No More Learning

" Bid the Sacian give me the cup, grandfather," said Cyrus, " that I also, by gracefully pouring in wine for you to drink, may gain your favor if I can. " Astyages bade the Sacian give him the cup ; and Cyrus, taking it, rinsed the cup so well, as he had observed the Sacian to do, settled his countenance so gravely, and brought and presented the cup to his grandfather
230 THE BOYHOOD OF CYRUS THE GREAT.
so prettily, as to afford much laughter to his mother and Asty- ages. Cyrus then, laughing out, leaped up to his grandfather,
I will turn you out of your office ; for I will pour out wine better
and, kissing him, cried out, " O Sacian, you are undone ;
than you in other respects, and I will not drink the wine my self. " For these cupbearers to kings, when they give the cup, dip a little out with a smaller cup, which they pour into their left hand and swallow ; so that, in case they mix poison in the cup, it may be of no profit to them. "
Upon this, Astyages said, joking,
you imitated the Sacian in everything else, did not you swallow some of the wine ? " " Because, to say the truth," said he, " I was afraid there might have been poison mixed in the cup ; for, when you entertained your friends upon your birthday, I plainly perceived that he had poured in poison for you all. " "And how, child," said he, " did you know this ? " " Because," said he, " I saw you all disordered both in mind and body ; for, in the first place, what you do not allow us boys to do, that you did yourselves ; for you all cried out together, and yet could not understand each other ; next you fell to singing very ridiculously ; and, without attending to the singer, you swore that he sung admirably ; then, though each told stories of his own strength, when you rose up and fell to dancing, you were not only unable to dance properly, but were unable even to stand upright ; at length, you all entirely forgot yourselves, you, that you were king, and they, that you were their ruler ; and then, for the first time, I discovered that it was equal liberty of speech that you were practicing ; for you never ceased to speak. " "
And why, Cyrus, when
Is your father, child, never intoxicated when he drinks? " "No, indeed," said he. "What does he, then? " "Why, he quenches his thirst, and "suffers no further harm ; for I believe, grandfather," says he, it is not a Sacian
Astyages then said,
that pours out wine for him. " His mother then said, " But why, child, do you thus make war upon the Sacian ? " Cyrus is said to have replied : " Why, indeed, because I hate him ; for very often, when I am desirous to run to my grandfather, this disagreeable fellow hinders me. But pray, grandfather," said he, " allow me to have the government of him for three days. " " How would you govern him ? " said Astyages. Cyrus replied : " Why, standing as he does, just at the entrance, when he had a mind to go in to dinner, I would tell him that it is
THE BOYHOOD OF CYRUS THE GREAT. 231
not yet possible for him to get his dinner, because ' he was busy with certain people ' ; then, when he came to supper, I would tell him that ' he was bathing ' ; and, if he was very eager to eat, I would tell him that ' he was with the women ' ; and so on, till I had tormented him as he torments me when he keeps me from you. "
Such amusement did he afford them at meals ; at other times of the day, if he perceived his grandfather or his mother's brother in want of anything, it was difficult for any one to be beforehand with him in doing it ; for Cyrus was extremely delighted to gratify them in anything that lay in his power.
But when Mandane was preparing to return home to her husband, Astyages requested her to leave Cyrus with him. She made answer, that she was willing to gratify her father in everything ; but that she should think it unkind to leave the child against his will. Upon this, Astyages said to Cyrus, " Child, if you will stay with me, in the first place, the Sacian shall not have the command of your access to me ; but, when ever you wish to come in, it shall be in your own power to do so ; and the oftener you come," said he, " the more I shall think myself obliged to you. You shall also have the use of all my horses, and of as many more as you please ; and, when you go away, you shall take as many of them as you please with you. At meals, too, you shall take whatever way you please to what appears to you to be sufficient. As for the animals that are now in the park, I give them to you ; and will collect others of all kinds, which you shall hunt when you have learned to ride, and shall strike them down with your bow and javelin, as grown men do. Boys I will find you for playfellows ; and whatever else you may desire, if you tell me of it, you shall not fail to have it. "
When Astyages had said this, Cyrus's mother asked him whether he would stay or go. He did not at all hesitate, but at once said that he would stay. And being asked by his mother for what reason, it is said that he answered, " Because, mother, at home I am, and am accounted, superior to my equals in age both in throwing the javelin and in shooting with the bow ; but here, I well know that, in horsemanship, I am infe rior to the boys of my age ; and be assured, mother, this grieves me very much. But if you leave me here, and I learn to be a horseman, I conceive that when I am in Persia, I shall easily
