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- line-height: 1; } - h3.pgx { text-align: center; - clear: both; - font-weight: bold; - font-size: 110%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 1em; - word-spacing: 0em; - letter-spacing: 0em; - line-height: 1; } - h4.pgx { text-align: center; - clear: both; - font-weight: bold; - font-size: 100%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 1em; - word-spacing: 0em; - letter-spacing: 0em; - line-height: 1; } - hr.pgx { width: 100%; - margin-top: 3em; - margin-bottom: 0em; - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; - height: 4px; - border-width: 4px 0 0 0; /* remove all borders except the top one */ - border-style: solid; - border-color: #000000; - clear: both; } - </style> -</head> -<body> -<h1 class="pgx" title="">The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Place of Animals in Human Thought, by -Contessa Evelyn Lilian Hazeldine Carrington Martinengo-Cesaresco</h1> -<p>This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States -and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no -restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it -under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this -eBook or online at <a -href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you are not -located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this ebook.</p> -<p>Title: The Place of Animals in Human Thought</p> -<p>Author: Contessa Evelyn Lilian Hazeldine Carrington Martinengo-Cesaresco</p> -<p>Release Date: June 29, 2021 [eBook #65720]</p> -<p>Language: English</p> -<p>Character set encoding: UTF-8</p> -<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PLACE OF ANIMALS IN HUMAN THOUGHT***</p> -<p> </p> -<h4 class="pgx" title="">E-text prepared by Turgut Dincer, Barry Abrahamsen,<br /> - and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> - (https://www.pgdp.net)<br /> - from page images generously made available by<br /> - Internet Archive<br /> - (https://archive.org)</h4> -<p> </p> -<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff;margin: 0 auto;" cellpadding="10"> - <tr> - <td valign="top"> - Note: - </td> - <td> - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - https://archive.org/details/cu31924028931629 - </td> - </tr> -</table> -<p> </p> -<hr class="pgx" /> -<p> </p> -<p> </p> -<p> </p> - -<div class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/cover.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<div> - <h1 class='c001'>THE PLACE OF ANIMALS IN<br />HUMAN THOUGHT</h1> -</div> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> - -<div id='frontis' class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/frontis.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p><span class='sc'>The Emperor Akbar</span> personally directing the tying up of a wild Elephant.<br />Tempera painting by Abu’l Fazl. (1597-98.)<br /><span class='small'>Photographed for this work from the original in the India Museum</span>.</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c003' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c002'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_I'>I</span><span class='c004'>THE PLACE OF ANIMALS</span></div> - <div class='c003'><span class='c004'>IN HUMAN THOUGHT</span></div> - <div class='c002'>BY</div> - <div class='c000'><span class='c005'>THE COUNTESS EVELYN</span></div> - <div class='c000'><span class='c005'>MARTINENGO CESARESCO</span></div> - <div class='c002'>“On ne connait rien que par bribes.”—<span class='sc'>M. Berthelot</span></div> - <div class='c002'>NEW YORK</div> - <div class='c000'><span class='c005'>CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS</span></div> - <div class='c000'>153-157 FIFTH AVENUE</div> - <div class='c000'>1909</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c003' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c002'> - <div>“C’est l’éternel secret qui veut être gardé.”</div> - <div class='c002'><span class='small'>(<i>All rights reserved.</i>)</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_5'>5</span> - <h2 class='c006'>PREFACE</h2> -</div> -<p class='drop-capa0_25_0_7 c007'>AT the Congress held at Oxford in September, -1908, those who heard Count Goblet -d’Alviella’s address on the “Method and Scope -of the History of Religions” must have felt the -thrill which announces the stirring of new ideas, -when, in a memorable passage, the speaker asked -“whether the psychology of animals has not equally -some relation to the science of religions?” At any -rate, these words came to me as a confirmation of the -belief that the study which has engaged my attention -for several years, is rapidly advancing towards recognition -as a branch of the inquiry into what man is -himself. The following chapters on the different -answers given to this question when extended from -man to animals, were intended, from the first, to form -a whole, not complete, indeed, but perhaps fairly -comprehensive. I offer them now to the public with -my warmest acknowledgments to the scholars whose -published works and, in some cases, private hints -have made my task possible. I also wish to thank -the Editor of the <i>Contemporary Review</i> for his kindness -<span class='pageno' id='Page_6'>6</span>in allowing me to reprint the part of this book -which appeared first in that periodical.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Some chapters refer rather to practice than to -psychology, and others to myths and fancies rather -than to conscious speculation, but all these subjects -are so closely connected that it would be difficult to -divide their treatment by a hard-and-fast line.</p> - -<p class='c008'>With regard to the illustrations, I am glad to bear -grateful testimony to the facilities afforded me by -the Directors of the British Museum, the Victoria -and Albert Museum, the Hague Gallery, the -National Museum at Copenhagen, the Egypt Exploration -Fund, and by the Secretary of State for -India. H.E. Monsieur Camille Barrère, French -Ambassador at Rome, has allowed me to include -a photograph of his remarkably fine specimen of a -bronze cat; 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 “L’Art -Antique de la Perse.” Messrs. Macmillan & Co., -Limited, and Messrs. Chapman and Hall, Limited, -have permitted photographs to be taken of two -plates in books published by them. Finally, Dr. C. -Waldstein and Mr. E. B. Havell have been most -kind in helping me to give the correct description -of some of the plates.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='sc'>Salò, Lago di Garda.</span></p> -<p class='c009'><i>February 15, 1909.</i></p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c003' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_7'>7</span> - <h2 class='c006'>CONTENTS</h2> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div>I</div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='86%' /> -<col width='13%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c010'> </td> - <td class='c011'><span class='small'>PAGE</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'>SOUL-WANDERING AS IT CONCERNS ANIMALS</td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#ch01'>11</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div>II</div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='86%' /> -<col width='13%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>THE GREEK CONCEPTION OF ANIMALS</td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#ch02'>22</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div>III</div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='86%' /> -<col width='13%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>ANIMALS AT ROME</td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#ch03'>44</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div>IV</div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='86%' /> -<col width='13%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>PLUTARCH THE HUMANE</td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#ch04'>62</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div>V</div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='86%' /> -<col width='13%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>MAN AND HIS BROTHER</td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#ch05'>84</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div>VI</div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='86%' /> -<col width='13%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>THE FAITH OF IRAN</td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#ch06'>113</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div>VII</div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='86%' /> -<col width='13%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>ZOROASTRIAN ZOOLOGY</td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#ch07'>141</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div>VIII</div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='86%' /> -<col width='13%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>A RELIGION OF RUTH</td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#ch08'>166</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div>IX</div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='86%' /> -<col width='13%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>LINES FROM THE ADI GRANTH</td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#ch09'>201</a></td> - </tr> -</table> -<div><span class='pageno' id='Page_8'>8</span></div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div>X</div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='86%' /> -<col width='13%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>THE HEBREW CONCEPTION OF ANIMALS</td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#ch10'>205</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div>XI</div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='86%' /> -<col width='13%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>“A PEOPLE LIKE UNTO YOU”</td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#ch11'>221</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div>XII</div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='86%' /> -<col width='13%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>THE FRIEND OF THE CREATURE</td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#ch12'>245</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div>XIII</div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='86%' /> -<col width='13%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>VERSIPELLES</td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#ch13'>265</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div>XIV</div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='86%' /> -<col width='13%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>THE HORSE AS HERO</td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#ch14'>281</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div>XV</div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='86%' /> -<col width='13%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>ANIMALS IN EASTERN FICTION</td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#ch15'>306</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div>XVI</div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='86%' /> -<col width='13%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>THE GROWTH OF MODERN IDEAS ABOUT ANIMALS</td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#ch16'>336</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>INDEX</td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#idx'>367</a></td> - </tr> -</table> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c003' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_9'>9</span> - <h2 class='c006'>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> -</div> -<div class='std-table'> - -<table class='table1' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='90%' /> -<col width='9%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>THE EMPEROR AKBAR PERSONALLY DIRECTING THE TYING UP OF A WILD ELEPHANT. Tempera painting in the “Akbar Namah,” by Abu’l Fazl (1597-98). India Museum. <span class='c013'><i>Photographed for this work.</i></span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#frontis'><span class='c013'><i>Frontispiece</i></span></a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>DEER WORSHIPPING THE WHEEL OF THE LAW. Tope of Sanchi, drawn by Lieut.-Col. Maisey<br /> <span class='c013'><i>From Fergusson’s “Tree and Serpent Worship.” By permission of the India Office.</i></span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#i011'>11</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>THE BUDDHISTIC TIGER<br /> <span class='c013'><i>From a painting on silk by Ko-Tō in the British Museum. Photographed for this work.<br /> In Japanese Buddhism the Tiger is the type of Wisdom.</i></span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#i021'>21</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>ORPHEUS<br /> <span class='c013'><i>Fresco found at Pompeii.</i> (<i>Sommer.</i>)</span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#i032'>32</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>STELE WITH CAT AND BIRD<br /> <span class='c013'><i>Athens Museum.</i></span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#i040'>40</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>CAPITOLINE SHE-WOLF<br /> <span class='c013'>(<i>Bruckmann.</i>) Bronze statue. Early Etruscan style. The twins are modern.</span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#i044'>44</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>LION BEING LED FROM THE ARENA BY A SLAVE<br /> <span class='c013'><i>From the mosaic pavement of a Roman villa at Nennig.</i></span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#i047'>47</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>BACCHUS RIDING ON A PANTHER<br /> <span class='c013'><i>Mosaic found at Pompeii.</i> (<i>Sommer.</i>) </span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#i074'>74</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>BRONZE STATUE OF AN EGYPTIAN CAT<br /> <span class='c013'><i>From the Collection of H.E. Monsieur Camille Barrère, French Ambassador at Rome</i></span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#i082'>82</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>REINDEER BROWSING. OLDER STONE AGE<br /> <span class='c013'><i>Found in a cave at Thayngen in Switzerland.</i></span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#i086a'>86</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>HORSE DRAWING DISC OF THE SUN. OLDER BRONZE AGE<br /> <span class='c013'><i>National Museum at Copenhagen.</i></span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#i086b'>86</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>HATHOR COW<br /> <span class='c013'><i>Found in 1906 by Dr. Édouard Naville at Deir-el-bahari. By permission of the Egypt Exploration Fund.</i></span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#i102'>102</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>WILD GOATS AND YOUNG<br /> <span class='c013'><i>Assyrian Relief. British Museum.</i> (<i>Mansell.</i>) </span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#i108'>108</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>ASSYRIAN GOD CARRYING ANTELOPE AND WHEAT-EAR<br /> <span class='c013'><i>British Museum.</i> (<i>Mansell.</i>)</span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#i116'>116</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>COUNTING CATTLE<br /> <span class='c013'><i>Egyptian Fresco. British Museum.</i> (<i>Mansell.</i>)</span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#i128'>128</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'><span class='pageno' id='Page_10'>10</span>KING FIGHTING GRIFFIN (“BAD ANIMAL”)<br /> <span class='c013'><i>Relief in Palace of Darius at Persepolis. Photographed by Jane Dieulafoy. From “L’Art Antique de la Perse.” By permission of M. Marcel Dieulafoy.</i></span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#i142'>142</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>THE REAL DOG OF IRAN<br /> <span class='c013'><i>Bronze Statuette found at Susa. Louvre. From Perrot’s “History of Art in Ancient Persia.” By permission of Messrs. Chapman & Hall, Ltd.</i></span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#i152'>152</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>BUDDHA PACIFYING AN INTOXICATED ELEPHANT WHICH HAD BEEN SENT TO DESTROY HIM. THE ELEPHANT STOOPS IN ADORATION<br /> Græco-Buddhist sculpture from a ruined monastery at Takt-i-Bahi. <span class='c013'><i>India Museum. Photographed for this work.</i></span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#i188'>188</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>RECLINING BULL<br /> <span class='c013'><i>Ancient Southern Indian sculpture. From a photograph in the India Museum.</i></span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#i192'>192</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>WILD BULLS AND TAMED BULLS<br /> <span class='c013'><i>Reliefs on two gold cups found in a tomb at Vapheio near Amyclae. Fifteenth century <span class='fss'>B.C.</span> (possibly earlier). From Schuckhardt’s “Schliemann’s Excavations.” By permission of Messrs. Macmillan & Co., Ltd.</i></span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#i201'>201</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>THE GARDEN OF EDEN<br /> <span class='c013'><i>By Rubens. Hague Gallery.</i> (<i>Bruckmann.</i></span>)</td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#i208'>208</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>GENESIS VIII.<br /> <span class='c013'><i>Loggie di Raffaello. In the Vatican. Drawn by N. Consoni.</i></span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#i212'>212</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>DANIEL AND THE LIONS<br /> <span class='c013'><i>From an early Christian Sarcophagus in S. Vitale, Ravenna.</i> (<i>Alinari.</i></span>)</td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#i216'>216</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>“AN INDIAN ORPHEUS”<br /> <span class='c013'><i>Inlaid marble work panel originally surmounting a doorway in the Great Hall of Audience in the Mogul Palace at Delhi (about 1650). Photographed for this work from a painting by a native artist in the India Museum. Imitated from a painting by Raphael.</i></span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#i222'>222</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>MOSLEM BEGGAR FEEDING DOGS AT CONSTANTINOPLE<br /> <span class='c013'><i>From life.</i></span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#i226'>226</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>ST. JEROME EXTRACTING A THORN FROM THE PAW OF A LION<br /> <span class='c013'><i>By Hubert van Eyck. Naples Museum.</i> (<i>Anderson.</i></span>)</td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#i253'>253</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>ST. EUSTACE (OR ST. HUBERT) AND THE STAG<br /> <span class='c013'><i>By Vittore Pisano. National Gallery.</i> (<i>Hanfstängl.</i>)</span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#i256'>256</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>“LE MENEUR DES LOUPS”<br /> <span class='c013'><i>Designed and drawn by Maurice Sand.</i></span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#i276'>276</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>THE ASSYRIAN HORSE<br /> <span class='c013'><i>From a relief in the British Museum.</i> (<i>Mansell.</i></span>)</td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#i284'>284</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>ARABIAN HORSE OF THE SAHARA<br /><span class='c013'><i>From life.</i></span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#i288'>288</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>THE BANYAN DEER<br /> <span class='c013'><i>From “Stûpa of Bharhut.” By General Cunningham. By permission of the India Office.</i> (<i>Griggs.</i>)</span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#i328'>328</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>EGYPTIAN OFFICIAL, WITH HIS WIFE, ENGAGED IN FOWLING IN THE PAPYRUS SWAMP. HIS HUNTING CAT HAS SEIZED THREE BIRDS.<br /> <span class='c013'><i>Mural painting in British Museum.</i> (<i>Mansell.</i>)</span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#i330'>330</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>ASSYRIAN LION AND LIONESS IN PARADISE PARK<br /> <span class='c013'><i>British Museum.</i> (<i>Mansell.</i>) The King’s reservations for big game were called “paradises.”</span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#i336'>336</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>LAMBS<br /> <span class='c013'><i>Relief on a fifth century tomb at Ravenna.</i> (<i>Alinari.</i>)</span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#i338'>338</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c012'>“IL BUON PASTORE”<br /> <span class='c013'><i>Mosaic in the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia at Ravenna.</i></span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#i346'>346</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -</div> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c003' /> -</div> -<div id='i011' class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i011.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p><span class='small'>LT COL. MAISEY DEL. W. BRIGGS, LITH.</span><br />DEER WORSHIPPING THE WHEEL OF THE LAW.<br /><span class='small'>Tope of Sanchi.</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c002'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_11'>11</span><span class='c014'>The Place of Animals in Human Thought</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='ch01' class='c006'>I<br /> <br />SOUL-WANDERING AS IT CONCERNS ANIMALS</h2> -</div> -<p class='drop-capa0_25_0_7 c007'>IN one of these enigmatic sayings which launch -the mind on boundless seas, Cardinal Newman -remarked that we know less of animals than of -angels. A large part of the human race explains -the mystery by what is called transmigration, -metempsychosis, <i>Samsara</i>, <i>Seelenwanderung</i>; the last -a word so compact and picturesque that it is a pity -not to imitate it in English. The intelligibility of -ideas depends much on whether words touch the -spring of the picture-making wheel of the brain; -“Soul-wandering” does this.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Ancient as the theory is, we ought to remember -what is commonly forgotten—that somewhere in the -distance we catch sight of a time when it was -unknown, at least in the sense of a procession of -the soul from death to life through animal forms. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_12'>12</span>Traces of it are to be found in the Sutras and it is -thoroughly developed in the Upanishads, but if the -Sutras belong to the thirteenth century and the -Upanishads to about the year 700 before Christ, a -long road still remains to the Vedas with their -fabulous antiquity.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In the Vedas it is stated that the soul may wander, -even during sleep, and that it will surely have a -further existence after death, but there is nothing to -show that in this further existence it will take the -form of an animal. Man will be substantially man, -able to feel the same pleasures as his prototype on -earth; but if he goes to a good place, exempt from -the same pains. What, then, was the Vedic opinion -of animals? On the whole, it is safe to assume that -the authors of the Vedic chants believed that animals, -like men, entered a soul-world in which they preserved -their identity. The idea of funeral sacrifices, -as exemplified in these earliest records, was that of -sending some one before. The horse and the goat -that were immolated at a Vedic funeral were intended -to go and announce the coming of the man’s soul. -Wherever victims were sacrificed at funerals, they -were originally meant to do something in the after-life; -hence they must have had souls. The origin -of the Suttee was the wish that the wife should -accompany her husband, and among primitive peoples -animals were sacrificed because the dead man might -have need of them. Not very long ago an old Irish -woman, on being remonstrated with for having killed -her dead husband’s horse, replied with the words, -“Do you think I would let my man go on foot in the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_13'>13</span>next world?” On visiting that wonderfully emotion-awakening -relic, the Viking ship at Christiania, I was -interested to see the bones of the Chief’s horses and -dogs as well as his own. Did the Norsemen, passionately -devoted to the sea as they were, suppose, that -not only the animals, but also the vessel in which -they buried their leader, would have a ghostly second -existence? I have no doubt that they did. Apart -from what hints may be gleaned from the Vedas, -there is an inherent probability against the early -Aryans, any more than the modern Hindu, believing -that the soul of man or beast comes suddenly to a -full stop. To destroy spirit seems to the Asiatic -mind as impossible as to destroy matter seems to -the biologist.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Leaving the Vedas and coming down to the Sutras -and Upanishads, we discover the transmigration of -souls at first suggested and then clearly defined. -Whence came it? Was it the belief of those less -civilised nations whom the Aryans conquered, and -did they, in accepting it from them, 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 being?</p> - -<p class='c008'>A large portion of mankind finds it as difficult to -conceive a sudden beginning as a sudden end of -spirit. We forget difficulties which we are not in -the habit of facing; those who have tried to face this -one have generally stumbled over it. Even Dante -with his subtle psychophysiological reasoning hardly -persuades. The ramifications of a life before stretched -<span class='pageno' id='Page_14'>14</span>far: “Whosoever believes in the fabled prior existence -of souls, let him be anathema,” thundered the -Council of Constantinople, <span class='fss'>A.D.</span> 543. Which shows -that many Christians shared Origen’s views on this -subject.</p> - -<p class='c008'>From the moment that soul-wandering became, -in India, a well-established doctrine, some three -thousand years ago, the conception of the status of -animals was perfectly clear. “Wise people,” says -the Bhagavad Gita, “see the same soul (Atman) in -the Brahman, in worms and insects, in the outcasts, -in the dog and the elephant, in beasts, cows, gadflies, -and gnats.” Here we have the doctrine succinctly -expounded, and in spite of subtleties introduced by -later philosophers (such as that of the outstanding -self) the exposition holds good to this day as a statement -of the faith of India. It also described the -doctrine of Pythagoras, which ancient traditions -asserted that he brought from Egypt, where no such -doctrine ever existed. Pythagoras is still commonly -supposed to have borrowed from Egypt; but it is -strange that a single person should continue to hold -an opinion against which so much evidence has been -produced; especially as it is surely very easy to -explain the tradition by interpreting Egypt to have -stood for “the East” in common parlance, exactly -as in Europe a tribe of low caste Indians came to be -called gypsies or Egyptians. Pythagoras believed -that he had been one of the Trojan heroes, whose -shield he knew at a glance in the Temple of Juno -where it was hung up. After him, Empedocles -thought that he had passed through many forms, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_15'>15</span>amongst others those of a bird and a fish. Pythagoras -and his fire-spent disciple belong to times which seem -almost near if judged by Indian computations: yet -they are nebulous figures; they seem to us, and -perhaps they seemed to men who lived soon after -them, more like mysterious, half Divine bearers of a -word than men of flesh and blood. But Plato, who -is real to us and who has influenced so profoundly -modern thought, Plato took their theory and displayed -it to the Western world as the most logical explanation -of the mystery of being.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The theory of transmigration did not commend -itself to Roman thinkers, though it was admirably -stated by a Roman poet:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Omnia mutantur: nihil interit. Errat, et illinc</div> - <div class='line in1'>Huc venit, hinc illuc, et quoslibet occupat artus</div> - <div class='line in1'>Spiritus, eque feris, humana in corpora transit,</div> - <div class='line in1'>Inque feras noster, nec tempore deperit ullo.</div> - <div class='line in1'>Utque novis facilis signatur cera figuris,</div> - <div class='line in1'>Nec manet ut fuerat, nec formas servat easdem,</div> - <div class='line in1'>Sed tamen ipsa eadem est: animam sic semper eandem</div> - <div class='line in1'>Esse.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c016'>This description is as accurate as it is elegant; 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 animals. The enthusiastic -folk-lorist finds himself believing in all sorts of things -at odd times. Lucian’s admirers at Rome doubtless -enjoyed his ridiculous story of a Pythagorean cock -which had been a man, a woman, a prince, a subject, -a fish, a horse and a frog, and which summed up its -<span class='pageno' id='Page_16'>16</span>varied experience in the judgment that man was the -most wretched and deplorable of all creatures, all -others patiently grazing within the enclosures of -Nature while man alone breaks out and strays beyond -those safe limits. This story was retold with great -gusto by Erasmus. The Romans were a people with -inclusive prejudices, and they were not likely to -welcome a narrowing of the gulf between themselves -and the beasts of the field. Cicero’s dictum that, -while man looks before and after, analysing the past -and forecasting the future, animals have only the -perception of the present, does not go to the excess -of those later theorists who, like Descartes, reduced -animals to automata, but it goes farther than scientific -writers on the subject would now allow to be justified.</p> -<p class='c008'>It is worth while asking, what was it that so powerfully -attracted Plato in the theory of transmigration? -I think that Plato, who made a science of the moral -training of the mind, was attracted by soul-wandering -as a scheme of soul-evolution. Instead of looking -at it as a matter of fact which presupposed an ethical -root (which is the Indian view), he looked upon it as -an ethical root which presupposed a matter of fact. -He was influenced a little, no doubt, by the desire to -get rid of Hades, “an unpleasant place,” as he says, -“and not true,” for which he felt a peculiar antipathy, -but he was influenced far more by seeing in soul-wandering -a rational theory of the ascent of the soul, -a Darwinism of the spirit. “We are plants,” he said, -“not of earth but of heaven,” but it takes the plants -of heaven a long time to grow.</p> - -<p class='c008'>We ought to admire the Indian mind, which first -<span class='pageno' id='Page_17'>17</span>seized the idea of time in relation to development -and soared out of the cage of history (veritable or -imaginary) into liberal æons to account for one perfect -soul, one plant that had accomplished its heavenly -destiny. But though the Indian seer argues with -Plato that virtue has its own reward (not so much an -outward reward of improved environment as an inward -reward of approximation to perfection), he disagrees -with the Greek philosopher with regard to the practical -result of all this as it affects any of us personally. -Plato found the theory of transmigration entirely -consoling; the Indian finds it entirely the reverse. -Can the reason be that Plato took the theory as a -beautiful symbol while the Indian takes it as a dire -reality?</p> - -<p class='c008'>The Hindu is as much convinced that the soul is -re-born in different animals as we are that children -are born of women. He is convinced of it, but he -is not consoled by it. Let us reflect a little: does -not one life give us time to get somewhat tired of it; -how should we feel after fifteen hundred lives? The -wandering Jew has never been thought an object -of envy, but the wandering soul has a wearier lot; -it knows the sorrows of all creation.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“How many births are past I cannot tell,</div> - <div class='line in2'>How many yet may be no man may say,</div> - <div class='line in1'>But this alone I know and know full well,</div> - <div class='line in2'>That pain and grief embitter all the way.”<a id='r1' /><a href='#f1' class='c017'><sup>[1]</sup></a></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='fn'> - -<div class='footnote c000' id='f1'> -<p class='c018'><span class='label'><a href='#r1'>1</a>. </span>“Folk-Songs of Southern India,” by Charles E. Gover, a -fascinating but little-known work.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p class='c008'>Rather than this—death. How far deeper the -gloom revealed by these lines from the folk-songs of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_18'>18</span>an obscure Dravidian tribe living in the Nilgiri Hills, -than any which cultured Western pessimism can -show! Compared with them, the despairing cry of -Baudelaire seems almost a hymn of joy:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“’Tis death that cheers and gives us strength to live,</div> - <div class='line in1'>’Tis life’s chief aim, sole hope that can abide,</div> - <div class='line in1'>Our wine, elixir, glad restorative</div> - <div class='line in1'>Whence we gain heart to walk till eventide.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in1'>Through snow, through frost, through tempests it can give</div> - <div class='line in1'>Light that pervades th’ horizon dark and wide;</div> - <div class='line in1'>The inn which makes secure when we arrive</div> - <div class='line in1'>Our food and sleep, all labour laid aside.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in1'>It is an Angel whose magnetic hand</div> - <div class='line in1'>Gives quiet sleep and dreams of extasy,</div> - <div class='line in1'>And strews a bed for naked folk and poor.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in1'>’Tis the god’s prize, the mystic granary,</div> - <div class='line in1'>The poor man’s purse and his old native land,</div> - <div class='line in1'>And of the unknown skies the opening door.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>Folk-songs are more valuable aids than the higher -literature of nations in an inquiry as to what they really -believe. The religion of the Dravidian mountaineers -is purely Aryan (though their race is not); their songs -may be taken, therefore, as Aryan documents. They -are particularly characteristic of the dual belief as to -a future state which is, to this day, widely diffused. -How firmly these people believe in transmigration -the quatrain quoted above bears witness; yet they -also believe that souls are liable to immediate judgment. -This contradiction is explained by the theory -that a long interval may elapse between death and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_19'>19</span>re-incarnation and that during this interval the -soul meets with a reward or punishment. To say the -truth, the explanation sounds a rather lame one. Is -it not more likely that the idea of immediate judgment, -wherever it appears, is a relic of Vedic belief which -has to be reconciled, as best it can, with the later -idea of transmigration? The Dravidian songs are -remarkable for their strong inculcation of regard for -animals. In their impressive funeral dirge which -is a public confession of the dead man’s sins, it is -owned that he killed a snake, a lizard and a harmless -frog. And that not mere lifetaking was the point -condemned, is clearly proved by the further admission -that the delinquent put the young ox to the plough -before it was strong enough to work. In a Dravidian -vision of Heaven and Hell certain of the Blest are -perceived milking their happy kine, and it is explained -that these are they who, when they saw the lost kine -of neighbour or stranger in the hills, drove them -home nor left them to perish from tiger or wolf. -Surely in this, as in the Jewish command which it -so closely resembles, we may read mercy to beast as -well as to man.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It is sometimes said that there is as much cruelty -to animals in India as anywhere. Some of this -cruelty (as it seems to us) is caused directly by -reluctance to take life; of the other sort, caused by -callousness, it can be only said that the human brute -grows under every sky. One great fact is admitted: -children are not cruel in India: Victor Hugo could -not have written his terrible poem about the tormented -toad in India. I think it a mistake to attribute the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_20'>20</span>Indian sentiment towards animals wholly to transmigration; -nevertheless, it may be granted that such -a belief fosters such a sentiment. Indeed, if it were -allowable to look upon the religion of the many as -the morality of the one, 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 relations. Even -so, many a bit of innocent folk-fable has served as -“protective colouration” to beast or bird: the legend -of the robin who covered up the Babes in the Wood; -the legend of the swallow who did some little service -to the crucified Saviour, and how many other such -tender fancies. Who invented them, and why?</p> - -<p class='c008'>If Plato had wished simply to find a happy -substitute for Hades, he might have found it—had -he looked far enough—in the Vedic kingdom of the -sun, radiant and eternal, where sorrow is not, where -the crooked are made straight, ruled over by Yama -the first man to die and the first to live again, death’s -bright angel, lord of the holy departed—how far from -Pluto and the “Tartarean grey.” It would not have -provided a solution to the mystery of being, but it -might have made many converts, for after a happy -heaven all antiquity thirsted.</p> - -<div id='i021' class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i021.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p>THE BUDDHISTIC TIGER.<br />British Museum.<br /><span class='small'>(<i>From a painting on silk by Ko-Tō.</i>)</span></p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>It is not sure if the scheme of existence mapped out -in soul-wandering is really more consoling for beast -than for man. It is a poor compliment to some dogs -to say that they have been some men. Then again, -it is recognised as easier for a dog to be good than for -a man to be good, but after a dog has passed his little -life in well-doing he dies with the prospect that his -<span class='pageno' id='Page_21'>21</span>spirit, which by his merits becomes again a man, will -be sent down, by that man’s transgressions, to the -society of jackals. According to the doctrine of soul-wandering, -animals are, in brief, the Purgatory of -men. Just as prayers for the dead (which means, -prayers for the remission to them of a merited period -of probation) represent an important branch of -Catholic observances, 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 worship.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Of course, this is also true of Buddhism, to which -many people think that the theory of soul-wandering -belongs exclusively, unmindful that the older faith has -it as well. The following hymn, used in Thibet, -shows how accurately the name of Purgatory applies -to the animal incarnations of the soul:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“If we [human beings] have amassed any merit</div> - <div class='line in1'>In the three states,</div> - <div class='line in1'>We rejoice in this good fortune when we consider</div> - <div class='line in1'>The unfortunate lot of the poor [lower] animals,</div> - <div class='line in1'>Piteously engulphed in the ocean of misery;</div> - <div class='line in1'>On their behalf, we now turn the Wheel of Religion.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>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 America. -The Christianised Indians are very gentle in their -ways towards animals, while among the savage -tribes in Central Peru (which are probably degraded -off-shoots from the people of the Incas) the belief -still survives that good men become monkeys or -<span class='pageno' id='Page_22'>22</span>jaguars, and bad men parrots or reptiles. For the -rest, soul-wandering has an enduring fascination for -the human mind.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In January, 1907, Leandro Improta, a young man -well furnished with worldly goods, shot himself in a -café at Naples. His pocket was found to contain -a letter in which he said that the act was prompted by -a desire to study metempsychosis; much had been -written on the subject, but it pleased him better to -discover than to talk: “so I determined to die and see -whether I shall be re-born in the form of some animal. -It would be delightful to return to this world as a lion -or a rat.” It might not prove delightful after all!</p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c003' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_23'>23</span> - <h2 id='ch02' class='c006'>II<br /> <br />THE GREEK CONCEPTION OF ANIMALS</h2> -</div> -<p class='drop-capa0_25_0_7 c007'>“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 Apollo, but when they had tasted the -upper flesh and had drawn it out, having divided -the shares, they made a delightful feast.” In this -description the poet of the Odyssey not only calls up -a wonderfully vivid picture of an ancient fête-day, but -also shows the habit of mind of the Homeric Greeks -in regard to animal food. They were voracious -eaters—although the frequent reference to feasts -ought not to make us suppose that meat was their -constant diet; rather the reverse, for then it would -not have been so highly rated. But when they had -the chance, they certainly did eat with unfastidious -copiousness and unashamed enjoyment. It is not -pleasant to read about, for it sets one thinking of -things by no means far away or old; for instance, -of the disappearance of half-cooked beef at some -Continental <i>tables d’hôte</i>. We find that Homer is -painfully near us. But in Homeric times the ghost -of a scruple had to be laid before the feast could be -<span class='pageno' id='Page_24'>24</span>enjoyed. Animal food was still closely connected -with the idea of sacrifice. Sacrifice lends distinction -to subject as well as object; it was some atonement -to the animal to dedicate him to the gods. He was -covered with garlands and attended by long-robed -priests; his doom was his triumph. The devoted -heifer or firstling of the flock was glorified beyond -all its kind. Some late sceptic of the <i>Anthology</i> -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 wolves? But scepticism is a poor thing. From -immolation to apotheosis there is but a step; how -many human victims willingly bowed their heads -to the knife!</p> - -<p class='c008'>The sacrificial aspect of the slaughter of domestic -animals took a strong hold of the popular imagination. -It is still suggested by the procession of garlanded -beasts which traverses the Italian village on the -approach of Easter: the only time of year when the -Italian peasant touches meat. In the tawdry travesty -of the <i>Bœuf gras</i>, though the origin is the same, -every shred of the old significance is lost, but among -simple folk south of the Alps, unformed thoughts -which know not whence they come still contribute a -sort of religious glamour to that last pageant. Far back, -indeed, stretches the procession of the victims, human -and animal—for wherever there was animal sacrifice, -at some remote epoch, “the goat without horns” was -also offered up.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The Homeric Greeks had no butchers; they did -the slaying of beasts themselves or their priests did it -<span class='pageno' id='Page_25'>25</span>for them. Agamemnon kills the boar sacrificed to -Zeus with his own hands, which are first uplifted in -prayer. The commonest meat was the flesh of swine, -as may be seen by the pig of Æsop which replied, on -being asked by the sheep why he cried out when -caught, “They take you for your wool or milk, but -me for my life.” In Homer, however, there is much -talk of fatted sheep, kids and oxen, and there is even -mention of killing a cow. The Athenians had qualms -about slaughtering the ox, the animal essential to -agriculture—though they did it—but the Homeric -Greek was not troubled by such thoughts. He was -not over nice about anything; he was his own cook, -and he did not lose his appetite while he roasted his -bit of meat on the spit. A Greek repast of that age -would have shocked the abstemious Indian as much -as the Hindu reformer, Keshub Chunder Sen, confessed -to have been shocked by the huge joints on -English sideboards.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Putting aside his meat-eating proclivities, for which -we cannot throw stones at him, the Greek of the Iliad -and of the Odyssey is the friend of his beast. He -does not regard it as his long-lost brother, but he sees -in it a devoted servant; sometimes more than human -in love if less than human in wit. His point of view, -though detached, was appreciative. Practically it -was the point of view of the twentieth century. -Homer belongs to the Western world, and in a great -measure to the modern Western world. He had no -racial fellow-feeling with animals; yet he could feel -for the sparrow that flutters round its murdered young -ones and for the vulture that rends the air with cries -<span class='pageno' id='Page_26'>26</span>when the countryman takes its fledglings from the -nest. He could shed one immortal tear over the -faithful hound that recognises his master and dies. -“There lay the dog Argus, full of vermin.” If it had -not been a living creature, what sight could have -more repelled human eyes? But with dog as with -man, the miserable body is as naught beside—what -in the man we call the soul. “He fawned with his -tail and laid down both his ears, but he could no -more come nearer his master.” All the sense of -disgust is gone and there is something moist, perhaps, -in our eyes too, though it is not the ichor of immortality.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Giving names to animals is the first instinctive -confession that they are not <i>things</i>. What sensible -man ever called his table Carlo or his inkpot Trilby? -Homer gives his horses the usual names of horses -in his day; this is shown by the fact that he calls -more than one horse by the same name. Hector’s -steeds were Xanthus, Æthon and noble Lampus; -often would Andromache mix wine for them even -before she attended to the wants of her husband, -or offer them the sweet barley with her own white -hands. Æthe is the name of Agamemnon’s graceful -and fleet-footed mare. Xanthus and Balius, offspring -of Podarges, are the horses which Achilles received -from his father. 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 fate. The horse Xanthus -bends low his head: his long mane, which is collected -in a ring, droops till it touches the ground. Hera -<span class='pageno' id='Page_27'>27</span>gives him power of speech and he tells how, though -the steeds of Achilles will do their part right well, -not all their swiftness, not all their faithful service -can save their master from the doom that even -now is drawing near. “The furies restrain the -voice”: the laws which govern the natural order -of things must not be violated. “O Xanthus,” cries -Achilles, “O Xanthus, why dost thou predict my -death?... Well do I know myself that it is -my fate to perish here, far away from my dear father -and mother!” It is the passionate cry of the Greek, -the lover of life as none has loved it, the lover of -the sweet air gladdened by the sun.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Many a soldier may have spoken to his horse, -half in jest, as Achilles spoke to Xanthus and Balius: -“bring me safely out of the fray.” The supernatural -and terrible reply comes with the shock of the -unforeseen, like a clap of thunder on a calm day. -This incident is a departure from the usual Homeric -conventionality, for it takes us into the domain of -real magic. The belief that animals know things -that we know not, and see things that we see not, -is scattered over all the earth. Are there not still -good people who feel an “eerie” sensation when -a cat stares fixedly into vacancy in the twilight? -“Eerie” sensations count for much in early beliefs, -but what counts for more is the observation of actual -facts which are not and, perhaps, cannot be explained. -The uneasiness of animals before an earthquake, -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 -<span class='pageno' id='Page_28'>28</span>existence of which cannot be gainsaid—would be -sufficient to convince any savage or any primitive -man that animals have foreknowledge. If they know -the future on one point, why should they not know -it on others? The primitive man generally starts -from something which he deems <i>certain</i>; he deals in -“certainties” far more than in hypotheses, and when -he has seized a “certainty” in his own fashion he -draws logical deductions from it. Savages and -children have a ruthless logic of their own.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The prophetic power of animals has important -bearings on the subject of divination. In cases of -animal portents the later theory may have been -that the animal was the passive instrument or -medium of a superior power; but it is not likely -that this was the earliest theory. The goddess -did not use Xanthus as a mouthpiece: she simply -gave him the faculty of speech so that he could say -what he already knew. The second sight of animals -was believed to be communicable to man through -their flesh, and especially through their blood. -Porphyry says plainly that diviners fed on the hearts -of crows, vultures, and moles (the heart being the -fountain of the blood), because in this manner they -partook of the souls of these animals, and received -the influence of the gods who accompanied these -souls. The blood conveyed the qualities of the spirit. -In my opinion the Hebrew ordinance against partaking -of the blood was connected with this idea; -the soul was not to be meddled with. I do not know -if attention has been paid to the remarkable juxtaposition -of the blood prohibition with enchantment -<span class='pageno' id='Page_29'>29</span>in Leviticus xix. 26. The Institutes of Manu clearly -indicate that the blood was not to be swallowed -because, by doing so, could be procured an illicit -mixing up of personality: the most awful of sins, -more awful because so much more mysterious than -our mediæval “pact,” or selling the soul to the -devil. A knowledge of magic is essential to the -true comprehension of all sacred writings.</p> - -<p class='c008'>That animals formerly talked with human voices -was the genuine belief of most early races, but there -are few traces of it in Greek literature. A hint of a -real folk-belief is to be found, perhaps, in the remark -of Clytemnestra, who says of Cassandra, when she -will not descend from the car that has brought her, -a prisoner, to Agamemnon’s palace:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“I wot—unless like swallows she doth use</div> - <div class='line in1'><i>Some strange barbarian tongue from over sea</i>,</div> - <div class='line in1'>My words must bring persuasion to her soul.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c016'>But such hints are not frequent. The stories of -“talking beasts” which enjoyed an immense popularity -in Greece were founded on as conscious “make-believe” -as the Beast tales of the Middle Ages. -From the “Battle of the Frogs and Mice” to Æsop’s -fables, and from these to the comedies of Aristophanes, -the animals are meant to hold up human -follies to ridicule or human virtues to admiration. -The object was to instruct while amusing when it -was not to amuse without instructing. Æsop hardly -asks the most guileless to believe that his stories -are of the “all true” category—which is why children -rarely quite take them to their hearts. At the same -<span class='pageno' id='Page_30'>30</span>time, he shows a close study of the idiosyncrasies -of animals, so close that there is little to alter in -his characterisation. Out of the mass of stories in -the collection attributed to him, one or two only -seem to carry us back to a more ingenuous age. -The following beautiful little tale of the “Lion’s -Kingdom” is vaguely reminiscent of the world-tradition -of a “Peace in Nature.”</p> -<p class='c008'>“The beasts of the field and forest had a lion -as their king. He was neither wrathful, cruel, nor -tyrannical, but just and gentle as a king could -be. He made during his reign a proclamation for -a general assembly of all the birds and beasts, and -drew up conditions for an universal league in which -the Wolf and the Lamb, the Panther and the Kid, -the Tiger and the Stag, the Dog and the Hare, -should live together in perfect peace and amity. -The Hare said, ‘Oh, how I have longed to see -this day, in which the weak shall take their place -with impunity by the side of the strong.’”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The temper of a people towards animals can be -judged from its sports. It has been well said, Who -could imagine Pericles presiding over a “Roman -holiday”? Wanton cruelty to animals seemed to -the Greeks an outrage to the gods. The Athenians -inflicted a fine on a vivisector of the name of Xenocrates -(he called himself a “philosopher”) who had -skinned a goat alive. In Greece, from Homeric -times downwards, the most favourite sport was the -chariot-race which, at first, possessed the importance -of a religious event, and always had a dignity above -that of a mere pastime. The horses received their -<span class='pageno' id='Page_31'>31</span>full share of honour and glory; for many centuries -the graves of Cimon’s mares, with which he had -thrice conquered at the Olympian games, were pointed -out to the stranger, near his own tomb.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In the ancient Greek as in the modern world, -while the majority held the views about animals -which I have briefly sketched, a small minority -held views of quite a different kind. 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 -blood. The earliest tradition agrees with the latest -science in testifying that man did not always eat -flesh. It seems as if sometimes, in every part of -the earth, an irresistible impulse takes hold of him to -resume his primal harmlessness. It is natural, -however, that students should have sought some -more definite explanation for the introduction of the -Orphic sect into Greece, where it can be traced -to about the time generally given to Buddha—the -sixth century <span class='fss'>B.C.</span> Some have conjectured that -dark-skinned, white-robed missionaries from India -penetrated into Europe as we know that they penetrated -into China, bringing with them the gospel -of the unity of all sentient things. Others agree with -what seems to have been thought by Herodotus: -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 <i>rapports</i>. It may be, -now, that these two theories will be abandoned in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_32'>32</span>favour of a third which would refer the origin of -the Orphists to Ægean times and suppose them to -be the last followers of an earlier faith. When -they do come into history, it is as poor and ignorant -people—like the Doukhobors of to-day—whose -obscurity might well account for their having remained -long unobserved. But this is no reason for -concluding that their beginnings were obscure.</p> - -<p class='c008'>What is best understood about them is that they -abstained rigorously from flesh except during the -rare performance of some rite of purification, in -which they tasted the blood of a bull which was -supposed to procure mystic union with the divine. -As happened with the performers of other cruel -or horrid rites, the transcendent significance they -ascribed to the act paralysed their power of recognising -its revolting nature. A diseased spiritualism -which ignores matter altogether is the real key to -such phenomena. It is too soon to say whether any -link can be established between the Orphic practices -and the so-called “bull-fights” of which traces -have been found in Crete. Despised and tabooed -though they were in historical Greece, the Orphists -are still held to have exercised some sure though -undefined influence on the development of the -greatest spiritual fact of Hellenic civilisation, the -Eleusinian Mysteries.</p> - -<div id='i032' class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i032.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p><span class='small'>(<i>Photo:</i> <i>Sommer</i>)</span><br />ORPHEUS.<br /><span class='small'>(<i>Fresco at Pompeii.</i>)</span></p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>The popular description of Orpheus as founder -of the Orphists must be taken for what it is worth. -The sect may have either evolved or borrowed the -legend. Christianity itself appropriated the myth of -Orpheus, pictorially, at least, in those rude tracings in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_33'>33</span>the Roman catacombs showing the Good Shepherd -in that character, which inspired Carlyle to write -one of the most impassioned passages in English -prose. The sweet lute-player who held entranced -lion and lamb till the one forgot his wrath and the -other his fear, was the natural symbol of the prototype -of a humane religion.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Out of the nebulous patches of Greek enthusiasts -who cherished tender feelings towards animals, -emerges the intellectual sun of the Samian sage. -It is difficult not to connect Pythagoras in some -way with the Orphists, nor would such a connexion -make it the less probable that he journeyed to the -sacred East in search of fuller knowledge. Little, -indeed, do we know about this moulder of minds. He -passed across the world’s stage dark “with excess of -light”—an influence rather than a personality. Yet -he was as far as possible from being only a dreamer -of dreams; he was the Newton, the Galileo, perhaps -the Edison and Marconi of his epoch. And it was this -double character of moral teacher and man of science -which caused the extraordinary reverence with which -he was regarded. Science and religion were not -divorced then; the Prophet could present no credentials -so valid as an understanding of the laws which -govern the universe. Mathematics and astronomy -were revelations of divine truth. It was the scientific -insight of Pythagoras, the wonderful range and depth -of which is borne out more and more by modern -discoveries, that lent supreme importance to whatever -theories he was known to have held. The doctrine -of transmigration had not been treated seriously -<span class='pageno' id='Page_34'>34</span>while it was only preached by the Orphists, but -after it was adopted by Pythagoras it commanded -a wide attention, though it never won a large acceptance. -One expounder it had, who was too remarkable -an original thinker to be called a mere disciple—the -greatly-gifted Empedocles, who denounced -the eaters of flesh as no better than cannibals, which -was going further than Pythagoras himself had ever -gone.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Even in antiquity, there were some who suspected -that at the bottom of the Pythagorean propaganda -was the wish to make men more humane. Without -taking that view, it may be granted that a strong -love of animals prepares the mind to think of them -as not so very different from men. A thing that -tends in the same direction is the unfavourable comparison -of some men with some beasts: the sort of -sentiment which made Madame de Staël say that -the more she knew of men the more she liked dogs. -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 keeper, or -from that old baboon who, descending from the -mountains, carried away in triumph his young comrade -from a crowd of astonished dogs, as from various -still extant races of mankind? Darwinism is really -the theory of Pythagoras with the supernatural -element left out. The homogeneity of living things -is one of the very old beliefs from which we strayed -and to which we are returning.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Among the Greeks, sensitive and meditative minds -which did not place faith in the Pythagorean system -<span class='pageno' id='Page_35'>35</span>of life were attracted, nevertheless, by its speculative -possibilities which they bent to their own purposes. -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 natures. Unjust, tyrannical, and -violent men would become wolves, hawks, and kites, -while good commonplace people—virtuous Philistines—would -take better forms, such as ants, bees, and -wasps, all of which live harmoniously in communities. -It is pleasant to find that Socrates did justice to -that intelligent insect, the undeservedly aspersed -wasp. Men who are good in all respects save the -highest, may re-assume human forms. Socrates does -not explain why it is that humanity progresses so -slowly if it is always being recruited from such good -material? He passes on from these righteous men -to the super-excellent man to whom alone he allots -translation into a divine and wholly immaterial -sphere; he it is who departs from this world completely -pure of earthly dross; who cannot be moved -by ill-fortune, poverty, disgrace; who has “overcome -the world” in the Pauline sense, who has died while -living, in the Indian sense. Though Socrates does -not say so, 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 words.</p> - -<p class='c008'>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 life. From -<span class='pageno' id='Page_36'>36</span>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 -depressed. He asks if he appears to them inferior -in divination to the swans, who, when they perceive -that they must die, though given to song before, then -sing the most of all, delighted at the prospect of their -departure to the deity whose ministers they are. -Mankind has said falsely of the swans that they sing -through dread of death and from grief. Those who -say this do not reflect that no bird sings when it is -hungry or cold or afflicted with any other pain, not -even the nightingale or swallow or hoopoe, which are -said to sing a dirge-like strain, “but neither do they -appear to me to sing for grief nor do the swans, but -as pertaining to Apollo they are skilled in the -divining art, and having a foreknowledge of the bliss -in Hades, they express their joy in song on that day -rather than at any previous time. But I believe -myself to be a fellow-servant of the swans and consecrated -to the same divinity, and that I am no less -gifted by my master in the art of divination, nor am -I departing with less good grace than they.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Socrates would not have been “the wisest of men” -if he had dogmatised about the unknowable; to -insist, he says, that things were just as he described -them, would not become an intelligent being; he -only claimed an approximate approach to the truth. -In appearance Plato went nearer to dogmatic acceptance -of the theory of the transmigration of souls, -but probably it was in appearance only. Like his -master, he thought it reasonable to suppose that the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_37'>37</span>human soul ascended if it had done well, and descended -if it had done ill, and of this ascent and descent -he took as symbol its attirement in higher or lower -corporeal forms till, freed from the corruptible, it -joined the incorruptible.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The Greeks were the first people to have an insatiable -thirst for exact knowledge; they showed themselves -true precursors of the modern world by their researches -into scientific zoology, which were carried -on with zeal long before Aristotle took the subject -in hand. We cannot judge of these early researches -because they are nearly all lost; but Aristotle’s -“History of Animals,” even after the revival of -learning, was still consulted as a text-book, and -perhaps nothing that he wrote contributed more to -win for him the fame of</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“... maestro di color che sanno.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c016'>The story goes that this work was written by desire -of Alexander the Great or, as some say, Philip of -Macedon, and that the writer was given a sum which -sounds fabulous in order that he might obtain the -best available information. What interest most the -modern reader are the “sayings by the way” on -the moral qualities or the intelligence of animals. -“Man and the mule,” says Aristotle, “are always -tame”—a classification not very complimentary to -man. The ox is gentle, the wild boar is violent, crafty -the serpent, noble and generous the lion. Except -in the senses of touch and taste, man is far surpassed -by the other animals—a remark that was endorsed -<span class='pageno' id='Page_38'>38</span>by St. Thomas Aquinas, who inferred from the limitation -of man’s senses that he would have made bad -use of them if they had been more acute. Aristotle -laid down the axiom that man alone can reason, -though other animals can remember and learn, but -he never pursued this theory as far as it was pushed -by Descartes, much less by Malebranche. He believed -that the soul of infants differed in no respect -from that of animals. All animals present traces of -their moral disposition, though these distinctions are -more marked in man. Animals understand signs -and sounds, and can be taught. The females are less -ready to help the males in distress than the males -are to help the females. Bears carry off their cubs -with them if they are pursued. The dolphin is -remarkable for the love of its young ones; two -dolphins were seen supporting a small dead dolphin -on their backs, that was about to sink, as if in pity -for it, to keep it from being devoured by wild -creatures. In herds of horses, if a mare dies, other -mares will bring up the foal, and mares without foals -have been known to entice foals to follow them and to -show much affection to them, though they die for -want of their natural sustenance.</p> -<p class='c008'>Aristotle says that music attracts some animals; -for instance, deer can be captured by singing and -playing on the pipe. Animals sometimes show fore-thought, -as the ichneumon, 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 Exeter, -where he was badly treated by the yard-dog of the -inn; on this, he escaped and went to London, whence -<span class='pageno' id='Page_39'>39</span>he returned with a powerful dog-friend who gave -the yard-dog a lesson which he must have long remembered. -Hedgehogs are said by Aristotle and -other ancient authors to change the entrance of their -burrows according as the wind blows from north or -south; a man in Byzantium got no small fame as -a weather prophet by observing this habit. He -thinks that small animals are generally cleverer than -larger ones. A tame woodpecker placed an almond -in a crevice of wood so as to be able to break it, -which it succeeded in doing with three blows. Aristotle -does not mention the similar ingenuity of the -thrush which I have noticed myself; it brings snails -to a good flat stone on which it breaks the shell -by knocking it up and down. He admired the skill -of the swallow in making her nest. Although he -knew of the migrations of birds, and declared that -cranes go in winter to the sources of the Nile, “where -there is a race of pigmies—no fable, but a fact,” -he was not free from the erroneous idea (which is -to be found in modern folk-lore) that some birds -hybernate in caves, out of which they emerge, almost -featherless, in the spring. Of the nightingale, he says -that it sings ceaselessly for fifteen days and nights -when the mountains are thick with leaves.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The spider’s art and graceful movements receive -due praise, as do the cleanly habits of bees, which -are said to sting people who use unguents because -they dislike bad smells. “Bright and shiny bees” -Aristotle asserts to be idle, “like women.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Of all animals his favourites are the lion and the -elephant. The lion is gentle when he is not hungry -<span class='pageno' id='Page_40'>40</span>and he is not jealous or suspicious. He is fond of -playing with animals that are brought up with him, -and he gets to have a real affection for them. If a -blow aimed at a lion fails, he only shakes and -frightens his attacker, and then leaves him without -hurting him. He never shows fear or turns -his back on a foe. But old lions that are unable -to hunt sometimes enter villages and attack mankind. -This is the first observation of the “man-eating” -lion or tiger, and the reason given for his -perverse conduct is still believed to be the right one.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Aristotle assigned the palm of wisdom to the -elephant, a creature abounding in intellect, tame, -gentle, teachable, and one which can even learn how -to “worship the king”—which is what many of us -saw the elephants do at the Delhi Durbar.</p> - -<div id='i040' class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i040.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p>STELE WITH CAT AND BIRD.<br />Athens Museum.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>In a later age, Apollonius of Tyana confirmed -from personal observation all Aristotle’s praise; he -watched with admiration the crossing of the Indus -by a herd of thirty elephants which were being pursued -by huntsmen; the light and small ones went -first, then the mothers, who held up their cubs with -tusk and trunk, and lastly the old and large elephants. -Pliny gave a similar account of the way in which -elephants cross rivers, and it is, I believe, still noticed -as a fact that the old ones send the young ones before -them. 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 elephant, who perfectly understood -the business in hand, drove all the others on board, -but after performing this useful service, when it came -<span class='pageno' id='Page_41'>41</span>to be his turn, he refused resolutely to move an inch, -and had to be left behind. The sympathy with -animals for which Apollonius was remarkable made -him feel for these great beasts brought into subjection; -he declares that at night they mourn over their -lost liberty with peculiar piteous sounds unlike those -which they make usually; if a man approaches, -however, they cease their wailing out of respect for -him. He speaks of their attachment to their keeper, -how they eat bread from his hand like a dog and -caress him with their trunks. He saw an elephant -at Taxila which was said to have fought against -Alexander the Great three hundred and fifty years -before. Alexander named it Ajax, and it bore golden -bracelets on its trunk with the words: “Ajax. To -the Sun from Alexander son of Jove.” The people -decked it with garlands and anointed it with precious -salves. Several classical writers bore witness to the -pleasure which elephants took in music; they could -be made to dance to the pipe. It was also said that -they could write. Their crowning merit—that of -helping away wounded comrades, which is vouched -for by no less an authority than Mr. F. C. Selous—does -not seem to have been observed in ancient times.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In Greek mythology the familiar animals of the -gods occupy a place half-way between legend and -natural history. Viewed by one school as totems, -as the earlier god of which the later is only an appendix, -to more conservative students they may appear -to be, in the main, the outgrowth of the same fondness -for coupling man and beast and fitting man with a -beast-companion suited to his character, which gave -<span class='pageno' id='Page_42'>42</span>St. Mark his lion and St. John his eagle. The -panther of Bacchus is the most attractive of the -divine <i>menagerie</i>, because Bacchus, in this connexion, -is generally shown as a child and the friendships of -beasts and children are always pleasing.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The affection of Bacchus for panthers has been -attributed to the fact that he wore a panther-skin, -but there seems no motive for deciding that the one -tradition was earlier than the other; the rationale -of a myth is often evolved long after the myth itself. -Perhaps, after all, the stories of gods and animals -often originated in the simple belief that gods, like -men, had a weakness for pets!</p> - -<p class='c008'>In the Pompeian collections at Naples there are -several designs of Bacchus and his panther; one -of them shows the panther and the ass of Silenus -lying down together; in another, a very fine -mosaic, the winged genius of Bacchus careers -along astride of his favourite beast; in a third, a -chubby little boy, with no signs of godhead about -him, clambers on to the back of a patient panther, -which has the long-suffering look of animals that are -accustomed to be teased by children. It may be -noticed that children and animals, both somewhat -neglected in the older art, attained the highest -popularity with the artists of the age of Pompeii. -Children were represented in all sorts of attitudes, -and all known animals, from the cat to the octopus -and the elephant to the grasshopper, were drawn not -only with general correctness but with a keen insight -into their humours and temperaments.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It is said that a panther was once caught in Pamphylia -<span class='pageno' id='Page_43'>43</span>which had a gold chain round its neck with -the inscription in Armenian letters: “Arsaces the -king to the Nysæan god.” Oriental nations called -Bacchus after Nysa, his supposed birthplace. It -was concluded that the king of Armenia had given -its freedom to this splendid specimen to do honour -to the god. The panther became very tame and -was fondled by every one, but when the spring came -it ran away, chain and all, to seek a mate in the -mountains and never more came back.</p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c003' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_44'>44</span> - <h2 id='ch03' class='c006'>III<br /> <br />ANIMALS AT ROME</h2> -</div> -<p class='drop-capa0_25_0_7 c007'>ROME, the eternal, begins with a Beast-story. -However much deeper in the past the spade -may dig than the reputed date of the humanitarian -She-wolf, her descendant will not be expelled from -the grotto on the Capitol, nor will it cease to be -the belief of children (the only trustworthy authorities -when legends are concerned) that the grandeur -that was Rome would have never existed but for -the opportune intervention of a friendly beast!</p> - -<p class='c008'>The fame of the She-wolf shows how eagerly -mankind seizes on some touch of nature, fact or -fable, that seems to make all creatures kin. Rome -was as proud of her She-wolf as she was of ruling -the world. It was the “luck” of Rome; even now, -something of the old sentiment exists, for I remember -that during King Edward’s visit old-fashioned -Romans were angry because this emblem was not -to be seen in the decorations.</p> - -<div id='i044' class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i044.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p><span class='small'>(<i>Photo: Bruckmann.</i>)</span><br />CAPITOLINE SHE-WOLF.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>The story did not make such large demands on -credulity as sceptics pretend. The wolf is not so -much the natural enemy of man as the cat is of the -mouse: yet cats have been known to bring up families -of mice or rats which they treated with affection. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_45'>45</span>In recent times a Russian bear was stated to have -carried away to the woods a little girl whom it fed -with nuts and fruits. The evidence seemed good, -though the story did sound a little as if it were suggested -by Victor Hugo’s “Épopée du Lion.” But in -India there are stories of the same sort—stories -actually of She-wolves—which appear to be impossible -to set aside. In a paper read before the Bombay -Natural History Society, the well-known Parsi scholar, -Jivanji Jamsedji Modi, described how he had seen one -such “wolf-boy” at the Secundra Orphanage: the boy -had remained with wolves up to six years old when he -was discovered and captured, not without vigorous -opposition from his vulpine protectors.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The historical record of Rome as regards animals is -not a bright one. The cruelty of the arena does not -stain the first Roman annals; the earliest certified -instance of wild-beast baiting belongs to 186 <span class='fss'>B.C.</span>, and -after the practice was introduced it did not reach at -once the monstrous proportions of later times. Still, -one does not imagine that the Roman of republican -times was very tender-hearted towards animals. Cato -related, as if he took a pride in it, that when he was -Consul he left his war-horse in Spain to spare the -public the cost of its conveyance to Rome. “Whether -such things as these,” says Plutarch, who tells the story, -“are instances of greatness or littleness of soul, let the -reader judge for himself!” When the infatuation for -the shows in the arena was at its height, the Romans -felt an enormous interest in animals: indeed, there -were moments when they thought of nothing else. It -was an interest which went along with indifference to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_46'>46</span>their sufferings; it may be said to have been worse -than no interest at all, but it existed and to ignore it, -as most writers have done, is to make the explicable -inexplicable. 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 insanity. Much the same was true -of the gladiatorial shows. Up to a certain point, what -led people to them was what leads people to a football -match or an assault-at-arms. Beyond that point—well, -beyond it there entered the element that makes -the tiger in man, but for the most part it was inconscient.</p> - -<div id='i047' class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i047.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p>LION BEING LED FROM THE ARENA BY A SLAVE.<br /><span class='small'>(<i>Nennig Mosaic.</i>)</span></p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>When we see Pola or Verona or Nîmes; when we -tread the crowded streets to the Roman Colosseum or -traverse the deserted high-road to Spanish Italica; -most of all, 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 thing: “What a -wonderful race the Romans were!” It is an exclamation -that forces itself to the lips of the most ignorant -as to those of the scholar or historical student. At -such moments, it may be true, that the less we think -of the games of the arena the better; the remembrance -of them forms a disturbing element in the majesty of -the scene. But they cannot be put out of mind entirely, -and if we do think of them, it is desirable that we -should think of them correctly. It so happens that it -is possible to reconstruct them into a lifelike picture. -There exists one, though, as far as I know, only one, -faithful, vivid, and complete contemporary representation -<span class='pageno' id='Page_47'>47</span>of the Roman Games. 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 spade, at the village of Nennig, not far from -the Imperial city of Treves. The observer of this -mosaic perceives at once that the games were of the -nature of a “variety” entertainment. There was the -music which picturesque-looking performers played on -a large horn and on a sort of organ. (The horn closely -resembles the pre-historic horns which are preserved in -the National Museum at Copenhagen, where they were -blown with inspiring effect before the members of the -Congress of Orientalists in 1908.) There was the -bloodless contest between a short and tall athlete, armed -differently with stick and whip. In the central division, -because the most important, is shown the mortal -earnest of the gladiatorial fight, strictly controlled -by the Games-master. In the sexagion above this is -a hardly less deadly struggle between a man and a -bear: the bear has got the man under him but is being -whipped off so that the “turn” may not end too quickly, -and, perhaps, also to give the more expensive victim -another chance. To the right hand, a gladiator who has -run his lance through the neck of a panther, holds up -his hand to boast the victory and claim applause: -the dying panther tries vainly to free itself from the -weapon. To the left is a fight between a leopard and -an unfortunate wild ass, which has already received a -terrible wound in its side and is now having its head -drawn down between the fore-paws of the leopard. I -hear that in beast-fights organised by Indian princes, -these unequal combatants are still pitted against each -<span class='pageno' id='Page_48'>48</span>other. Lastly, the Nennig Mosaic depicts a fat lion -that has also conquered a wild ass, of which the head -alone seems to remain: it has been inferred, though I -think rashly, that the lion has eaten up all the rest; at -any rate he now seems at peace with the world and is -being led back to his cage by a slave.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everything is quiet, orderly, and a model of good -management. The custodian of the little museum -told me that the (surprisingly few) 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 sights. Unhappily, conventional propriety -joined to the sanction of authority will make -the majority of mankind endure anything that causes -no danger or inconvenience to themselves.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Except with a few, at whom their generation looks -askance, the sense of cruelty more than any other -moral sense is governed by habit, by convention. -It is even subject to latitude and longitude; in Spain -I was surprised to find that almost all the English -and American women whom I met had been to, at -least, one bull-fight. Insensibility spreads like a -pestilence; 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 them. -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 barbarity; -but in the fourteenth century we actually -<span class='pageno' id='Page_49'>49</span>find gladiatorial shows come to life again and in full -favour at Naples! This little-known fact is attested -in Petrarch’s letters. Writing to Cardinal Colonna -on December 1, 1343, the truly civilised poet -denounces with burning indignation an “infernal -spectacle” of which he had been the involuntary -witness. His gay friends (there has been always a -singular identity between fashion and barbarism) -seem to have entrapped him into going to a place -called Carbonaria, where he found the queen, the -boy-king, and a large audience assembled in a sort -of amphitheatre. Petrarch imagined that there was -to be some splendid entertainment, but he had hardly -got inside when a tall, handsome young man fell dead -just below where he was standing, while the audience -raised a shout of applause. He escaped from the -place as fast as he could, horror-struck by the -brutality of spectacle and spectators, and spurring -his horse, he turned his back on the “accursed spot” -with the determination to leave Naples as soon as -possible. How can we wonder, he asks, that there -are murders in the streets at night when in broad -daylight, in the presence of the king, wretched -parents see their sons stabbed and killed, 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 Heaven?</p> - -<p class='c008'>Very curious was the action of the Vatican in this -matter; Pope John XXII. excommunicated every -one who took part in the games as actor or spectator, -but since nobody obeyed the prohibition, it was -rescinded by his successor, Benedict XII., to prevent -<span class='pageno' id='Page_50'>50</span>the scandal of a perpetual disregard of a Papal -ordinance. 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 “sport.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The action of the Church in respect to bull-fights -has been much the same; local opinion is generally -recognised as too strong for opposition. The French -bishops, however, did their best to prevent their -introduction into the South of France, but they failed -completely.</p> - -<p class='c008'>I have strayed rather far from the Roman shows, -but the savagery of Christians in the fourteenth -century (and after) should make us wonder less at -Roman callousness. 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 -holiday. 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 species! For a -single expression of censure such as this which has -come down to us, there must have been many of -which we have no record. 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-baiting.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Rome must have been one vast zoological garden, -and viewing the strange animals was the first duty -of the tourist. Pausanias was deeply impressed by -<span class='pageno' id='Page_51'>51</span>the “Ethiopian bulls which they call rhinoceroses” -and also by Indian camels in colour like leopards. -He saw an all-white deer, and very much surprised -he was to see it, but, to his subsequent regret, he -forgot to ask where it came from. He was reminded -of this white deer when he saw white blackbirds on -Mount Cyllene in Arcadia. I remember a white -blackbird which stayed in the garden of my old -English home for more than two years: a wretched -“sportsman” lay in wait for it when it wandered into -a neighbouring field and shot it.