggests several modern scientific speculations such as the idea that the brain retains an ineffaceable print of every impression received by it1 and again1 the extreme view of heredity which makes the individual the moral and physical slave of former generations4 ,it is a theory which has the advantage of disposing of many riddles4 ,different sects have slightly varying opinions about the nature of the ,karman3 the ,jainas see in this receptacle of good and evil deeds a material1 though supersensual1 reality with a physical basis4 ,each individual consists of five parts3 the visible body1 the vital energy thought to consist of fire1 or1 as we might say1 of electricity1 the ,karman and two subliminal selves which appear to be only latent in most persons1 but by which1 when called into activity1 the individual can transform himself1 travel to distances and do other unusual things4 ,that each man is provided with a wraith or double is an old and widely-spread belief2 but in ,western lore the double does not seem to be commanded by its pair3 it rather moves like an unconscious1 wandering photograph of him4 ,the ,jainas have the same word for the soul and for life3 gva1 and this name they bestow on the whole range of things which they consider as living3 the elements1 seeds1 plants1 animals1 men1 gods4 ,one would think that the sense of personal identity would become vague in the contemplation of voyages over so vast a sea of being1 but1 on the contrary1 this identity is the one thing about which the individual seems perfectly sure4 ,we have frequently such utterances as3 8,my own self is the doer and the undoer of misery and happiness2 my own self is friend and foe40 ,a sort of void seems spread round the individual which even family affection1 very strong though it has always been in ,india1 is powerless to bridge4 ,a lovely testimony to this affection1 and at the same time an avowal of its unavailingness1 is to be found in the one single exception to the ,jaina law that the wholly virtuous man must desire nothing1 not even ,nirvana must he desire1 much less earthly love or friendship4 ,but he may desire to take upon him the painful illness of one of his dear kindred4 ,it is added sadly1 however1 that never has such a desire been fulfilled1 for one man cannot take upon him the pains of another1 neither can he feel what another feels4 8,man is born alone1 he dies alone1 he falls alone1 he rises alone4 ,his passions1 consciousness1 intellect1 perceptions and impressions belong to him exclusively4 ,another cannot save him or help him4 ,he grows old1 his hair turns white1 even this dear body he must relinquish--none can stay the hour40 ,again it is written3-- 8,man6 thou art thy own friend1 why wishest thou for a friend beyond thyself80 ,the isolation of the soul with its paramount importance to its owner 7that is to say1 to itself7 makes it obligatory to pursue its interests even at the expense of the most sacred affections4 ,the ,pagan1 the ,jew1 the ,moslem could not have been brought to yield assent to this doctrine1 but it meets us continually in ,catholic hagiology2 for instance1 ,st4 ,franois de ,sales told ,madame de ,chantal that she ought1 if needful1 to walk into the cloister over the dead body of her son4 ,so in a ,jaina story1 father1 mother1 wife1 child1 sister1 brother try in vain to wrest a holy young man from his resolve to leave them4 ,in vain the old people say3 8,we will do all the work if you will only come home2 come1 child6 ,we will pay your debts2 you need not stay longer than you like--only come home60 ,the quite admirable young man 7who sets one furiously wishing for a stout birch rod7 proceeds on his way unmoved4 ,but it is remarked1 8,at such appeals the weak break down like old1 worn-out oxen going up hill40 ,we prefer the weak4 ,who was the first anchorite8 ,perhaps in very early states of society a few individuals got lost in the mountain or forest1 where they lived on fruits and nuts1 and then1 after a long time1 some of them were re-discovered1 and1 because they seemed so strange and mysterious after their long seclusion1 they were credited with supernatural gifts4 ,animals do not go away alone except in the rare case of being seized with mania1 or in the universal case of feeling the approach of death4 ,the origin of hermits cannot1 therefore1 be explained by analogy with animals4 ,one can conceive that a hermit's life may have great attractions1 but scarcely that of a ,jaina hermit1 who is expected to employ his leisure in the most painful mortification of the flesh4 ,though other-worldly advantages form the great object which spurs men to choose such a lot we must not forget that this sort of life is held to confer powers which are1 by no means1 other-worldly4 ,by it the ,brahman becomes superior to caste1 being incapable of pollution3 if he wished he could drink after the most miserable ,western had touched the cup4 ,the theory of asceticism is very much alike everywhere1 and the extraordinary faculties claimed by the ,jainas for their holy men are the portion1 more or less1 of the ,indian holy man in general4 ,these faculties may be briefly described as an abnormal development of the subliminal self1 but that is not an adequate account of the vastness of their range4 ,one feels often inclined to ask--without granting revelation or1 indeed1 the existence of an omniscient being who could give it--how does the ,buddhist or ,jaina acquire perfect certainty that he knows all about his own and man's destiny8 ,the question of authority is of primary importance in all religions3 in what way does ,buddhist or ,jaina solve it8 ,it is evident that scepticism based on this very ground does sometimes harass the soul of the ,jaina novice3 8,the weak10 we are told1 8when bitten by a snarling dog or annoyed by flies and gnats1 will begin to say3 #8,i have not seen the next world1 all may end with death4'0 ,it startles one to hear from the mouth of the devil's advocate in an ancient ,eastern homily a cry so modern1 so ,western3-- 8,death means heaven1 he longs to receive it1 ,but what shall ,i do if ,i don't believe it80#e ,footnote #e3 8,verses written in ,india10 p4 #ac4 ,sir ,alfred ,lyall's questioner found none to answer him1 but the ,jaina has an answer which1 if accepted1 must prove entirely satisfactory4 ,the superlatively virtuous individual possesses an effortless certainty about the secrets of life4 ,in a state superinduced by means which1 though arduous1 are at the disposal of all1 the soul can view itself1 read its history1 past1 present and to come1 know the souls of others1 remember what happened in former births1 understand the heavenly bodies and the universe4 ,here is nothing miraculous3 a veil is lifted1 and hidden things become plain4 ,it is as if a man who had cataract in both eyes underwent a successful operation--after which he sees4 ,the supersensual perception of ,jaina1 or ,joghi1 or ,guru is much akin to the 8infused knowledge0 ascribed to the saints of the ,thebaid4 ,he knows--because he knows4 ,by the devout1 information derived from these persons is accepted as readily as we should accept information about radium from a qualified scientific man4 ,the most confident of all that the information is true is he who gives it3 fraud must be dismissed finally as the key to any such phenomena4 ,the ,indian mind has grasped a great idea in referring what we call spirit to fixed laws no less than what we call matter4 ,but in spirit it sees a force infinitely exceeding the force of matter4 8,the holy monk10 say the ,jaina scriptures1 8might reduce millions to ashes by the fire of his wrath40 ,besides such tremendous powers as these he has all the minor accomplishments of the spiritualist or hypnotist3 thought-reading1 levitation1 clairvoyance1 c41 and he can always tame wild beasts4 ,he is under strict obligations to use his powers with discretion4 ,it is not right to make profit out of them3 that man is anathema who lives by divination from dreams1 diagrams1 sticks1 bodily changes1 the cries of animals4 ,the ,jainas denounce magic not less strongly than the other religious teachers of the ,east4 ,this is interesting because the reasons are lacking which are commonly held to explain the world-wide prejudice against magic3 the ,jainas do not attribute it to the agency of evil spirits1 nor can their dislike of it be attributed to the professional jealousy of priests in regard to rival thaumaturgists4 ,for the ,jaina the power of magic-working lies in every one1 and those who have developed their other spiritual powers have also this one at their command1 but to avail themselves of it is an enormous sin4 ,there is a weird story showing what infamies a magic-working 8ascetic0 may perpetrate4 ,a monk carried off1 by magical arts1 all the women he met1 till the king of that country trapped him in a hollow tree and had him put to death4 ,the women were set free and returned to their husbands1 except one1 who refused to go back because she had fallen desperately in love with her seducer4 ,a very wise man suggested that the monk's bones should be pounded and mixed with milk1 and then given to the woman to drink3 this was done and she was cured of her passion4 ,over the whole ,east1 the report that some one was working miracles1 even the most beneficent1 raised both suspicion and jealousy4 ,this was why secrecy was recommended about all such acts4 ,how far the belief in the extraordinary gifts of the ascetic rests on hallucination1 and how far men in an artificially created abnormal condition can do things of which hypnotic manifestations are but the outer edge1 it is not my purpose to inquire4 ,the ,jaina monks are said sometimes to fast for four days1 and no doubt the stimulus of starvation 7especially when the brain has not been weakened by long disease71 produces an ecstatic state which men have everywhere supposed to indicate religious perfection4 ,this may be observed even in birds1 which from some difficulty in swallowing1 die of starvation3 ,i had a canary that sang for days before it died a sweet incessant song1 the like of which ,i never heard3 it seemed not earthly4 ,the best side in ,eastern religions is not their thaumaturgy but the steady ethical tendency which pushes itself up out of the jungle of extravagance and self-delusion4 ,though we may not have much sympathy with the profession of a 8houseless0 saint1 it is impossible to deny the moral elevation of such a picture of him as is drawn in the ,jaina conversion story of 8,the ,true ,sacrifice40 ,a holy man1 born in the highest ,brahmanical caste1 but who had found wisdom in ,jaina vows1 went on a long journey and walked and walked till he came to ,benares1 where he found a very learned ,brahman who was deeply versed in astronomy and in the ,vedas4 ,when the 8,houseless0 arrived1 the priest was about to offer up sacrifice1 and perhaps because he did not wish to be disturbed at such a moment1 he told him rudely to go away--he would have no beggars there4 ,the holy man was not angry2 he had not come to extort food or water1 but from the pure desire to save souls4 ,he quietly told the priest that he was ignorant of the essence of the ,vedas1 of the true meaning of sacrifice1 of the government of the heavenly bodies4 ,there must have been a peculiar effluence of sanctity flowing from the 8,houseless0 as the priest took his rebukes with meekness1 and merely asked for enlightenment4 ,then the seer delivered his message4 ,it is not the tonsure that makes the priest or repetition of the sacred syllable om that makes the saint4 ,it is not by dwelling in woods or by wearing clothes of bark or grass that salvation may be reached4 ,equanimity1 chastity1 knowledge1 and penance are the ways to holiness4 ,his actions alone colour a man's soul3 as his works are1 so is he4 ,persuaded of the truth1 the priest addressed the 8,houseless0 as the truest of sacrificers1 the most learned of all who know the ,vedas1 the inspired exponent of ,brahmanhood1 and begged him to accept his alms4 ,but the mendicant refused3 he only conjured the priest out of pity for his own soul to join the order of the 8,houseless40 ,after having been rightly schooled in ,jaina precepts1 the ,brahman followed his advice1 and in due time he became a very great saint like his instructor4 ,as the ,jaina scriptures are in effect a manual of discipline for monks1 it is natural that they should be severe on womankind4 ,not that a woman's soul is worth less than a man's or1 rather1 since spirit is sexless1 the distinction does not exist4 ,a woman may be as good a saint as a man2 a nun may be as meritorious as a monk4 ,the identity of mysticism independent of creed was never more apparent than in the beautiful saying of a ,jaina nun3 8,as a bird dislikes the cage1 so do ,i dislike the world10 which might have been uttered by any of the self-consumed spirits of the ,latin ,church from ,st4 ,teresa downwards4 ,i have never come across an allusion to being born again as a woman as a punishment4 ,but though the fullest potentiality of merit is allowed to woman in the abstract1 the ,eternal ,feminine is looked upon in the concrete as man's worst snare4 8,women are the greatest temptation in the world40 ,the ,jaina books are ,counsels of ,perfection and not a ,decalogue framed for common humanity3 they give one the idea of being intended for preternaturally good people1 and never more so than in the manner in which they treat the dreadful snares and temptations for which women are answerable3 instead of a ,venusberg1 we are shown--the domestic hearth6 ,the story in question might be called 8,the ,woes of the ,model ,husband60 ,a girl who vowed that she would do anything rather than be parted from the dear object of her affections1 has no sooner settled the matter once for all by marriage than she begins to scold and trample on the poor man's head4 ,her spouse is sent on a thousand errands1 not one moment can he call his own4 ,countless are the lady's wants and her commands keep pace with them3 8,do look for the bodkin2 go and get some fruit2 bring wood to cook the vegetables2 why don't you come and rub my back instead of standing there doing nothing8 ,are my clothes all right8 ,where is the scent-bottle8 ,i want the hair-dresser4 ,where is my basket to put my things in8 ,and my trinkets8 ,there1 ,i want my shoes and my umbrella4 ,bring me my comb and the ribbon to tie up my hair4 ,get the looking-glass and a tooth-brush4 ,i must have a needle and thread4 ,you really ought to look after the stores1 the rainy season will be here in no time40 ,these and many more are the young wife's behests1 the appalling list of which might well intimidate those about to marry1 but there is worse to come4 ,when 8the joy of their lives1 the crown of their wedded bliss0 arrives in the shape of a baby1 it is the unfortunate husband who is set to mind it3 he has to get up in the night to sing lullabies to it 8just as if he were a nurserymaid10 and ashamed though he is of such a humiliation1 he is actually put to wash the baby-linen6 8,all this has been done by many men who for the sake of pleasure have stooped so low2 they become the equals of slaves1 animals1 beasts of burden1 mere nobodies40 ,would not most readers take this for a quotation from one of ,ibsen's plays rather than from a sacred volume which was composed a considerable time before the beginning of our era8 ,the ,indian pessimist is withheld from suicide by the dread of a worse existence beyond the pyre4 ,he is the coward of conscience to a much greater extent than the weary ,occidental1 because his sense of the unseen is so much stronger4 ,in the ,jaina system1 however1 suicide is permitted under certain circumstances4 ,after twelve years of rigorous penance a man is allowed the supreme favour of 8a religious death0--in other words1 he may commit suicide by starvation4 ,this is called ,itvara4 ,the civilised ,indian does not seem to have the power of dying when he pleases without the assistance of starvation which is possessed by some of the higher savage races4 ,the soul may be re-born in any earthly form from the lowest to the highest1 but there are other possibilities before it when it leaves its mortal coil4 ,those who are very bad1 too bad to disgrace the earth again--above all1 the cruel--are consigned to an ,inferno more awful than ,dante's1 though not without points of striking resemblance to it4 ,the very good who abounded in charity and in truth1 but who yet lived in the world the life of the world1 become gods1 glorified beings enjoying a great measure of happiness and power1 but not eternal4 ,far beyond the joys of this heaven1 which are still thinkable1 is the unthinkable bliss of the ,perfect1 of the ,conquerors1 of the ,changeless4 ,the human mind could not adjust the idea of evolution more scientifically to the soul's destiny4 ,it is unnecessary to say that the number who become even gods is very small4 ,a great deal is achieved if a man is simply born again as a man1 for though ,jaina and ,buddhist thinks that man's lot is wretched 7or1 at least that it ought to be when we consider its inherent evils71 yet it must be distinctly remembered that he thinks the life of beasts far more wretched4 ,leopardi's 8,song of the ,nomadic ,shepherd in ,asia10 in which he makes the world-weary shepherd envy the fate of his sheep1 is steeped in ,western not in ,eastern pessimism3 only in the last lines1 which really contradict the rest1 we find the true ,eastern note3-- 8,perchance in every form ,that ,nature may on everything bestow ,the day of birth brings everlasting woe40 ,the ,indian seems never to be struck by what to us seems 7perhaps in error1 but ,i hope not7 the inconscient joy of creatures1 nor yet that of children4 ,he is constantly sure that all creation groaneth and travaileth4 ,nothing is young in ,asia1 all is very old4 ,every one is tired4 ,in our minds thoughtless joy is connected with innocency1 and in these ,indian creeds there is no innocency as there is no effortless ,all-,good4 ,perfection is the result of labour4 ,no other religious teacher spoke of little children as ,christ did--,christ1 whose incomprehensible followers were one day to consign the larger part of them1 as a favour1 8to the easiest room in hell40 ,ardently as children are desired and lovingly as they are treated in the ,east1 something essential to the charm of childhood eludes the ,oriental perception of it4 ,in the sacred books of those ,indian communities which concern themselves most about animals1 they are very rarely shown in an attractive light4 ,the horse1 almost alone1 is spoken of with genuine admiration2 for instance1 there is this simile3 8,as the trained ,kambga steed whom no noise frightens1 exceeds all other horses in speed1 so a very learned monk is superior to all others40 ,an elephant is extolled for having knelt down before a holy recluse though only newly tamed1 and we hear that ,mahavira's words were understood by all animals4 ,folk-lore tells much that scriptures do not tell1 and if we had a collection of ,jaina folk-lore we should find1 no doubt1 records of charming friendships between beasts and saints1 but in the ,jaina sacred books pity1 not love1 is the feeling shown towards animals4 ,illustration3 ,,buddha ,,pacifying ,,an ,,intoxicated ,,elephant4 ,india ,museum4 ,as a rule1 ,indian philosophical writers shirk the question of how far the soul which was and may be again a man's retains its consciousness during its residence in lower forms4 ,probably the answer1 were it given1 would be3 8,not very far10 but the higher animals are credited with a fuller share of reflection than in the ,west4 ,hence it is preferable to assume the shape of one of the higher than of one of the lower organisms1 but still it is far better to be re-born as the lowest of men than as the highest of animals4 ,if it is something to be re-born as a man at all1 it is a great deal to be re-born as a fortunate man1 healthy1 wealthy1 and surrounded by troops of friends3 at least1 to the simple-minded such a prospect must appear to hold out a very splendid hope4 ,it is remarkable what good care the framers of the intensely ascetic ,jaina faith took of people who could not pretend to walk in the path of the elect4 ,the mere 8householder0 7so called to distinguish him from the more admirable 8,houseless07 has the promise of an ample recompense if he is only truthful1 and humane1 and liberal in alms-giving and temple-building4 ,he may win very great promotion on earth or even a place in the ,jaina heaven1 the abode of light1 where happy beings live long and enjoy great power and energy1 and never grow old4 ,such a state agrees with the logical evolution of a virtuous but still this-worldly man4 ,could he aspire sincerely to a more spiritual state1 and can the soul outsoar its own aspirations8 ,the ,jaina heaven is not eternal1 but does every one wish for eternity8 ,most people wish for ten or fifteen years of tolerable freedom from care on this side of the grave4 ,if they knew for certain that they were going to enjoy one thousand years of heaven1 they would not think much of what would happen at the end of that time4 ,there remain the pure and separated spirits who in this present life have climbed beyond the plane of mortality4 ,they are in the world1 not of it1 and they1 indeed1 8have a glimpse of incomprehensibles and thoughts of things which thoughts but tenderly touch40 ,for these1 the ,jaina1 like the ,buddhist1 keeps ,nirvana4 ,the extreme reticence of ,buddha and even of ,buddhist commentators on the inner significance of this word--meaning literally 8liberation0--is not observed by the ,jainas1 though it must not be inferred that there was any doctrinal difference of it in the view taken by the two sects4 ,the ,jainas show a great anxiety to tell what ,nirvana is2 if they fail it is because it baffles all description4 ,they repudiate the idea that it signified annihilation1 but admit that the subject oversteps the bounds of the thinkable4 8,the liberated soul perceives and knows1 but there is no analogy by which to describe it--without body1 re-birth1 sex1 dimensions40 ,we think of the wonderful lines in the ,helena of ,euripides3-- 8444 the mind ,of the dead lives not1 but immortal sense ,when to immortal ether gone1 possesses20 lines which1 like not a few others in ,euripides1 seem to reflect a light not cast from ,grecian skies4 ,like every stage in the history of the life-soul 7giva7 ,nirvana is governed by an immutable law of evolution4 ,when all the dross is eliminated only pure spirit is left3 a distilled essence not only indestructible1 for spirit is always indestructible1 but also changeless4 ,all the rest dies1 which means that it changes1 that it is re-born3 this part can die no more1 and hence can be born no more4 ,it has gained the liberty of which the soul goes seeking in the ,dantesque sense4 ,it has gained safety1 rest1 peace4 ,how familiar the words sound6 ,here am ,i in ,asia1 and ,i could dream myself back under the roof of the village church where generations of simple folk had sought a rest-cure for their minds3 where ,i1 too1 first listened to those words safety1 rest1 peace1 with the strange home-sickness they awaken in young children or in the very old who have preserved their childhood's faith4 ,there are words that1 by collecting round them inarticulate longings and indefinite associations1 finally leave the order of language and enter that of music2 they evoke an emotion1 not an idea4 ,the emotions which sway the human heart are few1 and they are very much alike4 ,the self-same word-music transports the ,english child to the happy land1 far1 far away1 and the ,indian mystic to ,nirvana4 ,almost everything which the ,jainas say of ,nirvana might have been said by any follower of any spiritual religion who attempted to suggest a place of final beatitude4 8,there is a safe place in view of all1 but hard to approach1 where there is no old age1 nor death1 nor pain1 nor disease4 ,this place which is in view of all is called ,nirvana or freedom from pain1 or it is called perfection2 it is the safe1 happy1 quiet place4 ,it is the eternal haven which is in view of all1 but is difficult to approach40 ,nirvana is the getting-well of the soul4 8,he will put away all the misery which always afflicts mankind2 as it were1 recovered from a long illness1 he becomes infinitely happy and obtains the final aim40 ,we are told that the ,buddhas that were and the ,buddhas that will be1 have peace for their foundation1 even as all things have the earth for their foundation4 7,the term ,buddha1 or 8,enlightened10 is used by ,jainas as well as by ,buddhists for super-excellent beings47 ,nirvana may or rather must be possessed before the death of the visible body3 it must be obtained by the living if it is to be enjoyed by the dead4 ,detachment from the world1 self-denial1 selflessness1 help the soul on its way1 but the two moral qualities which are absolutely essential are kindness and veracity4 ,ruth and truth are written over the portals of eternity4 8,he should cease to injure living things whether they move or not1 on high1 below or on earth1 for this has been called ,nirvana1 which consists in peace40 8,a sage setting out for ,nirvana should not speak untruth3 this rule comprises ,nirvana and the whole of carefulness40 ,if a novice does anything wrong1 he should never deny it3 if he has not done it he should say1 8,i have not done it40 ,a lie must never be told--8not even in jest or in anger40 ,were there nothing else of good in ,jaina discipline this devotion to truth would place it high on mankind's mountain4 ,illustration3 ,photo in ,india ,museum4 ,,colossal ,,reclining ,,bull 7,southern ,india47 ,the law of ,ahimsa1 8non-killing10 which stands at the head of the precepts of both ,buddhist and ,jaina1 is not only far more rigidly observed by the ,jaina1 but also invested by him with a greater positive as well as relative value4 ,one might say that with the ,buddhists it is more a philosophic deduction1 with the ,jainas more a moral necessity4 ,the position of ,buddhists in this matter of ,ahimsa is one of compromise4 ,there never was a ,buddhist who did not think cruelty to animals an abominable sin1 there is no compromise on that point1 but1 in respect to animal food1 the usual ,buddhist layman is not really more strict than any very humane person in the ,west2 he abjures sport1 he will not kill animals himself1 but he does not refuse to eat meat if it is set before him4 ,the ,buddhists declare that the ,lord ,buddha was prayed to forbid animal food absolutely1 but he would not4 ,it is argued that in the flesh itself1 when the life is gone from it1 there is nothing particularly sacred3 therefore it is permissible to sustain life on it4 ,your servants may buy meat ready for sale in the market3 it would be there just the same if you did not send to buy it1 but you ought not to tell them to give an order for some sort of meat which is not on sale2 still less should you incite people to snare or shoot wild animals for your table4 ,the ,buddhists of to-day say with the opponents to vegetarianism in ,europe1 that total abstention from the flesh of animals would lead to the disappearance of the chief part of them2 though it might be answered that sheep would still be wanted for their wool1 goats and cows for their milk1 oxen for ploughing4 ,but a harder question is1 ,what would happen to these animals when they grew old8 ,the ,jainas seek to settle this crux by building hospitals for them1 but the result has been indifferently encouraging4 ,in ,siam even monks are allowed animal food within certain limits1 but as a rule what ,i have said of the ,buddhist view of ,ahimsa does not apply to the religious1 who leans to the strictest ,jaina principle of having nothing to do with shedding blood on any pretence4 ,the ,buddhist monks in ,china teach the virtue of 8fang sheng0 78life-saving07 by object-lessons in the shape of tanks built near the convents to which people bring tortoises1 fishes and snakes to save them from death1 and the monks also keep homes for starving or lost animals4 ,favoured ,european visitors are invited to witness the custom of feeding the wild birds before the morning meal is served3 the brothers sit silently at the refectory-table with their bowls of rice and vegetables in front of them1 but none begins to eat till one brother rises1 after a sort of grace has been said1 and goes to the door with a little rice in his hands which he places on a low stone pillar4 ,all the birds are waiting on the roofs and fly down delighted to partake of their breakfast4 ,fra ,odoric1 the ,venetian ,franciscan who dictated an account of his travels in #accj1 describes a convent scene which was shown to him as a most interesting thing1 so that when he went home he might say that he had seen 8this strange sight or novelty40 ,to win the consent of the monks his native friend1 who acted as cicerone1 informed them that this ,raban ,francus1 this religious 8,frenchman0 7,europeans were all 8,frenchmen07 was going to the city of ,cambaleth to pray for the life of the great ,can4 ,thus recommended he was admitted1 and the 8religious man0 with whom they had spoken 8took two great basketsful of broken relics which remained on the table and led me into a little walled park1 the door whereof he unlocked with his key1 and there appeared unto us a pleasant fair green plot1 into the which we entered4 ,in the said green stands a little mount in form of a steeple1 replenished with fragrant herbs and fine shady trees4 ,and while we stood there1 he took a cymbal or bell and rang therewith1 as they use to ring to dinner or bevoir in cloisters1 at the sound thereof many creatures of divers kinds came down from the mount1 some like apes1 some like cats1 some like monkeys1 and some having faces like men4 ,and while ,i stood beholding of them1 they gathered themselves together about him1 to the number of #d1bjj of these creatures1 putting themselves in good order1 before whom he set a platter and gave them the said fragments to eat4 ,and when they had eaten he rang upon his cymbal a second time and they all returned to their former places4 ,then1 wondering greatly at the matter1 ,i demanded what kind of creatures those might be4 ,they are 7quoth he7 the souls of noble men which we do here feed for the love of ,god who governeth the world1 and as a man was honourable or noble in this life1 so his soul after death entereth the body of some excellent beast or other1 but the souls of simple and rustical people do possess the bodies of more vile and brutish creatures40 ,odoric's informant was in error if he really said that distinctions of rank influenced the soul's destiny1 as this is no ,buddhist doctrine4 ,the charming description of the 8strange sight or novelty0 was imitated by ,mandeville1 who adds1 with a sympathetic tolerance which is very characteristic of him1 that the monks were 8good religious men after their faith and law40 ,that the stricter was also the more primitive ,buddhist rule seems probable1 and it may be that ,buddha's alleged defence of meat-eating was an invention meant to cover later latitudinarianism4 ,nevertheless1 ,ahimsa was1 from the first1 a more integral part of the ,jaina religion than of the ,buddhist4 ,the true keynote of either faith can be detected in their respective conversion stories4 ,in all outbursts of religious revivalism 7of which nature both ,buddhism and ,jainism largely partook7 the moment of conversion is the hinge on which everything turns4 ,in the ,buddhist story1 a young prince1 born on the steps of the throne1 nursed in luxury and happily wedded1 sees consecutively a broken-down old man1 a man with a deadly disease1 and a decomposing corpse4 ,these dreadful and common realities were brought home to his mind with intolerable force4 ,we seem to hear the despairing cry of ,r4 ,l4 ,stevenson3 8,who would find heart to begin to live if he dallied with the consideration of death08 ,we live because we drug ourselves with the waters of a new ,lethe which make us forget future as well as past4 ,sakya ,muni could not forget what he had seen or the lesson which it taught3 the rest of his life was devoted to freeing himself and others from being endlessly subject to a like doom4 ,now let us recall the ,jaina conversion story4 ,the son of a powerful king was on his way to marry a beautiful princess4 ,at a certain place he saw a great many animals in cages and enclosures looking frightened and miserable4 ,he asked his charioteer why all those animals which desired to be free and happy were penned up in cages and enclosures8 ,the charioteer replied that they were not to be pitied1 they were 8lucky animals0 which were to furnish a feast for a great multitude at ,his ,highness's wedding4 7,this is the very thing that an ,english poor man would have said47 ,full of compassion1 the future 8saviour of the world0 reflected3 8,if for my sake all these living creatures are killed1 how shall ,i obtain happiness in another world80 ,then and there he renounces the pomps and vanities of human existence1 and he means it1 too4 ,the poor little bride1 forsaken in this life1 and not much comforted by promised compensation in the next1 8not knowing what she could do10 cuts off her pretty hair and goes to a nunnery4 ,in time she becomes a model of perfection1 and many of her kindred and servants are persuaded by her to join the order4 ,in this story the revulsion is caused by pity1 not by loathing4 ,the instant he sees these poor animals1 the kind-hearted prince feels sorry for them2 then comes that unlucky word 8lucky0 which to the man of ignorance seems to be so particularly appropriate2 it jars on ,mahavira's nerves as it would on the nerves of any sensitive or refined person4 ,nothing moves men to tears or laughter so surely as the antithetical shock of the incongruous4 ,a rush of emotion overpowers ,mahavira3 he will not be happy at the cost of so much misery2 he would become odious in his own sight4 ,so he renounces all for the eternity of one moment of self-approving joy4 ,the ,jainas carefully exclude every excuse for taking animal life3 none is valid4 ,animals must not be killed for offering up in sacrifice1 not for their skin1 flesh1 tail feathers1 brush1 horns1 tusks1 sinews1 bones4 ,they must not be killed with a purpose or without a purpose4 ,if we have been wounded by them1 or fear to be wounded by them1 or if they eat our flesh or drink our blood1 still we should not only bear it1 but also feel no anger4 8,this is the quintessence of wisdom1 not to kill anything whatever3 know this to be the legitimate conclusion from the principle of reciprocity40 ,no one denies that the principle of reciprocity is the basis of all morality1 and by extending it from men to sentient things1 the ,jainas have safeguarded their doctrine of ,ahimsa with a stronger wall of defence than any built on the fantastic fear of devouring one's ancestors4 ,nor can it be said of the ,jainas that to a superstitious repugnance to taking life they join indifference to causing suffering3 inflicting suffering is hardly distinguished from inflicting death4 8,all breathing1 existing1 living1 sentient creatures should not be slain nor treated with violence1 nor abused1 nor tormented1 nor driven away4 ,this is the pure unchangeable law40 8,indifferent to worldly objects1 a man should wander about treating all the creatures in the world as he himself would be treated40 ,perhaps the most remarkable of ,jaina stories is a real masterpiece of wit and wisdom in which this theory of reciprocity is enforced4 ,for the whole of it ,i must refer the reader to ,professor ,jacobi's translation2 ,i can only give the leading points4 ,once upon a time three hundred and sixty-three philosophers1 representing a similar number of philosophical schools1 and differing in character1 opinions1 taste1 undertakings and plans1 stood round in a large circle1 each one in his place4 ,they discussed their various views1 and at last one man took a vessel full of red-hot coals which he held at a distance from him with a pair of tongs4 8,now1 you philosophers10 said he1 8just take this for a moment and hold it in your hands4 ,no trickery1 if you please2 you are not to hold it with the tongs or to put the fire out4 ,fair and honest60 ,with extreme unanimity the three hundred and sixty-two drew back their hands as fast as they could4 ,then the speaker continued3 8,how is this1 philosophers2 what are you doing with your hands80 8,they will be burnt10 said the others4 8,and what does it matter if they are burnt80 8,but it would hurt us dreadfully40 8,so you do not want to suffer pain80 ,well1 this is the case with all animals4 ,this maxim applies to every creature1 this principle1 this religious reflection1 holds good of all living things4 ,therefore those religious teachers who say that all sorts of living