232 THE BOYHOOD OF CYRUS THE GREAT.
master them there, who are so good at all exercises on foot and, when I come amongst the Medes, I shall endeavor, by becoming the best of good horsemen for my grandfather's sake, to be a support to him. " "
His mother is then reported to have said,
will you be instructed here in the knowledge of justice, when your masters are there ? " " Oh, mother," said Cyrus, " I under stand that accurately already. " "How do you know that? " said Mandane. " Because my teacher," said he, " appointed me to give judgment to others, as being very exact in the knowledge of justice myself. But yet," added he, "for not having decided rightly, in one case, I received some stripes. The case was this : A bigger boy, who had a little coat, taking the coat off a little boy, that had a larger one, put on him his own coat, and put on himself the little boy's coat. I, there fore, giving judgment between them, decided that it was best that each should keep the coat that best fitted him. Upon this, the master beat me, telling me that when I should be con stituted judge of what fitted best, I might determine in this manner ; but that when I was to judge whose the coat was, I must consider what just possession is ; whether he that took a thing from another by force should have it, or he who made it or purchased it should possess it ; and then he told me what was according to law was just, and that what was contrary to law was an act of violence ; and impressed upon me accord ingly, that a judge ought to give his opinion in conformity with the law. So, mother," said he, " I understand what is just in all cases very exactly ; or, if I am at all deficient, my grand father here will teach it me. "
" But, child," says she, " the same things are not accounted just with your grandfather here, and yonder in Persia; for among the Medes your grandfather has made himself master of all ; but amongst the Persians it is accounted just that each should have equal rights with his neighbors. Your father is the first to execute what is appointed by the whole state, and submits to what is appointed ; his own inclination is not his standard of action, but the law. Take care, then, that you are not beaten to death at home, if you come thither having learned from your grandfather not what belongs to a king, but what belongs to a tyrant ; an ingredient in which is, to think that you yourself ought to have more than all others. " "Oh,
But how, child,
THE BOYHOOD OF CYRUS THE GREAT. 233
mother," said Cyrus, " your father is much better able to teach one to have less than to have more. Do you not see," said he, " that he has taught all the Medes to have less than himself ? Be well assured, therefore, that your father will not dismiss me, nor any one, from about him, instructed to encroach upon others. "
Many remarks of this kind did Cyrus utter. At last, his mother went away ; while he stayed, and was there brought up. He soon began to associate with those that were his equals in age, so as to be upon very familiar terms with them ; and he quickly attached their fathers to him, both by visiting them, and by giving evidence that he loved their children ; so that, if they wanted any favor of the king, they desired their boys to ask Cyrus to obtain it for them ; and Cyrus, from his benignity and love of esteem, did his utmost to effect their object. Astyages, also, whatever Cyrus asked, was unable to refuse to gratify him ; for Cyrus, when his grandfather fell ill, never quitted him, nor ever ceased from tears ; and it was clearly seen by all that he was in the utmost fear lest he should die. In the night, if Astyages wanted anything, Cyrus was the first to perceive it, and started up, more nimbly than any one else, to serve him in anything that he thought would gratify him ; so that he gained the entire love of Asty ages.