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The feasibility of the transport of the hosts of -animals destined to the arena will always remain a -mystery. At the inauguration of the Colosseum, -five thousand wild beasts and six thousand tame -ones were butchered, nor was this the highest figure -on a single occasion. Probably a great portion of the -animals was sent by the Governors of distant provinces -who wished to stand well with the home -authorities. But large numbers were also brought -over by speculators who sold them to the highest or -the most influential bidder. One reason why Cassius -murdered Julius Cæsar was that Cæsar had secured -some lions which Cassius wished to present to the -public. Every one who aimed at political power or -even simply at being thought one of the “smart set” -(the odious word suits the case) spent king’s ransoms -on the public games. For vulgar ostentation the -wealthy Roman world eclipsed the exploits of the -modern millionaire. If any one deem this impossible, -let him read, in the <i>Satyricon</i> of Petronius, the account -of the fêtes to be given by a leader of fashion of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_52'>52</span>name of Titus. Not merely gladiators, but a great -number of freedmen would take part in them: it would -be no wretched mock combat but a real carnage! -Titus was so rich that he could afford such liberality. -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 over. They all ended by wounding themselves -to stop the contest. You might as well have -witnessed a mere cock-fight!</p> - -<p class='c008'>I should think that not more than one animal in -three survived the voyage. This would vastly increase -the total number. The survivors often arrived in such -a pitiable state that they could not be presented in the -arena, or that they had to be presented immediately -to prevent them from dying too soon. Symmachus, -last of the great nobles of Rome, who, blinded by -tradition, thought to revive the glories of his beloved -city by reviving its shame, 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 £80,000 of our money. He began a year in -advance: horses, bears, lions, Scotch dogs, crocodiles, -chariot-drivers, hunters, actors, and the best gladiators -were recruited from all parts. But when the time -drew near, nothing were ready. Only a few of the -animals had come, and these were half dead of hunger -and fatigue. The bears had not arrived and there was -no news of the lions. At the eleventh hour the crocodiles -reached Rome, but they refused to eat and had -to be killed all at once in order that they might not -die of hunger. It was even worse with the gladiators, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_53'>53</span>who were intended to provide, as in all these beast -shows, the crowning entertainment. Twenty-nine of -the Saxon captives whom Symmachus had chosen on -account of the well-known valour of their race, -strangled one another in prison rather than fight to -the death for the amusement of their conquerors. -And Symmachus, with all his real elevation of mind, -was moved to nothing but disgust by their sublime -choice! Rome in her greatest days had gloried in -these shows: how could a man be a patriot who set -his face against customs which followed the Roman -eagles round the world? How many times since then -has patriotism been held to require the extinction of -moral sense!</p> - -<p class='c008'>Sometimes the humanity of beasts put to shame -the inhumanity of man. There was a lion, commemorated -by Statius, which had “unlearnt murder -and homicide,” and submitted of its own accord to -a master “who ought to have been under its feet.” -This lion went in and out of its cage and gently -laid down unhurt the prey which it caught: it even -allowed people to put their hands into its mouth. It -was killed by a fugitive slave. The Senate and people -of Rome were in despair, and Imperial Cæsar, who -witnessed impassible the death of thousands of animals -sent hither to perish from Africa, from Scythia, from -the banks of the Rhine, had tears in his eyes for a -single lion! In later Roman times a tame lion was -a favourite pet: their masters led them about wherever -they went, whether much to the gratification of the -friends on whom they called is not stated.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Another instance of a gentle beast was that of a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_54'>54</span>tiger into whose cage a live doe had been placed -for him to eat. But the tiger was not feeling well -and, with the wisdom of sick animals, he was observing -a diet. So two or three days elapsed, during which -the tiger made great friends with the doe and when he -recovered his health and began to feel very hungry, -instead of devouring his fellow-lodger he beat with his -paws against the bars of the cage in sign that he -wanted food. These stories were, no doubt, true, -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 him. Animals have -good memories.</p> - -<p class='c008'>One pleasanter feature of the circus was the exhibition -of performing beasts. Though the exhibitors of such -animals are now sometimes charged with cruelty, it -cannot be denied that the public who goes to look at -them is composed of just the people who are most -fond of animals. All children delight in them because, -to their minds, they seem a confirmation of the strong -instinctive though oftenest unexpressed belief, which -lurks in every child’s soul, that between man and animals -there is much less difference than is the correct, -“grown-up” opinion; this is a part of the secret lore of -childhood which has its origins in the childhood of the -world. The amiable taste for these exhibitions—in -appearance, at least, so harmless—strikes one as -incongruous in the same persons who revelled in -slaughter. Such a taste existed, however, and when -St. James said that there was not a single beast, -bird or reptile which had not been tamed, he may -have been thinking of the itinerant showmen’s -<span class='pageno' id='Page_55'>55</span>“learned” beasts which perambulated the Roman -empire.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Horses and oxen were among the animals commonly -taught to do tricks. I find no mention of -monkeys as performing in the arena, though Apuleius -says that in the spring fêtes of Isis, the forerunners of -the Roman carnival, he saw a monkey with a straw hat -and a Phrygian tunic—we can hardly keep ourselves -from asking: <i>what had it done with the grind-organ?</i> -But in spite of this startlingly modern apparition, -monkeys do not seem to have been popular in -Rome; I imagine even, that there was some fixed -prejudice against them. The cleverest of all the -animal performers were, of course, the dogs, and one -showman had the ingenious idea of making a dog act -a part in a comedy. The effects of a drug were tried -on him, the plot turning on the suspicion that the drug -was poisonous, while, in fact, it was only a narcotic. -The dog took the piece of bread dipped in the liquid, -swallowed it, and began to reel and stagger till he -finally fell flat on the ground. He gave himself a -last stretch and then seemed to expire, making no -sign of life when his apparently dead body was -dragged about the stage. At the right moment, he -began to move very slightly as if waking out of a -deep sleep; then he raised his head, looked round, -jumped up and ran joyously to the proper person. -The piece was played at the theatre of Marcellus -in the reign of old Vespasian, and Cæsar himself -was delighted. I wonder that no manager of our -days has turned the incident to account; I never -yet saw an audience serious enough not to become -<span class='pageno' id='Page_56'>56</span>young again at the sight of four-footed comedians. -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 “Tannhäuser” -gravely wag their tails in time with the music!</p> - -<p class='c008'>The pet lions were only one example of the aberrations -of pet-lovers in ancient Rome. Maltese lap-dogs -became a scourge: Lucian tells the lamentable tale of -a needy philosopher whom a fashionable lady cajoles -into acting as personal attendant to her incomparable -Mirrhina. The Maltese dog was an old fad; Theophrastus, -in the portrait of an insufferable <i>élégant</i>, -mentions that, when his pet dog dies, he inscribes -“pure Maltese” on its tombstone.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Many were the birds that fell victims to the desire -to keep them in richly ornamented cages in which they -died of hunger, says Epictetus, sooner than be slaves. -The canary which takes more kindly to captivity was -unknown till it was brought to Italy in the sixteenth -century. Parrots there were, but Roman parrots were -not long-lived: they shared the common doom: “To -each his sufferings, all are <i>pets</i>.” The parrots of -Corinna and of Melior which ought to have lived to a -hundred or, at any rate, to have had the chance of -dying of grief at the loss of their possessors (as a -parrot did that I once knew), enjoyed fame and fortune -for as brief a span as Lesbia’s sparrow. Melior’s -parrot not only had brilliant green feathers but also -many accomplishments which are described by its -master’s friend, the poet Statius. On one occasion, it -sat up half the night at a banquet, hopping from one -<span class='pageno' id='Page_57'>57</span>guest to another and talking in a way that excited -great admiration; it even shared the good fare and on -the morrow it died—which was less than surprising. -I came across an old-fashioned criticism of this poem -in which Statius is scolded for showing so much -genuine feeling about ... a parrot! The critic -was right in one thing—the genuine feeling is there; -those who have known what a companion a bird may -be, will appreciate the little touch: “You never felt -alone, dear Melior, with its open cage beside you!” -Now the cage is empty; it is “<i>la cage sans oiseaux</i>” -which Victor Hugo prayed to be spared from seeing. -Some translator turned this into “a nest without birds,” -because he thought that a cage without birds sounded -unpoetical, but Victor Hugo took care of truth and -left poetry to take of itself. And whatever may be -the ethics of keeping cage birds, true it is that few -things are more dismal than the sight of the little -mute, tenantless dwelling which was yesterday alive -with fluttering love.</p> - -<p class='c008'>We owe to Roman poets a good deal of information -about dogs, and especially the knowledge that -the British hound was esteemed superior to all others, -even to the famous breed of Epirus. This is -certified by Gratius Faliscus, a contemporary of Ovid. -He described these animals as remarkably ugly, but -incomparable for pluck. British bull-dogs were used -in the Colosseum, and in the third century Nemesianus -praised the British greyhound. Most of the -valuable dogs were brought from abroad; it is to be -inferred that the race degenerated in the climate of -Rome, as it does now. Concha, whose epitaph was -<span class='pageno' id='Page_58'>58</span>written by Petronius, was born in Gaul. While -Martial’s too elaborate epitaph on “The Trusty -Lydia” is often quoted and translated, the more -sympathetic poem of Petronius has been overlooked. -He tells the perfections of Concha in a simple, -affectionate manner; like Lydia, she was a mighty -huntress and chased the wild boar fearlessly through -the dense forest. Never did chain hamper her liberty -and never a blow fell on her shapely, snow-white -form. She reposed softly, stretched on the breast of -her master or mistress, and at night a well-made bed -refreshed her tired limbs. If she lacked speech, she -could make herself understood better than any of her -kind—yet no one had reason to fear her bark. A -hapless mother, she died when her little ones saw the -light, and now a narrow marble slab covers the earth -where she rests.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Cicero’s tribute to canine worth is well known: -“Dogs watch for us faithfully; they love and worship -their masters, they hate strangers, their powers of -tracking by scent is extraordinary; great is their -keenness in the chase: what can all this mean but -that they were made for man’s advantage?” 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 man. For the rest, his normal conception of -animals differed little from that of Aristotle. Cicero -says that the chief distinction between man and -animals, is that animals look only to the present, -paying little attention to the past and future, while -man looks before and after, weighs causes and effects, -draws analogies and views the whole path of life, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_59'>59</span>preparing things needful for passing along it. -Expressed in the key of antique optimism instead of -in the key of modern pessimism, the judgment is the -same as that of Burns in his lines to the field-mouse:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Still thou art blest, compared wi’ me!</div> - <div class='line in1'>The present only touches thee:</div> - <div class='line in1'>But, och! I backward cast my e’e</div> - <div class='line in1'>On prospects drear!</div> - <div class='line in1'>And forward, tho’ I canna see,</div> - <div class='line in1'>I guess and fear.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>And of Leopardi in the song of the Syrian shepherd -to his flock:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“O flock that liest at rest, O blessed thou</div> - <div class='line in1'>That knowest not thy fate, however hard,</div> - <div class='line in1'>How utterly I envy thee!”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c016'>Cicero’s more virile mind would have spurned -this craving to renounce the distinguishing human -privilege for the bliss of ignorance.</p> -<p class='c008'>Wherever we fix the limits of animal intelligence, -there is no question of man’s obligation to treat sentient -creatures with humanity. This was recognised -by Marcus Aurelius when he wrote the golden -precept: “As to animals which have no reason ... -do thou, since thou hast reason, and they have -none, make use of them with a generous and liberal -spirit.” Here we have the broadest application of the -narrowest assumption. From the time, at least, that -Rome was full of Greek teachers, there were always -some partisans of a different theory altogether. What -Seneca calls “the illustrious but unpopular school -of Pythagoras” had a little following which made up -<span class='pageno' id='Page_60'>60</span>by its sincere enthusiasm for the fewness of its -members. Seneca’s own master Sotio was of this -school, and his teaching made a deep impression -on the most illustrious of his pupils, who sums up -its chief points with his usual lucidity: Pythagoras -gave men a horror of crime and of parricide by telling -them that they might unawares kill or devour their -own fathers; all sentient beings are bound together -in a universal kinship and an endless transmutation -causes them to pass from one form to another; no -soul perishes or ceases its activity save in the moment -when it changes its envelope. Sotio took for granted -that the youths who attended his classes came to him -with minds unprepared to receive these doctrines, and -he aimed more at making them accept the consequences -of the theory than the theory itself. What if -they believed none of it? What if they did not -believe that souls passed through different bodies and -that the thing we call death is a transmigration? -That in the animal which crops the grass or which -peoples the sea, a soul resides which once was human? -That, like the heavenly bodies, every soul traverses -its appointed circle? That nothing in this world -perishes, but only changes scene and place? Let -them remember, nevertheless, that great men have -believed all this: “Suspend your judgment, and -in the meantime, respect whatever has life.” If the -doctrine be true, then to abstain from animal flesh -is to spare oneself the committal of crimes; if it be -false, such abstinence is commendable frugality; “all -you lose is the food of lions and vultures.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Sotio himself was a thorough Pythagorean, but -<span class='pageno' id='Page_61'>61</span>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 souls. He founded a sort of brotherhood, the -members of which took the pledge to abide by this -rule. He argued that since plenty of other wholesome -food existed, what need was there for man to shed -blood? Cruelty must become habitual when people -devour flesh to indulge the palate: “let us reduce the -elements of sensuality.” Health would be also the -gainer by the adoption of a simpler and less various -diet. Sotio used these arguments of one whom he -might have called an unbeliever, to reinforce his own.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Seneca does not say if many of his schoolfellows -were as much impressed as he was by this teaching. -For a year he abstained from flesh, and when he got -accustomed to it, he even found the new diet easy and -agreeable. His mind seemed to grow more active. -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 up: this made them men. But at the -beginning of the reign of Tiberius there went forth -an edict against foreign cults, and abstinence from -flesh was held to show a leaning towards religious -novelties. For this reason the elder Seneca advised -his son to give up vegetarianism. Seneca honestly -confesses that he went back to better fare without -much urging; yet he always remained frugal, and -he seems never to have felt quite sure that his youthful -experiment did not agree best with the counsels of -perfection.</p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c003' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_62'>62</span> - <h2 id='ch04' class='c006'>IV<br /> <br />PLUTARCH THE HUMANE</h2> -</div> -<p class='drop-capa0_25_0_7 c007'>PLUTARCH was the Happy Philosopher—and -there were not many that were happy. A -life of travel, a life of teaching, an honoured old age -as the priest of Apollo in his native village in Bœotia: -what kinder fate than this? He was happy in the -very obscurity which seems to have surrounded his -life at Rome, for it saved him from spite and envy. -He was happy, if we may trust the traditional effigies, -even in that thing which likewise is a good gift of -the gods, a gracious outward presence exactly corresponding -with the soul within. A painter who wished -to draw a type of illimitable compassionateness would -choose the face attributed to Plutarch. Finally, 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 deeds. Nevertheless, were he to come back -to life he would have one disappointment, and that -would be to find how few people read his essays -on kindness to animals: they would stand a better -chance of being read if they were printed alone, -but to arrive at them you must dive in the formidable -depths of the <i>Moralia</i>: a very storehouse of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_63'>63</span>interesting things, but hardly attractive to the general -in a hurried age. Some of its treasures have been -revealed by Dr. Oakesmith in his admirable monograph -on “The Religion of Plutarch.” The mine -of nobly humane sentiment remains, however, almost -unexplored.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The essays devoted to animals are three in number, -with the titles: “Whether terrestrial or aquatic -animals are the more intelligent?” “That animals -have the use of Reason”; “On the habit of eating -flesh.” The two first are in the form of dialogues, and -the third is a familiar discourse, a <i>conférence</i>, such -as those which now form a popular feature of the -Roman season. Through these studies there runs -a vein of transparent sincerity: we feel that they were -composed not to show the author’s cleverness or to -startle by paradoxes, but with the real wish to make -the young men for whom they were intended a little -more humane. Plutarch did not take up the claims -of animals because good “copy” could be made -out of them. As his wish is to persuade, he does not -ask for the impossible. It is the voice of the highly -civilised Greek addressing the young barbarians of -Rome: for to the Greek’s inmost mind the Roman -must have always remained somewhat of a barbarian. -There is great restraint: though Plutarch must have -loathed the games of the arena, he speaks of them -with guarded deprecation. He makes one of his -characters say that the chase (which he did not himself -like) was useful in keeping people from worse things, -“such as the combats of gladiators.” He is genuinely -anxious by all means to persuade some, and for this -<span class='pageno' id='Page_64'>64</span>reason he refrains from scaring away his hearers -or readers by extreme demands. Though he has -a strong personal repugnance to flesh-eating, he does -not insist on every one sharing it. Anyhow, he says, -Be as humane as you can; cause as little suffering -as is possible; no doubt it is not easy, all at once, -to eradicate a habit which has taken hold of our -sensual nature, but, at least, let us deprive it of its -worst features. Let us eat flesh if we must, but for -hunger, not for self-indulgence; let us kill animals -but still be compassionate—not heaping up outrages -and tortures “as, alas, is done every day.” He -mentions how swans were blinded and then fattened -with unnatural foods, which is only a little worse than -things that are done now. What is certain is, that -extreme and habitual luxury in food has spelt decadence -from the banquets of Babylon downwards.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Plutarch goes on to ask whether it is impossible -to amuse ourselves without all these excesses? Shall -we expire on the spot, are the resources of men -totally exhausted, if the table be not supplied with -<i>pâtés de foies gras</i>? Is life not worth living without -slaughter to make a feast, slaughter to find a pastime; -cannot we exist without asking of certain animals that -they show courage, and fight in spite of themselves, -or that they massacre other animals which have not -the natural energy to defend themselves? Must we -for our sport tear the mother from the little ones -which she suckles or hatches? Plutarch implores -us not to imitate the children of whom Bion speaks, -who amused themselves by throwing stones at the -frogs, but the frogs were not at all amused—they -<span class='pageno' id='Page_65'>65</span>simply died. “When we take our recreation, those -who help in the fun ought to share in it and be -amused as well.” Thus does the kind Greek -philosopher exhort us</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Never to blend our pleasure or our pride</div> - <div class='line in1'>With sorrow of the meanest thing that feels.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>Did Wordsworth know that his thought had been -expressed so long before? It matters little; the -counsels of mercy never grow old.</p> - -<p class='c008'>With good sense and in that spirit of compromise -which is really the basis of morality, Plutarch argued -that cruelty to animals does not lie in the use but -in the abuse of them; it is not cruel to kill them -if they are incompatible with our own existence; 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 aptitude. “Horse and ass are given to us,” -as Prometheus says, “to be submissive servants and -fellow-workers; dogs to be guardians and watchers, -goats and sheep to give us milk and wool.” (Cow’s -milk seems to have been rarely drunk, as is still -the case in the Mediterranean islands and in Greece.)</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The Stoics,” says Plutarch, “made sensibility -towards animals a preparation to humanity and compassion -because the gradually formed habit of the -lesser affections is capable of leading men very far.” -In the “Lives” he insists on the same point: -“Kindness and beneficence should be extended to -creatures of every species, and these still flow from -<span class='pageno' id='Page_66'>66</span>the breast of a well-natured man as streams that issue -from the living fountain. A good man will take care -of his horses and dogs not only when they are young, -but when old and past service.... We certainly -ought not to treat living creatures like shoes or -household goods, which, when worn out with use, -we throw away, and were it only to learn benevolence -to human kind, we should be merciful to other -creatures. For my own part I would not sell even -an old ox.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Here I may say that Plutarch should have thanked -Fate which made him a philosopher and not a farmer. -For how, alas, can the farmer escape from becoming -the accomplice of that which the Italian poet apostrophizes -in the words—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Natura, illaudabil maraviglia,</div> - <div class='line in1'>Che per uccider partorisci e nutri!”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>How can well-cared-for old age be the lot of more -than a very few of the animals that serve us so faithfully? -The exception must console us for the rule. -The beautiful story of one such exception is told by -both Plutarch and Pliny the Elder. When Pericles -was building the Parthenon a great number of mules -were employed in drawing the stones up the hill of -the Acropolis. Some of them became too old for the -work, and these were set at liberty to pasture at large. -But one old mule gravely walked every day to the -stone-yard and accompanied, or rather led, the procession -of mule-carts to and fro. The Athenians -were delighted with its devotion to duty, and decided -that it should be supported at the expense of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_67'>67</span>State for the rest of its days. According to Pliny, -the mule of the Parthenon lived till it had attained -its eightieth year, a record that seems startling even -having regard to the proverbial longevity of pensioners. -Plutarch does not mention it, perhaps, -because he had some doubts about its accuracy. In -other respects the story may be accepted as literally -true; and does it not do us good to think of it, as we -look at the most glorious work of man’s hands bathed -in the golden afterglow? Does it not do us good to -think that at the zenith of her greatness Athens</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in22'>“... Mother of arts</div> - <div class='line'>And eloquence, native to famous wits”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c016'>stooped—nay, rose—to generous appreciation of the -willing service of an old mule?</p> -<p class='c008'>In dealing with animal psychology Plutarch makes -a strong point of the inherent improbability that, -while feeling and imagination are the common share -of all animated beings, reason should be apportioned -only to a single species. “How can you say such -things? Is not every one convinced that no being -can feel without also possessing understanding, 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 instinct?” Nature, which is -said to make all things from one cause and to one -end, has not given sensibility to animals simply in -order that they should be capable of sensations. -Since some things are good for them, and others bad, -they would not exist for a single instant if they did -not know how to seek the good and shun the bad. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_68'>68</span>The animal learns by his senses what things are good -and what are bad for him, but when, in consequence -of these indications, of his senses, it is a question of -taking and seeking what is useful and of avoiding and -flying from what is harmful, these same animals -would have no means of action if Nature had not -made them up to a certain point capable of reason, -of judgment, of memory, and of attention. Because, -if you completely deprived them of the spirit of -conjecture, memory, foresight, preparation, hope, fear, -desire, grief, they would cease to derive the slightest -utility from the eyes or ears which they possess. -Plutarch might have added that a mindless animal -would resemble not a child or a savage, but an idiot. -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 it. But, he adds, could sensation -exist without intelligence? He quotes a line -from I do not know what poet:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“The spirit only hears and sees—all else</div> - <div class='line in1'>Is deaf and blind.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>If we look with our eyes at a page of writing without -seizing the meaning of a word of it, because our -thoughts are preoccupied, is it not the same as if we -had never seen it? But even were we to admit that -the senses suffice to their office, would that explain -the phenomena of memory and foresight? Would -the animal fear things, not present, which harm him, -or desire things, not present, which are to his advantage? -Would he prepare his retreat or shelter or -devise snares by which to catch other animals? Only -<span class='pageno' id='Page_69'>69</span>one theory can be applied to mind in man and mind -in animals.</p> - -<p class='c008'>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 wrote, though -it is possible that we are now on the verge, if not -of new discoveries, at least of the admission of a new -point of view. The study of the dual element in -man, the endeavour to establish a line of demarcation -between the conscious and subliminal self, may lead -to the inquiry, how far the conscious self corresponds -with what was meant, when speaking of animals, -by “reason,” and the subliminal self with what -was meant by “instinct”? But the use of a -new terminology would not alter the conclusion: -call it reason, consciousness, spirit; some of it the -“paragon of animals” shares with his poor relations. -The case is put in a homely way but not without -force by the heroine of a forgotten novel by Lamartine: -the speaker is an old servant who is in despair -at losing her goldfinch: “Ah! On dit que les bêtes -n’ont pas l’âme,” she says. “Je ne veux pas offenser -le bon Dieu, mais si mon pauvre oiseau n’avait pas -d’âme, avec quoi done n’aurait-il tant aimée? Avec -les plumes ou avec les pattes, peut-être?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Plutarch reviews—to reject—the “Automata” -argument, which had already some supporters. Certain -naturalists, he says, try to prove that animals -feel neither pleasure nor anger nor yet fear; that the -nightingale does not meditate his song, that the bee -has no memory, that the swallow makes no preparations, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_70'>70</span>that the lion never grows angry, nor is the stag -subject to fear. Everything, according to these -theorists, is merely delusive appearance. They might -as well assert that animals cannot see or hear; -that they only appear to see or hear; that they have -no voice, only the semblance of a voice; in short, that -they are not alive but only seem to live.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The moral aspects of any problem are those which -to a moralist seem the most important, and Plutarch -did not seek to deny the force of the objection: If -virtue be the true aim of reason, how can Nature -have bestowed reason on creatures which cannot -direct it to its true object? But he denied the -postulate that animals have no ethical potentialities. -If the love of men for their children is granted to be -the corner-stone of all human society, shall we say -that there is no merit in the affection of animals for -their offspring? He sums up the matter by remarking -that the limitation of a faculty does not show that -it does not exist. To pretend that every being not -endowed at birth with perfect reason is, by its nature, -incapable of reason of any kind, 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 teachers. Perfect -reason is possessed by none because none has perfect -rectitude and moral excellence.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Animals exhibit examples of sociability, courage, -resource, and again, of cowardice and viciousness. -Why do we not say of one tree that it is less -teachable than another, as we say that a sheep is -less teachable than a dog? It is, of course, because -<span class='pageno' id='Page_71'>71</span>plants cannot think, and where the faculty of thought -is wholly wanting, there cannot be more or less quickness -or slowness, more or less of good qualities or -of bad.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Yet it must be allowed that man’s intelligence is -amazingly superior to that of animals. But what -does that prove? Do not some animals leave man -far behind in the keenness of their sight and the -sharpness of their hearing? Shall we say, therefore, -that man is blind or deaf? We have some strength -in our hands and in our bodies although we are not -elephants or camels. In the same way, 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’s. “Boatfuls” of true -stories can be cited to show the docility and special -aptitudes of the different children of creation. And -a very amusing occupation it is, says Plutarch, for -young people to collect such stories. In the course -of his work, he sets them a good example, for he -brings together a real “boatful” of anecdotes of -clever beasts, 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 mind: otherwise, how could they go out of it?</p> - -<p class='c008'>The stoics who taught the strictest humanity to -animals rejected, nevertheless, the supposition that -animals had reason, for how, they asked, can such a -theory be reconciled with the idea of eternal justice? -Would it not make abstinence from their flesh -imperative and entail consequences which would -make our life impracticable? If we were to give -<span class='pageno' id='Page_72'>72</span>up using animals for our own purposes, we should -be reduced ourselves almost to the condition of -brutes. “What works would be left for us to do -by land or sea, what industries to cultivate, what -embellishments of our way of living, if we regarded -animals as reasonable beings and our fellow-creatures, -and hence adopted the rule (which, clearly, would be -only proper) to do them no harm and to study their -convenience.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Many a sensitive modern soul has pondered over -this crux without finding a satisfactory solution. -Plutarch says that Empedocles and Heraclites -admitted the injustice, and laid it to the door of -Nature which permits or ordains a state of war and -necessity, in which nothing is accomplished without -the weaker going to the wall. For himself, he would -propose to those “who, instead of disputing, gently -follow and learn” the better way out of the difficulty—which -was introduced by the Sages of Antiquity, -then long lost, and found again by Pythagoras. This -better way is to use animals as our helpers but to -refrain from taking life.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Plutarch here evades a stumbling-block which he -does not remove. The dialogue, as it has come down -to us, breaks off suddenly after one final objection: -how can beings have reason which have no notion -of God? Some scholars imagine that Plutarch -hurried the dialogue to a close because this query -completely baffled him; others (and they are the -majority) attribute the abrupt finish to the loss of -the concluding part. Would Plutarch have contented -himself with citing the analogy of young children -<span class='pageno' id='Page_73'>73</span>who, although not without the elements of reason, -know very little of theology, or would not he rather -have contended with Celsus, that animals <i>do</i> possess -religious knowledge? If he took the last course, it -may well be that the disappearance of the end of the -dialogue was not accidental. At Ravenna there is a -terrible mosaic, alive with wrath and energy, which -shows a Christ we know not (for He looks like a -grand Inquisitor) thrusting into the flames heretical -books. As I looked at it, I thought how many -valuable classical works, vaguely suspected on the -score of faith or morals, must have shared the fate -of “unorthodox” polemics in the merry bonfires -which this mosaic holds up for imitation!</p> - -<p class='c008'>The argument “that it sounds unnatural to ascribe -reason to creatures ignorant of God,” suggests familiarity -with a passage in Epictetus (Plutarch’s contemporary), -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 divine. Having this intuitive sense, man is -bound, without ceasing, to praise his Creator, and, -since others are blind and neglect to do it, Epictetus -will do it on behalf of all: “for what else can I do, -a lame old man, than sing hymns to God? If I was -a nightingale, I should do the part of a nightingale; -if I were a swan, I would do like a swan; but now -I am a <i>rational creature</i>, and I ought to praise God: -this is my work; I do it, nor will I desert this post -so long as I am allowed to keep it, and I exhort -you to join in this song.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_74'>74</span>The words are among the sweetest and most solemn -that ever issued from human lips; yet those who -care to pursue the subject farther may submit that -there was some one before Epictetus, who called -upon the beasts, the fishes and the fowls to join him -in blessing the name of the Lord, and there was -some one after him who commanded the birds of -the air to sing the praises of their Maker and -Preserver! It is strange that, despite the hard-and-fast -line which the moulders of the Catholic Faith -were at pains to trace between man and beast, if -we would find the most emphatic assertion of their -common privilege of praising God, we must leave -the Pagan world and take up the Bible and the -“Fioretti” of St. Francis!</p> - -<div id='i074' class='figcenter id003'> -<img src='images/i074.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p><span class='small'>(<i>Photo: Sommer.</i>)</span><br />BACCHUS RIDING ON A PANTHER.<br />Naples Museum.<br /><span class='small'>(<i>Mosaic found at Pompeii.</i>)</span></p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>Of the anecdotes with which Plutarch enlivens -his pages, he says himself that he puts on one side -fable and mythology, and limits his choice to the -“all true” category, and if he appears to be at times -a little credulous, one may well believe that he is -always candid. Just as in his “Lives” he tried to -ennoble his readers by making noble deeds interesting, -so in his writings on animals, he tried to make -people humane by making his dumb clients interesting. -He did not start with thinking the task an -easy one, for he was convinced that man is more -cruel than the most savage of wild beasts. But he -aims at pouring, if not a full draught of mercy, at -least some drops, into the heart that never felt a -pang, the mind that never gave a thought. Many -of his stories are taken straight from the common -street life of the Rome of his day, as that of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_75'>75</span>elephant which passed every day along a certain -street where the schoolboys teased it by pricking -its trunk with their writing stylets (men may come -and go, but the small boy is a fixed quantity!). At -last, the elephant, losing patience, picked up one -of his tormentors and hoisted him in the air; a cry -of horror rose from the spectators, no one doubted -that in another moment the child would be dashed -to the ground. But the elephant set the offender -down very gently and walked away, thinking, no -doubt, that a good fright had been a sufficient punishment. -The Syrian elephant, of whom Plutarch tells -how he made his master understand that in his -absence he had been cheated of half his rations, -was not cleverer than some of his kind on service -in India, 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 dinner. -Plutarch speaks of counting oxen that knew when -the number of turns was finished which constituted -their daily task at a saw-mill: they refused to perform -one more turn than the appointed figure. As -an instance of the discrimination of animals, he tells -how Alexander’s horse, Bucephalus, when unsaddled, -would allow the grooms to mount him, but when -he had on all his rich caparisons, no one on earth -could get on his back except his royal master. -There is no doubt that animals take notice of dress. -I have been told that when crinolines were worn, -all the dogs barked at any woman not provided -with one. Plutarch was among the earliest to observe -<span class='pageno' id='Page_76'>76</span>that animals discover sooner than man when -ice will not bear, which he thinks that they find -out by noticing if there is any sound of running -water. He says truly that to draw such an inference -presupposes not only sharp ears, but a real power -of weighing cause and effect. Plutarch mentions -foxes as particularly clever in this respect, but dogs -possess the same gift. The French Ambassador -at Rome—who, like all persons of superior intelligence, -is very fond of animals—told me the following -story. One winter day, when he was French -Minister at Munich, he went alone with his gun and -his dog to the banks of the Isar. Having shot a -snipe, he ordered the dog to go on to the ice to -fetch it, but, to his surprise, the animal, which -had never disobeyed him, refused. Annoyed at its -obstinacy, he went himself on to the ice, which immediately -gave way, and had he not been a good -swimmer he might not be now at the Palazzo Farnese.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The two creatures that have been most praised -for their wisdom are the elephant and the ant, but -of the ant’s admirers from Solomon to Lord Avebury, -not one was ever so enthusiastic as Plutarch. Horace, -indeed, had discoursed of her foresight: “She carries -in her mouth whatever she is able, and piles up her -heap, by no means ignorant or careless of the future; -then, when Aquarius saddens the inverted year, never -does she creep abroad, wisely making use of the -stores which were provided beforehand.” But such -a tribute sounds cold beside Plutarch’s praise of her -as the tiny mirror in which the greatest marvels of -Nature are reflected, a drop of the purest water, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_77'>77</span>containing every Virtue, and, above all, what Homer -calls “the sweetness of loving qualities.” Ants, he -declares, show the utmost solicitude for their comrades, -alive and dead. They exhibit their ingenuity -by biting off the ends of grains to prevent them -from sprouting and so spoiling the provender. He -speaks, though not from his own observation, of -the beautiful interior arrangements of ant-hills which -had been examined by naturalists who divided the -mount into sections, “A thing I cannot approve of!” -Tender-hearted philosopher, who had a scruple about -upsetting an ant-hill! Of other insects, he most -admires the skill of spiders and bees. It is said -that the bees of Crete, when rounding a certain -promontory, carried tiny stones as ballast to avoid -being blown away by the wind. 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 bridge.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Plutarch insists that animals teach themselves even -things outside the order of their natural habits, a -fact which will be confirmed by all who have observed -them closely. Just as no two animals have the same -disposition, so does each one, though in greatly varying -degree, display some little arts or accomplishments -peculiar to itself. Plutarch mentions a trained -elephant that was seen practising its steps when it -thought that no one was looking. 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 Greeks. The bird -<span class='pageno' id='Page_78'>78</span>could imitate to perfection any sort of sound, cry or -tune; it was renowned in the whole quarter. Now -it happened one morning that the funeral of a wealthy -citizen went past, accompanied by a very fine band -of trumpeters which performed an elaborate piece -of music. After that day, to every one’s surprise, -the magpie grew mute! Had it become deaf or -dumb or both! Endless were the surmises, and -what was not the general amazement when, at last, -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 band! -Evidently it had been practising it in its head all -that while, and only produced it when it had got it -quite perfect. Several Romans and several Greeks -witnessed the facts and could vouch for the truth -of the narrative.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The swallow’s nest and the nightingale’s song -make Plutarch pause and wonder; he believes, with -Aristotle, that the old nightingales teach the young -ones, remarking that nightingales reared in captivity -never sing so well as those that have profited by -the parental lessons. He gives a word to the dove -of Deucalion which returned a first time to the ark -because the deluge continued, but disappeared when -it was set free again, the waters having subsided. -Plutarch confesses, however, that this is “mythical,” -and though he admits that birds deserved the name -by which Euripides calls them of “Messengers of -the gods,” he is inclined to attribute their warnings -to the direct intervention of an over-ruling deity of -whom they are the inconscient agents.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_79'>79</span>It is a pleasure to find that Plutarch had a high -appreciation of the hedgehog—the charming “urchin” -which represents to many an English child an epitome -of wild nature, friendly yet untamed, familiar -yet mysterious. 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 ripe, the mother urchin goes under the -vines and shakes the plants till some of the grapes -fall off; then, rolling herself over them, she attaches -a number of grapes to her spines and so marches -back to the hole where she keeps her nurslings. -“One day,” says Plutarch, “when we were all together, -we had the chance of seeing this with our -own eyes—it looked as if a bunch of grapes was -shuffling along the ground, so thickly covered was -the animal with its booty.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Dogs that threw themselves on their masters’ pyre, -dogs that caused the arrest of assassins or thieves, -dogs that remained with and protected the bodies -of their dead masters, clever dogs, devoted dogs, -magnanimous dogs—these will be all found in Plutarch’s -gallery. How high-minded, he says, it is in -the dog when, as Homer advises, you lay down your -stick, even an angry dog ceases to attack you. He -praises the affectionate regard which many have -shown in giving decent burial to the dogs they -cherished, and recalls how Xantippus of old, whose -dog swam by his galley to Salamis when the -Athenians were forced to abandon their city, buried -the faithful creature on a promontory which “to this -day” is known as the Dog’s Grave. Very desolate -<span class='pageno' id='Page_80'>80</span>was the case of the other animals that ran up and -down distraught when their masters embarked, like -the poor cats and dogs which helped the English -soldiers in the block-houses to while away the weary -hours, and which, by superior orders, were left to -their fate, though their comrades in khaki were -anxious enough to carry them away. 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 <i>Stelæ</i> in the family group which -brings together all the dearest ties between life and -death.</p> - -<p class='c008'>One animal is missing from Plutarch’s portrait -gallery—the cat, to which he only concedes the -ungracious allusion “that man had not the excuse -of hunger for eating flesh, like the weasel or -cat.” Can we make good the omission from other -sources?</p> - -<p class='c008'>There is a general notion that cats “were almost unknown -to Greek and Roman antiquity”—these are the -words of so well-informed a writer as M. S. Reinach. -Yet instances exist of paintings of cats on Greek -vases of the fifth century, and I was interested to see -in the Museum at Athens a well-carved cat on a stele. -Aristotle, who, like Plutarch, mentions cats in connexion -with weasels (both, he says, catch birds), -reckons the time they live at six years, less than -half the life of an average modern cat; this may -indicate that though known, they were not then -acclimatised in Europe. Æsop has four fables of -cats: 1. A cat dressed as a physician offers his -services to an aviary of birds; they are declined. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_81'>81</span>2. A cat seeks an excuse for eating a cock; he fails -to find the excuse, but eats the cock all the same. -3. A cat pretends to be dead so that mice may -come near her. 4. A cat falls in love with a handsome -young man and induces Venus to change her -into a lovely maiden. But on a mouse coming into -the room, she scampers after it. Venus, being displeased, -changes her back into a cat. This belongs -to a large circle of folk-tales, and probably all these -fables came from the East.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Herodotus tells as a “very marvellous thing” that -cats are apt to rush back into a burning house, and -that the Egyptians try to save them, even at the risk -of their lives, but rarely succeed: hence great lamentation. -Also, that if a cat die in a house all the -dwellers in it shave their eyebrows; “the cats, when -they are dead, they carry for burial to the city of -Bubastis.” The Egyptian name for light (and for -cat) is <i>Mau</i>, and the inference is irresistible, that -the Egyptians supposed the cat to be constantly -apostrophizing the sacred light of which she was -the symbol. Nothing shows the strength of tradition -better than the existence of an endowment at -Cairo for the feeding and housing of homeless -cats.</p> - -<p class='c008'>If the cat in Europe had been a rarity so great -as most people think, it would have been more highly -prized. It seems nearer the truth to say that it -was not admired. Its incomplete domestication which -attracts us, did not attract the ancient world. Tame -only so far as it suits their own purposes, cats -patronize man, looking down upon him from a higher -<span class='pageno' id='Page_82'>82</span>plane, which, if only the house-top, they make a -golden bar.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in14'>“Chat mystérieux,</div> - <div class='line'>Chat séraphique, chat étrange ...</div> - <div class='line'>Peut-être est-il fée, est-il dieu?”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c016'>Greeks and Romans preferred a plain animal to this -half-elf, half-god.</p> -<p class='c008'>The Greek comic writer, Anaxandrides, said to -the Egyptians: “You weep if you see a cat ailing, -but I like to kill and skin it.” The fear lest cats -should be profanely treated in Europe led the -Egyptians to do all they could to prevent their -exportation; they even sent missions to the Mediterranean -to ransom the cats borne into slavery and -carry them back to Egypt. But these missions could -not have reached the cats that had been taken inland, -and as the animal increases rapidly, it may have been -fairly common from early times. There is no doubt, -however, that the number went up with a bound when -Egypt became Christian, and every monk who came -to Europe brought shoals of cats, the date corresponding -with that of the first invasion of the rat in -the trail of the Huns.</p> - -<div id='i082' class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i082.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p>BRONZE STATUE OF AN EGYPTIAN CAT.<br /><span class='small'>(<i>Collection of H.E. Monsieur Camille Barrère, French Ambassador at Rome.</i>)</span></p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>Antiquity regarded the cat, before all things, as a -little beast of prey. Nearly every reference to it -gives it this character. In the stele at Athens the -cat is supposed to be looking at a bird-cage to which -the man is pointing; the man holds a bird in his left -hand, presumably the pet of the child who stands by -him. It seems as if the cat meditated if it had not -performed some fell deed. Seneca observed that -young chickens feel an instinctive fear of the cat but -<span class='pageno' id='Page_83'>83</span>not of the dog. The fine mosaic at Pompeii shows -a tabby kitten in the act of catching a quail.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Only one ancient poet, by a slight magician-like -touch, calls up a different vision: Theorcitus makes -the voluble Praxinœ say to her maid: “Eunœ, pick -up your work, and take care, lazy girl, how you -leave it lying about again; the cats find it just the -bed they like.” There—at last—is the cat we know! -But after all, it is an Egyptian cat: a cat sure -of her privileges, a cat who relies on her goddess -prototype, and has but a modicum of respect for the -chattering little Syracusan woman in whose house -she condescends to reside. Such were not cats of -ancient Greece and Rome, who, from being un-appreciated, -fell back to the morals of the simple -ravager.</p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c003' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_84'>84</span> - <h2 id='ch05' class='c006'>V<br /> <br />MAN AND HIS BROTHER</h2> -</div> -<p class='drop-capa0_25_0_7 c007'>TRADITIONAL beliefs are like the <i>coco de mer</i> -which was found floating, here and there, on -the sea, or washed up on the shore, and which gave -birth to the strangest conjectures; it was supposed -to tell of undiscovered continents or to have dropped -from heaven itself. Then, one day, some one saw -this peculiar cocoanut quietly growing on a tall palm-tree -in an obscure islet of the Indian Ocean. All we -gather of primitive traditions is the fruit. Yet the -fruit did not grow in the air, it grew on branches and -the branches grew on a trunk and the trunk had a -root. 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 not.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Lucretius placed at the beginning of the ages of -mankind a berry-eating race, innocent of blood. The -second age belonged to the hunter who killed animals, -at first, and possibly for a long time, for their skins, -before he used their flesh as food. In the third age -animals were domesticated; first the sheep, because -that was gentle and easily tamed (which one may see -<span class='pageno' id='Page_85'>85</span>by the moufflons at Monte Carlo), then, by degrees, -the others.</p> - -<p class='c008'>This classification was worthy of the most far-seeing -mind of antiquity. Had not human originally -meant humane we should not have been here to tell -the tale. The greater traditions of a bloodless age -are enshrined in sacred books; minor traditions of -it abound in the folk-lore of the world. Man was -home-sick of innocence; his conscience, which has -gone on getting more blunted, not more sensitive, -revolted at the “daily murder.” So mankind called -upon heaven to provide an excuse for slaughter.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The Kirghis of Mongolia say that in the beginning -only four men and four animals were made: the camel, -the ox, the sheep, and the horse, and all were told -to live on grass. The animals grazed, but the men -pulled up the grass by the roots and stored it. The -animals complained to God that the men were pulling -up all the grass, and that soon there would be none -left. God said: “If I forbid men to eat grass, will -you allow them to eat you?” Fearing starvation, the -animals consented.</p> - -<p class='c008'>From the first chapter of Genesis to the last of the -“Origin of Species” there is one long testimony to -our vegetarian ancestor, but beyond the fact that -he existed, what do we know about him? We may -well believe that he lived in a good climate and on -a plenteous earth. Adam and Eve or their representatives -could not have subsisted in Greenland. -I think that the killing of wild animals, and especially -the eating of them, began when man found himself -confronted by extremes of cold and length of winter -<span class='pageno' id='Page_86'>86</span>nights. The skins of animals gave him the only -possibility of keeping warm or even of living at all, -if he was to brave the outer air, while their flesh -may have been often the only food he could find. -He was obliged to eat them to keep alive, as -Arctic explorers have been obliged to eat their -sledge-dogs. Not preference, but hard necessity, -made him carnivorous.</p> - -<p class='c008'>These speculations are confirmed by the doings -of the earliest man of whom we have any sure knowledge; -<i>not</i> the proto-man who must have developed, -as I have said, under very different climatic conditions. -Perhaps he sat under the palm-trees growing on the -banks of the Thames, but though the palm-trees have -left us their fruit, man, if he was there, left nothing -to speak of his harmless sojourn. By tens of thousands -of years the earliest man with whom we can -claim acquaintance is the reindeer hunter of Quartenary -times. He hunted and fed upon the reindeer, -but he had not tamed them. He wore reindeer skins, -but he could not profit by reindeer milk; no children -were brought up by hand, possibly to the advantage -of the children. It is likely, by the by, that the period -of human lactation was very long. The horse also -was killed for food at a time infinitely removed from -the date of his first service to man.</p> - -<div id='i086a' class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i086a.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p>REINDEER BROWSING.<br />Older Stone Age.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<div id='i086b' class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i086b.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p>HORSE DRAWING DISC OF THE SUN.<br />Older Bronze Age.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>The reindeer hunter was a most intelligent observer -of animals. He was an artist and a very good one. -The best of his scratchings on reindeer horn and -bone of horses and reindeer in different attitudes are -admirable for freedom, life, and that intuition of -character which makes the true animal painter. For -<span class='pageno' id='Page_87'>87</span>a time which makes one dizzy to look down upon, no -such draughtsman appeared as the pre-historic cave -dweller. The men of the age of Polished Stone and -of the early ages of metals produced nothing similar -in the way of design. They understood beauty of -form and ornament or, rather, perhaps, they still -shared in that Nature’s own unerring touch; it took -millenniums of civilisation for man to make one -ugly pot or pan. But these men had not the gift -or even the idea of sitting down to copy a grazing -or running animal.</p> - -<p class='c008'>We need not go far, however, to find a man who, -living under nearly the same conditions as the reindeer -hunter of Southern France, has developed the same -artistic aptitude. I shall always recall with pleasure -my visit to a Laplander’s hut; it was in the broad -daylight of Arctic midnight—no one slept in the hut, -except an extraordinarily small baby in a canoe-shaped -cradle. The floor was spread with handsome furs, -and its aspect was neither untidy nor comfortless. I -reflected that this was how the cave dweller arranged -his safe retreat. Much more strongly was he brought -to my mind by the domestic objects of every sort -made of reindeer horn and adorned with drawings. -As I write I have one of them before me, a large -horn knife, the sheath of which ends with the branching -points. It is beautifully decorated with <i>graffiti</i>, -showing the good and graceful creature without whom -the Laplander cannot live. The school of art is distinctly -Troglodite.</p> - -<p class='c008'>A theory has been started that the man of the -Quartenary age drew his horses and his reindeer -<span class='pageno' id='Page_88'>88</span>solely as a magical decoy from the idea that the -pictures “called” the game as whistling (<i>i.e.</i>, imitating -the sound of the wind) “calls” the wind. I do not -know that the Lapps, though practised in magic, have -any such purpose in view. It is said that it would be -absurd to attribute a motive of mere artistic pleasure -to the Troglodite. Why? Some races have as -natural a tendency to artistic effort as the bower-bird -has to decorate its nest. Conditions of climate -may have given the hunter periods of enforced idleness, -and art, in its earliest form, was, perhaps, always -an escape from <i>ennui</i>, a mode of passing the time. -That the early hunter dealt in magic is likely enough; -he is supposed, though not on altogether conclusive -grounds, to have been a fetich-worshipper, and fetich-worship -is akin to some kinds of magic. But it does -not follow that <i>all</i> his art had this connexion. How -animals appeared to his eyes we know; what he -thought about them he has not told us. The Eskimo, -the modern pre-historic man who is believed to be -a better-preserved type than even the Lapp, may be -asked to speak for him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The Eskimo can say that he had a friendly feeling -towards all living things, notwithstanding that he fed -on flesh, and that wild beasts sometimes fed on him. -Not that he had ever talked of wild beasts, for he had -no tame ones. He had not a vocabulary of rude -terms about animals. He was inclined to credit every -species with many potential merits. The Eskimo is -afraid—very much afraid—of bears. Yet he is the -first to admit that the bear is capable of acting like -the finest of fine gentlemen. A woman was in a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_89'>89</span>fright at seeing a bear and so gave him a partridge; -that bear never forgot the trifling service, but brought -her newly killed seals ever after. Another bear saved -the life of three men who wished to reward him. He -politely declined their offer, but if, in winter time, they -should see a bald-headed bear, will they induce their -companions to spare him? After so saying, he plunged -into the sea. Next winter a bear was sighted and -they were going to hunt him, when these men, -remembering what had happened, begged the hunters -to wait till they had had a look at him. Sure enough -it was “their own bear”! They told the others to -prepare a feast for him, and when he had refreshed -himself, he lay down to sleep and <i>the children played -around him</i>. Presently he awoke and ate a little -more, after which he went down to the sea, leapt in, -and was never seen again.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Even such lovely imaginings, we may believe, -without an excessive stretch of fancy, gilded the -mental horizon of the Troglodite. He had long -left behind the stage of primal innocence, but no -supernatural chasm gaped between him and his -little brothers.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The reindeer hunters were submerged by what is -more inexorable than man—Nature. The reindeer -vanished, and with him the hunter, doomed by the -changed conditions of climate. He vanished as the -Lapp is vanishing; the poignantly tragic scene which -was chronicled by two lines in the newspapers -during the early summer of 1906—the suicide of -a whole clan of Lapps whose reindeer were dead -and who had nothing to do but to follow them—may -<span class='pageno' id='Page_90'>90</span>have happened in what we call fair Provence. -Thousands of men paid with their lives for its -becoming a rose garden.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The successors of the reindeer hunters, Turanian -like them, but far more progressive, were the lake -dwellers, the dolmen-builders, with their weaving -and spinning, their sowing and reaping, their pottery -and their baskets, their polished flints and their -domestic animals. Man’s greatest achievement, the -domestication of animals, had been reached in the -unrecorded ages that divide the rough and the -polished stone. Man, “excellent in art,” had -mastered the beast whose lair is in the wilds; “he -tames the horse of shaggy mane, he puts the yoke -upon its neck; he tames the tireless mountain bull.” -The great mind of Sophocles saw and saw truly -that these were the mighty works of man; the -works which made man, man. We know that when -the Neolithic meat-eater of what is now Denmark -threw away the bones after he had done his meal, -these bones were gnawed by house-dogs. A simple -thing, but it tells a wondrous tale. Did these dogs -come with their masters from Asia, or had they been -tamed in their Northern home? The answer -depends on whether the dog is descended from -jackal or wolf. In either case it is unlikely that -the most tremendous task of domestication was the -first.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Not everywhere has man domesticated animals, -though we may be sure that he took them everywhere -with him after he had domesticated them. -If man walked on dry land across the Atlantic as -<span class='pageno' id='Page_91'>91</span>some enthusiastic students of sub-oceanic geography -now believe that he did, he led no sheep, no horses, -no dogs. In America, when it was discovered, -there was only one domestic animal, and in Australia -there was none. Of native animals, the American -buffalo could have been easily tamed. It may be -said that in Australia there was no suitable animal, -but the dog’s ancestor could not have seemed a -suitable animal for a household protector; a jackal -is not a promising pupil, still less a wolf, unless there -was some more gentle kind of wolf than any which -now survives. Might not a good deal have been -made out of the kangaroo? Possibly the whole task -of domestication was the work of one patient, intelligent -and widely-spread race, kindred of the -Japanese, who in making forest trees into dwarfs -show the sort of qualities that would be needed to -make a wild animal not only unafraid (that is nothing), -but also a willing servant.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The Neolithic man’s eschatology of animals and -of himself was identical. He contemplated for both -a future life which reproduced this one. “The -belief in the deathlessness of souls,” said Canon -Isaac Taylor, “was the great contribution of the -Turanian race to the religious thought of the -world.” This appears to claim almost too much. -Would any race have had the courage to start upon -its way had it conceived death as real?</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“It is a modest creed and yet</div> - <div class='line in1'>Pleasant if one considers it,</div> - <div class='line in1'>To own that death itself must be</div> - <div class='line in1'>Like all the rest, a mockery.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c016'><span class='pageno' id='Page_92'>92</span>It is a creed which springs from the very instinct -of life. Two pelicans returning to their nest found -their two young ones dead from sunstroke. The -careful observer who was watching them has recorded -that they <i>did not seem to recognise</i> the inert, fluffy -heap as what <i>was</i> their fledglings; they hunted for -them for a long while, moving the twigs of the nest, -and at last threw one of the dead birds out of it. -So the primitive man in presence of the dead knows -that this is not <i>he</i> and he begins to ask: where is he?</p> -<p class='c008'>But if every race in turn has asked that question, -it was asked with more insistence by some peoples -than by others, and above all, it was answered by -some with more assurance. The Neolithic Turanians -had nothing misty in their vision of another world. -It was full of movement and variety: the chase, -the battle, the feast, sleep and awakening, night -and day—these were there as well as here. Animals -were essential to the picture, and it never struck -the Neolithic man that there was any more difficulty -about their living again than about his living again. -If he philosophised at all, it was probably after the -fashion of the Eskimo who holds the soul to be the -“owner” of the body: the body, the flesh, dies and -may be devoured, but he who kills the body does -not kill its “owner.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Vast numbers of bones have been found near the -dolmens in Southern France. The steed of the -dead man galloped with him into the Beyond. The -faithful dog trotted by the little child, comrade and -guardian. In the exquisite Hebrew idyll Tobias -has his dog as well as the angel to accompany him -<span class='pageno' id='Page_93'>93</span>on his adventurous earthly journey. The little -Neolithic boy had only the dog and his journey was -longer; 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 Souls?</p> - -<p class='c008'>The Celtic conquerors of the dolmen-builders -took most of their religious ideas. When successful -aid in mundane matters was what was chiefly sought -in religion, a little thing might determine conversion -<i>en masse</i>. If the divinities of one set of people -seemed on some occasion powerless, it was natural -to try the divinities of somebody else. When success -crowned the experiment, the new worship was -formally adopted. This is exactly what happened -in the historic case of Clovis and “Clothilde’s God,” -and it doubtless happened frequently before the dawn -of history. Druidism is believed to have arisen in -this way in a grafting of the new on the old. The -Celts had the same views about the next world as -the dolmen-builders. They are thought to have -taken them from the conquered with the rest of -their religious system, but to me it seems unlikely -that they had not already similar views when they -arrived from Asia. In the early Vedas goats and -horses were sacrificed to go before and announce -the coming of the dead; Vedic animals kept their -forms, the renewed body was perfect and incorruptible, -but it was the real body. A celebrated -racehorse was deified after death. Such beliefs have -a strong affinity to the theory that animals (or slaves) -killed at the man’s funeral will be useful to him in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_94'>94</span>the after-life. However derived, our European -ancestors embraced that theory to the full.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Only a few years ago a second Viking ship was -found at Oseberg, in Norway, in which were the -remains of ten horses, four dogs, a young ox, and the -head of an old ox. Three more horses were found -outside. The dogs had on their own collars with -long chains. There were also sledges with elaborately -carved animals’ heads. It was a queen’s grave; -her distaff and spinning-wheel told of simple womanly -tasks amidst so much sepulchral splendour. In those -late times the law by which religious forms grow -more sumptuous as the faith behind them grows -less, may have come into operation. Lavish but -meaningless tributes may have taken the place of -a provision full of meaning for real wants.</p> - -<p class='c008'>So the sacrifices to the gods may have been once -intended to stock the pastures of heaven. It cannot -be doubted that the victim was never <i>killed</i> in the -mind of the original sacrificer, it was merely transferred -to another sphere. The worser barbarity -comes in when the true significance of the act is -lost and when it is repeated from habit.</p> - -<p class='c008'>After animals were domesticated they were not -killed at all for a long time—still less were they -eaten. Of this there can be no shadow of doubt. -The first domestic animals were far too valuable -possessions for any one to think of killing them. As -soon would a showman kill a performing bull which -had cost him a great deal of trouble to train. -Besides this, and more than this, the natural man, -who is much better than he is painted, has a natural -<span class='pageno' id='Page_95'>95</span>horror of slaying the creature that eats out of his -hand and gives him milk and wool and willing -service.</p> - -<p class='c008'>There are pastoral tribes now in South Africa -which live on the milk, cheese and butter of their -sheep, but only kill them as the last necessity. In -East Africa the cow is never killed, and if one falls -ill, it is put into a sort of infirmary and carefully -tended. We all know the divinity which hedges -round the Hindu cow. The same compunction once -saved the labouring ox. When I was at Athens -for the Archæological Congress of 1905, Dr. R. C. -Bosanquet, at that time head of the British school, -told me that he had observed among the peasants -in Crete the most intense reluctance to kill the ox -of labour. 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 -accidentally, and the knife—the guilty thing—was -afterwards thrown into the sea. This last custom -is important; it marks the moment when the slaughter -of domestic animals, <i>even</i> for sacrificial purposes, -still caused a scruple. The case stands thus: at first -they were not killed at all; then, for a long time, -they were killed only for sacrifice. Then they were -killed for food, 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 animal.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Animal and human sacrifices are one phenomenon -of early manners, not two. The people who sacrificed -domestic animals to accompany their dead -<span class='pageno' id='Page_96'>96</span>generally, if not always, also sacrificed slaves for -the same purpose, and the sacrifice of fair maidens -at the funerals of heroes was to give them these -as companions in another world.</p> - -<p class='c008'>I am not aware that Gift Sacrifice ever led to -cannibalism nor, in its primitive forms, 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 honour. This is what was done -by the dolmen-builders. The earlier reindeer hunters -had no domestic animals to sacrifice, and it is unlikely -that they sacrificed men. At all events, they -were not cannibals.</p> - -<p class='c008'>On the other hand, cannibalism is closely connected -with Pact Sacrifice, which there is a tendency -now to regard as antecedent to Gift Sacrifice, especially -among those scholars who think that the whole -human race has passed through a stage of Totemism. -Psychologically the Totemist’s sacrifice of a reserved -animal to which all the sanctity of human life is -ascribed, resembles the sacrifice by some African -tribes of a human victim—as in both cases not only -is a pact of brotherhood sealed, but also those who -partake of the flesh are supposed to acquire the -physical, moral, or supersensual qualities attributed -to the victim. Indeed, it would be possible to argue -that the Totem was a substitute for a human victim, -and a whole new theory of Totemism might be -evolved from that postulate, but it is wiser to observe -such affinities without trying to derive one thing -from another which commonly proves a snare and -a delusion. It is sufficient to note that among -<span class='pageno' id='Page_97'>97</span>fundamental human ideas is the belief that man -grows like what he feeds upon.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The sacrifice of the Totem, though found scattered -wherever Totemism prevails, is not an invariable -or even a usual accompaniment of it. When -it does occur, the Totem is not supposed to -die, any more than the victim was supposed to die -in the primitive Gift Sacrifice. It changes houses -or goes to live with “our lost others,” or returns -to eternal life in the “lake of the dead.” The -death of the soul is the last thing that is thought of. -The majority of Totemists do not kill their Totems -under any circumstances, and when the Totem is -a wild beast they believe that it shows a like respect -for the members of its phratry. If one dies they -deplore its loss; in some parts of East Africa where -the Totem is a hyena not even the chief is mourned -for with equal ceremony.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Totemism is the adoption of an animal (or plant) -as the visible badge of an invisible bond. The -word Totem is an American Indian word for -“badge,” and the word Taboo a Polynesian term -meaning an interdiction. The Totemist generally -says that he is descended from his Totem: hence -the men and the beasts of each Totem clan are -brothers. But the beast is something more than a -brother, he is the perpetual reincarnation of the race-spirit. -Numerical problems never trouble the natural -human mind; all the cats of Bubastis were equally -sacred, and all the crows of Australia are equally -sacred to the clans who have a crow for Totem. To -the mass of country folks every cow is <i>the</i> cow, every -<span class='pageno' id='Page_98'>98</span>mouse is <i>the</i> mouse; the English villager is practically -as much convinced of this as the American Indian -or the Australian native is convinced that every -Totem is <i>the</i> Totem.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Men and women of the same Totem are <i>taboo</i>: -they cannot intermarry. But I need not speak of -Totemism here as a social institution. My business -with it is limited to its place in the history of ideas -about animals.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In Totemism we find represented not one idea, -but an aggregation of most of the fundamental ideas -of mankind. 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 -manner. For a time there seemed to be a general -disposition to accept what is called the “Nickname -theory” by which Totemism was attributed to the -custom of giving animal nicknames. We have a -peasant called Nedrott (in the Brescian dialect -“duck”); I myself never heard his real name—his -wife is “la Nedrott” and his children are “i -Nedrotti.” It is alleged that his father or grandfather -had flat feet. But I never heard of a confusion -between the Nedrotti and their nicknamesakes. -It may be said that this would be sure to happen -were they less civilised. How can we be sure -that it would be sure to happen? An eminent -scholar who objects to the nickname theory on the -ground that it assigns too much importance to “verbal -misunderstanding,” proposes as an alternative the -“impregnation theory.” A woman, on becoming aware -of approaching motherhood, mentally connects the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_99'>99</span>future offspring with an animal or plant which -happens to catch her eye at that moment. This -is conceivable, given the peculiar notions of some -savages on generation, but if all Totemism sprang -from such a cause, is it not strange that in Australia -there are only two Totems, the eagle-hawk and crow?</p> - -<p class='c008'>As a mere outward fact, the Totem is what its -name implies, a badge or sign; just as the wolf was -the badge of Rome, or as the lion is taken to represent -the British Empire. The convenience of -adopting a common badge or sign may have appeared -to men almost as soon as they settled into separate -clans or communities. Besides public Totems there -exist private and secret Totems, and this suggests -that the earliest communities may have consisted -of a sort of freemasonry, a league of mutual help -of the nature of a secret society. Around the outward -and so to speak heraldic fact of Totemism are -gathered the impressions and beliefs which make -it a rule of life, a morality and a religion.</p> - -<p class='c008'>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-making. The Totemist -thinks that he spares his Totem because it is his -Totem. But man is glad to find an excuse for -sparing something. Altruism is as old as the day -when the first bird took a succulent berry to its mate -or young ones instead of eating it. Where men see -no difference between themselves and animals, what -more natural than that they should wish to spare -them? When it was found difficult or impossible -to spare all, it was a katharsis of the wider sentiment -<span class='pageno' id='Page_100'>100</span>to spare one, and Totemism gave a very good excuse. -It appealed to a universal instinct. This is not the -same as to say that it had its origin in keeping pets; -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 Totem.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The primitive man is a child in the vast zoological -garden of Nature; a child with a heart full of love, -curiosity and respect, anxious to make friends with -the lion which looks so very kind and the white bear -who must want some one to comfort him. The whole -folk-lore of the world bears witness to this temper, -even leaving Totemism out of the question.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The Bechuanas make excuses to the lion before -killing him, the Malays to the tiger, the Red Indians -to the bear—he says that his children are hungry -and need food—would the bear kindly not object to -be killed? Some writers see Totemism in all this, -and so it may be, but there is something in it deeper -than even Totemism—there is human nature.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Take the robin—has any one said it was a Totem? -Yet Mrs. Somerville declared she would as soon eat -a child as a robin, a thoroughly Totemist sentiment. -A whole body of protective superstition has crystallised -around certain creatures which, because of their -confiding nature, their charming ways, their welcome -appearance at particular seasons, inspired man with -an unusually strong impulse to spare them. 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 North. A Frenchman remarked that “sacred -<span class='pageno' id='Page_101'>101</span>birds are never good to eat,” but he might have -remembered the goose and hen of the ancient -Bretons which Cæsar tells us were kept “for pleasure” -but never killed; not to speak of the pigeons of -Moscow and of Mecca.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It should be observed how quickly the spared or -cherished bird or beast becomes “lucky.” In -Germany and Scandinavia it is lucky to have a -stork’s nest on the roof. The regimental goat is the -“luck of his company.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>M. S. Reinach’s opinion that in Totemism is to -be found the secret of the domestication of animals -offers an attractive solution to that great problem, -but it has not been, nor do I think that it will ever -be, generally accepted. It, is however, plain, that -where population is sparse, and dogs and guns -undreamt of, wild animals would be far less wild -than in countries with all the advantages of civilisation; -the tameness of birds on lonely islands when -the explorer first makes his descent is a case in -point. No doubt, therefore, with the encouragement -they received, the animal Totems acquired a considerable -degree of tameness, but from that to -domestication there is a long step. Our household -“Totem,” the robin, is relatively tame; he will even -eat crumbs on the breakfast-table, but he flies away -in springtime and we see him no more.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Besides being a social institution and a friendly -bond between man and beast, Totemism is an attempt -to explain the universe. Its spiritual vitality depends -on the widely rooted belief in archetypes; the things -seen are the mirror of the things unseen, the material -<span class='pageno' id='Page_102'>102</span>is unreal, the immaterial the only reality. We are -ourselves but cages of immortal birds. The real “I” -is somewhere else; it may be in a fish, as in the -Indian folk-tale, or it may be in a god. I do not -know, by the by, if it has been remarked that a man -can be a Totem: the incarnation of the indwelling -race-spirit. The Emperor of Japan corresponds -exactly to this description. The deified Cæsar was -a Totem. A god can be a Totem: among the -Hidery (islanders of the North Pacific whose interesting -legends were published by the Chicago Folk-lore -Association) the raven, which is their Totem, is -the manifestation of the god Ne-kilst-lass who created -the world. Here Totemism approaches till it touches -Egyptian zoomorphism. Was this form an earlier -or a later development than that in which the Totem -is merely an ancestor? 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 <i>in a state -of dissolution</i>.</p> - -<div id='i102' class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i102.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p><span class='small'><i>Photo:</i> <i>Egypt Exploration Fund.</i></span><br />HATHOR COW.<br />Cairo Museum.<br /><span class='small'>(<i>Found in 1906 by Dr. E. Naville at Deir-el-bahari.</i>)</span></p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>We do know that Egyptian zoomorphism is not -old, at least in the exaggerated shape it assumed -in the worship of the bull Apis. It is a cult which -owed its success to the animistic tendency of the -human mind, but its particular cause is to be looked -for in crystallised figurative language. 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 it: had Egyptian hieroglyphics -never yielded up their secret we might have judged -<span class='pageno' id='Page_103'>103</span>the faith of Egypt to have been the most material, -instead of one of the most spiritual of religions.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In Egyptian (as in Assyrian) cosmogony the visible -universe is the direct creation of God. “The god -who is immanent in all things is the creator of every -animal: under his name of Ram, of the sheep, Bull, -of the cows: he loves the scorpion in his hole, he -is the god of the crocodile who plunges in the water: -he is the god of those who rest in their graves. -Amon is an image, Atmee is an image, Ra is an -image: HE alone maketh himself in millions of -ways.” Amon Ra is described in another grand -hymn as the maker of the grass for the cattle, of -fruitful trees for men yet unborn; causing the fish -to live in the river, the birds to fill the air, giving -breath to those in the egg, giving food to the bird -that perches, to the creeping thing and to the flying -thing alike, providing food for the rats in their holes, -feeding the flying things in every tree. “Hail to -thee, say all creatures. Hail to thee for all these -things: the One, Alone with many hands, awake -while all men sleep, to seek out the good of -all creatures, “Amon Sustainer of all!” This is, -indeed, a majestic psalm of universal life.