things may be beaten or ill-treated1 or tormented1 or deprived of life will1 in time1 suffer in the same way themselves1 and have to undergo the whole round of the scale of earthly existence4 ,they will be whirled round1 put in irons1 see their mothers1 fathers1 children die1 have bad luck1 poverty1 the society of people they detest1 separation from those they love1 8they will again wander distraught in the beginningless and endless wilderness40 ,like a true orator the ,jaina member of this early ,congress of ,religions1 who has drifted from irony to fierce denunciation1 does not leave his hearers with these visions of terror1 but with the consoling promise to the merciful of everlasting beatitude4 ,illustration3 ,,wild ,,bulls ,,and ,,tamed ,,bulls4 ,reliefs on two gold cups found at ,vapheio4 7,from ,schuckhardt's 8,schliemann's ,excavations40 ,by permission of ,messrs4 ,macmillan ,co41 ,ltd47 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,ix ,,lines ,,from ,,the ,,adi ,,granth ,,the ,adi ,granth1 or sacred ,book of the ,sikhs of the ,punjab1 was composed by the founder of their religion and their nationality1 ,baba ,nanak 7b4 #adfi71 who abolished caste and idolatry1 and established a pure monotheism4 ,a striking incident at the ,coronation ,durbar was the arrival of the ,sikh mission in charge of the ,adi ,granth1 which was brought on a pilgrimage from its shrine in the exquisitely beautiful golden temple at ,amritsar to the tomb of the disciple of ,nanak1 who1 before suffering martyrdom at ,delhi during the ,mogul ,empire1 prophesied the advent of a fair race destined to sweep the ,mogul power to the winds4 ,i take these few sentences to show the essential continuity of ,indian thought about animals4 ,in the faith of ,nanak none remains of the particular tenets of ,buddhism or ,jainism or ,hinduism1 but the animal is still inside1 not outside1 the pale of what may be called ,pan-humanity3 the whole family of earth-born creatures4 ,i4 ,say not that this or that distasteful is1 ,in all the dear ,lord dwells1--they all are ,his ,grieve not the humblest heart2 all hearts that are1 ,are priceless jewels1 all are rubies rare4 ,ah6 ,if thou long'st for thy ,beloved1 restrain ,one angry word that gives thy brother pain4 ,,ii4 ,all creatures1 ,lord1 are ,thine1 and ,thou art theirs1 ,one bond ,creator with created shares2 ,to whom1 ,o ,maker6 must they turn and weep ,if not to ,thee their ,lord1 who dost all keep8 ,all living creatures1 ,lord1 were made by ,thee1 ,where ,thou hast fixed their station1 there they be4 ,for them ,thou dost prepare their daily bread1 ,out of ,thy loving-kindness they are fed2 ,on each the bounties of ,thy mercy fall1 ,and ,thy compassion reaches to them all4 ,,iii4 ,one understanding to all flesh ,he gives1 ,without that understanding nothing lives2 ,as is their understanding1--they are so2 ,the reckoning is the same4 ,they come and go4 ,the faithful watch-dog that does all he can1 ,is better far than the unprayerful man4 ,birds in their purse of silver have no store1 ,but them the ,almighty ,father watches o'er4 ,they say who kill1 they do but what they may1 ,lawful they deem the bleating lamb to slay2 ,when ,god takes down the eternal ,book of ,fate1 ,oh1 tell me what1 what then will be their state8 ,he who towards every living thing is kind1 ,ah6 he1 indeed1 shall true religion find6 ,,iv4 ,great is the warrior who has killed within ,self1--,self which still is root and branch of sin4 8,i1 ,i10 still cries the ,world1 and gads about1 ,reft of the ,word which ,self has driven out4 ,v4 ,thou1 ,lord1 the cage1--the parrot1 see6 ',tis ,i6 ,yama the cat3 he looks and passes by4 ,by ,yama bound my mind can never be1 ,i call on ,him who ,yama made and me4 ,the ,lord eternal is3 what should ,i fear8 ,however low ,i fall1 ,he still will hear4 ,he tends his creatures as a mother mild ,tends with untiring love her little child4 ,,vi4 ,i do not die3 the world within me dies3 ,now1 now1 the ,vivifier vivifies2 ,sweet is the world1--ah6 very sweet it is1 ,but through its sweets we lose the eternal bliss6 ,perpetual joy1 the inviolate mansion1 where ,there is no grief1 woe1 error1 sin1 nor care2 ,coming and going and death1 enter not in2 ,the changeless only there an entrance win4 ,whosoe'er dieth1 born again must be1 ,die thou whilst living1 and thou wilt be free6 ,,vii4 ,he1 the ,supreme1 no limit has nor end1 ,and what ,,he is how can we comprehend8 ,once did a wise man say3 8,he only knows ,god's nature to whom ,god ,his mercy shows40 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,x ,,the ,,hebrew ,,conception ,,of ,,animals ,i 444 8,about them frisking played ,all beasts of the earth1 since wild1 and of all chase ,in wood or wilderness1 forest or den2 ,sporting the lion ramped1 and in his paw ,dandled the kid2 bears1 tigers1 ounces1 pards1 ,gambolled before them2 the unwieldy elephant1 ,to make them mirth1 used all his might1 and wreathed ,his lithe proboscis40 ,paradise ,lost1 ,book ,,iv4 ,,the idea of a condition of existence in which all creatures are happy and at peace implies a protest against the most patent fact of life as we see it4 ,western civilisation inherited from the ,roman ,empire the hardness of heart towards animals of which the popularity of beast-fights in the ,arena was the characteristic sign4 ,it was1 however1 a ,roman poet who first pointed out in philosophical language that the sufferings of animals stand written in the great indictment against ,nature no less than the sufferings of men4 ,not only man is born to sorrow1 said ,lucretius2 look at the cow whose calf bleeds before some lovely temple1 while she wanders disconsolate over all the fields1 lowing piteously1 uncomforted by the image of other calves1 because her own is not4 ,eighteen hundred years later ,schopenhauer said that by taking a very high standard it was possible to justify the sufferings of man but not those of animals4 ,darwin arrived at the same conclusion4 8,it has been imagined10 he remarks1 8that the sufferings of man tend to his moral improvement1 but the number of men in the world is nothing compared with the number of other sentient beings which suffer greatly without moral improvement40 ,to him1 the man of the religious mind whom men lightly charged with irreligion1 it was 8an intolerable thought0 that after long ages of toil all these sentient beings were doomed to complete annihilation4 ,yes1 and to the young conscience of mankind this was also an intolerable thought4 ,and since it was intolerable the human conscience in the strength of its youth shook it off1 cast it aside1 awoke from it as we awake from a nightmare4 ,religion has been regarded too exclusively as a submission to ,nature4 ,at times it is a revolt against ,nature1 a repudiation of what our senses report to us1 an assertion that things seen are illusions1 and that things unseen are real4 ,religion is born of ,doubt4 ,the incredibility of the ,known forced man to seek refuge in the ,unknown4 ,from that far region he brought back solutions good or bad1 sublime or trivial1 to the manifold problems which beset man's soul4 ,a poet1 doomed to early death1 who looked into ,nature on a summer's day and could discern nothing but 8an eternal fierce destruction10 wrote1 in his despair-- 8,things cannot to the will ,be settled1 but they tease us out of thought4 444 ,it is a flaw ,in happiness to see beyond our bourn2 ,it forces us in summer skies to mourn1 ,it spoils the singing of the nightingale40 ,but when the world was young things could be settled to the will4 ,we are1 of course1 constantly regulating our impressions of phenomena by a standard of higher probability4 ,if we see a ship upside down1 we say1 8,this is not a ship1 it is a mirage40 ,when the primitive man found himself face to face with seeming natural laws which offended his sense of inherent probability1 he rejected the hypothesis that they were actual or permanent1 and supposed them to be either untrustworthy appearances or deviations from a larger plan4 ,every basic religion gave a large share of thought to animals4 ,the merit1 from a humane point of view1 of the explanation of the mystery offered by the religious systems of ,india has been praised even to excess4 ,in contrast to this1 it was often repeated that the ,hebrew religion ignored the claims of animals altogether4 ,i wish to show that even if this charge were not open to other disproof1 no people can be called indifferent to those claims which believes in a ,nature ,peace4 ,traces of such a belief spread from the ,mediterranean to the ,pacific1 from the ,equator to the ,pole4 ,but the ,peace is not always complete2 there are reservations4 ,in the glowing prediction of a ,peace in ,nature in the ,atharva-,veda1 vultures and jackals are excluded4 ,mazdeans would exclude the 8bad0 animals4 ,the ,hebrew ,scriptures1 on the other hand1 declare that all species are good in the sight of their ,maker4 ,every beast enjoyed perfect content according to the original scheme of the ,creator4 ,but man fell1 and all creation was involved in the consequences of his fall4 ,i remember seeing at the ,hague an impressive painting by a little-known ,italian artist#f which represents ,adam about to take the apple from ,eve while at their feet a tiger tenderly licks the wool of a lamb4 ,adam's face shows that he is yielding--yielding for no better reason than that he cannot say 8,no0--to the beautiful woman at his side2 and there1 unconscious and happy1 lie the innocent victims of his act3 love to be turned to wrath1 peace to war4 ,the ,nature ,peace has been painted a hundred times1 but never with such tragic significance4 ,footnote #f3 ,cignani4 ,a singular sixteenth-century 8,nature ,war0 may be observed in a graffito on the pavement of the ,chapel of ,st4 ,catherine in the church of ,st4 ,domenico1 at ,siena4 ,a nude youth1 resembling ,orpheus1 sits on a rock in a leafy grove1 in the midst of various animals2 with a disturbed air he looks into a mirror at the back of which is an eye1 a leopard shows his teeth at him1 while a vulture screams at a monkey1 and another bird snatches a surprised rabbit or squirrel2 the other creatures1 unicorn1 wolf1 eagle1 display signs of uneasiness4 ,endeavours to read this fable have not proved satisfactory4 ,illustration3 ,photo3 ,bruckmann4 ,,the ,,garden ,,of ,,eden4 7,by ,rubens47 ,hague ,gallery4 ,the ,miltonic ,adam sees in the mute signs of ,nature the forerunners of further change3-- 8,the bird of ,jove1 stooped from his airy tour1 ,two birds of gayest plume before him drove2 ,down from a hill the beast that reigns in woods1 ,first hunter then1 pursued a gentle brace1 ,goodliest of all the forest1 hart and hind40 ,in an uncanonical version of ,genesis which was translated from an ,armenian manuscript preserved at ,venice1 by my dear and sadly missed friend1 ,padre ,giacomo ,issaverdens1 a still more dramatic description is given of the manner in which the ,peace ended4 ,when ,adam and ,eve were driven from the ,garden of ,eden they met a lion1 which attacked ,adam4 8,why10 asked ,adam1 8do you attack me when ,god ordered you and all the animals to obey me80 8,you disobeyed ,god10 replied the lion1 8and we are no longer bound to obey you40 ,saying which1 the noble beast walked away without harming ,adam4 ,but war was declared4 ,war was declared1 and yet the scheme of the ,creator could not be for ever defeated4 ,man who had erred might hope--and how much more must there be hope for those creatures that had done no harm4 ,when the ,prophets spoke of a ,peace in ,nature in connexion with that readjustment of the eternal scales which was meant by the coming of the ,messiah1 it cannot be doubted that they spoke of what was already a widely accepted tradition4 ,but without their help we should have known nothing of it and we are grateful to them4 ,of all the radiant dreams with which man has comforted his heart1 aching with realities1 is there one to be compared with this8 ,it is of the earth earthly1 and that is the beauty of it4 8,the wolf shall dwell with the lamb1 and the leopard lie down with the kid2 and the calf and the young lion together2 and a little child shall lead them2 the cow and the bear shall feed2 and their young ones lie down together2 and the lion shall eat straw like the ox40 8,for behold ,i create new heavens and a new earth4 ,they shall not hurt nor destroy in all ,my holy mountain1 saith the ,lord40 ,is not this the best of promised lands1 the kindest of ,elysiums1 which leaves none out in the cold of cruelty and hatred8 ,the importunate questioner may inquire1 ,how can this primal and ultimate happiness compensate for the intervening ages of pain8 ,about this1 it may be observed that in religious matters people ought not to want to know too much4 ,this is true of the faithful and even of the unfaithful4 ,scientific researches in the great storehouse which contains the religions of the world are more aided by a certain reserve1 a certain reverence1 than by the insatiable curiosity of the scalpel4 ,religions sow abroad ides mres2 they tell some things1 others they leave untold4 ,they take us up into an ,alpine height whence we see the broad configuration of the country and lose sight of the woods and the tortuous ravines among which we so often missed the track4 ,now1 from the ,alpine height of faith1 the idea of an original and final ,nature ,peace makes the intervening discord seem of no account--a false note between two harmonies4 ,the ,nature ,peace as the emblem of perfect moral beauty became nearly the first ,christian idea carried out in art4 ,i remarked a rude but striking instance of it on one of the funereal monuments which have been found lately at ,carthage1 belonging to a date when ,christian and pagan commemorated their dead in the same manner1 the former generally only adding some slight symbolical indication of his faith4 ,in this stele ,christ1 carrying the lamb across ,his shoulders1 is attended by a panther and a lion4 ,all such primitive attempts to represent a ,nature ,peace are chiefly interesting 7and from this point of view their interest is great7 from the fact that in child-like1 stammering efforts they reveal the intrinsic idiosyncrasy of ,christian thought after the ,church had parted from the realities of proximity with its ,founder1 and had not reached the realities of a body corporate striving for supremacy4 ,christ the ,divine ,effluence was the faith which made men willing to face the lions4 ,doubtless many of those martyrs clung to the sublime conception of a final ,peace1 the complement of the first4 ,that this was accepted as no allegory by the later spiritualised ,jews1 and especially by the ,pharisees1 seems to be a well-established fact4 ,it is difficult to interpret in any other way the solemn statement of ,st4 ,paul1 that the 8whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now10 waiting for redemption2 or the beatific vision of ,josephus3 8,the whole ,creation also will lift up a perpetual hymn 444 and shall praise ,him that made them together with the angels and spirits and men1 now freed from all bondage40 ,homines et jumenta salvabis ,domine4 ,,ii4 ,what was the view taken of animals by the ,jewish people1 apart from the fundamental ideas implied by a primordial ,peace in ,nature8 ,it was the habit of ,hebrew writers to leave a good deal to the imagination2 in general1 they only cared to throw as much light on hidden subjects as was needful to regulate conduct4 ,they gave precepts rather than speculations4 ,there remain obscure points in their conception of animals1 but we know how they did not conceive them3 they did not look upon them as 8things02 they did not feel towards them as towards automata4 ,after the ,deluge1 there was established 8the everlasting covenant between ,god and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth40 ,evidently1 you cannot make a covenant with 8things40 ,illustration3 ,n4 ,consoni4 ,,genesis ,,viii4 7,loggie di ,raffaello47 ,that the ,jews supposed the intelligence of animals to be not extremely different from the intelligence of man is to be deduced from the story of ,balaam1 for it is said that ,god opened the mouth--not the mind--of the ass4 ,the same story illustrates the ancient belief that animals see apparitions which are concealed from the eyes of man4 ,the great interest to us1 however1 of the ,scriptural narrative is its significance as a lesson in humanity4 ,when the ,lord opened the mouth of the ass1 what did the ass say8 ,she asks her master why he had smitten her three times8 ,balaam answers1 with a frankness which1 at least1 does him credit1 because he was enraged with the ass for turning aside and not minding him1 and he adds 7still enraged1 and1 strange to say1 nowise surprised at the animal's power of speech7 that he only wishes he had a sword in his hand1 as he would then kill her outright4 ,how like this is to the voice of modern brutality6 ,the ass1 continuing the conversation1 rejoins in words which it would be a shame to disfigure by putting them into the idiom of the twentieth century3 8,am ,i not thine ass upon which thou hast ridden ever since ,i was thine unto this day8 ,was ,i ever wont to do so unto thee80 ,balaam1 who has the merit1 as ,i have noticed1 of being candid1 replies1 8,no1 you never were40 ,then1 for the first time1 the ,prophet sees the angel standing in the path with a drawn sword in his hand--an awe-inspiring vision6 ,and what are the angel's first words to the terrified prophet who lies prostrate on his face8 ,they are a reproof for his inhumanity4 8,wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times80 ,then the angel tells how the poor beast he has used thus has saved her master from certain death1 for had she not turned from him1 he would have slain ,balaam and saved her alive4 8,and ,balaam said unto the angel of the ,lord1 ,i have sinned40 ,balaam was not a ,jew2 but the nationality of the personages in the ,bible and the origin or authorship of its several parts are not questions which affect the present inquiry4 ,the point of importance is1 that the ,jews believed these ,scriptures to contain ,divine truth4 ,with regard to animals having the gift of language1 it appears from a remark made by ,josephus that the ,jews thought that all animals spoke before the ,fall4 ,in ,christian folk-lore there is a superstition that animals can speak during the ,christmas night3 an obvious reference to their return to an unfallen state4 ,solomon declares that the righteous man 8regardeth the life of his beast02 a saying which is often misquoted1 8merciful0 being substituted for 8righteous10 by which the proverb loses half its force4 ,the ,hebrew ,scriptures contain two definite injunctions of humanity to animals4 ,one is the command not to plough with the ox and the ass yoked together--in ,palestine ,i have seen even the ass and the camel yoked together2 their unequal steps cause inconvenience to both yoke-fellows and especially to the weakest4 ,the other is the prohibition to muzzle the ox which treads out the corn3 a simple humanitarian rule which it is truly surprising how any one1 even after an early education in casuistry1 could have interpreted as a metaphor4 ,there are three other commands of great interest because they show how important it was thought to preserve even the mind of man from growing callous4 ,one is the order not to kill a cow or she-goat or ewe and her young both on the same day4 ,the second is the analogous order not to seethe the kid in its mother's milk4 ,the third refers to bird-nesting3 if by chance you find a bird's nest on a tree or on the ground and the mother bird is sitting on the eggs or on the fledglings1 you are on no account to capture her when you take the eggs or the young birds 7one would like bird-nesting to have been forbidden altogether1 but ,i fear that the human boy in ,syria had too much of the old ,adam in him for any such law to have proved effectual674 ,let the mother go1 says the sacred writer1 and if you must take something1 take only the young ones4 ,this command concludes in a very solemn way1 for it ends with the promise 7for what may seem a little act of unimportant sentiment7 of the blessing promised to man for honouring his own father and mother--that it will be well with him and that his days will be long in the land4 ,in the law relative to the observance of the ,seventh ,day1 not only is no point insisted on more strongly than the repose of the animals of labour1 but in one of the oldest versions of the fourth commandment the repose of animals is spoken of as if it were the chief object of the ,sabbath3 8,six days shalt thou do thy work1 and on the seventh day thou shalt rest3 that thine ox and thine ass may rest0 7,exodus xxiii4 #ab74 ,moreover1 it is expressly stated of the ,sabbath of the ,lord1 the seventh year when no work was to be done1 that all which the land produces of itself is to be left to the enjoyment of the beasts that are in the land4 ,the dominant idea was to give animals a chance--to leave something for them--to afford them some shelter1 as in the creation of bird-sanctuaries in the temples4 ,in promises of love and protection to man1 to the ,chosen ,people1 animals are almost always included4 8,the heavens shall tremble3 the sun and moon shall be dark1 and the stars shall withdraw their shining0 7,joel ii4 #aj74 8,be not afraid1 ye beasts of the field3 for the pastures of the wilderness do spring1 for the tree beareth her fruit1 the fig-tree and the vine do yield their strength4 ,be glad1 ye children of ,zion1 and rejoice in the ,lord your ,god0 7,joel ii4 #bb1 #bc74 ,the wisdom of animals is continually praised4 8,go to the ant1 thou sluggard2 consider her ways and be wise3 which having no guide1 overseer1 or ruler1 provideth her meat in the summer1 and gathereth her food in the harvest40 ,so said the wisest of the ,jews4 ,i am tempted to quote here a passage from the writings of ,giordano ,bruno3 8,with what understanding the ant gnaws her grain of wheat lest it should sprout in her underground habitation4 ,the fool says this is instinct1 but we say it is a species of understanding40 ,if ,solomon did not make the same reflection1 it was only because that wonderful word 8instinct0 had not yet been invented4 ,illustration3 ,photo3 ,alinari4 ,,daniel ,,and ,,the ,,lions4 7,early ,christian ,sarcophagus at ,ravenna47 ,we have seen that the ,jews supposed animals to be given to men for use not for abuse1 and the whole of ,scripture tends to the conclusion that the ,creator--who had called good all the creatures of ,his hand--regarded none as unworthy of ,his providence4 ,this view is plainly endorsed by the saying of ,christ that not a sparrow falls to the ground without the will of the ,father 7or 8not one of them is forgotten in the sight of ,god071 and by the saying of ,mohammed1 who likewise believed himself the continuer of ,jewish tradition3 8,there is no beast that walks upon the earth but its provision is from ,god40 ,but there is something more4 ,every one knows that the ,jews were allowed to kill and eat animals4 ,the ,jewish religion makes studiously few demands on human nature4 8,the ways of the ,lord were pleasant ways40 ,since men craved for meat or1 in ,biblical language1 since they lusted after flesh1 they were at liberty to eat those animals which1 in an ,eastern climate1 could be eaten without danger to health4 ,but on one condition3 the body they might devour--what was the body8 ,it was earth4 ,the soul they might not touch4 ,the mysterious thing called life must be rendered up to the ,giver of it--to ,god4 ,the man who did not do this1 when he killed a lamb1 was a murderer4 8,the blood shall be imputed to him2 he hath shed blood1 and that man shall be cut off from among his people40 ,the inclination must be resisted to dispose of this mysterious ordinance as a mere sanitary measure4 ,it was a sanitary measure1 but it was much besides4 ,the ,jews believed that every animal had a soul1 a spirit1 which was beyond human jurisdiction1 with which they had no right to tamper4 ,when we ask1 however1 what this soul1 this spirit1 was1 we find ourselves groping in the dark4 ,was it material1 as the soul was thought to be by the ,egyptians and by the earliest doctors of the ,christian ,church8 ,was it an immaterial1 impersonal1 ,divine essence8 ,was its identity permanent1 or temporary8 ,we can give no decisive answer2 but we may assume with considerable certainty that life1 spirit1 whatever it was1 appeared at least to the majority of the ,jews to possess one nature1 whether in men or in animals4 ,when a ,jew denied the immortality of the soul1 he denied it both for man and for beast4 8,i said in my heart10 wrote the author of ,ecclesiastes1 8concerning the estate of the sons of men that ,god might manifest them1 and that they might see that they themselves are beasts4 ,for that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts2 even one thing befalleth them2 as the one dieth so the other dieth2 yea1 they have all one breath2 so that a man hath no pre-eminence above a beast40 ,the mist which surrounds the ,hebrew idea of the soul may proceed from the fact that they did not know themselves what they meant by it1 or from the fact that they once knew what they meant by it so well as to render elucidation superfluous4 ,if the teraphim represented the ,lares or family dead1 then the archaic ,jewish idea of the soul was simple and definite4 ,it is possible that in all later times two diametrically opposed opinions existed contemporaneously1 as was the case with the ,pharisees and ,sadducees4 ,the ,jewish people did not feel the pressing need to dogmatise about the soul that other peoples have felt2 they had one living soul which was immortal1 and its name was ,israel6 ,still1 through all ages1 from the earliest times till now1 the ,jews have continued to hold sacred 8the blood which is the life40 ,in ,hindu religious books1 where similar ordinances are enforced1 there are hints of a suspicion which1 as ,i have said elsewhere1 could not have been absent from the minds of ,hebrew legislators--the haunting suspicion of a possible mixing-up of personality4 ,here we tread on the skirts of magic3 a subject which belongs to starless nights4 ,we come back into the light of day when we glance at the relations which1 according to ,jewish tradition1 existed between animals and their ,creator4 ,we see a beautiful interchange of gratitude on the one side and watchful care on the other4 ,as the ass of ,balaam recognised the angel1 so do all animals--except man--at all times recognise their ,god4 8,but ask now the beasts and they shall teach thee2 and the fowls of the air1 and they shall tell thee4444 ,who knoweth not of all these that the hand of the ,lord hath wrought this8 ,in whose hand is the soul of every living thing1 and the breath of all mankind40 ,i will only add to these words of ,job a few verses taken here and there from the ,psalms1 which form a true anthem of our fellow-creatures of the earth and air3-- 8,beasts and all cattle1 creeping things and flying fowl1 let them praise the name of the ,lord4 ,he giveth to the beast his food and to the young ravens which cry4 ,he sendeth the springs into the valleys which run among the hills2 ,they give drink to every beast of the field1 the wild asses quench their thirst4 ,by them shall the fowls of heaven have their habitation which sing among the branches3 ,the trees of the ,lord are full of sap1 the cedars of ,lebanon which ,he hath planted1 ,where the birds make their nests2 as for the stork1 the fir-trees are her house4 ,the great hills are a refuge for the wild goats and the rocks for the conies4 ,thou makest darkness1 and it is night1 wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth2 ,the young lions roar after their prey1 and seek their meat from ,god2 ,the sun ariseth1 they gather themselves together and lay them down in their dens4 444 ,yea1 the sparrow hath found an house1 and the swallow a nest for herself where she may lay her young4 ,even thine altars1 ,o ,lord of ,hosts1 my ,king and my ,god60 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,xi 8,a ,,people ,,like ,,unto ,,you0 ,a ,,friend who was spending the winter at ,tunis asked me if it were true that there was any teaching of kindness to animals in the religion of ,islam8 ,she had seen with pain the little humanity practised by the lower class of ,arabs1 and she had difficulty in believing that such conduct was contrary to the law of the ,prophet4 ,i replied1 that if men are sometimes better than their creeds1 at other times they are very much worse4 ,at the head of every chapter of the ,koran1 it is written3 8,in the name of the most merciful ,god40 ,if ,god be merciful1 shall man be unmerciful8 ,alas1 that the answer should have been so often 8yes06 ,inhumanity to animals is against the whole spirit of the ,koran1 and also against that of ,moslem tradition4 ,in the 8,words of ,mohammed10 of which one thousand four hundred and sixty-five collections exist1 and which are looked upon as 8the ,moslem's dictionary of morals and manners10 the ,apostle is described as saying3 8,fear ,god in these dumb animals1 and ride them when they are fit to be rode1 and get off them when they are tired40 ,mohammed was asked by his disciples3 8,verily1 are there rewards for our doing good to quadrupeds and giving them water to drink8 8,he said3 8,there are rewards for benefiting every animal having a moist liver0 7every sentient creature74 ,he said again3 8,there is no ,moslem who planteth a tree or soweth a field1 and man1 birds or beasts eat from them1 but it is a charity for him40 ,like all other religious teachers1 he was made by legend the central figure of a ,nature ,peace4 ,he had miraculous authority over beasts as well as over man1 and beasts1 more directly than man1 knew him to be from ,god4 ,once he was standing in the midst of a crowd when a camel came and prostrated itself before him4 ,his companions exclaimed1 8,o ,apostle of ,god6 ,beasts and trees worship thee1 then it is meet for us to worship thee40 ,mohammed replied1 8,worship ,god1 and you may honour your brother--that is1 me40 ,those who know nothing else about ,mohammed know the story of how he cut away his sleeve rather than awaken his cat1 which was sleeping upon it4 ,he is reported to have told how a woman was once punished for a cat3 she tied it till it died of hunger--she gave that cat nothing to eat1 nor did she allow it to go free1 so that it might have eaten 8the reptiles of the ground40 7,cats do eat lizards and snakes too1 even when they have plenty of food--very bad for them it is47 ,mohammed's fondness of cats has been suggested as the reason why two or three of them usually go with the ,caravan which takes the ,sacred ,carpet from ,cairo to ,mecca1 but perhaps the origin of that custom is far more remote4 ,illustration3 8,,an ,,indian ,,orpheus40 ,royal ,palace at ,delhi4 7,imitated from a painting by ,raphael47 ,in the words of ,mohammed there is this beautiful version of the 8,sultan ,murad0 cycle3 an adulteress was passing by a well when she saw a dog which was holding out its tongue from the thirst which was killing him4 ,the woman drew off her shoe and tied it to the end of her garment2 then she drew up water and gave the dog to drink4 ,the dog fawned on her and licked her hands4 ,now the ,sultan was passing that way1 and he saw the woman and the dog and inquired into the matter4 ,when he had heard all1 he told the guards to undo her chain and give her back her veil and lead her to her own home4 ,on one occasion the ,prophet met a man who had a nest of young doves1 and the mother fluttered after and even down about the head of him that held it4 ,the ,prophet told him to put the nest back where he found it1 for this wondrous love comes from ,god4 ,the verse which gives the keynote to ,moslem ideas about animals occurs in the sixth chapter of the ,koran1 and runs thus3 8,there is no beast on earth nor bird which flieth with its wings but the same is a people like unto you1 we have not omitted anything in the ,book of our decrees2 then unto their ,lord shall they return40 ,in other texts where the word 8creatures0 is used there is a strong presumption that animals1 as well as men1 genii and angels1 are included2 as1 for instance1 8unto ,him do all creatures which are in heaven and earth make petition10 and again1 8all ,god's creatures are ,his family1 and he is the most beloved of ,god who trieth to do the most good to ,god's creatures0--which is almost word for word-- 8,he prayeth best1 who loveth best ,all things both great and small2 ,for the dear ,god who loveth us1 ,he made and loveth all40 ,the common grace after eating is 8,praise be to the ,lord of all creatures60 ,moslem hunters and butchers have the custom1 called the ,hallal1 of pronouncing a formula of excuse 7,bi'sm-illah67 before slaying any animal4 ,the author of 8,malay ,magic0 mentions1 that if a ,malay takes a tiger in a pitfall1 the ,pawang1 or medicine-man1 has to explain to the quarry that it was not he that laid the snare but the ,prophet ,mohammed4 ,by orthodox ,moslem law hunting was allowed1 provided it was for some definite end or necessity4 ,it was legitimate to hunt for food1 or for clothing1 as when the skin was the object4 ,dangerous wild beasts1 the incompatible neighbours of all but saints1 might be hunted to protect the more precious lives of men4 ,beyond this1 from an orthodox point of view1 hunting was regarded as indefensible4 ,such was the rule1 and there is no greater mistake than to undervalue the moral standard because every one does not attain to it4 ,perhaps few ,moslems keep this rule rigidly1 but it is true now as it was when ,lane wrote on the subject1 that a good ,moslem who hunts for amusement does not seek to prolong the chase3 he tries to take the game as quickly as he can1 and if it is not dead when taken1 it is instantly killed by having its throat cut4 ,such amusements as shooting pigeons1 or the unspeakable abomination of firing at wild birds from ships1 which makes certain tourist steamers a curse in the ,arctic regions1 would inspire even the not too orthodox ,moslem with profound disgust4 ,there were some ,moslems who went far beyond the law--for whom taking life1 when the fact of doing so came rudely before them1 was a thing revolting in itself4 ,such sensibility was manifest in the ,persian poets1 and it has been attributed to their inherited ,zoroastrian tendencies2 but to think this is to misunderstand the groundwork of ,mazdean humane teaching1 which was not based on sensitiveness about taking life4 ,such sensitiveness is rarely found1 except among ,aryan races1 and ,zoroastrianism1 though it spread among an ,aryan people1 was not an ,aryan religion4 ,it is more likely to be true that the ,persian peculiar tenderness for animals was an atavistic revival of the old ,aryan temperament4 ,renan said that ,sufism was a racial ,aryan reaction against l'effroyable simplicit de l'esprit smitique4 ,sensitiveness about animals was a necessary ingredient1 so to speak1 of ,sufism4 ,sadi1 the ,sufic poet par excellence1 poured blessings on the departed spirit of ,firdusi for the couplet which ,sir ,william ,jones translated so well and loved so much3-- 8,ah1 spare yon emmet1 rich in hoarded grain2 ,he lives with pleasure1 and he dies with pain40 ,that birds and many1 if not all1 animals have a language by which they can interchange their thoughts is a belief shared by ,moslems1 both learned and ignorant4 ,the ,koran says that the language of birds was understood by ,solomon1 and folk-lore gives many other persons credit for the same accomplishment4 ,a person believed to have such powers could turn the belief1 if not the powers1 to uses both good and bad4 ,an ,arabian tale relates how a pleasure-loving ,persian king summoned a ,maubadz1 a head ,magian1 to tell him what two owls were chattering about4 ,the ,maubadz told with considerable detail the plan which the female owl was unfolding to the male owl1 of how each of their future numerous offspring might be set up in life as sole possessor of a forsaken village1 if only the present 8fortunate king0 lived long enough4 ,the monarch understood the rebuke1 and resolved to mend his ways1 and to encourage tillage and agriculture1 instead of devoting himself to idle pastimes4 ,illustration3 ,,moslem ,,beggar ,,feeding ,,dogs ,,at ,,constantinople4 ,bird-trills mean sentences or words1 chiefly religious4 ,the pigeon cries continually1 8,allh6 ,allh60 ,the common dove executes this long sentence3 8,assert the unity of your ,lord who created you1 so will ,he forgive you your sin40 ,there was a parrot who could repeat the whole ,koran by heart and could never be put out so as to make mistakes4 ,i knew of an old priest who repeated the ,divina ,commedia from the first line to the last1 and the knowledge of the