Cyrus was, perhaps, a little over-talkative ; but this was partly from education, because he was obliged by his master to give a reason for what he did, and to require reasons from others, when he had to give his opinion in judgment; and partly, because, from being very eager after knowledge, he was always putting questions to those about him on many subjects, to ascertain how such and such things were ; and, upon what ever subjects he was questioned by others, he gave, from being of a quick apprehension, very ready answers ; so that, from all these circumstances, loquacity was contracted by him. But, as in the persons of those who, while still young, have attained an extraordinary stature, there yet appears something childish, which betrays the fewness of their years, so, in the talkative ness of Cyrus, there was no forwardness to be observed, but a certain simplicity, and affectionateness of disposition, so that a person was desirous rather to hear yet more from him than to be in his company in silence.
234 THE BOYHOOD OF CYRUS THE GREAT.
But when time, with increase of stature, advanced him to the age to become a young man, he then used fewer words and a gentler tone of voice ; he became remarkably bashful, so as to blush when he came into the company of men of years ; and that playful, doglike habit, of running up to everybody alike, he no longer retained. Thus he became more quiet, but was still in society extremely agreeable ; for in whatever exercises he and his equals used to emulate each other, he did not chal lenge his companions to those in which he knew himself supe rior ; but in those in which he felt himself inferior, he was the first to commence declaring that he would perform better than they. Accordingly, he would begin vaulting upon the horse, shooting with the bow, or hurling the javelin on horseback, while he was yet scarcely able to sit on a horse ; and, when he was outdone, he was the first to laugh at himself ; and as, on being unsuccessful, he did not shrink from attempting again the things in which he had failed, but assiduously employed himself in endeavoring to do them better, he soon attained an equality with his companions in horsemanship, and, by his love of the exercise, soon left them behind.
He rapidly, too, exhausted all the beasts in the park, pur suing, throwing at them, and killing them, so that Astyages could no longer collect animals for him. Cyrus, perceiving that, though he was desirous, he was unable to procure many living creatures for him, said to him : " Why need you take so much pains, grandfather, in seeking these animals ?
will but send me out a-hunting with my uncle, I shall consider
that whatever beasts I
though he was very desirous to go out to hunt, yet he could not now be importunate, as when he was a boy; but became more backward in going to his grandfather; and as to what he had previously blamed in the Sacian, that he did not admit him to his grandfather, he became in this a Sacian to himself ; for he never went in, unless he had ascertained whether it was convenient, and begged the Sacian, by all means, to signify to him when it was convenient and when not ; so that the Sacian now loved him extremely, as did all other people.
see are maintained for my use. " But
When Astyages, therefore, knew that he was extremely desirous to hunt abroad, he sent him out with his uncle, and sent some older persons on horseback with him, as guards upon him, to take care of him in the rugged parts of the
If you
THE BOYHOOD OF CYRUS THE GREAT. 235
country, and in case any beasts of the fiercer kind should show themselves. Cyrus, in consequence, was very earnest in inquiring of those that attended him, what beasts he was not to approach, and what sort of animals he might confidently pursue. They told him that bears had destroyed many that had ventured to approach them, as well as lions, wild boars, and leopards, but that stags, antelopes, wild sheep, and wild asses were harmless creatures. They told him likewise, that he must guard against rough places not less than the beasts ; for that many men, with their horses, had been carried head long over precipices.
Cyrus attended to all these instructions very readily; but, as soon as he saw a stag leap forth, forgetting all that he had heard, he pursued, regarding nothing but which way the animal fled ; and his horse, taking a leap with him, fell somehow upon his knees, and very nearly threw him over his neck. However Cyrus, though with difficulty, kept upon his back, and the horse got up again. When he reached the open ground he hurled his javelin, and struck the stag down, a fine large animal ; and he was most highly delighted. But his guards, riding up to him, reproved him, told him into what danger he had run, and said that they must complain of him. Cyrus, having alighted from his horse, stood and listened to this with much uneasiness ; but, hearing a shout, he sprang on his horse, as in a sort of enthusiasm, and seeing before him a boar advancing, he rode forward to meet it, and taking a good aim with his javelin, struck the boar in the forehead, and brought it down. But now his uncle, seeing his rashness, began to reprove him. Cyrus, however, notwithstanding his uncle was finding fault with him, begged that he would allow him to carry off the beasts that he had taken, and to present them to his grandfather. To this, they say, his uncle replied, " But if he learn that it is you that have taken them, he will not only blame you, but me, for allowing you to do it. " "Let him even beat me," says he, " if he will, when I have given them to him ; and do you, if you will, uncle," says he, " correct me as you please ; gratify me only in this. " Cyaxares at last said, "Do as you please ; for you seem now to be our king. "
Cyrus accordingly, carrying home the beasts, presented them to his grandfather, and told him that he himself had hunted them for him. The javelins he did not show him, but