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Contrary to what was long the impression, the -Wheel of Being was not an Egyptian doctrine, but -the dead, or rather some of them, were believed to -have the power of transforming themselves into -animals for limited periods. It was a valued -privilege of the virtuous dead: the form of a heron, -a hawk or a swallow was a convenient travelling -dress. Four-footed beasts were reserved to gods.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_104'>104</span>There was no prejudice against sport if carried -on with due regard to vested sacred rights. The -first hunting-dog whose name we know was Behkaa, -who was buried with his master, his name being -inscribed over his picture on the tomb. The injury -of animals sacred to the gods was, of course, a grave -sin. Among the protests of innocence of a departing -soul we read: “I have not clipped the skins of the -sacred beasts; I have not hunted wild animals in their -pasturages; I have not netted the sacred birds; I -have not turned away the cattle of the gods; I have -not stood between a god and his manifestation.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The Egyptian mind, which was essentially religious, -saw the “god who is immanent in all things” yet -standing outside these things to sustain them with a -guiding providence; the highly trained Chinese mind, -with its philosophic trend, saw the divine indivisible -intelligence without volition illuminating all that lived: -“The mind of man and the mind of trees, birds and -beasts, is just the one mind of heaven and earth, -only brighter or duller by reflection: as light looks -brighter when it falls on a mirror than when it falls -on a dark surface, so divine reason is less bright -in cow or sheep than in man.” This fine definition -was given by Choo-Foo-Tsze, the great exponent of -Confucianism, who, when he was four years old, surprised -his father by asking, on being told that the sky -was heaven, “What is above it?” 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 stones, it was plain “that what was -<span class='pageno' id='Page_105'>105</span>below became lifted up, what was soft became -hard”; it was a deep subject, he said, and ought -to be investigated. Long before the Nolan, Confucius -had conceived the idea of the great Monad: -“one God who contains and comprehends the whole -world.” It was an idea entirely incomprehensible to -all but a few educated men in any age. Confucianism, -Buddhism and Taoism left the Chinese masses -what they found them—a people whose folk-lore -was their religion. Were they asked to believe in the -Wheel of Being? They made that folk-lore too. Dr. -Giles tells the folk-tale of a certain gentleman who, -having taken a very high degree, enjoyed the privilege -(which is admitted to be uncommon) of recollecting -what happened between his last death and birth. -After he died, he was cited before a Judge of -Purgatory and his attention was attracted by a -quantity of skins of sheep, dogs, oxen, horses, which -were hanging in a row. These were waiting for -the souls which might be condemned to wear them; -when one was wanted, it was taken down and the -man’s own skin was stripped off and the other put -on. This gentleman was condemned to be a sheep; -the attendant demons helped him on with his sheep-skin -when the Recording Officer suddenly mentioned -that he had once saved a man’s life. The Judge, -after looking at his books, ruled that such an act -balanced all his misdoings: then the demons set to -work to pull off the sheep-skin bit by bit, which -gave the poor gentleman dreadful pain, 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 man.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_106'>106</span>This story is amusing as showing what a mystical -doctrine may come to when it gets into the hands of -the thoroughgoing realist. For the Chinese peasant -the supernatural has no mystery. To him it is a mere -matter of ordinary knowledge that beasts, birds, fishes -and insects not only have ghosts but also ghosts -of ghosts—for the first ghost is liable to die. If -any of these creatures do not destroy life in three -existences, they may be born as men—a belief no -doubt due to the Buddhists, who in China seem to -have concentrated all their energies on humanitarian -propaganda and let metaphysics alone. Taoism has -been called an “organised animism.” Organised or -unorganised, animism is still the popular faith of -China. It is too convenient to lightly abandon, for -it explains everything. For instance, whatever is -odd, unexpected, very lucky, very unlucky, can be -made as plain as day by mentioning the word “fox.” -Any one may be a fox without your knowing it: the -fox is a jinnee, an elf who can work good or harm -to man; who can see the future, get possession of -things at a distance, and generally outmatch the -best spiritualist medium. In Chinese folk-lore the -fox has, as it were, made a monopoly of the world-wide -notion that animals have a more intimate knowledge -of the supernatural than men. Soothsayers are -thought to be foxes because they know what is going -to happen.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Man’s speculations about himself and the universe -arrange themselves under three heads: those which -have not yet become a system, those which are a -system, those which are the remains of a system. It -<span class='pageno' id='Page_107'>107</span>is impossible that any set of ideas began by being -a system unless it were revealed by an angel from -heaven. But no sooner do ideas become systematic -than they pass into the stage of dogma which is -accepted not discussed. Everything is made to fit in -with them. Thus to find the free play of the human -mind one must seek it where there are the fewest -formulæ, written or unwritten, for tradition is as -binding as any creed or code. There are savage -races which, if they ever had Totemism, have preserved -few if any traces of it. To take them one by -one and inquire into their views on animals would -be well worth doing, but it is beyond my modest -scope. I will say this, however—show me a savage -who has not some humane and friendly ideas about -animals! The impulse to confess brotherhood with -man’s poor relations is everywhere the same: the -excuses or reasons given for it vary a little. The -animal to be kindly treated is the sanctuary of a god, -the incarnation of a tribe, or simply the shelter of a -poor wandering ghost.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The Amazulu, one of the finest of savage races, -believe that <i>some</i> snakes are Amatongo—some, not -all. In fact, these snakes which are dead men are -rather rare. One kind is black and another green. -An Itongo does not come into the house by the door, -nor does it eat frogs or mice. It does not run away -like other snakes. Some say, “Let it be killed.” -Others interfere, “What, kill a man?” If a man -die who had a scar and you see a snake with a scar, -ten to one it is that man. Then, at night, the -village chief <i>dreams</i> and the dead man speaks to him. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_108'>108</span>“Do you now wish to kill me? Do you already -forget me? I thought I would come and ask you -for food, and do you kill me?” Then he tells him -his name.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Without any teaching, without any system, the -savage thinks that the appearances which stand -before him in sleep are real. If they are not real, -what are they? The savage may not be a reasonable -being, but he is a being who reasons.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In the morning the village chief tells his dream and -orders a sin-offering to the Itongo (ghost) lest he be -angry and kill them. A bullock or a goat is sacrificed -and they eat the flesh. Afterwards they look everywhere -for the snake, but it has vanished.</p> - -<p class='c008'>A snake that forces its way rapidly into a house is -known to be a liar and he is a liar still. Do they -turn him out of doors with a lecture on the beauty -of veracity? Far from that. “They sacrifice something -to such an Itongo.” A few men turn into -poisonous snakes, but this is by no means common. -If offended, the Amatongo cause misfortune, but even -if pleased they do not seem to confer many benefits; -perhaps they cannot, for surely it is easier to do evil -than good. Once, however, a snake which was really -the spirit of a chief, placed its mouth on a sore which -a child had; the mother was in a great fright, but -happily she did not interfere and the snake healed the -sore and went silently away.</p> - -<div id='i108' class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i108.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p><span class='small'><i>Photo:</i> <i>Mansell.</i></span><br />WILD GOATS AND YOUNG.<br />British Museum.<br /><span class='small'>(<i>Assyrian Relief.</i>)</span></p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>Other animals are sometimes human beings as well -as snakes. The lizard is often the Itongo of an old -woman. A boy killed some lizards in a cattle-pen -with stones. Then he went and told his grandmother, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_109'>109</span>who said he had done very wrong—those lizards -were chiefs of the village and should have been -worshipped. I think the grandmother was a humane -old person; I even suspect that she said the lizards -were chiefs and not old women to make the admonition -more awful. The man who told this story to -Canon Callaway (from whose valuable work on the -Amazulu I take these notes) added that, looking back -to the incident, he doubted if the lizards were Amatongo -after all, because no harm came of their murder. -He thought that they must have been merely wild -animals which had become tame owing to people -mistakenly thinking that they were Amatongo.</p> - -<p class='c008'>What can one say to boys who ill-treat lizards? I -own that I have threatened them with ghostly treatment -of the same sort. I even tried the supernatural -argument with a little Arab boy, otherwise a nice -intelligent child, who was throwing stones at a lizard -which was moving at the bottom of the deep Roman -well at El Djem: I did not know then that the -persecution of lizards in Moslem lands is supposed (I -hope erroneously) to have been ordered by Mohammed -“because the lizard mimics the attitude of the -Faithful at prayer.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The lizard, one of the most winsome of God’s -creatures, has suffered generally from the prejudice -which made reptile a word of reproach. It is the -more worthy of remark, therefore, that in a place -where one would hardly expect it, protective superstition -has done its work of rescue: Sicilian children -catch lizards, but let them go unhurt to intercede for -them before the Lord, as the lizard is held to be “in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_110'>110</span>the presence of the Lord in heaven.” One wonders -if this is some distant echo of the text about the -angels of the children (their archetypes) who always -see God.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Not always were reptiles scorned, but, possibly, -they were always feared. Man’s first idea is to -worship what he fears; his second idea, which may -not come for many thousand years, is to throw a -stone at it. The stone, besides representing physical -fear, at a given moment also represents religious -reprobation of what had been an object of worship -in a forsaken faith. Primitive man took the interest -of a wondering child in the great Saurian tribe. -How did he know that they <i>flew</i>, that there were -“dragons” on the earth? How did he know that -the snake once had legs?—for if the snake of Eden -was ordered to go on its belly, the inference seems -to be that he was thought once to have moved in -another way. The snake has lost his legs and -the lizard his wings, and how the ancient popular -imagination of the world made such accurate guesses -about them must be left a riddle, unless we admit -that it was guided by the fossil remains of extinct -monsters.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The serpent of the Biblical story was, says Dr. -H. P. Smith, “simply a jinnee—a fairy if you will—possessed -of more knowledge than the other animals, -but otherwise like them.” Here, again, we meet in -the most venerable form, the belief that animals know -more than men. Can we resist the conclusion that -to people constantly inclined towards magic like the -old-world Jews, it must have appeared that Eve was -<span class='pageno' id='Page_111'>111</span>dabbling in magic—by every rule of ancient religion, -the sin of sins?</p> - -<p class='c008'>The cult of the serpent in its many branches is the -greatest of animal cults, and it is the one in which we -see most clearly the process by which man from being -an impressionist became a symbolist, and from being -a symbolist became a votary. 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 snake. Fear is a religious feeling in -primitive man, but other religious feelings were added -to it—admiration, for the snake, as all who have had -the good luck to observe it in its wild state must -agree, is a beautiful, graceful, and insinuating creature; -a sense of mystery, a sense of fascination which comes -from those keen eyes fixed fearlessly upon yours, the -simple secret, perhaps, of the much discussed power -of snakes to fascinate their prey. What wonder if -man under the influence of these combined impressions, -symbolised in the serpent a divine force which -could be made propitious by worship!</p> - -<p class='c008'>In the forming of cults there has always been this -unconscious passage from impressions to symbols, -from symbols to “manifestations.” But there has -been also the conscious use of symbols by the priests -and sages of ancient religions, in imparting as much -of divine knowledge to the uninitiated as they thought -that the uninitiated could bear. The origin of -serpent worship has a probable relationship with -this conscious use of symbols as well as with their -unconscious growth.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_112'>112</span>Besides the prejudice against reptiles, modern -popular superstition has placed several animals under -a ban, and especially the harmless bat and the useful -barn owl. Traditional reasons exist, no doubt, in -every case; 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 -lunatic; 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 frenzy. It is a most unfortunate -thing for an animal if it be the innocent cause of a -<i>frisson</i>, a feeling of uncanny dread. The little Italian -owl, notwithstanding that it too comes out at dusk, -has escaped prejudice. This was the owl of Pallas -Athene and of an earlier cult. As in the case of the -serpent, its wiles to fascinate its prey were the groundwork -of its reputation for wisdom. Of this there -cannot be, I think, any doubt, though the droll bobs -and curtesies which excite an irresistible and fatal -curiosity in small birds, have suggested in the mind -of the modern man a thing so exceedingly far from -wisdom as <i>civetteria</i>, which word is derived from -<i>civetta</i>—“the owl of Minerva” as Italian class-books -say. The descent from the goddess of wisdom to the -coquette is the cruellest decadence of all!</p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c003' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_113'>113</span> - <h2 id='ch06' class='c006'>VI<br /> <br />THE FAITH OF IRAN</h2> -</div> -<p class='drop-capa0_25_0_7 c007'>THE Zoroastrian theory of animals cannot be -severed from the religious scheme with which -it is bound up. It is not a side-issue, but an integral -part of the whole. It would be useless to attempt to -treat it without recalling the main features in the -development of the faith out of which it grew.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In the first place, who were the people, occupying -what we call Persia, to whom the Sage, who was not -one of them, brought his interpretation of the knowledge -of good and evil? The early Iranians must -have broken off from the united body of the Aryans -at a time when they spoke a common language, which -though not Sanscrit, was very like it. The affinities -between Sanscrit and the dialect called with irremediable -inaccuracy “Zend” are of the strongest. From -this we conclude that, on their establishment in their -new home, the Iranians differed little from the race -of whose customs the Rig-Veda gives—not a full -picture—but a faithful outline. Pastoral folk, devoted -to their flocks and herds, but not unlearned in the -cultivation of the earth and the sowing of grain, they -had reached what may be called the highest stage -<span class='pageno' id='Page_114'>114</span>of primitive civilisation. Though milk, butter and -cooked corn formed their principal food, on feast days -they also ate meat, chiefly the flesh of oxen and -buffaloes, which they were careful to cook thoroughly. -The progressive Aryans, who called half-raw meat -by a term exactly corresponding to the too familiar -“rosbif saignant,” denounced the more savage peoples -who consumed it as “wild men” or “demons.” They -kept horses, asses and mules; horses were sacrificed -occasionally; for instance, kings sacrificed a horse to -obtain male issue. The wild boar was hunted, if not in -the earliest, at least in very early times. The dog was -prized for its fidelity as guardian of the house and -flocks, but there is no trace of its having been protected -by extraordinary regulations such as those -which later came into force in Iran. On the other -hand, the name of dog had never yet been used in -reproach. It seems to have been among Semitic -races that the contempt for man’s best friend arose, -but it is morally certain that it arose nowhere till -dogs became scavengers of cities. It was the homeless -pariah cur that gave the dog the bad name from -which have sprung so many ugly words registered -in modern vocabularies. Even now, when Jew or -Moslem uses “dog” in a bad sense, he means -“cur”; he knows quite well the other kind of dog—he -knows Tobit’s dog, which, bounding on before -the young man and the angel, told the glad tidings -of his master’s return; Tobit’s dog which was one -of the animals admitted by Mohammed into highest -heaven. But “pariah dog” became synonymous of -pariah, and notwithstanding the present tendency to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_115'>115</span>attribute the opprobrium of the pig to original sanctity -(and consequent reservation), I am inclined to think -that the pig likewise came to be scorned because he -was a scavenger. In some Indian cities herds of wild -pigs still enter the gates just before they are closed at -dusk, to pass out of them as soon as they are opened -in the morning: during the night they do their work -excellently, and by day they take a well-earned sleep -in the jungle. They deserve gratitude, for they keep -the cities free from disease, but, like other public -servants, they scarcely get it.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In Vedic times every home had its watch-dog, -whose warning bark was as unwelcome to lovers as -it was to robbers. The Rig-Veda preserves the -prayer of a young girl who asks that her father, her -mother, her grandfather, <i>and the watch-dog</i> may sleep -soundly while she meets her expected lover: a -charming glimpse of the chaste freedom of early -Aryan manners. The newly-wedded wife enters her -husband’s house as mistress, not as slave; the elders -say to the young couple: “You are master and -mistress of this house; though there be father-in-law -and mother-in-law, they are placed under you.” If -that was not quite what happened, yet the principle -was granted, and there is much in that. The bride -rode to her new home in a car drawn by four milk-white -oxen; when she alighted at the threshold, these -golden words were spoken to her: “Make thyself loved -for the sake of the children that will come to thee; -guard this house, be as one with thy husband; may -you grow old here together. Cast no evil looks, hate -not thy spouse, be gentle in thought and deed <i>even</i> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_116'>116</span><i>to the animals of this home</i>.” Bride and bridegroom -are exhorted to be of one heart, of one mind, “to -love each other as a cow loves her calf,” a simple and -true metaphor full of the country-side, full of the -youth of the world.</p> - -<p class='c008'>If these were the customs and this was the life -which the Iranians may be supposed to have taken -with them, what was the religion? The early Aryans -had a Nature-cult more spiritualised under the form -of Varuna and more materialised under the form of -Indra. Some students of the Avesta have thought -that here could be found the elements of the Dualism -which formed the essential doctrine of Mazdaism. -But it is almost certain that no real Dualism existed -in oldest Iran. The Avesta once contrasts the worshippers -of God with the worshippers of Daevas, of -those who breed the cow and have the care of it with -those who ill-treat it and slaughter it at their sacrifices. -But Indra-worship has no connexion with devil-worship, -nor does this or similar texts prove that -devil-worship, properly so called, ever flourished in -Iran. Other religious reformers than Zoroaster have -named the devotees of former religions “devil-worshippers.” -For the rest, there is reason to think -that in the Avesta the term was applied to Turanian -raiders, not to true Iranians.</p> - -<div id='i116' class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i116.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p><i>Photo:</i> <i>Mansell.</i><br />ASSYRIAN GOD CARRYING ANTELOPE AND WHEAT-EAR.<br />British Museum.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>In an Assyrian inscription, Ahura Mazda is said -to have created joy for <i>all</i> creatures: a belief which -Mazdean Dualism impugns. So far as can be guessed, -the earliest Iranian faith was the worship of good -spirits—of a Good Spirit. Less pure extra-beliefs may, -or rather must, have existed contemporaneously, but -<span class='pageno' id='Page_117'>117</span>they remained in the second rank. The cult of good -spirits was the home-cult of shepherd and herdsman -offered to the genii of their flocks and herds. While -these genii answered the purpose of the lares or little -saints everywhere dear to humble hearts, it is -probable that in character they already resembled -the Fravashis or archetypes that were to play so great -a part in Mazdean doctrine. The cult of the Good -Spirit, the national and kingly cult, was the worship -of one God whose most worthy symbol, before -Zoroaster as after, was the sun and whose sacrament -with men was fire. The early Iranian had no temple, -no altar: he went up into a high place and offered his -prayer and sacrifice without priest or pomp. If we -wish to trace his faith back to an Indian source, -instead of bringing on the scene Varuna and Indra, -it will be better to inquire whether there were -elements of the same faith underlying the unwieldy -fabric of Vedic religion. The answer is, that there -were. The grandest text in the Rig-Veda, the one -text recognised from farthest antiquity as of incalculable -value, is the old Persian religion contained in -a formula: “That Sun’s supremacy—God—let us -adore Which may well direct.”</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Enable with perpetual light,</div> - <div class='line in1'>The dulness of our blinded sight.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c016'>So great a virtue was attributed to the Gayatri that -the mind which thought it was supposed to unite with -the object of thought: the eyes of the soul looked on -Truth, of which all else is but the shadow. This is -the spirit in which it is still repeated every day by -<span class='pageno' id='Page_118'>118</span>every Hindu. The sacrosanct words were “Vishnu, -Brahma, and Shiva,” or, yet more often, they are -described as “the mother of the Vedas,” which, if it -means anything, means that they are older than the -Vedas. 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 -Henotheism: the habit of referring to each god -immediately addressed as supreme. Nor was the -text selected arbitrarily by Western monotheists: for -thousands of years before any European knew it, -the natives of India had singled it out as the most -solemn affirmation of man’s belief in the Unseen.</p> -<p class='c008'>It is open to argument, though not to proof, that -the Gayatri crystallises a creed which the Iranians -took with them in their migration. Peoples then -moved in clans, not in a motley crowd gathered on -an emigrant steamer. The clan or clans to which -the Iranians belonged may have clung to a primordial -faith, not yet overlaid by myths which -materialised symbols and mysteries which made -truth a secret.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Such speculations are guess-work, but that the -primitive religion of Persia was essentially monotheistic -is an opinion which is likely to survive all -attacks upon it. On less sure grounds stands the -identification of that primitive religion with Zoroastrianism. -The great authorities of a former -generation, and amongst them my distinguished old -friend, Professor Jules Oppert, believed that Cyrus -was a Mazdean. But there is a good deal to support -the view that Zoroastrianism did not become the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_119'>119</span>State religion till the time of the Sásánians, who, -as a new dynasty, grasped the political importance -of having under them a strong and organised priesthood. -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 Church.</p> - -<p class='c008'>As late as the reign of Darius the Persians frequently -buried their dead, a practice utterly repugnant -to the Mazdean. Again, from Greek sources we -know that the Persian kings sacrificed hecatombs of -animals; thousands of oxen, asses, stags, &c., were -immolated every day. Darius ordered one hundred -bullocks, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs to -be given to the Jews on the dedication of the new -Temple (as well as twelve he-goats as sin-offerings -for the twelve tribes) so that they might offer -“sacrifices of sweet savours unto the God of heaven -and pray for the life of the king and his sons.” -Evidently Darius considered profuse animal sacrifices -as a natural part of any great religious ceremony. -Can it be supposed that such slaughter would have -pleased a strict Zoroastrian? The Mazdeans retained -the sacrifice of flesh as food: a small piece of the -cooked meat eaten at table was included in the daily -offering with bread, grain, fruits and the Homa juice, -which was first drunk by the officiating priest, then -by the worshippers, and finally thrown on the sacred -fire. The small meat-offering was not animal sacrifice -or anything at all like it. The Parsis substitute milk -even for this small piece of meat, perhaps because -the meat was usually beef, which would have caused -offence to their Hindu fellow-citizens. I asked a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_120'>120</span>Parsi High Priest who lunched with me at Basle -during the second Congress for the History of Religions, -what viands were eschewed by his community? -He replied that they avoided both beef and the flesh -of swine, but only out of respect for their neighbours’ -rules: to them oil alone was forbidden—probably -because of its virtue as a light-giver. In the Zoroastrian -sacrifice it was never lost sight of that the -outward act was but one of piety and obedience; -the true sacrifice was of the heart: “I offer good -thoughts, good words, good deeds.” It is hardly -needful to say that the Mithraic taurobolium was in -sheer contradiction to Mazdean law. Heretical sects -were the bane of Zoroastrianism, and with one of -these sprang up the strange practices which the -Romans brought into Europe. Possibly its origin -should be sought in some infiltration from the West, -for it is more suggestive of Orphic rites than of -any form of Eastern ceremonies. A Christian writer -of the name of Socrates, who lived in the fifth century, -said that at Alexandria, in a cavern consecrated -to Mithra, human skulls and bones were found, the -inference being that human sacrifice was the real -rite, symbolised by the slaying of the bull. The -source of this information is suspect, but even if not -guilty of such excesses, the Mithra-worshippers of -Western Persia must have been rank corrupters of -the faith. In the Avesta, Mithra is the luminous -æther; sometimes he appears as an intercessor; -sometimes he dispenses the mercy or wields the -vengeance of God. But in reality he is an attribute, -about the nature of which members of the faith had -<span class='pageno' id='Page_121'>121</span>less excuse for making mistakes than we have. It -is difficult for the Indian or Japanese not to make -analogous mistakes concerning some forms of worship -in Southern Europe.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In Old Iran the Sacred Fire was kept perpetually -alight. Sweet perfumes were spread around the -place of prayer, for which a little eminence was -chosen, but there were no images and no temples. -Archæologists have failed to find traces of a building -set apart for religious worship among the splendid -ruins of Persepolis: the “forty towers” only tell -of the pleasure-palace of an Eastern king. Was it -that the profound spirituality of this people shrank -not only from carving a graven image of the deity, -but also from giving him a house made with hands? -What could the maker of the firmament want with -human fanes? Some such thought may have caused -the Iranians to suppress for so long a time the instinct -which impels man to build temples. In any -case, 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 home. The cuneiform inscriptions bear -witness that these kings were monotheists: they -believed in one sole creator of heaven and earth, -by whose will kings reign and govern, and if they -invoked the aid of heavenly hierarchs they never -confused the creatures, however powerful, with the -creator. That Creator they called by the name of -Ahura Mazda, but they recognised that he was one, -whatever the name might be by which he was called. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_122'>122</span>“Thus saith Cyrus, king of Persia: the Lord God -of Heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the -earth, and He hath charged me to build Him a -house at Jerusalem, which is Judah.” In the uncanonical -Book of Esdras, it is said more significantly -that King Cyrus “commanded to have the house of -the Lord in Jerusalem built where they should -worship with eternal fire.” The recently deciphered -Babylonian inscriptions have been brought forward -to show that the Jews were mistaken in thinking -that Cyrus was a monotheist, because he honoured -Merodach in Babylon just as he had honoured -Jehovah at Jerusalem. He was, it is said, a “polytheist -at heart.” If he was, his honouring Merodach -does not prove it. To my mind it proves exactly -the reverse. Cyrus understood the monotheism which -was at the bottom of the Babylonian religious system -and which these very tablets have revealed to modern -scholarship. He understood that “however numerous -and diversified the nations of the earth may be, -the God who reigns over them all can never be -more than one.”<a id='r2' /><a href='#f2' class='c017'><sup>[2]</sup></a></p> - -<div class='fn'> - -<div class='footnote' id='f2'> -<p class='c018'><span class='label'><a href='#r2'>2</a>. </span>Words written by a Japanese reformer named Okubo about -fifty years ago.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p class='c008'>He was governed by expediency in his respect -for the faiths of his subject peoples, but he was -governed also by something higher than expediency. -That Darius Hystaspis, who is allowed to have been -a monotheist, continued his policy, shows that it was -not thought to involve disloyalty to Ahura Mazda since -of such disloyalty Darius would have been incapable.</p> - -<p class='c008'>If we grant that the Iranians were, in the main, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_123'>123</span>monotheistic at a date when not more than a part -of the population professed Zoroastrianism, the question -follows, of what was the difference between the -reformed and the unreformed religion? To answer -this satisfactorily, we must remember that the paramount -object of Zoroaster was less change than -conservation. Like Moses whom an attractive if not -well-founded theory makes his contemporary, he saw -around a world full of idolatry, and he feared lest -the purer faith of Iran should be swamped by the -encroachments of polytheism and atheism (for, -strangely enough, the Avesta abounds in references -to sheer negation). The aim of every doctrine or -practice which he introduced was to revivify, to -render more comprehensible, more consistent, the -old monotheistic faith.</p> - -<p class='c008'>With regard to practice, the most remarkable innovation -was that which concerned the disposal of -the dead. It cannot be explained as a relic of barbarism: -it was introduced with deliberation and with -the knowledge that it would shock human sensibility -then, just as much as it does now. The avowed -reason for giving the dead to vultures or animals -is that burial defiles the earth. 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 earth. The objection was met with -scholastic resourcefulness not to say casuistry: it was -declared that “accidents” do not count. Though so -strongly insisted on in the Avesta, the practice only -became general at a late period: even after Mazdeism -had made headway, bodies were often enveloped in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_124'>124</span>wax to avoid defilement of the earth while evading -the prescribed rite. Cremation, the natural alternative -to burial, would have polluted the sacred -fire. It was observed, no doubt, that the consumption -of the dead by living animals was the -means employed by Nature for disposing of the -dead. Why do we so rarely see a dead bird or -hare or rabbit or squirrel? The fact is not -mysterious when we come to look into it. It may -have been thought that what Nature does must be -well done. The Parsis themselves seem to suppose -that this and other prescriptions of their religious -law were inspired by sanitary considerations, and -they attribute to them their comparative immunity -from plague during the recent epidemics at Bombay. -Defilement of water by throwing any impurity into -rivers is as severely forbidden as the defilement of -the earth. 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 body, -such as prevailed among the Egyptians, whose -practices doubtless were known to the Magi by -whom, rather than by any one man, the Mazdean -law was framed. Finally, the last rites provided a -recurrent object-lesson conducive to the mental habit -of separating the pure from the impure. They reminded -the Mazdean that life is pure because given -by Ormuzd; death impure because inflicted by -Ahriman. The rule of every religion is designed -largely, if not chiefly, as a moral discipline.<a id='r3' /><a href='#f3' class='c017'><sup>[3]</sup></a></p> - -<div class='fn'> - -<div class='footnote' id='f3'> -<p class='c018'><span class='label'><a href='#r3'>3</a>. </span>Among the Buddhists of Thibet the dead are given to dogs -and birds of prey as a last act of charity—to feed the hungry.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_125'>125</span>The true originality of Zoroastrianism as a religious -system lies in the dualistic conception of creation -which is the nexus that connects all its parts. This -was seen at once, when the Avesta became known -in Europe, but the idea was so entirely misunderstood -and even travestied, that Zoroaster was represented -as a believer in two gods whose power was equal, -if, indeed, the power of the evil one were not the -greater. Recently among the manuscripts of Leopardi -were found these opening lines of an unfinished -“Hymn to Ahriman”:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Re delle cose, autor del mondo, arcana</div> - <div class='line in1'>Malvagità, sommo potere e somma</div> - <div class='line in1'>Intelligenza, eterno</div> - <div class='line in1'>Dator de’ mali e regitor del moto....”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>They are fine lines, but if Anro-Mainyus might -fitly be called “arcana malvagità” and “dator de’ -mali,” nothing could be farther removed from the -Zoroastrian idea than the rest of the description. -Ahriman possessed neither supreme power nor -supreme intelligence, nor was he author of the world, -but only of a small portion of it. To this day, however, -it has pleased pessimists to claim Zoroaster, the -most optimist of prophets, as one of their fraternity.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The real Ahriman gains in tremendous force from -the vagueness of his personality. Sometimes he <i>acts</i> -as a person: as in the Temptation of Zoroaster when -he offers him the kingdoms of the world if he will but -serve him. But no artist would have dared to give him -human form. And surely no one in Iran would have -alluded to him by mild or good-humoured euphemisms. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_126'>126</span>He shares this, however, with the mediæval devil, -that he works at an eternally pre-destined disadvantage. -He is fore-doomed to failure. Good is -stronger than Evil, and Good is lasting, Evil is -passing. In the end, Evil must cease to be.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Though not immortal, Ahriman was primordial. -Unlike the fallen star of the morning, what he is, -that he was. He did not choose Evil: he <i>is</i> Evil -as Ormuzd <i>is</i> Good. He can create, but only things -like himself. The notion that both Ormuzd and -Ahriman proceeded from a prior entity, Boundless -Time, is a late legend. Ormuzd and Ahriman existed -always, the one in eternal light, the other in beginningless -darkness. An immense vacuum divided the -light from the darkness and Ahriman knew not -Ormuzd, Evil knew not Good, till Good was externalised -in the beneficent creation.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Young life lowed through the meadows, the woods and the echoing mountains,</div> - <div class='line in1'>Wandered bleating in valleys and warbled on blossoming branches.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>The sight of created things gave Ahriman the will -to create corresponding things, evil instead of good. -He made sin, disease, death, the flood, the earthquake, -famine, slaughter, noxious animals. So the -pieces were set down on the chess-board of being, -and, as in all religions, man’s soul was the stake.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The difference from other religions lay in the -determined effort to grapple with the problem of -the origin of evil. The tribe of divine students -among whom Mazdeism sprang up saw in that unsolved -<span class='pageno' id='Page_127'>127</span>problem the great cause of unbelief, and they -set themselves to solve it by the theory which -J. S. Mill said was the only one which could reconcile -philosophy with religion—the theory of primal forces -at war. The Indian did not attempt to fathom it; -the Egyptian and Assyrian set it aside; we know -the offered Hebrew solution: “I form the light and -create darkness; I make peace and create evil, I, -the Lord, do all these things.” But this is a statement, -not a solution, because though it may be -believed, it cannot be thought. The attraction of -the dualistic conception is shown by nothing more -clearly than by the extraordinary vitality of Manichæism -in the face of every kind of persecution both -in the East and West, although Manichæism, with -its ascription of the creation of mankind to the Evil -Principle, its depreciation of woman, its out-and-out -asceticism which included abstinence from animal -food (a rule borrowed by Mani from the Buddhists -in his journey in India) contrasts unfavourably with -the faith that did not make a single demand on -human nature except to be good, even as its Creator -was good.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The origin of the Magians was Semitic, or, as -some think, præ-Semitic and præ-Aryan. Travellers -brought tales of them to the ancient world which -listened with a fascinated interest, while it failed -to see the importance of the mighty religious phenomenon -of Israel. The “Wise men of the East” -had a charm for antiquity, as they were to have for -the Infant Church which never tired of depicting -them in its earliest art. Mention of the “Persarum -<span class='pageno' id='Page_128'>128</span>Magos” is frequent from Herodotus to Cicero, who -speaks of them under that name. According to -Herodotus the Magi sang the Theogony, and -Pausanias describes them as reading from a book -which was certainly the Avesta, though it must -not be overlooked that never but once does it -contain the smallest reference to them. This tribe -of divine students enjoyed a high reputation at the -Babylonian Court, 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 monotheism. That the Magians were monotheists -cannot be disputed. Probably they were skilled in -astronomy and in medicine, the two sciences which -almost covered what was meant then by learning -in the East. Probably also they were astrologers -like other searchers of the heavens, but they were -not magic-workers, a calling that had a bad name. -The Magi in the Gospel story are supposed to have -been guided by astronomical calculations; whatever -these may have been, 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 men. The ante-natal soul of this Virgin -had been venerated for centuries in Iran. An infiltration -of Messianic prophecies might induce them -to conclude that the Child would be “King of the -Jews.” It was not likely that they would take so -long a journey to do homage to any new-born -earthly king, but it was quite possible that they -might go in search of the promised Saviour.</p> - -<div id='i128' class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i128.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p><span class='small'><i>Photo:</i> <i>Mansell.</i></span><br />COUNTING CATTLE.<br />British Museum.<br /><span class='small'>(<i>Egyptian Fresco.</i>)</span></p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_129'>129</span>In Media we know that the people lived at one -time in tribes, without kings. In one form or -another, the tribal organisation existed and exists -everywhere in the East. What is caste but a -petrified tribal system? The first discovery which -a European makes on landing on the skirts of the -East, is that everything is done by tribes. The -Algerian conjurors who swallow fire, 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 -profession. The dwarfs of the late Bey of Tunis, -whom I saw at Bardo, belonged to a tribe which -does nothing but furnish dwarfs. Apply to a high -or worthy end this corporate pursuit of a given -object and it must produce remarkable results.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The unanimous belief of the Greeks that Zoroaster -was founder of the Magians is held no longer, but -he is still thought to have been one of them. Moslem -tradition made him the servant of a Hebrew prophet, -and even serious Western students were inclined -to trace Mazdeism to the Jewish prisoners who were -brought into Media by the Assyrians. It is unnecessary -to say that at present the Jews are -regarded as the debtors.</p> - -<p class='c008'>There is no figure of a religious teacher so elusive -as that of Zoroaster, and they are all elusive. But -in the case of Zoroaster it is not only the man that -eludes us—it is also his environment. Brahmanical -India of to-day reflects as in a glass the society -into which Sakya Muni cast his seed; in fact, -we understand the seed-sowing better than the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_130'>130</span>harvest; Buddhism at its apogee seems of the -nature of an interlude in the history of the changeless -East. China still throws light on its passionless -sage, passionless in a sense so far deeper than the -Indian recluses, who, though they knew it not, did -but substitute for the passion of the flesh the more -inebriating passion of the spirit. From the splendid -treasury of præ-Islamic poetry, we know that the -Arab race had acquired its specialised type before -the Muezzin first called the faithful to prayer. The -moral petrifaction of the many and the religious and -patriotic ferment of the few which formed the -<i>milieu</i> of nascent Christianity, can be realised without -any stretch of the imagination. Buddha, Confucius, -and He that was greater than they, came into highly -civilised societies in organised states; Mohammed -came into an unorganised state which lacked political -and religious cohesion, but the unity of race was -already developed: the Emirs of the Soudan whose -star set at Omdurman were the living pictures of the -Arabs who first rallied to the Prophet’s banner. Of -the society of Old Iran to which Zoroaster spoke, -it is difficult to form a distinct idea and to judge how -far it had moved away from early Aryan simplicity. -We gather that it was still a society in which sheep-raising -and dairy-farming played a preponderant part. -Those modern expressions may serve us better than -to say “shepherds” and “herdsmen,” since fixity of -dwelling with the possession of what then was -considered wealth seems to have been a very -common case. Nomadic life lasted on, but it was -held in disrepute. There appears to have been -<span class='pageno' id='Page_131'>131</span>nothing like a national or warlike spirit such as that -possessed by the Jews, though occasional Turanian -incursions had to be repelled. There were few towns -and many scattered villages and homesteads. We -are conscious that these impressions derived from -the Avesta may be partially erroneous. Teachers -of religion only take note of political or other circumstances -so far as it suits their purpose.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Zoroaster (the Greek reading of Zarathustra, -which in modern Persian becomes Zardusht), was -born, as far as can be guessed, in Bactria, which -became the stronghold of Avestic religion and the -last refuge of the national monarchy on the Arab -invasion. There was a time when his existence was -denied, but no one doubts it now. Eight hundred -years before Christ is the date which most modern -scholars assign to him, though some place him much -farther back, while others think they discern reasons -for his having appeared after Buddha. The legend -of his life (not to be found in the Avesta) begins in -the invariable way: he was descended from kings; -as a young man he retired to a grotto in the desert, -where he lived an austere life of reflection for seven -years. Zoroaster never taught asceticism, but tradition -attributes to him the season of solitude and -self-collection without which perhaps, in fact as well -as in fable, the supreme power over other men’s -minds was never wielded by man.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Various marvellous particulars are related: he was -suckled by two ewes; wild animals obeyed his voice; -when thrown under the feet of oxen and horses, -they avoided hurting him. In his seven years’ -<span class='pageno' id='Page_132'>132</span>retirement he meditated on idol-worship, on false -gods and false prophets. The people of Iran, substantially -monotheist but prone to sliding into degrading -superstition, offered a field for his mission. He -took to him a few disciples and began to preach to -as many as would hear, but he met with great -difficulties. At last, he found favour with a king -by curing his favourite horse, and he might have -ended his days in peace but the spirit urged him to -continue his apostolate. Not to princes but to -peasants did he chiefly address himself; he did not -call them away from their work but exhorted them -to pursue it diligently. “He who cultivates the earth -will never lack, but he who does not, will stand idly -at the doors of others to beg food.” Labour is not -an evil, man who earns his bread by the sweat of his -brow is not under a curse: he is the fellow-worker -with God! This was the grandest thing that -Zoroaster taught. It is singular to note the affinity -between his teaching and the Virgilian conception -of the husbandman as half a priest. In the Middle -Ages the same thought arose where one would not -look for it: among those religious orders which had -the luminous inspiration that in work not in indolence -lay the means of salvation: “<i>Laborare est orare.</i>”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The care of the God-created animals brought with -it a special blessing: it was actually a way to heaven. -If a friend gave us a cherished animal, should not we -treat it well for that friend’s sake as well as for its -own value? Would not it remind us of the giver? -Would not we be anxious that he should find it in -good health if by chance he came on a visit? This -<span class='pageno' id='Page_133'>133</span>is how Zoroaster wished man to feel about the cow, -the sheep, the dog. Auguste Comte considered -domestic animals as a part of humanity. Zoroaster -considered them as a trust from God.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Moslem traditions finish the story of the Mazdean -prophet by telling that he was beaten to death by -“devil-worshippers,” probably Turanian raiders. -Zoroastrian authorities are silent about his end, -which is thought to bear out the legend that it was -unfortunate.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The Parsis hold that the whole Avesta was the -work of Zoroaster. Much of the original material -has disappeared, and although Western writers are -disposed to throw all the blame on the Moslem -invaders, the steady Persian tradition which accuses -“Alexander the Rûman” of having caused the -destruction of an important part of it, cannot be -well answered by saying that such barbarism was -not likely to be committed by the Macedonian -conqueror. When Persepolis was reduced to ruins -some of the sacred books “written with gold ink on -prepared cow-skins” may have been destroyed by -accident, but as it was certain that the Zoroastrian -priests would do all they could to foment resistance -to the hated idolater, we cannot be too sure that the -deed was not done on purpose. The way of disposing -of the dead set the Greeks against the -Zoroastrians, and they even thought or affected to -think that the dying as well as the dead were given -to dogs. The Arabs, no doubt, burnt what they -could lay their hands on of what was left, and it -tells much for the devotion of the faithful few, the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_134'>134</span>persecuted remnant in Persia, and the band of exiles -who found a happier fate in India, that nevertheless -the Avesta has been preserved in a representative -though incomplete form, to take its place in among -the sacred literatures of the world. When the Parsis -return, as they hope to do, to a free Persia, they -may carry the Avesta proudly before them as the -Sikhs carried the Granth to the prophet-martyr’s -tomb at Delhi: they have done more than keep the -faith, they have <i>lived it</i>.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The present Avesta consists of five books. The -Gâthâs or hymns alone really claim to have been -composed by Zoroaster himself, and this claim is -admitted by European scholars who disagree with -the Parsis in denying that the other four books are -by the same author. They are: the “Yasna,” a -ceremonial liturgy, the “Vispered,” a work resembling -the “Yasna,” but apparently less ancient; the “Vendîdâd,” -which contains the Mazdean religious law, -and the “Khordah Avesta,” a household prayer-book -for the laity. The original text was written in an -Aryan dialect related to Sanscrit; after a time, this -tongue was understood by no one but the priests -and not much by them; it was decided, therefore, -to make a translation, which was called the “Zend,” -or “interpretation,” or, as we should say, “the -authorised version.” At first Europeans thought -that “Zend” meant the original tongue in which -the work was written. Curiously enough, the language -into which the Scriptures were rendered was -not Iranian or Old Persian, but Pahlavi, a <i>lingua -franca</i> full of Semitic words, which had been coined -<span class='pageno' id='Page_135'>135</span>for convenience in communicating with the Assyrians -and Syrians when they were under one king. -Pahlavi was also used for official inscriptions, for -coinage, for commerce; it was a sort of Esperanto. -The text and the translation enjoyed equal authority, -but the former was called “the Avesta of Heaven” -and the latter “the Avesta of Earth.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The first fragment of the “Avesta” that reached -Europe was a copy of the “Yasna” brought to -Canterbury by an unknown Englishman in 1633. -Other scraps followed, but no real attempt to translate -it was made till the adventurous Anquetil -Duperron published in 1771 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 <i>supercherie littéraire</i>, chiefly on the score -that its contents were for the most part pure nonsense, -and hence could not be the work of Zoroaster. -Germany at once was more just than England to -the man who, though he had not succeeded in making -a good translation, deserved the highest honour as -a pioneer.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Even now that better translations are available, -the Avesta is apt to dishearten the reader on his -first acquaintance with it. Many passages have -remained obscure, and the desire to be literal in this -as in some other Oriental works has hindered the -translators from writing their own languages well. It -needs a Sir Richard Jebb to produce a translation -which is a classic and is yet microscopically accurate. -I once asked Professor F. C. Burkitt why the Septuagint -did not make more impression on the Hellenic -<span class='pageno' id='Page_136'>136</span>and Roman students of Alexandria by mere force -of the literary power of the Bible? 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 them. Another reminiscence comes -to my mind here: I recollect that eminent scholar -and deeply religious-minded man, Albert Réville, -saying to me: “The Bible is so much more amusing -than the Koran!” I am afraid one must confess -that the Koran is so much “more amusing” than the -Avesta. It is a good rule, however, to approach -all religious books with patience and with reverence, -for they contain, even if concealed under a bushel, -the finest thoughts of man.</p> - -<p class='c008'>When we have grown accustomed to the outward -frame of the Avesta, the inner sense becomes -clearer. It is like a piece of music by Tschaikowsky: -at first the modulations seem bizarre, the themes -incoherent; then, by degrees, a consecutive plan -unwinds itself and we know that what appeared -meaningless sound was divine harmony.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The essential teaching of the Avesta is summed -up in the text: “Adore God with a pure mind and -a pure body, and honour Him in His works.” Force, -power, energy, waters and stagnant pools, springs, -running brooks, plants that shoot aloft, plants that -cover the ground, the earth, the heavens, stars, sun, -moon, the everlasting lights, the flocks, the kine, -the water-tribes, those that are of the sky, the flying, -the wild ones—“We honour all these, Thy holy -and pure creatures, O Ahura Mazda, divine artificer!”</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“The Voice said: Call My works thy friends.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_137'>137</span>If the lyric note of great religious expression is -rarely reached (only, perhaps, in a few pieces, such -as the noble hymn to the sun-symbol), 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 Yogi, signals, as -it were, a return to sanity and health after the <i>nuit -blanche</i> of fever.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The “Khordah Avesta” contains this counsel or -good wish: “Be cheerful; live thy life the whole -time which thou wilt live.” Man is not asked to -do the impossible or even the difficult: he is asked -to <i>enjoy</i>. To the extreme spirituality which shrank -from making even a mental image of God is joined -a “this worldliness” which saw in rational enjoyment -a religious duty. Instead of choosing poverty, -man was ordered to make good use of wealth; instead -of mortifying the flesh, he was to avoid calumny, -evil-speaking, quarrels, to give clothes to the poor, -to pray not only for himself but for others. If he -does wrong, let him repent honestly in his heart and -do some practical good work as a pledge of his -repentance. The soul which grieves for its wrongdoing -and sins no more comes back into the light -of “God the giver, Forgiver, rich in Love, who -always is, always was, always will be!” When it -was asked, “What is in the first place most acceptable -to this earth?” the answer came: “When a -holy man walks on it, O Zarathustra!” Good men -work <i>with</i> God, who, sure of ultimate triumph, is -yet Himself struggling now against the Power of -Darkness. There is no religion without a good -<span class='pageno' id='Page_138'>138</span>life: “All have not the Faith who do not hear -it; all hear it not who are unclean; all are unclean -who are sinners.” God did not send calamities to -His servants, but He compassionates them in their -trials: “The voice of him weeping, however low, -mounts up to the star-lights, comes round the whole -world.” It is no sin to desire riches: “Thy kingdom -come, O Ahura, when the virtuous poor shall inherit -the earth.” In spite of the sufferings of good people, -even on this fair earth there is more of pleasantness -for the good than for the wicked, and in the next -world there is bliss eternal. I do not think that -Robert Browning studied the Avesta, but to the -thoroughly Zoroastrian line quoted above I am -tempted to add this other which is not less so:—</p> - -<p class='c020'>“Never dreamed, though right were worsted, wrong would -triumph.”</p> - -<p class='c019'>For the individual, as for the universe, Right must -triumph. If the prophet of optimism has a harder -task than the oracle of despair, it is, perhaps, a more -profitable task.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The Parsi repeats daily, as his ancestors did before -him, the so-called Honover or “Ahuna-Vairya,” or -<i>logos</i> which brings God down to man as the Gayatri -lifts man up to God: “One Master and Lord, all -holy and supreme; one teacher of His Law, appointed -by God’s almighty will as shepherd to the weak.” -The Mazdean “law” was a thought-out system to -prevent idolatry and atheism, and to make men lead -good lives. There is no racial exclusiveness in it: -the Mazdeans had no shibboleth or peculiar sign; -<span class='pageno' id='Page_139'>139</span>Zoroaster, himself a foreigner, did not appeal to a -chosen people or to a miraculously evolved caste: he -only knew of good men and bad. A really good man, -truthful and charitable in all his ways, had three -heavens open to him even though he “offered no -prayers and chanted no Gâthâs”; only the fourth -heaven, a little nearer the presence of God, was -reserved for those who had devoted their lives to -religion. Temperance was enjoined, as without temperance -there could not be health. The family was -sacred and marriage meritorious: children, the gift of -Ahura Mazda, were recruits for the great Salvation -Army of the future. Immorality was severely censured, -but the victims of it were befriended. -Stringent and most humane religious laws protected -the <i>fille-mère</i> from being driven “by her shame” to -destroy herself or her offspring. Girls were married -at sixteen: the address to young brides may be compared -with that in the Rig-Veda: “I speak these -words to you, maidens who wed. I say them unto -you—imprint them on your hearts. Learn to know -the world of the Holy Spirit according to the Law. -Even so, let one of you take the other as the Law -ordains, for it will be to you a source of perfect joy.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>At the time when Zoroastrianism was the State -religion, the Sásánian period, we find that the kings -frequently had harems. It is certain, however, that if -in this as in other things the priests were complacent, -they were untrue to orthodox Zoroastrian doctrine -and custom, which only permitted the taking of a -second wife in some rare cases, as when there was -no issue by the first.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_140'>140</span>Even then, it does not seem to have been encouraged. -The blot on Avestic morality is the strange recommendation -of consanguineous marriages, which the -Parsis interpret as far as possible in a figurative sense, -but it must have been intended to be followed, though -it is plain that such unions were never popular. The -declared object was the hypothetical maximum purity -of race: exactly the same object as that contemplated -in the union of Siegemund and Siegelind in the -Nibelungenlied—a curious parallel. To my mind, -the desire to keep agricultural property together may -have had something to do with it. The present -moral ideas of the Parsis do not differ from those -of Europeans, and when they requested to be placed -under the English instead of the Hindu marriage -law, their wish was granted.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In Avesta times the priests both married and -toiled like the rest of the people. When their prosperity -under the Sásánians tended to make them a class -apart, they seem to have become less faithful to -the ideals of their master, less stern in opposing -evil in high places. It is a common experience of -history. Originally they were true citizen-priests, -mixing with the people as being of them. There -was no life better or holier than the common life -of duty and work. Isolation of any kind was contrary -to the central Zoroastrian view of man as a -social being. Among the wicked souls in hell, each -one thinks itself utterly alone: it has no sight or -knowledge of the host around it. Nothing could -illustrate more powerfully than this the saying of a -great French writer: “<i>Seul a un synonyme: mort!</i>” -Solitude is the death of the soul.</p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c003' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_141'>141</span> - <h2 id='ch07' class='c006'>VII<br /> <br />ZOROASTRIAN ZOOLOGY</h2> -</div> -<p class='drop-capa0_25_0_7 c007'>NO investigator of early Iran can afford to -neglect the <i>Shahnameh</i> of Firdusi, which -was as good history as he could make it; that is -to say, it was founded on extremely old legendary -lore collected by him with a real wish to revive the -memory of the past. Firdusi sang the glories of -the “fire-worshippers” with such enthusiasm that -one cannot be surprised if, when he died, the Sheikh -of Tús doubted whether he ought receive orthodox -Moslem burial: a doubt removed by an opportune -dream in which the Sheikh saw the poet in Paradise. -In Firdusi’s epic we are told that the earliest -Persian king (who seems to have been not very -far off the first man) lived in peace with all creation. -Wild animals came round and knew him for their -lord. He had a son who was killed by demons and -a grandson named Húsheng, who, as soon as he was -old enough, made war on the demons (Turanians?) -<span class='pageno' id='Page_142'>142</span>to avenge his father’s murder. Every species of wild -and tame beast obeyed Húsheng:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“The savage beasts, and those of gentler kind,</div> - <div class='line in1'>Alike reposed before him and appeared</div> - <div class='line in1'>To do him homage.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>In his war on the demon’s brood, Húsheng was -helped by wolf, tiger, lion, and even by the fowls -of the air. All this while mankind had lived on -fruit and the leaves of trees. Húsheng taught his -people to bake bread. He was succeeded by his -son Taliumen, in whose reign panthers, hawks, and -falcons were tamed. The next king introduced -weaving and the use of armour. His successor was -remembered for having kept a herd of 1,000 cows -whose milk he gave to the poor. Then came Zorák, -who owned 10,000 horses. Zorák was seduced by -Iblís, the evil spirit, who, in order to accomplish it, -became his chief cook. Iblís was the real founder -of the culinary art; till then, people lived still almost -entirely on bread and fruit, but the king’s new <i>chef</i> -prepared the most savoury dishes, for which he -used the flesh of all kinds of birds and beasts. -Finally, he sent to table a partridge and a pheasant, -after which Zorák promised the devil to grant him -any request he might make.</p> - -<div id='i142' class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i142.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p><span class='small'><i>Photo:</i> <i>J. Dieulafoy.</i></span><br />KING FIGHTING GRIFFIN WITH SCORPION’S TAIL.<br />Palace of Darius.<br /><span class='small'>(<i>By permission of M. Marcel Dieulafoy.</i>)</span></p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>Here there are fugitive reminiscences of parallel -legends in the <i>Bundehesh</i>, a Parsi religious book -belonging to post-Avestic times. The first human -couple served God faithfully till, for some unexplained -reason, they were induced to ascribe creation and -supreme power to the daevas. This was the “unforgivable -<span class='pageno' id='Page_143'>143</span>sin,” the ascription of the miraculous power -of God to the devil. Ahriman rejoiced at their -treason, though it is not said that he was the cause -of it: man could choose between good and evil. -After their defection, the man and the woman clothed -themselves in leaves and took to hunting. Ahriman -put it into their heads to kill a goat and then to -light a fire by rubbing two sticks: they blew on -the fire to fan the flame and roasted a piece of the -goat. One bit they threw in the air as a sacrifice -to the Nature spirits, saying, “This for the Yazatas!” -A kite flew past and carried off the sacrifice. Afterwards, -the man and woman dressed in skins and -told innumerable lies. Going from bad to worse, -they engendered a large family whence sprang the -twenty-five races of mankind.</p> - -<p class='c008'>How this story got into the <i>Bundehesh</i> I do not -know, but I am sure that Zoroaster would have -disowned it. He knew of no collective “fall of -man,” whether in connexion with partridges, -pheasants, or goat-flesh.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The Avesta, in its sober cosmogony, is content -to speak of the proto-man, Gayo Marathan (mortal -life), and the proto-good-animal, Geus Urva, from -whom all human beings and all animals of the good -creation are derived. Nevertheless, Ahura Mazda -is described frequently as <i>creating</i> each animal; the -proto-creature was only the <i>modus operandi</i> of the -divine power. As in biology, divided sex was a -secondary development. From the bull, Geus Urva, -proceeded first his own species, and then sheep, -camels, horses, asses, birds, water-animals.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_144'>144</span>The distinguishing qualification given him of <i>good -and laborious</i> is the most striking proof of the -originality of Magian ideas: instead of the strong -bulls of Basan roaring in their might, the bull we -have here is one with the ploughing ox:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“T’amo, o pio bove; e mite un sentimento</div> - <div class='line in1'>Di vigore e di pace al cor m’infondi....”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c016'>—the patient, the long-suffering, the gentle, though -strong-limbed helper of man in his daily toil, good -in his vigour, good in his mildness, but good most -of all in his labour, for Zoroaster called labour a holy -thing. The animal which did most to cultivate God’s -earth and make the desert flower like a rose, was -the paragon of creatures. It must not be thought -that to the Geus Urva or his kind was ever rendered -the homage due to their Creator. If there was one -thing more abhorrent, to the Zoroastrian mind than -idolatry it was zoolatry: when Cambyses killed a -new Apis with many of his followers in Egypt, he -had no reason to fear Mazdean criticism.</p> -<p class='c008'>The soul of the bull receives <i>dulia</i> not <i>latria</i>. -“We honour the soul of the bull ... and also -our own souls and our cattle’s souls who help to -preserve our life; the souls by which they exist and -which exist for them.” So runs one of the Gâthâs, -one of the hymns of Zoroaster himself. “We honour -the souls of the swift, wild animals; we honour the -souls of just men and women in whatever place they -are born, whose pure natures have overcome evil. -We honour saintly men and saintly women, living -immortal, always living, always increasing in glory—all -<span class='pageno' id='Page_145'>145</span>man and woman souls faithful to the Spirit -of God.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>In this song of praise we have brought before us -vividly a fundamental doctrine of the Avesta which -pervades every page of it: the belief in the Fravashi, -the soul-partner, the double or angel, which exists -before birth as during life and after death. 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 dogma. The Jews of the -new school had held it for quite two hundred years -before Christ. Besides other allusions, are the three -distinct references to the soul-partner in the New -Testament. 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-treated. -Secondly, when Peter issued from prison, -those who saw him said, “It is his angel.” Thirdly, -it is stated that the Sadducees believed that there -was no resurrection, “neither angel nor Spirit,” but -that the Pharisees, of whom Paul was one, “confessed -both.” These three references become intelligible -for the first time after reading the Gâthâs. True it -is that he who knows only one religion, knows -none.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Ahriman inflicted every sort of suffering on the -primal creature—this was the beginning of cruelty -to animals. At last, he caused its death. The soul -of the Bull dwells in the presence of God, and to it, -as intercessor, all suffering creatures lift their plaints. -Why were they made to suffer wrath, ill-usage, -hunger? Will no one lead them to sweet pastures? -<span class='pageno' id='Page_146'>146</span>The creature-soul carries the cry of the creatures -to God. Ahura Mazda promises the advent of -Zoroaster, redresser of all wrongs. But the Bull-soul -weeps and complains: how can the voice of -one weak man avail to help? It invokes stronger -and more effectual aid.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The hymn is really a litany of suffering animals, -the grandeur of the thought flashing across obscurities -which make it almost impossible to translate. Very -mysterious is the expression of incredulity in the -efficacy of the help of Zoroaster, an expression which -stands quite alone, and in which some have seen -a proof that this hymn was not written by the -Prophet. But would any one else have dared to -question his power or to call him “one weak man”? -Can it be that Zoroaster was distressed to find his -efforts to prevent cruelty so unavailing, and that he -here covertly invokes the “strong arm of the law” -to do what he had failed in doing?</p> - -<p class='c008'>In the pages of the Avesta everything is tried -to enforce humanity: hopes of reward, threats of -punishment, appeals to religious obedience, common -gratitude, self-interest. It cannot but appear singular -that among an Eastern pastoral and agricultural -people such reiterated admonitions should have been -needful. The cow and the horse, “animals manifestly -pure which bring with them words of blessing,” -inflict terrible anathemas on their tormentors:—</p> - -<p class='c020'>The cow curses him who keeps her: “Mayest thou remain -without posterity, ever continuing of evil report, thou who dost -not distribute me food, and yet causest me to labour for thy wife, -thy children and thy own sustenance.”</p> - -<p class='c020'><span class='pageno' id='Page_147'>147</span>The horse curses his owner: “Mayest thou not be he who -harnesses swift horses, not one of those who sit on swift horses, -not one who makes swift horses hasten away. Thou dost not -wish strength to me in the numerous assembly, in the circle of -many men.”</p> - -<p class='c019'>The cow which is led astray by robbers calls to -Mithra “ever with unlifted hands, thinking of the -stall,” and Mithra, here figuring as the vengeance -of God, destroys the house, the clan, the confederacy, -the region, the rule of him who injured her. She -is the type of prosperity: “O thou who didst create -the cow, give us immortal life, safety, power, plenty.” -She is dear to her Creator: “Thou hast given the -earth as a sweet pasture for the cow.” She is praised -because she furnishes the offerings, flesh, milk, and -butter.</p> - -<p class='c008'>This reminds us of the differences of point of view -between the Persian and the Indian humanitarian. -The Indian, in theory at least, simply forbade taking -animal life. He had the great advantage of the -argument of the straight line. The Zoroastrian was -handicapped by his moderation. It is easier far to -teach extraordinary than ordinary well-doing; every -moralist who has set out to improve mankind has -found that. Zoroaster had not the smallest doubt -about his contention that man has imperative duties -in regard to what used to be called “the brute creation.” -Man could not live as man at all without it: -we who have harnessed steam and trapped the electric -spark might entertain such a possibility, but to -Zoroaster the idea would have seemed absurd. As -we owe so much to animals, the least we can do -<span class='pageno' id='Page_148'>148</span>is to treat them well. Yet, though he included -wanton and useless slaughter in “ill-treatment,” he -allows the killing of animals for food. Herodotus -remarked that, unlike the Egyptians, the Magian -priests did not think it pollution to kill animals with -their own hands—except dogs and oxen.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It is to be supposed that the framers of Zoroastrian -law believed that animal food was necessary for man’s -health and strength, perfect health being the state -most acceptable to the Creator. Believing this, they -could not forbid the temperate use of it. Gargantuan -feasts were not dreamt of; if they had been, they -would have received the condemnation given to all -excesses. We are apt to fall into the way of thinking -of sacred books which is that of their own adepts; we -think of them as written by unpremeditated impulse. -But commonly this was not the case. The Avesta, -especially, bears signs of conclusions reached by -patient reasoning. While, however, the Magians -permitted the slaughter of animals, they bowed to -the original scruple which has no race-limits, by -ordering that such slaughter should be accompanied -by an expiatory rite without the performance of which -it was unlawful. This was the offering of the head of -the animal to Homa: regarded, in this instance, as -the archetype of the “wine of life”—the sacred or -sacramental juice of the plant which has been identified -with the Indian Soma. The Homa juice was much -the most sacred thing that could be eaten or drunk; -if it is true that it contained alcohol, the little jet of -flame that would start upwards as it was thrown on -the sacrificial fire might seem actually to bear with -<span class='pageno' id='Page_149'>149</span>it the spirit of the offering. Whatever was the exact -idea implied by the dedication of slaughtered animals -to Homa, the fact that they were killed for food did -not, of course, in any way affect their extra-mortal -destiny. The “souls of our cattle”—their archetypes—could -not suffer death.</p> - -<p class='c008'>As a careful observer, which he is now allowed to -have been, Herodotus remarked that not only might -the priests take animal life, but that they thought it -highly meritorious to take the life of certain animals -such as ants, serpents, and some kinds of birds. It -required no profound knowledge of the East to notice -something unusual in this. Even the Jews, with their -classification of clean and unclean beasts, cast no -moral slur on the forbidden category, and if the serpent -of Eden was cursed, later snakes regained their -character and inspired no loathing; the snake-charmer -with his crawling pupils was a well known and popular -entertainer. Farther East, every holy man respected -the life of an ant as much as of an elephant. Zoroaster -alone banned the reptile and the major part of the -insect world. No penance was more salutary than -to kill ten thousand scorpions, snakes, mosquitoes, ants -that walk in single file, harvesting ants, wasps, or a -kind of fly which was the very death of cattle. The -innocent lizard suffered by reason of his relationship -with the crocodile; the harmless frog and tortoise -excited a wrath which they had done nothing to -merit. Among mammals, the mouse is singled out -for destruction: although the wolf is a legionary of -Ahriman, he is more often classed with the “wicked -two-legged one”—perverse man—than with the evil -<span class='pageno' id='Page_150'>150</span>creation properly so called. In one place Ahriman -is said to have created “devouring beasts,” but on -closer examination these devouring beasts proved to -be only the harvesting ants which were reckoned -deadly foes of the agriculturist. Any one who has -seen how much newly-sown grass seed these favourites -of Solomon will remove in a shining hour will understand -the prejudice, though he will not, I hope, share -it. Roughly speaking, the diligent, old-fashioned -gardener who puzzles his pious mind as to why “those -things” were ever created, is a born Zoroastrian. To -tell him with Paul that “every creature of God is -good” does not comfort him much. Zoroaster’s -answer is as philosophically complete as it is scientifically -weak. Certain creatures are noxious to man; a -good Creator would not have made creatures noxious -to men, ergo, such creatures were not made by a good -Creator. Besides the scientific objection to any hard-and-fast -line of division between animals, there is -another: the pity of it. I wonder that some velvet-coated -field-mouse, approaching softly on tip-toe as -Zoroaster lay in his grotto, did not inquire with its -appealing eyes: “Do you really think that I look as -if I were made by the Evil One?” In spite of the -numerous advantages of a theory which, in a literal -sense, makes a virtue of necessity (a sad necessity -to some of us), the theological ban of creatures for -no other reason than that they are inconvenient to -man detracts from the ideal beauty of Zoroastrian -faith.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Darwin, in a letter to Asa Gray, the American -botanist, said that the sufferings of caterpillars and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_151'>151</span>mice made him doubt the existence of “a beneficent -and omnipotent Creator.” How often does doubt -seem more religious than belief!</p> - -<p class='c008'>The eschatology of the creatures deemed of darkness -is not clear, but I believe there is no mention -of their Fravashis: it is permissible to suppose, therefore, -that, all along, they are rather appearances than -realities: things that cannot feel, though Ahriman -feels defeat in their destruction. For the rest, though -Zoroaster treated wasps or mice much as Torquemada -treated heretics, he made it no merit to torment -them: he simply desired their extermination as every -fruit-grower or farmer desires it to this day.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Students of Zoroastrianism have been mystified -by the seeming detachment of the dog from the -other “good” animals and the separate jurisdiction -designed for it. In my opinion this arose only from -the fact that the dog was not a food-providing animal. -Hence it could be made penal (by religious, not by -civil, law, it must be remembered) to kill a dog, and -it was natural that his body should be disposed of -in the same way as a man’s. What else could be -done with it? It was natural also that since his death -was inflicted by Ahriman (since it came of itself), -purification ceremonials should be performed to remove -the pollution. The religious scope of such -ceremonials was like that of reconsecrating a church -in which suicide or murder has been committed. -That the dog was highly appreciated, that he was -valued as an essential helper in the existing conditions -of life, is amply proved, but that he was “reverenced” -more than some other animals—<i>e.g.</i>, the cow—is open -<span class='pageno' id='Page_152'>152</span>to doubt. The dog was recognised as more human -which made him more liable to err. It was the -celebrated chapter on the dog which convinced Sir -W. Jones that Anquetil Duperron’s translation was -a forgery. It should have struck him that this was -not how a European would have made Zoroaster -speak about the favoured animal. In the comparisons -of canine qualities with those of certain human beings, -there is more of satire than of panegyric. The whole -Fargard XIII. has been interpreted as purely mystical: -the dog symbolising the “will,” a meaning which, -according to this argument, fits the term “Dog” in -all passages of the scriptures of Iran. This is a hard -saying. More reasonable is the supposition that Fargard XIII. -formed part of a treatise on animals and -got into the Vendîdâd by chance. However that -may be, the “eight characters” of the dog show -observation though not reverence: he loves darkness -like a thief, and at times has been known to be one; -he fawns like a slave, he is a self-seeker like a -courtezan, he eats raw meat like a beast of prey. -The words relative to his “chasing about the well-born -cow” have been interpreted to mean that he -chased her back home when she had strayed, but I -seem to have seen dogs chasing about well-born cows -from no such benevolent motive. Some of the comparisons -are neither flattering nor critical but descriptive: -the dog loves sheep like a child, he runs here -and there in front, like a child; he dodges in and out -like a child.</p> - -<div id='i152' class='figcenter id003'> -<img src='images/i152.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p>THE REAL DOG OF IRAN.<br /><span class='small'>Louvre.<br />(<i>By permission of Messrs. Chapman & Hall, Ltd.</i>)</span></p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>The <i>jeu d’esprit</i> of the “eight characters” is followed -by what appears to be a serious statement of how -<span class='pageno' id='Page_153'>153</span>to treat the dog which misconducts himself. There -is no capital punishment, nothing like the stoning of -the ox which gores a man or woman, in the Bible. -If a dog attacks man or cattle he is to lose an ear; if he -does it a third time his foot is to be cut off, or, as Bleeck -humanely suggests, he is to be rendered so far lame -that it is easy to escape from him. The “dumb dog” -of vicious disposition is to be tied up. If a dog is -no longer sane in his mind and has become dangerous -on that account, you are to try and cure him as you -would a man, but if this fails, you must chain him up -and muzzle him, using a sort of wooden pillory which -prevents him from biting. This passage is curious, -because, while it seems to allude plainly to hydrophobia, -it contains no hint of the worser consequences -to man than a simple bite.</p> - -<p class='c008'>We find that there were four if not more breeds of -dogs, each of which was carefully trained for its work. -The house-dog, the personal dog (which may have -been a blood-hound), sheep and herd-dogs are all -mentioned, but there is no mention of sporting-dogs -or of sport in the Avesta. The dogs must have been -powerful, as they were required to be a match for the -wolf, “the growing, the flattering, the deadly wolf,” -which was the dread of every homestead in Iran. -There were also “wolves with claws” (tigers), but -they were comparatively few. The kinship of wolf -and dog was recognised, and there was an impression -that the most murderous wolf was the half-breed of -a wolf and a bitch. Perhaps the wolf of dog-descent -came more boldly to the dwelling of man, having no -instinctive fear of him. It is said, too, that the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_154'>154</span>deadliest kind of dog was the dog that had a wolf-mother. -Possibly such cross-breeding was tried -experimentally in the hope of obtaining dogs which -could best resist the wolf.</p> - -<p class='c008'>If the dog is never represented as a creature of -faultless perfection, it yet remains an established -truth that “dwellings would not stand fast on the -earth created by Ahura Mazda were there not dogs -which pertain to the cattle and to the village.” -It is the Lord of Creation who says: “The dog I -have made, O Zarathustra, with his own clothing and -his own shoes; with keen scent and sharp teeth, -faithful to men, as a protector to the folds. For I -have made the dog, I who am Ahura Mazda!” To -attack the dog was like an attack on the police. -Slitting the ear of the house or sheep-dog out of -malice, or cutting off his foot, or belabouring him -so that thieves got at the sheep, were not unfrequent -crimes and they are dealt with no more severely than -they deserve. Who killed a house-dog outright, or -a sheep-dog or personal dog or well-trained dog, was -warned that in the next world his soul would go -howling worse than a wolf in the depths of the forest; -shunned by all other souls, growled at by the dogs -that guard the bridge Chinvat. Eight hundred blows -with a horse-goad are adjudged to the wretch who so -injures a dog that it die. To strike or chase a bitch -with young brings a dreadful curse. Much is said -about the proper care of the mother and the puppies. -To give a dog too hot food or too hard bones is as -bad as turning apostate. His right food is milk and -fat and lean meat. “Of all known creatures that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_155'>155</span>which ages soonest is the dog left foodless among -people who eat—who seeks here and there his food -and finds it not.