whole of the ,iliad was common in ancient ,athens1 where people were laughed at who gave themselves the airs of scholars on the ground of such feats of memory4 ,but in the bird-world the ,moslem parrot surely stands alone1 though we hear of a pious raven who could say correctly the thirty-second chapter and who always made the proper prostration when it came to the words3 8,my body prostrateth itself before ,thee1 and my heart confideth in ,thee40 ,the chapter of the ,koran entitled 8the ,ant0 is full of charming zoology4 ,god bestowed knowledge on ,david and ,solomon1 and ,solomon1 who was 8,david's heir10 said to the people3 8,o men1 we have been taught the speech of birds1 and have had all things bestowed on us3 this is manifest excellence40 ,the armies of ,solomon consisted of men and genii and birds3 they were arrayed in proper order on an immense carpet of green silk3 the men were placed to the right1 the genii to the left1 and the birds flew overhead1 making a canopy of shade from the burning rays of the sun4 ,solomon sat in the middle on his throne1 and when it was desired to move1 the wind transported the carpet with all on it from one place to another4 ,this account1 however1 is not in the ,koran1 and need not be believed4 ,but that the armies were of the three species of beings we have the highest authority for asserting4 ,they arrived1 one day1 in the ,valley of ,ants4 ,a sentinel ant beheld the approaching host and called to her companions to hasten into their habitations for fear that ,solomon and his armies should crush them underfoot without perceiving it4 ,this made ,solomon smile1 but while he laughed at her words1 he yet remembered to thank the ,lord for the favour wherewith ,he had favoured him3 the privilege of knowing the language of beasts4 ,after blessing ,god1 and praying that in the end ,he would take him into paradise among ,his righteous servants1 the king looked around at his feathered army and lo6 he missed the lapwing4 ,some say that the reason why he noticed her absence was because in that place water was lacking for the ablution1 and1 as every one knows1 the lapwing is the water-finder4 ,be that as it may 7it is not stated in the ,koran71 he cried in displeasure3 8,what is the reason ,i do not see the lapwing8 ,is she absent8 ,verily ,i will chastise her with a severe punishment1 or ,i will put her to death unless she bring me a just excuse40 ,not long did he have to wait before the lapwing appeared1 nor was the just excuse wanting4 ,she had seen a country which the king had not seen1 and she brought hence a remarkable piece of news4 ,in the land of ,saba 7,sheba7 a woman reigned who received all the honour due to a great prince4 ,she had a magnificent throne of gold and silver2 she and her people worshipped the ,sun besides ,god4 ,satan1 added the lapwing1 becoming controversial1 had turned them away from the truth lest they should worship the true ,god1 from whom nothing is hid4 ,and then this little bird of a story like a fairy-tale ends her discourse with one of those sharp1 sudden1 antithetical organ-blasts which again and again lift the mind of the reader of the ,koran into the highest regions of poetry and religion3 8,god6 there is no ,god but ,he2 the ,lord of the ,magnificent ,throne60 ,what wonderful art there is in the repetition of the words which had been applied just before to earthly splendour6 ,the effect is the same as that of the words in ,arabic which we see carved at every turn in the splendid halls of the ,alhambra3 8,god only is conqueror40 ,what is the splendour or the power of earthly kings8 ,the story resumes its course4 ,solomon tells the lapwing that they will see1 by and by1 if she has told the truth or is a liar4 ,he writes a letter 7which tradition says was perfumed with musk and sealed with the king's signet71 and he commands the bird to take it to the land of ,saba4 ,some say that the lapwing delivered the letter by throwing it into the queen's bosom as she sat surrounded by her army2 others that she brought it to her through an open window when she was sitting in her chamber3 at any rate1 it reached its destination1 and the lapwing's character was completely rehabilitated4 ,with regard to ,queen ,balkis1 the ,bible1 the ,koran1 and the ,emperor ,menelek may be consulted4 ,one of the beasts most esteemed by ,moslems1 one of those who1 with ,balaam's ass1 ,jonah's whale1 ,abraham's ram1 ,solomon's ant1 and several other favourite animals1 are known to have been admitted into the highest heaven1 is the dog in the ,moslem version of the 8,seven ,sleepers of ,ephesus10 the legend of the seven young men who hid in a cave and slept safely through a long period of persecution4 ,the dog has a ,divine command to say to the young men1 8,i love those who are dear to ,god1 and ,i will guard you40 ,he lay stretched across the mouth of the cave during the whole time that the persecution lasted4 ,moslems say of a very avaricious man1 8,he would not give a bone to the dog of the ,seven ,sleepers40 ,the dog's name was ,katmr 7though some said it was ,al ,rakm71 and people wrote it as a talisman on important letters sent to a distance or oversea1 to make sure of their arriving safely3 it was like registration without the fee4 ,he appears to have slept1 as did his masters1 while he guarded the entrance to the cave3 the protection which he afforded must be attributed to his supernatural gifts as a devil-scarer rather than to the watch he kept4 ,dogs were believed to see 8things invisible to us0--i4e41 demons4 ,if a dog barks in the night the ,faithful ask ,god's aid against ,satan4 ,the cock is also a devil-scarer and sees angels as well as demons3 when he crows it is a sign that he has just seen one4 ,sometimes genii take the form of certain animals such as cats1 dogs1 and serpents 7animals which are not eaten74 ,if a man would kill one of the animals in which genii often appear1 he must first warn the genii to vacate its form4 ,this means that there is a greater prejudice against taking the life of such animals than in the case of animals slaughtered for food1 when it is sufficient 7though necessary7 to say 8,if it pleases ,god40 ,while non-mystical ,moslems did not respect life as such1 nevertheless they realised the great scientific truth that life is the supreme mystery4 8,the idols ye invoke besides ,god10 says the ,koran1 8can never create a single fly although they were all assembled for that purpose1 and if the fly snatch anything from them0 7such as offerings of honey7 8they cannot recover the same from it40 ,moslems are fond of the legend from the ,gospel of the ,infancy of how the ,child ,jesus1 when ,he and other children were playing at making clay sparrows1 breathed on the birds made by ,him and they flew away or hopped on ,his hands4 ,the parents of the other children forbade them to play any more with the ,holy ,child1 whom they thought to be a sorcerer4 ,that the ,jews really imagined the unusual things done by ,christ to be magic-working1 and that this belief entered more into their wish to compass ,his death than is commonly supposed1 a knowledge of ,eastern ideas on magic inclines one to think4 ,moslems readily admit the truth of the miracle of the sparrows as of the other miracles of ,jesus2 they add1 however1 that life came into the clay figures 8by permission of ,god40 ,towards the end of the world1 animals will speak with human language4 ,before this happens will have come to pass the reign of the 8,rooh ,allah10 the ,spirit of ,god1 as all ,moslems call ,christ4 ,it is told that ,he will descend near the ,white ,tower east of ,damascus and will remain on earth for forty 7or for twenty-four7 years1 during which period malice and hatred will be laid aside and peace and plenty will rejoice the hearts of men4 ,while ,jesus reigns1 lions and camels and bears and sheep will live in amity and a child will play with serpents unhurt4 ,a kind of perpetual local ,nature ,peace prevails at ,mecca2 no animals are allowed to be slaughtered within a certain distance of the sacred precinct4 ,it should be noted also that pilgrims are severely prohibited from hunting2 the wording of the verse in the ,koran which establishes this rule seems to imply the possibility that wild animals themselves are doing the pilgrimage2 hence they must be held sacred4 ,the law forbidding ,moslems to eat the flesh of swine was copied from the ,jewish ordinance1 without doubt from the conviction that it was unwholesome4 ,those who were driven by extreme hunger to eat of it were not branded as unclean4 ,there is a curious ,indian folk-tale which gives an account of why swine-flesh was forbidden4 ,at the beginning ,allah restrained man from eating any animals but those which died a natural death4 ,as they did not die as quickly as they wished1 men began to hasten their deaths by striking them and throwing stones at them4 ,the animals complained to ,allah1 who sent ,gabriel to order all the men and all the animals to assemble so that ,he might decide the case4 ,but the obstinate pig did not come4 ,so ,allah said3 8,the pigs1 the lowest of animals1 are disobedient2 let no one eat them or touch them40 ,there is no record whatever of the pigs having signed a protest4 ,it is by no means clear when the prejudice against dogs took hold of the ,moslem mind4 ,at first their presence was even tolerated inside the ,mosque1 and the report that the ,prophet ordered all the dogs at ,medina to be killed1 especially those of a dark colour1 is certainly a fable4 ,the ,caliph ,abu ,djafar al ,mausur asked a learned man this very question3 why dogs were treated with scorn8 ,the learned man was so worthy of that description that he had the courage to say he did not know4 8,tradition said so40 ,the ,caliph suggested that it might be because dogs bark at guests and at beggars4 ,there is a modern saying that angels never go into a house where there is a dog or an image4 ,still1 the ordinary kindness of the ,turks to the pariah dogs at ,constantinople1 where the beggar shares his last crust with them1 shows that the feeling belongs more to philology than to nature4 ,the pariah dog is the type of the despised outcast1 but when a ,european throws poisoned bread to him the act is not admired by the ,moslem more than it deserves to be4 ,several savants have thought that the dog is scorned by ,moslems because he was revered by ,mazdeans2 that he suffered indignity at the hands of the new believers as a protest against the excess of honour he had received from the old4 ,this theory1 though ingenious1 does not seem to be borne out by facts4 ,the comparisons of the qualities of the good dervish and the dog1 which is a sort of vade mecum of dervishes everywhere1 was almost certainly suggested by the 8,eight ,characteristics0 of the dog in the ,avesta4 ,it is singular that the dog gets far better treatment in the ,moslem comparisons than in the ,mazdean4 8,the dog is always hungry3 so is it with the faithful2 he sleeps but little by night3 so is it with those plunged in divine ,love2 if he die1 he leaves no heritage3 so is it with ascetics2 he forsakes not his master even if driven away3 so is it with adepts2 he is content with few temporal goods3 so is it with the pursuers of temperance2 if he is expelled from one place he seeks another3 so is it with the humble2 if he is chastised and dismissed and then called back he obeys3 so is it with the modest2 if he sees food he remains standing afar3 so is it with those who are consecrated to poverty2 if he go on a journey he carries no refreshment for the way3 so is it with those who have renounced the world40 ,some of these 8,characteristics0 are flung back in irony at the dervishes by those who bitterly deride them1 as the friars in the ages of ,faith were derided in ,europe--without its making the least difference to their popularity--but the homily itself is quite serious and meant for edification4 ,hasan ,basri1 who died in #gbh ,a4,d41 was the author or adapter4 ,its wide diffusion is due to the accuracy with which it depicts the wandering mystic1 whether he be called a dervish or a ,fakeer1 or1 in the ,western translation of ,fakeer1 a 8,poverello0 of ,st4 ,francis4 ,a certain rich man apologised to a ,dervish because his servants1 without his knowledge1 had often driven him away3 the holy man showed1 he said1 great patience and humility in coming back after such ill-treatment4 ,the dervish replied that it was no merit but only one of the 8traits of the dog10 which returns however often it is driven off4 ,the worst enemies to the dervish have ever been the ,ulemas1 for whom he is a kind of dangerous lunatic strongly tinged with heresy4 ,among his unconventional ideas was sure to penetrate1 more or less1 the neoplatonist or ,sufic view of animals4 ,wherever transcendental meditations on the union of the created with the ,creator begin to prevail1 men's minds take the direction of admitting a more intimate relation of all living things with ,god4 ,we might be sure that the dervishes would follow this psychological law even if we could not prove it4 ,to prove it1 however1 we need go no further than the great prayer1 one of the noblest of human prayers1 which is used by many of the ,dervish orders4 ,there we read3 8,thy science is everlasting and knows even the numbers of the breaths of ,thy creatures3 ,thou seest and hearest the movements of all ,thy creatures2 thou hearest even the footsteps of the ant when in the dark night she walks on black stones2 even the birds of the air praise ,thee in their nests2 the wild beasts of the desert adore ,thee2 the most secret as well as the most exposed thoughts of ,thy servants ,thou knowest44440 ,in the same way1 it was natural that the ,dervishes should be supposed to have the power attributed to all holy 7or harmless7 men over the kings of the desert and forest4 ,it could not be otherwise4 ,bishop ,heber heard of two ,indian ,yogis who lived in different parts of a jungle infested by tigers in perfect safety2 indeed1 it was reported that one of these ascetics had a nightly visit from a tiger1 who licked his hands and was fondled by him4 ,this is a ,hindu jungle story1 but it would be just as credible if it were told of a ,dervish4 ,of the credibility of the first part of it1 and probably of the last also1 there is not a single wandering ascetic of any sort who would entertain a doubt4 ,some years ago a ,moslem recluse deliberately put his arm into the cage of ,moti1 the tiger in the ,lahore ,zoological ,gardens4 ,the tiger lacerated the arm1 and the poor man died in the hospital after some days' suffering1 during which he showed perfect serenity4 ,he had made a mistake2 the tiger1 brought up as a cub by ,british officers and deprived of his liberty1 was not endowed with the power of discrimination possessed by a king of the wild4 ,this1 ,i hope1 the ,fakeer reflected1 but it is more likely that he deemed that cruel clutch a sign of his own unworthiness and accepted death meekly1 hoping not for reward but for pardon4 ,one would like to know more of a book which ,mr4 ,charles ,m4 ,doughty found a certain reputed saint 8poring and half weeping over10 the argument of which was 8,god's creatures the beasts10 while its purpose was to show that every beast yields life-worship unto ,god4 ,even if this ,damascus saint was not very saintly 7as the author of 8,arabia ,deserta0 hints71 yet it is interesting to note that this subject should have appeared to a would-be new ,messiah the most important he could choose for his ,gospel4 ,a ,persian poet1 ,azz' ,eddin ,elmocadessi1 advises man to learn from the birds1 8,virtues that may gild thy name2 ,and their faults if thou wouldst scan1 ,know thy failings are the same40 ,the recognition in animals of most human qualities in a distinct though it may be a limited form underlies all ,eastern animal-lore and gives it a force and a reality even when it deals with extravagant fancies4 ,there is a broad difference between the power of feeling for animals and the power of feeling with them4 ,the same difference moulds the sentiments of man to man3 nine men in ten can feel for their fellow-humans1 but scarcely one man in ten can feel with them4 ,they even know it1 and they say ungrammatically1 8,i feel the greatest sympathy for so and so40 ,an instance of true mitempfindung1 of insight into the very soul of a creature1 exists in an ,arabian poem by ,lebid1 who was one of the most interesting figures of the period in which the destinies of the ,arab race were cast4 ,he was the glory of the ,arabs1 not only on account of his faultless verse1 but also because of his noble character4 ,it is told of him that whenever an east wind blew1 he provided a feast for the poor4 ,himself a pre-,islamic theist1 he hailed the ,prophet as the inspired enunciator of the creed he had held imperfectly and in private4 ,all his poems were composed in the 8,ignorance02 on being asked for a poem after his conversion at ninety years of age1 he copied out a chapter of the ,koran1 and said1 8,god has given me this in exchange for poesy40 ,i do not think this meant that he despised the poet's art1 but that now1 when he could no longer exercise it1 he had what was still more precious4 ,the passage in question is one of several which show ,lebid's surprisingly close acquaintance with the ways and thoughts of wild animals4 ,it is one of those elaborate similes which were the pride of ,arabian poets1 who often preferred to take comparisons already in use than to invent new ones4 ,wherever literature became a living entertainment1 something of this kind happened3 witness the borrowings from the ,classics by the poets of the ,renaissance2 people liked to recognise familiar ideas in a new dress4 ,lebid's similes have been turned and re-turned by other poets1 but none approached the art and truth he infused into them4 ,i am indebted to ,sir ,charles ,lyall for the following version1 which is not included in his volume of splendid translations of early ,arabian poetry4 ,the subject of the passage is the grief of a wild cow that has lost her calf3-- 8,flat-nosed is she--she has lost her calf and ceases not to roam ,about the marge of the sand meadows and cry ,for her youngling1 just weaned1 white1 whose limbs have been torn ,by the ash-grey hunting wolves who lack not for food4 ,they came upon it while she knew not1 and dealt her a deadly woe3 --,verily1 ,death1 when it shoots1 misses not the mark6 ,the night came upon her1 as the dripping rain of the steady shower ,poured on and its continuous flow soaked the leafage through and through4 ,she took refuge in the hollow trunk of a tree with lofty branches standing apart ,on the skirts of the sandhills where the fine sand sloped her way4 ,the steady rain poured down1 and the flood reached the ridge of her back1 ,in a night when thick darkness hid away all the stars2 ,and she shone in the face of the mirk with a white1 glimmering light ,like a pearl born in a sea-shell1 that has dropped from its string4 ,until1 when the darkness was folded away and morning dawned1 ,she stood1 her legs slipping in the muddy earth4 ,she wandered distracted about all the pools of ,so'id ,for seven nights twinned with seven whole long days1 ,until she lost all hope1 and her udders shrunk-- ,the udders that had not failed in all the days of the suckling and weaning1 ,then she heard the sound of men and it filled her heart with fear1 ,of men from a hidden place2 and men1 she knew1 were her bane4 ,she rushed blindly along1 now thinking the chase before1 ,and now behind her3 each was a place of dread4 ,until1 when the archers lost hope1 they let loose on her ,trained hounds with hanging ears1 each with a stiff leather collar on its neck2 ,they beset her and she turned to meet them with her horns ,like to spears of ,semhar in their sharpness and their length4 ,to thrust them away3 for she knew well1 if she drove them not off1 ,that the fated day of her death among the fates of beasts had come2 ,and among them1 ,kesb was thrust through and slain and rolled in blood lay there1 ,and ,sukhm was left in the place where he made his onset40 ,there the description breaks off4 ,in spite of the haunting cry of the cow of ,lucretius1 in spite of the immortal tears of ,shakespeare's 8poor sequester'd stag0--no vision of a desperate animal in all literature seems to me so charged with every element of pathos and dramatic intensity as this cow of ,lebid4 ,how fine is the altogether unforeseen close1 which leaves us wondering1 breathless3 ,will she escape8 ,will no revengeful arrow reach her8 ,will the archers do as ,om ,piet did to the wildebeest8-- 8,a wildebeest cow and calf were pursued by ,om ,piet with three hunting-dogs4 ,the ,boer hunter tells the tale3 #8,the old cow laid the first dog low2 the calf is now tired4 ,the second dog comes up to seize it2 the cow strikes him down4 ,now the third dog tries to bite the little one1 who can run no more1 but the cow treats him so that there's nothing to be done but to shoot him4 ,then ,om ,piet stands face to face with the wildebeest1 who snorts but does not fly4 ,now though ,i come to shoot a wildebeest yet can ,i not kill a beast that has so bravely fought and will not run away2 so ,om ,piet takes off his hat1 and says1 8,good-day to you1 old wildebeest4 ,you are a good and strong old wildebeest40 ,and we dine off springbuck that night at the farm4'0#g ,footnote #g3 8,a ,breath from the ,veldt10 by ,guille ,millais1 #bnd edition1 #ahii4 ,i ought to explain that1 like the 8cow0 of ,om ,piet1 ,lebid's 8cow0 is an antelope--the ,antilope defassa--of which a good specimen may be seen in the ,natural ,history ,museum at ,south ,kensington4 ,the old ,boer's hunting yarn brings an unexpected confirmation of the ,arabian poet's testimony to its courage and maternal love4 ,since the chase began1 down to the blind brutality of the battue 7which wiped it out7 chivalry has been a trait of the genuine sportsman4 ,in the golden legend of hunter's generosity should be inscribed for ever the tale--the true tale as ,i believe it to be--of the ,moslem prince ,sebectighin1 who rose from slave-birth to the greatest of ,persian thrones--and more honour to him1 notwithstanding the slur which ,firdusi1 stung by ,mahmoud's want of appreciation1 cast1 in a foolish moment1 on his father's origin4 ,sebectighin was a horseman in the service of the ,sultan and as a preparation for greater things he found a vent for his pent-up energies in the chase4 ,one day he remarked a deer with her little fawn peacefully grazing in a glade of the forest4 ,he galloped to the spot1 and in less than a second he had seized the fawn1 which1 after binding its legs1 he placed across his saddle-bows4 ,thus he started to go home1 but looking back1 he saw the mother following1 with every mark of grief4 ,sebectighin's heart was touched2 he loosened the fawn and restored it to its dam4 ,and in the night he had a vision in his dreams of ,one who said to him1 8,the kindness and compassion which thou hast this day shown to a distressed animal has been approved of in the presence of ,god2 therefore in the records of ,providence the kingdom of ,ghusni is marked as a reward against thy name4 ,let not greatness destroy thy virtue1 but continue thy benevolence to man40 ,among the ,afghan ballads collected by ,james ,darmesteter1 of which it has been aptly said that they give an admirable idea of ,homer in a state of becoming1 there is one composed in a gentler mood than the songs of war and carnage which has a gazelle for heroine and the ,prophet as ,deus ex machina4 ,as there is no translation of it into ,english ,i have attempted the following version3-- 8,the ,son of ,abu ,jail he set a snare for a gazelle1 ,without a thought along she sped1 and in the snare she fell4 #8,o woe is me6' she weeping cried1 #8that ,i to look forgot6 ,fain would ,i live for my dear babes1 but hope1 alas6 is not4' ,then to the ,merciful she made this short and fervent prayer3 #8,i left two little fawns at home2 ,lord1 keep them in ,thy care6' ,the son of ,abu ,jail he came1 in haste and glee he ran1 #8,ah1 now ,i've got you in my net1 and who to save you can8' ,he grasped her by her tender throat1 his fearsome sword did draw1 ,when lo6 the ,lord held back his hand6 ,the ,prophet's self he saw6 #8,the world was saved for love of thee1 save for thy pity's sake6' ,so breathed the trembling doe1 and then the holy ,prophet spake3 #8,abu1 my friend1 this doe let go1 and hark to my appeal2 ,she has two tender fawns at home who pangs of hunger feel1 #8,let her go back one hour to them1 no longer will she stay1 ,and when she comes1 ,o heartless man1 then mayest thou have thy way6 ,but if1 by chance1 she should not come1 then by my faith will ,i ,be unto thee a bonded slave until the day ,i die4' ,then ,abu the gazelle let go2 to her dear young she went1 #8,quick1 children1 take my breast1' she said1 #8my life is almost spent2 #8,the ,master of the ,universe for me a pledge ,i gave1 ,but ,i must swift return and then no man my life can save4' ,then said the little ones to her1 #8,mother1 we dare not eat2 ,go swiftly back1 redeem the pledge1 fast as can fly thy feet4' ,one hour had scarce run fully out when1 panting1 she was there2 ,now1 ,abu1 son of ,abu1 thou mayest take her life or spare6 ,said ,abu1 #8,in the ,prophet's name1 depart1 ,i set you free 444 ,but thou1 our ,helper1 at ,god's throne1 do thou remember me6' ,so have ,i told1 as long ago my father used to tell1 ,how ,pagan ,abu ,moslem turned and saved his soul from hell40 ,this brief sketch will suffice to show that if the ,moslem is not humane to animals it is his own fault1 as ,i think it is his own fault if he is not humane to man4 ,teaching humanity to animals must always imply the teaching of humanity to men4 ,this was perfectly understood well by all these ,oriental tellers of beast-stories3 they would all have endorsed the saying of one of my ,lombard peasant-women 7dear1 good soul671 8,chi non buono per le bestie1 non buono per i ,cristiani02 ,cristiano meaning1 in ,italian popular speech1 a human being4 ,under the most varied forms1 in fiction which while the world lasts1 can never lose its freshness1 the law of kindness is brought home4 ,perhaps the most beautiful of all humane legends is one preserved in a poem by ,abu ,mohammed ben ,yusuf1 ,sheikh ,nizan-eddin1 known to ,europeans as ,nizami4 ,this ,persian poet1 who died sixty-three years before ,dante was born1 may have taken the legend from some collection of ,christ-lore1 some uncanonical book impossible now to trace2 it is unlikely that he invented it4 ,as ,jesus walks with ,his disciples through the market-place at evening1 ,he comes upon a crowd which is giving vent to every expression of abhorrence at the sight of a poor dead dog lying in the gutter4 ,when they have all had their say1 and have pointed in disgust to his blear eyes1 foul ears1 bare ribs1 torn hide1 8which will not even yield a decent shoe-string10 ,jesus says1 8,how beautifully white his teeth are60 ,no story of the ,saviour outside the ,gospels is so worthy to have been in them4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,xii ,,the ,,friend ,,of ,,the ,,creature ,,in ,hindu mythology ,gundhya attracts a whole forestful of beasts by reciting his poems to them4 ,the power of ,apollo and of ,orpheus in taming beasts depended on a far less surprising modus operandi2 like the greater part of myths1 this one was not spun from the thin air of imagination4 ,music has a real influence on animals2 in spite of theories to the contrary1 it is probable that the sweet flute-playing of the snake-charmer--his 8sweet charming0 in ,biblical phrase--is no mere piece of theatrical business1 but a veritable aid in obtaining the desired results4 ,i myself could once attract fieldmice by playing on the violin1 and only lately1 on the road near our house at ,sal1 ,i noticed that a goat manifested signs of wishing to stop before a grind-organ2 its master pulled the string by which it was led1 but it tugged at it so persistently that1 at last1 he stopped1 and the goat1 turning round its head1 listened with evident attention4 ,independently of the pleasure music may give to animals1 it excites their curiosity1 a faculty which is extremely alive in them1 as may be seen by the way in which small birds are attracted by the pretty antics of the little ,italian owl2 they cannot resist going near to have a better view1 and so they rush to their doom upon the limed sticks4 ,legends have an inner and an outer meaning2 the allegory of ,apollo1 ,lord of ,harmony1 would have been incomplete had it lacked the beautiful incident of a ,nature ,peace--partial indeed1 but still a fairer triumph to the god than his ,olympian honours4 ,for nine years he watched the sheep of ,admetus1 as ,euripides described3-- 8,pythean ,apollo1 master of the lyre1 ,who deigned to be a herdsman and among ,thy flocks on hills his hymns celestial sung2 ,and his delightful melodies to hear ,would spotted lynx and lions fierce draw near2 ,they came from ,othry's immemorial shade1 ,by charm of music tame and harmless made2 ,and the swift1 dappled fawns would there resort1 ,from the tall pine-woods and about him sport40 ,when ,apollo gave ,orpheus his lyre1 he gave him his gift 8to soothe the savage breast40 ,in the splendid ,pompeian fresco showing a ,nature ,peace1 the bay-crowned1 central figure is said to be ,orpheus1 though its god-like proportions suggest the divinity himself4 ,at any rate1 nothing can be finer as the conception of an inspired musician3 the whole body sings1 not only the mouth4 ,a lion and a tiger sit on either side2 below1 a stag and a wild boar listen attentively1 and a little hare capers near the stream4 ,in the upper section there are other wild beasts sporting round an elephant1 while oxen play with a tiger2 an anticipation of the ox and tiger in ,rubens' 8,garden of ,eden40 ,the power of ,orpheus to subdue wild beasts was the reason why the early ,christians took him as a type of ,christ4 ,of all the prophecies which were believed to refer to the ,messiah none so captivated the popular mind as those which could be interpreted as referring to ,his recognition by animals4 ,the four ,gospels which became the canon of the ,church threw no light on the subject1 but the gap was filled up by the uncanonical books2 one might think that they were written principally for the purpose of dwelling on this theme1 so frequently do they return to it4 ,in the first place1 they bring upon the scene those dear objects of our childhood's affection1 the ass and the ox of the stable of ,bethlehem4 ,surely many of us cherish the impression that ass and ox rest on most orthodox testimony3 an idea which is certainly general in ,catholic countries1 though1 the other day1 ,i heard of a ,french priest who was heartless enough to declare that they were purely imaginary4 8,alas10 as ,voltaire said1 8people run after truth60 ,as a matter of fact1 it appears evident that the ass and the ox were introduced to fulfil the prophecy of ,isaiah3 8,the ox knoweth his owner and the ass his master's manger1 but ,israel knoweth ,me not40 ,but there arose what was thought a difficulty3 the apocryphal ,gospels1 in harmony with the earliest traditions1 place the birth of ,christ1 not in a stable1 but in the grotto which is still shown to travellers4 ,to reconcile this with the legend of the ass and ox and also with the narrative of ,st4 ,luke1 it was supposed that the ,holy ,family moved from the grotto to a stable a few days after the ,child was born4 ,this is a curious case of finding a difficulty where there was none1 for it is very likely that the caves near the great ,khan of ,bethlehem were used as stables4 ,in every primitive country shepherds shelter themselves and their flocks in holes in rocks2 ,i remember the 8uncanny0 effect of a light flickering in the depths of a ,phnician tomb near ,cagliari2 it was almost disappointing to hear that it was only a shepherd's fire4 ,thomas1 8the ,israelite philosopher10 as he called himself1 author of the ,pseudo-,thomas which is said to date from the second century1 appears to have been a ,jewish convert belonging to one of the innumerable 8heretical0 sects of the earliest times4 ,it may be guessed1 therefore1 that the ,pseudo-,thomas was first written in ,syriac1 though the text we possess is in ,greek4 ,it is considered the model on which all the other ,gospels of the ,infancy were founded1 but the ,arabic variant contains so much divergent matter as to make it probable that the writer drew on some other early source which has not been preserved4 ,mohammed was acquainted with this ,arabian ,gospel1 and ,mohammedans did not cease to venerate the sycamore-tree at ,matarea under which the ,arabian evangelist states that the ,virgin and ,child rested1 till it died about a year ago4 ,the ,pseudo-,thomas contains some vindictive stories1 which were modified or omitted in the other versions3 probably they are all to be traced to ,elisha and his she-bears3 a theory which ,i offer to those who cannot imagine how they arose4 ,a curious feature in these writings is the scarcity of anything actually original2 the most original story to be found in them is that of the clay sparrows1 which captivated the ,east and penetrated into the folk-lore even of remote ,iceland4 ,notwithstanding the fulminations of ,councils1 the apocryphal ,gospels were never suppressed2 they enjoyed an enormous popularity during the ,middle ,ages1 and many details derived solely from these condemned books crept into the ,legenda ,aurea and other strictly orthodox works4 ,the 8,little ,child0 of ,isaiah's prophecy was the cause of troops of wild beasts being convoked to attend the ,infant ,christ4 ,lions acted as guides for the flight into ,egypt1 and it is mentioned that not only did they respect the ,holy ,family1 but also the asses and oxen which carried their baggage4 ,besides1 the lions1 leopards1 and other creatures 8wagged their tails with great reverence0 7though all these animals are not of the dog species1 but of the cat1 in which wagging the tail signifies the reverse of content74 ,this is the subject of an old ,english ballad3-- 8,and when they came to ,egypt's land1 ,amongst those fierce wild beasts1 ,mary1 she being weary1 ,must needs sit down to rest4 #8,come1 sit thee down1' said ,jesus1 #8,come1 sit thee down by ,me1 ,and thou shall see how these wild beasts ,do come and worship ,me4'0 ,first to come was the 8lovely lion10 king of all wild beasts1 and for our instruction the moral is added3 8,we'll choose our virtuous princes of birth and high degree40 ,sad rhymes they are1 nor1 it will be said1 is the sense much better2 yet1 hundreds of years ago in ,english villages1 where1 perhaps1 only one man knew how to read1 this doggerel served the end of the highest poetry3 it transported the mind into an ideal region2 it threw into the ,english landscape deserts1 lions1 a ,heavenly ,child2 it stirred the heart with the romance of the unknown2 it whispered to the soul-- 8,the ,now is an atom of sand1 ,and the ,near is a perishing clod2 ,but ,afar is a ,fary ,land1 ,and ,beyond is the bosom of ,god40 ,the pseudo-gospel of ,matthew relates an incident which refers to a later period in the ,holy ,childhood4 ,according to this narrative1 when ,jesus was eight years old ,he went into the den of a lioness which frightened travellers on the road by the ,jordan4 ,the little cubs played round ,his feet1 while the older lions bowed their heads and fawned on ,him4 ,the ,jews1 who saw it from a distance1 said that ,jesus or ,his parents must have committed mortal sin for ,him to go into the lion's den4 ,but coming forth1 ,he told them that these lions were better behaved than they2 and then ,he led the wild beasts across the ,jordan and commanded them to go their way1 hurting no one1 neither should any one hurt them till they had returned to their own country4 ,so they bade ,him farewell with gentle roars and gestures of respect4 ,these stories are innocent1 and they are even pretty1 for all stories of great1 strong animals and little children are pretty4 ,but they fail to reveal the slightest apprehension of the deeper significance of a peace between all creatures4 ,turn from them to the wonderful lines of ,william ,blake3-- 8,and there the lion's ruddy eyes ,shall flow with tears of gold1 ,and pitying the tender cries ,and walking round the fold ,saying3 ,wrath by ,his meekness1 ,and by ,his health sickness1 ,are driven away ,from our mortal day4 ,and now beside thee1 bleating lamb1 ,i can lie down and sleep1 ,or think on ,him who bore thy name1 ,graze after thee1 and weep2 ,for1 washed in life's river1 ,my bright mane for ever ,shall shine like the gold ,as ,i guard o'er the fold40 ,no one but ,blake would have written this1 and few things that he wrote are so characteristic of his genius4 ,the eye of the painter seizes what the mind