236 THE BOYHOOD OF CYRUS THE GREAT.
laid them down, covered with blood, where he thought that he certainly would see them. Astyages said, " Child, I receive with pleasure whatever you give me ; yet I am not in such want of any of these animals as that you should run into danger for them. " "If, then, you do not want them, grand father," said Cyrus, "pray give them to me, that I may dis tribute them to my companions. " "Child," said Astyages, " take them, and distribute them to whom you please, and of everything else whatever you will. "
Cyrus, taking the beasts, carried them off and gave them to the boys ; and said to them at the same time : " Boys, what very triflers were we when we hunted the beasts in the park ! It seems to me the same as if one had hunted animals tied by the leg ; for, first, they were within a narrow compass of ground ; then the creatures were lean, mangy things ; one was lame, another maimed ; but the beasts in the mountains and plains, how fine, how large, and how sleek did they appear ! The stags, as if they had wings, leaped to the very sky ; the boars, as they say brave men do, came to close quarters ; and, by reason of their bulk, it was impossible to miss them. These, even when they are dead," says he, " appear to me finer than those other walled-up creatures when alive. But," added he, " would your fathers, think you, allow you to go out a-hunt- ing ? " " Yes, very readily," said they, " if Astyages desired it. " Cyrus then said, "Who is there, then, that would men tion it for us to Astyages ? " " Who more able," said they, "to persuade him than yourself? " "By Jupiter," said he, " for my part, I know not what kind of person I am become ; for I am neither able to speak, nor look up to my grandfather in the same manner as formerly ; and, if I go on at this rate, I fear," says he, "I shall become a mere dullard and fool; yet, when I was a little boy, I was thought a wonderful talker. " The boys then said, "You tell us a sad piece of news, if you will be able to do nothing for us in case of need, but, as far as depends on you, we must make our requests to some one else. "
Cyrus, on hearing this remark, was annoyed, and, retiring in silence, encouraged himself to venture; and, having con sidered how he might speak to his grandfather in the least offensive manner, and obtain for himself " and the boys what they desired, went in, and began thus ; Tell me," said he,
THE BOYHOOD OF CYRUS THE GREAT. 237
"grandfather, if one of your domestic servants should run away, and you should take him again, what would you do with him? " "What else," said he, "but put him in chains, and force him to work ? " " But if he should of himself return to you, how would you act ? " " What else should I do," said he, " but have him whipped, " that he may do so no more, and make use of him as at first ? " It is time for you, then," said Cyrus, " to prepare a scourge to whip me, as I am contriving how to run away, and take my companions with me, to hunt. " " You have done well," said Astyages, " to tell it me before hand ; for I now order you not to stir from home. It would be a fine thing, indeed," added he, " if, for the sake of a little venison, I should send out my daughter's son to ramble at his pleasure. "
Cyrus, hearing this, obeyed, and stayed at home; but he continued afflicted, melancholy-looking, and silent. Astyages, finding that he was so extremely distressed, and being willing to please him, took him out to the chase ; and, assembling abundance of people, both foot and horse, and also the boys, and driving the beasts into that part of the country which was suited for riding, he made a great hunt, and being himself present, royally attended, gave orders that none should throw till Cyrus had had enough of the exercise. Cyrus, however, would not let him hinder them, but said, " If you have a mind, grandfather, that I should hunt with pleasure, let all those with me engage in the pursuit, and strive each to do his best. " Asty ages then gave them permission, and, taking his stand, saw them
engage with the beasts, striving to outdo each other, pursuing and throwing their javelins. He was delighted with Cyrus, who, from excess of joy, could not hold his tongue, but, like a young and generous dog, cried out when he approached a beast, and encouraged every one by name. He was pleased to see him laughing at one ; another he observed him to praise cordially, and without the least feeling of envy. At last Asty ages, having taken abundance of game, retired ; and, in other respects, was so pleased with that hunt that he always went out with Cyrus whenever he could, and took abundance of people with him, as well as the boys, for the sake of Cyrus. Thus, for the most part, did Cyrus pass his time, contributing much pleasure and service to every one, without doing the least harm.