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>As a rule unnamed wild animals may be supposed -to have been protected. The fox was considered a -powerful daeva-scarer, which shows that not only in -China did the fox seem an “uncanny” beast. In Iran -his supernatural services made him highly esteemed. -There seem to have been no cats though so many -mice. The later Iran was destined to be a great -admirer of cats, witness the praise of them by Persian -poets, but it is not easy to fix the date when they -were introduced. Monkeys were known and were -attributed by a post-Avestic superstition to the union -of human women and daevas. Vultures were sacred -because they devoured good Mazdeans. On the -whole, not much attention was paid to wild nature, -with one striking exception: the extraordinary respect -for the water-dog, beaver or otter. Suddenly the -solid utilitarian basis of Zoroastrian zoology gives way -and we behold a fabric of dreams. We might understand -it better could we know the early animistic -beliefs of Iran, though the trend of the Avesta -apparently ran <i>counter</i> to old popular credences far -more than with them. It should be remembered -that water was only a little less sacred than fire -in the Zoroastrian system; the defilement of rivers -was strictly forbidden. The Udra, or beaver, became -the “luck” of the rivers: to destroy it would provoke -a drought. If it was found roaming on the land, the -Mazdean was bound to carry it to the nearest stream. -In later legend, the Udra, even more than the fox, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_156'>156</span>was a daeva-foe. But by far its most important -characteristic is its mythical connexion with the dog. -To the question: “What becomes of the aged dog -when his strength fails him and he dies?” follows the -answer: “He goes to the dwelling in the water, where -he is met by two water-dogs.” These are his conductors -to the dogs’ paradise. A fair sward beneath -the waters, cool and fresh in the summer heat, is at -least a pleasant idea, but when the two water-dogs -are described as consisting of one thousand male and -one thousand female dogs, the myth seems to lose -its balance which no proper myth ought to do. Myths -have the habit of proceeding rationally enough in -their own orbit. Later commentators reject this -fantastic interpretation and suppose the verse to -mean that the dog-soul is received, not by two, but -by two thousand water-dogs, which in Oriental hyperbole -would mean merely “a great many.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Be this as it may, Udra-murder was a frightful sin, -and frightful were the penalties attached to it. -Besides undergoing the usual blows with a horse-goad -(to be self inflicted?) the murderer must kill ten -thousand each of some half-dozen insects and reptiles: -this, at least, is how it looks, but as a matter of fact -the long lists of penalties in the Vendîdâd must be -taken not as cumulative, but as alternative. This is -evident, though it is never stated, and it explains many -things. A large number of the alternative punishments -for beaver-killing take the form of offerings -to the priests. Arms, whips, grindstones, handmills, -house-matting, wine and food, a team of oxen, cattle -both small and large, <i>a suitable wife</i>—the young -<span class='pageno' id='Page_157'>157</span>sister of the sinner—these are among the specified -offerings. The culprit may also build a bridge, -or breed fourteen dogs as an act of expiation; in -short, he may do any kind of meritorious deed, -but something he must do, or it will be the worse for -him in the world to come.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The Vendîdâd was not a code of criminal law -enforced by the civil power, but an adjugation of -penances for the atonement of sin. This was not -understood at first, which caused the selection of -punishments to appear more extravagant than it really -is. For the most part the penances were active good -works or things which were reckoned as such. -Charity and alms-giving were always contemplated -among the means of grace, and if they were not dwelt -upon more continually, it was because there existed -nothing comparable to modern destitution. Moreover, -it was understood better than in other parts of the -East that not every beggar was a saint: too often he -was a lazy fellow who had shirked the common -obligation of labour. The repetition of certain prayers -was another practice recommended to the repentant -sinner. But no good work or pious exercise was -of any avail unless accompanied by sincere sorrow -for having done wrong. The Law opened the door -of grace, but to obtain it the heart must have become -changed. God forgives those who truly desire His -forgiveness. It is impossible to doubt that the -spurious Mazdeism which got into Europe, distorted -though it was, yet took with it the two great Mazdean -doctrines of repentance and the remission of sin. -Great ideas conquer, and it was by these two doctrines -<span class='pageno' id='Page_158'>158</span>that Mithraism so nearly conquered the Western -world—not by its unlovely rites.</p> - -<p class='c008'>On one or two points the human eschatology of -Zoroastrianism is associated with dogs. A dog is -brought into the presence of the dying man. This -has been explained by reference to the dogs of Yama, -the Vedic lord of death, and the European superstition -about the howling of a dog being a death-portent -is explained in the same way, but in both instances -the immediate cause seems nearer at hand. An -Indian officer once remarked to me that any one who -had heard the true “death-howl” of a dog would -never need any recondite reason for the uncomfortable -feeling which it arouses. As regards the Zoroastrian -dog, 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 night. Death being a -pollution as the work of Ahriman, evil spirits beset -the dying, but they flee at the sight of the dog, -created by Ahura Mazda to protect man. The dead -wander for three days near the tenantless body: then -they go to the bridge Chinvat, where the division -takes place between the good and the wicked. The -bridge is guarded by dogs, who drive away all things -evil from the path of the righteous, but do nothing -to prevent bad spirits from tripping up sinners so that -they fall into the pit.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The good go into light, sinners into darkness, where -Ahriman, “whose religion is evil,” mocks them, saying: -“Why did you eat the bread of Ahura Mazda and do -my work? and thought not of your own Creator but -practised my will?” Nothing is told of the punishment -<span class='pageno' id='Page_159'>159</span>of Ahriman—the doom of Evil is to be Evil—but -in the end he will be utterly extinguished. -Through time, <i>but not</i> through eternity the wicked -remain in his power. In the Khordah Avesta it -is said that God, after purifying all the obedient, -will purify the wicked out of hell. In the words -of a living Parsi writer: “The reign of terror, at the -end of the stipulated time, vanishes into oblivion, and -its chief factor, Ahriman, goes to meet his doom of -total extinction, whilst Ahura Mazda, the Omnipotent -Victor, remains the Great All in All.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>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 it. -Some kind of renewed body the dead will have: -meanwhile, this is not they! The hope of immortality -was so firm that it was thought an actual sin to give -way to excessive mourning: the wailing and keening -of the Jews seem to be here condemned, though they -are not mentioned, there being no direct allusion -to the religions of other peoples in the Avesta. -There is a river of human tears which hinders souls -on their way to beatitude: the dead would fain that -the living check their tears which swell the river and -make it hard to cross over in safety. The same idea -is to be found in one of the most beautiful of Scandinavian -folk-songs.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The small work known as the Book of Ardâ Vîrâf -is a document of priceless worth to the student of -Mazdean eschatology, and it is also of the greatest -interest in its relation to ideas about animals. If -printed in a convenient form, every humane person -<span class='pageno' id='Page_160'>160</span>would carry it in his pocket. Like the vision of -the Seer of Patmos this work is purely religious; it -attempts no criticism of life and man such as that embodied -in the “Divina Commedia,” but in spite of this -difference in aim, there is an astonishing resemblance -between its general plan and that of the poem of -Dante. Without going into this subject, I may say -that I cannot feel convinced that with the geographical, -astronomical, and other knowledge of the East which -is believed to have reached Dante by means of -conversations with merchants, pilgrims and perhaps -craftsmen (for that Italian artists worked in India at -an early date the Madonna-like groups in many a -remote Hindu temple bear almost certain testimony), -there did not come to him also some report of the -travels of the Persian visitant to the next world.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The author of the Persian vision was a pious -Mazdean whose whole desire was to revive religious -feeling amid growing indifference. He is supposed -to have lived not earlier than 500, and not later than -700 <span class='fss'>A.D.</span> The former is the likelier date. Had the -assault of Islam begun, the book must have borne -traces of the struggle with invaders who threatened -to annihilate the faith. The author states that the -work was intended as an antidote in the first place to -atheism and in the second to “the religions of many -kinds” that were springing up. This probably contains -a reference to Christian sects, but it is not the -way that allusion would have been made to propagandists -with a sword in their hands. Christian sects -managed to recover from the first persecution in -344 <span class='fss'>A.D.</span>, after which they were more often than not -<span class='pageno' id='Page_161'>161</span>tolerated, though the Zoroastrian priesthood feared -a Church that possessed an organisation so much like -their own. They were accused, moreover, as at -Rome, of being anti-national: everywhere the sentiment -against the Christians took a form closely -resembling the anti-Semiticism of our days. Such -accusations can hardly fail to create, to some extent, -the thing they predicate, and it is no great wonder if -in the end the Persian Christians received the -Moslem invaders with favour. Though the essence -of Mazdeism is peace to men of good-will, it is to be -feared that the Zoroastrian priests (like others) were -less tolerant than their creed, and that the harassing -of the Christians generally originated with them. They -are known to have counselled this policy to Homizd -IV., who gave them the memorable answer that his -royal throne could not stand on its front legs alone, -but needed the support of the Christians and other -sectaries as well as of the faithful. 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 -clericalism.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The author of Ardâ Vîrâf tried the perfectly legitimate -means of persuasion in rallying his countrymen -to their own religion. He tells the story of -how, in an age of doubt, it was agreed that the best -thing would be to send some one into the next world -to see if Mazdeism were, indeed, the true religion. -Lots fell on a very virtuous man named Ardâ Vîrâf, -who was commissioned to make the journey in a -trance-state produced by the administration of a -narcotic. Even now, in India, children and others -<span class='pageno' id='Page_162'>162</span>are given narcotics, sometimes of a dangerous sort, -in order to obtain knowledge which is supposed to -come to them whilst insensible. To a Mazdean the -ordeal would be particularly terrible, because sleep, -like death, was created by Ahriman. The calm -fortitude with which Ardâ Vîrâf submits, while his -family break into loud weeping, almost reminds one -of the bearing of Socrates on the eve of a similar -departure but one with no return. “It is the custom -that I should pray to the departed souls and make -a will,” he says; “when I have done that, give me -the narcotic.” His body was treated as though dead, -being kept at the proper distance from fire and other -sacred things, but priests stayed near it night and -day, praying and reading the Scriptures, that the -powers of ill might not prevail.</p> - -<p class='c008'>At the end of seven days the wandering spirit of -Ardâ Vîrâf re-entered his inanimate form, and after -he had taken food and water and wine he called for -a ready writer, to whom he dictated the tale of what -he had seen. Guided by Srosh the Pious and Ataro -the Angel (Virgil and Beatrice) the traveller visited -heaven and hell. At the outset he saw the meeting -of a righteous soul and its Fravashi. This soul -crosses the Chinvat bridge in safety, and on the other -side passes into an atmosphere laden with an ineffably -sweet perfume which emanates from the direction of -the presence of God. Here it meets a damsel more -wondrously fair than aught it has beheld in the land -of the living. Enraptured at the sight, it asks her -name and receives the answer: “I am thine own -good actions.” Every good deed embellishes the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_163'>163</span>human soul’s archetype, every evil deed mars and -stains it with the hideousness of sin. This poetic -and beautiful conception was not due to the author -of Ardâ Vîrâf: it is taken from the venerable pages -of the Avesta itself.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In the abode of Punishment the most impressive -penalties are those undergone by the souls which -have tortured helpless infants or dumb animals. The -mother who feeds another’s child from greed and -starves her own, 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 hill, “but the -infant comes not to the mother nor the mother to -the infant.” Here the supreme anguish is mental: -it is caused by the awakening of that maternal instinct -which the woman stifled on earth. Has the <i>Inferno</i> -any thought so luminously subtle as this? The -woman-soul will never reach her child “till the renewal -of the world.” Till the renewal of the world! -Across the hell-fog penetrates the final hope!</p> - -<p class='c008'>The unfaithful wife who destroys the fruit of her -illicit love suffers a horrible punishment. It is -strange that if we wish to find an analogy to these -severe judgments on offences against infancy, we -must go to a small tribe of Dravidian mountaineers -in the Nilgiri hills, among whose folk-songs is one -which describes a vision of heaven and hell. In -this a woman is shown who is condemned to see -her own child continually die, because she refused -help to a stranger’s child, saying: “It is not mine!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Those who treated their beasts cruelly, who overworked -them, overloaded them, gave them insufficient -<span class='pageno' id='Page_164'>164</span>food, continued to work them when they suffered -from sores caused by leanness instead of trying to -cure the sores, are seen by Ardâ Vîrâf hung up head -downwards while a ceaseless rain of stones falls on -their backs. Those who wantonly killed animals -have a knife driven ceaselessly into their hearts. -Those who muzzled the ox which ploughed the -furrows are dashed under the feet of cattle. 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 thirsty. Demons -like dogs constantly tear the man who kept back -food from shepherds’-dogs and house-dogs or who -beat or killed them: he offers bread to the dogs, -but they eat it not and only tear the more.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Ardâ Vîrâf tells a story which belongs to the cycle -of “Sultan Murad,” immortalised by Victor Hugo. -A certain lazy man named Davânôs, who never did -any other thing of good during all the years when -he governed many provinces, once cast a bundle of -grass with his right foot to within the reach of a -ploughing-ox. Hence his right foot is exempted -from torment while the rest of his body is gnawed -by noxious creatures.</p> - -<p class='c008'>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 people, who for -the most part took it to be literally true. No Oriental -work ever became more popular or was more widely -read and translated. People still living can remember -the time when it was the habit of the Parsis at -Bombay to have public readings of Ardâ Vîrâf, on -<span class='pageno' id='Page_165'>165</span>which occasions the audience, especially the feminine -part of it, broke into violent sobbing from the excitement -caused by the description of the punishment -of the wicked. The Parsis have abandoned now the -theory that the book is other than a work of imagination, -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 children.</p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c003' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_166'>166</span> - <h2 id='ch08' class='c006'>VIII<br /> <br />A RELIGION OF RUTH</h2> -</div> -<p class='drop-capa0_25_0_7 c007'>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 rats. -The hermit, observing his hesitation, inquired what -was the matter? “Don’t you see them?” answered -his visitor. “Yes,” was the brief reply. “Why -don’t you kill them?” asked the Englishman. -“Why should I kill them?” said the native of the -land. Finding the whole onus of the discussion -thrown on his shoulders, the English traveller felt -that it would be difficult with his limited knowledge -of the language to express a European’s ideas about -rats. He thought to sum up the case in one sentence: -“We people kill them.” To which the saint -answered: “We people don’t kill them.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>In another country, 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 view, 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 scorpions. The old Persian declined to be a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_167'>167</span>party to any such proceeding. “As long as the -scorpions stay inside,” he said with decision, “we -have no right to molest them and to do so would -bring ill-luck.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>These anecdotes show, amusingly and convincingly, -the wall of demarcation between Eastern and Western -thought by which the son of the West is apt to find -his passage barred. They serve my purpose in quoting -them the better because they are not connected -with the religious sect whose precepts I am going -to sketch. They illustrate what I believe to be true, -namely, that this sect and Buddhism itself would not -have made their way in so wonderful a manner, -seemingly almost without effort, had they not found -the ground prepared by a racial tendency to fly to -the doctrine of <i>Ahimsa</i>, or “non-killing,” which forms -part of their systems.</p> - -<p class='c008'>No religion prevails unless it appeals to some -chord, if not of the human heart everywhere, at least -of the particular human hearts to which it is directed. -In the West a religion based on Vegetarianism would -not have a chance. Not that there exists no trace -of the life-preserving instinct among Western peoples—far -from that. All nice children have it and all -saints of the type of him of Assisi. Other people -have it who are neither children, nor saints, nor yet -lunatics (“though by your smiling you seem to say -so”). I know an old hero of the Siege of Delhi -who to this day would stoop to lift a worm from -his path. But the sentiment, which in the West is -rather a secret thing, forming a sort of freemasonry -among those who feel it, asserts its sway in the East -<span class='pageno' id='Page_168'>168</span>in the broad light of day. 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 -villa.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Long before the Jainas made <i>Ahimsa</i> a gateway -to perfection, innumerable Asiatics practised and even -preached the very same rule. 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 antiquity. The -founders of Jainism and of Buddhism, too, were -Gurus like the rest, only they possessed an intensified -magnetic influence and, at least in Buddha’s case, an -unique genius. Every Eastern religion has been -taught by a Guru, not excepting the most divine of -them all.<a id='r4' /><a href='#f4' class='c017'><sup>[4]</sup></a></p> - -<div class='fn'> - -<div class='footnote' id='f4'> -<p class='c018'><span class='label'><a href='#r4'>4</a>. </span>“It is stated of the Divine Founder of the Christian religion -that without a parable spoke He not to the people. Christ, in -fact, acted and taught as an <i>Oriental Guru</i>, a character which -none of the European writers of Christ’s life has invested Him -with” (Rev. J. Long: v. “Oriental Proverbs” in the Report -of the Proceedings of the Second Congress of Orientalists).</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p class='c008'>In the occurrence of a new religious evolution -much depends on the individual, but much also on -the fulness of time. When Buddhism and Jainism -arose, the psychological moment was come for a -change or modification in the current faith. To -some degree, both were a revolt against Sacerdotalism. -Men were told that they could work out -their salvation without priestly aid or intervention. -The new teachers, though each springing from the -class of the feudal nobility, won to their side the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_169'>169</span>surging wave of the only kind of democratic yearning -which, till now, Asia has known—the yearning for -religious equality. Professor Hermann Jacobi (the -foremost authority on Jainism, to whom all who study -the subject owe an unbounded debt) 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 -saint. To this category belonged Sakya Muni, who -was the younger son of a prince, or, as we should -say, a feudal lord, and who renounced rank and riches -to become a recluse. The same family history is -told of Mahavira, whom the Jainas claim to be their -founder. For a long time Europeans believed the -two religions to have but one source, and Jainism -was dismissed as a Buddhist sect. The Jainas, -however, always strongly held that they had a founder -of their own, namely, Mahavira, and they even -declared that Buddha was not his master but his -disciple. After much research, Professor Jacobi decided -the case in their favour by assigning to them -a separate origin. Both Sakya Muni and Mahavira -are generally believed to have flourished in the sixth -century <span class='fss'>B.C.</span></p> - -<p class='c008'>The confusion of the Jainas with the Buddhists -and even with the Brahmans has made it difficult -to reckon their present numbers: in the census of -1901 they are estimated at 1,334,138, chiefly living -in the Bombay Presidency, but this does not tell us -their real number. Jainas are to be found almost -everywhere in Upper India, in the West and South -and along the Ganges. They inhabit the towns -<span class='pageno' id='Page_170'>170</span>more than the country. In treating ancient Indian -religions the living document is always round the -corner, ready to be called into the witness-box, and -the Jainas of to-day can give a good account of -themselves. Every one has a good word for them; -a friend of mine, than whom few know India better, -describes them thus: “A tall, fair, handsome, good -and humble lot they are and terribly bullied they are -by their more bellicose fellow-countrymen, who all -look on Jainas as made for them to pilfer, but the -Jainas never turn on their persecutors.” In spite -of their meekness, they are good men of business, -which is proved by their remarkable success in -commerce. Perhaps it is not such bad policy to be -peaceful, and helpful, and honest as a cynical century -supposes.</p> - -<p class='c008'>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 Jinas, “Conquerors” in the sense of having -conquered the flesh. Needless to point out that the -founders of great religious systems invariably accept -this principle of evolution: they complete what others -began, 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 successor. -The Buddhists now await Matreya, or “the Buddha -of kindness.” The Jainas have not added to their -twenty-four glorified beings, but there is nothing to -prevent them from doing so. To these specimens -of perfected humanity they have raised some of the -most glorious temples ever lifted by the hand of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_171'>171</span>man towards heaven. Tier on tier mount the exquisitely -beautiful towers of the Jaina cathedrals in -the most lonely part of the Muklagerri hills. They -seem like the Parsifal music turned into stone: an -allegory of the ascent of the soul from corruption -to incorruption, from change to permanency. The -desire to worship something finds a vent in the -reverence paid to the Tirthakaras, but the Jaina -religion admits neither relics nor the iteration of -prayers. 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 scriptures, -which, were they literally fulfilled, would leave -no one on the world but ascetics. The wealthy -Jaina is only too glad to avail himself of the chance -of acquiring some merit, however far it must fall -short of the highest. Besides this, in moments of -religious fervour temple-building becomes a frenzy: -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 -symbol. The greatest of Jaina temples mark the -epoch of some such wave of spiritual emotion.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The Jaina scriptures, which were first collected from -aural report and written down by a learned man in -the sixth century <span class='fss'>A.D.</span>, are really a Rule of Discipline -for monks, and not a guide for the mass of mankind. -If we could imagine the only Christian Scripture -being the immortal book of Thomas à Kempis, we -should form the idea of a very similar state of things. -It is surprising not how little but how much of this -<span class='pageno' id='Page_172'>172</span>rigid rule is followed by every Jaina to this day, be -he monk or layman. The vegetarian principle involved -in <i>Ahimsa</i> is observed rigorously by all—clearly -with no bad effect on health after a trial of -about twenty-four centuries, for the Jainas’ physique -is excellent, and they are less subject to disease than -the other communities. They strain and boil water -before drinking, and whatever may be said of the -motive, the practice must be highly commended. -They are also often to be seen wearing a mouth-cloth -to prevent them from swallowing flies, and they carry -little brooms with which they sweep insects out of -their path. The hospitals for sick animals begin to -be better managed than formerly, when they incurred -much censure as mere conglomerations of hopeless -suffering to relieve which practical means were not -taken. A folly adopted by the more fanatical Jainas -at the time of their origin was that of going “sky-clad,” -which makes it probable that they were the -gymnosophists known to the Greeks. 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 garments. Buddha warned his -followers against the “sky-clad” aberration. He -disagreed with the Jainas on a more vital point in -the view he took of penance and self-inflicted torture. -It shows the high intellectuality of the man that -towards the end of his life he pronounced penance, -though he had gone through much of it himself, to -be vanity of vanities. The Jainas took the opposite -view: “Subdue the body just as fire consumes old -wood.” They hold that merit is bound up with a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_173'>173</span>certain definite and tangible thing: the Buddhist, -more philosophically, makes it consist in intention. -This is the chief doctrinal difference between Jaina -and Buddhist, and though each is bound to charity -and the Jaina is particularly enjoined by his scriptures -not to turn other people’s religion into ridicule, 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 absurdity. -Irony is a weapon always used in Indian religious -discussion.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mahavira himself “fulfilled the law” by allowing -gnats, flies, and other things to bite him and crawl -over him for four months without ever once losing -his equanimity. It is told that he met all sorts of -pleasant or unpleasant events with an even mind -whether they arose from divine powers, men, or -animals. The Jainas did not deny that there were -divine powers: there might be any number of them, -and the influence they wielded for good or for ill -(I think especially for ill) was not inconsiderable. -Only they were not morally admirable like a man -victorious through suffering. The greater willingness -of the Jainas to admit gods into the wheel of being, -and even to allow some homage to be paid to them, -was one reason why they clashed less with the -Brahmans. After the subsidence of Buddhism the -Jainas managed to go on existing, somewhat despised -and annoyed, but tolerated.</p> - -<p class='c008'>While both Buddhists and Jainas place the prohibition -to take life at the head of their law, its application -is infinitely more thoroughgoing among the Jainas, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_174'>174</span>who also attach to it ideas which have no place in -Buddhist metaphysics. From the Jaina position, it -seems to imply a tendency to primitive animism, -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 assume. It is startling to hear -that in the last census over eight millions were -returned as animists—it proves that the old credences -die hard. The Jainas took into their soul-world fire, -water, wind, shooting plants and germinating seeds. -The disciplinary results must have been inconvenient, -but a religion was never less popular because it put -its devotees to inconvenience. Those who still clung -to animistic beliefs were already prepared to see a -soul in the flickering fire, the rushing water, the growing -blade. We all have odds and ends of animism; -did not Coventry Patmore say: “There is something -human in a tree?” With more detail the Jaina -observes that trees and plants are born and grow -old; they distinguish the seasons, they turn towards -the sun, the seeds grow up: how, then, shall we deny -all knowledge to them? “The asoka buds and -blossoms when touched by a fair girl’s feet.” Can -we help recalling the familiar lines in the “Sensitive -Plant?”—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“I doubt not the flowers of that garden sweet</div> - <div class='line in1'>Rejoiced in the sound of her gentle feet;</div> - <div class='line in1'>I doubt not they felt the spirit that came</div> - <div class='line in1'>From her glowing fingers thro’ all their frame.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c016'>Now, Science, which is on the way to becoming very -kind to man’s early beliefs, comes forward in the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_175'>175</span>person of Mr. Francis Darwin to tell us that plants -<i>have</i> “mind” and “intelligence,” especially the hop -and the bryony. All fairy-tales will come true if we -wait long enough.</p> -<p class='c008'>Once, and once only, in Jaina writings I have -noticed it given as a distinct reason for sparing plants -and trees, that they may contain the transmigrated -soul of a man. Even in the case of animals the -doctrine of transmigration is rarely adduced as the -reason for not killing them, though it is fully accepted -by Jainas in common with all the Indian sects sprung -from Brahmanism by which it was started. Coming -to the Indian views of animals from those which -antiquity represented as the preaching of Pythagoras, -we expect to see this argument put forward at every -turn, but it is not. In Jaina writings the incentive is -humanity: to do to others as we would be done by. -It is true that as an aid to this incentive, the cruel -are threatened with the most awful punishments. 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 millennium. -In mediæval monkish legends we find exactly the -same device for keeping the adept in the paths of -virtue, but wherever we find it, we sigh for the -spontaneous emotion of pity of the Good Samaritan -who never reflected “If I do not get off my ass and -go to help that Jew, how very bad it will be for my -Karman!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>We ought not to forget in this connexion that -rewards and punishments have not the same meaning -to the Indian as to us: they are not extraneous prizes -<span class='pageno' id='Page_176'>176</span>or penalties, but the working out of a mathematical -problem which we both set and solve for ourselves. -It is utterly impossible to escape from the consequences -of our evil acts: they are debts which -must be paid, though we may set about performing -good acts which will make our future happiness -exceed our future misery in time and extent. The -highest good comes of itself, automatically, to him -who merits it, as is illustrated with great beauty in -the Jaina story of the White Lotus. This flower, the -symbol of perfection, bloomed in the centre of a pool -and was descried by many who made violent efforts to -reach it, but they were all set fast in the mud. Then -came a holy ascetic who stood motionless on the -bank. “O white Lotus, fly up!” he said, and the -White Lotus flew to his breast. Even among Indian -sects which all abound in this kind of composition the -Jainas are remarkable for their wealth of moral tales -and apothegms. As is well known, they possess a -parable called “The Three Merchants,” closely -resembling the parable of the Talents as told by -Matthew and Luke, and still more exactly agreeing -with the version given in the so-called “Gospel -according to the Hebrews.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>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 it, and again, the extreme view of -heredity which makes the individual the moral and -physical slave of former generations. It is a theory -which has the advantage of disposing of many -riddles. Different sects have slightly varying opinions -<span class='pageno' id='Page_177'>177</span>about the nature of the Karman: the Jainas see in -this receptacle of good and evil deeds a material, -though supersensual, reality with a physical basis. -Each individual consists of five parts: the visible -body, the vital energy thought to consist of fire, -or, as we might say, of electricity, the Karman and -two subliminal selves which appear to be only latent -in most persons, but by which, when called into -activity, the individual can transform himself, travel -to distances and do other unusual things. That each -man is provided with a wraith or double is an old -and widely-spread belief; but in Western lore the -double does not seem to be commanded by its pair: -it rather moves like an unconscious, wandering photograph -of him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The Jainas have the same word for the soul and -for life: <i>gîva</i>, and this name they bestow on the -whole range of things which they consider as living: -the elements, seeds, plants, animals, men, gods. One -would think that the sense of personal identity would -become vague in the contemplation of voyages over -so vast a sea of being, but, on the contrary, this -identity is the one thing about which the individual -seems perfectly sure. We have frequently such -utterances as: “My own self is the doer and the -undoer of misery and happiness; my own self is -friend and foe.” A sort of void seems spread round -the individual which even family affection, very strong -though it has always been in India, is powerless to -bridge. A lovely testimony to this affection, and at -the same time an avowal of its unavailingness, is -to be found in the one single exception to the Jaina -<span class='pageno' id='Page_178'>178</span>law that the wholly virtuous man must desire nothing, -not even Nirvana must he desire, much less earthly -love or friendship. But he may desire to take upon -him the painful illness of one of his dear kindred. -It is added sadly, however, that never has such a -desire been fulfilled, for one man cannot take upon -him the pains of another, neither can he feel what -another feels.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Man is born alone, he dies alone, he falls alone, -he rises alone. His passions, consciousness, intellect, -perceptions and impressions belong to him exclusively. -Another cannot save him or help him. He grows -old, his hair turns white, even this dear body he must -relinquish—none can stay the hour.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Again it is written:—</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Man! thou art thy own friend, why wishest thou -for a friend beyond thyself?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The isolation of the soul with its paramount importance -to its owner (that is to say, to itself) makes -it obligatory to pursue its interests even at the -expense of the most sacred affections. The Pagan, -the Jew, the Moslem could not have been brought -to yield assent to this doctrine, but it meets us continually -in Catholic hagiology; for instance, St. -François de Sales told Madame de Chantal that she -ought, if needful, to walk into the cloister over the -dead body of her son. So in a Jaina story, father, -mother, wife, child, sister, brother try in vain to -wrest a holy young man from his resolve to leave -them. In vain the old people say: “We will do -all the work if you will only come home; come, child! -We will pay your debts; you need not stay longer -<span class='pageno' id='Page_179'>179</span>than you like—only come home!” The quite admirable -young man (who sets one furiously wishing for -a stout birch rod) proceeds on his way unmoved. -But it is remarked, “At such appeals the weak break -down like old, worn-out oxen going up hill.” We -prefer the weak.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Who was the first anchorite? Perhaps in very -early states of society a few individuals got lost in -the mountain or forest, where they lived on fruits and -nuts, and then, after a long time, some of them were -re-discovered, and, because they seemed so strange -and mysterious after their long seclusion, they were -credited with supernatural gifts. Animals do not go -away alone except in the rare case of being seized -with mania, or in the universal case of feeling the -approach of death. The origin of hermits cannot, -therefore, be explained by analogy with animals.</p> - -<p class='c008'>One can conceive that a hermit’s life may have -great attractions, but scarcely that of a Jaina hermit, -who is expected to employ his leisure in the most -painful mortification of the flesh. 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 -are, by no means, other-worldly. By it the Brahman -becomes superior to caste, being incapable of pollution: -if he wished he could drink after the most -miserable Western had touched the cup.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The theory of asceticism is very much alike everywhere, -and the extraordinary faculties claimed by the -Jainas for their holy men are the portion, more or -less, of the Indian holy man in general. These -<span class='pageno' id='Page_180'>180</span>faculties may be briefly described as an abnormal -development of the subliminal self, but that is not -an adequate account of the vastness of their range. -One feels often inclined to ask—without granting -revelation or, indeed, the existence of an omniscient -being who could give it—<i>how</i> does the Buddhist or -Jaina acquire perfect certainty that he knows all about -his own and man’s destiny? The question of authority -is of primary importance in all religions: in what way -does Buddhist or Jaina solve it? It is evident that -scepticism based on this very ground does sometimes -harass the soul of the Jaina novice: “The weak,” we -are told, “when bitten by a snarling dog or annoyed -by flies and gnats, will begin to say: ‘<i>I have not seen -the next world, all may end with death.</i>’” It startles -one to hear from the mouth of the devil’s advocate -in an ancient Eastern homily a cry so modern, so -Western:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Death means heaven, he longs to receive it,</div> - <div class='line in1'>But what shall I do if I don’t believe it?”<a id='r5' /><a href='#f5' class='c017'><sup>[5]</sup></a></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='fn'> - -<div class='footnote c000' id='f5'> -<p class='c018'><span class='label'><a href='#r5'>5</a>. </span>“Verses written in India,” p. 13.</p> -</div> - -</div> -<p class='c018'>Sir Alfred Lyall’s questioner found none to answer -him, but the Jaina has an answer which, if accepted, -must prove entirely satisfactory. The superlatively -virtuous individual possesses an effortless certainty -about the secrets of life. In a state superinduced by -means which, though arduous, are at the disposal of -all, the soul can view itself, read its history, past, -present and to come, know the souls of others, -remember what happened in former births, understand -the heavenly bodies and the universe. Here is -<span class='pageno' id='Page_181'>181</span>nothing miraculous: a veil is lifted, and hidden things -become plain. It is as if a man who had cataract -in both eyes underwent a successful operation—after -which he sees.</p> -<p class='c008'>The supersensual perception of Jaina, or Joghi, -or Guru is much akin to the “infused knowledge” -ascribed to the saints of the Thebaid. He knows—because -he knows. By the devout, information derived -from these persons is accepted as readily as -we should accept information about radium from a -qualified scientific man. The most confident of all -that the information is true is he who gives it: -fraud must be dismissed finally as the key to any -such phenomena.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The Indian mind has grasped a great idea in -referring what we call spirit to fixed laws no less -than what we call matter. But in spirit it sees -a force infinitely exceeding the force of matter. -“The holy monk,” say the Jaina scriptures, “might -reduce millions to ashes by the fire of his wrath.” -Besides such tremendous powers as these he has all -the minor accomplishments of the spiritualist or -hypnotist: thought-reading, levitation, clairvoyance, -&c., and he can always tame wild beasts. He is -under strict obligations to use his powers with -discretion. It is not right to make profit out of them: -that man is anathema who lives by divination from -dreams, diagrams, sticks, bodily changes, the cries -of animals. The Jainas denounce magic not less -strongly than the other religious teachers of the -East. This is interesting because the reasons are -lacking which are commonly held to explain the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_182'>182</span>world-wide prejudice against magic: the Jainas do not -attribute it to the agency of evil spirits, nor can their -dislike of it be attributed to the professional jealousy -of priests in regard to rival thaumaturgists. For the -Jaina the power of magic-working lies in every one, -and those who have developed their other spiritual -powers have also this one at their command, but -to avail themselves of it is an enormous sin. There -is a weird story showing what infamies a magic-working -“ascetic” may perpetrate. A monk carried -off, by magical arts, all the women he met, till the -king of that country trapped him in a hollow tree -and had him put to death. The women were set -free and returned to their husbands, except one, who -refused to go back because she had fallen desperately -in love with her seducer. A very wise man suggested -that the monk’s bones should be pounded and mixed -with milk, and then given to the woman to drink: -this was done and she was cured of her passion.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Over the whole East, the report that some one -was working miracles, even the most beneficent, -raised both suspicion and jealousy. This was why -secrecy was recommended about all such acts.</p> - -<p class='c008'>How far the belief in the extraordinary gifts of -the ascetic rests on hallucination, and how far men -in an artificially created abnormal condition can do -things of which hypnotic manifestations are but the -outer edge, it is not my purpose to inquire. The -Jaina monks are said sometimes to fast for four -days, and no doubt the stimulus of starvation -(especially when the brain has not been weakened by -long disease), produces an ecstatic state which men -<span class='pageno' id='Page_183'>183</span>have everywhere supposed to indicate religious -perfection. This may be observed even in birds, -which from some difficulty in swallowing, die of -starvation: I had a canary that sang for days before -it died a sweet incessant song, the like of which I -never heard: it seemed not earthly.</p> - -<p class='c008'>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-delusion. Though we may not have much -sympathy with the profession of a “houseless” saint, -it is impossible to deny the moral elevation of such a -picture of him as is drawn in the Jaina conversion -story of “The True Sacrifice.” A holy man, born in -the highest Brahmanical caste, but who had found -wisdom in Jaina vows, went on a long journey and -walked and walked till he came to Benares, where -he found a very learned Brahman who was deeply -versed in astronomy and in the Vedas. When the -“Houseless” arrived, the priest was about to offer up -sacrifice, and perhaps because he did not wish to be -disturbed at such a moment, he told him rudely to go -away—he would have no beggars there. The holy -man was not angry; he had not come to extort food -or water, but from the pure desire to save souls. He -quietly told the priest that he was ignorant of the -essence of the Vedas, of the true meaning of sacrifice, -of the government of the heavenly bodies. There -must have been a peculiar effluence of sanctity flowing -from the “Houseless” as the priest took his rebukes -with meekness, and merely asked for enlightenment. -Then the seer delivered his message. It is not the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_184'>184</span>tonsure that makes the priest or repetition of the -sacred syllable <i>om</i> that makes the saint. It is not -by dwelling in woods or by wearing clothes of bark -or grass that salvation may be reached. Equanimity, -chastity, knowledge, and penance are the ways to -holiness. His actions alone colour a man’s soul: as -his works are, so is he. Persuaded of the truth, the -priest addressed the “Houseless” as the truest of -sacrificers, the most learned of all who know the -Vedas, the inspired exponent of Brahmanhood, and -begged him to accept his alms. But the mendicant -refused: he only conjured the priest out of pity for -his own soul to join the order of the “Houseless.” -After having been rightly schooled in Jaina precepts, -the Brahman followed his advice, and in due time -he became a very great saint like his instructor.</p> - -<p class='c008'>As the Jaina scriptures are in effect a manual of -discipline for monks, it is natural that they should -be severe on womankind. Not that a woman’s soul -is worth less than a man’s or, rather, since spirit is -sexless, the distinction does not exist. A woman -may be as good a saint as a man; a nun may be as -meritorious as a monk. The identity of mysticism -independent of creed was never more apparent than -in the beautiful saying of a Jaina nun: “As a bird -dislikes the cage, so do I dislike the world,” which -might have been uttered by any of the self-consumed -spirits of the Latin Church from St. Teresa downwards. -I have never come across an allusion to -being born again as a woman as a punishment. But -though the fullest potentiality of merit is allowed to -woman in the abstract, the Eternal Feminine is -<span class='pageno' id='Page_185'>185</span>looked upon in the concrete as man’s worst snare. -“Women are the greatest temptation in the world.” -The Jaina books are Counsels of Perfection and not -a Decalogue framed for common humanity: they -give one the idea of being intended for preternaturally -good people, and never more so than in the -manner in which they treat the dreadful snares and -temptations for which women are answerable: instead -of a Venusberg, we are shown—the domestic -hearth! The story in question might be called “The -Woes of the Model Husband!” A girl who vowed -that she would do anything rather than be parted -from the dear object of her affections, has no sooner -settled the matter once for all by marriage than she -begins to scold and trample on the poor man’s head. -Her spouse is sent on a thousand errands, not one -moment can he call his own. Countless are the -lady’s wants and her commands keep pace with -them: “Do look for the bodkin; go and get some -fruit; bring wood to cook the vegetables; why don’t -you come and rub my back instead of standing there -doing nothing? Are my clothes all right? Where -is the scent-bottle? I want the hair-dresser. Where -is my basket to put my things in? And my trinkets? -There, I want my shoes and my umbrella. Bring -me my comb and the ribbon to tie up my hair. Get -the looking-glass and a tooth-brush. I must have -a needle and thread. You really ought to look after -the stores, the rainy season will be here in no time.” -These and many more are the young wife’s behests, -the appalling list of which might well intimidate -those about to marry, but there is worse to come. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_186'>186</span>When “the joy of their lives, the crown of their -wedded bliss” arrives in the shape of a baby, it -is the unfortunate husband who is set to mind it: -he has to get up in the night to sing lullabies to it -“just as if he were a nurserymaid,” and ashamed -though he is of such a humiliation, he is actually put -to wash the baby-linen! “All this has been done by -many men who for the sake of pleasure have stooped -so low; they become the equals of slaves, animals, -beasts of burden, <i>mere nobodies</i>.” 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 era?</p> - -<p class='c008'>The Indian pessimist is withheld from suicide by -the dread of a worse existence beyond the pyre. -He is the coward of conscience to a much greater -extent than the weary Occidental, because his sense -of the unseen is so much stronger. In the Jaina -system, however, suicide is permitted under certain -circumstances. After twelve years of rigorous penance -a man is allowed the supreme favour of “a -religious death”—in other words, he may commit -suicide by starvation. This is called Itvara. 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 races.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The soul may be re-born in any earthly form from -the lowest to the highest, but there are other possibilities -before it when it leaves its mortal coil. Those -who are very bad, too bad to disgrace the earth -<span class='pageno' id='Page_187'>187</span>again—above all, the cruel—are consigned to an -<i>Inferno</i> more awful than Dante’s, though not without -points of striking resemblance to it. The very good -who abounded in charity and in truth, but who yet -lived in the world the life of the world, become gods, -glorified beings enjoying a great measure of happiness -and power, but not eternal. Far beyond the joys of -this heaven, which are still thinkable, is the unthinkable -bliss of the Perfect, of the Conquerors, of the -Changeless. The human mind could not adjust the -idea of evolution more scientifically to the soul’s -destiny.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It is unnecessary to say that the number who -become even gods is very small. A great deal is -achieved if a man is simply born again as a man, -for though Jaina and Buddhist thinks that man’s lot -is wretched (or, at least that it ought to be when we -consider its inherent evils), yet it must be distinctly -remembered that he thinks the life of beasts far -more wretched. Leopardi’s “Song of the Nomadic -Shepherd in Asia,” in which he makes the world-weary -shepherd envy the fate of his sheep, is steeped -in Western not in Eastern pessimism: only in the -last lines, which really contradict the rest, we find -the true Eastern note:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Perchance in every form</div> - <div class='line in3'>That Nature may on everything bestow</div> - <div class='line in1'>The day of birth brings everlasting woe.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>The Indian seems never to be struck by what to -us seems (perhaps in error, but I hope not) the -inconscient joy of creatures, nor yet that of children. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_188'>188</span>He is constantly sure that all creation groaneth and -travaileth. Nothing is young in Asia, all is very -old. Every one is tired. In our minds thoughtless -joy is connected with innocency, and in these Indian -creeds there is no innocency as there is no effortless -All-Good. Perfection is the result of labour. No -other religious teacher spoke of little children as -Christ did—Christ, whose incomprehensible followers -were one day to consign the larger part of them, -as a favour, “to the easiest room in hell.” Ardently -as children are desired and lovingly as they are -treated in the East, something essential to the charm -of childhood eludes the Oriental perception of it.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In the sacred books of those Indian communities -which concern themselves most about animals, they -are very rarely shown in an attractive light. The -horse, almost alone, is spoken of with genuine -admiration; for instance, there is this simile: “As -the trained Kambôga steed whom no noise frightens, -exceeds all other horses in speed, so a very learned -monk is superior to all others.” An elephant is -extolled for having knelt down before a holy recluse -though only newly tamed, and we hear that Mahavira’s -words were understood by all animals. -Folk-lore tells much that scriptures do not tell, and -if we had a collection of Jaina folk-lore we should -find, no doubt, records of charming friendships -between beasts and saints, but in the Jaina sacred -books pity, not love, is the feeling shown towards -animals.</p> - -<div id='i188' class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i188.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p>BUDDHA PACIFYING AN INTOXICATED ELEPHANT.<br />India Museum.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>As a rule, Indian philosophical writers shirk the -question of how far the soul which was and may -<span class='pageno' id='Page_189'>189</span>be again a man’s retains its consciousness during -its residence in lower forms. Probably the answer, -were it given, would be: “Not very far,” but the -higher animals are credited with a fuller share of -reflection than in the West. Hence it is preferable -to assume the shape of one of the higher than of one -of the lower organisms, but still it is far better to be -re-born as the lowest of men than as the highest of -animals.</p> - -<p class='c008'>If it is something to be re-born as a man at all, -it is a great deal to be re-born as a fortunate man, -healthy, wealthy, and surrounded by troops of -friends: at least, to the simple-minded such a prospect -must appear to hold out a very splendid hope. -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 elect. -The mere “householder” (so called to distinguish -him from the more admirable “Houseless”) has -the promise of an ample recompense if he is only -truthful, and humane, and liberal in alms-giving and -temple-building. He may win very great promotion -on earth or even a place in the Jaina heaven, the -abode of light, where happy beings live long and -enjoy great power and energy, and never grow old. -Such a state agrees with the logical evolution of a -virtuous but still this-worldly man. Could he aspire -sincerely to a more spiritual state, and can the soul -outsoar its own aspirations? The Jaina heaven is -not eternal, but does every one wish for eternity? -Most people wish for ten or fifteen years of tolerable -freedom from care on this side of the grave. If they -<span class='pageno' id='Page_190'>190</span>knew for certain that they were going to enjoy one -thousand years of heaven, they would not think -much of what would happen at the end of that time.</p> - -<p class='c008'>There remain the pure and separated spirits who -in this present life have climbed beyond the plane -of mortality. They are in the world, not of it, and -they, indeed, “have a glimpse of incomprehensibles -and thoughts of things which thoughts but tenderly -touch.” For these, the Jaina, like the Buddhist, -keeps Nirvana.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The extreme reticence of Buddha and even of -Buddhist commentators on the inner significance of -this word—meaning literally “liberation”—is not -observed by the Jainas, though it must not be inferred -that there was any doctrinal difference of it -in the view taken by the two sects. The Jainas show -a great anxiety to tell what Nirvana is; if they fail -it is because it baffles all description. They repudiate -the idea that it signified annihilation, but -admit that the subject oversteps the bounds of the -thinkable. “The liberated soul perceives and knows, -but there is no analogy by which to describe it—without -body, re-birth, sex, dimensions.” We think -of the wonderful lines in the <i>Helena</i> of Euripides:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“... the mind</div> - <div class='line in1'>Of the dead lives not, but immortal sense</div> - <div class='line in1'>When to immortal ether gone, possesses;”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c016'>lines which, like not a few others in Euripides, seem -to reflect a light not cast from Grecian skies.</p> -<p class='c008'>Like every stage in the history of the life-soul -(<i>giva</i>) Nirvana is governed by an immutable law of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_191'>191</span>evolution. When all the dross is eliminated only -pure spirit is left: a distilled essence not only indestructible, -for spirit is always indestructible, but -also changeless. All the rest dies, which means that -it changes, that it is re-born: this part can die -no more, and hence can be born no more. It has -gained the liberty of which the soul goes seeking -in the Dantesque sense. It has gained safety, rest, -peace.</p> - -<p class='c008'>How familiar the words sound! Here am I in -Asia, 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 minds: where -I, too, first listened to those words <i>safety</i>, <i>rest</i>, <i>peace</i>, -with the strange home-sickness they awaken in -young children or in the very old who have preserved -their childhood’s faith. There are words -that, by collecting round them inarticulate longings -and indefinite associations, finally leave the order of -language and enter that of music; they evoke an -emotion, not an idea. The emotions which sway -the human heart are few, and they are very much -alike. The self-same word-music transports the -English child to the happy land, far, far away, and -the Indian mystic to Nirvana.</p> - -<p class='c008'>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 -beatitude. “There is a safe place in view of all, -but hard to approach, where there is no old age, nor -death, nor pain, nor disease. This place which is in -view of all is called Nirvana or freedom from pain, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_192'>192</span>or it is called perfection; it is the safe, happy, quiet -place. It is the eternal haven which is in view of -all, but is difficult to approach.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Nirvana is the getting-well of the soul. “He will -put away all the misery which always afflicts mankind; -as it were, <i>recovered from a long illness</i>, he -becomes infinitely happy and obtains the final aim.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>We are told that the Buddhas that were and the -Buddhas that will be, have peace for their foundation, -even as all things have the earth for their foundation. -(The term Buddha, or “Enlightened,” is used by -Jainas as well as by Buddhists for super-excellent -beings.)</p> - -<p class='c008'>Nirvana may or rather must be possessed before -the death of the visible body: it must be obtained -by the living if it is to be enjoyed by the dead. -Detachment from the world, self-denial, selflessness, -help the soul on its way, but the two moral qualities -which are absolutely essential are kindness and -veracity. Ruth and truth are written over the portals -of eternity. “He should cease to injure living things -whether they move or not, on high, below or on -earth, for this has been called Nirvana, which consists -in peace.” “A sage setting out for Nirvana should -not speak untruth: this rule comprises Nirvana and -the whole of carefulness.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>If a novice does anything wrong, he should never -deny it: if he has not done it he should say, “I -have not done it.” A lie must never be told—“not -even in jest or in anger.” Were there nothing else -of good in Jaina discipline this devotion to truth -would place it high on mankind’s mountain.</p> - -<div id='i192' class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i192.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p><span class='small'><i>Photo in</i> <i>India Museum.</i></span><br />COLOSSAL RECLINING BULL<br /><span class='small'>(<i>Southern India.</i>)</span></p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_193'>193</span>The law of <i>Ahimsa</i>, “non-killing,” which stands -at the head of the precepts of both Buddhist and -Jaina, is not only far more rigidly observed by the -Jaina, but also invested by him with a greater positive -as well as relative value. One might say that with -the Buddhists it is more a philosophic deduction, -with the Jainas more a moral necessity. The -position of Buddhists in this matter of <i>Ahimsa</i> is -one of compromise. There never was a Buddhist -who did not think cruelty to animals an abominable -sin, there is no compromise on that point, but, in -respect to animal food, the usual Buddhist layman -is not really more strict than any very humane person -in the West; he abjures sport, he will not kill -animals himself, but he does not refuse to eat meat -if it is set before him. The Buddhists declare that -the Lord Buddha was prayed to forbid animal food -absolutely, but he would not. It is argued that in -the flesh itself, when the life is gone from it, there -is nothing particularly sacred: therefore it is permissible -to sustain life on it. Your servants may -buy meat ready for sale in the market: it would be -there just the same if you did not send to buy it, -but you ought not to tell them to give an order -for some sort of meat which is not on sale; still less -should you incite people to snare or shoot wild -animals for your table. The Buddhists of to-day -say with the opponents to vegetarianism in Europe, -that total abstention from the flesh of animals would -lead to the disappearance of the chief part of them; -though it might be answered that sheep would still -be wanted for their wool, goats and cows for their -<span class='pageno' id='Page_194'>194</span>milk, oxen for ploughing. But a harder question is, -What would happen to these animals when they -grew old? The Jainas seek to settle this crux by -building hospitals for them, but the result has been -indifferently encouraging.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In Siam even monks are allowed animal food within -certain limits, but as a rule what I have said of -the Buddhist view of <i>Ahimsa</i> does not apply to the -religious, who leans to the strictest Jaina principle -of having nothing to do with shedding blood on -any pretence. The Buddhist monks in China teach -the virtue of “fang sheng” (“life-saving”) by object-lessons -in the shape of tanks built near the convents -to which people bring tortoises, fishes and snakes -to save them from death, and the monks also keep -homes for starving or lost animals. Favoured -European visitors are invited to witness the custom -of feeding the wild birds before the morning meal -is served: the brothers sit silently at the refectory-table -with their bowls of rice and vegetables in -front of them, but none begins to eat till one brother -rises, after a sort of grace has been said, and goes -to the door with a little rice in his hands which he -places on a low stone pillar. All the birds are -waiting on the roofs and fly down delighted to -partake of their breakfast.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Fra Odoric, the Venetian Franciscan who dictated -an account of his travels in 1330, describes a convent -scene which was shown to him as a most interesting -thing, so that when he went home he might say -that he had seen “this strange sight or novelty.” -To win the consent of the monks his native friend, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_195'>195</span>who acted as cicerone, informed them that this Raban -Francus, this religious “Frenchman” (Europeans -were all “Frenchmen”) was going to the city of -Cambaleth to pray for the life of the great Can. -Thus recommended he was admitted, and the -“religious man” with whom they had spoken “took -two great basketsful of broken relics which remained -on the table and led me into a little walled park, -the door whereof he unlocked with his key, and -there appeared unto us a pleasant fair green plot, -into the which we entered. In the said green stands -a little mount in form of a steeple, replenished with -fragrant herbs and fine shady trees. And while we -stood there, he took a cymbal or bell and rang -therewith, as they use to ring to dinner or bevoir -in cloisters, at the sound thereof many creatures of -divers kinds came down from the mount, some like -apes, some like cats, some like monkeys, and some -having faces like men. And while I stood beholding -of them, they gathered themselves together about him, -to the number of 4,200 of these creatures, putting -themselves in good order, before whom he set a platter -and gave them the said fragments to eat. And when -they had eaten he rang upon his cymbal a second time -and they all returned to their former places. Then, -wondering greatly at the matter, I demanded what -kind of creatures those might be. They are (quoth he) -the souls of noble men which we do here feed for the -love of God who governeth the world, and as a man -was honourable or noble in this life, so his soul after -death entereth the body of some excellent beast or -other, but the souls of simple and rustical people -<span class='pageno' id='Page_196'>196</span>do possess the bodies of more vile and brutish -creatures.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Odoric’s informant was in error if he really said that -distinctions of rank influenced the soul’s destiny, as -this is no Buddhist doctrine. The charming description -of the “strange sight or novelty” was imitated -by Mandeville, who adds, with a sympathetic tolerance -which is very characteristic of him, that the -monks were “good religious men after their faith -and law.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>That the stricter was also the more primitive -Buddhist rule seems probable, and it may be that -Buddha’s alleged defence of meat-eating was an -invention meant to cover later latitudinarianism. -Nevertheless, <i>Ahimsa</i> was, from the first, a more -integral part of the Jaina religion than of the -Buddhist. The true keynote of either faith can be -detected in their respective conversion stories. In -all outbursts of religious revivalism (of which nature -both Buddhism and Jainism largely partook) the -moment of conversion is the hinge on which everything -turns.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In the Buddhist story, a young prince, born on the -steps of the throne, nursed in luxury and happily -wedded, sees consecutively a broken-down old man, -a man with a deadly disease, and a decomposing -corpse. These dreadful and common realities were -brought home to his mind with intolerable force. -We seem to hear the despairing cry of R. L. Stevenson: -“Who would find heart to begin to live if he -dallied with the consideration of death”? We live -because we drug ourselves with the waters of a new -<span class='pageno' id='Page_197'>197</span>Lethe which make us forget future as well as past. -Sakya Muni could not forget what he had seen or -the lesson which it taught: the rest of his life was -devoted to freeing himself and others from being -endlessly subject to a like doom.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Now let us recall the Jaina conversion story. The -son of a powerful king was on his way to marry a -beautiful princess. At a certain place he saw a great -many animals in cages and enclosures looking frightened -and miserable. He asked his charioteer why -all those animals which desired to be free and happy -were penned up in cages and enclosures? The -charioteer replied that they were not to be pitied, they -were “lucky animals” which were to furnish a feast -for a great multitude at His Highness’s wedding. -(This is the very thing that an English poor man -would have said.) Full of compassion, the future -“saviour of the world” reflected: “If for my sake -all these living creatures are killed, how shall I obtain -happiness in another world?” Then and there he -renounces the pomps and vanities of human existence, -and he means it, too. The poor little bride, forsaken -in this life, and not much comforted by promised compensation -in the next, “not knowing what she could -do,” cuts off her pretty hair and goes to a nunnery. -In time she becomes a model of perfection, and many -of her kindred and servants are persuaded by her -to join the order.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In this story the revulsion is caused by pity, not by -loathing. The instant he sees these poor animals, the -kind-hearted prince feels sorry for them; then comes -that unlucky word “lucky” which to the man of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_198'>198</span>ignorance seems to be so particularly appropriate; it -jars on Mahavira’s nerves as it would on the nerves -of any sensitive or refined person. Nothing moves -men to tears or laughter so surely as the antithetical -shock of the incongruous. A rush of emotion -overpowers Mahavira: he will not be happy at the cost -of so much misery; he would become odious in his -own sight. So he renounces all for the eternity of -one moment of self-approving joy.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The Jainas carefully exclude every excuse for -taking animal life: none is valid. Animals must not -be killed for offering up in sacrifice, not for their -skin, flesh, tail feathers, brush, horns, tusks, sinews, -bones. They must not be killed with a purpose -or without a purpose. If we have been wounded -by them, or fear to be wounded by them, or if they -eat our flesh or drink our blood, still we should not -only bear it, but also feel no anger. “This is the -quintessence of wisdom, not to kill anything -whatever: know this to be the legitimate conclusion from -the principle of reciprocity.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>No one denies that the principle of reciprocity is -the basis of all morality, and by extending it from -men to sentient things, the Jainas have safeguarded -their doctrine of <i>Ahimsa</i> with a stronger wall of -defence than any built on the fantastic fear of -devouring one’s ancestors. Nor can it be said of the Jainas -that to a superstitious repugnance to taking life they -join indifference to causing suffering: inflicting -suffering is hardly distinguished from inflicting death. -“All breathing, existing, living, sentient creatures -should not be slain nor treated with violence, nor -<span class='pageno' id='Page_199'>199</span>abused, nor tormented, nor driven away. This is the -pure unchangeable law.” “Indifferent to worldly -objects, a man should wander about treating all -the creatures in the world as he himself would be -treated.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Perhaps the most remarkable of Jaina stories is -a real masterpiece of wit and wisdom in which this -theory of reciprocity is enforced. For the whole -of it I must refer the reader to Professor Jacobi’s -translation; I can only give the leading points. -Once upon a time three hundred and sixty-three -philosophers, representing a similar number of -philosophical schools, and differing in character, opinions, -taste, undertakings and plans, stood round in a large -circle, each one in his place. They discussed their -various views, 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 tongs. “Now, you philosophers,” -said he, “just take this for a moment and hold it -in your hands. No trickery, if you please; you are -<i>not</i> to hold it with the tongs or to put the fire out. -Fair and honest!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>With extreme unanimity the three hundred and -sixty-two drew back their hands as fast as they could. -Then the speaker continued: “How is this, philosophers; -what <i>are</i> you doing with your hands?” “They -will be burnt,” said the others. “And what does -it matter if they are burnt?” “But it would hurt us -dreadfully.” “So you do not want to suffer pain?” -Well, this is the case with all animals. This maxim -applies to every creature, this principle, this religious -reflection, holds good of all living things. Therefore -<span class='pageno' id='Page_200'>200</span>those religious teachers who say that all sorts of living -things may be beaten or ill-treated, or tormented, -or deprived of life will, in time, suffer in the same -way themselves, and have to undergo the whole round -of the scale of earthly existence. They will be -whirled round, put in irons, see their mothers, fathers, -children die, have bad luck, poverty, the society -of people they detest, separation from those they love, -“they will again wander distraught in the beginningless -and endless wilderness.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Like a true orator the Jaina member of this early -Congress of Religions, who has drifted from irony -to fierce denunciation, does not leave his hearers with -these visions of terror, but with the consoling promise -to the merciful of everlasting beatitude.</p> - -<div id='i201' class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i201.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p>WILD BULLS AND TAMED BULLS.<br />Reliefs on two gold cups found at Vapheio.<br /><span class='small'>(<i>From Schuckhardt’s “Schliemann’s Excavations.” By permission of Messrs. Macmillan & Co., Ltd.</i>)</span></p> -</div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c003' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_201'>201</span> - <h2 id='ch09' class='c006'>IX<br /> <br />LINES FROM THE ADI GRANTH</h2> -</div> -<p class='drop-capa0_25_0_7 c007'>THE Adi Granth, or sacred Book of the Sikhs of -the Punjab, was composed by the founder of -their religion and their nationality, Baba Nanak -(<i>b.</i> 1469), who abolished caste and idolatry, and -established a pure monotheism. A striking incident -at the Coronation Durbar was the arrival of the Sikh -mission in charge of the Adi Granth, which was -brought on a pilgrimage from its shrine in the -exquisitely beautiful golden temple at Amritsar to -the tomb of the disciple of Nanak, who, before suffering -martyrdom at Delhi during the Mogul Empire, -prophesied the advent of a fair race destined to sweep -the Mogul power to the winds. I take these few -sentences to show the essential continuity of Indian -thought about animals. In the faith of Nanak none -remains of the particular tenets of Buddhism or -Jainism or Hinduism, but the animal is still <i>inside</i>, -not <i>outside</i>, the pale of what may be called Pan-humanity: -the whole family of earth-born creatures.</p> -<h3 class='c021'>I.</h3> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Say not that this or that distasteful is,</div> - <div class='line'>In all the dear Lord dwells,—they all are His</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_202'>202</span>Grieve not the humblest heart; all hearts that are,</div> - <div class='line'>Are priceless jewels, all are rubies rare.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ah! If thou long’st for thy Beloved, restrain</div> - <div class='line'>One angry word that gives thy brother pain.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<h3 class='c021'>II.</h3> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>All creatures, Lord, are Thine, and Thou art theirs,</div> - <div class='line'>One bond Creator with created shares;</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>To whom, O Maker! must they turn and weep</div> - <div class='line'>If not to Thee their Lord, who dost all keep?</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>All living creatures, Lord, were made by Thee,</div> - <div class='line'>Where Thou hast fixed their station, there they be.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>For them Thou dost prepare their daily bread,</div> - <div class='line'>Out of Thy loving-kindness they are fed;</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>On each the bounties of Thy mercy fall,</div> - <div class='line'>And Thy compassion reaches to them all.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<h3 class='c021'>III.</h3> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>One understanding to all flesh He gives,</div> - <div class='line'>Without that understanding nothing lives;</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>As is their understanding,—they are so;</div> - <div class='line'>The reckoning is the same. They come and go.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>The faithful watch-dog that does all he can,</div> - <div class='line'>Is better far than the unprayerful man.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_203'>203</span>Birds in their purse of silver have no store,</div> - <div class='line'>But them the Almighty Father watches o’er.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>They say who kill, they do but what they may,</div> - <div class='line'>Lawful they deem the bleating lamb to slay;</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>When God takes down the eternal Book of Fate,</div> - <div class='line'>Oh, tell me what, what then will be their state?</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>He who towards every living thing is kind,</div> - <div class='line'>Ah! he, indeed, shall true religion find!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<h3 class='c021'>IV.</h3> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Great is the warrior who has killed within</div> - <div class='line'>Self,—Self which still is root and branch of sin.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“I, I,” still cries the World, and gads about,</div> - <div class='line'>Reft of the Word which Self has driven out.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<h3 class='c021'>V.</h3> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Thou, Lord, the cage,—the parrot, see! ’Tis I!</div> - <div class='line'>Yama the cat: he looks and passes by.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>By Yama bound my mind can never be,</div> - <div class='line'>I call on Him who Yama made and me.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>The Lord eternal is: what should I fear?</div> - <div class='line'>However low I fall, He still will hear.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>He tends his creatures as a mother mild</div> - <div class='line'>Tends with untiring love her little child.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_204'>204</span> - <h3 class='c021'>VI.</h3> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I do not die: the world within me dies:</div> - <div class='line'>Now, now, the Vivifier vivifies;</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Sweet is the world,—ah! very sweet it is,</div> - <div class='line'>But through its sweets we lose the eternal bliss!</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Perpetual joy, the inviolate mansion, where</div> - <div class='line'>There is no grief, woe, error, sin, nor care;</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Coming and going and death, enter not in;</div> - <div class='line'>The changeless only there an entrance win.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Whosoe’er dieth, born again must be,</div> - <div class='line'>Die thou whilst living, and thou wilt be free!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<h3 class='c021'>VII.</h3> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>He, the Supreme, no limit has nor end,</div> - <div class='line'>And what <span class='fss'>HE</span> is how can <i>we</i> comprehend?</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Once did a wise man say: “He only knows</div> - <div class='line'>God’s nature to whom God His mercy shows.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c003' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_205'>205</span> - <h2 id='ch10' class='c006'>X<br /> <br />THE HEBREW CONCEPTION OF ANIMALS</h2> -</div> -<h3 class='c021'>I</h3> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>... “About them frisking played</div> - <div class='line'>All beasts of the earth, since wild, and of all chase</div> - <div class='line'>In wood or wilderness, forest or den;</div> - <div class='line'>Sporting the lion ramped, and in his paw</div> - <div class='line'>Dandled the kid; bears, tigers, ounces, pards,</div> - <div class='line'>Gambolled before them; the unwieldy elephant,</div> - <div class='line'>To make them mirth, used all his might, and wreathed</div> - <div class='line'>His lithe proboscis.”</div> - <div class='c022'><i>Paradise Lost</i>, Book IV.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_25_0_7 c016'>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 it. 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 sign. It was, -however, 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 men. Not only man -<span class='pageno' id='Page_206'>206</span>is born to sorrow, said Lucretius; look at the cow -whose calf bleeds before some lovely temple, while -she wanders disconsolate over all the fields, lowing -piteously, uncomforted by the image of other calves, -because her own is not.</p> - -<p class='c008'>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 -animals. Darwin arrived at the same conclusion. -“It has been imagined,” he remarks, “that the sufferings -of man tend to his moral improvement, but the -number of men in the world is nothing compared with -the number of other sentient beings which suffer -greatly without moral improvement.” To him, the -man of the religious mind whom men lightly charged -with irreligion, it was “<i>an intolerable thought</i>” that -after long ages of toil all these sentient beings were -doomed to complete annihilation.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Yes, and to the young conscience of mankind this -was also an intolerable thought. And since it was -intolerable the human conscience in the strength of its -youth shook it off, cast it aside, awoke from it as we -awake from a nightmare. Religion has been regarded -too exclusively as a submission to Nature. At times -it is a revolt against Nature, a repudiation of what -our senses report to us, an assertion that things seen -are illusions, and that things unseen are real. -Religion is born of Doubt. The incredibility of the -Known forced man to seek refuge in the Unknown. -From that far region he brought back solutions good -or bad, sublime or trivial, to the manifold problems -which beset man’s soul.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_207'>207</span>A poet, doomed to early death, who looked into -Nature on a summer’s day and could discern nothing -but “an eternal fierce destruction,” wrote, in his -despair—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in15'>“Things cannot to the will</div> - <div class='line'>Be settled, but they tease us out of thought.</div> - <div class='line in22'>... It is a flaw</div> - <div class='line'>In happiness to see beyond our bourn;</div> - <div class='line'>It forces us in summer skies to mourn,</div> - <div class='line'>It spoils the singing of the nightingale.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>But when the world was young things <i>could</i> be -settled to the will. We are, of course, constantly -regulating our impressions of phenomena by a -standard of higher probability. If we see a ship -upside down, we say, “This is not a ship, it is a -mirage.” When the primitive man found himself -face to face with seeming natural laws which offended -his sense of inherent probability, he rejected the -hypothesis that they were actual or permanent, -and supposed them to be either untrustworthy -appearances or deviations from a larger plan.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Every basic religion gave a large share of thought -to animals. The merit, from a humane point of -view, of the explanation of the mystery offered by -the religious systems of India has been praised -even to excess. In contrast to this, it was often -repeated that the Hebrew religion ignored the -claims of animals altogether. I wish to show that -even if this charge were not open to other disproof, -no people can be called indifferent to those claims -which believes in a Nature Peace.