of the mystic conceives1 and the poet surcharges with emotion words which1 like the ,vedic hymns1 infuse thought rather than express it4 ,a single passage in the ,new ,testament connects ,christ with wild animals2 in ,st4 ,mark's ,gospel we are told that after ,his baptism in the ,jordan ,jesus was driven by the ,spirit into the wilderness1 where 8,he was with the wild beasts1 and the angels ministered unto ,him40 ,in the ,east the idea of the anchorite who leaves the haunts of men for the haunts of beasts was already fabulously old4 ,in the ,western world of the ,roman ,empire it was a new idea1 and perhaps on that account1 while it excited the horror of those who were faithful to the former order of things1 it awoke an extraordinary enthusiasm among the more ardent votaries of the new faith4 ,it led to the discovery of the inebriation of solitude1 the powerful stimulus of a life with wild nature4 ,many tired brain-workers have recourse to mountain ascents as a restorative1 but these can rarely be performed alone1 and high mountains with their immense horizons tend to overwhelm rather than to collect the mind4 ,but to wander alone in a forest1 day after day1 without particular aim1 drinking in the pungent odours of growing things1 fording the ice-cold streams1 meeting no one but a bird or a hare--this will leave a memory as of another existence in some enchanted sphere4 ,we have tasted an ecstasy that cities cannot give4 ,we have tasted it1 and we have come back into the crowded places1 and it may be well for us that we have come back1 for not to all is it given to walk in safety alone with their souls4 ,illustration3 ,photo3 ,anderson4 ,,st4 ,,jerome ,,extracting ,a ,,thorn ,,from ,,the ,,paw ,,of ,a ,,lion4 7,by ,hubert van ,eyck47 ,naples ,museum4 ,of one of the earliest ,christian anchorites in ,egypt it is related that for fifty years he spoke to no one2 he roamed in a state of nature1 flying from the monks who attempted to approach him4 ,at last he consented to answer some questions put by a recluse whose extreme piety caused him to be better received than the others4 ,to the question of why he avoided mankind1 he replied that those who dwelt with men could not be visited by angels4 ,after saying this1 he vanished again into the desert4 ,i have observed that the idea of renouncing the world was not a ,western idea1 yet1 at the point where it touches madness1 it had already penetrated into the ,west--we know where to find its tragic record3-- 8,ego vitam agam sub altis ,phrygiae columinibus1 ,ubi cerva silvicultrix1 ubi aper nemorivagus80 ,the point of madness would have been reached more often but for the charity of the stag and the wild boar and the lion and the buffalo1 who felt a sort of compassion for the harmless1 weak human creatures that came among them1 and who were ready to give that response which is the sustaining ichor of life4 ,the same causes produce the same effects--man may offer surprises but never men4 ,wherever there are solitaries there are friendships between the recluse and the wild beast4 ,all sorts of stories of lions and other animals that were on friendly terms with the monks of the desert have come down to us in the legends of the ,saints4 ,the well-known legend of how ,st4 ,jerome relieved a lion of a thorn which was giving him great pain1 and how the lion became tame1 was really told of another saint1 but ,jerome1 if he did not figure in a lion story1 is the authority for one3 in his life of ,paul the ,hermit he relates that when that holy man died1 two lions came out of the desert to dig his grave2 they uttered a loud wail over his body and knelt down to crave a blessing from his surviving companion--none other than the great ,st4 ,anthony4 ,he also says that ,paul had subsisted for many years on food brought to him by birds1 and when he had a visitor the birds brought double rations4 ,as soon as the hermit appears in ,europe his four-footed friends appear with him4 ,for instance1 there was the holy ,karileff who tamed a buffalo4 ,karileff was a man of noble lineage who took up his abode with two companions in a clearing in the woods on the ,marne1 where he was soon surrounded by all sorts of wild things4 ,amongst these was a buffalo1 one of the most intractable of beasts in its wild state1 but this buffalo became perfectly tame1 and it was a charming sight to see the aged saint stroking it softly between its horns4 ,now it happened that the king1 who was ,childebert1 son of ,clovis1 came to know that there was a buffalo in the neighbourhood1 and forthwith he ordered a grand hunt4 ,the buffalo1 seeing itself lost1 fled to the hut of its holy protector1 and when the huntsmen approached they found the monk standing in front of the animal4 ,the king was furious1 and swore that ,karileff and his brethren should leave the place for ever2 then he turned to go1 but his horse would not move one step4 ,this filled him with what was more likely panic fear than compunction2 he lost no time in asking the saint for his blessing1 and he presented him with the whole domain1 in which an abbey was built and ultimately a town1 the present ,saint-,calais4 ,on another occasion the same ,childebert was hunting a hare1 which took refuge under the habit of ,st4 ,marculphe2 the king's huntsman rudely expostulated1 and the monk surrendered the hare1 but1 lo and behold6 the dogs would not continue the pursuit and the huntsman fell off his horse6 ,a vein of more subtle sensibility runs through the story of ,st4 ,columba1 who1 not long before his death1 ordered a stork to be picked up and tended when it dropped exhausted on the ,western shore of ,iona4 ,after three days1 he said1 the stork would depart1 8for she comes from the land where ,i was born and thither would she return40 ,in fact1 on the third day1 the stork1 rested and refreshed1 spread out its wings and sailed away straight towards the saint's beloved ,ireland4 ,when ,columba was really dying the old white horse of the convent came and laid its head on his shoulder with an air of such profound melancholy that it seemed nigh to weeping4 ,a brother wished to drive it away1 but the saint said ,no2 ,god had revealed to the horse what was hidden from man1 and it was come to bid him goodbye4 ,evidently there is only a slight element of the marvellous in these legends and none at all in others1 such as the story of ,walaric1 who fed little birds and told the monks not to approach or frighten his 8little friends0 while they picked up the crumbs4 ,to the same order belong several well-authenticated stories of the ,venerable ,joseph of ,anchieta1 apostle of ,brazil4 ,he protected the parrots that alighted on a ship by which he was travelling from the merciless sailors who would have caught and killed them4 ,whilst descending a river he would have saved a monkey which some fishermen shot at with their arrows1 but he was not in time2 the other monkeys gathered round their slain comrade with signs of mourning3 8,come near10 said the holy man1 8and weep in peace for that one of you who is no more40 ,presently1 fearing not to be able longer to restrain the cruelty of the men1 he bade them depart with ,god's blessing4 ,here is no marvel2 only sympathy which is sometimes the greatest of marvels4 ,it needed the mind of a ,shakespeare to probe just this secret recess of feeling for animals3-- 8---- ,what dost thou strike at1 ,marcus1 with thy knife8 ---- ,at that ,i have killed1 my ,lord1 a fly4 ---- ,out on thee1 murderer1 thou killest my heart2 ,mine eyes are cloyed with view of tyranny2 ,a deed of death done on the innocent1 ,becomes not ,titus' brother2 get thee gone1 ,i see thou art not for my company4 ---- ,alas6 my ,lord1 ,i have but killed a fly4 ---- ,but how if that fly had a father and mother8 ,how would he hang his slender gilded wings ,and buz lamented doings in the air8 ,poor harmless fly6 ,that with his pretty buzzing melody ,came here to make us merry1 and thou hast killed him40 ,if ,st4 ,bernard saw a hare pursued by dogs or birds threatened by a hawk he could not resist making the sign of the cross1 and his benediction always brought safety4 ,it is to this saint that we owe the exquisite saying1 8,if mercy were a sin ,i think ,i could not keep myself from committing it40 ,illustration3 ,photo3 ,hanfslngl4 ,,st4 ,,eustace ,,and ,,the ,,stag4 7,by ,vittore ,pisano47 ,national ,gallery4 ,apart from the rest1 stands one saint who brought the wild to the neighbourhood of a bustling1 trafficking little ,italian town of the thirteenth century and peopled it with creatures which1 whether of fancy or of fact1 will live for ever4 ,how ,st4 ,francis tamed the 8wolf of ,agobio0 is the most famous if not altogether the most credible of the animal stories related of him4 ,that wolf was a quadruped without morals2 not only had he eaten kids but also men4 ,all attempts to kill him failed1 and the townsfolk were afraid of venturing outside the walls even in broad daylight4 ,one day ,st4 ,francis1 against the advice of all1 went out to have a serious talk with the wolf4 ,he soon found him and1 8,brother ,wolf10 he said1 8you have eaten not only animals but men made in the image of ,god1 and certainly you deserve the gallows2 nevertheless1 ,i wish to make peace between you and these people1 brother ,wolf1 so that you may offend them no more1 and neither they nor their dogs shall attack you40 ,the wolf seemed to agree1 but the saint wished to have a distinct proof of his solemn engagement to fulfil his part in the peace1 whereupon the wolf stood up on his hind legs and laid his paw on the saint's hand4 ,francis then promised that the wolf should be properly fed for the rest of his days1 8for well ,i know10 he said kindly1 8that all your evil deeds were caused by hunger0--upon which text several sermons might be preached1 for truly many a sinner may be reformed by a good dinner and by nothing else4 ,the contract was kept on both sides1 and the wolf lived happily for some years--8notricato cortesemente dalla gente0--at the end of which he died of old age1 sincerely mourned by all the inhabitants4 ,if any one decline to believe in the wolf of ,gubbio1 why1 he must be left to his invincible ignorance4 ,but there are other tales in the ,fioretti and in the ,legenda ,aurea which are nowise hard to believe4 ,what more likely than that ,francis1 on meeting a youth who had wood-doves to sell1 looked at the birds 8con l'occhio pietoso10 and begged the youth not to give them into the cruel hands that would kill them8 ,the young man1 8inspired by ,god10 gave the doves to the saint1 who held them against his breast1 saying1 8,oh1 my sisters1 innocent doves1 why did you let yourselves be caught8 ,now will ,i save you from death and make nests for you1 so that you may increase and multiply according to the commandment of our ,creator40 ,schopenhauer mentions1 with emphatic approval1 the ,indian merchant at the fair of ,astrachan who1 when he has a turn of good luck1 goes to the market-place and buys birds1 which he sets at liberty4 ,the holy ,francis not only set his doves free1 but thought about their future1 a refinement of benevolence which might 8almost have persuaded0 the humane though crusty old philosopher to put on the ,franciscan habit4 7,at this point ,i chance to see from my window a kitten in the act of annoying a rather large snake4 ,it is a coiled-up snake2 probably an ,itongo4 ,it requires a good five minutes to induce the kitten to abandon its quarry and to convey the snake to a safe place under the myrtles4 ,this being done1 ,i resume my pen47 ,i have remarked that in some respects the ,saint of ,assisi stands apart from the other saints who took notice of animals4 ,it was a common thing1 for instance1 for saints to preach to creatures1 but there is an individual note in the sermon of ,francis to the birds which is not found elsewhere4 ,the reason why ,st4 ,anthony preached to the fishes at ,rimini was that the 8heretics0 would not listen to him1 and ,st4 ,martin addressed the water-fowl who were diving after fish in the ,loire because1 having compared them to the devil1 seeking whom he may devour1 he thought it necessary to order them to depart from those waters--which they immediately did1 no doubt frightened to death by the apparition of a gesticulating saint and the wild-looking multitude4 ,the motive of ,francis was neither pique at not being listened to nor the temptation to show miraculous skill as a bird-scarer2 he was moved solely by an effusion of tender sentiment4 ,birds in great quantities had alighted in a neighbouring field3 a beautiful sight which every dweller in the country must have sometimes seen and asked himself1 was it a parliament1 a garden party1 a halt in a journey8 8,wait a little for me here upon the road10 said the saint to his companions2 8,i am going to preach to my sisters the birds40 ,and so1 8having greeted them as creatures endowed with reason10 he went on to say3 8,birds1 my sisters1 you ought to give great praise to your ,creator1 who dressed you with feathers1 who gave you wings to fly with1 who granted you all the domains of the air1 whose solicitude watches over you40 ,the birds stretched out their necks1 fluttered their wings1 opened their beaks1 and looked at the preacher with attention4 ,when he had done1 he passed in the midst of them and touched them with his habit1 and not one of them stirred till he gave them leave to fly away4 ,the saint lifted worms out of the path lest they should be crushed1 and during the winter frosts1 for fear that the bees should die in the hive1 he brought honey to them and the best wines that he could find4 ,near his cell at ,portionuculo there was a fig-tree1 and on the fig-tree lived a cicada4 ,one day the ,servant of ,god stretched out his hand and said1 8,come to me1 my sister ,cicada02 and at once the insect flew upon his hand4 ,and he said to it1 8,sing1 my sister ,cicada1 and praise thy ,lord40 ,and having received his permission she sang her song4 ,the biographies that were written without the inquisition into facts which we demand1 gave a living idea of the man1 not a photograph of his skeleton4 ,what mattered if romance were mixed with truth when the total was true8 ,we know ,st4 ,francis of ,assisi as if he had been our next-door neighbour4 ,it would have needed unbounded genius to invent such a character1 and there was nothing to be gained by inventing it4 ,the legends which represent him as one who consistently treated animals as creatures endowed with reason are in discord with orthodox teaching2 they skirt dangerously near to heresy4 ,giordano ,bruno was accused of having said that men and animals had the same origin2 to hold such an opinion qualified you for the stake4 ,but the ,church that canonised ,buddha under the name of ,st4 ,josephat has had accesses of toleration which must have made angels rejoice4 ,some think that ,francis was at one time a troubadour1 and troubadours had many links with those ,manichan heretics whom ,catholics charged with believing in the transmigration of souls4 ,this may interest the curious1 but the doctrine of metempsychosis has little to do with the vocation of the ,asiatic recluse as a beast-tamer1 and ,st4 ,francis of ,assisi was true brother to that recluse4 ,he was the ,fakeer or ,dervish of the ,west4 ,when the inherent mysticism in man's nature brought the ,dervishes into existence soon after ,mohammed's death1 in spite of the ,prophet's well-known dislike for religious orders1 they justified themselves by quoting the text from the ,koran1 8,poverty is my pride40 ,it would serve the ,franciscan equally well4 ,the begging friar was an anachronism in the religion of ,islam as he is an anachronism in modern society1 but what did that matter to him8 ,he thought and he thinks that he will outlive both4 ,the ,abdl or pre-eminently holy ,dervish who lived in the desert with friendly beasts over whom he exercised an extraordinary power1 became the centre of a legend1 almost of a cult1 like his ,christian counterpart4 ,there were several ,abdls of high repute during the reigns of the early ,ottoman ,sultans4 ,perhaps there was more confidence in their sanctity than in their sanity1 for while the ,catholic historian finds it inconvenient to admit the hypothesis of madness as accounting for even the strangest conduct of the saints of the desert or their medival descendants1 a devout ,oriental sees no irreverence in recognising the possible affinity between sainthood and mental alienation4 ,in ,india the holy recluse who tames wild beasts is as much alive to-day as in any former time4 ,whatever is very old is still a part of the everyday life of the ,indian people4 ,accordingly the native newspapers frequently report that some prince was attacked by a savage beast while out hunting1 when1 at the nick of time1 a venerable saint appeared at whose first word the beast politely relaxed his hold4 ,those who know ,india best by no means think that all such stories are invented4 ,why should they be8 ,cardinal ,massaia 7who wore1 by the by1 the habit of ,francis7 stated that the lions he met in the desert had very good manners4 ,a few years ago an old lady met a large1 well-grown lioness in the streets of ,chatres2 mistaking it for a large dog1 she patted it on the head and it followed her for some time until it was observed by others1 when the whole town was seized with panic and barred doors and windows4 ,even with the provocation of such mistrust the lioness behaved well1 and allowed itself to be reconducted to the menagerie from which it had escaped4 ,those who try to divest themselves of human nature rarely succeed1 and the reason nearest to the surface why1 over all the world1 the lonely recluse made friends with animals was doubtless his loneliness4 ,on their side1 animals have only to be persuaded that men are harmless for them to meet their advances half-way4 ,if this is not always true of wild beasts1 it is because 7as ,st4 ,francis apprehended7 unfortunately they are sometimes hungry2 but man is not the favourite prey of any wild beast who is in his right mind4 ,prisoners who tamed mice or sparrows followed the same impulse as saints who tamed lions or buffaloes4 ,how many a prisoner who returned to the fellowship of men must have regretted his mouse or his sparrow6 ,animals can be such good company4 ,still1 it follows that if their society was sought as a substitute1 they were1 in a certain sense1 vicarious objects of affection4 ,we forget that even in inter-human affections much is vicarious4 ,the sister of charity gives mankind the love which she would have given to her children4 ,the ascetic who will never hear the pattering feet of his boy upon the stairs loves the gazelle1 the bird fallen from its nest1 the lion cub whose mother has been slain by the hunter4 ,and love1 far more than charity 7in the modern sense71 blesses him that gives as well as him that takes4 ,but human phenomena are complex1 and this explanation of the sympathy between saint and beast does not cover the whole ground4 ,who can doubt that these men1 whose faculties were concentrated on drawing nearer to the ,eternal1 vaguely surmised that wild living creatures had unperceived channels of communication with spirit1 hidden rapports with the ,fountain of ,life which man has lost or has never possessed8 ,who can doubt that in the vast cathedral of ,nature they were awed by 8the mystery which is in the face of brutes08 ,beside the need to love and the need to wonder1 some of them knew the need to pity4 ,here the ground widens1 for the heart that feels the pang of the meanest thing that lives does not beat only in the hermit's cell or under the sackcloth of a saint4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,xiii ,,versipelles ,,the snake and the tiger are grim realities of ,indian life4 ,they mean a great deal--they mean ,india with its horror and its splendour2 above all1 with its primary attention given to things which for most ,europeans are nil or are kept for ,sunday4 ,and ,sunday1 the day most calm1 most bright1 has only a little portion of them1 only the light not the darkness of the ,unknown4 ,to the despair of the ,english official1 the ,hindu1 like his forefathers in remotest antiquity1 respects the life of tiger and snake4 ,in doing so he is not governed simply by the feeling that makes him look on serenely whilst all sorts of winged and fleet-footed creatures eat up his growing crops--another tolerance which exasperates the ,western beholder3 in that instance it is1 in the main1 the rule of live and let live which dictates his forbearance1 the persuasion that it is wrong to monopolise the increase of the earth to the uttermost farthing's-worth4 ,his sentiment towards tiger and snake is of a more profound nature4 ,the ,hindu will not kill a cobra if he can help it1 and if one is killed he tries to expiate the offence by honouring it with proper funeral rites4 ,the tiger1 like the snake1 gives birth to those ancient twins1 fear and admiration4 ,the perception of the beautiful is one of the oldest as it is one of the most mysterious of psychological phenomena in man and beast4 ,why should the sheen of the peacock's tail attract the peahen8 ,why should the bower-bird and the lyre-bird construct a lovely pleasance where they may dance8 ,man perceived the beautiful in fire and wind1 in the swift air1 the circle of stars1 the violent water1 the lights of heaven3 8being delighted with the beauty of these things1 he took them to be gods0--as was said by the writer of the ,wisdom of ,solomon about two hundred years before ,christ4 ,he also perceived the beautiful in the lithe movements of the snake and in the tiger's symmetry4 ,as to the sense of fear1 how is it that this fear is unaccompanied by repulsion8 ,to this question the more general answer would seem to be that ,nature1 if regarded as divine1 cannot repel4 ,but the snake and tiger are in some special way divine1 so that they become still further removed from the range of human criticism4 ,they are manifestations of divinity--a safer description of even the lowest forms of zoolatry than the commoner one which asserts that they are 8gods40 ,deity1 if omnipresent1 8must be able to occupy the same space as another body at the same time10 which was said in a different connexion1 but it is the true base of all beliefs involving the union of spirit and matter from the lowest to the highest4 ,the animal which is a divine agent1 ought to behave like one4 ,if it causes destruction1 such destruction should have the fortuitous appearance of havoc wrought by natural causes4 ,the snake or tiger should not wound with malice prepense1 but only in a fine1 casual way4 ,this is just what1 as a rule1 they are observed to do4 ,i have seen many snakes1 but ,i never saw one run after a man1 though ,i have seen men run after snakes4 ,now and then the ,italian peasant is bitten by vipers because he walks in the long grass with naked feet4 ,he treads on the snake or pushes against it1 and it bites him4 ,so it is with the ,indian peasant4 ,it is much the same in the case of the normal tiger2 unless he is disturbed or wounded1 he most rarely attacks4 ,but there are abnormal tigers1 abnormal beasts of every sort--there is the criminal class of beast4 ,what of him8 ,it might be supposed that primitive man would take such a beast to be an angry or vindictive spirit4 ,by no means4 ,he detects in him a fellow-human4 ,the ,indian forestalled ,lombroso2 the man-eating tiger is a degenerate1 really not responsible for his actions1 and still less is the god behind him responsible for them4 ,little need be said of the natural history of the man-eating tiger2 yet a few words may not be out of place4 ,to his abnormality every one who has studied wild beasts bears witness4 ,all agree that the loss of life from tigers is almost exclusively traceable to individuals of tiger-kind which prey chiefly or only on man4 ,the seven or eight hundred persons killed annually by tigers in ,british ,india are victims of comparatively few animals4 ,not many years ago a single man-eating tigress was certified to have killed forty-eight persons4 ,while the ordinary tiger has to be sought out with difficulty for the sport of those who wish to hunt him1 the man-eater night after night waylays the rural postman or comes boldly into the villages in search of his unnatural food4 ,during great scarcity caused by the destruction or disappearance of small game in the forests1 the carnivora are forced out of their habits as the wolves in the ,vosges are induced to come down to the plains in periods of intense cold4 ,such special causes do not affect the question of the man-eater1 which eats man's flesh from choice1 not from necessity4 ,why he does so ,europeans have tried to explain in various ways4 ,one is1 that the unfamiliar taste of human flesh creates an irresistible craving4 ,in ,south ,america they say that a jaguar after tasting man's flesh once becomes an incorrigible man-eater for ever after4 ,others think man-eating is a form of madness1 a disease1 and they point to the fact that the man-eater is always in bad condition2 his skin is useless4 ,but it is not sure if this be cause or effect1 since man's flesh is said to be unwholesome4 ,a third and plausible theory would attribute man-eating to the easy capture of the prey3 a tiger that has caught one man will hunt no other fleeter game4 ,especially in old age1 a creature that has neither horns nor tusks nor yet swift feet must appear an attractive prey4 ,this coincides with an observation made by ,apollonius of ,tyana3 he says that lions caught and ate monkeys for medicine when they were sick1 but that when they were old and unable to hunt the stag and the wild boar1 they caught them for food4 ,aristotle said that lions were more disposed to enter towns and attack man when they grew old1 as old age made their teeth defective1 which was a hindrance to them in hunting4 ,another possible clue may be deduced from a belief which exists in ,abyssinia about the man-eating lion4 ,in that country the people dislike to have ,europeans hunt the lion1 not only because they revere him as the king of beasts 7though this is one reason1 and it shows how natural to man is the friendly feeling towards beasts1 and how it flourishes along with any sort of religion1 provided the religion has been left ,oriental and not ,westernised71 but also because they are convinced that a lion whose mate has been killed becomes ferocious and thirsts for human blood4 ,this belief is founded on accurate observation of the capacity of wild beasts for affection4 ,the love of the lion for his mate is no popular error4 ,that noble hunter1 ,major ,leveson1 told a pathetic story of how he witnessed in ,south ,africa a fight between two lions1 while the lioness1 palm and prize1 stood looking on4 ,a bullet laid her low1 but the combatants were so hotly engaged that neither of them perceived what had happened4 ,then another bullet killed one of them3 the survivor1 after the first moment of surprise as to why his foe surrendered1 turned round and for the first time saw the hunters who were quite near4 ,he seemed about to spring on them1 when he caught sight of the dead lioness3 8,with a peculiar whine of recognition1 utterly regardless of our presence1 he strode towards her1 licked her face and neck with his great rough tongue and patted her gently with his huge paw1 as if to awaken her4 ,finding that she did not respond to his caresses1 he sat upon his haunches like a dog and howled most piteously44440 ,finally the mourning lion fled at the cries of the ,kaffirs and the yelping of the dogs close at hand4 ,he had understood the great1 intolerable fact of death4 ,would any one blame him if he became an avenger of blood8 ,supposing that this line of defence could be transferred to the tiger1 instead of being branded as lazy1 decrepit1 mad1 or bad1 he might hope to appear before the public with a largely rehabilitated character4 ,the natives of the jungle resort to none of these hypotheses to account for the man-eater3 a different bank of ideas can be drawn on by them to help them out of puzzling problems4 ,the free force of imagination is far preferable1 if admitted1 as a solver of difficulties1 to all our patient and plodding researches4 ,the jungle natives tell many stories of the man-eater1 of which the following is a typical example4 ,it was told to a ,british officer1 from whom ,i had it4 ,once upon a time there was a man who had the power of changing himself into a tiger whenever he liked4 ,but for him to change back into the shape of a man it was necessary that some human being should pronounce a certain formula4 ,he had a friend who knew the formula1 and to him he went when he wished to resume human shape4 ,but the friend died4 ,the man was obliged1 therefore1 to find some one else to pronounce the formula4 ,at last he decided to confide the secret to his wife2 so1 one day1 he said to her that he should be absent for a short time and that when he came back it would be in the form of a tiger2 he charged her to pronounce the proper formula when she should see him appear in tiger-shape1 and he assured her that he would then1 forthwith1 become a man again4 ,in a few days1 after he had amused himself by catching a few antelopes1 he trotted up to his wife1 hoping all would be well4 ,but the woman1 in spite of all that he had told her1 was so dreadfully frightened when she saw a large tiger running towards her1 that she began to scream4 ,the tiger jumped about and tried to make her understand by dumb-show what she was to do1 but the more he jumped the more she screamed1 and at last he thought in his mind1 8,this is the most stupid woman ,i ever knew10 and he was so angry that he killed her4 ,directly afterwards he recollected that no other human being knew the right formula--hence he must remain for ever a tiger4 ,this so affected his spirits that he acquired a hatred for the whole human race1 and killed men whenever he saw them4 ,this diverting folk-tale shows a root-belief in the stage of becoming a branch-belief4 ,in the present case the root is the ease with which men are thought to be able to transform themselves 7or be transformed by others7 into animals4 ,the branch is the presumption that a very wicked animal must be human4 ,the corresponding inference that a very virtuous animal must be human1 throws its reflection upon innumerable fairy-tales4 ,i think it was the more primitive of the two4 ,even the tiger is not everywhere supposed to be the worse for human influence4 ,in the ,sangor and ,nerbrudda territories people say that if a tiger has killed one man he will never kill another1 because the dead man's spirit rides on his head and guides him to more lawful prey4 ,entirely primitive people do not take an evil view of human nature--which is proved by their confidence in strangers3 the first white man who arrives among them is well received4 ,misanthropy is soon learnt1 but it is not the earliest sentiment4 ,the bad view of the man-tiger prevails in the ,niger delta1 where the negroes think that 8some souls which turn into wild beasts give people a great deal of trouble40 ,other ,african tribes hold that tailless tigers are men--tigers which have lost their tails in fighting or by disease or accident4 ,i do not know if these are credited with good or bad qualities4 ,by the rigid ,totemist all this is ascribed to ,totemism4 ,men called other tribesmen by the names of their totems2 then the totem was forgotten and they mistook the tiger-totem-man for a man-tiger et sic de ceteris4 ,my ,syrian guide on ,mount ,carmel told me that the ravens which fed ,elijah were a tribe of ,bedouins called 8the ,ravens10 which still existed4 ,if this essay in the ,higher ,criticism was original it said much for his intelligence4 ,but because such confusions may happen1 and no doubt do happen1 are they to be taken as the final explanation of the whole vast range of man and animal mutations8 ,what have they to do with such a belief as that vouched for by ,st4 ,augustine--to wit1 that certain witch innkeepers gave their guests drugs in cheese which turned them into animals8 ,these witches had a sharp eye to business1 for they utilised the oxen1 asses1 and horses thus procured1 for draught or burden1 or let them out to their customers1 nor were they quite without a conscience1 as when they had done using them they turned them back into men4 ,magic1 the old rival of religion1 lies at the bottom of all this order of ideas4 ,magic may be defined as the natural supernatural1 since by it man unaided commands the occult forces of nature4 ,the theory of demoniacal assistance is of later growth4 ,a story rather different from the rest is told by ,pausanias1 who records that1 at the sacrifice of ,zeus on ,mount ,lycus1 a man was always turned into a wolf1 but if for nine years in wolf-shape he abstained from eating human flesh1 he would regain his human form4 ,this suggests a ,buddhist source4 ,the infiltration of ,buddhist folk-lore into ,europe is a subject on which we should like to know more4 ,buddhism was the only missionary religion before ,christianity1 and there is every probability that it sent missionaries ,west as well as ,east4 ,the early ,irish took so favourable a view of wolves that they were accustomed to pray for their salvation1 and chose them as godfathers for their children4 ,in ,druidical times the wolf and other animals were divine manifestations1 and the ,celts were so attached to their beast-gods that they did not maledict what they had worshipped1 but found it a refuge somewhere4 ,in the earliest ,gallic sculpture the dispossessed animals are introduced as companions of the new ,saints4 ,it will be noticed that in the ,indian folk-tale1 though the identification of the man with the man-eater is clear1 a very lenient view is taken of him3 he was not always so2 even his excursions in tiger-skin were1 at first1 purely innocent2 he was a good husband and a respectable citizen till his wife's nerves made him lose his temper4 ,in early ,christian times1 the man-wolf might be not only innocent but a victim4 ,he might be a particularly good man turned by a sorcerer into a wolf1 and in such cases he preserves his good tendencies4 ,in the seventh century such a man-wolf defended the head of ,st4 ,edward the ,martyr from other wild beasts4 ,on the other hand1 there are stories of ,christian saints who turned evil-disposed persons into beasts by means of the magical powers which1 at first1 all baptized persons were thought to possess potentially if not actively4 ,st4 ,thomas ,aquinas believed in the possibility of doing this4 ,in a ,russian folk-tale the apostles ,peter and ,paul turned a bad husband and wife into bears4 ,in ,europe by degrees the harmless were-wolf entirely disappeared but the evil one survived4 ,the superstition of lycanthropy concentrated round one point 7as superstitions often do73 the self-transformation of a perverse man or sorcerer into an animal for nefarious purposes4 ,the object of the transformation might be the opportunity for giving free range to sanguinary appetites2 but there was another object lurking in the background1 and this was the acquirement of second sight1 which some animals 7if not all7 are supposed to be endowed with4 ,just as ,varro and ,virgil believed in lycanthropy1 so the most highly educated ,europeans in the time of ,louis ,,xiv4 and after1 believed in were-wolves4 ,the choice of the animal was immaterial1 but it fell naturally on the most prominent and feared wild animal which was locally extant4 ,a fancy or exotic animal would not do1 which illustrates the link there is between popular beliefs and facts2 distorted facts1 it may be1 but real and not imaginary things4 ,if a bear of bad morals appears in ,norway1 people declare that it can be 8no ,christian bear0--it must be a ,lapp or a ,finn1 both these peoples1 who are much addicted to magic1 being supposed to have the power of changing into bears when they choose4 ,instead of seeking the wild beast in man1 people sought the man in the wild beast4 ,as in ,asia so in ,europe1 it was noticed and pondered that the normal wild beast is dangerous1 perhaps1 but not from a human point of view perverse4 ,the normal wolf like the normal tiger does not attack or destroy for the love of destruction4 ,wolves attack in packs1 but the instinct of the single individual is to keep out of man's way4 ,he does not kill even animals indiscriminately4 ,in the last times when there were wolves in the ,italian valleys of the ,alps1 the news spread that a wolf had killed a number of sheep4 ,what had really happened was this1 which an old hunter told at ,edolo to a relative of mine4 ,the wolf jumped down into a sheepfold sunk in the ground4 ,he killed a sheep and ate some of it and then found1 to his dismay1 that he could not get up the wall of the sheepfold4 ,nothing daunted1 however1 