238 BABYLON AND NEBUCHADNEZZAR.
BABYLON AND NEBUCHADNEZZAR. By DEAN STANLEY.
[Arthur Penrhtn Stanley, a great English liberal divine and ecclesias tical historian, was nephew of Lord Stanley of Alderley ; born 1816 ; educated at Rugby under Dr. Arnold ; was a brilliant graduate of Balliol College, Oxford ; tutor and examiner at University College, canon of Canterbury Cathedral, pro fessor of ecclesiastical history at Oxford, canon of Christ Church, and in 1864 dean of Westminster ; chaplain to the bishop of London, the Prince of Wales, and Queen Victoria ; Lord Rector of St. Andrews in 1874. He was for many years the greatest leader of the Broad Church party, eminent at once as scholar, orator, divine, man of letters, historian, and fervid lover of humanity. He wrote among many other things the "Life of Dr. Arnold" (1844), "Sinai and Palestine" (1865), "Lectures on the Eastern Church" (1861), "Lectures on the Jewish Church " (1863-79), " Historical Memorials of Westminster Abbey " (1867), "The Three Irish Churches" (second edition, 1869), "Essays on Church and State" (1870), "The Athanasian Creed" (1871), "Lectures on the Church of Scotland " (1872), also volumes of collected sermons. He died
in 1881. ]
Unlike Egypt, which still preserves to us the likeness of the scenes and sights which met the eye of Abraham, Joseph, and Moses, Babylon has more totally disappeared than any other of the great Powers which once ruled the earth. Not a single architectural monument — only one single sculpture — remains of "the glory of the Chaldees' excellency. " Even the natural features are so transformed as to be hardly recogniz able. But by a singular compensation its appearance has been recorded more exactly than any of the contemporary capitals with which it might have been compared. Of Thebes, Mem phis, Nineveh, Susa, no eyewitness has left us a plan or pic ture. But Babylon was seen and described, not indeed in its full splendor, but still in its entirety, by the most inquisitive traveler of antiquity within one century from the time when the Israelites were within its walls, and his accounts are cor rected or confirmed by visitors who saw it yet again fifty years later, when the huge skeleton, though gradually falling to pieces, was distinctly visible. —
Of all the seats of empire of all the cities that the pride or power of man has built on the surface of the globe — Baby lon was the greatest. Its greatness, as it was originated, so in large measure it was secured, by its natural position. Its founders took advantage of the huge spur of tertiary rock which projects itself from the long-inclined plane of the Syrian
BABYLON AND NEBUCHADNEZZAR. 239
desert into the alluvial basin of Mesopotamia, thus furnishing a dry and solid platform on which a nourishing city might rest ; whilst it was defended on the south by the vast morass or lake, if not estuary, extending in that remote period from the Persian Gulf. On this vantage ground it stood, exactly crossing the line of traffic between the Mediterranean coasts and the Iranian mountains ; just also on that point where the Euphrates, sinking into a deeper bed, changes from a wide expanse into a manageable river, not broader than the Thames of our own metropolis ; where, also, out of the deep rich alluvial clay it was easy to dig the bricks which from its earliest date supplied the material for its immense buildings, cemented by the bitumen which from that same early date came floating down the river from the springs in its upper course.