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Traces of such a belief spread from the Mediterranean -<span class='pageno' id='Page_208'>208</span>to the Pacific, from the Equator to the Pole. -But the Peace is not always complete; there are -reservations. In the glowing prediction of a Peace -in Nature in the Atharva-Veda, vultures and jackals -are excluded. Mazdeans would exclude the “bad” -animals. The Hebrew Scriptures, on the other -hand, declare that all species are good in the -sight of their Maker. Every beast enjoyed perfect -content according to the original scheme of the -Creator. But man fell, and all creation was involved -in the consequences of his fall.</p> - -<p class='c008'>I remember seeing at the Hague an impressive -painting by a little-known Italian artist<a id='r6' /><a href='#f6' class='c017'><sup>[6]</sup></a> which -represents Adam about to take the apple from Eve -while at their feet a tiger tenderly licks the wool -of a lamb. Adam’s face shows that he is yielding—yielding -for no better reason than that he cannot -say “No”—to the beautiful woman at his side; -and there, unconscious and happy, lie the innocent -victims of his act: love to be turned to wrath, -peace to war. The Nature Peace has been -painted a hundred times, but never with such tragic -significance.</p> - -<div class='fn'> - -<div class='footnote' id='f6'> -<p class='c018'><span class='label'><a href='#r6'>6</a>. </span>Cignani. A singular sixteenth-century “Nature War” may -be observed in a <i>graffito</i> on the pavement of the Chapel of St. -Catherine in the church of St. Domenico, at Siena. A nude -youth, resembling Orpheus, sits on a rock in a leafy grove, in -the midst of various animals; with a disturbed air he looks into -a mirror at the back of which is an eye, a leopard shows his -teeth at him, while a vulture screams at a monkey, and another -bird snatches a surprised rabbit or squirrel; the other creatures, -unicorn, wolf, eagle, display signs of uneasiness. Endeavours -to read this fable have not proved satisfactory.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<div id='i208' class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i208.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p><span class='small'><i>Photo:</i> <i>Bruckmann.</i></span><br />THE GARDEN OF EDEN.<br /><span class='small'>(<i>By Rubens.</i>)</span><br />Hague Gallery.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_209'>209</span>The Miltonic Adam sees in the mute signs of -Nature the forerunners of further change:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“The bird of Jove, stooped from his airy tour,</div> - <div class='line in1'>Two birds of gayest plume before him drove;</div> - <div class='line in1'>Down from a hill the beast that reigns in woods,</div> - <div class='line in1'>First hunter then, pursued a gentle brace,</div> - <div class='line in1'>Goodliest of all the forest, hart and hind.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>In an uncanonical version of Genesis which was -translated from an Armenian manuscript preserved -at Venice, by my dear and sadly missed friend, -Padre Giacomo Issaverdens, a still more dramatic -description is given of the manner in which the -Peace ended. When Adam and Eve were driven -from the Garden of Eden they met a lion, which -attacked Adam. “Why,” asked Adam, “do you -attack me when God ordered you and all the animals -to obey me?” “You disobeyed God,” replied the -lion, “and we are no longer bound to obey you.” -Saying which, the noble beast walked away without -harming Adam. But war was declared.</p> - -<p class='c008'>War was declared, and yet the scheme of the -Creator could not be for ever defeated. Man who -had erred might hope—and how much more -must there be hope for those creatures that had -done no harm.</p> - -<p class='c008'>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 -Messiah, it cannot be doubted that they spoke of -what was already a widely accepted tradition. But -without their help we should have known nothing -<span class='pageno' id='Page_210'>210</span>of it and we are grateful to them. Of all the -radiant dreams with which man has comforted his -heart, aching with realities, is there one to be -compared with this? It is of the earth earthly, and -that is the beauty of it. “The wolf shall dwell with -the lamb, and the leopard lie down with the kid; -and the calf and the young lion together; and a -little child shall lead them; the cow and the bear -shall feed; and their young ones lie down together; -and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.”</p> - -<p class='c020'>“For behold I create new heavens and a new earth. They -shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, saith -the Lord.”</p> - -<p class='c019'>Is not this the best of promised lands, the kindest -of Elysiums, which leaves none out in the cold -of cruelty and hatred? The importunate questioner -may inquire, How can this primal and ultimate -happiness compensate for the intervening ages of -pain? About this, it may be observed that in -religious matters people ought not to want to know -too much. This is true of the faithful and even -of the unfaithful. Scientific researches in the great -storehouse which contains the religions of the world -are more aided by a certain reserve, a certain -reverence, than by the insatiable curiosity of the -scalpel. Religions sow abroad <i>idées mères</i>; they -tell some things, others they leave untold. 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 track. Now, from the Alpine -<span class='pageno' id='Page_211'>211</span>height of faith, the idea of an original and final -Nature Peace makes the intervening discord seem -of no account—a false note between two harmonies.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The Nature Peace as the emblem of perfect moral -beauty became nearly the first Christian idea carried -out in art. I remarked a rude but striking instance -of it on one of the funereal monuments which have -been found lately at Carthage, belonging to a date -when Christian and pagan commemorated their dead -in the same manner, the former generally only adding -some slight symbolical indication of his faith. In this -stele Christ, carrying the lamb across His shoulders, -is attended by a panther and a lion. All such primitive -attempts to represent a Nature Peace are chiefly -interesting (and from this point of view their interest -is great) from the fact that in child-like, stammering -efforts they reveal the intrinsic idiosyncrasy of -Christian thought after the Church had parted from -the realities of proximity with its Founder, and had -not reached the realities of a body corporate striving -for supremacy. Christ the Divine Effluence was -the faith which made men willing to face the -lions.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Doubtless many of those martyrs clung to the -sublime conception of a final Peace, the complement -of the first. That this was accepted as no allegory -by the later spiritualised Jews, and especially by the -Pharisees, seems to be a well-established fact. It is -difficult to interpret in any other way the solemn -statement of St. Paul, that the “whole creation -groaneth and travaileth in pain together <i>until now</i>,” -<span class='pageno' id='Page_212'>212</span>waiting for redemption; or the beatific vision of -Josephus: “The whole Creation also will lift up a -perpetual hymn ... and shall praise Him that -made them together with the angels and spirits and -men, now freed from all bondage.” <i>Homines et -jumenta salvabis Domine.</i></p> -<h3 class='c021'>II.</h3> - -<p class='c019'>What was the view taken of animals by the Jewish -people, apart from the fundamental ideas implied by -a primordial Peace in Nature?</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was the habit of Hebrew writers to leave a good -deal to the imagination; in general, they only cared -to throw as much light on hidden subjects as was -needful to regulate conduct. They gave precepts -rather than speculations. There remain obscure -points in their conception of animals, but we know -how they did <i>not</i> conceive them: they did not look -upon them as “things”; they did not feel towards -them as towards automata.</p> - -<p class='c008'>After the Deluge, there was established “the everlasting -covenant between God and every living -creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.” Evidently, -you cannot make a covenant with “things.”</p> - -<div id='i212' class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i212.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p><span class='small'><i>N. Consoni.</i></span><br />GENESIS VIII.<br /><span class='small'>(<i>Loggie di Raffaello.</i>)</span></p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>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 Balaam, -for it is said that God opened the mouth—not the -mind—of the ass. The same story illustrates the -ancient belief that animals see apparitions which are -concealed from the eyes of man. The great interest -<span class='pageno' id='Page_213'>213</span>to us, however, of the Scriptural narrative is its -significance as a lesson in humanity. When the -Lord opened the mouth of the ass, what did the -ass say? She asks her master why he had smitten -her three times? Balaam answers, with a frankness -which, at least, does him credit, because he was -enraged with the ass for turning aside and not -minding him, and he adds (still enraged, and, strange -to say, nowise surprised at the animal’s power of -speech) that he only wishes he had a sword in his -hand, as he would then kill her outright. How like -this is to the voice of modern brutality! The ass, -continuing the conversation, rejoins in words which -it would be a shame to disfigure by putting them -into the idiom of the twentieth century: “Am I not -thine ass upon which thou hast ridden ever since I -was thine unto this day? Was I ever wont to do -so unto thee?” Balaam, who has the merit, as I -have noticed, of being candid, replies, “No, you never -were.” Then, for the first time, the Prophet sees -the angel standing in the path with a drawn sword -in his hand—an awe-inspiring vision! And what -are the angel’s first words to the terrified prophet -who lies prostrate on his face? They are a reproof -for his inhumanity. “Wherefore hast thou smitten -thine ass these three times?” Then the angel tells -how the poor beast he has used thus has saved her -master from certain death, for had she not turned -from him, he would have slain Balaam and saved -her alive. “And Balaam said unto the angel of -the Lord, I have sinned.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Balaam was not a Jew; but the nationality of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_214'>214</span>personages in the Bible and the origin or authorship -of its several parts are not questions which affect -the present inquiry. The point of importance is, -that the Jews believed these Scriptures to contain -Divine truth.</p> - -<p class='c008'>With regard to animals having the gift of language, -it appears from a remark made by Josephus that the -Jews thought that all animals spoke before the Fall. -In Christian folk-lore there is a superstition that -animals can speak during the Christmas night: an -obvious reference to their return to an unfallen state.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Solomon declares that the righteous man “regardeth -the life of his beast”; a saying which is -often misquoted, “merciful” being substituted for -“righteous,” by which the proverb loses half its force. -The Hebrew Scriptures contain two definite injunctions -of humanity to animals. 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 together; their unequal steps cause inconvenience -to both yoke-fellows and especially to -the weakest. The other is the prohibition to muzzle -the ox which treads out the corn: a simple humanitarian -rule which it is truly surprising how any one, -even after an early education in casuistry, could have -interpreted as a metaphor. 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 callous. One is the order -not to kill a cow or she-goat or ewe and her young -both on the same day. The second is the analogous -order not to seethe the kid in its mother’s milk. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_215'>215</span>The third refers to bird-nesting: 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 -fledglings, you are on no account to capture her when -you take the eggs or the young birds (one would -like bird-nesting to have been forbidden altogether, -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 effectual!). Let the mother go, says the -sacred writer, and if you must take something, take -only the young ones. This command concludes in -a very solemn way, for it ends with the promise -(for what may seem a little act of unimportant sentiment) -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 land.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In the law relative to the observance of the Seventh -Day, not only is no point insisted on more strongly -than the repose of the animals of labour, 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 Sabbath: “Six days shalt thou do -thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: <i>that</i> -thine ox and thine ass may rest” (Exodus xxiii. 12). -Moreover, it is expressly stated of the Sabbath of -the Lord, the seventh year when no work was to -be done, that all which the land produces of itself -is to be left to the enjoyment of the beasts that are -in the land. The dominant idea was to give animals -a chance—to leave something for them—to afford -them some shelter, as in the creation of bird-sanctuaries -in the temples.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_216'>216</span>In promises of love and protection to man, to the -Chosen People, animals are almost always included. -“The heavens shall tremble: the sun and moon shall -be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining” -(Joel ii. 10). “Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: -for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the -tree beareth her fruit, the fig-tree and the vine do -yield their strength. Be glad, ye children of Zion, -and rejoice in the Lord your God” (Joel ii. 22, 23).</p> - -<p class='c008'>The wisdom of animals is continually praised. -“Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways -and be wise: which having no guide, overseer, or -ruler, provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth -her food in the harvest.” So said the wisest of the -Jews. I am tempted to quote here a passage from -the writings of Giordano Bruno: “With what understanding -the ant gnaws her grain of wheat lest it -should sprout in her underground habitation. The -fool says this is instinct, but we say it is a species -of understanding.” If Solomon did not make the -same reflection, it was only because that wonderful -word “instinct” had not yet been invented.</p> - -<div id='i216' class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i216.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p><span class='small'><i>Photo:</i> <i>Alinari.</i></span><br />DANIEL AND THE LIONS.<br /><span class='small'>(<i>Early Christian Sarcophagus at Ravenna.</i>)</span></p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>We have seen that the Jews supposed animals -to be given to men for use not for abuse, 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 providence. -This view is plainly endorsed by the saying -of Christ that not a sparrow falls to the ground -without the will of the Father (or “not one of them -is forgotten in the sight of God”), and by the saying -of Mohammed, who likewise believed himself the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_217'>217</span>continuer of Jewish tradition: “There is no beast -that walks upon the earth but its provision is from -God.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>But there is something more. Every one knows -that the Jews were allowed to kill and eat animals. -The Jewish religion makes studiously few demands -on human nature. “The ways of the Lord were -pleasant ways.” Since men craved for meat or, in -Biblical language, since they lusted after flesh, they -were at liberty to eat those animals which, in an -Eastern climate, could be eaten without danger to -health. But on one condition: the body they might -devour—what was the body? It was earth. The -soul they might not touch. The mysterious thing -called life must be rendered up to the Giver of it—to -God. The man who did not do this, when he -killed a lamb, was a murderer. “The blood shall -be imputed to him; he hath shed blood, and that -man shall be cut off from among his people.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The inclination must be resisted to dispose of -this mysterious ordinance as a mere sanitary measure. -It was a sanitary measure, but it was much besides. -The Jews believed that every animal had a soul, a -spirit, which was beyond human jurisdiction, with -which they had no right to tamper. When we ask, -however, what this soul, this spirit, was, we find ourselves -groping in the dark. Was it material, as the -soul was thought to be by the Egyptians and by -the earliest doctors of the Christian Church? Was -it an immaterial, impersonal, Divine essence? Was -its identity permanent, or temporary? We can give -no decisive answer; but we may assume with considerable -<span class='pageno' id='Page_218'>218</span>certainty that life, spirit, whatever it was, -appeared at least to the majority of the Jews to -possess one nature, whether in men or in animals. -When a Jew denied the immortality of the soul, he -denied it both for man and for beast. “I said in -my heart,” wrote the author of Ecclesiastes, “concerning -the estate of the sons of men that God might -manifest them, and that they might see that they -themselves are beasts. For that which befalleth the -sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth -them; as the one dieth so the other dieth; yea, they -have all one breath; so that a man hath no pre-eminence -above a beast.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>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 it, or from -the fact that they once knew what they meant by -it so well as to render elucidation superfluous. If -the teraphim represented the Lares or family -dead, then the archaic Jewish idea of the soul was -simple and definite. It is possible that in all later -times two diametrically opposed opinions existed contemporaneously, -as was the case with the Pharisees -and Sadducees. The Jewish people did not feel the -pressing need to dogmatise about the soul that other -peoples have felt; they had one living soul which was -immortal, and its name was Israel!</p> - -<p class='c008'>Still, through all ages, from the earliest times till -now, the Jews have continued to hold sacred “the -blood which is the life.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>In Hindu religious books, where similar ordinances -are enforced, there are hints of a suspicion which, as -<span class='pageno' id='Page_219'>219</span>I have said elsewhere, could not have been absent -from the minds of Hebrew legislators—the haunting -suspicion of a possible mixing-up of personality. -Here we tread on the skirts of magic: a subject -which belongs to starless nights.</p> - -<p class='c008'>We come back into the light of day when we -glance at the relations which, according to Jewish -tradition, existed between animals and their Creator. -We see a beautiful interchange of gratitude on the -one side and watchful care on the other. As the -ass of Balaam recognised the angel, so do all animals—except -man—at all times recognise their God. -“But ask now the beasts and they shall teach thee; -and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee.... -Who knoweth not of all these that the hand of the -Lord hath wrought this? In whose hand is the -soul of every living thing, and the breath of all -mankind.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>I will only add to these words of Job a few verses -taken here and there from the Psalms, which form -a true anthem of our fellow-creatures of the earth -and air:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Beasts and all cattle, creeping things and flying fowl, let them praise the name of the Lord.</div> - <div class='line in1'>He giveth to the beast his food and to the young ravens which cry.</div> - <div class='line in1'>He sendeth the springs into the valleys which run among the hills;</div> - <div class='line in1'>They give drink to every beast of the field, the wild asses quench their thirst.</div> - <div class='line in1'>By them shall the fowls of heaven have their habitation which sing among the branches:</div> - <div class='line in1'>The trees of the Lord are full of sap, the cedars of Lebanon which He hath planted,</div> - <div class='line in1'><span class='pageno' id='Page_220'>220</span>Where the birds make their nests; as for the stork, the fir-trees are her house.</div> - <div class='line in1'>The great hills are a refuge for the wild goats and the rocks for the conies.</div> - <div class='line in1'>Thou makest darkness, and it is night, wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth;</div> - <div class='line in1'>The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God;</div> - <div class='line in1'>The sun ariseth, they gather themselves together and lay them down in their dens.</div> - <div class='line in1'>... Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself where she may lay her young.</div> - <div class='line in1'>Even thine altars, O Lord of Hosts, my King and my God!”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c003' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_221'>221</span> - <h2 id='ch11' class='c006'>XI<br /> <br />“A PEOPLE LIKE UNTO YOU”</h2> -</div> -<p class='drop-capa0_25_0_7 c007'>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 Islam? She had seen with pain the little humanity -practised by the lower class of Arabs, and she had -difficulty in believing that such conduct was contrary -to the law of the Prophet. I replied, that if men are -sometimes better than their creeds, at other times -they are very much worse. At the head of every -chapter of the Koran, it is written: “In the name -of the most merciful God.” If God be merciful, shall -man be unmerciful? Alas, that the answer should -have been so often “yes”!</p> - -<p class='c008'>Inhumanity to animals is against the whole spirit -of the Koran, and also against that of Moslem -tradition. In the “Words of Mohammed,” of which -one thousand four hundred and sixty-five collections -exist, and which are looked upon as “the Moslem’s -dictionary of morals and manners,” the Apostle is -described as saying: “Fear God in these dumb -animals, and ride them when they are fit to be rode, -and get off them when they are tired.” Mohammed -<span class='pageno' id='Page_222'>222</span>was asked by his disciples: “Verily, are there rewards -for our doing good to quadrupeds and giving them -water to drink? “He said: “There are rewards -for benefiting every animal having a moist liver” -(every sentient creature). He said again: “There -is no Moslem who planteth a tree or soweth a field, -and man, birds or beasts eat from them, but it is -a charity for him.” Like all other religious teachers, -he was made by legend the central figure of a Nature -Peace. He had miraculous authority over beasts as -well as over man, and beasts, more directly than -man, knew him to be from God. Once he was -standing in the midst of a crowd when a camel came -and prostrated itself before him. His companions -exclaimed, “O Apostle of God! Beasts and trees -worship thee, then it is meet for us to worship thee.” -Mohammed replied, “Worship God, and you may -honour your brother—that is, me.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Those who know nothing else about Mohammed -know the story of how he cut away his sleeve rather -than awaken his cat, which was sleeping upon it. -He is reported to have told how a woman was once -punished for a cat: she tied it till it died of hunger—she -gave that cat nothing to eat, nor did she allow -it to go free, so that it might have eaten “the reptiles -of the ground.” (Cats do eat lizards and snakes too, -even when they have plenty of food—very bad for -them it is.) 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 Mecca, but perhaps the origin -of that custom is far more remote.</p> - -<div id='i222' class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i222.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p>“AN INDIAN ORPHEUS.”<br />Royal Palace at Delhi.<br /><span class='small'>(<i>Imitated from a painting by Raphael.</i>)</span></p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_223'>223</span>In the words of Mohammed there is this beautiful -version of the “Sultan Murad” cycle: an adulteress -was passing by a well when she saw a dog which -was holding out its tongue from the thirst which was -killing him. The woman drew off her shoe and tied -it to the end of her garment; then she drew up water -and gave the dog to drink. The dog fawned on -her and licked her hands. Now the Sultan was -passing that way, and he saw the woman and the -dog and inquired into the matter. When he had -heard all, he told the guards to undo her chain and -give her back her veil and lead her to her own -home.</p> - -<p class='c008'>On one occasion the Prophet met a man who had -a nest of young doves, and the mother fluttered after -and even down about the head of him that held it. -The Prophet told him to put the nest back where -he found it, for this wondrous love comes from -God.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The verse which gives the keynote to Moslem -ideas about animals occurs in the sixth chapter of -the Koran, and runs thus: “There is no beast on -earth nor bird which flieth with its wings but the same -is a people like unto you, we have not omitted anything -in the Book of our decrees; then unto their -Lord shall they return.” In other texts where the -word “creatures” is used there is a strong presumption -that animals, as well as men, genii and -angels, are included; as, for instance, “unto Him -do all creatures which are in heaven and earth make -petition,” and again, “all God’s creatures are His -family, and he is the most beloved of God who trieth -<span class='pageno' id='Page_224'>224</span>to do the most good to God’s creatures”—which is -almost word for word—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“He prayeth best, who loveth best</div> - <div class='line in1'>All things both great and small;</div> - <div class='line in1'>For the dear God who loveth us,</div> - <div class='line in1'>He made and loveth all.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>The common grace after eating is “Praise be to -the Lord of all creatures!” Moslem hunters and -butchers have the custom, called the Hallal, of pronouncing -a formula of excuse (Bi’sm-illah!) before -slaying any animal. The author of “Malay Magic” -mentions, that if a Malay takes a tiger in a pitfall, -the Pawang, or medicine-man, has to explain to the -quarry that it was not he that laid the snare but -the Prophet Mohammed.</p> - -<p class='c008'>By orthodox Moslem law hunting was allowed, -provided it was for some definite end or necessity. -It was legitimate to hunt for food, or for clothing, -as when the skin was the object. Dangerous wild -beasts, the incompatible neighbours of all but saints, -might be hunted to protect the more precious lives -of men. Beyond this, from an orthodox point of -view, hunting was regarded as indefensible. Such -was the rule, and there is no greater mistake than -to undervalue the moral standard because every one -does not attain to it. Perhaps few Moslems keep -this rule rigidly, but it is true now as it was when -Lane wrote on the subject, that a good Moslem who -hunts for amusement does not seek to prolong the -chase: he tries to take the game as quickly as he -can, and if it is not dead when taken, it is instantly -killed by having its throat cut. Such amusements -<span class='pageno' id='Page_225'>225</span>as shooting pigeons, or the unspeakable abomination -of firing at wild birds from ships, which makes certain -tourist steamers a curse in the Arctic regions, would -inspire even the not too orthodox Moslem with profound disgust.</p> - -<p class='c008'>There were some Moslems who went far beyond -the law—for whom taking life, when the fact of -doing so came rudely before them, was a thing -revolting in itself. Such sensibility was manifest in -the Persian poets, and it has been attributed to their -inherited Zoroastrian tendencies; but to think this -is to misunderstand the groundwork of Mazdean -humane teaching, which was not based on sensitiveness -about taking life. Such sensitiveness is -rarely found, except among Aryan races, and -Zoroastrianism, though it spread among an Aryan -people, was not an Aryan religion. It is more likely -to be true that the Persian peculiar tenderness for -animals was an atavistic revival of the old Aryan -temperament. Renan said that Sufism was a racial -Aryan reaction against <i>l’effroyable simplicité de -l’esprit sémitique</i>. Sensitiveness about animals was -a necessary ingredient, so to speak, of Sufism. Sadi, -the Sufic poet <i>par excellence</i>, poured blessings on the -departed spirit of Firdusi for the couplet which Sir -William Jones translated so well and loved so -much:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Ah, spare yon emmet, rich in hoarded grain;</div> - <div class='line in1'>He lives with pleasure, and he dies with pain.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>That birds and many, if not all, animals have a -language by which they can interchange their -<span class='pageno' id='Page_226'>226</span>thoughts is a belief shared by Moslems, both -learned and ignorant. The Koran says that the -language of birds was understood by Solomon, and -folk-lore gives many other persons credit for the -same accomplishment. A person believed to have -such powers could turn the belief, if not the powers, -to uses both good and bad. An Arabian tale relates -how a pleasure-loving Persian king summoned a -Maubadz, a head Magian, to tell him what two owls -were chattering about. The Maubadz told with considerable -detail the plan which the female owl was -unfolding to the male owl, of how each of their future -numerous offspring might be set up in life as sole -possessor of a forsaken village, if only the present -“fortunate king” lived long enough. The monarch -understood the rebuke, and resolved to mend his -ways, and to encourage tillage and agriculture, instead -of devoting himself to idle pastimes.</p> - -<div id='i226' class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i226.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p>MOSLEM BEGGAR FEEDING DOGS AT CONSTANTINOPLE.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>Bird-trills mean sentences or words, chiefly -religious. The pigeon cries continually, “Alláh! -Alláh!” The common dove executes this long -sentence: “Assert the unity of your Lord who -created you, so will He forgive you your sin.” -There was a parrot who could repeat the whole -Koran by heart and could never be put out so as -to make mistakes. I knew of an old priest who -repeated the <i>Divina Commedia</i> from the first line -to the last, and the knowledge of the whole of the -<i>Iliad</i> was common in ancient Athens, where people -were laughed at who gave themselves the airs of -scholars on the ground of such feats of memory. -But in the bird-world the Moslem parrot surely -<span class='pageno' id='Page_227'>227</span>stands alone, 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 words: “My body prostrateth itself -before Thee, and my heart confideth in Thee.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The chapter of the Koran entitled “the Ant” is -full of charming zoology. God bestowed knowledge -on David and Solomon, and Solomon, who was -“David’s heir,” said to the people: “O men, we -have been taught the speech of birds, and have -had all things bestowed on us: this is manifest -excellence.” The armies of Solomon consisted of -men and genii and birds: they were arrayed in -proper order on an immense carpet of green silk: -the men were placed to the right, the genii to the -left, and the birds flew overhead, making a canopy -of shade from the burning rays of the sun. Solomon -sat in the middle on his throne, and when it was -desired to move, the wind transported the carpet -with all on it from one place to another. This -account, however, is not in the Koran, and need -not be believed. But that the armies were of the -three species of beings we have the highest authority -for asserting. They arrived, one day, in the Valley -of Ants. 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 -it. This made Solomon smile, but while -he laughed at her words, he yet remembered to -thank the Lord for the favour wherewith He had -favoured him: the privilege of knowing the language -<span class='pageno' id='Page_228'>228</span>of beasts. After blessing God, and praying that -in the end He would take him into paradise among -His righteous servants, the king looked around at -his feathered army and lo! he missed the lapwing. -Some say that the reason why he noticed her -absence was because in that place water was lacking -for the ablution, and, as every one knows, the lapwing -is the water-finder. Be that as it may (it is not -stated in the Koran), he cried in displeasure: -“What is the reason I do not see the lapwing? -Is she absent? Verily I will chastise her with -a severe punishment, or I will put her to death -unless she bring me a just excuse.” Not long -did he have to wait before the lapwing appeared, -nor was the just excuse wanting. She had seen -a country which the king had not seen, and she -brought hence a remarkable piece of news. In -the land of Saba (Sheba) a woman reigned who -received all the honour due to a great prince. -She had a magnificent throne of gold and silver; -she and her people worshipped the Sun besides -God. Satan, added the lapwing, becoming controversial, -had turned them away from the truth lest -they should worship the true God, from whom -nothing is hid. And then this little bird of a story -like a fairy-tale ends her discourse with one of -those sharp, sudden, antithetical organ-blasts which -again and again lift the mind of the reader of -the Koran into the highest regions of poetry and -religion: “God! there is no God but He; the Lord -of the Magnificent Throne!” What wonderful art -there is in the repetition of the words which had -<span class='pageno' id='Page_229'>229</span>been applied just before to earthly splendour! 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 Alhambra: “God only is conqueror.” -What is the splendour or the power of earthly -kings?</p> - -<p class='c008'>The story resumes its course. Solomon tells the -lapwing that they will see, by and by, if she has -told the truth or is a liar. He writes a letter -(which tradition says was perfumed with musk and -sealed with the king’s signet), and he commands -the bird to take it to the land of Saba. Some say -that the lapwing delivered the letter by throwing -it into the queen’s bosom as she sat surrounded -by her army; others that she brought it to her -through an open window when she was sitting in -her chamber: at any rate, it reached its destination, -and the lapwing’s character was completely rehabilitated. -With regard to Queen Balkis, the -Bible, the Koran, and the Emperor Menelek may -be consulted.</p> - -<p class='c008'>One of the beasts most esteemed by Moslems, -one of those who, with Balaam’s ass, Jonah’s whale, -Abraham’s ram, Solomon’s ant, and several other -favourite animals, are known to have been admitted -into the highest heaven, is the dog in the Moslem -version of the “Seven Sleepers of Ephesus,” the -legend of the seven young men who hid in a cave -and slept safely through a long period of persecution. -The dog has a Divine command to say to the young -men, “I love those who are dear to God, and I -will guard you.” He lay stretched across the mouth -<span class='pageno' id='Page_230'>230</span>of the cave during the whole time that the persecution -lasted. Moslems say of a very avaricious man, -“He would not give a bone to the dog of the Seven -Sleepers.” The dog’s name was Katmîr (though -some said it was Al Rakîm), and people wrote it -as a talisman on important letters sent to a distance -or oversea, to make sure of their arriving safely: it -was like registration without the fee. He appears -to have slept, as did his masters, while he guarded -the entrance to the cave: the protection which he -afforded must be attributed to his supernatural gifts -as a devil-scarer rather than to the watch he kept. -Dogs were believed to see “things invisible to us”—<i>i.e.</i>, -demons. If a dog barks in the night the -Faithful ask God’s aid against Satan. The cock -is also a devil-scarer and sees angels as well as -demons: when he crows it is a sign that he has -just seen one.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Sometimes genii take the form of certain animals -such as cats, dogs, and serpents (animals which are -not eaten). If a man would kill one of the animals in -which genii often appear, he must first warn the genii -to vacate its form. This means that there is a greater -prejudice against taking the life of such animals than -in the case of animals slaughtered for food, when it -is sufficient (though necessary) to say “If it pleases -God.” While non-mystical Moslems did not respect -life as such, nevertheless they realised the great -scientific truth that <i>life</i> is the supreme mystery. -“The idols ye invoke besides God,” says the Koran, -“can never create a single fly although they were -all assembled for that purpose, and if the fly snatch -<span class='pageno' id='Page_231'>231</span>anything from them” (such as offerings of honey) -“they cannot recover the same from it.” Moslems -are fond of the legend from the Gospel of the -Infancy of how the Child Jesus, when He and other -children were playing at making clay sparrows, -breathed on the birds made by Him and they flew -away or hopped on His hands. The parents of the -other children forbade them to play any more with -the Holy Child, whom they thought to be a sorcerer. -That the Jews really imagined the unusual things -done by Christ to be magic-working, and that this -belief entered more into their wish to compass His -death than is commonly supposed, a knowledge of -Eastern ideas on magic inclines one to think. -Moslems readily admit the truth of the miracle of -the sparrows as of the other miracles of Jesus; they -add, however, that life came into the clay figures -“by permission of God.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Towards the end of the world, animals will speak -with human language. Before this happens will have -come to pass the reign of the “Rooh Allah,” the -Spirit of God, as all Moslems call Christ. It is -told that He will descend near the White Tower east -of Damascus and will remain on earth for forty (or -for twenty-four) years, during which period malice -and hatred will be laid aside and peace and plenty -will rejoice the hearts of men. While Jesus reigns, -lions and camels and bears and sheep will live in -amity and a child will play with serpents unhurt.</p> - -<p class='c008'>A kind of perpetual local Nature Peace prevails at -Mecca; no animals are allowed to be slaughtered -within a certain distance of the sacred precinct. It -<span class='pageno' id='Page_232'>232</span>should be noted also that pilgrims are severely prohibited -from hunting; the wording of the verse in -the Koran which establishes this rule seems to imply -the possibility that wild animals themselves are doing -the pilgrimage; hence they must be held sacred.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The law forbidding Moslems to eat the flesh of -swine was copied from the Jewish ordinance, without -doubt from the conviction that it was unwholesome. -Those who were driven by extreme hunger to eat -of it were not branded as unclean. There is a curious -Indian folk-tale which gives an account of why swine-flesh -was forbidden. At the beginning Allah restrained -man from eating any animals but those which -died a natural death. As they did not die as quickly -as they wished, men began to hasten their deaths by -striking them and throwing stones at them. The -animals complained to Allah, who sent Gabriel to -order all the men and all the animals to assemble so -that He might decide the case. But the obstinate -pig did not come. So Allah said: “The pigs, the -lowest of animals, are disobedient; let no one eat -them or touch them.” There is no record whatever -of the pigs having signed a protest.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It is by no means clear when the prejudice against -dogs took hold of the Moslem mind. At first their -presence was even tolerated inside the Mosque, and -the report that the Prophet ordered all the dogs at -Medina to be killed, especially those of a dark colour, -is certainly a fable. The Caliph Abu Djafar al -Mausur asked a learned man this very question: -why dogs were treated with scorn? The learned -man was so worthy of that description that he had -<span class='pageno' id='Page_233'>233</span>the courage to say he did not know. “Tradition -said so.” The Caliph suggested that it might be -because dogs bark at guests and at beggars. There -is a modern saying that angels never go into a house -where there is a dog or an image. Still, the ordinary -kindness of the Turks to the pariah dogs at Constantinople, -where the beggar shares his last crust -with them, shows that the feeling belongs more to -philology than to nature. The pariah dog is the -type of the despised outcast, but when a European -throws poisoned bread to him the act is not admired -by the Moslem more than it deserves to be.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Several <i>savants</i> have thought that the dog is -scorned by Moslems because he was revered by -Mazdeans; that he suffered indignity at the hands -of the new believers as a protest against the excess -of honour he had received from the old. This -theory, though ingenious, does not seem to be borne -out by facts. The comparisons of the qualities of -the good dervish and the dog, which is a sort of -vade mecum of dervishes everywhere, was almost -certainly suggested by the “Eight Characteristics” -of the dog in the Avesta. It is singular that the -dog gets far better treatment in the Moslem comparisons -than in the Mazdean. “The dog is always -hungry: so is it with the faithful; he sleeps but -little by night: so is it with those plunged in divine -Love; if he die, he leaves no heritage: so is it with -ascetics; he forsakes not his master even if driven -away: so is it with adepts; he is content with few -temporal goods: so is it with the pursuers of -temperance; if he is expelled from one place he -<span class='pageno' id='Page_234'>234</span>seeks another: so is it with the humble; if he is -chastised and dismissed and then called back he -obeys: so is it with the modest; if he sees food he -remains standing afar: so is it with those who are -consecrated to poverty; if he go on a journey he -carries no refreshment for the way: so is it with -those who have renounced the world.” Some of -these “Characteristics” are flung back in irony at -the dervishes by those who bitterly deride them, -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 edification. Hasan Basri, -who died in 728 <span class='fss'>A.D.</span>, was the author or adapter. -Its wide diffusion is due to the accuracy with -which it depicts the wandering mystic, whether -he be called a dervish or a Fakeer, or, in the -Western translation of Fakeer, a “Poverello” of St. -Francis.</p> - -<p class='c008'>A certain rich man apologised to a Dervish because -his servants, without his knowledge, had often driven -him away: the holy man showed, he said, great -patience and humility in coming back after such ill-treatment. -The dervish replied that it was no -merit but only one of the “traits of the dog,” which -returns however often it is driven off. The worst -enemies to the dervish have ever been the Ulemas, -for whom he is a kind of dangerous lunatic strongly -tinged with heresy. Among his unconventional ideas -was sure to penetrate, more or less, the neoplatonist -or Sufic view of animals. Wherever transcendental -meditations on the union of the created with the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_235'>235</span>Creator begin to prevail, men’s minds take the -direction of admitting a more intimate relation of -all living things with God. We might be sure that -the dervishes would follow this psychological law -even if we could not prove it. To prove it, however, -we need go no further than the great prayer, -one of the noblest of human prayers, which is used -by many of the Dervish orders. There we read: -“Thy science is everlasting and knows even the -numbers of the breaths of Thy creatures: Thou seest -and hearest the movements of all Thy creatures; -thou hearest even the footsteps of the ant when in -the dark night she walks on black stones; even the -birds of the air praise Thee in their nests; the wild -beasts of the desert adore Thee; the most secret as -well as the most exposed thoughts of Thy servants -Thou knowest....”</p> - -<p class='c008'>In the same way, it was natural that the Dervishes -should be supposed to have the power attributed to -all holy (or harmless) men over the kings of the -desert and forest. It could not be otherwise. -Bishop Heber heard of two Indian Yogis who lived -in different parts of a jungle infested by tigers in -perfect safety; indeed, it was reported that one of -these ascetics had a nightly visit from a tiger, who -licked his hands and was fondled by him. This is a -Hindu jungle story, but it would be just as credible -if it were told of a Dervish. Of the credibility of -the first part of it, and probably of the last also, -there is not a single wandering ascetic of any sort -who would entertain a doubt. Some years ago a -Moslem recluse deliberately put his arm into the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_236'>236</span>cage of Moti, the tiger in the Lahore Zoological -Gardens. The tiger lacerated the arm, and the poor -man died in the hospital after some days’ suffering, -during which he showed perfect serenity. He had made -a mistake; the tiger, brought up as a cub by British -officers and deprived of his liberty, was not endowed -with the power of discrimination possessed by a king -of the wild. This, I hope, the Fakeer reflected, but -it is more likely that he deemed that cruel clutch a -sign of his own unworthiness and accepted death -meekly, hoping not for reward but for pardon.</p> - -<p class='c008'>One would like to know more of a book which -Mr. Charles M. Doughty found a certain reputed -saint “poring and half weeping over,” the argument -of which was “God’s creatures the beasts,” while its -purpose was to show that every beast yields life-worship -unto God. Even if this Damascus saint -was not very saintly (as the author of “Arabia -Deserta” hints), 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 Gospel.</p> - -<p class='c008'>A Persian poet, Azz’ Eddin Elmocadessi, advises -man to learn from the birds,</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Virtues that may gild thy name;</div> - <div class='line in1'>And their faults if thou wouldst scan,</div> - <div class='line in1'>Know thy failings are the same.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>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 fancies. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_237'>237</span>There is a broad difference between the power of -feeling <i>for</i> animals and the power of feeling <i>with</i> -them. The same difference moulds the sentiments of -man to man: nine men in ten can feel for their fellow-humans, -but scarcely one man in ten can feel with them. -They even know it, and they say ungrammatically, -“I feel the greatest sympathy <i>for</i> so and so.” An -instance of true <i>mitempfindung</i>, of insight into the -very soul of a creature, exists in an Arabian poem by -Lebid, who was one of the most interesting figures -of the period in which the destinies of the Arab race -were cast. He was the glory of the Arabs, not only -on account of his faultless verse, but also because -of his noble character. It is told of him that whenever -an east wind blew, he provided a feast for the -poor. Himself a pre-Islamic theist, he hailed the -Prophet as the inspired enunciator of the creed he -had held imperfectly and in private. All his poems -were composed in the “Ignorance”; on being asked -for a poem after his conversion at ninety years of -age, he copied out a chapter of the Koran, and said, -“God has given me this in exchange for poesy.” I -do not think this meant that he despised the poet’s -art, but that now, when he could no longer exercise -it, he had what was still more precious.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The passage in question is one of several which -show Lebid’s surprisingly close acquaintance with the -ways and thoughts of wild animals. It is one of -those elaborate similes which were the pride of -Arabian poets, who often preferred to take comparisons -already in use than to invent new ones. Wherever -literature became a living entertainment, something of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_238'>238</span>this kind happened: witness the borrowings from the -Classics by the poets of the Renaissance; people -liked to recognise familiar ideas in a new dress. -Lebid’s similes have been turned and re-turned by -other poets, but none approached the art and truth -he infused into them. I am indebted to Sir Charles -Lyall for the following version, which is not included -in his volume of splendid translations of early Arabian -poetry. The subject of the passage is the grief -of a wild cow that has lost her calf:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Flat-nosed is she—she has lost her calf and ceases not to roam</div> - <div class='line in4'>About the marge of the sand meadows and cry</div> - <div class='line in1'>For her youngling, just weaned, white, whose limbs have been torn</div> - <div class='line in4'>By the ash-grey hunting wolves who lack not for food.</div> - <div class='line in1'>They came upon it while she knew not, and dealt her a deadly woe:</div> - <div class='line in4'>—Verily, Death, when it shoots, misses not the mark!</div> - <div class='line in1'>The night came upon her, as the dripping rain of the steady shower</div> - <div class='line in4'>Poured on and its continuous flow soaked the leafage through and through.</div> - <div class='line in1'>She took refuge in the hollow trunk of a tree with lofty branches standing apart</div> - <div class='line in4'>On the skirts of the sandhills where the fine sand sloped her way.</div> - <div class='line in1'>The steady rain poured down, and the flood reached the ridge of her back,</div> - <div class='line in4'>In a night when thick darkness hid away all the stars;</div> - <div class='line in1'>And she shone in the face of the mirk with a white, glimmering light</div> - <div class='line in4'>Like a pearl born in a sea-shell, that has dropped from its string.</div> - <div class='line in1'><span class='pageno' id='Page_239'>239</span>Until, when the darkness was folded away and morning dawned,</div> - <div class='line in4'>She stood, her legs slipping in the muddy earth.</div> - <div class='line in1'>She wandered distracted about all the pools of So’âid</div> - <div class='line in4'>For seven nights twinned with seven whole long days,</div> - <div class='line in1'>Until she lost all hope, and her udders shrunk—</div> - <div class='line in4'>The udders that had not failed in all the days of the suckling and weaning,</div> - <div class='line in1'>Then she heard the sound of men and it filled her heart with fear,</div> - <div class='line in4'>Of men from a hidden place; and men, she knew, were her bane.</div> - <div class='line in1'>She rushed blindly along, now thinking the chase before,</div> - <div class='line in6'>And now behind her: each was a place of dread.</div> - <div class='line in1'>Until, when the archers lost hope, they let loose on her</div> - <div class='line in4'>Trained hounds with hanging ears, each with a stiff leather collar on its neck;</div> - <div class='line in1'>They beset her and she turned to meet them with her horns</div> - <div class='line in4'>Like to spears of Semhar in their sharpness and their length.</div> - <div class='line in1'>To thrust them away: for she knew well, if she drove them not off,</div> - <div class='line in4'>That the fated day of her death among the fates of beasts had come;</div> - <div class='line in1'>And among them, Kesâb was thrust through and slain and rolled in blood lay there,</div> - <div class='line in1'>And Sukhâm was left in the place where he made his onset.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>There the description breaks off. In spite of the -haunting cry of the cow of Lucretius, in spite of -the immortal tears of Shakespeare’s “poor sequester’d -stag”—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 Lebid. How -fine is the altogether unforeseen close, which leaves -<span class='pageno' id='Page_240'>240</span>us wondering, breathless: Will she escape? Will no -revengeful arrow reach her? Will the archers do as -Om Piet did to the wildebeest?—</p> - -<p class='c020'>“A wildebeest cow and calf were pursued by Om Piet with -three hunting-dogs. The Boer hunter tells the tale: ‘The old -cow laid the first dog low; the calf is now tired. The second -dog comes up to seize it; the cow strikes him down. Now the -third dog tries to bite the little one, who can run no more, but -the cow treats him so that there’s nothing to be done but -to shoot him. Then Om Piet stands face to face with the -wildebeest, who snorts but does not fly. Now though I come to -shoot a wildebeest yet can I not kill a beast that has so -bravely fought and will not run away; so Om Piet takes off his -hat, and says, “Good-day to you, old wildebeest. You are a -good and strong old wildebeest.” And we dine off springbuck -that night at the farm.’”<a id='r7' /><a href='#f7' class='c017'><sup>[7]</sup></a></p> - -<div class='fn'> - -<div class='footnote c000' id='f7'> -<p class='c018'><span class='label'><a href='#r7'>7</a>. </span>“A Breath from the Veldt,” by Guille Millais, 2nd -edition, 1899.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p class='c008'>I ought to explain that, like the “cow” of Om -Piet, Lebid’s “cow” is an antelope—the <i>Antilope -defassa</i>—of which a good specimen may be seen in -the Natural History Museum at South Kensington. -The old Boer’s hunting yarn brings an unexpected -confirmation of the Arabian poet’s testimony to its -courage and maternal love.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Since the chase began, down to the blind brutality -of the battue (which wiped it out) chivalry has been -a trait of the genuine sportsman. 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 Sebectighin, who rose from slave-birth -to the greatest of Persian thrones—and more honour -to him, notwithstanding the slur which Firdusi, stung -<span class='pageno' id='Page_241'>241</span>by Mahmoud’s want of appreciation, cast, in a foolish -moment, on his father’s origin. 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 chase. One day he remarked -a deer with her little fawn peacefully grazing in a -glade of the forest. He galloped to the spot, and in -less than a second he had seized the fawn, which, -after binding its legs, he placed across his saddle-bows. -Thus he started to go home, but looking back, -he saw the mother following, with every mark of -grief. Sebectighin’s heart was touched; he loosened -the fawn and restored it to its dam. And in the night -he had a vision in his dreams of One who said to -him, “The kindness and compassion which thou hast -this day shown to a distressed animal has been -approved of in the presence of God; therefore in the -records of Providence the kingdom of Ghusni is -marked as a reward against thy name. Let not -greatness destroy thy virtue, but continue thy benevolence -to man.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Among the Afghan ballads collected by James -Darmesteter, of which it has been aptly said that -they give an admirable idea of Homer in a state of -becoming, 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 <i>Deus ex -machina</i>. As there is no translation of it into -English I have attempted the following version:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“The Son of Abu Jail he set a snare for a gazelle,</div> - <div class='line in1'>Without a thought along she sped, and in the snare she fell.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in1'><span class='pageno' id='Page_242'>242</span>‘O woe is me!’ she weeping cried, ‘that I to look forgot!</div> - <div class='line in1'>Fain would I live for my dear babes, but hope, alas! is not.’</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in1'>Then to the Merciful she made this short and fervent prayer:</div> - <div class='line in1'>‘I left two little fawns at home; Lord, keep them in Thy care!’</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in1'>The son of Abu Jail he came, in haste and glee he ran,</div> - <div class='line in1'>‘Ah, now I’ve got you in my net, and who to save you can?’</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in1'>He grasped her by her tender throat, his fearsome sword did draw,</div> - <div class='line in1'>When lo! the Lord held back his hand! The Prophet’s self he saw!</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in1'>‘The world was saved for love of thee, save for thy pity’s sake!’</div> - <div class='line in1'>So breathed the trembling doe, and then the holy Prophet spake:</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in1'>‘Abu, my friend, this doe let go, and hark to my appeal;</div> - <div class='line in1'>She has two tender fawns at home who pangs of hunger feel,</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in1'>‘Let her go back one hour to them, no longer will she stay,</div> - <div class='line in1'>And when she comes, O heartless man, then mayest thou have thy way!</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in1'>But if, by chance, she should not come, then by my faith will I</div> - <div class='line in1'>Be unto thee a bonded slave until the day I die.’</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in1'>Then Abu the gazelle let go; to her dear young she went,</div> - <div class='line in1'>‘Quick, children, take my breast,’ she said, ‘my life is almost spent;</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in1'><span class='pageno' id='Page_243'>243</span>‘The Master of the Universe for me a pledge I gave,</div> - <div class='line in1'>But I must swift return and then no man my life can save.’</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in1'>Then said the little ones to her, ‘Mother, we dare not eat;</div> - <div class='line in1'>Go swiftly back, redeem the pledge, fast as can fly thy feet.’</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in1'>One hour had scarce run fully out when, panting, she was there;</div> - <div class='line in1'>Now, Abu, son of Abu, thou mayest take her life or spare!</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in1'>Said Abu, ‘In the Prophet’s name, depart, I set you free ...</div> - <div class='line in1'>But thou, our Helper, at God’s throne, do thou remember me!’</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in1'>So have I told, as long ago my father used to tell,</div> - <div class='line in1'>How Pagan Abu Moslem turned and saved his soul from hell.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>This brief sketch will suffice to show that if the -Moslem is not humane to animals it is his own fault, -as I think it is his own fault if he is not humane to -man. Teaching humanity to animals must always -imply the teaching of humanity to men. This was -perfectly understood well by all these Oriental tellers -of beast-stories: they would all have endorsed the -saying of one of my Lombard peasant-women (dear, -good soul!), “Chi non è buono per le bestie, non -è buono per i Cristiani”; <i>Cristiano</i> meaning, in -Italian popular speech, a human being. Under the -most varied forms, in fiction which while the world -lasts, can never lose its freshness, the law of kindness -is brought home. Perhaps the most beautiful of -all humane legends is one preserved in a poem by -Abu Mohammed ben Yusuf, Sheikh Nizan-eddin, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_244'>244</span>known to Europeans as Nizami. This Persian poet, -who died sixty-three years before Dante was born, -may have taken the legend from some collection -of Christ-lore, some uncanonical book impossible now -to trace; it is unlikely that he invented it. As Jesus -walks with His disciples through the market-place -at evening, 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 gutter. When they -have all had their say, and have pointed in disgust -to his blear eyes, foul ears, bare ribs, torn hide, -“which will not even yield a decent shoe-string,” -Jesus says, “How beautifully white his teeth are!” -No story of the Saviour outside the Gospels is so -worthy to have been in them.</p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c003' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_245'>245</span> - <h2 id='ch12' class='c006'>XII<br /> <br />THE FRIEND OF THE CREATURE</h2> -</div> -<p class='drop-capa0_25_0_7 c007'>IN Hindu mythology Gunádhya attracts a whole -forestful of beasts by reciting his poems to them. -The power of Apollo and of Orpheus in taming -beasts depended on a far less surprising <i>modus operandi</i>; -like the greater part of myths, this one was -not spun from the thin air of imagination. Music -has a real influence on animals; in spite of theories -to the contrary, it is probable that the sweet flute-playing -of the snake-charmer—his “sweet charming” -in Biblical phrase—is no mere piece of theatrical -business, but a veritable aid in obtaining the desired -results. I myself could once attract fieldmice -by playing on the violin, and only lately, on -the road near our house at Salò, I noticed that a -goat manifested signs of wishing to stop before a -grind-organ; its master pulled the string by which -it was led, but it tugged at it so persistently that, -at last, he stopped, and the goat, turning round -its head, listened with evident attention. Independently -of the pleasure music may give to animals, -it excites their curiosity, a faculty which is extremely -<span class='pageno' id='Page_246'>246</span>alive in them, as may be seen by the way in which -small birds are attracted by the pretty antics of the -little Italian owl; they cannot resist going near to -have a better view, and so they rush to their doom -upon the limed sticks.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Legends have an inner and an outer meaning; the -allegory of Apollo, Lord of Harmony, would have -been incomplete had it lacked the beautiful incident -of a Nature Peace—partial indeed, but still a fairer -triumph to the god than his Olympian honours. -For nine years he watched the sheep of Admetus, as -Euripides described:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Pythean Apollo, master of the lyre,</div> - <div class='line in1'>Who deigned to be a herdsman and among</div> - <div class='line in1'>Thy flocks on hills his hymns celestial sung;</div> - <div class='line in1'>And his delightful melodies to hear</div> - <div class='line in1'>Would spotted lynx and lions fierce draw near;</div> - <div class='line in1'>They came from Othry’s immemorial shade,</div> - <div class='line in1'>By charm of music tame and harmless made;</div> - <div class='line in1'>And the swift, dappled fawns would there resort,</div> - <div class='line in1'>From the tall pine-woods and about him sport.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>When Apollo gave Orpheus his lyre, he gave -him his gift “to soothe the savage breast.” In the -splendid Pompeian fresco showing a Nature Peace, -the bay-crowned, central figure is said to be Orpheus, -though its god-like proportions suggest the divinity -himself. At any rate, nothing can be finer as the -conception of an inspired musician: the whole body -<i>sings</i>, not only the mouth. A lion and a tiger sit -on either side; below, a stag and a wild boar listen -attentively, and a little hare capers near the stream. -In the upper section there are other wild beasts -<span class='pageno' id='Page_247'>247</span>sporting round an elephant, while oxen play with a -tiger; an anticipation of the ox and tiger in Rubens’ -“Garden of Eden.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The power of Orpheus to subdue wild beasts was -the reason why the early Christians took him as a -type of Christ. 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 animals. The -four Gospels which became the canon of the Church -threw no light on the subject, but the gap was filled -up by the uncanonical books; one might think that -they were written principally for the purpose of -dwelling on this theme, so frequently do they return -to it. In the first place, they bring upon the scene -those dear objects of our childhood’s affection, the -ass and the ox of the stable of Bethlehem. Surely -many of us cherish the impression that ass and -ox rest on most orthodox testimony: an idea which -is certainly general in Catholic countries, though, -the other day, I heard of a French priest who was -heartless enough to declare that they were purely -imaginary. “Alas,” as Voltaire said, “people run -after truth!” As a matter of fact, it appears evident -that the ass and the ox were introduced to fulfil -the prophecy of Isaiah: “The ox knoweth his owner -and the ass his master’s manger, but Israel knoweth -Me not.” But there arose what was thought a -difficulty: the apocryphal Gospels, in harmony with -the earliest traditions, place the birth of Christ, not -in a stable, but in the grotto which is still shown to -travellers. To reconcile this with the legend of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_248'>248</span>the ass and ox and also with the narrative of St. -Luke, it was supposed that the Holy Family moved -from the grotto to a stable a few days after the -Child was born. This is a curious case of finding -a difficulty where there was none, for it is very likely -that the caves near the great Khan of Bethlehem -were used as stables. In every primitive country -shepherds shelter themselves and their flocks in -holes in rocks; I remember the “uncanny” effect -of a light flickering in the depths of a Phœnician -tomb near Cagliari; it was almost disappointing -to hear that it was only a shepherd’s fire.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Thomas, “the Israelite philosopher,” as he called -himself, author of the Pseudo-Thomas which is said -to date from the second century, appears to have -been a Jewish convert belonging to one of the -innumerable “heretical” sects of the earliest times. -It may be guessed, therefore, that the Pseudo-Thomas -was first written in Syriac, though the -text we possess is in Greek. It is considered the -model on which all the other Gospels of the Infancy -were founded, 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 preserved. Mohammed was acquainted -with this Arabian Gospel, and Mohammedans did not -cease to venerate the sycamore-tree at Matarea under -which the Arabian evangelist states that the Virgin and -Child rested, till it died about a year ago. The Pseudo-Thomas -contains some vindictive stories, which were -modified or omitted in the other versions: probably -they are all to be traced to Elisha and his she-bears: -<span class='pageno' id='Page_249'>249</span>a theory which I offer to those who cannot imagine -how they arose. A curious feature in these writings -is the scarcity of anything actually original; the most -original story to be found in them is that of the -clay sparrows, which captivated the East and penetrated -into the folk-lore even of remote Iceland. -Notwithstanding the fulminations of Councils, the -apocryphal Gospels were never suppressed; they -enjoyed an enormous popularity during the Middle -Ages, and many details derived solely from these -condemned books crept into the <i>Legenda Aurea</i> and -other strictly orthodox works.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The “Little Child” of Isaiah’s prophecy was -the cause of troops of wild beasts being convoked -to attend the Infant Christ. Lions acted as guides -for the flight into Egypt, and it is mentioned that -not only did they respect the Holy Family, but also -the asses and oxen which carried their baggage. -Besides, the lions, leopards, and other creatures -“wagged their tails with great reverence” (though -all these animals are not of the dog species, but -of the cat, in which wagging the tail signifies -the reverse of content).</p> - -<p class='c008'>This is the subject of an old English ballad:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“And when they came to Egypt’s land,</div> - <div class='line in2'>Amongst those fierce wild beasts,</div> - <div class='line in1'>Mary, she being weary,</div> - <div class='line in2'>Must needs sit down to rest.</div> - <div class='line in1'>‘Come, sit thee down,’ said Jesus,</div> - <div class='line in2'>‘Come, sit thee down by Me,</div> - <div class='line in1'>And thou shall see how these wild beasts</div> - <div class='line in2'>Do come and worship Me.’”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c016'><span class='pageno' id='Page_250'>250</span>First to come was the “lovely lion,” king of all -wild beasts, and for our instruction the moral is -added: “We’ll choose our virtuous princes of birth -and high degree.” Sad rhymes they are, nor, it -will be said, is the sense much better; yet, -hundreds of years ago in English villages, where, -perhaps, only one man knew how to read, this -doggerel served the end of the highest poetry: -it transported the mind into an ideal region; it -threw into the English landscape deserts, lions, a -Heavenly Child; it stirred the heart with the -romance of the unknown; it whispered to the -soul—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“The Now is an atom of sand,</div> - <div class='line in2'>And the Near is a perishing clod;</div> - <div class='line in1'>But Afar is a Faëry Land,</div> - <div class='line in2'>And Beyond is the bosom of God.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>The pseudo-gospel of Matthew relates an incident -which refers to a later period in the Holy Childhood. -According to this narrative, when Jesus was -eight years old He went into the den of a lioness -which frightened travellers on the road by the -Jordan. The little cubs played round His feet, -while the older lions bowed their heads and fawned -on Him. The Jews, who saw it from a distance, -said that Jesus or His parents must have committed -mortal sin for Him to go into the lion’s den. But -coming forth, He told them that these lions were -better behaved than they; and then He led the wild -beasts across the Jordan and commanded them to -go their way, hurting no one, neither should any one -hurt them till they had returned to their own -<span class='pageno' id='Page_251'>251</span>country. So they bade Him farewell with gentle -roars and gestures of respect.</p> - -<p class='c008'>These stories are innocent, and they are even -pretty, for all stories of great, strong animals and -little children are pretty. But they fail to reveal -the slightest apprehension of the deeper significance -of a peace between all creatures. Turn from them -to the wonderful lines of William Blake:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“And there the lion’s ruddy eyes</div> - <div class='line in2'>Shall flow with tears of gold,</div> - <div class='line in1'>And pitying the tender cries</div> - <div class='line in2'>And walking round the fold</div> - <div class='line in1'>Saying: Wrath by His meekness,</div> - <div class='line in2'>And by His health sickness,</div> - <div class='line in1'>Are driven away</div> - <div class='line in2'>From our mortal day.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in1'>And now beside thee, bleating lamb,</div> - <div class='line in2'>I can lie down and sleep,</div> - <div class='line in1'>Or think on Him who bore thy name,</div> - <div class='line in2'>Graze after thee, and weep;</div> - <div class='line in1'>For, washed in life’s river,</div> - <div class='line in2'>My bright mane for ever</div> - <div class='line in1'>Shall shine like the gold</div> - <div class='line in2'>As I guard o’er the fold.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c016'>No one but Blake would have written this, and -few things that he wrote are so characteristic of -his genius. The eye of the painter seizes what -the mind of the mystic conceives, and the poet -surcharges with emotion words which, like the Vedic -hymns, infuse thought rather than express it.</p> -<p class='c008'>A single passage in the New Testament connects -Christ with wild animals; in St. Mark’s Gospel we -<span class='pageno' id='Page_252'>252</span>are told that after His baptism in the Jordan Jesus -was driven by the Spirit into the wilderness, where -“He was with the wild beasts, and the angels -ministered unto Him.” In the East the idea of -the anchorite who leaves the haunts of men for -the haunts of beasts was already fabulously old. -In the Western world of the Roman Empire it was -a new idea, and perhaps on that account, while it -excited the horror of those who were faithful to -the former order of things, it awoke an extraordinary -enthusiasm among the more ardent votaries of the -new faith. It led to the discovery of the inebriation -of solitude, the powerful stimulus of a life with wild -nature. Many tired brain-workers have recourse to -mountain ascents as a restorative, but these can rarely -be performed alone, and high mountains with their -immense horizons tend to overwhelm rather than -to collect the mind. But to wander alone in a -forest, day after day, without particular aim, drinking -in the pungent odours of growing things, fording -the ice-cold streams, meeting no one but a bird -or a hare—this will leave a memory as of another -existence in some enchanted sphere. We have -tasted an ecstasy that cities cannot give. We have -tasted it, and we have come back into the crowded -places, and it may be well for us that we have -come back, for not to all is it given to walk in -safety alone with their souls.</p> - -<div id='i253' class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i253.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p><span class='small'><i>Photo:</i> <i>Anderson.</i></span><br />ST. JEROME EXTRACTING A THORN FROM THE PAW OF A LION.<br /><span class='small'>(<i>By Hubert van Eyck.</i>)</span><br />Naples Museum.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>Of one of the earliest Christian anchorites in -Egypt it is related that for fifty years he spoke -to no one; he roamed in a state of nature, flying -from the monks who attempted to approach him. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_253'>253</span>At last he consented to answer some questions -put by a recluse whose extreme piety caused him -to be better received than the others. To the -question of why he avoided mankind, he replied -that those who dwelt with men could not be visited -by angels. After saying this, he vanished again -into the desert. I have observed that the idea of -renouncing the world was not a Western idea, yet, -at the point where it touches madness, it had -already penetrated into the West—we know where -to find its tragic record:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Ego vitam agam sub altis Phrygiae columinibus,</div> - <div class='line in1'>Ubi cerva silvicultrix, ubi aper nemorivagus?”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>The <i>point of madness</i> would have been reached -more often but for the charity of the stag and the -wild boar and the lion and the buffalo, who felt -a sort of compassion for the harmless, weak human -creatures that came among them, and who were -ready to give that response which is the sustaining -ichor of life.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The same causes produce the same effects—man -may offer surprises but never men. Wherever there -are solitaries there are friendships between the -recluse and the wild beast. 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 Saints. The well-known legend -of how St. Jerome relieved a lion of a thorn which -was giving him great pain, and how the lion became -tame, was really told of another saint, but Jerome, -if he did not figure in a lion story, is the authority -<span class='pageno' id='Page_254'>254</span>for one: in his life of Paul the Hermit he relates -that when that holy man died, two lions came out -of the desert to dig his grave; they uttered a loud -wail over his body and knelt down to crave a blessing -from his surviving companion—none other than the -great St. Anthony. He also says that Paul had -subsisted for many years on food brought to him by -birds, and when he had a visitor the birds brought -double rations.</p> - -<p class='c008'>As soon as the hermit appears in Europe his four-footed -friends appear with him. For instance, there -was the holy Karileff who tamed a buffalo. Karileff -was a man of noble lineage who took up his abode -with two companions in a clearing in the woods on -the Marne, where he was soon surrounded by all -sorts of wild things. Amongst these was a buffalo, -one of the most intractable of beasts in its wild state, -but this buffalo became perfectly tame, and it was a -charming sight to see the aged saint stroking it softly -between its horns. Now it happened that the king, -who was Childebert, son of Clovis, came to know -that there was a buffalo in the neighbourhood, and -forthwith he ordered a grand hunt. The buffalo, -seeing itself lost, fled to the hut of its holy protector, -and when the huntsmen approached they found the -monk standing in front of the animal. The king -was furious, and swore that Karileff and his brethren -should leave the place for ever; then he turned to -go, but his horse would not move one step. This -filled him with what was more likely panic fear than -compunction; he lost no time in asking the saint -for his blessing, and he presented him with the whole -<span class='pageno' id='Page_255'>255</span>domain, in which an abbey was built and ultimately -a town, the present Saint-Calais. On another occasion -the same Childebert was hunting a hare, which -took refuge under the habit of St. Marculphe; the -king’s huntsman rudely expostulated, and the monk -surrendered the hare, but, lo and behold! the dogs -would not continue the pursuit and the huntsman -fell off his horse!</p> - -<p class='c008'>A vein of more subtle sensibility runs through the -story of St. Columba, who, not long before his death, -ordered a stork to be picked up and tended when -it dropped exhausted on the Western shore of Iona. -After three days, he said, the stork would depart, -“for she comes from the land where I was born -and thither would she return.” In fact, on the third -day, the stork, rested and refreshed, spread out its -wings and sailed away straight towards the saint’s -beloved Ireland. 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 weeping. A -brother wished to drive it away, but the saint said -No; God had revealed to the horse what was hidden -from man, and it was come to bid him goodbye.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Evidently there is only a slight element of the -marvellous in these legends and none at all in others, -such as the story of Walaric, who fed little birds -and told the monks not to approach or frighten his -“little friends” while they picked up the crumbs. -To the same order belong several well-authenticated -stories of the Venerable Joseph of Anchieta, apostle -of Brazil. He protected the parrots that alighted -<span class='pageno' id='Page_256'>256</span>on a ship by which he was travelling from the -merciless sailors who would have caught and killed -them. Whilst descending a river he would have -saved a monkey which some fishermen shot at with -their arrows, but he was not in time; the other -monkeys gathered round their slain comrade with -signs of mourning: “Come near,” said the holy -man, “and weep in peace for that one of you who -is no more.” Presently, fearing not to be able longer -to restrain the cruelty of the men, he bade them -depart with God’s blessing.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Here is no marvel; only sympathy which is sometimes -the greatest of marvels. It needed the mind -of a Shakespeare to probe just this secret recess of -feeling for animals:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“—— What dost thou strike at, Marcus, with thy knife?</div> - <div class='line in1'>—— At that I have killed, my Lord, a fly.</div> - <div class='line in1'>—— Out on thee, murderer, thou killest my heart;</div> - <div class='line in1'>Mine eyes are cloyed with view of tyranny;</div> - <div class='line in1'>A deed of death done on the innocent,</div> - <div class='line in1'>Becomes not Titus’ brother; get thee gone,</div> - <div class='line in1'>I see thou art not for my company.</div> - <div class='line in1'>—— Alas! my Lord, I have but killed a fly.</div> - <div class='line in1'>—— But how if that fly had a father and mother?</div> - <div class='line in1'>How would he hang his slender gilded wings</div> - <div class='line in1'>And buz lamented doings in the air?</div> - <div class='line in1'>Poor harmless fly!</div> - <div class='line in1'>That with his pretty buzzing melody</div> - <div class='line in1'>Came here to make us merry, and thou hast killed him.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c016'>If St. Bernard saw a hare pursued by dogs or birds -threatened by a hawk he could not resist making -the sign of the cross, and his benediction always -brought safety. It is to this saint that we owe the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_257'>257</span>exquisite saying, “If mercy were a sin I think I -could not keep myself from committing it.”</p> - -<div id='i256' class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i256.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p><span class='small'><i>Photo:</i> <i>Hanfslängl.</i></span><br />ST. EUSTACE AND THE STAG.<br /><span class='small'>(<i>By Vittore Pisano.</i>)</span><br />National Gallery.</p> -</div> -</div> -<p class='c008'>Apart from the rest, stands one saint who brought -the wild to the neighbourhood of a bustling, trafficking -little Italian town of the thirteenth century and -peopled it with creatures which, whether of fancy -or of fact, will live for ever. How St. Francis tamed -the “wolf of Agobio” is the most famous if not -altogether the most credible of the animal stories -related of him. That wolf was a quadruped without -morals; not only had he eaten kids but also men. -All attempts to kill him failed, and the townsfolk -were afraid of venturing outside the walls even in -broad daylight. One day St. Francis, against the -advice of all, went out to have a serious talk with -the wolf. He soon found him and, “Brother Wolf,” -he said, “you have eaten not only animals but men -made in the image of God, and certainly you deserve -the gallows; nevertheless, I wish to make peace -between you and these people, brother Wolf, so that -you may offend them no more, and neither they nor -their dogs shall attack you.” The wolf seemed to -agree, but the saint wished to have a distinct proof -of his solemn engagement to fulfil his part in the -peace, whereupon the wolf stood up on his hind legs -and laid his paw on the saint’s hand. Francis then -promised that the wolf should be properly fed for -the rest of his days, “for well I know,” he said -kindly, “that all your evil deeds were caused by -hunger”—upon which text several sermons might -be preached, for truly many a sinner may be reformed -by a good dinner and by nothing else. The contract -<span class='pageno' id='Page_258'>258</span>was kept on both sides, and the wolf lived happily -for some years—“notricato cortesemente dalla gente”—at -the end of which he died of old age, sincerely -mourned by all the inhabitants.</p> - -<p class='c008'>If any one decline to believe in the wolf of Gubbio, -why, he must be left to his invincible ignorance. -But there are other tales in the <i>Fioretti</i> and in the -<i>Legenda Aurea</i> which are nowise hard to believe. -What more likely than that Francis, on meeting a -youth who had wood-doves to sell, looked at the -birds “con l’occhio pietoso,” and begged the youth -not to give them into the cruel hands that would -kill them? The young man, “inspired by God,” -gave the doves to the saint, who held them against -his breast, saying, “Oh, my sisters, innocent doves, -why did you let yourselves be caught? Now will -I save you from death and make nests for you, -so that you may increase and multiply according to -the commandment of our Creator.” Schopenhauer -mentions, with emphatic approval, the Indian merchant -at the fair of Astrachan who, when he has a turn -of good luck, goes to the market-place and buys birds, -which he sets at liberty. The holy Francis not only -set his doves free, but thought about their future, -a refinement of benevolence which might “almost -have persuaded” the humane though crusty old -philosopher to put on the Franciscan habit.</p> - -<p class='c008'>(At this point I chance to see from my window -a kitten in the act of annoying a rather large snake. -It is a coiled-up snake; probably an Itongo. It -requires a good five minutes to induce the kitten to -abandon its quarry and to convey the snake to a safe -<span class='pageno' id='Page_259'>259</span>place under the myrtles. This being done, I resume -my pen.)