he killed a sufficient number of sheep to form a mound1 up which he climbed and so effected his escape4 ,no one thought such a clever wolf as this a lupo manaro4 ,but some wolves1 like some dogs1 are subject to fits of mental alienation1 in which they slay without rhyme or reason4 ,sheep are found killed all over the countryside1 and men or children may be among the victims4 ,the question arises of who did it--a wolf1 a man1 or both in one8 ,the material fact is there1 and it is a fact calculated to excite terror1 surprise1 curiosity4 ,that the fact may remain always a mystery recent experience shows4 ,when the were-wolf mania was rampant in ,france1 honestly conducted judicial inquiry succeeded in a few cases1 in tracing the outrages to a real wolf or to a real man4 ,at last1 in #afjc1 a ,french court of law pronounced the belief in were-wolves to be an insane delusion1 and from that date it slowly declined4 ,heretics were suspected of being were-wolves4 ,as late as fifty years ago1 a reminiscence of the loup garou existed in most parts of ,france1 in the shape of the meneux des loups1 who were supposed to charm or tame whole packs of wolves which they led across the waste lands on nights when the moon shone fitfully through rifts in hurrying clouds4 ,the village recluse1 the poacher1 the man who simply 8knew more than he should10 fell under the suspicion of being a 8wolf-leader10 and1 of course1 the usual 8eye-witness0 was forthcoming to declare that he had seen the suspected individual out upon his midnight rambles with his wolves trotting after him4 ,in some provinces all the fiddlers or bag-pipers were thought to be 8wolf-leaders40 ,illustration3 ,maurice ,sand4 8,,le ,,meneur ,,des ,,loups40 ,if the wolf turnskin died out sooner in ,england than in ,france1 it was because there were no wolves to fasten it upon4 ,throughout the horrible witch-mania ,british sorcerers were supposed to turn into cats1 weasels1 or innocent hares6 ,italian witches still turn into cats4 ,i remember how graphically ,c4 ,g4 ,leland described to me a visit he had paid to a ,tuscan witch2 her cottage contained three stools1 on one of which sat the witch1 on the second her familiar jet-black cat1 and on the third my old friend1 who1 ,i feel sure1 had come to believe a good deal in the 8old religion10 and who1 in his last years1 might have sat for a perfect portrait of a magician6 ,the connexion of the witch and the cat is a form of turnskin-belief in which the feature of the acquirement of second sight is prominent4 ,no witch without a cat6 ,the essential fact in the superstition is the fondness of poor1 old friendless women for cats--their last friends4 ,a contributing fact lay in the mysterious disappearances and reappearances of cats and in their half-wild nature4 ,the cat in ,indian folk-lore is the tiger's aunt4 ,the mode of effecting transformation into animals is various1 but always connected with fixed magical procedure4 ,a root or food1 or still oftener an ointment1 is resorted to3 ointments played a great part in superstition2 it was by ointments that the unlucky persons accused of being wizards were held to have spread the plague of ,milan4 ,but the surest method of transformation was a girdle made of the skin of the animal whose form it was desired to take4 ,this is regarded as a makeshift for not being able to put on the whole skin4 ,an old ,french record tells of a man who buried a black cat in a box where four roads met1 with enough bread soaked in holy water and holy oil to keep it alive for three days4 ,the man intended to dig the cat up and1 after killing it1 to make a girdle of its skin by which means he expected to obtain the gift of second sight2 but the burial-place of the cat was discovered by some dogs that were scratching the earth1 before the three days had elapsed4 ,the man1 put to the torture1 confessed all4 ,in this case1 it will be noticed that the spiritual powers of the cat were to be obtained without assuming its outward form4 ,the turnskin who wishes to go back into his human shape1 has also to follow fixed rules3 a formula must be pronounced by some one else1 as in the jungle tiger story1 or the man-beast must eat some stated food as in ,lucian's skit 7if ,lucian wrote it7 of the man who1 by using the wrong salve1 turned himself into a donkey instead of into a bird as he had wished1 and who could only resume his own form by eating roses1 which he did not accomplish until he had undergone all sorts of adventures4 ,the belief that beasts were inhabited by depraved men has a certain affinity with the belief that depraved men were inhabited by demons4 ,dante maintains that some persons have actually gone to their account while their bodies are still above-ground1 the lodgings of evil spirits4 ,the history of the turnskin leads up to several conclusions1 of which the most important is1 that superstitions often grow uglier as they grow older4 ,they descend1 they rarely ascend4 ,this experience should make us pause before we pronounce hideous beliefs to be1 in a true sense1 primitive4 ,the idea of transformation is one of the oldest of human ideas1 much older than transmigration1 but at the outset1 far from lending itself to such repulsive applications as man-tigers and demon-men1 it gave birth to some of the fairest passages in the poetry of mankind which he calls his religion4 ,it is impossible to imagine a more beautiful myth than the ,vedic belief in the swan-maidens1 the ,apsarases who1 by putting on skirts of swan feathers1 could become swans4 ,their swan-skirts stretch from the hot ,east to the cold ,north1 for they are the same that are worn by the ,valkyries4 ,all these early legends of swans bring into particularly clear light the moral identity of the impressions received from things seen by man at the bottom and at the top of the ladder of intellectual progress4 ,natural objects1 lovely or terrible1 raise archetypal images of things lovely or terrible which in our minds remain shapeless but to which the primitive man gives a local habitation and a name4 ,swans1 sailing on still waters or circling above our heads1 inspire us with indefinite longings which took form in the myth of the ,apsarases and appear again in the ,vedic story of the sage who1 by deep knowledge and holiness1 became a golden swan and flew away to the sun4 ,to this day1 if the ,hindu sees a flight of swans wending its mysterious way across the sky1 he repeats the saying almost mechanically 7as a ,catholic crosses himself if he pass a shrine73 8,the soul flies away1 and none can go with it40 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,xiv ,,the ,,horse ,,as ,,hero ,,fifty years ago the knell of the horse was rung1 with due solemnity1 by the ,american statesman1 ,charles ,sumner4 ,the age of chivalry1 he said1 was gone--an age of humanity had come2 8the horse1 whose importance more than human1 gave the name to that period of gallantry and war1 now yields his foremost place to man40 ,as a matter of fact1 the horse is yielding his foremost place to the motor-car1 to the machine2 and this is the topsy-turvy way in which most of the millennial hopes of the mid-nineteenth century are being fulfilled by the twentieth2 the big dream of a diviner day ends in a reality out of which all that is ideal is fading4 ,but the reason why ,i quote the passage is the service which it renders as a reminder of the often forgotten meaning of the word 8chivalry40 ,the horse was connected with the ideals no less than with the realities of the phase in human history that was called after him2 the mental consequences of the partnership between man and that noble beast were not less far reaching than the physical4 ,there are a hundred types of human character1 some of them of the highest1 in the making of which the horse counts for nothing2 but this type1 this figure of the very perfect gentle knight1 cannot be imagined in a horseless world4 ,we hear of what man taught animals1 but less of what animals taught man4 ,in the unity of emotion between horse and rider something is exchanged4 ,even the epithets which it is natural to apply to the knightly hero1 one and all fit his steed3 defiant and gentle1 daring and devoted1 trusty and tireless1 a scorner of obstacles1 of a gay1 brave spirit--the list could be lengthened at will4 ,and the qualities and even the defects they had in common were not so much the result of accident as the true fruit of their mutual interdependence4 ,in the aftermath of chivalry which produced the song-writers and the splendid adventurers of the ,elizabethan age1 horsemanship came again to the fore as a passion rather than as a mere necessary pursuit4 ,we know that1 not satisfied with what ,england could provide1 the fashionable young men frequented the schools of skilled ,italians1 generally of noble birth1 such as ,corte da ,pavia1 who was ,queen ,elizabeth's riding-master4 ,the prevailing taste is reflected in ,shakespeare1 who1 though he was for all time1 was yet1 essentially of his own2 his innumerable allusions to horses show1 in the first place1 that he knew all about them1 as he did about most things1 and in the second1 that he knew that these allusions would please his audience1 which no born dramatist ever treated as a negligible quantity1 and the least of all ,shakespeare4 ,even the performing or 8thinking0 horse does not escape his notice2 8the dancing horse will tell you10 in 8,love's ,labour ,lost10 refers to the 8,hans0 or 8,trixie0 of the period who also attracted the attention of ,ben ,jonson1 ,downe1 ,sir ,kenelm ,digby1 ,sir ,walter ,raleigh1 ,hall1 and ,john ,taylor1 the water-poet4 ,this animal's name was 8,morocco0 but he was often called 8,bankes' horse10 from his master who taught him to tell the number of pence in silver coins and the number of points in throws of dice1 and on one occasion made him walk to the top of ,st4 ,paul's4 ,alas1 for the fate of 8,morocco0 and his master1 8,being beyond the sea burnt for one witch10 as chronicled by ,ben ,jonson6 ,like ,esmeralda and her goat1 they were accused of magic1 and the charge1 first started at ,orleans1 was followed by condemnation and death in ,rome4 ,greater tragedies of superstition hardly come with such a shock as this stupid slaughter of a poor showman and his clever beast4 ,in ,elizabethan society interest in horses was directed chiefly to the turnings and windings1 the 8shapes and tricks0 of the riding-school1 and this lighter way of looking on them as affording man his most splendid diversion is1 in the main1 ,shakespeare's way--though he does not forget that1 at times1 a horse may be worth a kingdom4 ,not to him1 however1 or to any modern poet1 do we go for the unique1 incomparable description of the truly heroic horse1 the uncowed charger of the ,east1 created to awe rather than to be awed by man1 whom no image of servility would fit4 ,here is this specimen of the world's greatest poetry1 in case any one be so unfortunate as not to know it by heart3-- 8,he paweth in the valley and rejoiceth in his strength2 he goeth on to meet the armed men4 ,he mocketh at fear1 and is not affrighted2 neither turneth he back from the sword4 ,the quiver rattleth against him1 the glittering spear and the shield4 ,he swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage3 neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet4 ,he saith among the trumpets1 ,ha6 ha6 ,he smelleth the battle afar off1 the thunder of the captains and the shouting40 ,how the portrait leaps out of the page into life as ,velasquez's horse in the ,prado leaps out of his frame6 ,we feel the pulse of a passion which throbs through every vein from head to hoof4 ,this ,triumph of the ,war-horse is one of the points of affinity in the ,book of ,job with ,arab rather than with ,hebrew civilisation4 ,the text itself is nearer ,arabic than any other ,biblical book1 and the life of the protagonist is very like the life of an ancient ,arabian chieftain4 ,the ,jews proper cared little for horses2 when they fell into their hands they knew no better than to destroy them4 ,they were a pastoral people1 at no time fond of sport1 which was hardly recognised as lawful by their religious ordinances4 ,they do not seem to have ridden on horseback4 ,zechariah1 indeed1 speaks of the war-horse1 but only to represent him as the beautiful image of peace1 no more mixing in the fray1 but bearing on his bell 7which was meant to affright the foe7 the inscription3 8,holiness unto the ,lord40 ,illustration3 ,photo3 ,mansell4 ,,the ,,assyrian ,,horse4 ,british ,museum4 ,on the other hand1 the ,arab1 and1 most of all1 the ,nomadic ,arab1 has a dual existence with his horse4 ,he could not live without it2 it is a part of himself--of all that makes him himself and not another4 ,the same is true of the ,todas and their buffaloes1 the ,lapps and their reindeer4 ,in summer when the reindeer are in the hills1 to save them from what is there called the heat1 a ,lapp seems only half a ,lapp2 but his thoughts are still of reindeer and his fingers are busy with scratching its likeness on his spoons1 his milk-bowls1 his implements of all sorts1 all of which are made of reindeer-horn4 ,his songs are still of reindeer3 8,while the reindeer lasts1 the ,lapp will last2 when the reindeer fails1 the ,lapp will fail10 as ran the infinitely pathetic ditty ,i heard sung by a ,lapp woman who was shown to me as the best singer of the tribe4 ,with all these people the flesh of the beloved animal is esteemed the greatest delicacy2 a fact in which there seems to lie suggestions of cannibalism in its real psychological aspect--the eating of the hero in order to acquire his attributes4 ,sometimes1 however1 the reason may be simply that they were for long periods in the impossibility of obtaining other meat2 since the natural man prefers food to which he has grown familiar4 ,in what is probably the oldest version of ,boccaccio's ,falcon story1 the ,emperor of ,constantinople sends to ask a very generous pr-,islamic ,arab ,chief1 by name ,hatem ,tai 7celebrated as the type of chivalry over all the ,moslem world71 to give him a horse which ,hatem is known to value beyond all his possessions4 ,the object of the demand was to put his reputation for generosity to the test4 ,the officer1 who is the bearer of the ,emperor's request1 is regaled sumptuously on the evening of his arrival2 and1 according to the laws of ,oriental courtesy1 he puts off speaking of the business in hand till next day4 ,when he delivers his message ,hatem replies that he would have complied gladly1 but that the officer had eaten the horse last night for supper6 ,the horse was the most costly and coveted food which the chief could offer his guest1 and the story becomes thus more intelligible than when the victim is an uneatable bird like a hawk4 ,in ,oriental poetry the camel 8who asks but a thorn from the bed of roses of the world0 takes a well-merited share of attention1 but the animal which is before all others the ,eastern poets' beast is1 of course1 the horse3 he might himself be called the poet as well as the prince among beasts1 for if any living thing incarnates the poetry 8of form1 of motion1 of glad devotion10 it is surely the high-bred ,arab steed4 ,innumerable tributes credit him with three parts human qualities3-- 8,the courser looks his love as plainly as if he could speak1 ,he waves his mane1 his paws1 he curls his nostrils and his lips2 ,he makes half-vocal sounds1 uprears or droops his neck and hips1 ,his deep and pensive eyes light up with lambent flame1 then seem ,as if they swam in the desires of some mysterious dream40#h ,footnote #h3 ,translated by ,w4 ,r4 ,alger4 ,of the true ,arab horse it is said that his foot is so light that he could dance on a woman's breast without leaving a bruise4 ,some of the ,arabian ballads of horses are among the very few ,oriental poems which have acquired universal fame1 as that which tells of how the peerless ,lahla picked up his captured and bound master and carried him with his teeth back to the tribe1 on reaching which he sinks dead1 amidst the tears and lamentations of all4 ,horses1 the ,koran expressly says1 were created for man's use1 but also 8to be an ornament unto him03 all the romance1 the valour1 the deep-seated aristocratic instinct of the ,arab1 proudest of mankind1 is bound up with his horse4 ,the splendid ,arab chief who stands aside motionless to let go by an automobile carrying a party of tourists across the ,sahara reflects1 as he draws his burnoose closer over his mouth1 8,this is the #8ornament' of ,western man60 ,and1 looking at his horse1 which stands motionless as he 7for the ,arab steed fears nothing when his master is near71 he adds to himself3 8,these pass--we remain40 ,false it may be as a prophecy1 but he believes it because convinced of his superiority4 ,still by the camp-fires in the desert they tell the old story of a great chief who1 in pr-,gallic times1 was taken prisoner by the ,emir's horsemen4 ,he escaped1 but hardly had he reached his tent when in the desert air1 in which sounds are heard afar off1 a clattering of hoofs could be distinguished--the ,sultan's men were coming6 ,the chief sprang on his mare and fled4 ,when the men came up they knew that only one horse could overtake the mare1 her beautiful sister1 not less swift than she4 ,a soldier leapt from his own horse intending to mount her1 but the chiefs son1 yet a child1 instantly shot her dead with a pistol4 ,and so the chief was saved4 ,the ,ulemas of ,algeria say that when ,god wished to create the mare ,he spoke to the wind3 8,i will cause thee to bring forth a creature that shall bear all ,my worshippers1 that shall be loved by ,my slaves1 and that will cause the despair of all who will not follow ,my laws40 ,and when ,he had created her ,he said3 8,i have made thee without an equal3 the goods of this world shall be placed between thy eyes2 everywhere ,i will make thee happy and preferred above all the beasts of the field1 for tenderness shall everywhere be in the heart of thy master2 good alike for the chase and retreat1 thou shalt fly though wingless1 and ,i will only place on thy back the men who know me1 who will offer ,,me prayers and thanksgivings2 men who shall be ,my worshippers from one generation to another40 ,for the ,arab the horse was not only the means of performing great enterprises but the very object of life1 the thing in itself most precious1 the care1 the preoccupation1 and the prize4 ,the ,arab's horse is his kingdom4 ,illustration3 ,,arabian ,,horse ,,of ,,the ,,sahara4 ,i suppose that there is no doubt that the knightly type was a flower transported from the ,east1 though1 like many other ,eastern flowers1 it grew to its best in ,european gardens4 ,the ,crusaders learnt more than they taught4 ,coming down later1 the national hero of ,spain1 for all his pure ,gothic blood1 is an ,eastern not a ,western hero4 ,he will be understood far better when he is tried by this standard4 ,if we weigh him in ,eastern rather than in ,western scales1 a more lenient and above all a juster judgment will be the result1 and we shall see how the fine qualities with which legend credits him were not disproved by some acts which the modern ,western conscience condemns4 ,on the whole it may be taken for granted1 in spite of all that has been said to the contrary1 that tradition which easily errs about facts1 is rarely wrong about character4 ,ruy ,diaz de ,bivar was a hero after the ,arab's own heart3-- 8,noble y leal1 soldado y ,caballero1 ,seor te apellido la gente ,mora10 as the lines run on his coffin in the town-hall at ,burgos4 ,nothing being sacred to a critic1 it has been contested that he was first called 8,myo ,cid10 or 8,my ,lord10 by the ,moors1 but tradition and etymology agree too well for this to be reasonably doubted4 ,it is certain that both ,moors and ,christians called him by his other title of ,campeador in ,spanish and ,al-kambeyator in the form the ,arabic writers gave it4 ,it was derived from his gallantry in single combats and did not mean1 as some have thought1 8,champion of the ,christians40 ,it is entirely in keeping with the ,cid's ,arab affinities that his horse should have attained a fame almost as great as his own4 ,from ,bucephalus to ,copenhagen never was there a ,european horse equal in renown to ,bavieca4 ,his glory1 is it not writ in nearly every one of the hundred ballads of the ,cid8 ,the choosing of ,bavieca is one of the most striking events in the ,cid's youth4 ,the boy asked his godfather1 a fat1 good-natured old priest1 to give him a colt4 ,the priest took him to a field where the mares and their colts were being exercised and told him to take the best4 ,they were driven past him and he let all the handsomest go by2 then a mare came up with an ugly and miserable-looking colt--8,this10 he cried1 8is the one for me60 ,his godfather was angry and called him a simpleton1 but the lad only answered that the horse would turn out well and that 8,simpleton0 78,bavieca07 should be his name4 ,horses which begin as ugly ducklings and end as swans are an extensive breed4 ,count de ,gubernatis1 in his valuable work on 8,zoological ,mythology10 mentions ,hatos1 the magical horse of the ,hungarians1 as belonging to this class4 ,if as old as the oldest legend1 they are1 in a sense1 as new as the 8outsider0 which carries off one of the greatest prizes of the ,turf4 ,the choosing of ,bavieca was in the mind of ,cervantes when he described in his inimitable way the choosing of ,rozinante 78ex-jade071 who never became anything but a rozin in the most present tense1 except in the imagination of his master1 but who will live for ever in his company1 to bear witness to the indivisible oneness of the knight and his horse4 ,completely ,oriental in sentiment is the splendid ballad which relates how the ,cid offered ,bavieca to his king because it was not meet that a subject should have a horse so far more precious than any possessed by his lord4 ,there is in this not only the act of homage but also the absorbing pride which made the ,arab who was overtaking a horse-stealer1 shout to him the secret sign at which his stolen mare would go her best1 preferring to lose her than to vanquish her4 8,o king1 the thing is shameful that any man beside ,the liege lord of ,castile himself should ,bavieca ride4 ,for neither ,spain nor ,araby could another charger bring ,so good as he1 and certes1 the best befits the king40 ,the gorgeous simplicity of the original is missed by ,lockhart in the succeeding verses1 in which the ,cid1 before giving up the horse1 mounts him to show his worth1 his ermine mantle hanging from his shoulders4 ,he will do1 he says1 in the presence of the king what he has not done for long except in battle with the ,moor3 he will touch ,bavieca with his spurs4 ,then comes the maddest1 wildest1 yet most accomplished display of noble horsemanship that ever witched the world4 ,one rein breaks and the beholders tremble for his life1 but with ease and grace he guides the foaming and panting horse before the king and prepares to yield him up4 ,then ,alfonso cries1 ,god forbid that he should take him3 he shall be accounted1 indeed1 as his1 but shameful would it be 8,that peerless ,bavieca should ever be bestrid ,by any mortal but ,bivar--#8,mount1 mount again1 my ,cid6'0 ,there is a spot in ,spain where we still seem to breathe the very air of chivalrous romance3 the royal armoury at ,madrid1 in which the mail-clad knights with their plumes1 their housings1 their lances1 their trophies1 sit their fine horses as gallantly as if they were riding straight into the lists4 ,there1 and there alone1 we can invoke the proper mise en scne for the gestes and jousts described in the ,spanish ballads4 ,historically1 it seems certain that the ,cid died at ,valencia in ,july1 #ajii1 an access of grief that his captains--who1 owing to his ill-health1 were obliged to replace him--had failed to hold the ,moors in check4 ,king ,alfonso came to the assistance of his noble widow1 ,jimena1 but finally ,valencia had to be abandoned2 all the ,christians left the town and the ,cid's body was borne to his distant ,northern home4 ,such is the historical outline1 sufficiently pathetic in itself but adorned with additions1 not all of them1 perhaps1 invented in the sublime legend of the ,last ,ride4 ,it is said that the ,cid1 knowing that his last hour was near1 refrained from any food except certain draughts of rose-water in which were dissolved the myrrh and balsam sent to him by the great ,sultan of ,persia4 ,he gave particular instructions as to how his body was to be anointed with the myrrh and balsam which remained in the golden caskets1 and how it was to be set upright on ,bavieca1 fully saddled and armed1 to be still a terror to the ,moors1 who were to be kept in complete ignorance of his death4 ,all this was done and a great victory was won over the ,moors1 who thought they saw their dreaded enemy once more commanding in person4 ,then the victors started on the long journey to ,san ,pedro de ,cardea1 near ,burgos1 the ,cid riding his horse by day1 supported by an artful contrivance1 and by night placed on a dummy horse wrought by ,gil ,diaz1 his devoted servitor4 ,jimena1 with all the ,cid's men1 followed in his train4 ,on the way the procession is joined by the ,cid's two daughters and by a great mass of people who mourned in their hearts for ,spain's greatest hero1 but they wore rich and gay apparel1 for the ,cid had forbidden the wearing of mourning4 ,so ,cardea was reached1 and tenderly and lovingly ,ruy ,diaz lifted the ,cid's body for the last time from ,bavieca's back--never more to bear a man4 ,the glorious war-horse lived for two years1 led to water each day by ,gil ,diaz4 ,on his death1 at more than forty years of age and leaving not unworthy descendants behind him1 he was buried1 according to the ,cid's express desire1 in a deep and ample grave1 8so that no dog might disturb his bones10 near the gate of the ,convent1 and two elms were planted to mark the spot4 ,when ,gil ,diaz died1 full of years and richly provided for by the ,cid's daughters1 he was laid to rest beside the horse he had loved and tended so faithfully4 ,in this narrative1 condensed from the ,chronicles1 the curious particular will have been noticed of the gift by the 8,great ,sultan of ,persia0 to the ,christian warrior of those precious spices and aromatic gums which seem to have been the secret treasure of old ,persia1 forming a priceless offering reserved for the very greatest personages4 ,the strangeness of bringing in the ,sultan of ,persia almost suggests that there was truth in the assertion that he had sent presents to the ,cid4 ,over the sea and over the fruitful fields the radiance of noble deeds travels1 as ,pinder said of old4 ,a little after the march of the ,thousand1 the ,arabs of the desert were heard discussing round their camp-fires the exploits of ,garibaldi4 ,if the fame of the ,cid reached ,persia1 as it is very likely that it did1 he would have found fervent admirers among a people which was still electrified by the epic poem of ,firdusi1 who died within a year or two of the ,cid's birth4 ,in that epic is told the story of the ,persian ,campeador--the ,champion ,rustem1 who not only in his title but in all we know of his general bearings has so great a resemblance to the ,cid that it is a wonder if no historical 8discoverer0 has derived one from the other1 the more so since there have not been wanting writers who denied the ,cid's existence4 ,and if ,ruy ,diaz de ,bivar has his analogue in ,rustem1 has not ,bavieca a perfect counterpart in ,rakush8 ,it is the horse not his master that leads me into the mazes of the ,shah ,nameh1 but something of ,rustem must be told to make ,rakush's story intelligible4 ,like ,siegfried1 ,rustem was of extraordinary size and strength3 he looked a year old on the day of his birth4 ,when he was still a child a white elephant broke loose and began trampling the people to death3 ,rustem ran to the rescue and slew it4 ,a little time after this his father1 whose name was ,zal1 called the boy and showed him all his horses1 desiring him to choose that which pleased him best1 but not one was powerful enough or spirited enough to satisfy him4 ,unlike the ,cid1 ,rustem wanted a horse that looked as perfect as he really was4 ,after examining them all and trying many1 he noticed at a little distance a mare followed by a marvellously beautiful foal4 ,rustem got ready his noose to throw about the foal's neck1 and while he did so1 a stable-man whispered to him that this foal was1 indeed1 worth anything to secure2 the dam1 named ,abresh1 was famous1 while the sire had been no mortal creature but a djinn4 ,the foal's name was ,rakush 78,lightning071 a name given to a dappled or piebald horse1 and his coat1 that was as soft as silk1 looked like rose-leaves strewn on a saffron ground4 ,several persons who had tried already to capture the foal had been killed by the mare1 who allowed no one to go near it4 ,in fact1 no sooner has ,rustem lassoed the foal than its mother rushes towards him ready to seize him with her white teeth1 which glisten in the sun4 ,rustem utters a loud cry which so startles the mare that she pauses for an instant3 then1 with clenched fist1 he rains blow on blow on her head and neck till she drops down to die4 ,it was done in self-defence3 still1 it is a barbaric prelude4 ,rustem continued to hold ,rakush with his free hand while he conquered the mare1 but now the colt drags him hither and thither like an inanimate object3 the dauntless youth has to strive long for the mastery1 but he does not rest till the end is achieved4 ,the horse is broken in at one breath1 after the fashion of ,american cow-boys4 ,it should be noticed that legendary heroes always break in their own horses--no other influence has been ever brought to bear on the horse but their own4 ,rakush has found a master indeed1 but a master worthy of him4 ,he has recognised that there is one--only one--fit to rule him4 ,like all true heroes' horses1 he will suffer no other mortal to mount him3 if ,barbary really allowed ,bolingbroke to ride him it was a sure sign that his poor royal master was no hero4 ,this same characteristic belonged also to ,julius ,csar's horse1 which was a remarkable animal in more ways than one1 as he was reported to have feet like a human being4 ,i have no doubt that ,soloman's white mare1 ,koureen1 followed the same rule as well as the angel ,gabriel's reputed steed1 ,hazim1 though ,i have not found record of the fact4 ,when the colt is broken in1 he stands before his master perfect and without flaw4 8,now ,i and my horse are ready to join the fighting-men in the field10 says ,rustem as he places the saddle on his back1 to the boundless joy of ,zal1 whose old1 withered heart becomes as green as springtide with the thrill of fatherly pride4 ,so ,rakush is richly caparisoned and ,rustem rides away on him1 beardless youth though he is1 to command great armies1 slay fearsome dragons1 defeat the wiles of sorcerers1 and do all the other feats with which the fresh fancy of a young nation embroidered the story of its favourite hero--for1 it must be remembered1 ,firdusi did not invent ,rustem any more than ,tennyson invented ,lancelot4 ,i think there is every reason to believe that there was a real ,rustem just as there was a real ,cid2 and that the first1 like the second1 was a combination of the guerrillero1 the condottiere1 the magnificent free-booter1 with the knight-errant or paladin--a stamp which was impressed upon the other rle by the personal quality of noble-mindedness possessed by the individual in each case4 ,for years unnumbered the exploits of ,rustem have entertained the ,persian listener from prince to peasant1 but the story will ever remain young because it is of those which reflect that which holds mankind spell-bound3 the magnetic power of human personality4 ,one hears the clear1 crisp clatter of the horse's hoofs as they gallop through the epic4 ,docile as ,rakush has become1 his spirit is unbent2 he is eager to fight his own battles and his master's too4 ,like ,baiardo1 the horse in ,ariosto1 he uses his hoofs with deadly effect1 and on one occasion there is a regular duel between him and another horse while ,rustem is fighting its rider4 ,his rashness inspires ,rustem with much anxiety in their earlier journeys together4 ,quite at the beginning1 when ,rustem is on his way to liberate his captive king--his first 8labour0--he lies down to sleep in a forest1 leaving ,rakush free to graze1 and what is not his surprise when he wakes to find a large lion extended dead on the grass close by4 ,rakush killed the savage beast with teeth and heels while his master slept tranquilly4 ,rustem remonstrates with his too venturesome steed3 ,why did he fight the lion all alone8 ,why did he not neigh loudly and call for assistance8 ,had he reflected how terribly unfortunate it would be for ,rustem if anything were to happen to him8 ,who would carry his heavy battle-axe and all his other accoutrements8 ,he conjures ,rakush to fight no more lions single-handed4 ,then and at other times ,rustem talks to ,rakush1 but ,rakush does not answer like the horse of ,achilles4 ,the ,persians of the eleventh century had reached the stage of people who take their marvels with discrimination2 they accepted ,simurghs1 white demons1 phantom elks1 giants1 dragons1 but they might have hesitated about a talking horse4 ,another of ,rustem's addresses to his horse was spoken after one of his first victories when the enemy was in full retreat3 8,my valued friend10 he said1 8put forth thine utmost speed and bear me after the foe40 ,the noble animal certainly understood1 for he bounded over the plain snorting as he flew along and tossing up his mane1 and great was the booty which fell into his master's hands4 ,rustem once said that with his arms and his trusty steed he would not mind fighting thirty thousand men4 ,as a matter of fact1 he never lacked followers1 for he was of those captains who have only to stamp on the ground for there to spring up soldiers4 ,in the nineteenth century a 8legendary hero0 wandered with his horse over the plains of ,uruguay much as ,rustem wandered with ,rakush4 8,in my nomad life in ,america10 writes ,garibaldi1 8after a long march or a day's fighting1 ,i unsaddled my poor tired horse and smoothed and dried his coat 444 rarely could ,i offer him a handful of oats since those illimitable fields provide so little grain that oats are not often given to horses4 ,then1 after leading him to water1 ,i settled him for the night near my own resting-place4 ,well1 when all this was done1 which was no more than a duty to my faithful companion of toil and peril1 ,i felt content1 and if by chance he neighed1 refreshed1 or rolled on the green turf--oh1 then ,i tasted la gentil volutt d'esser pio60 ,marvels are out of date1 but feeling remains unchanged1 and the 8sweets of kindness0 were known1 surely1 even to the earliest hero who made a friend of his horse and found him1 in the solitude of the wild1 no bad substitute for human friends4 ,in the story of ,sohrab1 one of the finest episodes in epic poetry1 ,rakush is introduced as the primary cause of it all4 ,tired with hunting in the forest1 and perhaps inclined to sleep by a meal of roasted wild ass1 which seems to have been his favourite game1 ,rustem lay down to rest under a tree1 turning ,rakush free to graze as was his wont4 ,when he awoke the horse was nowhere to be seen6 ,rustem looked for his prints1 a way of recovering stolen animals still practised with astonishing success in ,india4 ,he found the prints and guessed that his favourite had been carried off by robbers1 which was what had actually happened3 a band of ,tartar marauders lassoed the horse with their kamunds and dragged him home4 ,rustem followed the track over the border of the little state of ,samengan1 the king of which1 warned of the approach of the hero of the age1 went out to meet him on foot with great deference4 ,the hero1 however1 was in no mood for compliments2 full of wrath1 he told the king that his horse had been stolen and that he had traced his footprints to ,samengan4 ,the king kept his presence of mind better than might have been expected2 he made profuse excuses and declared that no effort should be spared to recover the horse--meanwhile he prayed ,rustem to become his honoured guest4 ,emissaries were sent in all directions in search of ,rakush and a grand entertainment was prepared for his master4 ,pleased and placated1 ,rustem1 who had spared little time for luxury in his adventurous life1 finally lay down on a delightful and beautifully adorned bed4 ,how poetic was sleep when it was associated1 not with an erection on four legs1 but with a low couch spread with costly furs and rich ,eastern stuffs6 ,so ,rustem reposed1 when his eyes opened on a living dream1 a maiden standing