Babylon was the most majestic of that class of cities which belong almost exclusively to the primeval history of mankind : " the cities," as they are called by Hegel, " of the river plains " ; which have risen on the level banks of the mighty streams of Egypt, Mesopotamia, India, and China, and thus stand in the most striking contrast to the towns which belong to the second stage of human civilization, clustering each on its Acropolis or its Seven Hills, and thus contracted and concentrated by the necessities of their local position as obviously as those older capitals possessed from their situation an illimitable power of expansion. As of that second class one of the most striking examples was Jerusalem on its mountain fastness, with the hills standing round it, as if with a divine shelter, and fenced off by its deep ravines as by a natural fosse, so of that earlier class the most remarkable was the city to which the new comers suddenly found themselves transplanted. Far as the horizon itself, extended the circuit of the vast capital of the
then known world. If the imperceptible circumference of our modern capitals has exceeded the limits of Babylon, yet none in ancient times or modern can be compared with its definite inclosure, which was on the lowest computation forty, on the highest sixty miles round. Like Nineveh or Ecbatana, it was, but on a still larger scale, a country or empire inclosed in a city. Forests, parks, gardens, were intermingled with the houses so as to present rather the appearance of the suburbs of a great metropolis than the metropolis itself. Yet still the regularity and order of a city were preserved. The streets,
240 BABYLON AND NEBUCHADNEZZAR.
according to a fashion rare in Europe, whether ancient or modern, but common in ancient Asia, — and adopted by the Greek and Roman conquerors when they penetrated into Asia, perhaps in imitation of Babylon, — were straight, and at right angles to each other. The houses, unlike those of most ancient cities, except at Tyre, and afterwards in Rome, were three or four stories high. But the prodigious scale of the place ap peared chiefly in the enormous size, unparalleled before or since, of its public buildings, and rendered more conspicuous by the flatness of the country from which they rose. Even in their decay, "their colossal piles, domineering over the monoto nous plain, produce an effect of grandeur and magnificence which cannot be imagined in any other situation. " —(Ains- worth. )
The walls by which this imperial city, or, as it might be called, this civic empire, rising out of a deep and wide moat, was screened and protected from the wandering tribes of the Desert, as the Celestial Empire by the Great Wall of China, as the extremities of the Roman Empire by the wall of Trajan in Dacia, or of Severus in Northumberland, were not, like those famous bulwarks, mere mounds or ramparts, but lines as of towering hills, which must have met the distant gaze at the close of every vista, like the Alban range at Rome. They ap peared, at least to Herodotus, who saw them whilst in their unbroken magnificence, not less than 300 feet high ; and along their summit ran a vast terrace which admitted of the turning of chariots with four horses, and which may therefore well have been more than eighty feet broad.
If to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who were accustomed to the precipitous descent of the walls overhanging the valley of the Kedron, the mere height of the Babylonian inclosure may not have seemed so startling as to us, yet to the size of the other buildings the puny dimensions whether of the Palace or Temple of Solomon bore no comparison. The great palace of the kings was itself a city within the city — seven miles round ; and its gardens, expressly built to convey to a Median princess some reminiscence of her native mountains, rose one above another, to a height of more than seventy feet, on which stood forest trees of vast diameter side by side with flowering shrubs. On the walls of the Palace the Israelites might see painted those vast hunting-scenes which were still traceable two centuries later — of which one characteristic fragment
BABYLON AND NEBUCHADNEZZAR. 241
remains in sculpture, a lion trampling on a man — which would recall to them the description in their own early annals of "Nimrod the mighty hunter. "