</p> - -<p class='c008'>I have remarked that in some respects the Saint -of Assisi stands apart from the other saints who took -notice of animals. It was a common thing, for -instance, for saints to preach to creatures, but there -is an individual note in the sermon of Francis to -the birds which is not found elsewhere. The reason -why St. Anthony preached to the fishes at Rimini -was that the “heretics” would not listen to him, -and St. Martin addressed the water-fowl who were -diving after fish in the Loire because, having compared -them to the devil, seeking whom he may -devour, he thought it necessary to order them to -depart from those waters—which they immediately -did, no doubt frightened to death by the apparition -of a gesticulating saint and the wild-looking multitude. -The motive of Francis was neither pique at not being -listened to nor the temptation to show miraculous -skill as a bird-scarer; he was moved solely by an -effusion of tender sentiment. Birds in great quantities -had alighted in a neighbouring field: a beautiful -sight which every dweller in the country must have -sometimes seen and asked himself, was it a parliament, -a garden party, a halt in a journey? “Wait -a little for me here upon the road,” said the saint -to his companions; “I am going to preach to my -sisters the birds.” And so, “<i>having greeted them -as creatures endowed with reason</i>,” he went on to say: -“Birds, my sisters, you ought to give great praise -to your Creator, who dressed you with feathers, -who gave you wings to fly with, who granted you -<span class='pageno' id='Page_260'>260</span>all the domains of the air, whose solicitude watches -over you.” The birds stretched out their necks, -fluttered their wings, opened their beaks, and looked -at the preacher with attention. When he had done, -he passed in the midst of them and touched them with -his habit, and not one of them stirred till he gave -them leave to fly away.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The saint lifted worms out of the path lest they -should be crushed, and during the winter frosts, for -fear that the bees should die in the hive, he brought -honey to them and the best wines that he could -find. Near his cell at Portionuculo there was a -fig-tree, and on the fig-tree lived a cicada. One -day the Servant of God stretched out his hand and -said, “Come to me, my sister Cicada”; and at -once the insect flew upon his hand. And he said -to it, “Sing, my sister Cicada, and praise thy -Lord.” And having received his permission she -sang her song. The biographies that were written -without the inquisition into facts which we demand, -gave a living idea of the man, not a photograph -of his skeleton. What mattered if romance were -mixed with truth when the total was true? We -know St. Francis of Assisi as if he had been our -next-door neighbour. It would have needed unbounded -genius to invent such a character, and -there was nothing to be gained by inventing it. -The legends which represent him as one who -consistently treated animals as creatures endowed -with reason are in discord with orthodox teaching; -they skirt dangerously near to heresy. Giordano -Bruno was accused of having said that men and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_261'>261</span>animals had the same origin; to hold such an -opinion qualified you for the stake. But the Church -that canonised Buddha under the name of St. -Josephat has had accesses of toleration which must -have made angels rejoice.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Some think that Francis was at one time a -troubadour, and troubadours had many links with -those Manichæan heretics whom Catholics charged -with believing in the transmigration of souls. This -may interest the curious, but the doctrine of metempsychosis -has little to do with the vocation of the -Asiatic recluse as a beast-tamer, and St. Francis of -Assisi was true brother to that recluse. He was -the Fakeer or Dervish of the West. When the -inherent mysticism in man’s nature brought the -Dervishes into existence soon after Mohammed’s -death, in spite of the Prophet’s well-known dislike for -religious orders, they justified themselves by quoting -the text from the Koran, “Poverty is my pride.” -It would serve the Franciscan equally well. The -begging friar was an anachronism in the religion of -Islam as he is an anachronism in modern society, but -what did that matter to him? He thought and he -thinks that he will outlive both.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The Abdâl or pre-eminently holy Dervish who -lived in the desert with friendly beasts over whom -he exercised an extraordinary power, became the -centre of a legend, almost of a cult, like his Christian -counterpart. There were several Abdâls of high -repute during the reigns of the early Ottoman -Sultans. Perhaps there was more confidence in -their sanctity than in their sanity, for while the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_262'>262</span>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 mediæval descendants, a devout Oriental sees -no irreverence in recognising the possible affinity -between sainthood and mental alienation. In India -the holy recluse who tames wild beasts is as much -alive to-day as in any former time. Whatever is -very old is still a part of the everyday life of the -Indian people. Accordingly the native newspapers -frequently report that some prince was attacked by -a savage beast while out hunting, when, at the nick -of time, a venerable saint appeared at whose first -word the beast politely relaxed his hold. Those who -know India best by no means think that all such -stories are invented. Why should they be? Cardinal -Massaia (who wore, by the by, the habit of Francis) -stated that the lions he met in the desert had very -good manners. A few years ago an old lady met a -large, well-grown lioness in the streets of Chatres; -mistaking it for a large dog, she patted it on the head -and it followed her for some time until it was observed -by others, when the whole town was seized with panic -and barred doors and windows. Even with the -provocation of such mistrust the lioness behaved -well, and allowed itself to be reconducted to the -menagerie from which it had escaped.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Those who try to divest themselves of human -nature rarely succeed, and the reason nearest to the -surface why, over all the world, the lonely recluse -made friends with animals was doubtless his loneliness. -On their side, animals have only to be -<span class='pageno' id='Page_263'>263</span>persuaded that men are harmless for them to -meet their advances half-way. If this is not always -true of wild beasts, it is because (as St. Francis apprehended) -unfortunately they are sometimes hungry; -but man is not the favourite prey of any wild -beast who is in his right mind. Prisoners who tamed -mice or sparrows followed the same impulse as saints -who tamed lions or buffaloes. How many a prisoner -who returned to the fellowship of men must -have regretted his mouse or his sparrow! Animals -can be such good company. Still, it follows that if -their society was sought as a substitute, they were, -in a certain sense, vicarious objects of affection. -We forget that even in inter-human affections -much is vicarious. The sister of charity gives -mankind the love which she would have given to -her children. The ascetic who will never hear -the pattering feet of his boy upon the stairs loves -the gazelle, the bird fallen from its nest, the lion -cub whose mother has been slain by the hunter. -And love, far more than charity (in the modern -sense), blesses him that gives as well as him that -takes.</p> - -<p class='c008'>But human phenomena are complex, and this -explanation of the sympathy between saint and -beast does not cover the whole ground. Who can -doubt that these men, whose faculties were concentrated -on drawing nearer to the Eternal, vaguely -surmised that wild living creatures had unperceived -channels of communication with spirit, hidden -<i>rapports</i> with the Fountain of Life which man has -lost or has never possessed? Who can doubt that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_264'>264</span>in the vast cathedral of Nature they were awed by -“the mystery which is in the face of brutes”?</p> - -<p class='c008'>Beside the need to love and the need to wonder, -some of them knew the need to pity. Here the -ground widens, 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 saint.</p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c003' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_265'>265</span> - <h2 id='ch13' class='c006'>XIII<br /> <br />VERSIPELLES</h2> -</div> -<p class='drop-capa0_25_0_7 c007'>THE snake and the tiger are grim realities of -Indian life. They mean a great deal—they -mean India with its horror and its splendour; above -all, with its primary attention given to things which -for most Europeans are <i>nil</i> or are kept for Sunday. -And Sunday, the day most calm, most bright, has -only a little portion of them, only the light not the -darkness of the Unknown.</p> - -<p class='c008'>To the despair of the English official, the Hindu, -like his forefathers in remotest antiquity, respects -the life of tiger and snake. 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 -beholder: in that instance it is, in the main, the rule -of live and let live which dictates his forbearance, -the persuasion that it is wrong to monopolise the -increase of the earth to the uttermost farthing’s-worth. -His sentiment towards tiger and snake is of a more -profound nature.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The Hindu will not kill a cobra if he can help it, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_266'>266</span>and if one is killed he tries to expiate the offence -by honouring it with proper funeral rites. The tiger, -like the snake, gives birth to those ancient twins, -fear and admiration. The perception of the beautiful -is one of the oldest as it is one of the most mysterious -of psychological phenomena in man and beast. Why -should the sheen of the peacock’s tail attract the -peahen? Why should the bower-bird and the lyre-bird -construct a lovely pleasance where they may -dance? Man perceived the beautiful in fire and wind, -in the swift air, the circle of stars, the violent water, -the lights of heaven: “being delighted with the -beauty of these things, he took them to be gods”—as -was said by the writer of the Wisdom of Solomon -about two hundred years before Christ. He also -perceived the beautiful in the lithe movements of -the snake and in the tiger’s symmetry.</p> - -<p class='c008'>As to the sense of fear, how is it that this fear -is unaccompanied by repulsion? To this question -the more general answer would seem to be that -Nature, if regarded as divine, cannot repel. But the -snake and tiger are in some special way divine, so -that they become still further removed from the range -of human criticism. They are manifestations of -divinity—a safer description of even the lowest forms -of zoolatry than the commoner one which asserts -that they are “gods.” Deity, if omnipresent, “must -be able to occupy the same space as another body -at the same time,” which was said in a different -connexion, but it is the true base of all beliefs -involving the union of spirit and matter from the -lowest to the highest.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_267'>267</span>The animal which is a divine agent, ought to -behave like one. If it causes destruction, such -destruction should have the fortuitous appearance -of havoc wrought by natural causes. The snake -or tiger should not wound with malice prepense, but -only in a fine, casual way. This is just what, as a -rule, they are observed to do. I have seen many -snakes, but I never saw one run after a man, though -I have seen men run after snakes. Now and then the -Italian peasant is bitten by vipers because he walks -in the long grass with naked feet. He treads on the -snake or pushes against it, and it bites him. So it -is with the Indian peasant. It is much the same in -the case of the normal tiger; unless he is disturbed or -wounded, he most rarely attacks. But there are -abnormal tigers, abnormal beasts of every sort—there -is the criminal class of beast. What of him? It -might be supposed that primitive man would take -such a beast to be an angry or vindictive spirit. By -no means. He detects in him a fellow-human. The -Indian forestalled Lombroso; the man-eating tiger is -a degenerate, really not responsible for his actions, -and still less is the god behind him responsible for -them.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Little need be said of the natural history of the -man-eating tiger; yet a few words may not be out -of place. To his abnormality every one who has -studied wild beasts bears witness. All agree that -the loss of life from tigers is almost exclusively -traceable to individuals of tiger-kind which prey -chiefly or only on man. The seven or eight hundred -persons killed annually by tigers in British India are -<span class='pageno' id='Page_268'>268</span>victims of comparatively few animals. Not many -years ago a single man-eating tigress was certified -to have killed forty-eight persons. While the -ordinary tiger has to be sought out with difficulty -for the sport of those who wish to hunt him, the -man-eater night after night waylays the rural postman -or comes boldly into the villages in search of -his unnatural food. During great scarcity caused -by the destruction or disappearance of small game -in the forests, 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 cold. -Such special causes do not affect the question of -the man-eater, which eats man’s flesh from choice, -not from necessity. Why he does so Europeans -have tried to explain in various ways. One is, that -the unfamiliar taste of human flesh creates an irresistible -craving. In South America they say that a -jaguar after tasting man’s flesh once becomes an incorrigible -man-eater for ever after. Others think -man-eating is a form of madness, a disease, and -they point to the fact that the man-eater is always -in bad condition; his skin is useless. But it is not -sure if this be cause or effect, since man’s flesh is -said to be unwholesome. A third and plausible -theory would attribute man-eating to the easy -capture of the prey: a tiger that has caught one -man will hunt no other fleeter game. Especially -in old age, a creature that has neither horns nor -tusks nor yet swift feet must appear an attractive -prey. This coincides with an observation made by -Apollonius of Tyana: he says that lions caught -<span class='pageno' id='Page_269'>269</span>and ate monkeys for medicine when they were sick, -but that when they were old and unable to hunt the -stag and the wild boar, they caught them for food. -Aristotle said that lions were more disposed to enter -towns and attack man when they grew old, as old -age made their teeth defective, which was a hindrance -to them in hunting.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Another possible clue may be deduced from a -belief which exists in Abyssinia about the man-eating -lion. In that country the people dislike to have -Europeans hunt the lion, not only because they -revere him as the king of beasts (though this is -one reason, and it shows how natural to man is the -friendly feeling towards beasts, and how it flourishes -along with any sort of religion, provided the religion -has been left Oriental and not Westernised), but -also because they are convinced that a lion whose -mate has been killed becomes ferocious and thirsts -for human blood. This belief is founded on accurate -observation of the capacity of wild beasts for affection. -The love of the lion for his mate is no -popular error. That noble hunter, Major Leveson, -told a pathetic story of how he witnessed in South -Africa a fight between two lions, while the lioness, -palm and prize, stood looking on. A bullet laid -her low, but the combatants were so hotly engaged -that neither of them perceived what had happened. -Then another bullet killed one of them: the survivor, -after the first moment of surprise as to why his foe -surrendered, turned round and for the first time saw -the hunters who were quite near. He seemed about -to spring on them, when he caught sight of the dead -<span class='pageno' id='Page_270'>270</span>lioness: “With a peculiar whine of recognition, -utterly regardless of our presence, he strode towards -her, licked her face and neck with his great rough -tongue and patted her gently with his huge paw, -as if to awaken her. Finding that she did not respond -to his caresses, he sat upon his haunches like -a dog and howled most piteously....” Finally -the mourning lion fled at the cries of the Kaffirs -and the yelping of the dogs close at hand. He had -understood the great, intolerable fact of death. -Would any one blame him if he became an avenger -of blood?</p> - -<p class='c008'>Supposing that this line of defence could be transferred -to the tiger, instead of being branded as lazy, -decrepit, mad, or bad, he might hope to appear before -the public with a largely rehabilitated character.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The natives of the jungle resort to none of these -hypotheses to account for the man-eater: a different -bank of ideas can be drawn on by them to help them -out of puzzling problems. The free force of imagination -is far preferable, if admitted, as a solver of difficulties, -to all our patient and plodding researches. -The jungle natives tell many stories of the man-eater, -of which the following is a typical example. -It was told to a British officer, from whom I -had it.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Once upon a time there was a man who had the -power of changing himself into a tiger whenever -he liked. But for him to change back into the shape -of a man it was necessary that some human being -should pronounce a certain formula. He had a -friend who knew the formula, and to him he went -<span class='pageno' id='Page_271'>271</span>when he wished to resume human shape. But the -friend died.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The man was obliged, therefore, to find some one -else to pronounce the formula. At last he decided -to confide the secret to his wife; so, one day, 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 tiger; he charged her to pronounce -the proper formula when she should see him appear -in tiger-shape, and he assured her that he would -then, forthwith, become a man again.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In a few days, after he had amused himself by -catching a few antelopes, he trotted up to his wife, -hoping all would be well. But the woman, in spite -of all that he had told her, was so dreadfully -frightened when she saw a large tiger running -towards her, that she began to scream. The tiger -jumped about and tried to make her understand by -dumb-show what she was to do, but the more he -jumped the more she screamed, and at last he -thought in his mind, “This is the most stupid -woman I ever knew,” and he was so angry that he -killed her. Directly afterwards he recollected that no -other human being knew the right formula—hence he -must remain for ever a tiger. This so affected his -spirits that he acquired a hatred for the whole human -race, and killed men whenever he saw them.</p> - -<p class='c008'>This diverting folk-tale shows a root-belief in the -stage of becoming a branch-belief. In the present -case the root is the ease with which men are thought -to be able to transform themselves (or be transformed -by others) into animals. The branch is the presumption -<span class='pageno' id='Page_272'>272</span>that a very wicked animal must be human. -The corresponding inference that a very virtuous -animal must be human, throws its reflection upon -innumerable fairy-tales. I think it was the more -primitive of the two. Even the tiger is not everywhere -supposed to be the worse for human influence. -In the Sangor and Nerbrudda territories people say -that if a tiger has killed one man he will never kill -another, because the dead man’s spirit rides on his -head and guides him to more lawful prey. Entirely -primitive people do not take an evil view of human -nature—which is proved by their confidence in -strangers: the first white man who arrives among -them is well received. Misanthropy is soon learnt, -but it is not the earliest sentiment. The bad view -of the man-tiger prevails in the Niger delta, where -the negroes think that “some souls which turn into -wild beasts give people a great deal of trouble.” -Other African tribes hold that tailless tigers are -men—tigers which have lost their tails in fighting -or by disease or accident. I do not know if these -are credited with good or bad qualities.</p> - -<p class='c008'>By the rigid Totemist all this is ascribed to -Totemism. Men called other tribesmen by the -names of their totems; then the totem was forgotten -and they mistook the tiger-totem-man for a -man-tiger <i>et sic de ceteris</i>. My Syrian guide on -Mount Carmel told me that the ravens which fed -Elijah were a tribe of Bedouins called “the Ravens,” -which still existed. If this essay in the Higher Criticism -was original it said much for his intelligence. -But because such confusions may happen, and no -<span class='pageno' id='Page_273'>273</span>doubt do happen, are they to be taken as the final -explanation of the whole vast range of man and -animal mutations? What have they to do with such -a belief as that vouched for by St. Augustine—to -wit, that certain witch innkeepers gave their guests -drugs in cheese which turned them into animals? -These witches had a sharp eye to business, for they -utilised the oxen, asses, and horses thus procured, -for draught or burden, or let them out to their -customers, nor were they quite without a conscience, -as when they had done using them they turned them -back into men. Magic, the old rival of religion, lies -at the bottom of all this order of ideas. Magic may -be defined as the natural supernatural, since by it man -<i>unaided</i> commands the occult forces of nature. The -theory of demoniacal assistance is of later growth.</p> - -<p class='c008'>A story rather different from the rest is told by -Pausanias, who records that, at the sacrifice of Zeus -on Mount Lycæus, a man was always turned into a -wolf, but if for nine years in wolf-shape he abstained -from eating human flesh, he would regain his human -form. This suggests a Buddhist source. The infiltration -of Buddhist folk-lore into Europe is a -subject on which we should like to know more. -Buddhism was the only missionary religion before -Christianity, and there is every probability that it -sent missionaries West as well as East.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The early Irish took so favourable a view of -wolves that they were accustomed to pray for their -salvation, and chose them as godfathers for their -children. In Druidical times the wolf and other -animals were divine manifestations, and the Celts -<span class='pageno' id='Page_274'>274</span>were so attached to their beast-gods that they did -not maledict what they had worshipped, but found -it a refuge somewhere. In the earliest Gallic sculpture -the dispossessed animals are introduced as -companions of the new Saints.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It will be noticed that in the Indian folk-tale, -though the identification of the man with the man-eater -is clear, a very lenient view is taken of him: he was -not always so; even his excursions in tiger-skin were, -at first, purely innocent; he was a good husband and -a respectable citizen till his wife’s nerves made him -lose his temper.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In early Christian times, the man-wolf might be -not only innocent but a victim. He might be a -particularly good man turned by a sorcerer into a -wolf, and in such cases he preserves his good tendencies. -In the seventh century such a man-wolf -defended the head of St. Edward the Martyr from -other wild beasts.</p> - -<p class='c008'>On the other hand, there are stories of Christian -saints who turned evil-disposed persons into beasts -by means of the magical powers which, at first, <i>all</i> -baptized persons were thought to possess potentially -if not actively. St. Thomas Aquinas believed in -the possibility of doing this. In a Russian folk-tale -the apostles Peter and Paul turned a bad husband -and wife into bears.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In Europe by degrees the harmless were-wolf -entirely disappeared but the evil one survived. The -superstition of lycanthropy concentrated round one -point (as superstitions often do): the self-transformation -of a perverse man or sorcerer into an animal -<span class='pageno' id='Page_275'>275</span>for nefarious purposes. The object of the transformation -might be the opportunity for giving free -range to sanguinary appetites; but there was another -object lurking in the background, and this was the -acquirement of second sight, which some animals -(if not all) are supposed to be endowed with. Just -as Varro and Virgil believed in lycanthropy, so the -most highly educated Europeans in the time of -Louis XIV. and after, believed in were-wolves. -The choice of the animal was immaterial, but it fell -naturally on the most prominent and feared wild -animal which was locally extant. A fancy or exotic -animal would not do, which illustrates the link there -is between popular beliefs and <i>facts</i>; distorted facts, -it may be, but real and not imaginary things. -If a bear of bad morals appears in Norway, people -declare that it can be “no Christian bear”—it must -be a Lapp or a Finn, both these peoples, who are -much addicted to magic, being supposed to have -the power of changing into bears when they choose. -Instead of seeking the wild beast in man, people -sought the man in the wild beast.</p> - -<p class='c008'>As in Asia so in Europe, it was noticed and -pondered that the normal wild beast is dangerous, -perhaps, but not from a human point of view perverse. -The normal wolf like the normal tiger does -not attack or destroy for the love of destruction. -Wolves attack in packs, but the instinct of the single -individual is to keep out of man’s way. He does -not kill even animals indiscriminately. In the -last times when there were wolves in the Italian -valleys of the Alps, the news spread that a wolf -<span class='pageno' id='Page_276'>276</span>had killed a number of sheep. What had really -happened was this, which an old hunter told at -Edolo to a relative of mine. The wolf jumped down -into a sheepfold sunk in the ground. He killed a -sheep and ate some of it and then found, to his -dismay, that he could not get up the wall of the -sheepfold. Nothing daunted, however, he killed -a sufficient number of sheep to form a mound, up -which he climbed and so effected his escape. No -one thought such a clever wolf as this a <i>lupo manaro</i>. -But some wolves, like some dogs, are subject to fits -of mental alienation, in which they slay without rhyme -or reason. Sheep are found killed all over the -countryside, and men or children may be among -the victims. The question arises of who did it—a -wolf, a man, or both in one? The material fact -is there, and it is a fact calculated to excite terror, -surprise, curiosity. That the fact may remain always -a mystery recent experience shows. When the -were-wolf mania was rampant in France, honestly -conducted judicial inquiry succeeded in a few cases, -in tracing the outrages to a real wolf or to a real -man. At last, in 1603, a French court of law pronounced -the belief in were-wolves to be an insane -delusion, and from that date it slowly declined. -Heretics were suspected of being were-wolves. As -late as fifty years ago, a reminiscence of the <i>loup -garou</i> existed in most parts of France, in the shape -of the <i>meneux des loups</i>, 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 clouds. The village recluse, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_277'>277</span>the poacher, the man who simply “knew more than -he should,” fell under the suspicion of being a “wolf-leader,” -and, of course, the usual “eye-witness” was -forthcoming to declare that he had <i>seen</i> the suspected -individual out upon his midnight rambles with his -wolves trotting after him. In some provinces all the -fiddlers or bag-pipers were thought to be “wolf-leaders.”</p> - -<div id='i276' class='figcenter id003'> -<img src='images/i276.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p><i>Maurice Sand.</i><br />“LE MENEUR DES LOUPS.”</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>If the wolf turnskin died out sooner in England -than in France, it was because there were no -wolves to fasten it upon. Throughout the horrible -witch-mania British sorcerers were supposed to turn -into cats, weasels, or innocent hares! Italian witches -still turn into cats. I remember how graphically -C. G. Leland described to me a visit he had paid to a -Tuscan witch; her cottage contained three stools, on -one of which sat the witch, on the second her familiar -jet-black cat, and on the third my old friend, who, -I feel sure, had come to believe a good deal in -the “old religion,” and who, in his last years, might -have sat for a perfect portrait of a magician! 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 prominent. No witch without -a cat! The essential <i>fact</i> in the superstition is -the fondness of poor, old friendless women for cats—their -last friends. A contributing fact lay in the -mysterious disappearances and reappearances of cats -and in their half-wild nature. The cat in Indian -folk-lore is the tiger’s aunt.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The mode of effecting transformation into animals -is various, but always connected with fixed magical -<span class='pageno' id='Page_278'>278</span>procedure. A root or food, or still oftener an ointment, -is resorted to: ointments played a great part in -superstition; it was by ointments that the unlucky -persons accused of being wizards were held to have -spread the plague of Milan. But the surest method -of transformation was a girdle made of the skin of -the animal whose form it was desired to take. This -is regarded as a makeshift for not being able to put -on the whole skin. An old French record tells of -a man who buried a black cat in a box where four -roads met, with enough bread soaked in holy water -and holy oil to keep it alive for three days. The -man intended to dig the cat up and, after killing it, to -make a girdle of its skin by which means he expected -to obtain the gift of second sight; but the burial-place -of the cat was discovered by some dogs that -were scratching the earth, before the three days -had elapsed. The man, put to the torture, confessed -all. In this case, it will be noticed that the spiritual -powers of the cat were to be obtained without -assuming its outward form. The turnskin who -wishes to go back into his human shape, has also -to follow fixed rules: a formula must be pronounced -by some one else, as in the jungle tiger story, or the -man-beast must eat some stated food as in Lucian’s -skit (if Lucian wrote it) of the man who, by using -the wrong salve, turned himself into a donkey instead -of into a bird as he had wished, and who could only -resume his own form by eating roses, which he did -not accomplish until he had undergone all sorts of -adventures.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The belief that beasts were inhabited by depraved -<span class='pageno' id='Page_279'>279</span>men has a certain affinity with the belief that depraved -men were inhabited by demons. Dante -maintains that some persons have actually gone to -their account while their bodies are still above-ground, -the lodgings of evil spirits.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The history of the turnskin leads up to several -conclusions, of which the most important is, that superstitions -often grow uglier as they grow older. They -descend, they rarely ascend. This experience should -make us pause before we pronounce hideous beliefs -to be, in a true sense, primitive. The idea of transformation -is one of the oldest of human ideas, much -older than transmigration, but at the outset, far -from lending itself to such repulsive applications as -man-tigers and demon-men, it gave birth to some -of the fairest passages in the poetry of mankind -which he calls his religion. It is impossible to -imagine a more beautiful myth than the Vedic belief -in the swan-maidens, the Apsarases who, by putting -on skirts of swan feathers, could become swans. -Their swan-skirts stretch from the hot East to the -cold North, for they are the same that are worn -by the Valkyries. 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 progress. Natural objects, lovely or -terrible, 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 name. Swans, sailing on still waters or circling -above our heads, inspire us with indefinite longings -<span class='pageno' id='Page_280'>280</span>which took form in the myth of the Apsarases -and appear again in the Vedic story of the sage -who, by deep knowledge and holiness, became a -golden swan and flew away to the sun. To this -day, if the Hindu sees a flight of swans wending -its mysterious way across the sky, he repeats the -saying almost mechanically (as a Catholic crosses -himself if he pass a shrine): “The soul flies away, -and none can go with it.”</p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c003' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_281'>281</span> - <h2 id='ch14' class='c006'>XIV<br /> <br />THE HORSE AS HERO</h2> -</div> -<p class='drop-capa0_25_0_7 c007'>FIFTY years ago the knell of the horse was -rung, with due solemnity, by the American -statesman, Charles Sumner. The age of chivalry, -he said, was gone—an age of humanity had come; -“the horse, whose importance more than human, -gave the name to that period of gallantry and war, -now yields his foremost place to man.” As a -matter of fact, the horse is yielding his foremost -place to the motor-car, to the machine; and this -is the topsy-turvy way in which most of the -millennial hopes of the mid-nineteenth century are -being fulfilled by the twentieth; the big dream of -a diviner day ends in a reality out of which all -that is ideal is fading. 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 “chivalry.” The horse was connected with the -ideals no less than with the realities of the phase -in human history that was called after him; the -mental consequences of the partnership between man -and that noble beast were not less far reaching -than the physical. There are a hundred types of -human character, some of them of the highest, in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_282'>282</span>the making of which the horse counts for nothing; -but this type, this figure of the very perfect gentle -knight, cannot be imagined in a horseless world. -We hear of what man taught animals, but less of -what animals taught man. In the unity of emotion -between horse and rider something is exchanged. -Even the epithets which it is natural to apply to -the knightly hero, one and all fit his steed: defiant -and gentle, daring and devoted, trusty and tireless, -a scorner of obstacles, of a gay, brave spirit—the -list could be lengthened at will. 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 interdependence.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In the aftermath of chivalry which produced the -song-writers and the splendid adventurers of the -Elizabethan age, horsemanship came again to the -fore as a passion rather than as a mere necessary -pursuit. We know that, not satisfied with what -England could provide, the fashionable young men -frequented the schools of skilled Italians, generally -of noble birth, such as Corte da Pavia, who was -Queen Elizabeth’s riding-master. The prevailing -taste is reflected in Shakespeare, who, though he -was for all time, was yet, essentially of his own; -his innumerable allusions to horses show, in the -first place, that he knew all about them, as he did -about most things, and in the second, that he knew -that these allusions would please his audience, which -no born dramatist ever treated as a negligible -quantity, and the least of all Shakespeare. Even -the performing or “thinking” horse does not -<span class='pageno' id='Page_283'>283</span>escape his notice; “the dancing horse will tell -you,” in “Love’s Labour Lost,” refers to the -“Hans” or “Trixie” of the period who also attracted -the attention of Ben Jonson, Downe, Sir -Kenelm Digby, Sir Walter Raleigh, Hall, and John -Taylor, the water-poet. This animal’s name was -“Morocco” but he was often called “Bankes’ horse,” -from his master who taught him to tell the number -of pence in silver coins and the number of points -in throws of dice, and on one occasion made him -walk to the top of St. Paul’s. Alas, for the fate -of “Morocco” and his master, “Being beyond the -sea burnt for one witch,” as chronicled by Ben -Jonson! Like Esmeralda and her goat, they were -accused of magic, and the charge, first started at -Orleans, was followed by condemnation and death -in Rome. Greater tragedies of superstition hardly -come with such a shock as this stupid slaughter -of a poor showman and his clever beast.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In Elizabethan society interest in horses was -directed chiefly to the turnings and windings, the -“shapes and tricks” of the riding-school, and this -lighter way of looking on them as affording man -his most splendid diversion is, in the main, Shakespeare’s -way—though he does not forget that, at -times, a horse may be worth a kingdom. Not to -him, however, or to any modern poet, do we go -for the unique, incomparable description of the -truly heroic horse, the uncowed charger of the -East, created to awe rather than to be awed by -man, whom no image of servility would fit. Here -is this specimen of the world’s greatest poetry, in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_284'>284</span>case any one be so unfortunate as not to know it -by heart:—</p> - -<p class='c008'>“He paweth in the valley and rejoiceth in his -strength; he goeth on to meet the armed men. -He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted; neither -turneth he back from the sword. The quiver rattleth -against him, the glittering spear and the shield. -He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage: -neither believeth he that it is the sound of the -trumpet. He saith among the trumpets, Ha! ha! -He smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of -the captains and the shouting.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>How the portrait leaps out of the page into -life as Velasquez’s horse in the Prado leaps out of -his frame! We feel the pulse of a passion which -throbs through every vein from head to hoof. This -Triumph of the War-horse is one of the points of -affinity in the Book of Job with Arab rather than -with Hebrew civilisation. The text itself is nearer -Arabic than any other Biblical book, and the life -of the protagonist is very like the life of an -ancient Arabian chieftain. The Jews proper cared -little for horses; when they fell into their hands -they knew no better than to destroy them. They -were a pastoral people, at no time fond of sport, -which was hardly recognised as lawful by their -religious ordinances. They do not seem to have -ridden on horseback. Zechariah, indeed, speaks of -the war-horse, but only to represent him as the -beautiful image of peace, no more mixing in the fray, -but bearing on his bell (which was meant to affright -the foe) the inscription: “Holiness unto the Lord.”</p> - -<div id='i284' class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i284.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p><span class='small'><i>Photo:</i> <i>Mansell.</i></span><br />THE ASSYRIAN HORSE.<br />British Museum.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_285'>285</span>On the other hand, the Arab, and, most of all, -the Nomadic Arab, has a dual existence with his -horse. He could not live without it; it is a part -of himself—of all that makes him himself and not -another. The same is true of the Todas and their -buffaloes, the Lapps and their reindeer. In summer -when the reindeer are in the hills, to save them from -what is there called the heat, a Lapp seems only -half a Lapp; but his thoughts are still of reindeer -and his fingers are busy with scratching its likeness -on his spoons, his milk-bowls, his implements of all -sorts, all of which are made of reindeer-horn. His -songs are still of reindeer: “While the reindeer lasts, -the Lapp will last; when the reindeer fails, the -Lapp will fail,” as ran the infinitely pathetic ditty -I heard sung by a Lapp woman who was shown -to me as the best singer of the tribe.</p> - -<p class='c008'>With all these people the flesh of the beloved -animal is esteemed the greatest delicacy; 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 attributes. Sometimes, -however, the reason may be simply that they were -for long periods in the impossibility of obtaining -other meat; since the natural man prefers food to -which he has grown familiar.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In what is probably the oldest version of Boccaccio’s -Falcon story, the Emperor of Constantinople -sends to ask a very generous præ-Islamic Arab -Chief, by name Hatem Tai (celebrated as the type -of chivalry over all the Moslem world), to give -him a horse which Hatem is known to value -<span class='pageno' id='Page_286'>286</span>beyond all his possessions. The object of the -demand was to put his reputation for generosity to -the test. The officer, who is the bearer of the -Emperor’s request, is regaled sumptuously on the -evening of his arrival; and, according to the laws -of Oriental courtesy, he puts off speaking of the -business in hand till next day. When he delivers -his message Hatem replies that he would have -complied gladly, but that the officer had eaten the -horse last night for supper! The horse was the -most costly and coveted food which the chief could -offer his guest, and the story becomes thus more -intelligible than when the victim is an uneatable -bird like a hawk.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In Oriental poetry the camel “who asks but a -thorn from the bed of roses of the world” takes a -well-merited share of attention, but the animal which -is before all others the Eastern poets’ beast is, of -course, the horse: he might himself be called the -poet as well as the prince among beasts, for if any -living thing incarnates the poetry “of form, of -motion, of glad devotion,” it is surely the high-bred -Arab steed. Innumerable tributes credit him with -three parts human qualities:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“The courser looks his love as plainly as if he could speak,</div> - <div class='line in1'>He waves his mane, his paws, he curls his nostrils and his lips;</div> - <div class='line in1'>He makes half-vocal sounds, uprears or droops his neck and hips,</div> - <div class='line in1'>His deep and pensive eyes light up with lambent flame, then seem</div> - <div class='line in1'>As if they swam in the desires of some mysterious dream.”<a id='r8' /><a href='#f8' class='c017'><sup>[8]</sup></a></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='fn'> - -<div class='footnote c000' id='f8'> -<p class='c018'><span class='label'><a href='#r8'>8</a>. </span>Translated by W. R. Alger.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_287'>287</span>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 bruise. Some of the Arabian -ballads of horses are among the very few Oriental -poems which have acquired universal fame, 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 tribe, on reaching which he -sinks dead, amidst the tears and lamentations of -all. Horses, the Koran expressly says, were created -for man’s use, but also “to be an ornament unto him”: -all the romance, the valour, the deep-seated aristocratic -instinct of the Arab, proudest of mankind, -is bound up with his horse. The splendid Arab -chief who stands aside motionless to let go by an -automobile carrying a party of tourists across the -Sahara reflects, as he draws his burnoose closer over -his mouth, “<i>This</i> is the ‘<i>ornament</i>’ of Western -man!” And, looking at his horse, which stands -motionless as he (for the Arab steed fears nothing -when his master is near), he adds to himself: -“These pass—we remain.” False it may be as a -prophecy, but he believes it <i>because convinced of his -superiority</i>.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Still by the camp-fires in the desert they tell the -old story of a great chief who, in præ-Gallic times, -was taken prisoner by the Emir’s horsemen. He -escaped, but hardly had he reached his tent when -in the desert air, in which sounds are heard afar off, a -clattering of hoofs could be distinguished—the Sultan’s -men were coming! The chief sprang on his mare and -fled. When the men came up they knew that only -<span class='pageno' id='Page_288'>288</span>one horse could overtake the mare, her beautiful -sister, not less swift than she. A soldier leapt from -his own horse intending to mount her, but the chiefs -son, yet a child, instantly shot her dead with a pistol. -And so the chief was saved.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The Ulemas of Algeria say that when God wished -to create the mare He spoke to the wind: “I will -cause thee to bring forth a creature that shall bear -all My worshippers, that shall be loved by My slaves, -and that will cause the despair of all who will not -follow My laws.” And when He had created her -He said: “I have made thee without an equal: the -goods of this world shall be placed between thy -eyes; everywhere I will make thee happy and -preferred above all the beasts of the field, for -tenderness shall everywhere be in the heart of thy -master; good alike for the chase and retreat, thou -shalt fly though wingless, and I will only place on -thy back the men who know me, who will offer -<span class='fss'>ME</span> prayers and thanksgivings; men who shall -be My worshippers from one generation to another.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>For the Arab the horse was not only the means -of performing great enterprises but the very object -of life, the thing in itself most precious, the care, the -preoccupation, and the prize. The Arab’s horse is -his kingdom.</p> - -<div id='i288' class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i288.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p>ARABIAN HORSE OF THE SAHARA.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>I suppose that there is no doubt that the knightly -type was a flower transported from the East, though, -like many other Eastern flowers, it grew to its best -in European gardens. The Crusaders learnt more -than they taught. Coming down later, the national -hero of Spain, for all his pure Gothic blood, is an -<span class='pageno' id='Page_289'>289</span>Eastern not a Western hero. He will be understood -far better when he is tried by this standard. If -we weigh him in Eastern rather than in Western -scales, a more lenient and above all a juster judgment -will be the result, and we shall see how the fine -qualities with which legend credits him were not -disproved by some acts which the modern Western -conscience condemns. On the whole it may be taken -for granted, in spite of all that has been said to -the contrary, that tradition which easily errs about -facts, is rarely wrong about character.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Ruy Diaz de Bivar was a hero after the Arab’s -own heart:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Noble y leal, soldado y Caballero,</div> - <div class='line in1'>Señor te apellido la gente Mora,”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c016'>as the lines run on his coffin in the town-hall at -Burgos. Nothing being sacred to a critic, it has -been contested that he was first called “Myo Cid,” -or “My Lord,” by the Moors, but tradition and -etymology agree too well for this to be reasonably -doubted. 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 it. It was derived from his gallantry -in single combats and did not mean, as some have -thought, “Champion of the Christians.”</p> -<p class='c008'>It is entirely in keeping with the Cid’s Arab -affinities that his horse should have attained a fame -almost as great as his own. From Bucephalus to -Copenhagen never was there a European horse -equal in renown to Bavieca. His glory, is it not -<span class='pageno' id='Page_290'>290</span>writ in nearly every one of the hundred ballads of -the Cid? The choosing of Bavieca is one of the most -striking events in the Cid’s youth. The boy asked his -godfather, a fat, good-natured old priest, to give -him a colt. The priest took him to a field where -the mares and their colts were being exercised and -told him to take the best. They were driven past -him and he let all the handsomest go by; then a -mare came up with an ugly and miserable-looking -colt—“This,” he cried, “is the one for me!” His -godfather was angry and called him a simpleton, but -the lad only answered that the horse would turn out -well and that “Simpleton” (“Bavieca”) should be -his name.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Horses which begin as ugly ducklings and end as -swans are an extensive breed. Count de Gubernatis, -in his valuable work on “Zoological Mythology,” -mentions Hatos, the magical horse of the Hungarians, -as belonging to this class. If as old as the oldest -legend, they are, in a sense, as new as the “outsider” -which carries off one of the greatest prizes -of the Turf. The choosing of Bavieca was in the -mind of Cervantes when he described in his inimitable -way the choosing of Rozinante (“ex-jade”), -who never became anything but a <i>rozin</i> in the most -present tense, except in the imagination of his -master, but who will live for ever in his company, -to bear witness to the indivisible oneness of the -knight and his horse.</p> - -<p class='c008'>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 -<span class='pageno' id='Page_291'>291</span>should have a horse so far more precious than any -possessed by his lord. There is in this not only -the act of homage but also the absorbing pride -which made the Arab who was overtaking a horse-stealer, -shout to him the secret sign at which his -stolen mare would go her best, preferring to lose -her than to vanquish her.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“O king, the thing is shameful that any man beside</div> - <div class='line in1'>The liege lord of Castile himself should Bavieca ride.</div> - <div class='line in1'>For neither Spain nor Araby could another charger bring</div> - <div class='line in1'>So good as he, and certes, the best befits the king.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>The gorgeous simplicity of the original is missed -by Lockhart in the succeeding verses, in which the -Cid, before giving up the horse, mounts him to show -his worth, his ermine mantle hanging from his -shoulders. He will do, he says, in the presence of -the king what he has not done for long except in -battle with the Moor: he will touch Bavieca with his -spurs. Then comes the maddest, wildest, yet most -accomplished display of noble horsemanship that -ever witched the world. One rein breaks and the -beholders tremble for his life, but with ease and -grace he guides the foaming and panting horse -before the king and prepares to yield him up. -Then Alfonso cries, God forbid that he should take -him: he shall be accounted, indeed, as his, but -shameful would it be</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“That peerless Bavieca should ever be bestrid</div> - <div class='line in1'>By any mortal but Bivar—‘Mount, mount again, my Cid!’”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_292'>292</span>There is a spot in Spain where we still seem to -breathe the very air of chivalrous romance: the royal -armoury at Madrid, in which the mail-clad knights -with their plumes, their housings, their lances, their -trophies, sit their fine horses as gallantly as if they -were riding straight into the lists. There, and there -alone, we can invoke the proper <i>mise en scène</i> for the -gestes and jousts described in the Spanish ballads.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Historically, it seems certain that the Cid died at -Valencia in July, 1099, an access of grief that his -captains—who, owing to his ill-health, were obliged -to replace him—had failed to hold the Moors in -check. King Alfonso came to the assistance of his -noble widow, Jimena, but finally Valencia had to -be abandoned; all the Christians left the town and -the Cid’s body was borne to his distant Northern -home. Such is the historical outline, sufficiently -pathetic in itself but adorned with additions, not all -of them, perhaps, invented in the sublime legend of -the Last Ride. It is said that the Cid, knowing -that his last hour was near, 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 Persia. He gave particular instructions -as to how his body was to be anointed with -the myrrh and balsam which remained in the golden -caskets, and how it was to be set upright on Bavieca, -fully saddled and armed, to be still a terror to the -Moors, who were to be kept in complete ignorance -of his death. All this was done and a great victory -was won over the Moors, who thought they saw their -dreaded enemy once more commanding in person. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_293'>293</span>Then the victors started on the long journey to San -Pedro de Cardeña, near Burgos, the Cid riding his -horse by day, supported by an artful contrivance, and -by night placed on a dummy horse wrought by Gil -Diaz, his devoted servitor. Jimena, with all the Cid’s -men, followed in his train. 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 hero, but they wore rich and gay -apparel, for the Cid had forbidden the wearing of -mourning. So Cardeña was reached, and tenderly -and lovingly Ruy Diaz lifted the Cid’s body for the -last time from Bavieca’s back—never more to bear -a man. The glorious war-horse lived for two years, -led to water each day by Gil Diaz. On his death, at -more than forty years of age and leaving not unworthy -descendants behind him, he was buried, according to -the Cid’s express desire, in a deep and ample grave, “so -that no dog might disturb his bones,” near the gate of -the Convent, and two elms were planted to mark the -spot. When Gil Diaz died, full of years and richly -provided for by the Cid’s daughters, he was laid to -rest beside the horse he had loved and tended so -faithfully.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In this narrative, condensed from the Chronicles, -the curious particular will have been noticed of -the gift by the “Great Sultan of Persia” to the -Christian warrior of those precious spices and -aromatic gums which seem to have been the secret -treasure of old Persia, forming a priceless offering -reserved for the very greatest personages. The -strangeness of bringing in the Sultan of Persia -<span class='pageno' id='Page_294'>294</span>almost suggests that there was truth in the assertion -that he had sent presents to the Cid. Over the sea -and over the fruitful fields the radiance of noble deeds -travels, as Pinder said of old. A little after the -march of the Thousand, the Arabs of the desert -were heard discussing round their camp-fires the exploits -of Garibaldi. If the fame of the Cid reached -Persia, as it is very likely that it did, he would have -found fervent admirers among a people which was still -electrified by the epic poem of Firdusi, who died -within a year or two of the Cid’s birth. In that -epic is told the story of the Persian Campeador—the -Champion Rustem, 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 “discoverer” has derived one from the -other, the more so since there have not been wanting -writers who denied the Cid’s existence. And -if Ruy Diaz de Bivar has his analogue in Rustem, -has not Bavieca a perfect counterpart in Rakush?</p> - -<p class='c008'>It is the horse not his master that leads me into the -mazes of the <i>Shah Nameh</i>, but something of Rustem -must be told to make Rakush’s story intelligible. -Like Siegfried, Rustem was of extraordinary size and -strength: he looked a year old on the day of his -birth. When he was still a child a white elephant -broke loose and began trampling the people to death: -Rustem ran to the rescue and slew it. A little time -after this his father, whose name was Zal, called the -boy and showed him all his horses, desiring him to -choose that which pleased him best, but not one -was powerful enough or spirited enough to satisfy -<span class='pageno' id='Page_295'>295</span>him. Unlike the Cid, Rustem wanted a horse that -looked as perfect as he really was. After examining -them all and trying many, he noticed at a little -distance a mare followed by a marvellously beautiful -foal. Rustem got ready his noose to throw about -the foal’s neck, and while he did so, a stable-man -whispered to him that this foal was, indeed, worth -anything to secure; the dam, named Abresh, was -famous, while the sire had been no mortal creature -but a djinn. The foal’s name was Rakush (“Lightning”), -a name given to a dappled or piebald horse, -and his coat, that was as soft as silk, looked like -rose-leaves strewn on a saffron ground. Several -persons who had tried already to capture the foal -had been killed by the mare, who allowed no one -to go near it.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In fact, no sooner has Rustem lassoed the foal -than its mother rushes towards him ready to seize -him with her white teeth, which glisten in the sun. -Rustem utters a loud cry which so startles the mare -that she pauses for an instant: then, with clenched -fist, he rains blow on blow on her head and neck till -she drops down to die. It was done in self-defence: -still, it is a barbaric prelude.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Rustem continued to hold Rakush with his free -hand while he conquered the mare, but now the colt -drags him hither and thither like an inanimate object: -the dauntless youth has to strive long for the mastery, -but he does not rest till the end is achieved. The -horse is broken in at one breath, after the fashion of -American cow-boys. It should be noticed that -legendary heroes always break in their own horses—no -<span class='pageno' id='Page_296'>296</span>other influence has been ever brought to bear on -the horse but their own. Rakush has found a master -indeed, but a master worthy of him. He has recognised -that there is one—only one—fit to rule him. -Like all true heroes’ horses, he will suffer no other -mortal to mount him: if Barbary really allowed -Bolingbroke to ride him it was a sure sign that -his poor royal master was no hero. This same -characteristic belonged also to Julius Cæsar’s horse, -which was a remarkable animal in more ways than -one, as he was reported to have feet like a human -being. I have no doubt that Soloman’s white mare, -Koureen, followed the same rule as well as the angel -Gabriel’s reputed steed, Haziûm, though I have not -found record of the fact.</p> - -<p class='c008'>When the colt is broken in, he stands before his -master perfect and without flaw. “Now I and my -horse are ready to join the fighting-men in the field,” -says Rustem as he places the saddle on his back, to -the boundless joy of Zal, whose old, withered heart -becomes as green as springtide with the thrill of -fatherly pride.</p> - -<p class='c008'>So Rakush is richly caparisoned and Rustem -rides away on him, beardless youth though he is, -to command great armies, slay fearsome dragons, -defeat the wiles of sorcerers, and do all the other -feats with which the fresh fancy of a young nation -embroidered the story of its favourite hero—for, -it must be remembered, Firdusi did not invent -Rustem any more than Tennyson invented Lancelot. -I think there is every reason to believe that there -was a real Rustem just as there was a real Cid; and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_297'>297</span>that the first, like the second, was a combination of -the <i>guerrillero</i>, the <i>condottiere</i>, the magnificent free-booter, -with the knight-errant or paladin—a stamp -which was impressed upon the other <i>rôle</i> by the -personal quality of noble-mindedness possessed by -the individual in each case. For years unnumbered -the exploits of Rustem have entertained the Persian -listener from prince to peasant, but the story will -ever remain young because it is of those which -reflect that which holds mankind spell-bound: the -magnetic power of human personality.</p> - -<p class='c008'>One hears the clear, crisp clatter of the horse’s -hoofs as they gallop through the epic. Docile as -Rakush has become, his spirit is unbent; he is -eager to fight his own battles and his master’s too. -Like Baiardo, the horse in Ariosto, he uses his -hoofs with deadly effect, and on one occasion there -is a regular duel between him and another horse -while Rustem is fighting its rider. His rashness -inspires Rustem with much anxiety in their earlier -journeys together. Quite at the beginning, when -Rustem is on his way to liberate his captive king—his -first “labour”—he lies down to sleep in a -forest, leaving Rakush free to graze, and what is -not his surprise when he wakes to find a large lion -extended dead on the grass close by. Rakush killed -the savage beast with teeth and heels while his -master slept tranquilly. Rustem remonstrates with -his too venturesome steed: Why did he fight the -lion all alone? Why did he not neigh loudly and -call for assistance? Had he reflected how terribly -unfortunate it would be for Rustem if anything were -<span class='pageno' id='Page_298'>298</span>to happen to him? Who would carry his heavy -battle-axe and all his other accoutrements? He -conjures Rakush to fight no more lions single-handed. -Then and at other times Rustem talks to Rakush, -but Rakush does not answer like the horse of -Achilles. The Persians of the eleventh century had -reached the stage of people who take their marvels -with discrimination; they accepted Simurghs, white -demons, phantom elks, giants, dragons, but they -might have hesitated about a talking horse. Another -of Rustem’s addresses to his horse was spoken after -one of his first victories when the enemy was in -full retreat: “My valued friend,” he said, “put -forth thine utmost speed and bear me after the -foe.” The noble animal certainly understood, for -he bounded over the plain snorting as he flew along -and tossing up his mane, and great was the booty -which fell into his master’s hands. Rustem once -said that with his arms and his trusty steed he -would not mind fighting thirty thousand men. As -a matter of fact, he never lacked followers, for he -was of those captains who have only to stamp on -the ground for there to spring up soldiers.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In the nineteenth century a “legendary hero” -wandered with his horse over the plains of Uruguay -much as Rustem wandered with Rakush. “In my -nomad life in America,” writes Garibaldi, “after -a long march or a day’s fighting, I unsaddled my -poor tired horse and smoothed and dried his coat -... rarely could I offer him a handful of oats since -those illimitable fields provide so little grain that oats -are not often given to horses. Then, after leading -<span class='pageno' id='Page_299'>299</span>him to water, I settled him for the night near my -own resting-place. Well, when all this was done, -which was no more than a duty to my faithful -companion of toil and peril, I felt content, and if -by chance he neighed, refreshed, or rolled on the -green turf—oh, then I tasted <i>la gentil voluttà d’esser -pio</i>!” Marvels are out of date, but feeling remains -unchanged, and the “sweets of kindness” were -known, surely, even to the earliest hero who made -a friend of his horse and found him, in the solitude -of the wild, no bad substitute for human friends.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In the story of Sohrab, one of the finest episodes -in epic poetry, Rakush is introduced as the primary -cause of it all. Tired with hunting in the forest, and -perhaps inclined to sleep by a meal of roasted wild -ass, which seems to have been his favourite game, -Rustem lay down to rest under a tree, turning -Rakush free to graze as was his wont. When he -awoke the horse was nowhere to be seen! Rustem -looked for his prints, a way of recovering stolen -animals still practised with astonishing success in -India. He found the prints and guessed that his -favourite had been carried off by robbers, which was -what had actually happened: a band of Tartar -marauders lassoed the horse with their kamunds and -dragged him home. Rustem followed the track over -the border of the little state of Samengan, the king -of which, warned of the approach of the hero of the -age, went out to meet him on foot with great -deference. The hero, however, was in no mood for -compliments; full of wrath, he told the king that -his horse had been stolen and that he had traced -<span class='pageno' id='Page_300'>300</span>his footprints to Samengan. The king kept his -presence of mind better than might have been -expected; he made profuse excuses and declared -that no effort should be spared to recover the horse—meanwhile -he prayed Rustem to become his -honoured guest.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Emissaries were sent in all directions in search of -Rakush and a grand entertainment was prepared -for his master. Pleased and placated, Rustem, who -had spared little time for luxury in his adventurous -life, finally lay down on a delightful and beautifully -adorned bed. How poetic was sleep when it was -associated, not with an erection on four legs, but -with a low couch spread with costly furs and rich -Eastern stuffs! So Rustem reposed, when his eyes -opened on a living dream, a maiden standing by -his side, her lovely features illuminated by a lamp -which a slave girl held. “I am the daughter of the -king,” says the fair vision; “no one man has ever -seen my face or even heard my voice. I have heard -of thy wondrous valour....” Rustem, still wondering -if he slept or woke, asked her what was her -will? She answered that she loved him for his fame -and glory, and that she had vowed to God she would -wed no other man. Behold, God has brought him -to her! She desires him to ask her hand to-morrow -of her father and so departs, lighted on her way -by the little slave.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Was ever anything more chaste in its self-abandonment -than the avowal of this love, holy as Desdemona’s -and irresistible as Senta’s? Nowhere in -fiction can be found a more convincing illustration -<span class='pageno' id='Page_301'>301</span>of the truth that the essential spring of woman’s -love for man is hero-worship. On which truth, in -spite of the illusions it covers, what is best in human -evolution is largely built.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The king gave glad assent to the marriage, which -was celebrated according to the rites of that country. -Rustem tarried but one night with his bride: in the -morning with weeping eyes she watched him galloping -away on the recovered Rakush. Long she -grieved, and only when a son was born was her -sad heart comforted. The grandfather gave the boy -the name of Sohrab. 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 born.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In due course Rustem sent a gift of costly jewels -to his wife Tahmineh, with inquiries whether the -birth of a child had blessed the marriage? And -now the mother of Sohrab made the fatal mistake -of a deception which led to all the evil that followed; -she sent word that a girl had been born because she -was afraid that if Rustem knew that he had a son, -he would take him from her. Rustem, disappointed -in his hopes, thought no more about Samengan.</p> - -<p class='c008'>There is no hint that Tahmineh’s fibbing, which, -like very many other “white lies,” ended in dire -disaster, was in the slightest degree the moral as -well as the actual cause of the fatality. Herodotus -said that every Persian child was taught to ride and -to speak the truth; by Firdusi’s time the second part -of the instruction seems to have been neglected, for -in the <i>Shah Nameh</i> he makes everybody give full -rein to his powers of invention without the slightest -<span class='pageno' id='Page_302'>302</span>scruple. The bad consequences are attributed to -blind fate, not to seeing Nemesis.</p> - -<p class='c008'>What is so agonising in the doom of Sohrab is -precisely the lack of moral cause such as exists in -the Greek tragedies. Though we do not accept -as a reality the Greek theory of retribution, we do -accept it as a point of view, and it helps us, as it -helped them, to endure the unspeakable horror of -the Ædipus story.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Sohrab goes forth, with a boy’s enthusiasm, to -conquer Persia as a present to his unknown father. -The two meet, and are incited to engage in single -combat, each not knowing the other. After a Titanic -contest, Sohrab falls fatally wounded, and only then -does Rustem discover his identity. Matthew Arnold’s -poem has familiarised English readers with this -wonderful scene, and though the “atmosphere” with -which he surrounded it, is rather classical than -Eastern, his “Sohrab and Rustum” remains the -finest rendering of an Eastern story in English -poetry. Some blind guide blamed him for “plagiarising” -Firdusi: in a few points he might have done -wisely to follow his original still more closely; at -least, it is a pity that he did not enshrine in his -own beautiful poem Sohrab’s touching words of -comfort to his distracted father: “None is immortal—why -this grief?” Brave, spotless, kind, Firdusi’s -hero-victim who “came as the lightning and went -as the wind” will always rank with the highest in -the House of the Youthful Dead.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Sohrab had a horse as well as Rustem. This sort -of repetition or variation which is often met with -<span class='pageno' id='Page_303'>303</span>in Eastern literature pleases children, who like an -incident much the better if they are already -acquainted with it, but to the mature sense of the -West it seems a fault in art. No doubt for this -reason Matthew Arnold does not mention Sohrab’s -horse, while doing full justice to Rakush. But -connected with the young man’s charger there is -a scene of the deepest human interest and pathos, -when it is led back to his mourning, sonless mother -who had watched him ride forth on it, rejoicing in -its strength and in his own. It was chosen by him -and saddled by him for the first time in his glad -boyhood; now it is led back alone, with his arms -and trappings hanging from the saddle-bows. In an -agony of grief Tahmineh presses its hoofs to her -breast and kisses head and face, covering them with -her tears.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The mother dies after a year of ceaseless heartbreak; -the father and slayer grieves with a strong -man’s mighty grief, but he lives to struggle and fight. -He and his Rakush have many more wondrous -adventures, passing through enchantments and disenchantments -and undergoing wounds and marvellous -cures both of men and beast, till their hour too -comes. Rustem had a base-born half-brother, named -Shughad, who was carefully brought up and wedded -to a king’s daughter, though the astrologers had -foretold that he would bring ruin to his house. This -evil genius invites his invincible kinsman to a day’s -hunting, having secretly prepared hidden pits bristling -with swords. The wise Rakush stops short at the -brink of the first pit, refusing to advance; Rustem -<span class='pageno' id='Page_304'>304</span>is stirred to anger and strikes his favourite, who, -urged thus, falls into the pit, but with superhuman -energy, though cruelly cut about, emerges from it -with his rider safely on his back. It is in vain, -for another and another pit awaits them—seven times -they come up, hacked about with wounds, but on -rising out of the seventh pit they both sink dying -at the edge. Faintness clouds Rustem’s brain; then, -for a little space, it grows clear and cool and he -utters the accusing cry, “<i>Thou, my brother!</i>” The -wretch’s answer is no defence of him—there can exist -none—but strangely, unexpectedly, in spite of the -impure lips that speak it, it gives the justification of -God’s ways. “God has willed Rustem’s end for all -the blood he has shed.” From his own stern faith -with its Semitic roots, Firdusi took this great, solemn -conception of blood-guiltiness which allowed no compromise. -“Thou hast shed blood abundantly and -hast made great wars.” One thinks, too, of the wail -of one who was of modern men, the most like the -old Hebrew type: “All I have done,” said Bismarck -in his old age, “is to cause many tears to flow.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The king, who is the father-in-law of Shughad, -offers to send for a magic balm to cure Rustem’s -wounds, but the hero will have none of it. He is -now quite collected, though his life-blood is ebbing -away. In a quiet voice he asks Shughad to do him -the kindness of stringing his bow and placing it in -his hands, so that when dead he may be a scarecrow -to keep away wolves and wild beasts from -devouring his body. With a hateful smile of triumph -Shughad complies; Rustem grasps the bow, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_305'>305</span>taking unerring aim lets go the arrow, which nails -the traitor to the tree, whither he rushed to hide -himself. So Rustem dies, thanking the Almighty -for giving him the power to avenge his murder.</p> - -<p class='c008'>There are few better instances of the long survival -of a traditional sentiment than the fact of the king’s -(or the chief’s) stable being regarded in modern -Persia as an inviolable sanctuary. This must have -originated in the veneration once felt for the horse. -The misfortunes which befell the grandson of Nadir -Shah were attributed to his having put to death a -man who took refuge in his stable. No horse will -carry to victory a master who profanes his stable -with bloodshed. Even political offenders or pretenders -to the throne were safe if they could reach -the stable for as long as they remained in it.</p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c003' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_306'>306</span> - <h2 id='ch15' class='c006'>XV<br /> <br />ANIMALS IN EASTERN FICTION</h2> -</div> -<p class='drop-capa0_25_0_7 c007'>I WAS looking idly at the motley Damascus crowd -behind whose outward strangeness to my eyes -I knew there lay a deeper strangeness of ideas, when -in the middle of a clearing I saw a monkey in a red -fez which began to go through its familiar tricks. I -thought to myself, “How very near that monkey -seems to me!” It was like the well-known figure -of an old friend. So it is with the animal-lore of -Eastern fiction; it seems very near to us; its heroes -are our familiar friends. Perhaps we would lose -everything in the treasure-house of Oriental tales -sooner than the stories of beasts. If those stories -had a hidden meaning which escapes us we are not -troubled by their hidden meaning. In their obvious -sense they appeal to us directly, without any effort -to call up conditions of life and mind far removed -from our own. We take them to our hearts and keep -them there.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Indeed, the West liked the Eastern stories of beasts -so well that it borrowed not a few without any acknowledgment. -We all know that the Welsh dog, Gellert, -whose grave is shown to this day, had a near relative -in the mungoose of a Chinese Buddhist story which -<span class='pageno' id='Page_307'>307</span>exists in a collection dating from the fifth century. -The same motive reappears in the <i>Panchatantra</i>, a -Sanscrit collection to which is assigned a slightly -later date. These are the earliest traces of it that -have come to light, but its subsequent wanderings -are endless. The theme does not vary much; a -faithful animal saves a child from imminent peril: -it is seen with marks of blood or signs of a struggle -upon it, and on the supposition that it has killed -or hurt the child, it is killed before the truth is discovered. -The animal varies according to the locality, -and amongst the other points of interest in this world-legend -is that of reminding us of the universal diffusion -of pet animals. We learn, too, which was the -characteristically household animal with the people -who re-tell the story: in Syria, Greece, Spain, as -in Wales, and also (rather to our surprise) among -the Jews, we hear of a dog. The weasel tribe prevails -in India and China, the cat in Persia. Probably -in India and in China dogs were not often admitted -inside the houses; in a Chinese analogous tale, of -which I shall speak presently, there is a dog, but -the incidents take place on the highway. 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 times, -and wherever man lives in domesticity with any -animal that he does not look upon as food, he -cannot save himself from becoming attached to it -only a little less than he is attached to the human -members of his household. To this rule there are -no exceptions.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_308'>308</span>In the matter of folk-tales, even when we seem to -have a clue to their origin, it is rash to be dogmatic. -It has been remarked that the origin of this story -was probably Buddhist, because it is unquestionable -that Buddhist monks purposely taught humanity to -animals. Supposing that the story was diffused with -a fixed purpose over the vast area covered at one -time or another by Buddhism, it would have started -with a wide base whence to spread. Moreover, as I -mentioned, we find it first in a Buddhist collection -of stories. But I am far from sure that the story did -not exist—nay, that the fact may not have happened—long -before Gautama preached his humane morality. -Why should not the fact have happened over and -over again? It is one of those stories that are more -true than truth. I can tell a perfectly true tale which, -though not quite the same as “Gellert’s hound,” -deserves no less to go round the world. A few years -ago a man went out in a boat on a French river to -drown his dog. In mid stream he threw the dog -into the water and began to row away. The dog -followed and tried to clamber up into the boat. The -man gave it some severe blows about the head with -the oar, but the dog still followed the boat. Then -the man lost his temper and lost his balance: just as -he aimed what he thought would be the final blow -he tumbled into the water, and as he did not know -how to swim he was on the point of being drowned. -Then the dog played his part: he grasped the man’s -clothes with his teeth and held him up till assistance -came. That dog was never drowned!</p> - -<p class='c008'>Things are soon forgotten now, but if this had -<span class='pageno' id='Page_309'>309</span>only happened on a Chinese canal three thousand -years ago we might still have been hearing about it. -More folk-tales arose in such a way than an unbelieving -world suspects.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In the Chinese Buddhist version of Gellert we -are told that a very poor Brahman who had to beg -his bread possessed a pet mungoose, which, as he -had no children, became as fondly loved as if it had -been his son. How true is this touch which shows -the love of animals as the <i>katharsis</i> of the heart-ache -or heartbreak of the childless! But, by and by, to the -great joy of the Brahman, his wife bore him a son; -after this happy event he cherished the mungoose -even more than ever, 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 own. One day -the Brahman went out to beg, 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 minute. The woman fed the child with -cream and then remembered that she had to grind -some rice; she went into the garden to grind it and -forgot to take the little boy with her. After she was -gone, a snake, attracted by the smell of the cream, -crept quite close to where the child lay and was going -to bite it, when the mungoose perceived what was -going on and reflected: “My father has gone out -and my mother too and now this poisonous snake -wishes to kill my little brother.” So the mungoose -attacked the poisonous snake and tore it into seven -pieces. Then it thought that, since it had killed the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_310'>310</span>snake and saved the child, it ought to acquaint its -father and mother of what had happened and rejoice -their hearts. Therefore it went to the door and -waited for them to return, its mouth still covered with -blood. Just then the Brahman came home and he -was not pleased to see his wife without the child in -the out-house, where the mill was. Thus, though this -is left for the hearer to infer, he was already vexed and -anxious, when he met the mungoose waiting by the -door with blood on its mouth. The thought rushed -into his mind, “This creature, being hungry, has -slain and eaten the child! “He took up a stick -and beat the mungoose to death. (Such a little -thing, it is so easily killed!) After that he went -into the house, where he found the baby sitting up -in his cradle playing merrily with his fingers, while -the seven pieces of the dead snake lay beside him! -Sorrow filled the Brahman now; alas, for his folly! -The faithful creature had saved his child and he, -thoughtless wretch that he was, had killed it!</p> - -<p class='c008'>Only in this version are we informed of just what -the devoted animal thought; which may be a sign -of its Buddhist origin. In the modern Indian -variant, the mungoose, tied by a string, does not -succeed in getting free till after the child has been -bitten by the snake with which he had been playing, -thinking it a new toy. The cobra took the -play in good part till the child accidentally hurt it; -then, angry with the pain, it bit him in the neck. -When the mungoose got loose the deed was done -and the cobra had slunk back into its hole. Off ran -the mungoose into the jungle to find the antidote -<span class='pageno' id='Page_311'>311</span>which the Indian natives believe that this creature -always uses when it is itself bitten by snakes. The -mother comes in at the moment when the mungoose -is returning with the antidote: she sees the child -lying motionless, and thinking that the mungoose -has killed it she seizes it and dashes it to the -ground. It quivers for a few seconds, then it dies. -Only when it is dead, does the mother notice the -snake-root which it still holds tightly in its mouth. -She guesses the whole truth and quickly administers -the antidote to the child, who recovers consciousness. -The mungoose “had been a great pet with all the -children and was greatly mourned for.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>In the Sanscrit version preserved in the <i>Panchatantra</i> -collection the mother has brought up an -ichneumon with her only child, as if it had been -his brother; nevertheless, a sort of fear has always -haunted her that the animal might hurt the child -sooner or later. 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 crisis. -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 mastery?</p> - -<p class='c008'>When the woman has killed her innocent little -favourite she is bitterly unhappy, but instead of -blaming her own hastiness, she says it was all -her husband’s fault: what business had he to go -out begging, “through a greedy desire of profit,” -instead of minding the baby as she had told him -<span class='pageno' id='Page_312'>312</span>to do, while she went to the well to fetch water? -And now the reprobate has caused the death of the -ichneumon, the darling of the house!</p> - -<p class='c008'>The touching trait of the creature, which runs to -its master or mistress after saving the child, with -the charming confidence and pride which any animal -shows when it knows that it deserves praise, appears -in nearly all the versions. Prince Llewellyn’s -greyhound goes out to meet him “all bloody and -<i>wagging his tail</i>.” The ichneumon ran joyously -to meet its mistress, and the cat, in the Persian -version, came up to its master “rubbing against -his legs.” In the Persian tale the child’s mother -dies at its birth, and it is stated that she was very -fond of the cat, which made the man even more -grieved that he had killed it.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In German folk-lore the story of the dog “Sultan” -sounds as if it were invented by some happy-souled -humorist who had the Llewellyn motive in his -mind, but who wanted to tell a merry tale instead of -a sad one. “Sultan” is so old that his master -wishes to kill him, though much against the advice -of his wife. So “Sultan” consults a wolf of his -acquaintance, who proposes the stratagem of pretending -that he is going to eat the good people’s -child, while “Sultan” pretends to come up just at -the nick of time to save it. The plan is carried -out with complete success, and “Sultan” lives out -his days surrounded by respect and gratitude.</p> - -<p class='c008'>There are several Eastern tales which are of the -same family as Llewellyn’s hound, but in which the -animal, instead of saving a child, confers some other -<span class='pageno' id='Page_313'>313</span>benefit on its possessor. In a Persian fable a king -kills his falcon because it spilled a cup of water -which he is about to drink: of course, the water -was really poisoned. A current folk-tale of Bengal -makes a horse the victim of its devotion in preventing -its master from drinking poisonous water.