by his side1 her lovely features illuminated by a lamp which a slave girl held4 8,i am the daughter of the king10 says the fair vision2 8no one man has ever seen my face or even heard my voice4 ,i have heard of thy wondrous valour44440 ,rustem1 still wondering if he slept or woke1 asked her what was her will8 ,she answered that she loved him for his fame and glory1 and that she had vowed to ,god she would wed no other man4 ,behold1 ,god has brought him to her6 ,she desires him to ask her hand to-morrow of her father and so departs1 lighted on her way by the little slave4 ,was ever anything more chaste in its self-abandonment than the avowal of this love1 holy as ,desdemona's and irresistible as ,senta's8 ,nowhere in fiction can be found a more convincing illustration of the truth that the essential spring of woman's love for man is hero-worship4 ,on which truth1 in spite of the illusions it covers1 what is best in human evolution is largely built4 ,the king gave glad assent to the marriage1 which was celebrated according to the rites of that country4 ,rustem tarried but one night with his bride3 in the morning with weeping eyes she watched him galloping away on the recovered ,rakush4 ,long she grieved1 and only when a son was born was her sad heart comforted4 ,the grandfather gave the boy the name of ,sohrab4 ,rustem had left an amulet to be placed in the hair if ,god gave her a daughter but bound round the arm if a son were born4 ,in due course ,rustem sent a gift of costly jewels to his wife ,tahmineh1 with inquiries whether the birth of a child had blessed the marriage8 ,and now the mother of ,sohrab made the fatal mistake of a deception which led to all the evil that followed2 she sent word that a girl had been born because she was afraid that if ,rustem knew that he had a son1 he would take him from her4 ,rustem1 disappointed in his hopes1 thought no more about ,samengan4 ,there is no hint that ,tahmineh's fibbing1 which1 like very many other 8white lies10 ended in dire disaster1 was in the slightest degree the moral as well as the actual cause of the fatality4 ,herodotus said that every ,persian child was taught to ride and to speak the truth2 by ,firdusi's time the second part of the instruction seems to have been neglected1 for in the ,shah ,nameh he makes everybody give full rein to his powers of invention without the slightest scruple4 ,the bad consequences are attributed to blind fate1 not to seeing ,nemesis4 ,what is so agonising in the doom of ,sohrab is precisely the lack of moral cause such as exists in the ,greek tragedies4 ,though we do not accept as a reality the ,greek theory of retribution1 we do accept it as a point of view1 and it helps us1 as it helped them1 to endure the unspeakable horror of the dipus story4 ,sohrab goes forth1 with a boy's enthusiasm1 to conquer ,persia as a present to his unknown father4 ,the two meet1 and are incited to engage in single combat1 each not knowing the other4 ,after a ,titanic contest1 ,sohrab falls fatally wounded1 and only then does ,rustem discover his identity4 ,matthew ,arnold's poem has familiarised ,english readers with this wonderful scene1 and though the 8atmosphere0 with which he surrounded it1 is rather classical than ,eastern1 his 8,sohrab and ,rustum0 remains the finest rendering of an ,eastern story in ,english poetry4 ,some blind guide blamed him for 8plagiarising0 ,firdusi3 in a few points he might have done wisely to follow his original still more closely2 at least1 it is a pity that he did not enshrine in his own beautiful poem ,sohrab's touching words of comfort to his distracted father3 8,none is immortal--why this grief80 ,brave1 spotless1 kind1 ,firdusi's hero-victim who 8came as the lightning and went as the wind0 will always rank with the highest in the ,house of the ,youthful ,dead4 ,sohrab had a horse as well as ,rustem4 ,this sort of repetition or variation which is often met with in ,eastern literature pleases children1 who like an incident much the better if they are already acquainted with it1 but to the mature sense of the ,west it seems a fault in art4 ,no doubt for this reason ,matthew ,arnold does not mention ,sohrab's horse1 while doing full justice to ,rakush4 ,but connected with the young man's charger there is a scene of the deepest human interest and pathos1 when it is led back to his mourning1 sonless mother who had watched him ride forth on it1 rejoicing in its strength and in his own4 ,it was chosen by him and saddled by him for the first time in his glad boyhood2 now it is led back alone1 with his arms and trappings hanging from the saddle-bows4 ,in an agony of grief ,tahmineh presses its hoofs to her breast and kisses head and face1 covering them with her tears4 ,the mother dies after a year of ceaseless heartbreak2 the father and slayer grieves with a strong man's mighty grief1 but he lives to struggle and fight4 ,he and his ,rakush have many more wondrous adventures1 passing through enchantments and disenchantments and undergoing wounds and marvellous cures both of men and beast1 till their hour too comes4 ,rustem had a base-born half-brother1 named ,shughad1 who was carefully brought up and wedded to a king's daughter1 though the astrologers had foretold that he would bring ruin to his house4 ,this evil genius invites his invincible kinsman to a day's hunting1 having secretly prepared hidden pits bristling with swords4 ,the wise ,rakush stops short at the brink of the first pit1 refusing to advance2 ,rustem is stirred to anger and strikes his favourite1 who1 urged thus1 falls into the pit1 but with superhuman energy1 though cruelly cut about1 emerges from it with his rider safely on his back4 ,it is in vain1 for another and another pit awaits them--seven times they come up1 hacked about with wounds1 but on rising out of the seventh pit they both sink dying at the edge4 ,faintness clouds ,rustem's brain2 then1 for a little space1 it grows clear and cool and he utters the accusing cry1 8,thou1 my brother60 ,the wretch's answer is no defence of him--there can exist none--but strangely1 unexpectedly1 in spite of the impure lips that speak it1 it gives the justification of ,god's ways4 8,god has willed ,rustem's end for all the blood he has shed40 ,from his own stern faith with its ,semitic roots1 ,firdusi took this great1 solemn conception of blood-guiltiness which allowed no compromise4 8,thou hast shed blood abundantly and hast made great wars40 ,one thinks1 too1 of the wail of one who was of modern men1 the most like the old ,hebrew type3 8,all ,i have done10 said ,bismarck in his old age1 8is to cause many tears to flow40 ,the king1 who is the father-in-law of ,shughad1 offers to send for a magic balm to cure ,rustem's wounds1 but the hero will have none of it4 ,he is now quite collected1 though his life-blood is ebbing away4 ,in a quiet voice he asks ,shughad to do him the kindness of stringing his bow and placing it in his hands1 so that when dead he may be a scarecrow to keep away wolves and wild beasts from devouring his body4 ,with a hateful smile of triumph ,shughad complies2 ,rustem grasps the bow1 and taking unerring aim lets go the arrow1 which nails the traitor to the tree1 whither he rushed to hide himself4 ,so ,rustem dies1 thanking the ,almighty for giving him the power to avenge his murder4 ,there are few better instances of the long survival of a traditional sentiment than the fact of the king's 7or the chief's7 stable being regarded in modern ,persia as an inviolable sanctuary4 ,this must have originated in the veneration once felt for the horse4 ,the misfortunes which befell the grandson of ,nadir ,shah were attributed to his having put to death a man who took refuge in his stable4 ,no horse will carry to victory a master who profanes his stable with bloodshed4 ,even political offenders or pretenders to the throne were safe if they could reach the stable for as long as they remained in it4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,xv ,,animals ,,in ,,eastern ,,fiction ,i ,,was looking idly at the motley ,damascus crowd behind whose outward strangeness to my eyes ,i knew there lay a deeper strangeness of ideas1 when in the middle of a clearing ,i saw a monkey in a red fez which began to go through its familiar tricks4 ,i thought to myself1 8,how very near that monkey seems to me60 ,it was like the well-known figure of an old friend4 ,so it is with the animal-lore of ,eastern fiction2 it seems very near to us2 its heroes are our familiar friends4 ,perhaps we would lose everything in the treasure-house of ,oriental tales sooner than the stories of beasts4 ,if those stories had a hidden meaning which escapes us we are not troubled by their hidden meaning4 ,in their obvious sense they appeal to us directly1 without any effort to call up conditions of life and mind far removed from our own4 ,we take them to our hearts and keep them there4 ,indeed1 the ,west liked the ,eastern stories of beasts so well that it borrowed not a few without any acknowledgment4 ,we all know that the ,welsh dog1 ,gellert1 whose grave is shown to this day1 had a near relative in the mungoose of a ,chinese ,buddhist story which exists in a collection dating from the fifth century4 ,the same motive reappears in the ,panchatantra1 a ,sanscrit collection to which is assigned a slightly later date4 ,these are the earliest traces of it that have come to light1 but its subsequent wanderings are endless4 ,the theme does not vary much2 a faithful animal saves a child from imminent peril3 it is seen with marks of blood or signs of a struggle upon it1 and on the supposition that it has killed or hurt the child1 it is killed before the truth is discovered4 ,the animal varies according to the locality1 and amongst the other points of interest in this world-legend is that of reminding us of the universal diffusion of pet animals4 ,we learn1 too1 which was the characteristically household animal with the people who re-tell the story3 in ,syria1 ,greece1 ,spain1 as in ,wales1 and also 7rather to our surprise7 among the ,jews1 we hear of a dog4 ,the weasel tribe prevails in ,india and ,china1 the cat in ,persia4 ,probably in ,india and in ,china dogs were not often admitted inside the houses2 in a ,chinese analogous tale1 of which ,i shall speak presently1 there is a dog1 but the incidents take place on the highway4 ,the mungoose was the traditional pet of ,india because its enmity to snakes must have gained for it admittance into dwelling-places from very early times1 and wherever man lives in domesticity with any animal that he does not look upon as food1 he cannot save himself from becoming attached to it only a little less than he is attached to the human members of his household4 ,to this rule there are no exceptions4 ,in the matter of folk-tales1 even when we seem to have a clue to their origin1 it is rash to be dogmatic4 ,it has been remarked that the origin of this story was probably ,buddhist1 because it is unquestionable that ,buddhist monks purposely taught humanity to animals4 ,supposing that the story was diffused with a fixed purpose over the vast area covered at one time or another by ,buddhism1 it would have started with a wide base whence to spread4 ,moreover1 as ,i mentioned1 we find it first in a ,buddhist collection of stories4 ,but ,i am far from sure that the story did not exist--nay1 that the fact may not have happened--long before ,gautama preached his humane morality4 ,why should not the fact have happened over and over again8 ,it is one of those stories that are more true than truth4 ,i can tell a perfectly true tale which1 though not quite the same as 8,gellert's hound10 deserves no less to go round the world4 ,a few years ago a man went out in a boat on a ,french river to drown his dog4 ,in mid stream he threw the dog into the water and began to row away4 ,the dog followed and tried to clamber up into the boat4 ,the man gave it some severe blows about the head with the oar1 but the dog still followed the boat4 ,then the man lost his temper and lost his balance3 just as he aimed what he thought would be the final blow he tumbled into the water1 and as he did not know how to swim he was on the point of being drowned4 ,then the dog played his part3 he grasped the man's clothes with his teeth and held him up till assistance came4 ,that dog was never drowned6 ,things are soon forgotten now1 but if this had only happened on a ,chinese canal three thousand years ago we might still have been hearing about it4 ,more folk-tales arose in such a way than an unbelieving world suspects4 ,in the ,chinese ,buddhist version of ,gellert we are told that a very poor ,brahman who had to beg his bread possessed a pet mungoose1 which1 as he had no children1 became as fondly loved as if it had been his son4 ,how true is this touch which shows the love of animals as the katharsis of the heart-ache or heartbreak of the childless6 ,but1 by and by1 to the great joy of the ,brahman1 his wife bore him a son2 after this happy event he cherished the mungoose even more than ever1 for he said to himself that it was the fact of his having treated it as if it had been his child which had brought him the unhoped-for good luck of having a real child of his own4 ,one day the ,brahman went out to beg1 but before he went out he told his wife to be sure and take good care of the child and carry it with her if she left the house even for a minute4 ,the woman fed the child with cream and then remembered that she had to grind some rice2 she went into the garden to grind it and forgot to take the little boy with her4 ,after she was gone1 a snake1 attracted by the smell of the cream1 crept quite close to where the child lay and was going to bite it1 when the mungoose perceived what was going on and reflected3 8,my father has gone out and my mother too and now this poisonous snake wishes to kill my little brother40 ,so the mungoose attacked the poisonous snake and tore it into seven pieces4 ,then it thought that1 since it had killed the snake and saved the child1 it ought to acquaint its father and mother of what had happened and rejoice their hearts4 ,therefore it went to the door and waited for them to return1 its mouth still covered with blood4 ,just then the ,brahman came home and he was not pleased to see his wife without the child in the out-house1 where the mill was4 ,thus1 though this is left for the hearer to infer1 he was already vexed and anxious1 when he met the mungoose waiting by the door with blood on its mouth4 ,the thought rushed into his mind1 8,this creature1 being hungry1 has slain and eaten the child6 8,he took up a stick and beat the mungoose to death4 7,such a little thing1 it is so easily killed67 ,after that he went into the house1 where he found the baby sitting up in his cradle playing merrily with his fingers1 while the seven pieces of the dead snake lay beside him6 ,sorrow filled the ,brahman now2 alas1 for his folly6 ,the faithful creature had saved his child and he1 thoughtless wretch that he was1 had killed it6 ,only in this version are we informed of just what the devoted animal thought2 which may be a sign of its ,buddhist origin4 ,in the modern ,indian variant1 the mungoose1 tied by a string1 does not succeed in getting free till after the child has been bitten by the snake with which he had been playing1 thinking it a new toy4 ,the cobra took the play in good part till the child accidentally hurt it2 then1 angry with the pain1 it bit him in the neck4 ,when the mungoose got loose the deed was done and the cobra had slunk back into its hole4 ,off ran the mungoose into the jungle to find the antidote which the ,indian natives believe that this creature always uses when it is itself bitten by snakes4 ,the mother comes in at the moment when the mungoose is returning with the antidote3 she sees the child lying motionless1 and thinking that the mungoose has killed it she seizes it and dashes it to the ground4 ,it quivers for a few seconds1 then it dies4 ,only when it is dead1 does the mother notice the snake-root which it still holds tightly in its mouth4 ,she guesses the whole truth and quickly administers the antidote to the child1 who recovers consciousness4 ,the mungoose 8had been a great pet with all the children and was greatly mourned for40 ,in the ,sanscrit version preserved in the ,panchatantra collection the mother has brought up an ichneumon with her only child1 as if it had been his brother2 nevertheless1 a sort of fear has always haunted her that the animal might hurt the child sooner or later4 ,i must interrupt the story to remark how often the inglorious ,shakespeare of these poor little folk-tales traces with no mean art the psychological process which leads up to the tragic crisis4 ,what more true to life than the observation of the two opposing feelings balancing each other in the same mind till some accident causes one of them to gain uncontrollable mastery8 ,when the woman has killed her innocent little favourite she is bitterly unhappy1 but instead of blaming her own hastiness1 she says it was all her husband's fault3 what business had he to go out begging1 8through a greedy desire of profit10 instead of minding the baby as she had told him to do1 while she went to the well to fetch water8 ,and now the reprobate has caused the death of the ichneumon1 the darling of the house6 ,the touching trait of the creature1 which runs to its master or mistress after saving the child1 with the charming confidence and pride which any animal shows when it knows that it deserves praise1 appears in nearly all the versions4 ,prince ,llewellyn's greyhound goes out to meet him 8all bloody and wagging his tail40 ,the ichneumon ran joyously to meet its mistress1 and the cat1 in the ,persian version1 came up to its master 8rubbing against his legs40 ,in the ,persian tale the child's mother dies at its birth1 and it is stated that she was very fond of the cat1 which made the man even more grieved that he had killed it4 ,in ,german folk-lore the story of the dog 8,sultan0 sounds as if it were invented by some happy-souled humorist who had the ,llewellyn motive in his mind1 but who wanted to tell a merry tale instead of a sad one4 8,sultan0 is so old that his master wishes to kill him1 though much against the advice of his wife4 ,so 8,sultan0 consults a wolf of his acquaintance1 who proposes the stratagem of pretending that he is going to eat the good people's child1 while 8,sultan0 pretends to come up just at the nick of time to save it4 ,the plan is carried out with complete success1 and 8,sultan0 lives out his days surrounded by respect and gratitude4 ,there are several ,eastern tales which are of the same family as ,llewellyn's hound1 but in which the animal1 instead of saving a child1 confers some other benefit on its possessor4 ,in a ,persian fable a king kills his falcon because it spilled a cup of water which he is about to drink3 of course1 the water was really poisoned4 ,a current folk-tale of ,bengal makes a horse the victim of its devotion in preventing its master from drinking poisonous water4 ,rather different is the following ,chinese tale1 which is to be found1 told at more length1 in ,dr4 ,herbert ,h4 ,giles's delightful book1 8,strange ,stories from a ,chinese ,studio03-- ,there was a man of ,lu-ngan who had scraped together enough money to release his father from prison1 where he was like to die of all the untold miseries of ,chinese durance4 ,he got on a mule and set out for the town where his father was languishing1 taking the silver with him4 ,when he was well on his way1 he was much annoyed to see that a black dog which belonged to the family was following him2 he tried in vain to make it go back4 ,after riding on for some time1 he got off the mule to rest and he took the opportunity for throwing a large stone at the dog1 which ran away1 but as soon as he was on the road again the dog trotted up and took hold of the mule's tail1 as if trying to stop it4 ,the man beat it off with the whip1 but it only ran round in front of the mule1 and barked frantically so as to impede its progress4 ,the man now reflected1 8,this is a very bad omen10 and he got fairly into a rage and beat the dog off with such violence that it did not come back4 ,so he continued his journey without further incidents1 but when he reached the city in the dark of the evening1 what was not his despair on finding about half his money gone6 ,he did not doubt that he must have dropped it on the way1 and after passing a night of terrible distress he remembered1 towards dawn1 the strange way in which the dog behaved1 and he began to think that there might be some connexion between this and the loss of his money4 ,directly the gates were open he retraced his steps along the road1 though he hardly hoped to find any clue to his loss1 as the route was traversed by many travellers4 ,but at the spot where1 on the previous day he dismounted from his mule to rest1 he saw the dog stretched dead on the ground1 its hair still moist with perspiration1 and when he lifted up the body by one of its ears1 he found his lost silver safely concealed underneath it6 ,his gratitude was great1 and he bought a coffin1 in which he placed the dog and then buried it4 ,the place is known as 8the ,grave of the ,faithful ,dog40 ,it is not true that every one in ,china eats dogs1 but some do1 and the trade in such animals is a recognised business4 ,there are several cat and dog restaurants at ,canton4 ,this unenviable habit gives rise to the story of a merchant who had made a good stroke of business at ,wu-hu and was going home in a canal boat1 when he noticed on the bank a butcher who was tying up a dog previous to killing it4 ,it is not stated if the merchant had always a tender heart or if his good fortune in the town made him wish to do a good turn to some living thing2 anyhow1 he proposed to buy the dog4 ,the butcher was no fool2 he guessed that the trader would never leave the dog to its fate after thinking about rescuing it--what dreadful sleepless nights such a proceeding would cost any of us6 ,so he boldly asked a great deal more than the dog was worth1 which was paid down1 and the animal was untied and put on the boat with his new master4 ,now it so happened that the boatman had been a brigand1 and1 though partially reformed1 the feeling that he had on board a traveller with a large sum of money was too strong a temptation for him4 ,so he stopped the boat by running it among the rushes and drew out a long knife1 with which he prepared to murder his passenger4 ,the merchant begged the brigand not to mutilate him or cut off his head1 because such treatment causes the victim to appear in the next world as no one would like to4 ,brigands are generally religious1 and this one was no exception2 he was willing to oblige the merchant and tied him up1 quite whole1 in a carpet1 which he threw into the river4 ,the dog1 which had been looking on1 was in the water in a moment1 hugging and tugging at the bundle till he got it to a shallow place4 ,then he barked and barked till people came to see what was the matter1 and they undid the carpet and found the trader still alive4 ,the first thought of the rescued man was to track the thief1 for which purpose he started at once to go back to ,wu-hu4 ,at the time of starting1 much to his distress1 he missed the dog4 ,on arriving at ,wu-hu he hunted among the endless boats and shipping for the boat by which he had travelled1 but unfortunately he could see nothing of it1 and at last he gave up the search and was going home with a friend when what should he see but his lost dog1 which barked in a curious way as if to invite him to follow it4 ,the merchant did so1 and the dog led him to a boat that was lying close to the quay4 ,into this boat the dog jumped and seized hold of one of the boatmen by the leg4 ,in spite of blows the animal would not let go1 and then the merchant1 on looking hard at the boatman1 recognised him as the very man who tried to murder him1 though he had a nice new suit of clothes and a new boat4 ,the thief was arrested and the money found at the bottom of the boat4 8,to think10 says the story-teller1 8that a dog could show gratitude like that60 ,to which ,dr4 ,giles adds that dogs in ,china are usually 8ill-fed1 barking curs0 which1 if valued as guardians of house and chattels1 are still despised4 ,but beautiful moral qualities have the power to conquer loathing1 and even in those countries where the dog is regarded generally with aversion it is still the chosen type of sublime fidelity and love4 ,i can never think of ,chinese dogs without remembering a story told by my cousin1 ,lord ,napier of ,magdala1 of an incident which1 he said1 gave him more pain than anything that had ever happened to him in his life4 ,when he was in ,china he chanced to admire a dog1 which was immediately offered to him as a gift4 ,he could not accept the offer1 and next day he heard that the owner of the dog with all his family1 five persons1 had drowned himself in a well4 ,probably they imagined that he was offended by their offering him a mere dog4 ,in ,india1 to return to that home of legend1 the two most sublime ,beast ,stories are to be found in the ,great ,epic of the ,hindu race1 the ,mahabharata4 ,they are both stories of the faithfulness of man to beast1 and they afford consolation for the sorry figure presented by the human actor in the martyred mungoose tale4 ,the first of these stories is the legend of the ,hawk and the ,pigeon4 ,a pigeon pursued by a hawk flies for protection to the precinct of sacrifice1 where a very pious king is about to make his offering4 ,it clings to the king's breast1 motionless with fright4 ,then up comes the hawk1 which1 perching on a near vantage-ground1 begins to argue the case4 ,all the princes of the earth declare the king to be a magnanimous chief2 why1 therefore1 should he fly in the face of natural laws8 ,why keep its destined food from the hawk1 which feels very hungry8 ,the king answers that the pigeon came flying to him1 overcome by fear and seeking to save its life4 ,how can he possibly give it up8 ,a trembling bird which enters his presence begging for its life8 ,how ignoble it would be to abandon it6 ,surely it would be a mortal sin6 ,in fact1 that is exactly what the ,law calls it6 ,the hawk retorts that all creatures must eat to live4 ,you can sustain life on very little1 but how are you going to live on nothing at all8 ,if the hawk has nothing to eat1 his vital breath will depart this very day 8on the road where nothing more affrights40 ,if he dies1 his wife and children will die too for want of their protector4 ,such an eventuality cannot be contemplated by the ,law3 a law which contradicts itself is a very bad law and cannot be in accordance with eternal truth4 ,in theological difficulties one has to consider what seems just and reasonable and interpret the point in that sense4 8,there is a great deal to be said for what you say1 best of fowls10 replies the king1 who is impressed by the hawk's forensic skill and begins to think him a person not to be trifled with2 8you are very well informed2 in fact1 ,i am inclined to think that you know everything4 ,how can you suppose1 then1 that it would be a decent thing to give up a creature that seeks refuge8 ,of course1 ,i understand that with you it is a question of a dinner1 but something much more substantial than this pigeon can be prepared for you immediately2 for instance1 a wild boar1 or a gazelle or a buffalo--anything that you like40 ,the hawk answers that he never1 by any chance1 touches meat of that sort3 why does the king talk to him about such unsuitable diet8 ,by an immutable rule hawks feed on pigeons1 and this pigeon is the very thing he wants and to which he has a perfect right4 ,in a delicate metaphor he hints that the king had better leave off talking nonsense4 ,the king1 who sees that arguments are no good1 now declares that anything and everything he will give the hawk by way of compensation1 but that as to the pigeon1 he will not give it up1 so it is no good going on discussing the matter4 ,the hawk says1 in return1 that if the king is so tenderly solicitous on the pigeon's account1 the best thing he can do is to cut out a piece of his own flesh and weigh it in the scales with the pigeon--when the balance is equal1 then and then only will the hawk be satisfied4 8,as you ask that as a favour10 says the king1 8you shall have what you wish0--a consent which seems to contain a polite hint that the hawk might have been a little less arrogant1 for in the hawk's demand there was no mention of favours4 ,the king himself cuts out the piece of his flesh 7no one else would have dared do it74 ,but1 alas6 when it is weighed with the pigeon1 the pigeon weighs the most6 ,the king went on cutting pieces of his flesh and throwing them into the scales1 but the pigeon was still the heaviest4 ,at last1 all lacerated as he was1 he threw himself into the scales4 ,then1 with a blast of revelation1 the esoteric sense of the story is made plain4 ,there is something grand in the sudden antithesis4 ,the hawk said3 8,i am ,indra1 ,o prince1 thou that knowest the ,law6 ,and this pigeon is ,agni6 ,since thou hast torn thy flesh from thy limbs1 ,o thou ,prince of ,men1 thy glory shall shine throughout all worlds4 ,as long as there be men on earth they will remember thee1 ,o king4 ,as long as the eternal realms endure thy fame shall not grow dim40 ,so the gods returned to heaven1 to which the pious ,wusinara likewise ascended with his renovated body1 luminously bright4 ,he needs not to complete his sacrifice--himself has he offered up4 ,the listeners 7,eastern stories are for listeners1 not for readers7 are exhorted to raise their eyes and behold with the mind's vision that pure and holy abode where the righteous dwell with the gods in glory ineffable4 ,this beautiful fable belongs to the general class of the ancient stories of ,divine visitants1 but it has a more direct affinity with the lovely legends of the ,middle ,ages1 in which pious people who give their beds to lepers or others suffering from loathsome disease find that it was ,christ they harboured4 ,though the story of the ,hawk and the ,pigeon may be used simply as a fairy tale1 the moral of it is what forms the essential kernel of other-worldly religions4 ,through the mazes of ,indian thought emerges the constant conviction--like a ,divine sign-post--that martyrdom is redemption4 ,the gods themselves are less than the man who resigns everything for what his conscience tells him to be right4 ,indra bows before ,wusinara and seeks to learn the ,law from him4 ,india's gods are ,nature-gods1 and ,nature teaches no such lesson3-- 8,there is no effort on my brow-- ,i do not strive1 ,i do not weep1 ,i rush with the swift spheres and glow ,for joy1 and when ,i will1 ,i sleep40 ,higher religions are a criticism of ,nature3 they 8occupy the sphere that rational interpretation seeks to occupy and fails1 and fails the more the more it seeks10 and if they change with the change of moral aspirations they are still the passionate endeavour of the soul to satisfy them4 ,the ,buddhists took the story of the ,hawk and the ,pigeon and adapted it to their own teaching4 ,indra1 chief of the gods1 feels that his god-life is waning--for the gods of ,india labour1 too1 under the sense of that mysterious fatality of doom which haunted ,olympus and ,walhalla4 ,indra1 knowing his twilight to be near1 desired to consult a ,buddha1 but there was not one at that time upon the earth4 ,there was1 however1 a virtuous king of the name of ,sivi1 and ,indra decides to put him to the ordeal1 which forms the subject of the other story1 because1 if he comes out scathless1 he will be qualified to become a full ,buddha4 ,king ,sivi had a severe struggle with himself1 but he conquered his weakness1 and when he feels the scale sink under him he is filled with indescribable joy and heaven and earth shake1 which always happens when a ,buddha is coming into existence4 ,a crowd of gods descended and rested on the air3 the sight of ,sivi's endurance caused them to weep tears that fell like rain mingled with divine flowers1 which the gods threw down on the voluntary victim4 ,indra puts off the form of a dove and resumes his god-like shape4 ,what1 he asks1 does the king desire8 ,would he be universal monarch8 ,would he be king of the ,genii8 ,would he be ,indra8 ,there is a fine touch in this offer from the god of his godship to the heroic man1 and1 like most ,buddhist amplifications of older legends1 it might be justified from ,brahmanical sources1 as by incredible self-denial it was always held to be possible to dethrone a god and put oneself in his place4 ,but ,sivi replies that the only state he craves is that of a ,buddha4 ,indra inquires if no shade of regret crosses the king's mind when he feels the anguish reaching to his bones8 ,the king replies1 8,i regret nothing40 8,how can ,i believe it10 says ,indra1 8when thy body trembles and shivers so that thou canst hardly speak80 ,sivi repeats that from beginning to end he has felt no shadow of regret2 all has happened as he wished4 ,in proof that he speaks truth1 may his body be as whole as before6 ,he had scarcely spoken when the miracle was effected1 and in the same instant ,king ,sivi became a ,buddha4 ,there is a ,russian folk-tale which seems to belong to this cycle4 ,a horse which was ill-treated and half-starved saves the child of one of his masters from a bear4 ,he has a friend1 a cat1 who is also half-starved4 ,after he has saved the child he is better fed and he gives the cat part of his food4 ,the masters notice this and again ill-treat him4 ,he resolves to kill himself so that the cat may eat him1 but the cat will not eat her friend and resolves to die likewise4 ,the second great story of man and beast contained in the ,mahabharata is that of ,yudishtira and his dog4 ,accompanied by his wife and by his brethren1 the saintly king started upon a pilgrimage of unheard-of difficulty which he alone was able to complete1 as1 on account of some slight imperfections that rendered them insufficiently meritorious to reach the goal1 the others died upon the way4 ,only a dog1 which followed ,yudishtira from his house1 remains with him still4 ,at the final stage he is met by ,indra1 who invites him to mount his car and ascend to heaven in the flesh4 ,the king asks if his brethren and the 8tender king's daughter10 his wife1 are to be left lying miserably upon the road8 ,indra points out that the souls of these have already left their mortal coil and are even now in heaven1 where ,yudishtira will find them when he reaches it in his corporeal form4 ,then the king says1 8,and the dog1 ,o lord of what ,is and ,is to be--the dog which has been faithful to the end1 may ,i bring him8 ,it is not my nature to be hard40 ,indra says that since the king has this day obtained the rank of a god together with immortality and unbounded happiness1 he had better not waste thoughts on a dog4 ,yudishtira answers that it would be an abominably unworthy act to forsake a faithful servant in order to obtain felicity and fortune4 ,indra objects that no dogs are allowed in heaven2 what is a dog8 ,a rough1 ill-mannered brute which often runs away with the sacrifices offered in the temples4 ,let ,yudishtira only reflect what wretched creatures dogs are1 and he will give up all idea of taking his dog to heaven4 ,yudishtira still asserts that the abandonment of a servant is an enormous sin2 it is as bad as murdering a ,brahman4 ,he is not going to forsake his dog whatever the god may say4 ,besides1 it is not violent at all1 but a gentle and devoted creature1 and now that it is so weak and thin from all it has undergone on the journey and yet so eager to live1 he would not leave it1 even if it cost him his life4 ,that is his final resolve4 ,arguing in rather a feminine way1 ,indra returns to the charge that dogs are rough1 rude brutes and quite ignores the good personal character given to this dog by its master4 ,he goes on to twit ,yudishtira with having abandoned his beloved ,draupadi and his brothers on the road down there1 while he makes all this stand about a dog4 ,he winds up with saying1 8,you must be quite mad to-day40 ,repelling the disingenuous charge of abandoning his wife and brethren1 ,yudishtira remarks with dignity that he left not them but their dead bodies on the road3 he could not bring them to life again4 ,he might have said that ,indra himself had pointed out to him this very fact4 ,the refusal of asylum1 the murder of a woman1 the act of kidnapping a sleeping ,brahman1 the act of deceiving a friend--there is nothing1 says ,yudishtira1 to choose between these four things and the abandonment of a faithful servant4 ,the trial is over and the god admits his defeat4 8,since thou hast refused the divine chariot with the words1 #8,this dog is devoted1' it is clear1 ,o ,prince of ,men1 that there