But the most prodigious and unique of all was the Temple of Bel — which may well have seemed to them the completion of that proud tower " whose top was to reach to heaven. " It was the central point of all ; it gave its name to the whole place — Bab-el or Bab-bel, " the gate of God or Bel," which by the quaint humor of primitive times had been turned to the Hebrew word " Babel," or " confusion. " It was the most re markable of all those artificial mountains," or beacons, which, towering over the plains of Mesopotamia, guide the traveler's eye like giant pillars. " It rose like the Great Pyramid, square upon square ; and was believed to have reached the height of 600 feet. Its base was a square of 200 yards. No other edifice consecrated to worship, not Carnac in Egyptian Thebes, nor Byzantine St. Sophia, nor Gothic Clugny, nor St. Peter's of Rome, have reached the grandeur of this primeval sanctu ary, casting its shadow far and wide, over city and plain. Thither, as to the most sacred and impregnable fortress, were believed to have been transported the huge brazen laver, the precious brazen pillars, and all the lesser vessels of the Temple of Jerusalem, together doubtless with all the other like sacred spoils which Babylonian conquest had swept from Egypt, Tyre, Damascus, or Nineveh. And when from the silver shrine at the summit of this building, the whole mass of mingled verdure and habitation for miles and miles was overlooked, what was wanting in grace or proportion must have been compensated by the extraordinary richness of color. Some faint conception of this may be given by the view of Moscow from the Kremlin over the blue, green, and gilded domes and towers springing from the gardens which fill up the vacant intervals of that most Oriental of European capitals. But neither that view nor any other can give a notion of the vastness of the varie gated landscape of Babylon as seen from any of its elevated points.
From the earliest times of the city, as we have seen, the two materials of its architecture were the bricks baked from the plains on which it stood, and the plaster fetched from the bitumen springs of Hit. But these homely materials were made to yield effects as bright and varied as porcelain or metal.
The several stages of the Temple itself were black, orange, vol. in. — 16
242 BABYLON AND NEBUCHADNEZZAR.
crimson, gold, deep yellow, brilliant blue, and silver. The white or pale brown of the houses, wherever the natural color of the bricks was left, must have been strikingly contrasted with the rainbow hues with which most of them were painted, according to the fancy of their owners, whilst all the interven ing spaces were filled with the variety of gigantic palms in the gardens, or the thick jungles or luxuriant groves by the silvery lines of the canals, or in the early spring the carpet of brilliant flowers that cover the illimitable plain without the walls, or the sea of waving corn, both within and without, which burst from the teeming soil with a produce so plentiful that the Grecian traveler dared not risk his credit by stating its enormous magnitude.
When from the outward show we descend to the inner life of the place, Babylon may well indeed to the secluded Israelite have seemed to be that of which to all subsequent ages it has been taken as the type — " the World " itself. No doubt there was in Jerusalem and Samaria, especially since the days of Solomon, a little hierarchy and aristocracy and court, with its factions, feasts, and fashions. But nowhere else in Asia, hardly even in Egypt, could have been seen the magnificent cavalry careering through the streets, the chariots and four, " chariots like whirlwinds," " horses swifter than eagles," — "horses, " and chariots, and horsemen, and companies," with "spears and "burnished helmets. " Nowhere else could have been imagined the long muster roll, as of a peerage, that passes in long procession before the eye of the Israelite captive — " the satraps, captains, pashas, the chief judges, treasurers, judges, counselors, and all the rulers of the provinces. " Their splen did costumes of scarlet — their party-colored sashes — "all of them princes to look to " ; their elaborate armor, — " buckler, and shield, and helmet," — their breastplates, their bows and quivers, and battle-axes — marked out to every eye the power and grandeur of the army. Nowhere was science or art so vis ibly exalted, as in " the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the wise Chaldaeans," who were expected to un ravel all the secrets of nature, and who in point of fact, from those wide level plains, " where the entire celestial hemisphere is continually visible to every eye, and where the clear trans
parent atmosphere shows night after night the heavens gemmed with countless stars of undimmed brilliancy," had laid the first foundations of astronomy, mingled as it was with the specu
BABYLON AND NEBUCHADNEZZAR.