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Rather different is the following Chinese tale, -which is to be found, told at more length, in Dr. -Herbert H. Giles’s delightful book, “Strange Stories -from a Chinese Studio”:—</p> - -<p class='c008'>There was a man of Lu-ngan who had scraped -together enough money to release his father from -prison, where he was like to die of all the untold -miseries of Chinese durance. He got on a mule -and set out for the town where his father was -languishing, taking the silver with him. When he -was well on his way, he was much annoyed to -see that a black dog which belonged to the family -was following him; he tried in vain to make it go -back. After riding on for some time, he got off -the mule to rest and he took the opportunity for -throwing a large stone at the dog, which ran away, -but as soon as he was on the road again the dog -trotted up and took hold of the mule’s tail, as if -trying to stop it. The man beat it off with the -whip, but it only ran round in front of the mule, -and barked frantically so as to impede its progress. -The man now reflected, “This is a very bad omen,” -and he got fairly into a rage and beat the dog off -with such violence that it did not come back. So -he continued his journey without further incidents, -but when he reached the city in the dark of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_314'>314</span>evening, what was not his despair on finding about -half his money gone! He did not doubt that he -must have dropped it on the way, and after passing -a night of terrible distress he remembered, towards -dawn, the strange way in which the dog behaved, -and he began to think that there might be some -connexion between this and the loss of his money. -Directly the gates were open he retraced his steps -along the road, though he hardly hoped to find any -clue to his loss, as the route was traversed by many -travellers. But at the spot where, on the previous -day he dismounted from his mule to rest, he saw -the dog stretched dead on the ground, its hair -still moist with perspiration, and when he lifted up -the body by one of its ears, he found his lost silver -safely concealed underneath it! His gratitude was -great, and he bought a coffin, in which he placed the -dog and then buried it. The place is known as -“the Grave of the Faithful Dog.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>It is not true that every one in China eats dogs, -but some do, and the trade in such animals is a -recognised business. There are several cat and -dog restaurants at Canton. 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 boat, when he noticed on the bank -a butcher who was tying up a dog previous to -killing it. 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 thing; anyhow, he proposed to buy the dog. -The butcher was no fool; he guessed that the trader -<span class='pageno' id='Page_315'>315</span>would never leave the dog to its fate after thinking -about rescuing it—what dreadful sleepless nights -such a proceeding would cost any of us! So he -boldly asked a great deal more than the dog was -worth, which was paid down, and the animal was -untied and put on the boat with his new master. -Now it so happened that the boatman had been a -brigand, and, though partially reformed, the feeling -that he had on board a traveller with a large sum -of money was too strong a temptation for him. So -he stopped the boat by running it among the rushes -and drew out a long knife, with which he prepared -to murder his passenger. The merchant begged -the brigand not to mutilate him or cut off his -head, because such treatment causes the victim to -appear in the next world as no one would like -to. Brigands are generally religious, and this one -was no exception; he was willing to oblige the -merchant and tied him up, quite whole, in a carpet, -which he threw into the river. The dog, which -had been looking on, was in the water in a moment, -hugging and tugging at the bundle till he got it -to a shallow place. Then he barked and barked -till people came to see what was the matter, and -they undid the carpet and found the trader still alive. -The first thought of the rescued man was to track -the thief, for which purpose he started at once to -go back to Wu-hu. At the time of starting, much -to his distress, he missed the dog. On arriving -at Wu-hu he hunted among the endless boats and -shipping for the boat by which he had travelled, -but unfortunately he could see nothing of it, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_316'>316</span>at last he gave up the search and was going home -with a friend when what should he see but his lost -dog, which barked in a curious way as if to invite -him to follow it. The merchant did so, and the -dog led him to a boat that was lying close to the -quay. Into this boat the dog jumped and seized -hold of one of the boatmen by the leg. In spite -of blows the animal would not let go, and then the -merchant, on looking hard at the boatman, recognised -him as the very man who tried to murder -him, though he had a nice new suit of clothes and -a new boat. The thief was arrested and the money -found at the bottom of the boat. “To think,” says -the story-teller, “that a dog could show gratitude like -that!” To which Dr. Giles adds that dogs in China -are usually “ill-fed, barking curs” which, if valued as -guardians of house and chattels, are still despised. -But beautiful moral qualities have the power to -conquer loathing, and even in those countries where -the dog is regarded generally with aversion it is -still the chosen type of sublime fidelity and love.</p> - -<p class='c008'>I can never think of Chinese dogs without remembering -a story told by my cousin, Lord Napier -of Magdala, of an incident which, he said, gave -him more pain than anything that had ever happened -to him in his life. When he was in China he chanced -to admire a dog, which was immediately offered to -him as a gift. He could not accept the offer, and -next day he heard that the owner of the dog with -all his family, five persons, had drowned himself -in a well. Probably they imagined that he was -offended by their offering him a mere dog.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_317'>317</span>In India, to return to that home of legend, the -two most sublime Beast Stories are to be found -in the Great Epic of the Hindu race, the <i>Mahabharata</i>. -They are both stories of the faithfulness -of man to beast, and they afford consolation for the -sorry figure presented by the human actor in the -martyred mungoose tale. The first of these stories -is the legend of the Hawk and the Pigeon. A -pigeon pursued by a hawk flies for protection to -the precinct of sacrifice, where a very pious king is -about to make his offering. It clings to the king’s -breast, motionless with fright. Then up comes the -hawk, which, perching on a near vantage-ground, -begins to argue the case. All the princes of the -earth declare the king to be a magnanimous chief; -why, therefore, should he fly in the face of natural -laws? Why keep its destined food from the hawk, -which feels very hungry? The king answers that -the pigeon came flying to him, overcome by fear -and seeking to save its life. How can he possibly -give it up? A trembling bird which enters his -presence begging for its life? How ignoble it -would be to abandon it! Surely it would be a -mortal sin! In fact, that is exactly what the Law -calls it!</p> - -<p class='c008'>The hawk retorts that all creatures must eat to -live. You can sustain life on very little, but how -are you going to live on nothing at all? If the -hawk has nothing to eat, his vital breath will depart -this very day “on the road where nothing more -affrights.” If he dies, his wife and children will -die too for want of their protector. Such an -<span class='pageno' id='Page_318'>318</span>eventuality cannot be contemplated by the Law: -a law which contradicts itself is a very bad law -and cannot be in accordance with eternal truth. -In theological difficulties one has to consider -what seems just and reasonable and interpret the -point in that sense.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“There is a great deal to be said for what you -say, best of fowls,” replies the king, who is impressed -by the hawk’s forensic skill and begins to think -him a person not to be trifled with; “you are very -well informed; in fact, I am inclined to think that -you know everything. How <i>can</i> you suppose, then, -that it would be a decent thing to give up a creature -that seeks refuge? Of course, I understand that -with you it is a question of a dinner, but something -much more substantial than this pigeon can be -prepared for you immediately; for instance, a wild -boar, or a gazelle or a buffalo—anything that you -like.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The hawk answers that he never, by any chance, -touches meat of that sort: why does the king talk -to him about such unsuitable diet? By an immutable -rule hawks feed on pigeons, and this pigeon -is the very thing he wants and to which he has a -perfect right. In a delicate metaphor he hints that -the king had better leave off talking nonsense.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The king, who sees that arguments are no good, -now declares that anything and everything he will -give the hawk by way of compensation, but that as to -the pigeon, he will not give it up, so it is no good -going on discussing the matter.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The hawk says, in return, that if the king is so -<span class='pageno' id='Page_319'>319</span>tenderly solicitous on the pigeon’s account, 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 equal, then and then only will -the hawk be satisfied. “As you ask that as a -favour,” says the king, “you shall have what you -wish”—a consent which seems to contain a polite -hint that the hawk might have been a little less -arrogant, for in the hawk’s demand there was no -mention of favours.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The king himself cuts out the piece of his flesh -(no one else would have dared do it). But, alas! -when it is weighed with the pigeon, the pigeon -weighs the most! The king went on cutting pieces -of his flesh and throwing them into the scales, but -the pigeon was still the heaviest. At last, all -lacerated as he was, he threw himself into the scales. -Then, with a blast of revelation, the esoteric sense -of the story is made plain. There is something -grand in the sudden antithesis.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The hawk said: “I am Indra, O prince, thou -that knowest the Law! And this pigeon is Agni! -Since thou hast torn thy flesh from thy limbs, O -thou Prince of Men, thy glory shall shine throughout -all worlds. As long as there be men on earth -they will remember thee, O king. As long as the -eternal realms endure thy fame shall not grow dim.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>So the gods returned to heaven, to which the pious -Wusinara likewise ascended with his renovated body, -luminously bright. He needs not to complete his -sacrifice—himself has he offered up.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The listeners (Eastern stories are for listeners, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_320'>320</span>not for readers) 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 ineffable.</p> - -<p class='c008'>This beautiful fable belongs to the general class -of the ancient stories of Divine visitants, but it has -a more direct affinity with the lovely legends of -the Middle Ages, in which pious people who give -their beds to lepers or others suffering from loathsome -disease find that it was Christ they harboured. -Though the story of the Hawk and the Pigeon may -be used simply as a fairy tale, the moral of it is what -forms the essential kernel of other-worldly religions. -Through the mazes of Indian thought emerges the -constant conviction—like a Divine sign-post—that -martyrdom is redemption. The gods themselves are -less than the man who resigns everything for what -his conscience tells him to be right. Indra bows -before Wusinara and seeks to learn the Law from -him. India’s gods are Nature-gods, and Nature -teaches no such lesson:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“There is no effort on <i>my</i> brow—</div> - <div class='line in1'>I do not strive, I do not weep,</div> - <div class='line in1'>I rush with the swift spheres and glow</div> - <div class='line in1'>For joy, and when I will, I sleep.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>Higher religions are a criticism of Nature: they -“occupy the sphere that rational interpretation seeks -to occupy and fails, and fails the more the more -it seeks,” and if they change with the change of -moral aspirations they are still the passionate endeavour -of the soul to satisfy them.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_321'>321</span>The Buddhists took the story of the Hawk and the -Pigeon and adapted it to their own teaching. Indra, -chief of the gods, feels that his god-life is waning—for -the gods of India labour, too, under the sense -of that mysterious fatality of doom which haunted -Olympus and Walhalla. Indra, knowing his twilight -to be near, desired to consult a Buddha, but there -was not one at that time upon the earth. There -was, however, a virtuous king of the name of Sivi, -and Indra decides to put him to the ordeal, which -forms the subject of the other story, because, if he -comes out scathless, he will be qualified to become -a full Buddha. King Sivi had a severe struggle -with himself, but he conquered his weakness, and -when he feels the scale sink under him he is filled -with indescribable joy and heaven and earth shake, -which always happens when a Buddha is coming -into existence. A crowd of gods descended and -rested on the air: the sight of Sivi’s endurance -caused them to weep tears that fell like rain mingled -with divine flowers, which the gods threw down on -the voluntary victim.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Indra puts off the form of a dove and resumes his -god-like shape. What, he asks, does the king desire? -Would he be universal monarch? Would he be king -of the Genii? <i>Would he be Indra?</i> There is a fine touch -in this offer from the god of his godship to the heroic -man, and, like most Buddhist amplifications of older -legends, it might be justified from Brahmanical -sources, as by incredible self-denial it was always -held to be possible to dethrone a god and put oneself -in his place. But Sivi replies that the only state -<span class='pageno' id='Page_322'>322</span>he craves is that of a Buddha. Indra inquires if -no shade of regret crosses the king’s mind when he -feels the anguish reaching to his bones? The king -replies, “I regret nothing.” “How can I believe -it,” says Indra, “when thy body trembles and shivers -so that thou canst hardly speak?” Sivi repeats that -from beginning to end he has felt no shadow of -regret; all has happened as he wished. In proof -that he speaks truth, may his body be as whole -as before! He had scarcely spoken when the miracle -was effected, and in the same instant King Sivi -became a Buddha.</p> - -<p class='c008'>There is a Russian folk-tale which seems to belong -to this cycle. A horse which was ill-treated and -half-starved saves the child of one of his masters -from a bear. He has a friend, a cat, who is also -half-starved. After he has saved the child he is -better fed and he gives the cat part of his food. -The masters notice this and again ill-treat him. -He resolves to kill himself so that the cat may eat -him, but the cat will not eat her friend and resolves -to die likewise.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The second great story of man and beast contained -in the <i>Mahabharata</i> is that of Yudishtira and -his dog. Accompanied by his wife and by his -brethren, the saintly king started upon a pilgrimage -of unheard-of difficulty which he alone was able to -complete, as, on account of some slight imperfections -that rendered them insufficiently meritorious to reach -the goal, the others died upon the way. Only a -dog, which followed Yudishtira from his house, -remains with him still. At the final stage he is -<span class='pageno' id='Page_323'>323</span>met by Indra, who invites him to mount his car and -ascend to heaven in the flesh. The king asks if -his brethren and the “tender king’s daughter,” his -wife, are to be left lying miserably upon the road? -Indra points out that the souls of these have already -left their mortal coil and are even now in heaven, -where Yudishtira will find them when he reaches -it in his corporeal form. Then the king says, “And -the dog, O lord of what Is and Is to be—the dog -which has been faithful to the end, may I bring him? -It is not my nature to be hard.” Indra says that -since the king has this day obtained the rank of a -god together with immortality and unbounded happiness, -he had better not waste thoughts on a dog. -Yudishtira answers that it would be an abominably -unworthy act to forsake a faithful servant in order -to obtain felicity and fortune. Indra objects that -no dogs are allowed in heaven; what is a dog? A -rough, ill-mannered brute which often runs away with -the sacrifices offered in the temples. Let Yudishtira -only reflect what wretched creatures dogs are, and -he will give up all idea of taking his dog to heaven. -Yudishtira still asserts that the abandonment of -a servant is an enormous sin; it is as bad as -murdering a Brahman. He is not going to forsake -his dog whatever the god may say. Besides, it is -not violent at all, but a gentle and devoted creature, -and now that it is so weak and thin from all it has -undergone on the journey and yet so eager to live, -he would not leave it, even if it cost him his life. -That is his final resolve.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Arguing in rather a feminine way, Indra returns -<span class='pageno' id='Page_324'>324</span>to the charge that dogs are rough, rude brutes and -quite ignores the good personal character given to -this dog by its master. He goes on to twit -Yudishtira with having abandoned his beloved -Draupadi and his brothers on the road down there, -while he makes all this stand about a dog. He -winds up with saying, “You must be quite mad -to-day.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Repelling the disingenuous charge of abandoning -his wife and brethren, Yudishtira remarks with -dignity that he left not them but their dead bodies -on the road: he could not bring them to life again. -He might have said that Indra himself had pointed -out to him this very fact. The refusal of asylum, -the murder of a woman, the act of kidnapping a -sleeping Brahman, the act of deceiving a friend—there -is nothing, says Yudishtira, to choose between -these four things and the abandonment of a faithful -servant.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The trial is over and the god admits his defeat. -“Since thou hast refused the divine chariot with the -words, ‘This dog is devoted,’ it is clear, O Prince -of Men, that there is no one in heaven equal to -thee.” Yudishtira, alone among mortals, ascends -to bliss in his own body. And the dog—what -of the dog? One is sorry to hear that the dog -vanished and in his place stood Yama, King of -Death.</p> - -<p class='c008'>To us, far away from the glamour of Eastern skies, -the god-out-of-the-machine or out of the beast-skin -is not always a welcome apparition. We cannot -help being glad when, sometimes, the animals just -<span class='pageno' id='Page_325'>325</span>remain what they are, as in the charming Indian -fable of the Lion and the Vulture. A lion who lived -in a forest became great friends with a monkey. -One day the monkey asked the lion to look after -its two little ones while it was away. 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 tree. When the lion awoke -he saw that his charges were gone, and gazing about -he perceived the vulture holding them tight on the -top branches of the nearest tree. In great distress -of mind the lion said, “The monkey placed its two -children under my care, but I was not watchful -enough and now you have carried them off. In -this way I have missed keeping my word. I do -beg you to give them back; I am the king of beasts, -you are the chief of birds: our nobility and our -power are equal. It would be only fair to let me -have them.” Alas! compliments, though they will -go very far, do little to persuade an empty stomach. -“You are totally unacquainted with the circumstances -of the case,” replied the vulture; “I am -simply dying of hunger: what is the equality or -difference of rank to me?” Then the lion with -his claws tore out some of his own flesh to satisfy -the vulture’s appetite and so ransomed the little -monkeys.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In this fable we have the Hawk and the Pigeon -motive with the miraculous kept in but the mythological -left out.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Like a great part of the Buddhist stories of -which the Lion and the Vulture is one, we owe its -<span class='pageno' id='Page_326'>326</span>preservation to the industrious Chinese translator. -In the same work that contains it, the <i>Tatchi-lou-lun</i>, -we are told how, when a bird laid her eggs on the -head of the first Buddha which she mistook for the -branch of a tree, he plunged himself into a trance so -as not to move till the eggs were hatched and the -young birds had flown. The Buddha’s humanity -is yet again shown by the story of how he saved -the forest animals that were fleeing from a conflagration. -The jungle caught fire and the flames -spread to the forest, which burnt fiercely on three -sides; one side was safe, but it was bounded by a -great river. The Buddha saw the animals huddling -in terror by the water’s edge. Full of pity, he took -the form of a gigantic stag and placing his fore-feet -on the further bank and his hind-feet on the other, -he made a bridge over which the creatures could -pass. His skin and flesh were cruelly wounded by -their feet, but love helped him to bear the pain. -When all the other animals had passed over, and -when the stag’s powers were all but gone, up came -a panting hare. The stag made one more supreme -effort; the hare was saved, but hardly had it crossed, -when the stag’s backbone broke and it fell into the -water and died. The author of the fable may not -have known that hares swim very well, so that the -sacrifice was not necessary, unless, indeed, this hare -was too exhausted to take to the water.</p> - -<p class='c008'>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 -<span class='pageno' id='Page_327'>327</span>remote times in the Indian peninsula. A good -authority attributes the present Chinese sensitiveness -about animals wholly to those early teachers.</p> - -<p class='c008'>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 ones. She was thin and starving -and exhausted by suffering, and she cast unnatural -glances on her children as they pressed close to -her, confident in her love and heedless of her cruel -growls. Notwithstanding his usual self-control, the -saint trembled with emotion at the sight. Turning -to his disciple, he cried, “My son, my son, here -is a tigress, which, in spite of maternal instinct, is -being driven by hunger to devour her little ones. -Oh! dreadful cruelty of self-love, which makes a -mother feed upon her children!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>He bids the young man fly in search of food, but -while he is gone he reflects that it may be too late -when he returns, and to save the mother from the -dreadful crime of killing her children, and the little -ones from the teeth of their famished mother, he -flings himself down the precipice. Hearing the -noise, and curious as to what it might mean, the -tigress is turned from the thought of killing her -young ones, and on looking round she sees the -body of the saint and devours it.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The most remarkable of all the many Buddhist -animal stories is that of the Banyan Deer, which -is in the rich collection of old-world lore known -as the <i>Jātaka Book</i>. The collection is not so much -<span class='pageno' id='Page_328'>328</span>an original Buddhist work as the Buddhist redaction -of much older tales. It was made in about the -third century <span class='fss'>B.C.</span> The Banyan Deer story had the -additional interest that illustrations of it were discovered -among the bas-reliefs of the stupa of -Bharhut. I condense the story from the version of -it given in Professor T. W. Rhys Davids’ “Buddhist -India.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>In the king’s park there were two herds of deer, -and every day either the king or his cook hunted -them for venison. So every day a great many -were harassed and wounded for one that was killed. -Then the golden-hued Banyan Deer, who was the -monarch of one herd, went to the Branch Deer, -who was king of the other herd, and proposed an -arrangement by which lots were to be cast daily, -and one deer on whom the lot fell should go and -offer himself to the cook, voluntarily laying his head -on the block. In this way there would be no unnecessary -suffering and slaughter.</p> - -<div id='i328' class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i328.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p><span class='small'><i>Photo:</i> <i>Griggs.</i></span><br />THE BANYAN DEER.<br /><span class='small'>(<i>From “Stûpa of Bharhut,” by General Cunningham.</i>)</span></p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>The somewhat lugubrious proposition met with -assent, and all seems to have gone well till one -day the lot fell to a doe of the Branch king’s herd, -who was expecting soon to become a mother. She -begged her king to relieve her of the duty, as it -would mean that two at once should suffer, which could -never have been intended. But with harsh words -the Branch king bade her be off to the block. Then -the little doe went piteously to the Banyan king -as a last hope. No sooner had he heard her tale -than he said he would look to the matter, and what -he did was to go straight to the block himself and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_329'>329</span>lay his royal head upon it. But as the king of the -country had ordered that the monarchs of both herds -should be spared, the cook was astonished to see -King Banyan with his head on the block, and went -off in a hurry to tell his lord. Mounted in a chariot -with all his men around him, the sovereign rode -straight to the place. Then he asked his friend, -the king of the deer, why had he come there? Had -he not granted him his life? The Banyan Deer -told him all. The heart of the king of men was -touched, and he commanded the deer to rise up and -go on his way, for he gave him his life and hers also -to the doe. But the Banyan Deer asked how it -would be with all the others: were two to be saved -and the rest left to their peril? The king of men -said that they too should be respected. Even then -the Banyan Deer had more to ask: he pleaded for -the safety of all living, feeling things, and the king -of men granted his prayer. (What will not a man -grant when his heart is touched by some act of pure -abnegation?)</p> - -<p class='c008'>There is a curious epilogue to the story. The -doe gave birth to a most beautiful fawn, which went -playing with the herd of the Branch Deer. To it the -mother said:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Follow rather the Banyan Deer,</div> - <div class='line in1'>Cultivate not the Branch!</div> - <div class='line in1'>Death with the Banyan were better far</div> - <div class='line in1'>Than with the Branch long life.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c016'>The verse is haunting in its vagueness, as a music -which reaches us from far away. “Follow rather -<span class='pageno' id='Page_330'>330</span>the Banyan Deer!” ... follow the ideal, follow the -merciful, he who loses his life shall find it.</p> -<p class='c008'>The Indian hermit of whatsoever sect has always -been, and is still, good friends with animals, and when -he can, he gives asylum to as many as he is able, -around his hermitage. This fact, which is familiar to -all, becomes the groundwork of many stories. One -of the best is the elaborate Chinese Buddhist tale of -Sama, an incarnation of Buddha, who chose to be -born as a son to two old, blind, childless folks, in -order to take care of their forlornness. 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 world. His parents agreed; they -had been thinking about becoming hermits before -his birth, but that happy event made them put the -thought away. Now they were quite willing to go -with him. So they gave their worldly goods to the -poor and followed where he led.</p> - -<div id='i330' class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i330.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p><span class='small'><i>Photo:</i> <i>Mansell.</i></span><br />EGYPTIAN FOWLING SCENE.<br />British Museum.<br /><span class='small'>(<i>Mural painting.</i>)</span></p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>There is a beautiful description of the life in the -mountains. Sama made a shelter of leaves and -branches, and brought his old parents sweet fruits -and cool water—all that they needed. The birds -and beasts of the forest, showing no fear, delighted -the blind couple with their song and friendship, -and all the creatures came at Sama’s call and followed -him about. Herds of deer and feathered fowl drank -by the river’s bank while he drew water. Unhappily -one day the king of Kasi was out hunting in those -wilds and he saw the birds and the deer, but Sama he -did not see and an arrow he aimed at the herd pierced -<span class='pageno' id='Page_331'>331</span>the boy’s body. The wounded boy said to the king, -“They kill an elephant for its ivory teeth, a -rhinoceros for its horn, a kingfisher for its feathers, -a deer for its skin, but why should I be killed?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The king dismounted, and asked him who he was—consorting -with the wild herds of the forest. Sama -told him that he was only a hermit boy, living an -innocent life with his blind parents. No tiger or -wolf had harmed them, and now the arrow of his -king laid him low.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The forest wailed; the wild beasts and birds, the -lions, tigers, and wolves uttered dismal cries. “Hark, -how the beasts of the forest cry!” Said the old couple -to one another, “Never before have we heard it -so. How long our son has been gone!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Meanwhile, the king, overcome by sorrow and -remorse, tried in vain to draw the arrow from the -boy’s breast. The birds flew round and round -screaming wildly; the king trembled with fear. Sama -said, “Your Majesty is not to blame; I must have -done ill in a former life, and now suffer justly for -it: I do not grieve for myself but for my blind parents -... what will they do? May heavenly guardians -protect them!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Then the king said, “May I undergo the torments -of hell for a hundred æons, but O! may this youth -live!” It was not to be; Sama expired, while all -the wood birds flocking together tried tenderly to -staunch the blood flowing from his breast.</p> - -<p class='c008'>I cannot tell the whole story, which has a strong -suggestion of some poetic fancy of Maeterlinck. In -the end Sama is brought back to life, and the eyes -<span class='pageno' id='Page_332'>332</span>of his parents are opened. The king is admonished -to return to his dominions and no longer take life -in the chase.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In a Jaina hermit story a king goes hunting with -a great attendance of horses, elephants, chariots, and -men on foot. He pursues the deer on horseback, -and, keen on his sport, he does not notice, as he -aims the arrow, that the frightened creature is fleeing -to a holy ascetic who is wise in the study of sacred -things. Of a sudden, he beholds the dead deer and -the holy man standing by it. A dreadful fear seizes -the king: he might have killed the monk! He gets -off his horse, bows low, and prays to be forgiven. -The venerable saint was plunged in thought and -made no answer; the king grew more and more -alarmed at his silence. “Answer me, I pray, Reverend -Sir,” he said. “Be without fear, O king,” replied -the monk, “but grant safety to others also. In this -transient world of living things, why are you prone -to cruelty?” Why should the king cling to kingly -power, since one day he must part with everything? -Life and beauty pass, wife and children, friends and -kindred—they will follow no man in death: what -do follow him are his deeds, good or evil. When -he heard that, the king renounced his kingdom and -became an ascetic. “A certain nobleman who had -turned monk said to him, ‘As you look so happy, -you must have peace of mind.’”</p> - -<p class='c008'>It may be a wrong conception of life that makes -men seek rest on this side of the grave, but one can -well believe that the finding of it brings a happiness -beyond our common ken. For one thing, he -<span class='pageno' id='Page_333'>333</span>who lives with Nature surely never knows <i>ennui</i>. -The most marvellous of dramatic poems unfolds -its pages before his eyes. Nor does he know loneliness; -even one little creature in a prisoner’s cell gives -a sense of companionship, and the recluse in the -wild has the society of all the furred and feathered -hosts. The greatest poet of the later literature of -India, Kálidása, draws an exquisite picture of the -surroundings of an Indian heritage:—</p> - -<p class='c008'>“See under yon trees the hallowed grains which -have been scattered on the ground, while the tender -female parrots were feeding their unfledged young -ones in their pendant nests.... Look at the young -fawns, which, having acquired confidence in man, and -accustomed themselves to the sound of his voice, -frisk at pleasure, without varying their course. See, -too, where the young roes graze, without apprehension -from our approach, on the lawn before -yonder garden, where the tops of the sacrificial grass, -cut for some religious rite, are sprinkled round.”<a id='r9' /><a href='#f9' class='c017'><sup>[9]</sup></a></p> - -<div class='fn'> - -<div class='footnote' id='f9'> -<p class='c018'><span class='label'><a href='#r9'>9</a>. </span>Sir William Jones’s translation.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p class='c008'>In the play of <i>Sacontala</i>—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 pet.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The hermit, who has been the foster-father of -Sacontala, is dismissing her upon her journey to the -exalted bridegroom who awaits her. At the last -moment she says to him: “My father, see you there -my pet deer, grazing close to the hermitage? She -expects soon to fawn, and even now the weight of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_334'>334</span>the little ones she carries hinders her movements. -Do not forget to send me word when she becomes -a mother.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The hermit, Canna, promises that it shall be done; -then as Sacontala moves away, she feels herself -drawn back, and turning round, she says, “What -can this be fastened to my dress?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Canna answers:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“My daughter,</div> - <div class='line in1'>It is the little fawn, thy foster child.</div> - <div class='line in1'>Poor helpless orphan! It remembers well</div> - <div class='line in1'>How with a mother’s tenderness and love</div> - <div class='line in1'>Thou didst protect it, and with grains of rice</div> - <div class='line in1'>From thine own hand didst daily nourish it,</div> - <div class='line in1'>And ever and anon when some sharp thorn</div> - <div class='line in1'>Had pierced its mouth, how gently thou didst tend</div> - <div class='line in1'>The bleeding wound and pour in healing balm.</div> - <div class='line in1'>The grateful nursling clings to its protectress,</div> - <div class='line in1'>Mutely imploring leave to follow her.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>Sacontala replies, weeping, “My poor little fawn, -dost thou ask to follow an unhappy wretch who -hesitates not to desert her companions? When thy -mother died, soon after thy birth, I supplied her place -and reared thee with my own hands, and now that -thy second mother is about to leave thee, who will -care for thee? My father, be thou a mother to her. -My child, go back and be a daughter to my father!”</p> - -<hr class='c023' /> - -<p class='c008'>It is the fatality of the dramatist that he cannot -stamp with truth sentiments which are not sure -of a response from his audience: he must strike -the keyboard of his race. We can imagine how -<span class='pageno' id='Page_335'>335</span>thoroughly an Indian audience would enter into the -sentiment of this charming scene. To the little -Indian girl, who was still only a child of thirteen -or fourteen, the favourite animal did not appear as -a toy, or even as a simple playmate. It was the -object of grave and thoughtful care, and it received -the first outpouring of what would one day be -maternal love.</p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c003' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_336'>336</span> - <h2 id='ch16' class='c006'>XVI<br /> <br />THE GROWTH OF MODERN IDEAS ON ANIMALS</h2> -</div> -<p class='drop-capa0_25_0_7 c007'>THE last age of antiquity was an age of yeast. -Ideas were in fermentation; religious questions -came to be regarded as “interesting”—just as they -are now. The spirit of inquiry took the place of -placid acceptance on the one hand, and placid indifference -on the other. It was natural that there -should be a rebound from the effort of Augustus to -re-order religion on an Imperial, conventional, and unemotional -basis. Then, too, Rome, which had never -been really Italian except in the sublime previsions -of Virgil, grew every day more cosmopolitan: the -denizens of the discovered world found their way -thither on business, for pleasure, as slaves—the influence -of these last not being the least important -factor, though its extent and character are not easy -to define. Everything tended to foment a religious -unrest which took the form of one of those “returns -to the East” that are ever destined to recur: the spiritual -sense of the Western world became Orientalised. -The worship of Isis and Serapis and much more of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_337'>337</span>Mithra proved to be more exciting than the worship -of the Greek and Roman gods which represented -Nature and law, while the new cults proposed to -raise the veil on what transcends natural perception. -No doubt the atmosphere of the East itself favoured -their rapid development; 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 dependency. -Evidently the birthland of St. 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 soul. Personal immortality as -a paramount doctrine; a further life more real than -this one; ritual purification, redemption by sacrifice, -mystical union with deity; these were among the -un-Roman and even anti-Roman conceptions which -lay behind the new, strange propaganda, and prepared -the way for the diffusion of Christianity. With -the Italian peasants who clung to the unmixed older -faith no progress was made till persecution could be -called in as an auxiliary.</p> - -<div id='i336' class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i336.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p><span class='small'><i>Photo:</i> <i>Mansell.</i></span><br />ASSYRIAN LION AND LIONESS IN PARADISE PARK.<br />British Museum.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>In such a time it was a psychological certainty -that among the other Eastern ideas which were -coming to the fore, would be those ideas about -animals which are roughly classed under the head -of Pythagoreanism. The apostles of Christ in their -journeys East or West might have met a singular -individual who was carrying on an apostolate of his -own, the one clear and unyielding point of which -was the abolition of animal sacrifices. This was -<span class='pageno' id='Page_338'>338</span>Apollonius, of Tyana, our knowledge of whom is -derived from the biography, in part perhaps fanciful, -written by Philostratus in the third century to please -the Empress Julia Domna, who was interested in -occult matters. Apollonius worked wonders as well -attested as those, for instance, of the Russian Father -John, 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 theory. 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 -spirit. He did not entirely understand that this -degree is movable, any more than do those persons -who want to substitute Gregorian chants for opera -airs in rural Italian churches. He did not mind the -Greek statues which appealed to the imagination by -suggestions of beauty, but he blamed the Egyptians -for representing deity as a dog or an ibis; 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 worshipper? In -which question, almost accidentally, Apollonius throws -out a hint of the highest form of spiritual worship.</p> - -<div id='i338' class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i338.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p><span class='small'><i>Photo:</i> <i>Alinari.</i></span><br />LAMBS.<br /><span class='small'>(<i>Relief on fifth century tomb at Ravenna.</i>)</span></p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>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 hitherto. But there was a residuum -<span class='pageno' id='Page_339'>339</span>of which they felt an instinctive fear, and peculiar -notions about animals had the ill-luck of being placed -at the head of these. 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 Porphyry.</p> - -<p class='c008'>When the Church triumphed, the treatise written -by Celsus would have been no doubt entirely destroyed -like other works of the same sort, had not -Origen made a great number of quotations from it -for the purpose of confutation. Celsus was no <i>borné</i> -disputant after the fashion of the Octavius of Minucius, -but a man of almost encyclopædic learning; if -he was a less fair critic than he held himself to be, -it was less from want of information than from want -of that sympathy which is needful for true comprehension. -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 ago. It was a feeling of -social aloofness.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Yet Celsus wished to be fair, and he had studied -religions to enough purpose not to condemn as -delusion or untruth everything that a superficial -adversary would have rejected at once; for instance, -he was ready to allow that the appearances of Christ -to His disciples after the Crucifixion might be -explained as psychical phenomena. Possibly he -believed that truth, not falsehood, was the ultimate -basis of all religions as was the belief of Apollonius -before him. In some respects Celsus was more -<span class='pageno' id='Page_340'>340</span>unprejudiced than Apollonius; this can be observed -in his remarks on Egyptian zoomorphism; it causes -surprise, he says, when you go inside one of the -splendid Egyptian temples to find for divinity a cat, -a monkey or a crocodile, but to the initiated they -are symbols which under an allegorical veil turn -people to honour imperishable ideas, not perishable -animals as the vulgar suppose.</p> - -<p class='c008'>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 it. -He only touches lightly on the subject of their origin; -he seems to lean towards the theory that the soul, -life, mind, only, is made by God, the corruptible and -passing body being a natural growth or perhaps the -handiwork of inferior spirits. He denied that reason -belonged to man alone, and still more strongly that -God created the universe for man rather than for the -other animals. Only absurd pride, he says, can engender -such a thought. He knew very well that -this, far from being a new idea, was the normal view -of the ancient world from Aristotle to Cicero; the -distinguished men who disagreed with it had never -won more than a small minority over to their opinion. -Celsus takes Euripides to task for saying—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“The sun and moon are made to serve mankind.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c016'>Why mankind? he asks; why not ants and flies? -Night serves them also for rest and day for seeing -and working. If it be said that we are the king of -animals because we hunt and catch them or because -<span class='pageno' id='Page_341'>341</span>we eat them, why not say that we are made for them -because they hunt and catch us? Indeed, they are -better provided than we, for while we need arms and -nets to take them and the help of several men and -dogs, Nature furnishes them with the arms they -require, and we are, as it were, made dependent on -them. You want to make out that God gave you -the power to take and kill wild animals, but at the -time when there were no towns or civilisation or -society or arms or nets, animals probably caught and -devoured men while men never caught animals. In -this way, it looks more as if God subjected man to -animals than <i>vice versâ</i>. If men seem different from -animals because they build cities, make laws, obey -magistrates and rulers, you ought to note that this -amounts to nothing at all, since ants and bees do just -the same. Bees have their “kings”; some command, -others obey; they make war, win battles, take -prisoner the vanquished; they have their towns -and quarters; their work is regulated by fixed -periods, they punish the lazy and cowardly—at least -they expel the drones. As to ants, they practise -the science of social economy just as well as we do; -they have granaries which they fill with provisions -for the winter; they help their comrades if they see -them bending under the weight of a burden; they -carry their dead to places which become family -tombs; they address each other when they meet: -whence it follows that they never lose their way. We -must conclude, therefore, that they have complete -reasoning powers and common notions of certain -general truths, and that they have a language and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_342'>342</span>know how to express fortuitous events. If some -one, then, looked down from the height of heaven -on to the earth, what difference would he see between -our actions and those of ants and bees? If -man is proud of knowing magical secrets, serpents -and eagles know a great deal more, for they use -many preservatives against poisons and diseases, and -are acquainted with the virtues of certain stones with -which they cure the ailments of their young ones, -while if men find out such a cure they think -they have hit on the greatest wonder in the -world. Finally, if man imagines that he is superior -to animals because he possesses notion of God, let -him know that it is the same with many of them; -what is there more divine, in fact, than to foresee -and to foretell the future? Now for that purpose -men have recourse to animals, especially to birds, -and all our soothsayers do is to understand the -indications given by these. If, therefore, birds -and other prophetic animals show us by signs the -future as it is revealed to them by God, it proves -that they have closer relations with the deity than -we; that they are wiser and more loved by God. -Very enlightened men have thought that they understood -the language of certain animals, and in proof -of this they have been known to predict that birds -would do something or go somewhere, and this was -observed to come true. No one keeps an oath -more religiously or is more faithful to God than the -elephant, which shows that he knows Him.</p> -<p class='c008'>Hence, concludes Celsus, the universe has <i>not</i> -been made for man any more than for the eagle or -<span class='pageno' id='Page_343'>343</span>the dolphin. Everything was created not in the -interest of something else, but to contribute to the -harmony of the whole in order that the world might -be absolutely perfect. God takes care of the universe; -it is that which His providence never forsakes, -that which never falls into disorder. God no -more gets angry with men than with rats or monkeys: -everything keeps its appointed place.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In this passage Celsus rises to a higher level than in -any other of the excerpts preserved for us by Origen. -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 ants. It must be recognised as a lofty -conception, commanding the respect of those who -differ from it, and reconciling all apparent difficulties -and contradictions forced upon us by the contemplation -of men and Nature. But it brings no water -from the cool spring to souls dying of thirst; 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 Origen; the -thought of the crushing unimportance of the individual.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The least attentive reader must be struck by the -real knowledge of natural history shown by Celsus: -his ants are nearly as conscientiously observed as -Lord Avebury’s. Yet a certain suspicion of conscious -exaggeration detracts from the seriousness of -his arguments; he strikes one as more sincere in -disbelieving than in believing. A modern writer -<span class='pageno' id='Page_344'>344</span>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 -brute. 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 theology.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The shadow of no such doubt falls on the pages -of the neoplatonists Plotinus and Porphyry. To -them the destiny of animals was not an academic -problem but an obsession. The questions which -Heine’s young man asked of the waves: “What -signifies man? Whence does he come? Whither -does he go?” were asked by them with passionate -earnestness in their application to all sentient things. -Plotinus reasoned, with great force, that intelligent -beast-souls must be like the soul of man since in -itself the essence of the soul could not be different. -Porphyry (born at Tyre, <span class='fss'>A.D.</span> 233), accepting this -postulate that animals possess an intelligent soul like -ours, went on to declare that it was therefore unlawful -to kill or feed on them under any circumstances. If -justice is due to rational beings, how is it possible to -evade the conclusion that we are also bound to act -justly towards the races below us? He who loves -all animated nature will not single out one tribe of -innocent beings for hatred; if he loves the whole -he will love every part, and, above all, that part -which is most closely allied to ourselves. Porphyry -was quite ready to admit that animals in their own -way made use of words, and he mentions Melampus -<span class='pageno' id='Page_345'>345</span>and Apollonius as among the philosophers who -understood their language. He quoted with approval -the laws supposed to have been framed by -Triptolemus in the reign of Pandion, fifth king of -Athens: “Honour your parents; make oblations of -your fruits to the gods; hurt not any living creature.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Neoplatonism penetrated into the early Church, -but divested of its views on animal destiny; even -the Catholic neoplatonist Boëthius, though he was -sensitively fond of animals (witness his lines about -caged birds), yet took the extreme view of the hard-and-fast -line of separation, as may be seen by his -poem on the “downward head,” which he interpreted -to indicate the earth-bound nature of all flesh save -man. Birds, by the by, and even fishes, not to speak -of camel-leopards, can hardly be said to have a -“downward head.” Meanwhile, the other manner -of feeling, if not of thinking, reasserted its power -as it always will, for it belongs to the primal things. -Excluded from the broad road, it came in by the -narrow way—the way that leads to heaven. In the -wake of the Christian Guru came a whole troop of -charming beasts, little less saintly and miraculous -than their holy protectors, 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 kind. The saint saved the -situation, and the Church wisely left him alone to -discourse to his brother fishes or his sister turtle-doves, -without inquiring about the strict orthodoxy -of the proceeding.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_346'>346</span>Unhappily the more direct inheritors of neoplatonist -dreams were not left alone. A trend of tendency -towards Pythagoreanism runs through their different -developments from Philo to the Gnostics, from the -Gnostics, through the Paulicians to the Albigenses. -It passes out of our sight when these were suppressed -in the thirteenth century by the most sanguinary -persecution that the world has seen, but before long -it was to reappear in one shape or another, and -we may be sure that the thread was never wholly -lost.</p> - -<div id='i346' class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i346.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p>“IL BUON PASTORE.”<br /><span class='small'>(<i>Mosaic at Ravenna.</i>)</span></p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>An effort has been made to prove that the official -as well as the unofficial Church always favoured -humanity to animals. The result of this effort has -been wholly good; not only has it produced a delightful -volume,<a id='r10' /><a href='#f10' class='c017'><sup>[10]</sup></a> but, indirectly, it was the cause of -Pope Pius X. pronouncing a blessing on every one -who is working for the prevention of cruelty to -animals throughout the world. <i>Roma locuta est.</i> To -me this appears to be a landmark in ethics of first-class -importance. Nevertheless, historically speaking, -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 -Stonyhurst,<a id='r11' /><a href='#f11' class='c017'><sup>[11]</sup></a> more correctly gives the measure of what -had been the practical teaching of the Church in all -these ages. Even now, authoritative Catholics, when -enjoining humanity to animals, are careful to add -that man has “no duties” towards them, though -<span class='pageno' id='Page_347'>347</span>they may modify this by saying with Cardinal -Manning (the most kind-hearted of men) that he -owes “a sevenfold obligation” to their Creator to -treat them well. Was it surprising that the Neapolitan -peasant who heard from his priest that he -had no duties to his ass went home, not to excogitate -the sevenfold obligation but to belabour the poor -beast soundly? Though the distinction is capable -of philosophical defence, granted the premises, to -plain people it looks like a juggling with words. -When St. Philip Neri said to a monk who put his -foot on a lizard, “What has the poor creature done -to you?” he implied a duty to the animal, the duty -of reciprocity. He spoke with the voice of Nature -and forgot, for the moment, that animals were not -“moral persons” nor “endowed with reason,” and -that hence they could have “no rights.”</p> - -<div class='fn'> - -<div class='footnote' id='f10'> -<p class='c018'><span class='label'><a href='#r10'>10</a>. </span>“L’Église et la Pitié envers les animaux,” Paris, 1903. An -English edition has been published by Messrs. Burns and Oates.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<div class='fn'> - -<div class='footnote' id='f11'> -<p class='c018'><span class='label'><a href='#r11'>11</a>. </span>“Moral Philosophy,” p. 250.</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p class='c008'>At an early date, in the heart of official Catholicism, -an inconsistency appeared which is less easily explained -than homilies composed for fishes or hymns -for birds; namely, the strange business of animal -prosecutions. Without inquiring exactly what an -animal is, it is easy to bestow upon it either blessings -or curses. The beautiful rite of the blessing of the -beasts which is still performed once a year in many -places involves no doctrinal crux. In Corsica the -priest goes up to the high mountain <i>plateaux</i> where -the animals pasture in the summer, and after saying -Mass in presence of all the four-footed family, he -solemnly blesses them and exhorts them to prosper -and multiply. It is a delightful scene, but it does -not affect the conception of the moral status of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_348'>348</span>animals, nor would that conception be affected by -a right-down malediction or order to quit. What, -however, can be thought of a regular trial of inconvenient -or offending animals in which great care -is taken, to keep up the appearance of fair-play to -the defendants? Our first impression is, that it -must be an elaborate comedy; but a study of the -facts makes it impossible to accept this theory.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The earliest allusions to such trials that seem to -exist belong to the ninth century, which does not -prove that they were the first of the kind. One trial -took place in 824 <span class='fss'>A.D.</span> The Council of Worms decided -in 866 that if a man has been killed by bees -they ought to suffer death, “but,” added the judgment, -“it will be permissible to eat their honey.” -A relic of the same order of ideas lingers in the -habit some people have of shooting a horse which -has caused a fatal accident, often the direct consequence -of bad riding or bad driving. The earlier -beast trials of which we have knowledge were conducted -by laymen, the latter by ecclesiastics, which -suggests their origin in a folk-practice. A good, -characteristic instance began on September 5, 1370. -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 ones. All members -of the herd were arrested as accomplices, which was -a serious matter to their owners, the inmates of a -neighbouring convent, as the animals, if convicted, -would be burnt and their ashes buried. The prior -pointed out that three sows alone were guilty; surely -the rest of the pigs ought to be acquitted. Justice -<span class='pageno' id='Page_349'>349</span>did not move quickly in those times; it was on -September 12, 1379, that the Duke of Burgundy -delivered judgment; only the three guilty sows and -one young pig (what had <i>it</i> done?) were to be executed; -the others were set at liberty “notwithstanding -that they had seen the death of the boy without -defending him.” Were the original ones all alive -after nine years? If so, would so long a respite -have been granted them had no legal proceedings -been instituted?</p> - -<p class='c008'>An important trial took place in Savoy in the year -1587. The accused was a certain fly. Two suitable -advocates were assigned to the insects, who argued -on their behalf that these creatures were created -before man, and had been blessed by God, who gave -them the right to feed on grass, and for all these and -other good reasons the flies were in their right when -they occupied the vineyards of the Commune; they -simply availed themselves of a legitimate privilege -conformable to Divine and natural law. The plaintiffs’ -advocate retorted that the Bible and common -sense showed animals to be created for the utility of -man; hence they could not have the right to cause -him loss, to which the counsel for the insects replied -that man had the right to command animals, no -doubt, but not to persecute, excommunicate and -interdict them when they were merely conforming -to natural law “which is eternal and immutable like -the Divine.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The judges were so deeply impressed by this -pleading that to cut the case short, which seemed -to be going against him, the Mayor of St. Julien -<span class='pageno' id='Page_350'>350</span>hastened to propose a compromise; he offered a -piece of land where the flies might find a safe retreat -and live out their days in peace and plenty. -The offer was accepted. On June 29, 1587, the -citizens of St. Julien were bidden to the market -square by ringing the church bells, and after a short -discussion they ratified the agreement which handed -over a large piece of land to the exclusive use of -the insects. Hope was expressed that they would -be entirely satisfied with the bargain. A right of -way across the land was, indeed, reserved to the -public, but no harm whatever was to be done to -the flies on their own territory. It was stated in -the formal contract that the reservation was ceded -to the insects in perpetuity.</p> - -<p class='c008'>All was going well, when it transpired that, in -the meantime, the flies’ advocates had paid a visit -to that much-vaunted piece of land, and when they -returned, they raised the strongest objection to it -on the score that it was arid, sterile, and produced -nothing. The mayor’s counsel disputed this; the -land, he said, produced no end of nice small trees -and bushes, the very things for the nutrition of insects. -The judges intervened by ordering a survey -to find out the real truth, which survey cost three -florins. There, alas! the story ends, for the winding -up of the affair is not to be found in the archives -of St. Julien.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Records of 144 such trials have come to light. -Of the two I have described, it will be remarked -that one belongs, as it were, to criminal and the -other to civil law. The last class is the most -<span class='pageno' id='Page_351'>351</span>curious. No doubt the trial of flies or locusts -was resorted to when other means of getting rid of -them had failed; it was hoped, somehow, that the -elaborate appearance of fair-play would bring about -a result not to be obtained by violence. We can -hardly resist the inference that they involved some -sort of recognition or intuition of animals’ rights -and even of animal intelligence.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In the dawn of modern literature animals played -a large, though artificial, part which must not be -quite ignored on account of its artificiality, because -in the Bestiaries as in the Æsopic and Oriental fables -from which they were mainly derived, there was an -inextricable tangle of observations of the real creature -and arbitrary ascription to him of human -qualities and adventures. At last they became a -mere method for attacking political or ecclesiastical -abuses, but their great popularity was as much due -to their outer as to their inner sense. There is not -any doubt that at the same time floods of Eastern -fairy-tales were migrating to Europe, and in these -the most highly appreciated hero was always the -friendly beast. In a romance of the thirteenth century -called “Guillaume de Palerme” all previous -marvels of this kind were outdone by the story of -a Sicilian prince who was befriended by a were-wolf!</p> - -<p class='c008'>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 -century. The account of the monastery -“where many strange beasts of divers kinds do live -upon a hill,” which Fra Odoric, of Pordenone, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_352'>352</span>dictated in 1330, is a description, both accurate and -charming, of a Buddhist animal refuge, and in the -version given of it in Mandeville’s “Travels,” if -not in the original, it must have been read by nearly -every one who could read, for no book ever had so -vast a diffusion as the “Travels” of the elusive -Knight of St. Albans.</p> - -<p class='c008'>With the Italian Renaissance came the full modern -æsthetic enjoyment of animals; the admiration of -their beauty and perfection which had been appreciated, -of course, long before, but not quite in the -same spirit. 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 take. He was a splendid -rider, but his interest was not confined to horses; -his love for his dog is shown by his having pronounced -a funeral oration over him. We feel that -with such men humanity towards animals was a part -of good manners. “We owe justice to men,” said -the intensely civilised Montaigne, “and grace and -benignity to other creatures that are capable of it; -there is a natural commerce and mutual obligation -between them and us.” Sir Arthur Helps, speaking -of this, called it “using courtesy to animals,” and when -one comes to think of it, is not such “courtesy” the -particular mark and sign of a man of good breeding -in all ages?</p> - -<p class='c008'>The Renaissance brought with it something deeper -than a wonderful quickening of the æsthetic sense -in all directions; it also brought that spiritual quickening -which is the co-efficient of every really upward -<span class='pageno' id='Page_353'>353</span>movement of the human mind. Leonardo da Vinci, -greatest of artist-humanists, inveighed against cruelty -in words that might have been written by Plutarch -or Porphyry. His sympathies were with the vegetarian. -Meanwhile, 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 beasts. An attempt -was made to convert Erasmus to this doctrine by -means of certain extracts from Pliny. Roman -society, at that time, was so little serious that one -cannot believe it to have been serious even in its -heterodoxy. But speculations more or less of the -same sort were taken up by men of a very different -stamp; 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 Renaissance. For the proof that -they did receive it we have only to turn to the pages -of Giordano Bruno. “Every part of creation has -its share in being and cognition.” “There is a -difference, not in quality, but in quantity, between -the soul of man, the animal and the plant.” “Among -horses, elephants and dogs there are single individuals -which appear to have almost the understanding -of men.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Bruno’s prophetic guess that instinct is inherited -habit might have saved Descartes (who was much -indebted to the Nolan) from giving his name an -unenviable immortality in connexion with the theory -which is nearly all that the ignorant know now of -Cartesian philosophy. This was the theory that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_354'>354</span>animals are automata, a sophism that may be said -to have swept Europe, though it was not long -before it provoked a reaction. Descartes got this -idea from the very place where it was likely to -originate, from Spain. A certain Gomez Pereira -advanced it before Descartes made it his own, -which even led to a charge of plagiarism. “Because -a clock marks time and a bee makes honey, we -are to consider the clock and the bee to be machines. -Because they do one thing better than man and no -other thing so well as man, we are to conclude that -they have no mind, but that Nature acts within -them, holding their organs at her disposal.” “Nor -are we to think, as the ancients do, that animals -speak, though we do not know their language, for, -if that were so, they, having several organs related -to ours, might as easily communicate with us as -with each other.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>About this, Huxley showed that an almost imperceptible -imperfection of the vocal chord may prevent -articulated sounds. Moreover, the click of the bushmen, -which is almost their only language, is exceedingly -like the sounds made by monkeys.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Language, as defined by an eminent Italian man -of science, Professor Broca, is the faculty of making -things known, or expressing them by signs or sounds. -Much the same definition was given by Mivart, -and if there be a better one, we have still to wait -for it. Human language is evolved; at one time man -had it not. The babe in the cradle is without it; the -deaf mute, in his untaught state, is without it; <i>ergo</i> -the babe and the deaf mute cannot feel. Poor babes -<span class='pageno' id='Page_355'>355</span>and poor deaf mutes should the scientific Loyolas -of the future adopt this view!</p> - -<p class='c008'>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 own. To them it seems a -jargon of meaningless and uncouth sounds.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Chanet, a follower of Descartes, said that he -would believe that beasts thought when a beast -told him so. By what cries of pain, by what looks -of love, have not beasts told men that they thought! -Man himself does not think in words in moments -of profound emotion, whether of grief or joy. <i>He -cries out</i> or he <i>acts</i>. Thought in its absolutely -elementary form is <i>action</i>. The mother thinks in -the kiss she gives her child. The musician thinks in -music. Perhaps God thinks in constellations. I -asked a man who had saved many lives by jumping -into the sea, “What did you think of at the moment -of doing it?” He replied: “You do not think, or -you might not do it.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The whole trend of philosophic speculation worthy -of the name lies towards unity, but the Cartesian -theory would arbitrarily divide even man’s physical -and sensational nature from that of the other animals. -To remedy this, Descartes admitted that man was -just as much an automatic machine as other creatures. -By what right, then, does he complain when he -happens to have a toothache? Because, says Descartes -triumphantly, man has an immortal soul! -The child thinks in his mother’s womb, but the -dog, which after scenting two roads takes the third -<span class='pageno' id='Page_356'>356</span>without demur, sure that his master must have gone -that way, this dog is acting “by springs” and -neither thinks nor feels at all.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The misuse of the ill-treated word “Nature” -cannot hide the fact that the beginning, middle, and -end of Descartes’ argument rests on a perpetually -recurrent miracle. Descartes confessed as much -when he said that God <i>could</i> make animals as -machines, so why should it be impossible that He -<i>had</i> made them as machines? Voltaire’s clear reason -revolted at this logic; he declared it to be absurd to -imagine that God had given animals organs of feeling -in order that they might <i>not</i> feel. He would have -endorsed Professor Romanes’ saying that “the theory -of animal automatism which is usually attributed to -Descartes can never be accepted by common sense.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>On the other hand, while Descartes was being -persecuted by the Church for opinions which he -did <i>not</i> hold, this particular opinion of his was seized -upon by Catholic divines as a vindication of creation. -Pascal so regarded it. The miraculous element -in it did not disturb him. Malebranche said though -opposed by reason it was approved by faith.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Descartes said that the idea that animals think -and feel is a relic of childhood. The idea that they -do <i>not</i> think and feel might be more truly called a -relic of that darkest side of perverse childhood, -the existence of which we are all fain to forget. -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 mean. I do not wish to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_357'>357</span>allude more than slightly to a point which is of too -much importance to pass over in silence. Descartes -was a vivisector: so were the pious people at Port -Royal who embraced his teaching with enthusiasm, -and liked to hear the howls of the dogs they -vivisected. M. Émile Ferrière, in his work “L’âme -est la fonction du cerveau,” sees in the “souls” -of beasts exactly the same nature as in the “soul” -of man; the difference, he maintains, is one of -degree; though generally inferior, it is sometimes -superior to “souls” of certain human groups. Here -is a candid materialist who deserves respect. 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 -springs, while denying that there is a God to wind -up the springs, and in conscious human machines, -while denying that there is a soul, independent -of matter, which might account for the difference. -“The wish is father to the thought.” <i>Non ragionam -di lor ma guarda e passa.</i></p> - -<p class='c008'>The strongest of all reasons for dismissing the -machine theory of animals is their variety of idiosyncrasy. -It is said that to the shepherd no two sheep -look alike; it is certain that no two animals of any -kind have the same characters. Some are selfish, -some are unselfish, some are gentle, some irretrievably -ill-tempered both to each other and to -man. Some animals do not show much regret -at the loss of their offspring, with others it is -manifestly the reverse. Édouard Quinet described -how on one occasion, when visiting the lions’ cage -<span class='pageno' id='Page_358'>358</span>in the Jardin des Plantes, he observed the lion -gently place his large paw on the forehead of the -lioness, and so they remained, grave and still, all the -time he was there. He asked Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, -who was with him, what it meant. “Their lion -cub,” was the answer, “died this morning.” “Pity, -benevolence, sympathy, could be read on those -rugged faces.” That these qualities are often absent -in sentient beings what man can doubt? But they -are not to be found in the best mechanical animals -in all Nuremberg!</p> - -<p class='c008'>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 -Wednesday, 1887. 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 rounds, on which he was used to start at -four o’clock in the morning. No one, therefore, -thought of inquiring about him, but the fact was, -that having taken a glass or two of wine in honour -of the last night of the Carnival, he had overslept -himself, and was still asleep when his cottage fell -down upon him. He had a large dog which drew -the little cart bearing the milk up the mountain paths, -and the dog by chance was outside and safe. He -found out where his master lay and succeeded -in clearing the masonry so as to uncover his head, -which was bleeding. He then set to work to lick the -wounds; but, seeing that they went on bleeding, and -also that he could not liberate the rest of the body, he -started in search of help, running up and down among -<span class='pageno' id='Page_359'>359</span>the surrounding ruins till he met some one, whom he -caught hold of by the clothes. The man, however, -thought that the dog was mad and fled for his life. -Luckily, another man guessed the truth and allowed -himself to be guided to the spot. History repeats -itself, at least the history of devoted dogs. The -same thing happened after the greater earthquake at -Messina, when a man, one of the last to be saved, -was discovered through the insistence of his little dog, -who approached a group of searchers and whined -piteously till he persuaded them to follow him to the -ruins which concealed his master.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Nor, again, do machines act like a cockatoo I heard -of from a witness of the scene. A lady was visiting -the zoological gardens in a German town with her -daughter, when the little girl was seized with the wish -to possess a pretty moulted feather which was lying on -the ground in the parrots’ cage. She made several -attempts to reach it, but in vain. Seeing which, an -old cockatoo hopped solemnly from the back of the -cage and taking up the feather in his beak, handed -it to the child with an air of the greatest politeness.</p> - -<p class='c008'>One of the first upholders of the idea of legislative -protection of animals was Jeremy Bentham, who -asked why the law should refuse its protection to -any sensitive being? Most people forget the degree -of opposition which was encountered by the earlier -combatants of cruel practices and pastimes in -England. Cobbett made a furious attack on a -clergyman who (to his honour) was agitating for -the suppression of bull-baiting, “the poor man’s -sport,” as Cobbett called it. That it demoralised -<span class='pageno' id='Page_360'>360</span>the poor man as well as tormented the bull never -entered into the head of the inimitable wielder of -English prose, pure and undefiled, who took it -under his (happily) ineffectual protection. “The -common law fully sanctions the baiting of bulls,” -he wrote, “and, I believe, that to sell the flesh of -a bull which has <i>not</i> been baited is an offence which -is punishable by that very law to which you appeal” -(“<i>Political Register</i>,” June, 1802).</p> - -<p class='c008'>Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals -had, in their day, to undergo almost as much criticism -and ridicule in England as they now meet with in -some parts of the Continent. Even the establishment -of the Dogs’ Home in London raised a storm -of disapproval, as may be seen by any one who -turns over the files of the <i>Times</i> for October, 1860. -If the friends of humanity persevere, the change of -sentiment which has become an accomplished fact -in England will, in the end, triumph elsewhere.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Unfortunately, humane sentiment and humane -practice do not progress on a level line. As long -ago as 1782 an English writer named Soame Jenyns -protested against the wickedness of shooting a bear -on an inaccessible island of ice, or an eagle on the -mountain’s top. “We are unable to give life and -therefore ought not to take it away from the meanest -insect without sufficient reason.” 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 heads?</p> - -<p class='c008'>The “discovery” of Indian literature brought -prominently forward in the West the Indian ideas -<span class='pageno' id='Page_361'>361</span>of animals of which the old travellers had given -the earliest news. The effect of familiarity with -those ideas may be traced in many writers, but -nowhere to such an extent as in the works of -Schopenhauer, for whom, as for many more obscure -students, they formed the most attractive and interesting -part of Oriental lore. Schopenhauer cannot -speak about animals without using a tone of -passionate vehemence which was, without doubt, -genuine. He felt the intense enjoyment in observing -them which the lonely soul has ever felt, whether -it belonged to saint or sinner. All his pessimism -disappears when he leaves the haunts of man for -the retreats of beasts. What a pleasure it is, he -says, to watch a wild animal going about undisturbed! -It shows us our own nature in a simpler -and more sincere form. “There is only one mendacious -being in the world, and that is man. Every -other is true and sincere.” It strikes me that total -sincerity did not shine on the face of a dog which -I once saw trotting innocently away, 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 spot. -But about that I will say no more. The German -“Friend of the Creature” was indignant at “the -unpardonable forgetfulness in which the lower animals -have hitherto been left by the moralists of Europe.” -The duty of protecting them, neglected by religion, -falls to the police. Mankind are the devils of the -earth and animals the souls they torment.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Full of these sentiments, Schopenhauer was prepared -<span class='pageno' id='Page_362'>362</span>to welcome unconditionally the Indian conception -of the Wheel of Being and to close his -eyes to its defects. Strauss, too, hailed it as a -doctrine which “unites the whole of Nature in one -sacred and mysterious bond”—a bond in which, he -goes on to say, a breach has been made by the -Judaism and dualism of Christianity. He might -have observed that the Church derived her notions -on the subject rather from Aristotle than from -Semitic sources.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Schopenhauer came to the conclusion that the -ill-treatment of animals arose directly from the denial -to them of immortality, while it was ascribed to men. -There is and there is not truth in this. When all is -said, the well-conditioned man always was and always -will be humane; “the righteous man regardeth the life -of his beast.” And since people reason to fit their -acts rather than act to fit their reasoning, he will -even find a motive for his humanity where others -find an excuse for the lack of it. Humphry Primatt -wrote in 1776: “Cruelty to a brute is an injury -irreparable because there is no future life to be a -compensation for present afflictions.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Lecky, in his “History of European Morals,” -tells of a Cardinal who let himself be bitten by gnats -because “<i>we</i> have heaven, but these poor creatures -only present enjoyment!” Could Jaina do more?</p> - -<p class='c008'>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 Nature. I suspect that those -who have worked hardest for animals in the last -<span class='pageno' id='Page_363'>363</span>half-century cared little about the origin of species, -while it is certain that some professed evolutionists -have been their worst foes. The fact remains, -however, that by every rule of logic the theory -of evolution <i>ought</i> to produce the effect which Strauss -thought that it had produced. The discovery which -gives its name to the nineteenth century revolutionises -the whole philosophic conception of the place of -animals in the Universe.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Lamarck, whom Cuvier so cruelly attacked, was -the first to discern the principle of evolution. At -one time he held the Chair of Zoology at the -University of Paris; but the opposition which his -ideas met with crushed him in body, though not in -soul, and he died blind and in want in 1829, only -consoled by the care of an admirable daughter. His -last words are said to have been that it is easier -to discover a truth than to convince others of it.</p> - -<p class='c008'>An Italian named Carlo Lessona was one of the -first to be convinced. He wrote a work containing -the phrase, “The intelligence of animals”—which -work, by the rule then in force, had to be presented -to the ecclesiastical Censor at Turin to receive his -permit before publication. The canon who examined -the book fell upon the words above mentioned, and -remarked: “This expression, ‘intelligence of animals,’ -will never do!” “But,” said Lessona, “it is commonly -used in natural history books.” “Oh!” replied the -canon, “natural history has much need of revision.”<a id='r12' /><a href='#f12' class='c017'><sup>[12]</sup></a></p> - -<div class='fn'> - -<div class='footnote' id='f12'> -<p class='c018'><span class='label'><a href='#r12'>12</a>. </span>See Dr. F. Franzolini’s interesting monograph on animal -psychology from the point of view of science (“Intelligenza delle -Bestie,” Udine, 1899).</p> -</div> - -</div> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_364'>364</span>The great and cautious Darwin said that the -senses, intuitions, emotions, and faculties, such as -love, memory, attention, curiosity, imitation, reason, -of which man boasts, may be found in an incipient, -or even, sometimes, in a well-developed condition -in the lower animals. “Man, with all his noble -qualities, his God-like intellect, still bears in his -bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origin. -Our brethren fly in the air, haunt the bushes, and -swim in the sea.” Darwin agreed with Agassiz in -recognising in the dog something very like the -human conscience.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Dr. Arnold said that the whole subject of the -brute creature was such a painful mystery that he -dared not approach it. Michelet called animal life -a “sombre mystery,” and shuddered at the “daily -murder,” hoping that in another globe “these base -and cruel fatalities may be spared to us.” It is -strange to find how many men of very different -types have wandered without a guide in these -dark alleys of speculation. A few of them arrived -at, or thought they had arrived at, a solution. -Lord Chesterfield wrote that “animals preying on -each other is a law of Nature which we did not -make, and which we cannot undo, for if I do not -eat chickens my cat will eat mice.” But the -appeal to Nature will not satisfy every one; our -whole human conscience is a protest against Nature, -while our moral actions are an attempt to effect -a compromise. Paley pointed out that the law -was not good, since we could live without animal -food and wild beasts could not. He offered -<span class='pageno' id='Page_365'>365</span>another justification, the permission of Scripture. -This was satisfactory to him, but he must have -been aware that it waives the question without -answering it.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Some humane people have taken refuge in the -automata argument, which is like taking a sleeping-draught -to cure a broken leg. Others, again, look -for justice to animals in the one and only hope -that man possesses of justice to himself; in compensation -after death for unmerited suffering in this -life. Leibnitz said that Eternal Justice <i>ought</i> to -compensate animals for their misfortunes on earth. -Bishop Butler would not deny a future life to -animals.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Speaking of her approaching death, Mrs. Somerville -said: “I shall regret the sky, the sea, with all the -changes of their beautiful colouring; the earth with -its verdure and flowers: but far more shall I grieve -to leave animals who have followed our steps affectionately -for years, without knowing for certainty -their ultimate fate, though I firmly believe that the -living principle is never extinguished. Since the -atoms of matter are indestructible, as far as we know, -it is difficult to believe that the spark which gives to -their union life, memory, affection, intelligence, and -fidelity, is evanescent.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, seven -or eight small works, written in Latin in support of -this thesis, were published in Germany and Sweden. -Probably in all the world a number, unsuspectedly -large, of sensitive minds has endorsed the belief -expressed so well in the lines which Southey wrote -<span class='pageno' id='Page_366'>366</span>on coming home to find that a favourite old dog -had been “destroyed” during his absence:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>... “Mine is no narrow creed;</div> - <div class='line'>And He who gave thee being did not frame</div> - <div class='line'>The mystery of life to be the sport</div> - <div class='line'>Of merciless man! There is another world</div> - <div class='line'>For all that live and move—a better one!