is no one in heaven equal to thee40 ,yudishtira1 alone among mortals1 ascends to bliss in his own body4 ,and the dog--what of the dog8 ,one is sorry to hear that the dog vanished and in his place stood ,yama1 ,king of ,death4 ,to us1 far away from the glamour of ,eastern skies1 the god-out-of-the-machine or out of the beast-skin is not always a welcome apparition4 ,we cannot help being glad when1 sometimes1 the animals just remain what they are1 as in the charming ,indian fable of the ,lion and the ,vulture4 ,a lion who lived in a forest became great friends with a monkey4 ,one day the monkey asked the lion to look after its two little ones while it was away4 ,but the lion happened to go to sleep and a vulture that was hovering overhead seized both the young monkeys and took them up into a tree4 ,when the lion awoke he saw that his charges were gone1 and gazing about he perceived the vulture holding them tight on the top branches of the nearest tree4 ,in great distress of mind the lion said1 8,the monkey placed its two children under my care1 but ,i was not watchful enough and now you have carried them off4 ,in this way ,i have missed keeping my word4 ,i do beg you to give them back2 ,i am the king of beasts1 you are the chief of birds3 our nobility and our power are equal4 ,it would be only fair to let me have them40 ,alas6 compliments1 though they will go very far1 do little to persuade an empty stomach4 8,you are totally unacquainted with the circumstances of the case10 replied the vulture2 8,i am simply dying of hunger3 what is the equality or difference of rank to me80 ,then the lion with his claws tore out some of his own flesh to satisfy the vulture's appetite and so ransomed the little monkeys4 ,in this fable we have the ,hawk and the ,pigeon motive with the miraculous kept in but the mythological left out4 ,like a great part of the ,buddhist stories of which the ,lion and the ,vulture is one1 we owe its preservation to the industrious ,chinese translator4 ,in the same work that contains it1 the ,tatchi-lou-lun1 we are told how1 when a bird laid her eggs on the head of the first ,buddha which she mistook for the branch of a tree1 he plunged himself into a trance so as not to move till the eggs were hatched and the young birds had flown4 ,the ,buddha's humanity is yet again shown by the story of how he saved the forest animals that were fleeing from a conflagration4 ,the jungle caught fire and the flames spread to the forest1 which burnt fiercely on three sides2 one side was safe1 but it was bounded by a great river4 ,the ,buddha saw the animals huddling in terror by the water's edge4 ,full of pity1 he took the form of a gigantic stag and placing his fore-feet on the further bank and his hind-feet on the other1 he made a bridge over which the creatures could pass4 ,his skin and flesh were cruelly wounded by their feet1 but love helped him to bear the pain4 ,when all the other animals had passed over1 and when the stag's powers were all but gone1 up came a panting hare4 ,the stag made one more supreme effort2 the hare was saved1 but hardly had it crossed1 when the stag's backbone broke and it fell into the water and died4 ,the author of the fable may not have known that hares swim very well1 so that the sacrifice was not necessary1 unless1 indeed1 this hare was too exhausted to take to the water4 ,we can picture the first ,buddhist missionaries telling such stories over the vast ,chinese empire to a race which had not instinctively that tender feeling for animals which existed from the most remote times in the ,indian peninsula4 ,a good authority attributes the present ,chinese sensitiveness about animals wholly to those early teachers4 ,a ,sanscrit story akin to the preceding ones tells how a saint in the first stage of ,buddhahood was walking in the mountains with his disciple when he saw in a cavern in the rock a tigress and her newly-born little ones4 ,she was thin and starving and exhausted by suffering1 and she cast unnatural glances on her children as they pressed close to her1 confident in her love and heedless of her cruel growls4 ,notwithstanding his usual self-control1 the saint trembled with emotion at the sight4 ,turning to his disciple1 he cried1 8,my son1 my son1 here is a tigress1 which1 in spite of maternal instinct1 is being driven by hunger to devour her little ones4 ,oh6 dreadful cruelty of self-love1 which makes a mother feed upon her children60 ,he bids the young man fly in search of food1 but while he is gone he reflects that it may be too late when he returns1 and to save the mother from the dreadful crime of killing her children1 and the little ones from the teeth of their famished mother1 he flings himself down the precipice4 ,hearing the noise1 and curious as to what it might mean1 the tigress is turned from the thought of killing her young ones1 and on looking round she sees the body of the saint and devours it4 ,the most remarkable of all the many ,buddhist animal stories is that of the ,banyan ,deer1 which is in the rich collection of old-world lore known as the ,jtaka ,book4 ,the collection is not so much an original ,buddhist work as the ,buddhist redaction of much older tales4 ,it was made in about the third century ,b4,c4 ,the ,banyan ,deer story had the additional interest that illustrations of it were discovered among the bas-reliefs of the stupa of ,bharhut4 ,i condense the story from the version of it given in ,professor ,t4 ,w4 ,rhys ,davids' 8,buddhist ,india40 ,in the king's park there were two herds of deer1 and every day either the king or his cook hunted them for venison4 ,so every day a great many were harassed and wounded for one that was killed4 ,then the golden-hued ,banyan ,deer1 who was the monarch of one herd1 went to the ,branch ,deer1 who was king of the other herd1 and proposed an arrangement by which lots were to be cast daily1 and one deer on whom the lot fell should go and offer himself to the cook1 voluntarily laying his head on the block4 ,in this way there would be no unnecessary suffering and slaughter4 ,illustration3 ,photo3 ,griggs4 ,,the ,,banyan ,,deer4 7,from 8,stpa of ,bharhut10 by ,general ,cunningham47 ,the somewhat lugubrious proposition met with assent1 and all seems to have gone well till one day the lot fell to a doe of the ,branch king's herd1 who was expecting soon to become a mother4 ,she begged her king to relieve her of the duty1 as it would mean that two at once should suffer1 which could never have been intended4 ,but with harsh words the ,branch king bade her be off to the block4 ,then the little doe went piteously to the ,banyan king as a last hope4 ,no sooner had he heard her tale than he said he would look to the matter1 and what he did was to go straight to the block himself and lay his royal head upon it4 ,but as the king of the country had ordered that the monarchs of both herds should be spared1 the cook was astonished to see ,king ,banyan with his head on the block1 and went off in a hurry to tell his lord4 ,mounted in a chariot with all his men around him1 the sovereign rode straight to the place4 ,then he asked his friend1 the king of the deer1 why had he come there8 ,had he not granted him his life8 ,the ,banyan ,deer told him all4 ,the heart of the king of men was touched1 and he commanded the deer to rise up and go on his way1 for he gave him his life and hers also to the doe4 ,but the ,banyan ,deer asked how it would be with all the others3 were two to be saved and the rest left to their peril8 ,the king of men said that they too should be respected4 ,even then the ,banyan ,deer had more to ask3 he pleaded for the safety of all living1 feeling things1 and the king of men granted his prayer4 7,what will not a man grant when his heart is touched by some act of pure abnegation87 ,there is a curious epilogue to the story4 ,the doe gave birth to a most beautiful fawn1 which went playing with the herd of the ,branch ,deer4 ,to it the mother said3-- 8,follow rather the ,banyan ,deer1 ,cultivate not the ,branch6 ,death with the ,banyan were better far ,than with the ,branch long life40 ,the verse is haunting in its vagueness1 as a music which reaches us from far away4 8,follow rather the ,banyan ,deer60 444 follow the ideal1 follow the merciful1 he who loses his life shall find it4 ,the ,indian hermit of whatsoever sect has always been1 and is still1 good friends with animals1 and when he can1 he gives asylum to as many as he is able1 around his hermitage4 ,this fact1 which is familiar to all1 becomes the groundwork of many stories4 ,one of the best is the elaborate ,chinese ,buddhist tale of ,sama1 an incarnation of ,buddha1 who chose to be born as a son to two old1 blind1 childless folks1 in order to take care of their forlornness4 ,when the child was ten years old he begged his parents respectfully to go with him into the solitary mountains where they might practise the life of religious persons who have forsaken the world4 ,his parents agreed2 they had been thinking about becoming hermits before his birth1 but that happy event made them put the thought away4 ,now they were quite willing to go with him4 ,so they gave their worldly goods to the poor and followed where he led4 ,illustration3 ,photo3 ,mansell4 ,,egyptian ,,fowling ,,scene4 ,british ,museum4 7,mural painting47 ,there is a beautiful description of the life in the mountains4 ,sama made a shelter of leaves and branches1 and brought his old parents sweet fruits and cool water--all that they needed4 ,the birds and beasts of the forest1 showing no fear1 delighted the blind couple with their song and friendship1 and all the creatures came at ,sama's call and followed him about4 ,herds of deer and feathered fowl drank by the river's bank while he drew water4 ,unhappily one day the king of ,kasi was out hunting in those wilds and he saw the birds and the deer1 but ,sama he did not see and an arrow he aimed at the herd pierced the boy's body4 ,the wounded boy said to the king1 8,they kill an elephant for its ivory teeth1 a rhinoceros for its horn1 a kingfisher for its feathers1 a deer for its skin1 but why should ,i be killed80 ,the king dismounted1 and asked him who he was--consorting with the wild herds of the forest4 ,sama told him that he was only a hermit boy1 living an innocent life with his blind parents4 ,no tiger or wolf had harmed them1 and now the arrow of his king laid him low4 ,the forest wailed2 the wild beasts and birds1 the lions1 tigers1 and wolves uttered dismal cries4 8,hark1 how the beasts of the forest cry60 ,said the old couple to one another1 8,never before have we heard it so4 ,how long our son has been gone60 ,meanwhile1 the king1 overcome by sorrow and remorse1 tried in vain to draw the arrow from the boy's breast4 ,the birds flew round and round screaming wildly2 the king trembled with fear4 ,sama said1 8,your ,majesty is not to blame2 ,i must have done ill in a former life1 and now suffer justly for it3 ,i do not grieve for myself but for my blind parents 444 what will they do8 ,may heavenly guardians protect them60 ,then the king said1 8,may ,i undergo the torments of hell for a hundred ons1 but ,o6 may this youth live60 ,it was not to be2 ,sama expired1 while all the wood birds flocking together tried tenderly to staunch the blood flowing from his breast4 ,i cannot tell the whole story1 which has a strong suggestion of some poetic fancy of ,maeterlinck4 ,in the end ,sama is brought back to life1 and the eyes of his parents are opened4 ,the king is admonished to return to his dominions and no longer take life in the chase4 ,in a ,jaina hermit story a king goes hunting with a great attendance of horses1 elephants1 chariots1 and men on foot4 ,he pursues the deer on horseback1 and1 keen on his sport1 he does not notice1 as he aims the arrow1 that the frightened creature is fleeing to a holy ascetic who is wise in the study of sacred things4 ,of a sudden1 he beholds the dead deer and the holy man standing by it4 ,a dreadful fear seizes the king3 he might have killed the monk6 ,he gets off his horse1 bows low1 and prays to be forgiven4 ,the venerable saint was plunged in thought and made no answer2 the king grew more and more alarmed at his silence4 8,answer me1 ,i pray1 ,reverend ,sir10 he said4 8,be without fear1 ,o king10 replied the monk1 8but grant safety to others also4 ,in this transient world of living things1 why are you prone to cruelty80 ,why should the king cling to kingly power1 since one day he must part with everything8 ,life and beauty pass1 wife and children1 friends and kindred--they will follow no man in death3 what do follow him are his deeds1 good or evil4 ,when he heard that1 the king renounced his kingdom and became an ascetic4 8,a certain nobleman who had turned monk said to him1 #8,as you look so happy1 you must have peace of mind4'0 ,it may be a wrong conception of life that makes men seek rest on this side of the grave1 but one can well believe that the finding of it brings a happiness beyond our common ken4 ,for one thing1 he who lives with ,nature surely never knows ennui4 ,the most marvellous of dramatic poems unfolds its pages before his eyes4 ,nor does he know loneliness2 even one little creature in a prisoner's cell gives a sense of companionship1 and the recluse in the wild has the society of all the furred and feathered hosts4 ,the greatest poet of the later literature of ,india1 ,klidsa1 draws an exquisite picture of the surroundings of an ,indian heritage3-- 8,see under yon trees the hallowed grains which have been scattered on the ground1 while the tender female parrots were feeding their unfledged young ones in their pendant nests4444 ,look at the young fawns1 which1 having acquired confidence in man1 and accustomed themselves to the sound of his voice1 frisk at pleasure1 without varying their course4 ,see1 too1 where the young roes graze1 without apprehension from our approach1 on the lawn before yonder garden1 where the tops of the sacrificial grass1 cut for some religious rite1 are sprinkled round40#i ,footnote #i3 ,sir ,william ,jones's translation4 ,in the play of ,sacontala--which filled ,goethe with a delight crystallised in his immortal quatrain--no scene is so impressed by genuine feeling and none so artistic in its admirable simplicity as that in which the heroine takes leave of her childhood's pet4 ,the hermit1 who has been the foster-father of ,sacontala1 is dismissing her upon her journey to the exalted bridegroom who awaits her4 ,at the last moment she says to him3 8,my father1 see you there my pet deer1 grazing close to the hermitage8 ,she expects soon to fawn1 and even now the weight of the little ones she carries hinders her movements4 ,do not forget to send me word when she becomes a mother40 ,the hermit1 ,canna1 promises that it shall be done2 then as ,sacontala moves away1 she feels herself drawn back1 and turning round1 she says1 8,what can this be fastened to my dress80 ,canna answers3-- 8,my daughter1 ,it is the little fawn1 thy foster child4 ,poor helpless orphan6 ,it remembers well ,how with a mother's tenderness and love ,thou didst protect it1 and with grains of rice ,from thine own hand didst daily nourish it1 ,and ever and anon when some sharp thorn ,had pierced its mouth1 how gently thou didst tend ,the bleeding wound and pour in healing balm4 ,the grateful nursling clings to its protectress1 ,mutely imploring leave to follow her40 ,sacontala replies1 weeping1 8,my poor little fawn1 dost thou ask to follow an unhappy wretch who hesitates not to desert her companions8 ,when thy mother died1 soon after thy birth1 ,i supplied her place and reared thee with my own hands1 and now that thy second mother is about to leave thee1 who will care for thee8 ,my father1 be thou a mother to her4 ,my child1 go back and be a daughter to my father60 99 99 99 99 99 ,it is the fatality of the dramatist that he cannot stamp with truth sentiments which are not sure of a response from his audience3 he must strike the keyboard of his race4 ,we can imagine how thoroughly an ,indian audience would enter into the sentiment of this charming scene4 ,to the little ,indian girl1 who was still only a child of thirteen or fourteen1 the favourite animal did not appear as a toy1 or even as a simple playmate4 ,it was the object of grave and thoughtful care1 and it received the first outpouring of what would one day be maternal love4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,xvi ,,the ,,growth ,,of ,,modern ,,ideas ,,on ,,animals ,,the last age of antiquity was an age of yeast4 ,ideas were in fermentation2 religious questions came to be regarded as 8interesting0--just as they are now4 ,the spirit of inquiry took the place of placid acceptance on the one hand1 and placid indifference on the other4 ,it was natural that there should be a rebound from the effort of ,augustus to re-order religion on an ,imperial1 conventional1 and unemotional basis4 ,then1 too1 ,rome1 which had never been really ,italian except in the sublime previsions of ,virgil1 grew every day more cosmopolitan3 the denizens of the discovered world found their way thither on business1 for pleasure1 as slaves--the influence of these last not being the least important factor1 though its extent and character are not easy to define4 ,everything tended to foment a religious unrest which took the form of one of those 8returns to the ,east0 that are ever destined to recur3 the spiritual sense of the ,western world became ,orientalised4 ,the worship of ,isis and ,serapis and much more of ,mithra proved to be more exciting than the worship of the ,greek and ,roman gods which represented ,nature and law1 while the new cults proposed to raise the veil on what transcends natural perception4 ,no doubt the atmosphere of the ,east itself favoured their rapid development2 the traveller in ,north ,africa must be struck by the extraordinary frequency with which the symbols of ,mithraism recur in the sculpture and mosaics of that once great ,roman dependency4 ,evidently the birthland of ,st4 ,augustine bred in the matter-of-fact ,roman colonist the same nostalgia for the ,unknowable which even now a lonely night under the stars of the ,sahara awakes in the dullest ,european soul4 ,personal immortality as a paramount doctrine2 a further life more real than this one2 ritual purification1 redemption by sacrifice1 mystical union with deity2 these were among the un-,roman and even anti-,roman conceptions which lay behind the new1 strange propaganda1 and prepared the way for the diffusion of ,christianity4 ,with the ,italian peasants who clung to the unmixed older faith no progress was made till persecution could be called in as an auxiliary4 ,illustration3 ,photo3 ,mansell4 ,,assyrian ,,lion ,,and ,,lioness ,,in ,,paradise ,,park4 ,british ,museum4 ,in such a time it was a psychological certainty that among the other ,eastern ideas which were coming to the fore1 would be those ideas about animals which are roughly classed under the head of ,pythagoreanism4 ,the apostles of ,christ in their journeys ,east or ,west might have met a singular individual who was carrying on an apostolate of his own1 the one clear and unyielding point of which was the abolition of animal sacrifices4 ,this was ,apollonius1 of ,tyana1 our knowledge of whom is derived from the biography1 in part perhaps fanciful1 written by ,philostratus in the third century to please the ,empress ,julia ,domna1 who was interested in occult matters4 ,apollonius worked wonders as well attested as those1 for instance1 of the ,russian ,father ,john1 but he seems to have considered his power the naturally produced result of an austere life and abstinence from flesh and wine which is a thoroughly ,buddhist or ,jaina theory4 ,he was a theosophist who refrained from attacking the outward forms and observances of established religion when they did not seem to him either to be cruel or else incongruous to the degree of preventing a reverential spirit4 ,he did not entirely understand that this degree is movable1 any more than do those persons who want to substitute ,gregorian chants for opera airs in rural ,italian churches4 ,he did not mind the ,greek statues which appealed to the imagination by suggestions of beauty1 but he blamed the ,egyptians for representing deity as a dog or an ibis2 if they disliked images of stone why not have a temple where there were no images of any kind--where all was left to the inner vision of the worshipper8 ,in which question1 almost accidentally1 ,apollonius throws out a hint of the highest form of spiritual worship4 ,illustration3 ,photo3 ,alinari4 ,,lambs4 7,relief on fifth century tomb at ,ravenna47 ,the keenly intellectual thinkers whom we call the ,fathers of the ,church saw that the majority of the ideas then agitating men's minds might find a quietus in ,christian dogma which suited them a great deal better than the vague and often grotesque shape they had worn hitherto4 ,but there was a residuum of which they felt an instinctive fear1 and peculiar notions about animals had the ill-luck of being placed at the head of these4 ,it could not have been a fortunate coincidence that two of the most prominent men who held them in the early centuries were declared foes of the new faith--,celsus and ,porphyry4 ,when the ,church triumphed1 the treatise written by ,celsus would have been no doubt entirely destroyed like other works of the same sort1 had not ,origen made a great number of quotations from it for the purpose of confutation4 ,celsus was no born disputant after the fashion of the ,octavius of ,minucius1 but a man of almost encyclopdic learning2 if he was a less fair critic than he held himself to be1 it was less from want of information than from want of that sympathy which is needful for true comprehension4 ,the inner feeling of such a man towards the ,christian ,sectaries was not near so much that of a ,torquemada in regard to heretics as that of an old-fashioned ,tory upholder of throne and altar towards dissent fifty years ago4 ,it was a feeling of social aloofness4 ,yet ,celsus wished to be fair1 and he had studied religions to enough purpose not to condemn as delusion or untruth everything that a superficial adversary would have rejected at once2 for instance1 he was ready to allow that the appearances of ,christ to ,his disciples after the ,crucifixion might be explained as psychical phenomena4 ,possibly he believed that truth1 not falsehood1 was the ultimate basis of all religions as was the belief of ,apollonius before him4 ,in some respects ,celsus was more unprejudiced than ,apollonius2 this can be observed in his remarks on ,egyptian zoomorphism2 it causes surprise1 he says1 when you go inside one of the splendid ,egyptian temples to find for divinity a cat1 a monkey or a crocodile1 but to the initiated they are symbols which under an allegorical veil turn people to honour imperishable ideas1 not perishable animals as the vulgar suppose4 ,it may have been his recondite researches which led ,celsus to take up the question of the intelligence of animals and the conclusions to be drawn from it4 ,he only touches lightly on the subject of their origin2 he seems to lean towards the theory that the soul1 life1 mind1 only1 is made by ,god1 the corruptible and passing body being a natural growth or perhaps the handiwork of inferior spirits4 ,he denied that reason belonged to man alone1 and still more strongly that ,god created the universe for man rather than for the other animals4 ,only absurd pride1 he says1 can engender such a thought4 ,he knew very well that this1 far from being a new idea1 was the normal view of the ancient world from ,aristotle to ,cicero2 the distinguished men who disagreed with it had never won more than a small minority over to their opinion4 ,celsus takes ,euripides to task for saying-- 8,the sun and moon are made to serve mankind40 ,why mankind8 he asks2 why not ants and flies8 ,night serves them also for rest and day for seeing and working4 ,if it be said that we are the king of animals because we hunt and catch them or because we eat them1 why not say that we are made for them because they hunt and catch us8 ,indeed1 they are better provided than we1 for while we need arms and nets to take them and the help of several men and dogs1 ,nature furnishes them with the arms they require1 and we are1 as it were1 made dependent on them4 ,you want to make out that ,god gave you the power to take and kill wild animals1 but at the time when there were no towns or civilisation or society or arms or nets1 animals probably caught and devoured men while men never caught animals4 ,in this way1 it looks more as if ,god subjected man to animals than vice vers4 ,if men seem different from animals because they build cities1 make laws1 obey magistrates and rulers1 you ought to note that this amounts to nothing at all1 since ants and bees do just the same4 ,bees have their 8kings02 some command1 others obey2 they make war1 win battles1 take prisoner the vanquished2 they have their towns and quarters2 their work is regulated by fixed periods1 they punish the lazy and cowardly--at least they expel the drones4 ,as to ants1 they practise the science of social economy just as well as we do2 they have granaries which they fill with provisions for the winter2 they help their comrades if they see them bending under the weight of a burden2 they carry their dead to places which become family tombs2 they address each other when they meet3 whence it follows that they never lose their way4 ,we must conclude1 therefore1 that they have complete reasoning powers and common notions of certain general truths1 and that they have a language and know how to express fortuitous events4 ,if some one1 then1 looked down from the height of heaven on to the earth1 what difference would he see between our actions and those of ants and bees8 ,if man is proud of knowing magical secrets1 serpents and eagles know a great deal more1 for they use many preservatives against poisons and diseases1 and are acquainted with the virtues of certain stones with which they cure the ailments of their young ones1 while if men find out such a cure they think they have hit on the greatest wonder in the world4 ,finally1 if man imagines that he is superior to animals because he possesses notion of ,god1 let him know that it is the same with many of them2 what is there more divine1 in fact1 than to foresee and to foretell the future8 ,now for that purpose men have recourse to animals1 especially to birds1 and all our soothsayers do is to understand the indications given by these4 ,if1 therefore1 birds and other prophetic animals show us by signs the future as it is revealed to them by ,god1 it proves that they have closer relations with the deity than we2 that they are wiser and more loved by ,god4 ,very enlightened men have thought that they understood the language of certain animals1 and in proof of this they have been known to predict that birds would do something or go somewhere1 and this was observed to come true4 ,no one keeps an oath more religiously or is more faithful to ,god than the elephant1 which shows that he knows ,him4 ,hence1 concludes ,celsus1 the universe has not been made for man any more than for the eagle or the dolphin4 ,everything was created not in the interest of something else1 but to contribute to the harmony of the whole in order that the world might be absolutely perfect4 ,god takes care of the universe2 it is that which ,his providence never forsakes1 that which never falls into disorder4 ,god no more gets angry with men than with rats or monkeys3 everything keeps its appointed place4 ,in this passage ,celsus rises to a higher level than in any other of the excerpts preserved for us by ,origen4 ,the tone of irony which usually characterises him disappears in this dignified affirmation of supreme wisdom justified of itself not by the little standards of men--or ants4 ,it must be recognised as a lofty conception1 commanding the respect of those who differ from it1 and reconciling all apparent difficulties and contradictions forced upon us by the contemplation of men and ,nature4 ,but it brings no water from the cool spring to souls dying of thirst2 it expounds in the clearest way and even in the noblest way the very thought which drove men into the ,christian fold far more surely than the learned apologies of controversialists like ,origen2 the thought of the crushing unimportance of the individual4 ,the least attentive reader must be struck by the real knowledge of natural history shown by ,celsus3 his ants are nearly as conscientiously observed as ,lord ,avebury's4 ,yet a certain suspicion of conscious exaggeration detracts from the seriousness of his arguments2 he strikes one as more sincere in disbelieving than in believing4 ,a modern writer has remarked that ,celsus in the second half of the second century forestalled ,darwin in the second half of the nineteenth by denying human ascendancy and contending that man may be a little lower than the brute4 ,but it scarcely seems certain whether he was convinced by his own reasoning or was not rather replying by paradoxes to what he considered the still greater paradoxes of ,christian theology4 ,the shadow of no such doubt falls on the pages of the neoplatonists ,plotinus and ,porphyry4 ,to them the destiny of animals was not an academic problem but an obsession4 ,the questions which ,heine's young man asked of the waves3 8,what signifies man8 ,whence does he come8 ,whither does he go80 were asked by them with passionate earnestness in their application to all sentient things4 ,plotinus reasoned1 with great force1 that intelligent beast-souls must be like the soul of man since in itself the essence of the soul could not be different4 ,porphyry 7born at ,tyre1 ,a4,d4 #bcc71 accepting this postulate that animals possess an intelligent soul like ours1 went on to declare that it was therefore unlawful to kill or feed on them under any circumstances4 ,if justice is due to rational beings1 how is it possible to evade the conclusion that we are also bound to act justly towards the races below us8 ,he who loves all animated nature will not single out one tribe of innocent beings for hatred2 if he loves the whole he will love every part1 and1 above all1 that part which is most closely allied to ourselves4 ,porphyry was quite ready to admit that animals in their own way made use of words1 and he mentions ,melampus and ,apollonius as among the philosophers who understood their language4 ,he quoted with approval the laws supposed to have been framed by ,triptolemus in the reign of ,pandion1 fifth king of ,athens3 8,honour your parents2 make oblations of your fruits to the gods2 hurt not any living creature40 ,neoplatonism penetrated into the early ,church1 but divested of its views on animal destiny2 even the ,catholic neoplatonist ,bothius1 though he was sensitively fond of animals 7witness his lines about caged birds71 yet took the extreme view of the hard-and-fast line of separation1 as may be seen by his poem on the 8downward head10 which he interpreted to indicate the earth-bound nature of all flesh save man4 ,birds1 by the by1 and even fishes1 not to speak of camel-leopards1 can hardly be said to have a 8downward head40 ,meanwhile1 the other manner of feeling1 if not of thinking1 reasserted its power as it always will1 for it belongs to the primal things4 ,excluded from the broad road1 it came in by the narrow way--the way that leads to heaven4 ,in the wake of the ,christian ,guru came a whole troop of charming beasts1 little less saintly and miraculous than their holy protectors1 and thus preachers of the religion of love were spared the reproach of showing an all-unloving face towards creatures that could return love for love as well as most and better than many of the human kind4 ,the saint saved the situation1 and the ,church wisely left him alone to discourse to his brother fishes or his sister turtle-doves1 without inquiring about the strict orthodoxy of the proceeding4 ,unhappily the more direct inheritors of neoplatonist dreams were not left alone4 ,a trend of tendency towards ,pythagoreanism runs through their different developments from ,philo to the ,gnostics1 from the ,gnostics1 through the ,paulicians to the ,albigenses4 ,it passes out of our sight when these were suppressed in the thirteenth century by the most sanguinary persecution that the world has seen1 but before long it was to reappear in one shape or another1 and we may be sure that the thread was never wholly lost4 ,illustration3 8,,il ,,buon ,,pastore40 7,mosaic at ,ravenna47 ,an effort has been made to prove that the official as well as the unofficial ,church always favoured humanity to animals4 ,the result of this effort has been wholly good2 not only has it produced a delightful volume1#aj but1 indirectly1 it was the cause of ,pope ,pius ,x4 pronouncing a blessing on every one who is working for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the world4 ,roma locuta est4 ,to me this appears to be a landmark in ethics of first-class importance4 ,nevertheless1 historically speaking1 it is difficult to resist the conclusion that the diametrically opposite view expressed by ,father ,rickaby in a manual intended for use in the ,jesuit ,college at ,stonyhurst1#aa more correctly gives the measure of what had been the practical teaching of the ,church in all these ages4 ,even now1 authoritative ,catholics1 when enjoining humanity to animals1 are careful to add that man has 8no duties0 towards them1 though they may modify this by saying with ,cardinal ,manning 7the most kind-hearted of men7 that he owes 8a sevenfold obligation0 to their ,creator to treat them well4 ,was it surprising that the ,neapolitan peasant who heard from his priest that he had no duties to his ass went home1 not to excogitate the sevenfold obligation but to belabour the poor beast soundly8 ,though the distinction is capable of philosophical defence1 granted the premises1 to plain people it looks like a juggling with words4 ,when ,st4 ,philip ,neri said to a monk who put his foot on a lizard1 8,what has the poor creature done to you80 he implied a duty to the animal1 the duty of reciprocity4 ,he spoke with the voice of ,nature and forgot1 for the moment1 that animals were not 8moral persons0 nor 8endowed with reason10 and that hence they could have 8no rights40 ,footnote #aj3 8,l'glise et la ,piti envers les animaux10 ,paris1 #aijc4 ,an ,english edition has been published by ,messrs4 ,burns and ,oates4 ,footnote #aa3 8,moral ,philosophy10 p4 #bej4 ,at an early date1 in the heart of official ,catholicism1 an inconsistency appeared which is less easily explained than homilies composed for fishes or hymns for birds2 namely1 the strange business of animal prosecutions4 ,without inquiring exactly what an animal is1 it is easy to bestow upon it either blessings or curses4 ,the beautiful rite of the blessing of the beasts which is still performed once a year in many places involves no doctrinal crux4 ,in ,corsica the priest goes up to the high mountain plateaux where the animals pasture in the summer1 and after saying ,mass in presence of all the four-footed family1 he solemnly blesses them and exhorts them to prosper and multiply4 ,it is a delightful scene1 but it does not affect the conception of the moral status of animals1 nor would that conception be affected by a right-down malediction or order to quit4 ,what1 however1 can be thought of a regular trial of inconvenient or offending animals in which great care is taken1 to keep up the appearance of fair-play to the defendants8 ,our first impression is1 that it must be an elaborate comedy2 but a study of the facts makes it impossible to accept this theory4 ,the earliest allusions to such trials that seem to exist belong to the ninth century1 which does not prove that they were the first of the kind4 ,one trial took place in #hbd ,a4,d4 ,the ,council of ,worms decided in #hff that if a man has been killed by bees they ought to suffer death1 8but10 added the judgment1 8it will be permissible to eat their honey40 ,a relic of the same order of ideas lingers in the habit some people have of shooting a horse which has caused a fatal accident1 often the direct consequence of bad riding or bad driving4 ,the earlier beast trials of which we have knowledge were conducted by laymen1 the latter by ecclesiastics1 which suggests their origin in a folk-practice4 ,a good1 characteristic instance began on ,september #e1 #acgj4 ,the young son of a ,burgundian swineherd had been killed by three sows which seemed to have feared an attack on one of their young ones4 ,all members of the herd were arrested as accomplices1 which was a serious matter to their owners1 the inmates of a neighbouring convent1 as the animals1 if convicted1 would be burnt and their ashes buried4 ,the prior pointed out that three sows alone were guilty2 surely the rest of the pigs ought to be acquitted4 ,justice did not move quickly in those times2 it was on ,september #ab1 #acgi1 that the ,duke of ,burgundy delivered judgment2 only the three guilty sows and one young pig 7what had it done87 were to be executed2 the others were set at liberty 8notwithstanding that they had seen the death of the boy without defending him40 ,were the original ones all alive after nine years8 ,if so1 would so long a respite have been granted them had no legal proceedings been instituted8 ,an important trial took place in ,savoy in the year #aehg4 ,the accused was a certain fly4 ,two suitable advocates were assigned to the insects1 who argued on their behalf that these creatures were created before man1 and had been blessed by ,god1 who gave them the right to feed on grass1 and for all these and other good reasons the flies were in their right when they occupied the vineyards of the ,commune2 they simply availed themselves of a legitimate privilege conformable to ,divine and natural law4 ,the plaintiffs' advocate retorted that the ,bible and common sense showed animals to be created for the utility of man2 hence they could not have the right to cause him loss1 to which the counsel for the insects replied that man had the right to command animals1 no doubt1 but not to persecute1 excommunicate and interdict them when they were merely conforming to natural law 8which is eternal and immutable like the ,divine40 ,the judges were so deeply impressed by this pleading that to cut the case short1 which seemed to be going against him1 the ,mayor of ,st4 ,julien hastened to propose a compromise2 he offered a piece of land where the flies might find a safe retreat and live out their days in peace and plenty4 ,the offer was accepted4 ,on ,june #bi1 #aehg1 the citizens of ,st4 ,julien were bidden to the market square by ringing the church bells1 and after a short discussion they ratified the agreement which handed over a large piece of land to the exclusive use of the insects4 ,hope was expressed that they would be entirely satisfied with the bargain4 ,a right of way across the land was1 indeed1 reserved to the public1 but no harm whatever was to be done to the flies on their own territory4 ,it was stated in the formal contract that the reservation was ceded to the insects in perpetuity4 ,all was going well1 when it transpired that1 in the meantime1 the flies' advocates had paid a visit to that much-vaunted piece of land1 and when they returned1 they raised the strongest objection to it on the score that it was arid1 sterile1 and produced nothing4 ,the mayor's counsel disputed this2 the land1 he said1 produced no end of nice small trees and bushes1 the very things for the nutrition of insects4 ,the judges intervened by ordering a survey to find out the real truth1 which survey cost three florins4 ,there1 alas6 the story ends1 for the winding up of the affair is not to be found in the archives of ,st4 ,julien4 ,records of #add such trials have come to light4 ,of the two ,i have described1 it will be remarked that one belongs1 as it were1 to criminal and the other to civil law4 ,the last class is the most curious4 ,no doubt the trial of flies or locusts was resorted to when other means of getting rid of them had failed2 it was hoped1 somehow1 that the elaborate appearance of fair-play would bring about a result not to be obtained by violence4 ,we can hardly resist the inference that they involved some sort of recognition or intuition of animals' rights and even of animal intelligence4 ,in the dawn of modern literature animals played a large1 though artificial1 part which must not be quite ignored on account of its artificiality1 because in the ,bestiaries as in the sopic and ,oriental fables from which they were mainly derived1 there was an inextricable tangle of observations of the real creature and arbitrary ascription to him of human qualities and adventures4 ,at last they became a mere method for attacking political or ecclesiastical abuses1 but their great popularity was as much due to their outer as to their inner sense4 ,there is not any doubt that at the same time floods of ,eastern fairy-tales were migrating to ,europe1 and in these the most highly appreciated hero was always the friendly beast4 ,in a romance of the thirteenth century called 8,guillaume de ,palerme0 all previous marvels of this kind were outdone by the story of a ,sicilian prince who was befriended by a were-wolf6 ,it is not generally remembered that the ,indian or ,buddhist view of animals must have been pretty well known in ,europe at least as early as the fourteenth century4 ,the account of the monastery 8where many strange beasts of divers kinds do live upon a hill10 which ,fra ,odoric1 of ,pordenone1 dictated in #accj1 is a description1 both accurate and charming1 of a ,buddhist animal refuge1 and in the version given of it in ,mandeville's 8,travels10 if not in the original1 it must have been read by nearly every one who could read1 for no book ever had so vast a diffusion as the 8,travels0 of the elusive ,knight of ,st4 ,albans4 ,with the ,italian ,renaissance came the full modern sthetic enjoyment of animals2 the admiration of their beauty and perfection which had been appreciated1 of course1 long before1 but not quite in the same spirit4 ,the all-round gifted ,leo ,battista ,alberti in the fifteenth century took the same critical delight in the points of a fine animal that a modern expert would take4 ,he was a splendid rider1 but his interest was not confined to horses2 his love for his dog is shown by his having pronounced a funeral oration over him4 ,we feel that with such men humanity towards animals was a part of good manners4 8,we owe justice to men10 said the intensely civilised ,montaigne1 8and grace and benignity to other creatures that are capable of it2 there is a natural commerce and mutual obligation between them and us40 ,sir ,arthur ,helps1 speaking of this1 called it 8using courtesy to animals10 and when one comes to think of it1 is not such 8courtesy0 the particular mark and sign of a man of good breeding in all ages8 ,the ,renaissance brought with it something deeper than a wonderful quickening of the sthetic sense in all directions2 it also brought that spiritual quickening which is the co-efficient of every really upward movement of the human mind4 ,leonardo da ,vinci1 greatest of artist-humanists1 inveighed against cruelty in words that might have been written by ,plutarch or ,porphyry4 ,his sympathies were with the vegetarian4 ,meanwhile1 ,northern ,churchmen who went to ,rome were scandalised to hear it said in high ecclesiastical society that there was no difference between the souls of men and beasts4 ,an attempt was made to convert ,erasmus to this doctrine by means of certain extracts from ,pliny4 ,roman society1 at that time1 was so little serious that one cannot believe it to have been serious even in its heterodoxy4 ,but speculations more or less of the same sort were taken up by men of a very different stamp2 it was to be foreseen that animals would have their portion of attention in the ponderings of the god-intoxicated musers who have been called the ,sceptics of the ,renaissance4 ,for the proof that they did receive it we have only to turn to the pages of ,giordano ,bruno4 8,every part of creation has its share in being and cognition40 8,there is a difference1 not in quality1 but in quantity1 between the soul of man1 the animal and the plant40 8,among horses1 elephants and dogs there are single individuals which appear to have almost the understanding of men40 ,bruno's prophetic guess that instinct is inherited habit might have saved ,descartes 7who was much indebted to the ,nolan7 from giving his name an unenviable immortality in connexion with the theory which is nearly all that the ignorant know now of ,cartesian philosophy4 ,this was the theory that animals are automata1 a sophism that may be said to have swept ,europe1 though it was not long before it provoked a reaction4 ,descartes got this idea from the very place where it was likely to originate1 from ,spain4 ,a certain ,gomez ,pereira advanced it before ,descartes made it his own1 which even led to a charge of plagiarism4 8,because a clock marks time and a bee makes honey1 we are to consider the clock and the bee to be machines4 ,because they do one thing better than man and no other thing so well as man1 we are to conclude that they have no mind1 but that ,nature acts within them1 holding their organs at her disposal40 8,nor are we to think1 as the ancients do1 that animals speak1 though we do not know their language1 for1 if that were so1 they1 having several organs related to ours1 might as easily communicate with us as with each other40 ,about this1 ,huxley showed that an almost imperceptible imperfection of the vocal chord may prevent articulated sounds4 ,moreover1 the click of the bushmen1 which is almost their only language1 is exceedingly like the sounds made by monkeys4 ,language1 as defined by an eminent ,italian man of science1 ,professor ,broca1 is the faculty of making things known1 or expressing them by signs or sounds4 ,much the same definition was given by ,mivart1 and if there be a better one1 we have still to wait for it4 ,human language is evolved2 at one time man had it not4 ,the babe in the cradle is without it2 the deaf mute1 in his untaught state1 is without it2 ergo the babe and the deaf mute cannot feel4 ,poor babes and poor deaf mutes should the scientific ,loyolas of the future adopt this view6 ,i do not know if any one has remarked that rural and primitive folk can never bring themselves to believe of any foreign tongue that it is real human language like their own4 ,to them it seems a jargon of meaningless and uncouth sounds4 ,chanet1 a follower of ,descartes1 said that he would believe that beasts thought when a beast told him so4 ,by what cries of pain1 by what looks of love1 have not beasts told men that they thought6 ,man himself does not think in words in moments of profound emotion1 whether of grief or joy4 ,he cries out or he acts4 ,thought in its absolutely elementary form is action4 ,the mother thinks in the kiss she gives her child4 ,the musician thinks in music4 ,perhaps ,god thinks in constellations4 ,i asked a man who had saved many lives by jumping into the sea1 8,what did you think of at the moment of doing it80 ,he replied3 8,you do not think1 or you might not do it40 ,the whole trend of philosophic speculation worthy of the name lies towards unity1 but the ,cartesian theory would arbitrarily divide even man's physical and sensational nature from that of the other animals4 ,to remedy this1 ,descartes admitted that man was just as much an automatic machine as other creatures4 ,by what right1 then1 does he complain when he happens to have a toothache8 ,because1 says ,descartes triumphantly1 man has an immortal soul6 ,the child thinks in his mother's womb1 but the dog1 which after scenting two roads takes the third without demur1 sure that his master must have gone that way1 this dog is acting 8by springs0 and neither thinks nor feels at all4 ,the misuse of the ill-treated word 8,nature0 cannot hide the fact that the beginning1 middle1 and end of ,descartes' argument rests on a perpetually recurrent miracle4 ,descartes confessed as much when he said that ,god could make animals as machines1 so why should it be impossible that ,he had made them as machines8 ,voltaire's clear reason revolted at this logic2 he declared it to be absurd to imagine that ,god had given animals organs of feeling in order that they might not feel4 ,he would have endorsed ,professor ,romanes' saying that 8the theory of animal automatism which is usually attributed to ,descartes can never be accepted by common sense40 ,on the other hand1 while ,descartes was being persecuted by the ,church for opinions which he did not hold1 this particular opinion of his was seized upon by ,catholic divines as a vindication of creation4 ,pascal so regarded it4 ,the miraculous element in it did not disturb him4 ,malebranche said though opposed by reason it was approved by faith4 ,descartes said that the idea that animals think and feel is a relic of childhood4 ,the idea that they do not think and feel might be more truly called a relic of that darkest side of perverse childhood1 the existence of which we are all fain to forget4 ,whoever has seen a little child throwing stones at a toad on the highway--and sad because his hands are too small to take up the bigger stones to throw--will understand what ,i mean4 ,i do not wish to allude more than slightly to a point which is of too much importance to pass over in silence4 ,descartes was a vivisector3 so were the pious people at ,port ,royal who embraced his teaching with enthusiasm1 and liked to hear the howls of the dogs they vivisected4 ,m4 mile ,ferrire1 in his work 8,l'me est la fonction du cerveau10 sees in the 8souls0 of beasts exactly the same nature as in the 8soul0 of man2 the difference1 he maintains1 is one of degree2 though generally inferior1 it is sometimes superior to 8souls0 of certain human groups4 ,here is a candid materialist who deserves respect4 ,but there is a school of physiologists nowadays which carries on an unflagging campaign in favour of belief in unconscious animal machines which work by springs1 while denying that there is a ,god to wind up the springs1 and in conscious human machines1 while denying that there is a soul1 independent of matter1 which might account for the difference4 8,the wish is father to the thought40 ,non ragionam di lor ma guarda e passa4 ,the strongest of all reasons for dismissing the machine theory of animals is their variety of idiosyncrasy4 ,it is said that to the shepherd no two sheep look alike2 it is certain that no two animals of any kind have the same characters4 ,some are selfish1 some are unselfish1 some are gentle1 some irretrievably ill-tempered both to each other and to man4 ,some animals do not show much regret at the loss of their offspring1 with others it is manifestly the reverse4 douard ,quinet described how on one occasion1 when visiting the lions' cage in the ,jardin des ,plantes1 he observed the lion gently place his large paw on the forehead of the lioness1 and so they remained1 grave and still1 all the time he was there4 ,he asked ,geoffroy ,saint-,hilaire1 who was with him1 what it meant4 8,their lion cub10 was the answer1 8died this morning40 8,pity1 benevolence1 sympathy1 could be read on those rugged faces40 ,that these qualities are often absent in sentient beings what man can doubt8 ,but they are not to be found in the best mechanical animals in all ,nuremberg6 ,nor do machines commonly act as did the dog in the following true story which relates to something that happened during the earthquake of ,ash ,wednesday1 #ahhg4 ,at a place called ,ceriana on the ,italian ,riviera a poor man who earned his living as a milk-carrier was supposed to have gone on his ordinary rounds1 on which he was used to start at four o'clock in the morning4 ,no one1 therefore1 thought of inquiring about him1 but the fact was1 that having taken a glass or two of wine in honour of the last night of the ,carnival1 he had overslept himself1 and was still asleep when his cottage fell down upon him4 ,he had a large dog which drew the little cart bearing the milk up the mountain paths1 and the dog by chance was outside and safe4 ,he found out where his master lay and succeeded in clearing the masonry so as to uncover his head1 which was bleeding4 ,he then set to work to lick the wounds2 but1 seeing that they went on bleeding1 and also that he could not liberate the rest of the body1 he started in search of help1 running up and down among the surrounding ruins till he met some one1 whom he caught hold of by the clothes4 ,the man1 however1 thought that the dog was mad and fled for his life4 ,luckily1 another man guessed the truth and allowed himself to be guided to the spot4 ,history repeats itself1 at least the history of devoted dogs4 ,the same thing happened after the greater earthquake at ,messina1 when a man1 one of the last to be saved1 was discovered through the insistence of his little dog1 who approached a group of searchers and whined piteously till he persuaded them to follow him to the ruins which concealed his master4 ,nor1 again1 do machines act like a cockatoo ,i heard of from a witness of the scene4 ,a lady was visiting the zoological gardens in a ,german town with her daughter1 when the little girl was seized with the wish to possess a pretty moulted feather which was lying on the ground in the parrots' cage4 ,she made several attempts to reach it1 but in vain4 ,seeing which1 an old cockatoo hopped solemnly from the back of the cage and taking up the feather in his beak1 handed it to the child with an air of the greatest politeness4 ,one of the first upholders of the idea of legislative protection of animals was ,jeremy ,bentham1 who asked why the law should refuse its protection to any sensitive being8 ,most people forget the degree of opposition which was encountered by the earlier combatants of cruel practices and pastimes in ,england4 ,cobbett made a furious attack on a clergyman who 7to his honour7 was agitating for the suppression of bull-baiting1 8the poor man's sport10 as ,cobbett called it4 ,that it demoralised the poor man as well as tormented the bull never entered into the head of the inimitable wielder of ,english prose1 pure and undefiled1 who took it under his 7happily7 ineffectual protection4 8,the common law fully sanctions the baiting of bulls10 he wrote1 8and1 ,i believe1 that to sell the flesh of a bull which has not been baited is an offence which is punishable by that very law to which you appeal0 78,political ,register10 ,june1 #ahjb74 ,societies for the ,prevention of ,cruelty to ,animals had1 in their day1 to undergo almost as much criticism and ridicule in ,england as they now meet with in some parts of the ,continent4 ,even the establishment of the ,dogs' ,home in ,london raised a storm of disapproval1 as may be seen by any one who turns over the files of the ,times for ,october1 #ahfj4 ,if the friends of humanity persevere1 the change of sentiment which has become an accomplished fact in ,england will1 in the end1 triumph elsewhere4 ,unfortunately1 humane sentiment and humane practice do not progress on a level line4 ,as long ago as #aghb an ,english writer named ,soame ,jenyns protested against the wickedness of shooting a bear on an inaccessible island of ice1 or an eagle on the mountain's top4 8,we are unable to give life and therefore ought not to take it away from the meanest insect without sufficient reason40 ,what would he say if he came back to earth to find whole species of beautiful winged creatures being destroyed to afford a barbarous ornament for women's heads8 ,the 8discovery0 of ,indian literature brought prominently forward in the ,west the ,indian ideas of animals of which the old travellers had given the earliest news4 ,the effect of familiarity with those ideas may be traced in many writers1 but nowhere to such an extent as in the works of ,schopenhauer1 for whom1 as for many more obscure students1 they formed the most attractive and interesting part of ,oriental lore4 ,schopenhauer cannot speak about animals without using a tone of passionate vehemence which was1 without doubt1 genuine4 ,he felt the intense enjoyment in observing them which the lonely soul has ever felt1 whether it belonged to saint or sinner4 ,all his pessimism disappears when he leaves the haunts of man for the retreats of beasts4 ,what a pleasure it is1 he says1 to watch a wild animal going about undisturbed6 ,it shows us our own nature in a simpler and more sincere form4 8,there is only one mendacious being in the world1 and that is man4 ,every other is true and sincere40 ,it strikes me that total sincerity did not shine on the face of a dog which ,i once saw trotting innocently away1 after burying a rabbit he had caught in a ploughed field near a tree in the hedge--the only tree there was--which would make it easy for him to identify the spot4 ,but about that ,i will say no more4 ,the ,german 8,friend of the ,creature0 was indignant at 8the unpardonable forgetfulness in which the lower animals have hitherto been left by the moralists of ,europe40 ,the duty of protecting them1 neglected by religion1 falls to the police4 ,mankind are the devils of the earth and animals the souls they torment4 ,full of these sentiments1 ,schopenhauer was prepared to welcome unconditionally the ,indian conception of the ,wheel of ,being and to close his eyes to its defects4 ,strauss1 too1 hailed it as a doctrine which 8unites the whole of ,nature in one sacred and mysterious bond0--a bond in which1 he goes on to say1 a breach has been made by the ,judaism and dualism of ,christianity4 ,he might have observed that the ,church derived her notions on the subject rather from ,aristotle than from ,semitic sources4 ,schopenhauer came to the conclusion that the ill-treatment of animals arose directly from the denial to them of immortality1 while it was ascribed to men4 ,there is and there is not truth in this4 ,when all is said1 the well-conditioned man always was and always will be humane2 8the righteous man regardeth the life of his beast40 ,and since people reason to fit their acts rather than act to fit their reasoning1 he will even find a motive for his humanity where others find an excuse for the lack of it4 ,humphry ,primatt wrote in #aggf3 8,cruelty to a brute is an injury irreparable because there is no future life to be a compensation for present afflictions40 ,mr4 ,lecky1 in his 8,history of ,european ,morals10 tells of a ,cardinal who let himself be bitten by gnats because 8we have heaven1 but these poor creatures only present enjoyment60 ,could ,jaina do more8 ,strauss thought that the rising tide of popular sentiment about animals was the direct result of the abandonment by science of the spiritualistic isolation of man from ,nature4 ,i suspect that those who have worked hardest for animals in the last half-century cared little about the origin of species1 while it is certain that some professed evolutionists have been their worst foes4 ,the fact remains1 however1 that by every rule of logic the theory of evolution ought to produce the effect which ,strauss thought that it had produced4 ,the discovery which gives its name to the nineteenth century revolutionises the whole philosophic conception of the place of animals in the ,universe4 ,lamarck1 whom ,cuvier so cruelly attacked1 was the first to discern the principle of evolution4 ,at one time he held the ,chair of ,zoology at the ,university of ,paris2 but the opposition which his ideas met with crushed him in body1 though not in soul1 and he died blind and in want in #ahbi1 only consoled by the care of an admirable daughter4 ,his last words are said to have been that it is easier to discover a truth than to convince others of it4 ,an ,italian named ,carlo ,lessona was one of the first to be convinced4 ,he wrote a work containing the phrase1 8,the intelligence of animals0--which work1 by the rule then in force1 had to be presented to the ecclesiastical ,censor at ,turin to receive his permit before publication4 ,the canon who examined the book fell upon the words above mentioned1 and remarked3 8,this expression1 #8intelligence of animals1' will never do60 8,but10 said ,lessona1 8it is commonly used in natural history books40 8,oh60 replied the canon1 8natural history has much need of revision40#ab ,footnote #ab3 ,see ,dr4 ,f4 ,franzolini's interesting monograph on animal psychology from the point of view of science 78,intelligenza delle ,bestie10 ,udine1 #ahii74 ,the great and cautious ,darwin said that the senses1 intuitions1 emotions1 and faculties1 such as love1 memory1 attention1 curiosity1 imitation1 reason1 of which man boasts1 may be found in an incipient1 or even1 sometimes1 in a well-developed condition in the lower animals4 8,man1 with all his noble qualities1 his ,god-like intellect1 still bears in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origin4 ,our brethren fly in the air1 haunt the bushes1 and swim in the sea40 ,darwin agreed with ,agassiz in recognising in the dog something very like the human conscience4 ,dr4 ,arnold said that the whole subject of the brute creature was such a painful mystery that he dared not approach it4 ,michelet called animal life a 8sombre mystery10 and shuddered at the 8daily murder10 hoping that in another globe 8these base and cruel fatalities may be spared to us40 ,it is strange to find how many men of very different types have wandered without a guide in these dark alleys of speculation4 ,a few of them arrived at1 or thought they had arrived at1 a solution4 ,lord ,chesterfield wrote that 8animals preying on each other is a law of ,nature which we did not make1 and which we cannot undo1 for if ,i do not eat chickens my cat will eat mice40 ,but the appeal to ,nature will not satisfy every one2 our whole human conscience is a protest against ,nature1 while our moral actions are an attempt to effect a compromise4 ,paley pointed out that the law was not good1 since we could live without animal food and wild beasts could not4 ,he offered another justification1 the permission of ,scripture4 ,this was satisfactory to him1 but he must have been aware that it waives the question without answering it4 ,some humane people have taken refuge in the automata argument1 which is like taking a sleeping-draught to cure a broken leg4 ,others1 again1 look for justice to animals in the one and only hope that man possesses of justice to himself2 in compensation after death for unmerited suffering in this life4 ,leibnitz said that ,eternal ,justice ought to compensate animals for their misfortunes on earth4 ,bishop ,butler would not deny a future life to animals4 ,speaking of her approaching death1 ,mrs4 ,somerville said3 8,i shall regret the sky1 the sea1 with all the changes of their beautiful colouring2 the earth with its verdure and flowers3 but far more shall ,i grieve to leave animals who have followed our steps affectionately for years1 without knowing for certainty their ultimate fate1 though ,i firmly believe that the living principle is never extinguished4 ,since the atoms of matter are indestructible1 as far as we know1 it is difficult to believe that the spark which gives to their union life1 memory1 affection1 intelligence1 and fidelity1 is evanescent40 ,in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries1 seven or eight small works1 written in ,latin in support of this thesis1 were published in ,germany and ,sweden4 ,probably in all the world a number1 unsuspectedly large1 of sensitive minds has endorsed the belief expressed so well in the lines which ,southey wrote on coming home to find that a favourite old dog had been 8destroyed0 during his absence3-- 444 8,mine is no narrow creed2 ,and ,he who gave thee being did not frame ,the mystery of life to be the sport ,of merciless man6 ,there is another world ,for all that live and move--a better one6 ,where the proud bipeds1 who would fain confine ,infinite ,goodness to the little bounds ,of their own charity1 may envy thee60 ,the holders of this 8no narrow creed0 start with all the advantages from the mere point of view of dialectics4 ,they can boast that they have placed the immortality of the soul on a scientific basis4 ,for truly1 it is more reasonable to suppose that the soul is natural than supernatural1 a word invented to clothe our ignorance2 and1 if natural1 why not universal8 ,they have the right to say1 moreover1 that they and they alone have 8justified the ways of ,god40 ,they alone have admitted all creation that groaneth and travaileth to the ultimate guerdon of the 8,love which moves the sun and other stars40 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,index ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,abdls1 #bfa-bfb ,abu ,djafar al ,mausur1 ,caliph1 #bcb ,abu ,jail1 #bda-bdc ,achilles1 #bf-bg1 #bih ,adi ,granth1 #bja sop's fables1 #be1 #bi-cj1 #hj-ha ,aethe1 #bf ,aethon1 #bf ,afghan ballad1 #bda-bdc ,african pastoral tribes1 #ie ,agamemnon1 #be-bf1 #bi ,agassiz1 #cfd ,agora ,temple1 #gg ,ahimsa1 #aff-afg1 #agb1 #aic ,ahriman1 #abd-abf1 #adc1 #ade-adf1 #adi-aea1 #aeh-aei ,ahriman1 hymn to1 #abe ,ahuna-,vairya1 #ach ,ahura ,mazda1 #aaf1 #aba-abb1 #acf1 #ach-aci1 #adc1 #aed1 #aeh-aei ,alberti1 ,leo ,battista1 #aed1 #aeh-aei1 #ceb ,albigenses1 #cdf ,alexander the ,great1 #ge1 #acc ,alfonso1 ,king of ,spain1 #bia-bib ,alger1 ,w4 ,r41 #bhf ,alhambra1 #bbi ,al ,rakm1 #bcj ,amatongo1 #ajg-aji ,amazulu1 #ajg ,l'me est la fonction du cerveau1 #ceg ,ammon1 ,temple of1 #ca ,amon ,ra1 #ajc ,amritsar1 #bja ,anaxandrides1 #hb ,anchorites1 #agi1 #beb-bed ,andromache1 #bf ,animals1 treatment of1 in ,india1 #ai2 the purgatory of men1 #ba2 slaying of1 by ,greeks1 #bd-be2 naming of1 #bf2 prophetic powers of1 #bg-bh2 talking1 #bi2 ,roman treatment of1 #de-df2 butchery of1 at ,colosseum1 #ea2 imported for arena1 #ea-eb2 humanity of1 #ec-ed2 performing1 #ed-ee2 ,plutarch on kindness to1 #fd-ga2 ,plutarch on animal intelligence1 #fg-ga2 instances of discrimination of1 #ge-gf2 domestication of1 #ij-ia2 value of1 #id-ie2 excuses for killing1 #ajj2 attitude of savages to1 #ajg-ajh2 killing of1 by priests1 #adh-aej2 ,zoroastrian treatment of1 #adg-aeg2 in sacred books1 #ahh2 ,hebrew treatment of1 #bab-bbj2 hunting of1 by ,moslems1 #bbd-bbe1 #bcb1 #bda-bdc2 musical instinct in1 #bde-bdf2 and the ,messiah1 #bdg-beb2 and saints1 #bei2 stories of1 #cjf-caf2 theory of ,celsus as to intelligence of1 #cdj-cdd2 theory of ,porphyry1 #cdd2 the ,church and humanity1 #cdf2 animal prosecutions1 #cdg-cea2 ,renaissance admiration of1 #ceb-cec2 animals and thought1 #cee2 automata theory1 #cec-cei1 #cfe2 societies to protect1 #cei-cfj2 ill-treatment and immortality1 #cfb2 principle of evolution1 #cfc ,antelope1 #bdj ,ants1 wisdom of1 #gf-gg2 killing of1 #adi-aej2 ,hebrew proverb1 #baf2 in the ,koran1 #bbg2 social economy of1 #cda-cdb ,apis1 #ajb1 #add ,apollo1 #bdf ,apollonius of ,tyana1 #bfh-bfi2 #ccg-cdj2 #cde ,apsarases1 the1 #bgi-bhj ,apuleius1 #ee ,archological ,congress1 #ie ,archetypes 7see ,fravashi7 ,ard ,vrf1 #aei-afe ,arena1 cruelties of the1 #de-df ,ariosto1 #big ,aristophanes1 #bh ,aristotle1 #eh1 #gh1 #hj1 #bfi1 #cdj1 #cfb ,arnold1 ,dr41 #cfd ,arnold1 ,sir ,matthew1 #cjb-cjc ,aryans1 #ac1 #ah1 #aac-aae ,asceticism1 #agi-ahc ,astrachan1 #beh ,ataro1 #afb ,atharva-,veda1 #bjh ,atman1 #ad ,augustus1 #ccf ,automata theory1 #cec-cei1 #cfe ,avebury1 ,lord1 #cdc ,avesta1 #aac1 #aaf1 #abj1 #abc1 #abe1 #abh1 #aca1 #acc-adj1 #adc1 #ade-adh1 #aec1 #aee1 #aei1 #afc1 #bcc-bcd ,bactria1 #aca ,baiardo1 #big ,balaam's ass1 #bab-bac1 #bai ,balius1 #bf-bg ,balkis1 ,queen1 #bbi ,bankes' horse1 #bhc ,banyan deer1 #cbg-bcj ,barbary1 #bif ,basan1 ,bulls of1 #add ,basri1 ,hasan1 #bcd ,battle of the frogs and mice1 #bi ,baudelaire1 #ah ,bavieca1 #bhi-bid ,bears1 legends of1 #hh-hi ,beast tales1 #bh1 #cag1 #cea ,beaver 7see ,udra7 ,bedouins1 #bgb ,behkaa1 #ajd ,benares1 #ahc ,benedict ,,xii41 #di ,bentham1 ,jeremy1 #cei ,bhagavad1 ,gita1 #ad ,bion1 #fd ,birds1 in 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#ec1 #ee1 #bif ,cagliari1 #bdh ,callaway1 ,canon1 #aji ,cambaleth1 #aie ,cambyses1 #add ,camels1 #bhf ,canna1 #ccc-ccd ,carbonaria1 #di ,carlyle1 ,thos41 #cc ,cartesian philosophy1 #cec-cee ,carthage1 #baa ,cassandra1 #bi ,cato1 #de ,cats1 #hj-hc1 #aee1 #bbb1 #beh1 #bgh1 #cad1 #cbb ,celsus1 #gc1 #cci-cdd ,celts1 #bgc-bgd ,ceriana1 #ceh ,cervantes1 #bij ,chanet1 #cee ,chantal1 ,mdme4 de1 #agh ,chariot-racing1 #cj ,charles1 ,king 7the ,peace71 #ej ,chesterfield1 ,lord1 #cfd ,childebert1 #bed-bee ,china1 religion of1 #cbg ,chinese1 belief and folk-lore1 #ajd-ajf2 saving of animal life1 #aid2 folk-lore stories1 #cjf-cjh1 #cac-caf1 #cbf-ccj4 ,chinvat1 #aed1 #aeh1 #afb ,choo-,foo-,tsze1 #ajd ,christianity1 approach of1 #ccg-cch ,cicada1 #bfj ,cicero1 #af1 #ej1 #eh-ei1 #abh1 #cdj ,cignani1 #bjh ,cimon1 #ca ,circuses1 #ed-ee ,clothilde's ,god1 #ic ,clovis1 #ic ,clytemnestra1 #bi ,cobbett1 #cei ,cockatoo1 ,story of a1 #cei ,colonna1 ,cardinal1 #di ,colosseum1 ,butchery at inauguration of1 #ea 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#bid-cje ,sacerdotalism1 #afh ,sacontala1 #bcc-bcd ,sacred birds1 animals1 and reptiles1 #ajj-aja1 #ajd-aaj ,sacred carpet1 #bbb1 #bbg ,sacrifices1 funeral1 #ab-ac2 ,greek1 #bd-be2 bloodless1 #ca2 belief in1 #id2 of domestic animals1 #ie-if2 ,gift and ,pact1 #if2 ,totemism1 #ig-ih2 of ,persians1 #aai2 in the ,bundehesh1 #adc2 to ,homa1 #adh-adi2 for ,udra-killing1 #aef2 the 8,true ,sacrifice0 legend1 #ahc-ahd2 apostolate for abolition of animal1 #ccg ,sadi1 #bbe ,st4 ,anthony1 #bed1 #bei ,st4 ,augustine1 #bgc1 #ccg ,st4 ,bernard1 #bef-beg ,st4 ,columba1 #bee ,st4 ,edward the ,martyr1 #bgd ,st4 ,francis1 #gd1 #afg1 #bcd1 #beg-bfc ,st4 ,franois de ,sale1 #agh ,st4 ,james1 #ed ,st4 ,jerome1 #bec-bed ,st4 ,josephat1 #bfa ,st4 ,julien1 town of1 #cdi-cej ,st4 ,marculphe1 #bee ,st4 ,martin1 #bei ,st4 ,paul1 #baa-bab ,st4 ,philip ,neri1 #cdg ,st4 ,teresa1 #ahd ,st4 ,thomas ,aquinas1 #bge ,saint-,calais1 #bee ,saint-,hilaire1 ,geoffroy1 #ceh ,sakya ,muni1 #abi1 #afi1 #aig ,sama1 ,legend of1 #ccj-ccb ,samengan1 #bii-cja ,ssnians1 #aai1 #aci-adj ,satyricon1 #ea ,schopenhauer1 #bjf1 #beh1 #cfa ,sebectighin1 #bdj-bda ,secundra ,orphanage1 #de ,semites 7see ,hebrews7 ,seneca1 #ei-fa1 #hb ,sensitive ,plant1 ,the1 #agd ,serapeum1 #ajb ,serapis1 #ccf ,serpent1 the1 #aaj-aaa ,sestius1 #fa ,seven ,sleepers of ,ephesus1 #bbi-bcj ,shah ,nameh1 #ada1 #bid1 #cja ,shakespeare1 ,william1 #bef1 #bhb-bhc ,she-wolves of ,rome1 #dd-de ,sheba1 #bbh ,sheikh of ,ts1 #ada ,shughdad1 #cjc ,siam1 #aid ,siegemund and ,siegelind1 #adj ,siegfried1 #bid ,siena1 #bjh ,sikhs1 #bja ,simurghs1 #bih ,sivi1 ,king1 #cba-cbb ,smith1 ,dr4 ,h4 ,p41 #aaj ,snakes1 in ,india1 #bfe-bff2 and the mungoose1 #cji-caa ,societies to protect animals1 #cef-cfj ,socrates1 #aef1 #afb ,sohrab1 #bii-cje ,solomon in the ,valley of ,ants1 #bbg ,soma1 #adh ,somerville1 ,mrs41 #ajj ,sophocles1 #ij ,sotio1 #fj-fa ,southey1 ,robert1 #cfe-cff ,srosh1 #afb ,stable1 a sanctuary1 #cje ,stag1 fable of a1 #cbf ,statius1 #ec1 #ef-eg ,stel1 #hj ,stevenson1 ,r4 ,l41 #aif ,stoics1 the1 #fe1 #ga ,stork1 legend of a1 #bee ,strange ,stories from a ,chinese ,studio1 #cac ,strauss1 #cfb-cfc ,sufism1 #bbe ,suicide in ,india1 #ahf 8,sultan10 #cab ,sumner1 ,charles1 #bha ,sutras1 #aa-ab ,suttees1 #ab ,swan-maidens 7see ,apsarases7 ,swine-flesh1 forbidding of1 #bcb ,sycamore-tree at ,matarea1 #bdh ,symmachus1 #eb-ec ,tahmineh1 #cja1 #cjc ,taliumen1 #adb ,taoism1 #aje-ajf ,tatchi-lou-lun1 #cbf ,taylor1 ,john1 #bhc ,taylor1 ,canon ,isaac1 #ia ,temple1 building1 #aba-abb2 ,jaina temples1 #aga ,tennyson1 #bif ,thaumaturgy1 #aha-ahc ,thebaid1 #aha ,theogony1 #abh ,theophrastus1 #ef ,theocritus1 #hc ,thomas1 ,pseudo-1 #bdh ,three ,merchants1 ,parable of the1 #agf ,tiberius1 #fa ,tigers in ,india1 #bfe-bfh1 #bgj-bgb ,tigress1 fable of the1 #cbg ,times1 ,the1 #cfj ,tirthakaras1 #agj-aga ,titus1 #eb ,tobias1 #ib-ic ,tobit's dog1 #aad ,todas1 #bhe ,torquemada1 #aea1 #cci ,totemism1 #if-ajb1 #ajg1 #bgb ,transformation1 #bgj-bhj ,transmigration1 #aa-ba1 #ahf-ahi1 #bfa ,tribal system1 #abi ,triptolemus1 #cde ,troglodite ,age1 #hh-hi ,trusty ,lydia1 #eh ,udra1 the #aee-aef ,ulemas1 #bcd1 #bhh ,upanishads1 #ab-ac ,uruguay1 #bih ,valencia1 #bib ,varro1 #bge ,varuna1 #aaf ,vedas1 #ac-ad1 #bj1 #ic1 #aag-agh1 #ahc1 #bgi-bhj ,vegetarianism1 #afg1 #agb1 #aic ,velasquez's horse1 #bhd ,venidd1 #acd1 #aeb1 #aef-aeg ,vespasian1 #ee ,viking ship1 #ac1 #id ,vinci1 ,leonardo da1 #cec ,virgil1 #be1 #bge1 #ccf ,vispered1 #acd ,vivisection1 #bi1 #ceg ,voltaire1 #bdg1 #cef ,walaric1 #bee ,were-wolves1 #bgd-bgg1 #cea ,wildebeest and ,om ,piet1 #bdj ,witchcraft 7see ,magic7 ,wolf1 the1 #adi1 #bfh1 #bgc-bgg ,wolf of ,agobio1 #beg-beh ,women and ,jainism1 #ahd-ahf ,wordsworth1 ,william1 #fe ,worms1 ,council of1 #cdh ,wu-hu1 #cad-cae ,wusinara1 #cag-cai ,xanthus1 #bf-bh ,xantippus1 #gi ,xenocrates1 #cj ,yama1 #bj1 #aeh1 #bjc1 #cbd ,yasna1 #acd-ace ,yogis1 legend of two1 #bce ,yudishthira1 story of1 #cbb-cbd ,zal1 #bid-bif ,zarathustra 7see ,zoroaster7 ,zechariah's war-horse1 #bhd ,zend 7see ,avesta7 ,zoolatry1 #add ,zoological ,mythology1 #bij ,zoomorphism in ,egypt1 #ajb1 #cdj ,zork1 #adb ,zeus1 #be1 #bgc ,zoroaster1 teaching of1 #aac1 #aah-abe1 #abi-afe1 #bbe ,,unwin ,,brothers1 ,,limited ,,printers1 ,,woking ,,and ,,london ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,transcriber's note3 ,missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected4 ,typographical errors were silently corrected4 ,inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only when a predominant form was found in this book4 ,unpaired double quotation marks were left intact if correction was not obvious4