</div> - <div class='line'>Where the proud bipeds, who would fain confine</div> - <div class='line'>Infinite Goodness to the little bounds</div> - <div class='line'>Of their own charity, may envy thee!”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>The holders of this “no narrow creed” start with -all the advantages from the mere point of view of -dialectics. They can boast that they have placed the -immortality of the soul on a scientific basis. For truly, -it is more reasonable to suppose that the soul is -natural than supernatural, a word invented to clothe -our ignorance; and, if natural, why not universal?</p> - -<p class='c008'>They have the right to say, moreover, that they -and they alone have “justified the ways of God.” -They alone have admitted all creation that groaneth -and travaileth to the ultimate guerdon of the “Love -which moves the sun and other stars.”</p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c003' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_367'>367</span> - <h2 id='idx' class='c006'>INDEX</h2> -</div> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> -<ul class='index c002'> - <li class='c024'><span class='pageno' id='Page_368'>368</span>Abdâls, <a href='#Page_261'>261</a>-<a href='#Page_262'>262</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Abu Djafar al Mausur, Caliph, <a href='#Page_232'>232</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Abu Jail, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a>-<a href='#Page_243'>243</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Achilles, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a>-<a href='#Page_27'>27</a>, <a href='#Page_298'>298</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Adi Granth, <a href='#Page_201'>201</a></li> - <li class='c024'><i>Æsop’s fables</i>, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a>, <a href='#Page_29'>29</a>-<a href='#Page_30'>30</a>, <a href='#Page_80'>80</a>-<a href='#Page_81'>81</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Aethe, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Aethon, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Afghan ballad, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a>-<a href='#Page_243'>243</a></li> - <li class='c024'>African pastoral tribes, <a href='#Page_95'>95</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Agamemnon, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a>-<a href='#Page_26'>26</a>, <a href='#Page_29'>29</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Agassiz, <a href='#Page_364'>364</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Agora Temple, <a href='#Page_77'>77</a></li> - <li class='c024'><a id='Ahimsa'></a><i>Ahimsa</i>, <a href='#Page_166'>166</a>-<a href='#Page_167'>167</a>, <a href='#Page_172'>172</a>, <a href='#Page_193'>193</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Ahriman, <a href='#Page_124'>124</a>-<a href='#Page_126'>126</a>, <a href='#Page_143'>143</a>, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a>-<a href='#Page_146'>146</a>, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a>-<a href='#Page_151'>151</a>, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a>-<a href='#Page_159'>159</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Ahriman, hymn to, <a href='#Page_125'>125</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Ahuna-Vairya, <a href='#Page_138'>138</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Ahura Mazda, <a href='#Page_116'>116</a>, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>-<a href='#Page_122'>122</a>, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a>, <a href='#Page_138'>138</a>-<a href='#Page_139'>139</a>, <a href='#Page_143'>143</a>, <a href='#Page_154'>154</a>, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a>-<a href='#Page_159'>159</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Alberti, Leo Battista, <a href='#Page_154'>154</a>, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a>-<a href='#Page_159'>159</a>, <a href='#Page_352'>352</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Albigenses, <a href='#Page_346'>346</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Alexander the Great, <a href='#Page_75'>75</a>, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Alfonso, King of Spain, <a href='#Page_291'>291</a>-<a href='#Page_292'>292</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Alger, W. R., <a href='#Page_286'>286</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Alhambra, <a href='#Page_229'>229</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Al Rakîm, <a href='#Page_230'>230</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Amatongo, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a>-<a href='#Page_109'>109</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Amazulu, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a></li> - <li class='c024'><i>L’âme est la fonction du cerveau</i>, <a href='#Page_357'>357</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Ammon, Temple of, <a href='#Page_31'>31</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Amon Ra, <a href='#Page_103'>103</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Amritsar, <a href='#Page_201'>201</a></li> - <li class='c024'><span class='pageno' id='Page_369'>369</span>Anaxandrides, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a></li> - <li class='c024'><a id='Anchorites'></a>Anchorites, <a href='#Page_179'>179</a>, <a href='#Page_252'>252</a>-<a href='#Page_254'>254</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Andromache, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Animals, treatment of, in India, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>; - <ul> - <li>the purgatory of men, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a>;</li> - <li>slaying of, by Greeks, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>-<a href='#Page_25'>25</a>;</li> - <li>naming of, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a>;</li> - <li>prophetic powers of, <a href='#Page_27'>27</a>-<a href='#Page_28'>28</a>;</li> - <li>talking, <a href='#Page_29'>29</a>;</li> - <li>Roman treatment of, <a href='#Page_45'>45</a>-<a href='#Page_46'>46</a>;</li> - <li>butchery of, at Colosseum, <a href='#Page_51'>51</a>;</li> - <li>imported for arena, <a href='#Page_51'>51</a>-<a href='#Page_52'>52</a>;</li> - <li>humanity of, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a>-<a href='#Page_54'>54</a>;</li> - <li>performing, <a href='#Page_54'>54</a>-<a href='#Page_55'>55</a>;</li> - <li>Plutarch on kindness to, <a href='#Page_64'>64</a>-<a href='#Page_71'>71</a>;</li> - <li>Plutarch on animal intelligence, <a href='#Page_67'>67</a>-<a href='#Page_71'>71</a>;</li> - <li>instances of discrimination of, <a href='#Page_75'>75</a>-<a href='#Page_76'>76</a>;</li> - <li>domestication of, <a href='#Page_90'>90</a>-<a href='#Page_91'>91</a>;</li> - <li>value of, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a>-<a href='#Page_95'>95</a>;</li> - <li>excuses for killing, <a href='#Page_100'>100</a>;</li> - <li>attitude of savages to, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a>-<a href='#Page_108'>108</a>;</li> - <li>killing of, by priests, <a href='#Page_148'>148</a>-<a href='#Page_150'>150</a>;</li> - <li>Zoroastrian treatment of, <a href='#Page_147'>147</a>-<a href='#Page_157'>157</a>;</li> - <li>in sacred books, <a href='#Page_188'>188</a>;</li> - <li>Hebrew treatment of, <a href='#Page_212'>212</a>-<a href='#Page_220'>220</a>;</li> - <li>hunting of, by Moslems, <a href='#Page_224'>224</a>-<a href='#Page_225'>225</a>, <a href='#Page_232'>232</a>, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a>-<a href='#Page_243'>243</a>;</li> - <li>musical instinct in, <a href='#Page_245'>245</a>-<a href='#Page_246'>246</a>;</li> - <li>and the Messiah, <a href='#Page_247'>247</a>-<a href='#Page_252'>252</a>;</li> - <li>and saints, <a href='#Page_259'>259</a>;</li> - <li>stories of, <a href='#Page_306'>306</a>-<a href='#Page_316'>316</a>;</li> - <li>theory of Celsus as to intelligence of, <a href='#Page_340'>340</a>-<a href='#Page_344'>344</a>;</li> - <li>theory of Porphyry, <a href='#Page_344'>344</a>;</li> - <li>the Church and humanity, <a href='#Page_346'>346</a>;</li> - <li>animal prosecutions, <a href='#Page_347'>347</a>-<a href='#Page_351'>351</a>;</li> - <li>Renaissance admiration of, <a href='#Page_352'>352</a>-<a href='#Page_353'>353</a>;</li> - <li>animals and thought, <a href='#Page_355'>355</a>;</li> - <li>automata</li> - <li><span class='pageno' id='Page_370'>370</span>theory, <a href='#Page_353'>353</a>-<a href='#Page_359'>359</a>, <a href='#Page_365'>365</a>;</li> - <li>societies to protect, <a href='#Page_359'>359</a>-<a href='#Page_360'>360</a>;</li> - <li>ill-treatment and immortality, <a href='#Page_362'>362</a>;</li> - <li>principle of evolution, <a href='#Page_363'>363</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c024'>Antelope, <a href='#Page_240'>240</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Ants, wisdom of, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a>-<a href='#Page_77'>77</a>; - <ul> - <li>killing of, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a>-<a href='#Page_150'>150</a>;</li> - <li>Hebrew proverb, <a href='#Page_216'>216</a>;</li> - <li>in the Koran, <a href='#Page_227'>227</a>;</li> - <li>social economy of, <a href='#Page_341'>341</a>-<a href='#Page_342'>342</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c024'>Apis, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a>, <a href='#Page_144'>144</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Apollo, <a href='#Page_246'>246</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Apollonius of Tyana, <a href='#Page_268'>268</a>-<a href='#Page_269'>269</a>; <a href='#Page_337'>337</a>-<a href='#Page_340'>340</a>; <a href='#Page_345'>345</a></li> - <li class='c024'><a id='Apsarases'></a>Apsarases, the, <a href='#Page_279'>279</a>-<a href='#Page_280'>280</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Apuleius, <a href='#Page_55'>55</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Archæological Congress, <a href='#Page_95'>95</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Archetypes (<i>see</i> <a href='#Fravashi'>Fravashi</a>)</li> - <li class='c024'>Ardâ Vîrâf, <a href='#Page_159'>159</a>-<a href='#Page_165'>165</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Arena, cruelties of the, <a href='#Page_45'>45</a>-<a href='#Page_46'>46</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Ariosto, <a href='#Page_297'>297</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Aristophanes, <a href='#Page_28'>28</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Aristotle, <a href='#Page_58'>58</a>, <a href='#Page_78'>78</a>, <a href='#Page_80'>80</a>, <a href='#Page_269'>269</a>, <a href='#Page_340'>340</a>, <a href='#Page_362'>362</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Arnold, Dr., <a href='#Page_364'>364</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Arnold, Sir Matthew, <a href='#Page_302'>302</a>-<a href='#Page_303'>303</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Aryans, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>, <a href='#Page_113'>113</a>-<a href='#Page_115'>115</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Asceticism, <a href='#Page_179'>179</a>-<a href='#Page_183'>183</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Astrachan, <a href='#Page_258'>258</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Ataro, <a href='#Page_162'>162</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Atharva-Veda, <a href='#Page_208'>208</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Atman, <a href='#Page_14'>14</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Augustus, <a href='#Page_336'>336</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Automata theory, <a href='#Page_353'>353</a>-<a href='#Page_359'>359</a>, <a href='#Page_365'>365</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Avebury, Lord, <a href='#Page_343'>343</a></li> - <li class='c024'><a id='Avesta'></a>Avesta, <a href='#Page_113'>113</a>, <a href='#Page_116'>116</a>, <a href='#Page_120'>120</a>, <a href='#Page_123'>123</a>, <a href='#Page_125'>125</a>, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a>, <a href='#Page_131'>131</a>, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a>-<a href='#Page_140'>140</a>, <a href='#Page_143'>143</a>, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a>-<a href='#Page_148'>148</a>, <a href='#Page_153'>153</a>, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a>, <a href='#Page_159'>159</a>, <a href='#Page_163'>163</a>, <a href='#Page_233'>233</a>-<a href='#Page_234'>234</a></li> - <li class='c003'>Bactria, <a href='#Page_131'>131</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Baiardo, <a href='#Page_297'>297</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Balaam’s ass, <a href='#Page_212'>212</a>-<a href='#Page_213'>213</a>, <a href='#Page_219'>219</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Balius, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a>-<a href='#Page_27'>27</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Balkis, Queen, <a href='#Page_229'>229</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Bankes’ horse, <a href='#Page_283'>283</a></li> - <li class='c024'><a id='Banyandeer'></a>Banyan deer, <a href='#Page_327'>327</a>-<a href='#Page_230'>230</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Barbary, <a href='#Page_296'>296</a></li> - <li class='c024'><span class='pageno' id='Page_371'>371</span>Basan, Bulls of, <a href='#Page_144'>144</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Basri, Hasan, <a href='#Page_234'>234</a></li> - <li class='c024'><i>Battle of the frogs and mice</i>, <a href='#Page_29'>29</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Baudelaire, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Bavieca, <a href='#Page_289'>289</a>-<a href='#Page_294'>294</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Bears, legends of, <a href='#Page_88'>88</a>-<a href='#Page_89'>89</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Beast tales, <a href='#Page_28'>28</a>, <a href='#Page_317'>317</a>, <a href='#Page_351'>351</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Beaver (<i>see</i> <a href='#Udra'>Udra</a>)</li> - <li class='c024'>Bedouins, <a href='#Page_272'>272</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Behkaa, <a href='#Page_104'>104</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Benares, <a href='#Page_183'>183</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Benedict XII., <a href='#Page_49'>49</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Bentham, Jeremy, <a href='#Page_359'>359</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Bhagavad, Gita, <a href='#Page_14'>14</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Bion, <a href='#Page_64'>64</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Birds, in captivity, <a href='#Page_56'>56</a>-<a href='#Page_57'>57</a>; - <ul> - <li>Plutarch’s views on, <a href='#Page_78'>78</a>;</li> - <li>language of, <a href='#Page_226'>226</a>-<a href='#Page_227'>227</a>;</li> - <li>and St. Francis, <a href='#Page_259'>259</a>-<a href='#Page_260'>260</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c024'>Bismarck, <a href='#Page_304'>304</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Bi’sm-illah, custom of saying, <a href='#Page_224'>224</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Bivar, Ruy Diaz de, <a href='#Page_289'>289</a>-<a href='#Page_294'>294</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Blackbird, White, <a href='#Page_51'>51</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Blake, Wm., <a href='#Page_251'>251</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Bleeck, <a href='#Page_153'>153</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Blessing the beast, rite of, <a href='#Page_347'>347</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Boccaccio’s falcon, <a href='#Page_285'>285</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Bœotia, <a href='#Page_62'>62</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Boëthius, <a href='#Page_345'>345</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Bolingbroke, <a href='#Page_296'>296</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Bosanquet, Dr. R. C., <a href='#Page_95'>95</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Brahmans, <a href='#Page_14'>14</a>, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a>, <a href='#Page_169'>169</a>, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a>, <a href='#Page_183'>183</a>, <a href='#Page_309'>309</a></li> - <li class='c024'><i>Breath from the veldt, A</i>, <a href='#Page_240'>240</a></li> - <li class='c024'>British school at Athens, <a href='#Page_95'>95</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Broca, Professor, <a href='#Page_354'>354</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Browning, Robert, <a href='#Page_138'>138</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Bruno, Giordano, <a href='#Page_216'>216</a>, <a href='#Page_260'>260</a>-<a href='#Page_261'>261</a>, <a href='#Page_353'>353</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Bubastis, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Bucephalus, <a href='#Page_75'>75</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Buddhism, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a>, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>-<a href='#Page_106'>106</a>, <a href='#Page_124'>124</a>, <a href='#Page_130'>130</a>, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a>-<a href='#Page_173'>173</a>, <a href='#Page_187'>187</a>, <a href='#Page_190'>190</a>-<a href='#Page_196'>196</a>, <a href='#Page_261'>261</a>, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a>, <a href='#Page_308'>308</a>, <a href='#Page_321'>321</a>-<a href='#Page_328'>328</a></li> - <li class='c024'><i>Buddhist India</i>, <a href='#Page_328'>328</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Buffalo of Karileff, <a href='#Page_254'>254</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Bull-baiting, <a href='#Page_50'>50</a>, <a href='#Page_359'>359</a>-<a href='#Page_360'>360</a></li> - <li class='c024'><span class='pageno' id='Page_372'>372</span>Bull-fights, <a href='#Page_32'>32</a>, <a href='#Page_47'>47</a>-<a href='#Page_50'>50</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Bulls, <a href='#Page_143'>143</a>-<a href='#Page_146'>146</a></li> - <li class='c024'><i>Bundehesh</i>, <a href='#Page_142'>142</a>-<a href='#Page_143'>143</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Burgundy, Duke of, <a href='#Page_349'>349</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Burial, methods of, <a href='#Page_123'>123</a>-<a href='#Page_124'>124</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Burkitt, Prof. F. C., <a href='#Page_135'>135</a>-<a href='#Page_136'>136</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Burns and Oates, <a href='#Page_346'>346</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Burns, Robert, <a href='#Page_59'>59</a></li> - <li class='c003'>Cæsar, Julius, <a href='#Page_51'>51</a>, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a>, <a href='#Page_55'>55</a>, <a href='#Page_296'>296</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Cagliari, <a href='#Page_248'>248</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Callaway, Canon, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Cambaleth, <a href='#Page_195'>195</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Cambyses, <a href='#Page_144'>144</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Camels, <a href='#Page_286'>286</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Canna, <a href='#Page_333'>333</a>-<a href='#Page_334'>334</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Carbonaria, <a href='#Page_49'>49</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Carlyle, Thos., <a href='#Page_33'>33</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Cartesian philosophy, <a href='#Page_353'>353</a>-<a href='#Page_355'>355</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Carthage, <a href='#Page_211'>211</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Cassandra, <a href='#Page_29'>29</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Cato, <a href='#Page_45'>45</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Cats, <a href='#Page_80'>80</a>-<a href='#Page_83'>83</a>, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a>, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a>, <a href='#Page_258'>258</a>, <a href='#Page_278'>278</a>, <a href='#Page_314'>314</a>, <a href='#Page_322'>322</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Celsus, <a href='#Page_73'>73</a>, <a href='#Page_339'>339</a>-<a href='#Page_344'>344</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Celts, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a>-<a href='#Page_274'>274</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Ceriana, <a href='#Page_358'>358</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Cervantes, <a href='#Page_290'>290</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Chanet, <a href='#Page_355'>355</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Chantal, Mdme. de, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Chariot-racing, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Charles, King (the Peace), <a href='#Page_50'>50</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Chesterfield, Lord, <a href='#Page_364'>364</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Childebert, <a href='#Page_254'>254</a>-<a href='#Page_255'>255</a></li> - <li class='c024'><i>China, religion of</i>, <a href='#Page_327'>327</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Chinese, belief and folk-lore, <a href='#Page_104'>104</a>-<a href='#Page_106'>106</a>; - <ul> - <li>saving of animal life, <a href='#Page_194'>194</a>;</li> - <li>folk-lore stories, <a href='#Page_306'>306</a>-<a href='#Page_308'>308</a>, <a href='#Page_313'>313</a>-<a href='#Page_316'>316</a>, <a href='#Page_326'>326</a>-<a href='#Page_330'>330</a>.</li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c024'>Chinvat, <a href='#Page_154'>154</a>, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a>, <a href='#Page_162'>162</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Choo-Foo-Tsze, <a href='#Page_104'>104</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Christianity, approach of, <a href='#Page_337'>337</a>-<a href='#Page_338'>338</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Cicada, <a href='#Page_260'>260</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Cicero, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>, <a href='#Page_50'>50</a>, <a href='#Page_58'>58</a>-<a href='#Page_59'>59</a>, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a>, <a href='#Page_340'>340</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Cignani, <a href='#Page_208'>208</a></li> - <li class='c024'><span class='pageno' id='Page_373'>373</span>Cimon, <a href='#Page_31'>31</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Circuses, <a href='#Page_54'>54</a>-<a href='#Page_55'>55</a></li> - <li class='c024'><i>Clothilde’s God</i>, <a href='#Page_93'>93</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Clovis, <a href='#Page_93'>93</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Clytemnestra, <a href='#Page_29'>29</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Cobbett, <a href='#Page_359'>359</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Cockatoo, Story of a, <a href='#Page_359'>359</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Colonna, Cardinal, <a href='#Page_49'>49</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Colosseum, Butchery at inauguration of, <a href='#Page_51'>51</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Comte, Auguste, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Concha, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a>-<a href='#Page_58'>58</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Confucianism, <a href='#Page_104'>104</a>-<a href='#Page_105'>105</a>, <a href='#Page_130'>130</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Constantinople, <a href='#Page_233'>233</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Constantinople, Council at, <a href='#Page_14'>14</a></li> - <li class='c024'><i>Contemporary Review</i>, <a href='#Page_6'>6</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Copenhagen National Museum, <a href='#Page_47'>47</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Corinna, Parrot of, <a href='#Page_56'>56</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Corsica, <a href='#Page_347'>347</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Crete, <a href='#Page_32'>32</a>, <a href='#Page_77'>77</a>, <a href='#Page_95'>95</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Cuvier, <a href='#Page_363'>363</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Cyrus, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a>, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>-<a href='#Page_122'>122</a></li> - <li class='c003'>Daevas, <a href='#Page_116'>116</a></li> - <li class='c024'>d’Alviella, Count Goblet, <a href='#Page_5'>5</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Damascus, <a href='#Page_231'>231</a>, <a href='#Page_306'>306</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Dante, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>, <a href='#Page_160'>160</a>, <a href='#Page_162'>162</a>-<a href='#Page_163'>163</a>, <a href='#Page_187'>187</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Darmesteter, James, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Darius, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a>, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>-<a href='#Page_122'>122</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Darwin, Charles, <a href='#Page_150'>150</a>-<a href='#Page_151'>151</a>, <a href='#Page_206'>206</a>, <a href='#Page_344'>344</a>, <a href='#Page_363'>363</a>-<a href='#Page_364'>364</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Darwin, Francis, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Davids, Professor T. W. Rhys, <a href='#Page_328'>328</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Deathlessness of souls, <a href='#Page_91'>91</a>-<a href='#Page_92'>92</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Deer (<i>see</i> <a href='#Banyandeer'>Banyan deer</a>)</li> - <li class='c024'>Dervishes, <a href='#Page_234'>234</a>-<a href='#Page_235'>235</a>, <a href='#Page_261'>261</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Descartes, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>, <a href='#Page_353'>353</a>-<a href='#Page_357'>357</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Deucalion, dove of, <a href='#Page_78'>78</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Diaz, Gil, <a href='#Page_293'>293</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Digby, Sir Kenelm, <a href='#Page_283'>283</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Dog, grave of a faithful, <a href='#Page_314'>314</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Dogs, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a>-<a href='#Page_59'>59</a>, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a>-<a href='#Page_80'>80</a>, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a>-<a href='#Page_115'>115</a>, <a href='#Page_151'>151</a>-<a href='#Page_153'>153</a>, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a>, <a href='#Page_229'>229</a>-<a href='#Page_233'>233</a>, <a href='#Page_244'>244</a>, <a href='#Page_306'>306</a>-<a href='#Page_308'>308</a>, <a href='#Page_312'>312</a>, <a href='#Page_314'>314</a>-<a href='#Page_316'>316</a>, <a href='#Page_322'>322</a>-<a href='#Page_324'>324</a>, <a href='#Page_358'>358</a>-<a href='#Page_359'>359</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Dog’s Grave, the, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a></li> - <li class='c024'><span class='pageno' id='Page_374'>374</span>Dolmen-builders, <a href='#Page_92'>92</a>-<a href='#Page_93'>93</a>, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Domestication of animals, <a href='#Page_90'>90</a>-<a href='#Page_91'>91</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Doughty, Charles M., <a href='#Page_236'>236</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Doukhobors, <a href='#Page_32'>32</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Downe, <a href='#Page_283'>283</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Draupadi, story of, <a href='#Page_322'>322</a>-<a href='#Page_324'>324</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Dravidians, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>-<a href='#Page_19'>19</a>, <a href='#Page_163'>163</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Duperron, Anquetil, <a href='#Page_135'>135</a>, <a href='#Page_152'>152</a></li> - <li class='c003'>Eden, Garden of, <a href='#Page_208'>208</a>-<a href='#Page_209'>209</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Eden, Garden of (picture by Rubens), <a href='#Page_247'>247</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Edkins, Joseph, D.D., <a href='#Page_327'>327</a></li> - <li class='c024'><i>l’Église et la Pitié envers les Animaux</i>, <a href='#Page_346'>346</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Egyptian cosmogony, <a href='#Page_103'>103</a>-<a href='#Page_104'>104</a></li> - <li class='c024'>El Djem, well at, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Elephants, legend of, <a href='#Page_74'>74</a>-<a href='#Page_75'>75</a>, <a href='#Page_77'>77</a>; - <ul> - <li>in Oriental books, <a href='#Page_188'>188</a>;</li> - <li>white elephant killed by Rustem, <a href='#Page_294'>294</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c024'>Eleusinian mysteries, <a href='#Page_32'>32</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Elisha and the she-bears, <a href='#Page_248'>248</a>-<a href='#Page_249'>249</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Elmocadessi, Azz’Eddin, <a href='#Page_236'>236</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Empedocles, <a href='#Page_14'>14</a>-<a href='#Page_15'>15</a>, <a href='#Page_34'>34</a>, <a href='#Page_72'>72</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Epictetus, <a href='#Page_73'>73</a>-<a href='#Page_74'>74</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Epirus, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Erasmus, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>, <a href='#Page_353'>353</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Eskimo, the, <a href='#Page_88'>88</a>-<a href='#Page_89'>89</a>, <a href='#Page_92'>92</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Euripides, <a href='#Page_78'>78</a>, <a href='#Page_190'>190</a>, <a href='#Page_246'>246</a>, <a href='#Page_340'>340</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Evolution, theory of, <a href='#Page_363'>363</a>-<a href='#Page_365'>365</a></li> - <li class='c003'>Falcon, Persian fable of a, <a href='#Page_313'>313</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Faliscus, Gratius, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Fargard XIII., <a href='#Page_152'>152</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Ferrière, Émile, <a href='#Page_357'>357</a></li> - <li class='c024'><i>Fioretti</i>, <a href='#Page_74'>74</a>, <a href='#Page_258'>258</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Firdusi, <a href='#Page_141'>141</a>, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a>, <a href='#Page_240'>240</a>, <a href='#Page_294'>294</a>, <a href='#Page_296'>296</a>, <a href='#Page_301'>301</a>-<a href='#Page_304'>304</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Flesh-eating, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>-<a href='#Page_25'>25</a>, <a href='#Page_31'>31</a>-<a href='#Page_32'>32</a>, <a href='#Page_61'>61</a>-<a href='#Page_64'>64</a>, <a href='#Page_71'>71</a>, <a href='#Page_85'>85</a>-<a href='#Page_86'>86</a>, <a href='#Page_148'>148</a>, <a href='#Page_193'>193</a>-<a href='#Page_194'>194</a>, <a href='#Page_217'>217</a>-<a href='#Page_218'>218</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Folk-lore Association of Chicago, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a></li> - <li class='c024'><i>Folk-Songs of Southern India</i>, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Foxes, <a href='#Page_106'>106</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Franzolini, Dr. F., <a href='#Page_363'>363</a></li> - <li class='c024'><a id='Fravashi'></a>Fravashi, <a href='#Page_117'>117</a>, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a>, <a href='#Page_162'>162</a></li> - <li class='c003'><span class='pageno' id='Page_375'>375</span>Games, Roman, <a href='#Page_47'>47</a>-<a href='#Page_48'>48</a>, <a href='#Page_51'>51</a>-<a href='#Page_52'>52</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Gargantuan feasts, <a href='#Page_148'>148</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Garibaldi, <a href='#Page_294'>294</a>, <a href='#Page_298'>298</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Gâthâs, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a>, <a href='#Page_139'>139</a>, <a href='#Page_144'>144</a>-<a href='#Page_145'>145</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Gautama, <a href='#Page_308'>308</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Gayatri, <a href='#Page_117'>117</a>-<a href='#Page_118'>118</a>, <a href='#Page_138'>138</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Gayo Marathan, <a href='#Page_143'>143</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Gellert, Beth, <a href='#Page_306'>306</a>-<a href='#Page_307'>307</a>, <a href='#Page_309'>309</a>, <a href='#Page_312'>312</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Geus Urva, <a href='#Page_143'>143</a>-<a href='#Page_144'>144</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Ghusni, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Giles, Dr., <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>, <a href='#Page_313'>313</a>, <a href='#Page_316'>316</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Gladiators, importation of, <a href='#Page_52'>52</a>-<a href='#Page_53'>53</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Gnostics, <a href='#Page_346'>346</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Goat, Story of a, <a href='#Page_245'>245</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Goethe, <a href='#Page_333'>333</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Gover, Charles E., <a href='#Page_17'>17</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Gray, Asa, <a href='#Page_150'>150</a>-<a href='#Page_151'>151</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Gubernatis, Count de, <a href='#Page_290'>290</a></li> - <li class='c024'><i>Guillaume de Palerme</i>, <a href='#Page_351'>351</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Gunádhya, <a href='#Page_245'>245</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Guru, <a href='#Page_168'>168</a>, <a href='#Page_181'>181</a>, <a href='#Page_345'>345</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Gymnosophists, <a href='#Page_172'>172</a></li> - <li class='c003'>Hall, <a href='#Page_283'>283</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Hallal, custom of the, <a href='#Page_224'>224</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Hatem, Tai, <a href='#Page_285'>285</a>-<a href='#Page_286'>286</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Hatos, <a href='#Page_290'>290</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Hawk and the pigeon, legend of, <a href='#Page_317'>317</a>-<a href='#Page_321'>321</a>, <a href='#Page_325'>325</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Haziûm, <a href='#Page_296'>296</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Heber, Bishop, <a href='#Page_231'>231</a></li> - <li class='c024'><a id='Hebrews'></a>Hebrews, the, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a>, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a>, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a>, <a href='#Page_159'>159</a>, <a href='#Page_161'>161</a>, <a href='#Page_207'>207</a>-<a href='#Page_208'>208</a>, <a href='#Page_212'>212</a>-<a href='#Page_220'>220</a>, <a href='#Page_284'>284</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Hector, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Hedgehog, appreciation of the, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Heine, <a href='#Page_344'>344</a></li> - <li class='c024'><i>Helena</i>, <a href='#Page_190'>190</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Helps, Sir Arthur, <a href='#Page_352'>352</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Henotheism, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Hera, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a>-<a href='#Page_27'>27</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Heraclites, <a href='#Page_72'>72</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Herakles, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Hermits (<i>see</i> <a href='#Anchorites'>Anchorites</a>)</li> - <li class='c024'>Herodotus, <a href='#Page_31'>31</a>, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a>, <a href='#Page_148'>148</a>-<a href='#Page_149'>149</a>, <a href='#Page_301'>301</a></li> - <li class='c024'><span class='pageno' id='Page_376'>376</span>Hero-worship, <a href='#Page_299'>299</a>-<a href='#Page_300'>300</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Hidery, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Hinduism, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a>, <a href='#Page_218'>218</a>-<a href='#Page_219'>219</a>, <a href='#Page_265'>265</a>-<a href='#Page_266'>266</a></li> - <li class='c024'><i>History of European Morals</i>, <a href='#Page_362'>362</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Homa, <a href='#Page_148'>148</a>-<a href='#Page_149'>149</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Homer, <a href='#Page_23'>23</a>-<a href='#Page_26'>26</a>, <a href='#Page_77'>77</a>, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a>, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Homizd IV., <a href='#Page_161'>161</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Honover, <a href='#Page_138'>138</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Horace, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Horses, famous, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a>-<a href='#Page_27'>27</a>; - <ul> - <li>sacrifice of, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a>;</li> - <li>in Oriental books, <a href='#Page_188'>188</a>;</li> - <li>St. Columba’s horse, <a href='#Page_255'>255</a>;</li> - <li>in chivalrous age, <a href='#Page_281'>281</a>-<a href='#Page_282'>282</a>;</li> - <li>thinking, <a href='#Page_283'>283</a>;</li> - <li>Arab and his horse, <a href='#Page_285'>285</a>-<a href='#Page_288'>288</a>;</li> - <li>Hatem’s horse, <a href='#Page_285'>285</a>-<a href='#Page_286'>286</a>;</li> - <li>the Cid’s horse, <a href='#Page_289'>289</a>-<a href='#Page_294'>294</a>;</li> - <li>horse of Rustem, <a href='#Page_294'>294</a>;</li> - <li>talking, <a href='#Page_298'>298</a>;</li> - <li>Bengal fable, <a href='#Page_313'>313</a>;</li> - <li>Russian folk-lore tale, <a href='#Page_322'>322</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c024'>Hugo, Victor, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>, <a href='#Page_45'>45</a>, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a>, <a href='#Page_164'>164</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Humanitarianism, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a>-<a href='#Page_147'>147</a>, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a>, <a href='#Page_198'>198</a>-<a href='#Page_200'>200</a>, <a href='#Page_243'>243</a>, <a href='#Page_308'>308</a>, <a href='#Page_346'>346</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Húsheng, <a href='#Page_141'>141</a>-<a href='#Page_142'>142</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Huxley, Professor, <a href='#Page_354'>354</a></li> - <li class='c003'>Iblís, <a href='#Page_142'>142</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Ibsen, <a href='#Page_186'>186</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Ichneumon, <a href='#Page_311'>311</a>-<a href='#Page_312'>312</a></li> - <li class='c024'>“Iliad,” <a href='#Page_25'>25</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Immortality, <a href='#Page_159'>159</a>, <a href='#Page_362'>362</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Improta, Leandro, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Indian doctrine of transmigration, <a href='#Page_14'>14</a>-<a href='#Page_17'>17</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Indra, <a href='#Page_116'>116</a>-<a href='#Page_117'>117</a>, <a href='#Page_319'>319</a>-<a href='#Page_323'>323</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Insects, killing of, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a></li> - <li class='c024'><i>Intelligenza delle Bestie</i>, <a href='#Page_363'>363</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Iranians, <a href='#Page_113'>113</a>-<a href='#Page_134'>134</a>, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Isaiah, <a href='#Page_249'>249</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Isis, <a href='#Page_336'>336</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Islam, <a href='#Page_160'>160</a>, <a href='#Page_221'>221</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Issaverdens, Padre Giacomo, <a href='#Page_209'>209</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Itongo, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a>, <a href='#Page_259'>259</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Itvara, <a href='#Page_186'>186</a></li> - <li class='c003'>Jacobi, Professor Hermann, <a href='#Page_169'>169</a>, <a href='#Page_199'>199</a></li> - <li class='c024'><span class='pageno' id='Page_377'>377</span>Jaina hermit’s story, <a href='#Page_332'>332</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Jainism, <a href='#Page_168'>168</a>-<a href='#Page_193'>193</a>, <a href='#Page_196'>196</a>-<a href='#Page_200'>200</a></li> - <li class='c024'><i>Jātaka Book</i>, <a href='#Page_328'>328</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Jebb, Sir Richard, <a href='#Page_135'>135</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Jenyns, Soame, <a href='#Page_360'>360</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Jesus Christ, <a href='#Page_130'>130</a>, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a>, <a href='#Page_188'>188</a>, <a href='#Page_216'>216</a>, <a href='#Page_231'>231</a>, <a href='#Page_244'>244</a>, <a href='#Page_249'>249</a>-<a href='#Page_252'>252</a>, <a href='#Page_320'>320</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Jews (<i>see</i> <a href='#Hebrews'>Hebrews</a>)</li> - <li class='c024'>Jinas, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Joghi, <a href='#Page_181'>181</a></li> - <li class='c024'>John, Father, <a href='#Page_338'>338</a></li> - <li class='c024'>John XXII., Pope, <a href='#Page_49'>49</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Jones, Sir William, <a href='#Page_135'>135</a>, <a href='#Page_152'>152</a>, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a>, <a href='#Page_333'>333</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Jonson, Ben, <a href='#Page_283'>283</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Joseph of Anchieta, <a href='#Page_255'>255</a>-<a href='#Page_256'>256</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Josephus, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Julia Domna, Empress, <a href='#Page_338'>338</a></li> - <li class='c003'>Kálidása, <a href='#Page_333'>333</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Kambôga, <a href='#Page_188'>188</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Karileff, <a href='#Page_254'>254</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Karman, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a>-<a href='#Page_177'>177</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Kasi, King of, <a href='#Page_330'>330</a>-<a href='#Page_331'>331</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Katmir, <a href='#Page_230'>230</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Keats, John, <a href='#Page_207'>207</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Kempis, Thomas à, <a href='#Page_171'>171</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Keshub Chunder Sen, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Khordah Avesta, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a>, <a href='#Page_137'>137</a>, <a href='#Page_159'>159</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Kirghis, the, <a href='#Page_85'>85</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Koran, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a>, <a href='#Page_221'>221</a>-<a href='#Page_223'>223</a>, <a href='#Page_226'>226</a>-<a href='#Page_230'>230</a>, <a href='#Page_237'>237</a>, <a href='#Page_261'>261</a>, <a href='#Page_287'>287</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Koureen, <a href='#Page_296'>296</a></li> - <li class='c003'>Lahore Zoological Gardens, <a href='#Page_236'>236</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Lake dwellers, <a href='#Page_90'>90</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Lamarck, <a href='#Page_363'>363</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Lamartine, <a href='#Page_69'>69</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Lampus, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Lancelot, <a href='#Page_296'>296</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Lane, <a href='#Page_224'>224</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Language, definition of, <a href='#Page_354'>354</a>-<a href='#Page_355'>355</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Laplander, the, <a href='#Page_87'>87</a>-<a href='#Page_90'>90</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Lapwing, Solomon and the, <a href='#Page_228'>228</a>-<a href='#Page_229'>229</a></li> - <li class='c024'><span class='pageno' id='Page_378'>378</span>Lebid, <a href='#Page_237'>237</a>-<a href='#Page_239'>239</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Lecky, <a href='#Page_362'>362</a></li> - <li class='c024'><i>Legenda Aurea</i>, <a href='#Page_249'>249</a>, <a href='#Page_258'>258</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Leibnitz, <a href='#Page_365'>365</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Leland, C. G., <a href='#Page_277'>277</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Leopardi, <a href='#Page_59'>59</a>, <a href='#Page_125'>125</a>, <a href='#Page_187'>187</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Lesbia’s sparrow, <a href='#Page_56'>56</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Lessona, Carlo, <a href='#Page_363'>363</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Leveson, Major, <a href='#Page_269'>269</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Lion, legend of a humane, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a>; - <ul> - <li>Christ in the lions’ den, <a href='#Page_250'>250</a>-<a href='#Page_251'>251</a>;</li> - <li>St. Jerome and the, <a href='#Page_253'>253</a>;</li> - <li>lioness at Chartres, <a href='#Page_262'>262</a>;</li> - <li>eating of monkeys and men by, <a href='#Page_268'>268</a>-<a href='#Page_269'>269</a>;</li> - <li>love for his mate, <a href='#Page_269'>269</a>-<a href='#Page_270'>270</a>;</li> - <li>legend of vulture and, <a href='#Page_325'>325</a>;</li> - <li>sympathy of, <a href='#Page_358'>358</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c024'><i>Lion’s Kingdom</i>, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a></li> - <li class='c024'><i>Lives</i>, Plutarch’s, <a href='#Page_65'>65</a>, <a href='#Page_74'>74</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Lizard, sacredness of, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>-<a href='#Page_110'>110</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Lockhart, <a href='#Page_291'>291</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Lombroso, <a href='#Page_267'>267</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Long, Rev. J., <a href='#Page_168'>168</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Lotus-flower, white, <a href='#Page_176'>176</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Lucian, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a>, <a href='#Page_56'>56</a>, <a href='#Page_278'>278</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Lucretius, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a>, <a href='#Page_206'>206</a>, <a href='#Page_239'>239</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Lyall, Sir Alfred, <a href='#Page_180'>180</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Lyall, Sir Chas., <a href='#Page_238'>238</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Lycæus, Mount, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Lycanthropy, <a href='#Page_274'>274</a>-<a href='#Page_275'>275</a></li> - <li class='c003'>Maeterlinck, <a href='#Page_331'>331</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Magians, the, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a>, <a href='#Page_124'>124</a>, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a>-<a href='#Page_129'>129</a>, <a href='#Page_148'>148</a>, <a href='#Page_226'>226</a></li> - <li class='c024'><a id='Magic'></a>Magic, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a>-<a href='#Page_280'>280</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Magpie, legend of a, <a href='#Page_77'>77</a>-<a href='#Page_78'>78</a></li> - <li class='c024'><i>Mahabharata</i>, <a href='#Page_317'>317</a>, <a href='#Page_322'>322</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Mahavira, <a href='#Page_169'>169</a>-<a href='#Page_173'>173</a>, <a href='#Page_197'>197</a>-<a href='#Page_198'>198</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Mahmoud, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a></li> - <li class='c024'><i>Malay Magic</i>, <a href='#Page_224'>224</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Malebranche, <a href='#Page_356'>356</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Man, ages of, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Mandeville, <a href='#Page_196'>196</a>, <a href='#Page_352'>352</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Man-eating animals, <a href='#Page_268'>268</a>, <a href='#Page_270'>270</a>-<a href='#Page_272'>272</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Manichæism, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a>, <a href='#Page_261'>261</a></li> - <li class='c024'><span class='pageno' id='Page_379'>379</span>Manning, Cardinal, <a href='#Page_347'>347</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Manu, Institutes of, <a href='#Page_29'>29</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Marcellus, Theatre of, <a href='#Page_55'>55</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Marcus Aurelius, <a href='#Page_59'>59</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Mare, story of the creation of, <a href='#Page_288'>288</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Marne, <a href='#Page_254'>254</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Marriage in the East, <a href='#Page_139'>139</a>-<a href='#Page_140'>140</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Martial, <a href='#Page_58'>58</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Massaia, Cardinal, <a href='#Page_262'>262</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Matreya, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Mazdaism, <a href='#Page_116'>116</a>-<a href='#Page_119'>119</a>, <a href='#Page_124'>124</a>, <a href='#Page_129'>129</a>, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a>-<a href='#Page_139'>139</a>, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a>, <a href='#Page_157'>157</a>-<a href='#Page_158'>158</a>, <a href='#Page_159'>159</a>, <a href='#Page_160'>160</a>-<a href='#Page_161'>161</a>, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a>, <a href='#Page_233'>233</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Mecca, <a href='#Page_231'>231</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Media, <a href='#Page_129'>129</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Medina, <a href='#Page_232'>232</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Melampus, <a href='#Page_344'>344</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Melior, parrot of, <a href='#Page_56'>56</a>-<a href='#Page_57'>57</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Menelek, Emperor, <a href='#Page_229'>229</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Merodach, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Metempsychosis (<i>see</i> <a href='#Transmigration'>Transmigration</a>)</li> - <li class='c024'>Michelet, <a href='#Page_364'>364</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Mill, J. S., <a href='#Page_127'>127</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Millais, Guille, <a href='#Page_240'>240</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Milton, John, <a href='#Page_205'>205</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Minotaur legend, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Mithra, <a href='#Page_120'>120</a>, <a href='#Page_147'>147</a>, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a>, <a href='#Page_336'>336</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Mivart, <a href='#Page_354'>354</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Modi, Jivanji Jamsedji, <a href='#Page_45'>45</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Mohammedanism, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a>, <a href='#Page_130'>130</a>, <a href='#Page_216'>216</a>-<a href='#Page_217'>217</a>, <a href='#Page_221'>221</a>-<a href='#Page_222'>222</a>, <a href='#Page_248'>248</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Monkeys, <a href='#Page_306'>306</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Monotheism, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a>-<a href='#Page_123'>123</a>, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Montaigne, <a href='#Page_352'>352</a></li> - <li class='c024'><i>Moral Philosophy</i>, <a href='#Page_346'>346</a></li> - <li class='c024'>“Morocco,” <a href='#Page_283'>283</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Moslemism, <a href='#Page_221'>221</a>-<a href='#Page_236'>236</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Moti (tiger at Lahore), <a href='#Page_236'>236</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Moufflons, <a href='#Page_85'>85</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Muklagerri Hills, <a href='#Page_171'>171</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Mule of the Parthenon, <a href='#Page_66'>66</a>-<a href='#Page_67'>67</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Mungoose stories, <a href='#Page_306'>306</a>-<a href='#Page_307'>307</a>, <a href='#Page_309'>309</a>-<a href='#Page_311'>311</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Murad, Sultan, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a></li> - <li class='c003'><span class='pageno' id='Page_380'>380</span>Nanak, Baba, <a href='#Page_201'>201</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Napier, Lord, of Magdala, <a href='#Page_316'>316</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Naples, gladiatorial shows at, <a href='#Page_49'>49</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Natural History Museum, S. Kensington, <a href='#Page_240'>240</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Natural History Society, Bombay, <a href='#Page_45'>45</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Nedrotti, the, <a href='#Page_98'>98</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Ne-kilst-lass, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Nemesianus, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Nennig, mosaic at, <a href='#Page_47'>47</a>-<a href='#Page_48'>48</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Neolithic Age, <a href='#Page_91'>91</a>-<a href='#Page_92'>92</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Neoplatonism, <a href='#Page_344'>344</a>-<a href='#Page_346'>346</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Newman, Cardinal, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a></li> - <li class='c024'><i>Nibelungenlied</i>, <a href='#Page_140'>140</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Nirvana, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a>, <a href='#Page_190'>190</a>-<a href='#Page_192'>192</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Nizami, <a href='#Page_243'>243</a>-<a href='#Page_244'>244</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Nobarnus, <a href='#Page_52'>52</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Non-killing (<i>see</i> <i><a href='#Ahimsa'>Ahimsa</a></i>)</li> - <li class='c003'>Oakesmith, Dr., <a href='#Page_63'>63</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Octavius, <a href='#Page_339'>339</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Odoric, Fra, <a href='#Page_194'>194</a>-<a href='#Page_196'>196</a>, <a href='#Page_351'>351</a></li> - <li class='c024'><i>Odyssey</i>, <a href='#Page_23'>23</a>, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Okubo, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Oppert, Prof. Jules, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a></li> - <li class='c024'><i>Oriental Proverbs</i>, <a href='#Page_168'>168</a></li> - <li class='c024'><i>Orientalists, Congress of</i>, <a href='#Page_47'>47</a>, <a href='#Page_168'>168</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Origen, <a href='#Page_14'>14</a>, <a href='#Page_339'>339</a>, <a href='#Page_343'>343</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Origin of man and animals, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a>-<a href='#Page_86'>86</a></li> - <li class='c024'><i>Origin of Species</i>, <a href='#Page_85'>85</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Ormuzd, <a href='#Page_124'>124</a>, <a href='#Page_126'>126</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Orpheus, <a href='#Page_32'>32</a>, <a href='#Page_246'>246</a>-<a href='#Page_247'>247</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Orphic sect, <a href='#Page_31'>31</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Oseberg, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Ovid, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Owls, <a href='#Page_112'>112</a></li> - <li class='c003'>Pahlavi, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a>-<a href='#Page_135'>135</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Paley, <a href='#Page_364'>364</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Pallas Athene, <a href='#Page_112'>112</a></li> - <li class='c024'><i>Panchatantra</i>, the, <a href='#Page_307'>307</a>, <a href='#Page_311'>311</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Pandion, King of Athens, <a href='#Page_345'>345</a></li> - <li class='c024'><i>Paradise Lost</i>, <a href='#Page_205'>205</a></li> - <li class='c024'><span class='pageno' id='Page_381'>381</span>Paris, University of, <a href='#Page_363'>363</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Parrots, <a href='#Page_56'>56</a>-<a href='#Page_57'>57</a>, <a href='#Page_359'>359</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Parsis, food of the, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a>-<a href='#Page_120'>120</a>; - <ul> - <li>burial customs of, <a href='#Page_124'>124</a>;</li> - <li>and the Avesta, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a>-<a href='#Page_135'>135</a>;</li> - <li>and the Ardâ Vîrâf, <a href='#Page_164'>164</a>-<a href='#Page_165'>165</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c024'>Parthenon, the, <a href='#Page_66'>66</a>-<a href='#Page_67'>67</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Pascal, <a href='#Page_356'>356</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Patmore, Coventry, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Patmos, Seer of, <a href='#Page_160'>160</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Paul the Hermit, <a href='#Page_254'>254</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Paulicians, <a href='#Page_346'>346</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Pausanias, <a href='#Page_50'>50</a>-<a href='#Page_51'>51</a>, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a>, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Pavia, Corte da, <a href='#Page_282'>282</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Peace in Nature, <a href='#Page_210'>210</a>-<a href='#Page_212'>212</a>, <a href='#Page_231'>231</a>-<a href='#Page_232'>232</a>, <a href='#Page_332'>332</a>-<a href='#Page_333'>333</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Pelicans, legend of, <a href='#Page_92'>92</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Pereira, Gomez, <a href='#Page_354'>354</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Pericles, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a>, <a href='#Page_66'>66</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Persepolis, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Persians of the eleventh century, <a href='#Page_298'>298</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Petrarch, <a href='#Page_49'>49</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Petronius, <a href='#Page_51'>51</a>, <a href='#Page_58'>58</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Philo, <a href='#Page_346'>346</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Philostratus, <a href='#Page_338'>338</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Piet, Om, <a href='#Page_240'>240</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Pigs, <a href='#Page_115'>115</a>, <a href='#Page_232'>232</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Pinder, <a href='#Page_294'>294</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Pius X., <a href='#Page_346'>346</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Plato, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a>-<a href='#Page_16'>16</a>, <a href='#Page_20'>20</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Pliny, <a href='#Page_66'>66</a>-<a href='#Page_67'>67</a>, <a href='#Page_353'>353</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Plotinus, <a href='#Page_344'>344</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Plutarch, <a href='#Page_45'>45</a>, <a href='#Page_62'>62</a>-<a href='#Page_69'>69</a>, <a href='#Page_74'>74</a>, <a href='#Page_353'>353</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Pluto, <a href='#Page_20'>20</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Podarges, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a></li> - <li class='c024'><i>Political Register</i> (1802), <a href='#Page_360'>360</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Pompeii, mosaic at, <a href='#Page_83'>83</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Porphyry, <a href='#Page_28'>28</a>, <a href='#Page_339'>339</a>, <a href='#Page_344'>344</a>, <a href='#Page_353'>353</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Portionuculo, <a href='#Page_260'>260</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Primatt, Humphry, <a href='#Page_362'>362</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Prometheus, <a href='#Page_65'>65</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Prosecution of animals, <a href='#Page_347'>347</a>-<a href='#Page_351'>351</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Provence, <a href='#Page_90'>90</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Psalms, quotation from, <a href='#Page_219'>219</a>-<a href='#Page_220'>220</a></li> - <li class='c024'><span class='pageno' id='Page_382'>382</span>Punishment in the Ardâ Vîrâf, <a href='#Page_163'>163</a>-<a href='#Page_164'>164</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Purgatory and animal incarnation, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Pythagoreanism, <a href='#Page_14'>14</a>-<a href='#Page_15'>15</a>, <a href='#Page_33'>33</a>-<a href='#Page_34'>34</a>, <a href='#Page_59'>59</a>-<a href='#Page_60'>60</a>, <a href='#Page_72'>72</a>, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a>, <a href='#Page_337'>337</a>, <a href='#Page_346'>346</a></li> - <li class='c003'>Quartenary Age, <a href='#Page_86'>86</a>-<a href='#Page_88'>88</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Quinet, Édouard, <a href='#Page_357'>357</a>-<a href='#Page_358'>358</a></li> - <li class='c003'>Rakush, <a href='#Page_294'>294</a>-<a href='#Page_300'>300</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Raleigh, Sir Walter, <a href='#Page_283'>283</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Ravenna, mosaic at, <a href='#Page_73'>73</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Ravens, <a href='#Page_272'>272</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Reasoning power of animals, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a>-<a href='#Page_159'>159</a>; - <ul> - <li>Plutarch’s views on, <a href='#Page_67'>67</a>-<a href='#Page_69'>69</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c024'>Reinach, M. S., <a href='#Page_80'>80</a>, <a href='#Page_101'>101</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Reindeer hunters, <a href='#Page_86'>86</a>-<a href='#Page_89'>89</a>, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a>; - <ul> - <li>and the Lapps, <a href='#Page_285'>285</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c024'><i>Religion of Plutarch</i>, <a href='#Page_63'>63</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Religions, Congress for History of, <a href='#Page_120'>120</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Religious knowledge in animals, <a href='#Page_72'>72</a>-<a href='#Page_74'>74</a>; - <ul> - <li>early religions, <a href='#Page_93'>93</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c024'>Renan, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Reptiles, killing of, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Réville, Albert, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Rhinoceroses, <a href='#Page_51'>51</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Rickaby, Father, <a href='#Page_346'>346</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Rig-Veda, <a href='#Page_113'>113</a>-<a href='#Page_115'>115</a>, <a href='#Page_117'>117</a>, <a href='#Page_139'>139</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Romanes, Professor, <a href='#Page_356'>356</a></li> - <li class='c024'>“Rooh Allah,” <a href='#Page_231'>231</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Rozinante, <a href='#Page_290'>290</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Rustem, <a href='#Page_294'>294</a>-<a href='#Page_305'>305</a></li> - <li class='c003'>Sacerdotalism, <a href='#Page_168'>168</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Sacontala, <a href='#Page_233'>233</a>-<a href='#Page_234'>234</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Sacred birds, animals, and reptiles, <a href='#Page_100'>100</a>-<a href='#Page_101'>101</a>, <a href='#Page_104'>104</a>-<a href='#Page_110'>110</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Sacred carpet, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a>, <a href='#Page_227'>227</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Sacrifices, funeral, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>-<a href='#Page_13'>13</a>; - <ul> - <li>Greek, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>-<a href='#Page_25'>25</a>;</li> - <li>bloodless, <a href='#Page_31'>31</a>;</li> - <li>belief in, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a>;</li> - <li>of domestic animals, <a href='#Page_95'>95</a>-<a href='#Page_96'>96</a>;</li> - <li>Gift and Pact, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a>;</li> - <li>Totemism, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>-<a href='#Page_98'>98</a>;</li> - <li>of Persians, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a>;</li> - <li>in the <i>Bundehesh</i>, <a href='#Page_143'>143</a>;</li> - <li>to Homa, <a href='#Page_148'>148</a>-<a href='#Page_149'>149</a>;</li> - <li><span class='pageno' id='Page_383'>383</span>for Udra-killing, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a>;</li> - <li>the “True Sacrifice” legend, <a href='#Page_183'>183</a>-<a href='#Page_184'>184</a>;</li> - <li>apostolate for abolition of animal, <a href='#Page_337'>337</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c024'>Sadi, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a></li> - <li class='c024'>St. Anthony, <a href='#Page_254'>254</a>, <a href='#Page_259'>259</a></li> - <li class='c024'>St. Augustine, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a>, <a href='#Page_337'>337</a></li> - <li class='c024'>St. Bernard, <a href='#Page_256'>256</a>-<a href='#Page_257'>257</a></li> - <li class='c024'>St. Columba, <a href='#Page_255'>255</a></li> - <li class='c024'>St. Edward the Martyr, <a href='#Page_274'>274</a></li> - <li class='c024'>St. Francis, <a href='#Page_74'>74</a>, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a>, <a href='#Page_234'>234</a>, <a href='#Page_257'>257</a>-<a href='#Page_263'>263</a></li> - <li class='c024'>St. François de Sale, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a></li> - <li class='c024'>St. James, <a href='#Page_54'>54</a></li> - <li class='c024'>St. Jerome, <a href='#Page_253'>253</a>-<a href='#Page_254'>254</a></li> - <li class='c024'>St. Josephat, <a href='#Page_261'>261</a></li> - <li class='c024'>St. Julien, town of, <a href='#Page_349'>349</a>-<a href='#Page_350'>350</a></li> - <li class='c024'>St. Marculphe, <a href='#Page_255'>255</a></li> - <li class='c024'>St. Martin, <a href='#Page_259'>259</a></li> - <li class='c024'>St. Paul, <a href='#Page_211'>211</a>-<a href='#Page_212'>212</a></li> - <li class='c024'>St. Philip Neri, <a href='#Page_347'>347</a></li> - <li class='c024'>St. Teresa, <a href='#Page_184'>184</a></li> - <li class='c024'>St. Thomas Aquinas, <a href='#Page_275'>275</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Saint-Calais, <a href='#Page_255'>255</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Saint-Hilaire, Geoffroy, <a href='#Page_358'>358</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Sakya Muni, <a href='#Page_129'>129</a>, <a href='#Page_169'>169</a>, <a href='#Page_197'>197</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Sama, Legend of, <a href='#Page_330'>330</a>-<a href='#Page_332'>332</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Samengan, <a href='#Page_299'>299</a>-<a href='#Page_301'>301</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Sásánians, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a>, <a href='#Page_139'>139</a>-<a href='#Page_140'>140</a></li> - <li class='c024'><i>Satyricon</i>, <a href='#Page_51'>51</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Schopenhauer, <a href='#Page_206'>206</a>, <a href='#Page_258'>258</a>, <a href='#Page_361'>361</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Sebectighin, <a href='#Page_240'>240</a>-<a href='#Page_241'>241</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Secundra Orphanage, <a href='#Page_45'>45</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Semites (<i>see</i> <a href='#Hebrews'>Hebrews</a>)</li> - <li class='c024'>Seneca, <a href='#Page_59'>59</a>-<a href='#Page_61'>61</a>, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a></li> - <li class='c024'><i>Sensitive Plant, The</i>, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Serapeum, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Serapis, <a href='#Page_336'>336</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Serpent, the, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a>-<a href='#Page_111'>111</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Sestius, <a href='#Page_61'>61</a></li> - <li class='c024'><i>Seven Sleepers of Ephesus</i>, <a href='#Page_229'>229</a>-<a href='#Page_230'>230</a></li> - <li class='c024'><i>Shah Nameh</i>, <a href='#Page_141'>141</a>, <a href='#Page_294'>294</a>, <a href='#Page_301'>301</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Shakespeare, William, <a href='#Page_256'>256</a>, <a href='#Page_282'>282</a>-<a href='#Page_283'>283</a></li> - <li class='c024'>She-wolves of Rome, <a href='#Page_44'>44</a>-<a href='#Page_45'>45</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Sheba, <a href='#Page_228'>228</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Sheikh of Tús, <a href='#Page_141'>141</a></li> - <li class='c024'><span class='pageno' id='Page_384'>384</span>Shughdad, <a href='#Page_303'>303</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Siam, <a href='#Page_194'>194</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Siegemund and Siegelind, <a href='#Page_140'>140</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Siegfried, <a href='#Page_294'>294</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Siena, <a href='#Page_208'>208</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Sikhs, <a href='#Page_201'>201</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Simurghs, <a href='#Page_298'>298</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Sivi, King, <a href='#Page_321'>321</a>-<a href='#Page_322'>322</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Smith, Dr. H. P., <a href='#Page_110'>110</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Snakes, in India, <a href='#Page_265'>265</a>-<a href='#Page_266'>266</a>; - <ul> - <li>and the mungoose, <a href='#Page_309'>309</a>-<a href='#Page_311'>311</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c024'>Societies to protect animals, <a href='#Page_356'>356</a>-<a href='#Page_360'>360</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Socrates, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a>, <a href='#Page_162'>162</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Sohrab, <a href='#Page_299'>299</a>-<a href='#Page_305'>305</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Solomon in the Valley of Ants, <a href='#Page_227'>227</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Soma, <a href='#Page_148'>148</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Somerville, Mrs., <a href='#Page_100'>100</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Sophocles, <a href='#Page_90'>90</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Sotio, <a href='#Page_60'>60</a>-<a href='#Page_61'>61</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Southey, Robert, <a href='#Page_365'>365</a>-<a href='#Page_366'>366</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Srosh, <a href='#Page_162'>162</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Stable, a sanctuary, <a href='#Page_305'>305</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Stag, fable of a, <a href='#Page_326'>326</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Statius, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a>, <a href='#Page_56'>56</a>-<a href='#Page_57'>57</a></li> - <li class='c024'><i>Stelæ</i>, <a href='#Page_80'>80</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Stevenson, R. L., <a href='#Page_196'>196</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Stoics, the, <a href='#Page_65'>65</a>, <a href='#Page_71'>71</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Stork, legend of a, <a href='#Page_255'>255</a></li> - <li class='c024'><i>Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio</i>, <a href='#Page_313'>313</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Strauss, <a href='#Page_362'>362</a>-<a href='#Page_363'>363</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Sufism, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Suicide in India, <a href='#Page_186'>186</a></li> - <li class='c024'>“Sultan,” <a href='#Page_312'>312</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Sumner, Charles, <a href='#Page_281'>281</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Sutras, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a>-<a href='#Page_12'>12</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Suttees, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Swan-maidens (<i>see</i> <a href='#Apsarases'>Apsarases</a>)</li> - <li class='c024'>Swine-flesh, forbidding of, <a href='#Page_232'>232</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Sycamore-tree at Matarea, <a href='#Page_248'>248</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Symmachus, <a href='#Page_52'>52</a>-<a href='#Page_53'>53</a></li> - <li class='c003'>Tahmineh, <a href='#Page_301'>301</a>, <a href='#Page_303'>303</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Taliumen, <a href='#Page_142'>142</a></li> - <li class='c024'><span class='pageno' id='Page_385'>385</span>Taoism, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>-<a href='#Page_106'>106</a></li> - <li class='c024'><i>Tatchi-lou-lun</i>, <a href='#Page_326'>326</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Taylor, John, <a href='#Page_283'>283</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Taylor, Canon Isaac, <a href='#Page_91'>91</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Temple, building, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>-<a href='#Page_122'>122</a>; - <ul> - <li>Jaina temples, <a href='#Page_171'>171</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c024'>Tennyson, <a href='#Page_296'>296</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Thaumaturgy, <a href='#Page_181'>181</a>-<a href='#Page_183'>183</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Thebaid, <a href='#Page_181'>181</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Theogony, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Theophrastus, <a href='#Page_56'>56</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Theocritus, <a href='#Page_83'>83</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Thomas, Pseudo-, <a href='#Page_248'>248</a></li> - <li class='c024'><i>Three Merchants, Parable of the</i>, <a href='#Page_176'>176</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Tiberius, <a href='#Page_61'>61</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Tigers in India, <a href='#Page_265'>265</a>-<a href='#Page_268'>268</a>, <a href='#Page_270'>270</a>-<a href='#Page_272'>272</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Tigress, fable of the, <a href='#Page_327'>327</a></li> - <li class='c024'><i>Times, The</i>, <a href='#Page_360'>360</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Tirthakaras, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a>-<a href='#Page_171'>171</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Titus, <a href='#Page_52'>52</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Tobias, <a href='#Page_92'>92</a>-<a href='#Page_93'>93</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Tobit’s dog, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Todas, <a href='#Page_285'>285</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Torquemada, <a href='#Page_151'>151</a>, <a href='#Page_339'>339</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Totemism, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a>-<a href='#Page_102'>102</a>, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a>, <a href='#Page_272'>272</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Transformation, <a href='#Page_270'>270</a>-<a href='#Page_280'>280</a></li> - <li class='c024'><a id='Transmigration'></a>Transmigration, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a>-<a href='#Page_21'>21</a>, <a href='#Page_186'>186</a>-<a href='#Page_189'>189</a>, <a href='#Page_261'>261</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Tribal system, <a href='#Page_129'>129</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Triptolemus, <a href='#Page_345'>345</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Troglodite Age, <a href='#Page_88'>88</a>-<a href='#Page_89'>89</a></li> - <li class='c024'><i>Trusty Lydia</i>, <a href='#Page_58'>58</a></li> - <li class='c003'><a id='Udra'></a>Udra, the <a href='#Page_155'>155</a>-<a href='#Page_156'>156</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Ulemas, <a href='#Page_234'>234</a>, <a href='#Page_288'>288</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Upanishads, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>-<a href='#Page_13'>13</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Uruguay, <a href='#Page_298'>298</a></li> - <li class='c003'>Valencia, <a href='#Page_292'>292</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Varro, <a href='#Page_275'>275</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Varuna, <a href='#Page_116'>116</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Vedas, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>-<a href='#Page_14'>14</a>, <a href='#Page_20'>20</a>, <a href='#Page_93'>93</a>, <a href='#Page_117'>117</a>-<a href='#Page_178'>178</a>, <a href='#Page_183'>183</a>, <a href='#Page_279'>279</a>-<a href='#Page_280'>280</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Vegetarianism, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a>, <a href='#Page_172'>172</a>, <a href='#Page_193'>193</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Velasquez’s horse, <a href='#Page_284'>284</a></li> - <li class='c024'><span class='pageno' id='Page_386'>386</span>Venidâd, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a>, <a href='#Page_152'>152</a>, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a>-<a href='#Page_157'>157</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Vespasian, <a href='#Page_55'>55</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Viking ship, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Vinci, Leonardo da, <a href='#Page_353'>353</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Virgil, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a>, <a href='#Page_275'>275</a>, <a href='#Page_336'>336</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Vispered, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Vivisection, <a href='#Page_29'>29</a>, <a href='#Page_357'>357</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Voltaire, <a href='#Page_247'>247</a>, <a href='#Page_356'>356</a></li> - <li class='c003'>Walaric, <a href='#Page_255'>255</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Were-wolves, <a href='#Page_274'>274</a>-<a href='#Page_277'>277</a>, <a href='#Page_351'>351</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Wildebeest and Om Piet, <a href='#Page_240'>240</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Witchcraft (<i>see</i> <a href='#Magic'>Magic</a>)</li> - <li class='c024'>Wolf, the, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a>, <a href='#Page_268'>268</a>, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a>-<a href='#Page_277'>277</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Wolf of Agobio, <a href='#Page_257'>257</a>-<a href='#Page_258'>258</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Women and Jainism, <a href='#Page_184'>184</a>-<a href='#Page_186'>186</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Wordsworth, William, <a href='#Page_65'>65</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Worms, Council of, <a href='#Page_348'>348</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Wu-hu, <a href='#Page_314'>314</a>-<a href='#Page_315'>315</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Wusinara, <a href='#Page_317'>317</a>-<a href='#Page_319'>319</a></li> - <li class='c003'>Xanthus, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a>-<a href='#Page_28'>28</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Xantippus, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Xenocrates, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a></li> - <li class='c003'>Yama, <a href='#Page_20'>20</a>, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a>, <a href='#Page_203'>203</a>, <a href='#Page_324'>324</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Yasna, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a>-<a href='#Page_135'>135</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Yogis, legend of two, <a href='#Page_235'>235</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Yudishthira, story of, <a href='#Page_322'>322</a>-<a href='#Page_324'>324</a></li> - <li class='c003'>Zal, <a href='#Page_294'>294</a>-<a href='#Page_296'>296</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Zarathustra (<i>see</i> <a href='#Zoroaster'>Zoroaster</a>)</li> - <li class='c024'>Zechariah’s war-horse, <a href='#Page_284'>284</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Zend (<i>see</i> <a href='#Avesta'>Avesta</a>)</li> - <li class='c024'>Zoolatry, <a href='#Page_144'>144</a></li> - <li class='c024'><i>Zoological Mythology</i>, <a href='#Page_290'>290</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Zoomorphism in Egypt, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a>, <a href='#Page_340'>340</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Zorák, <a href='#Page_142'>142</a></li> - <li class='c024'>Zeus, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a>, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a></li> - <li class='c024'><a id='Zoroaster'></a>Zoroaster, teaching of, <a href='#Page_113'>113</a>, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a>-<a href='#Page_125'>125</a>, <a href='#Page_129'>129</a>-<a href='#Page_165'>165</a>, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a></li> -</ul> - 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