243
lations, then deemed pregnant with yet deeper significance, of astrology. Far in advance of the philosophy, as yet unborn, of Greece, in advance even of the ancient philosophy of Egypt, the Chaldaeans long represented to both those nations the high est flights of human intellect — even as the majestic Temples, which served to them at once as college and observatory, towered above the buildings of the then known world. Twice over in the Biblical history — once on the heights of Zophim, once beside the cradle of Bethlehem — do the star gazers of Chaldaea lay claim to be at once the precursors of Divine Reve lation, and the representatives of superhuman science.
Returning to the ordinary life of the place, its gay scenes of luxury and pomp were stamped on the memory of the Is raelites by the constant clash and concert, again and again re sounding, of the musical instruments in which the Babylonians delighted, and of which the mingled Greek and Asiatic names are faintly indicated by the British catalogue of " cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music. " Nor could they forget how, like the Athenian exiles in later days at Syracuse, their artistical masters besought them to take their own harps and sing one of the songs of their distant mountain city ; though, unlike those prisoners, who gladly re cited to their kindred enemies the tragedies of their own Eu ripides, they could not bring themselves to waste on that foreign
land the melody which belonged only to their Divine Master. Yet one more feature peculiar to Chaldaea, both natural and social, is recalled by the scene of that touching dialogue be tween the captors and the captives. The trees on which their harps were hung were unlike any that they knew in their own country. They called them by the name that seemed nearest to the willows of their own watercourses. But they were in fact the branching poplars mingled with the tamarisks, which still cluster beside the streams of Mesopotamia, and of which one solitary and venerable specimen long survived on the ruins of Babylon, and in the gentle waving of its green boughs sent forth a melancholy, rustling sound, such as in
after times chimed in with the universal desolation of the spot, such as in the ears of the Israelites might have seemed to echo their own mournful thoughts. The "waters " by which they wept were " the riven of Babylon. " "The river" — that word was of unknown or almost unknown sound to those who had seen only the scanty torrent beds of Judtea, or
244 BABYLON AND NEBUCHADNEZZAR.
the narrow rapids of the Jordan. The " river " in the mouth of an Israelite meant almost always the gigantic Euphrates — the fourth "river" of the primeval garden of the earth — the boundary of waters, from beyond which their forefathers had come. And now, after parting from it for many centuries, they once more found themselves on its banks — not one river only, but literally, as the Psalmist calls "rivers"; for by the wonderful system of irrigation which was the life of the whole region, was diverted into separate canals, each of which was itself " river," the source and support of the gardens and palaces which clustered along the water's edge. The country far and near was intersected with these branches of the mighty stream. One of them was so vast as to bear then the name, which bears even to this day, of the Egyptian Nile.
On the banks of the main channel of the "river" all the streets abutted, all the gates opened and immediately on leaving the city opened into that vast lake or estuary which made the surrounding tract itself " the desert of the sea" —the great sea, tossed by the four winds of heaven, and teeming with the monster shapes of earth — the sea on which floated innum erable ships or boats, as the junks at Canton, or the gondolas at Venice, or even as the vast shipping at our own renowned seaports. " Of the great waters," such the monumental in scription of Nebuchadnezzar, " like the waters of the ocean, made use abundantly. " " Their depths were like the depths of the vast ocean. " The inland city was thus converted into " city of merchants" — the magnificent empire into "a land of traffic. " " The cry," the stir, the gayety of the Chaldaeans was not in the streets or gardens of Babylon, but "in their ships. " — (Isaiah. ) Down the Euphrates came floating from the bitumen pits of Hit the cement with which its foundations were covered, and from Kurdistan and Armenia huge blocks of basalt, from Phoenicia gems and wine, perhaps its tin from Cornwall; up its course came from Arabia and from India the dogs for their sports, the costly wood for their stately walking staves, the frankincense for their worship.
And over this vast world of power, splendor, science, art, and commerce presided genius worthy of (so at least the Israelite tradition represented him), — "the Head of Gold," "whose brightness was excellent" —the Tree whose height reached to heaven, and the sight thereof " to the end of all the earth " — " whose leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much,
a
it
a
I
is
;
it,
it
it
a
it
BABYLON AND NEBUCHADNEZZAR. 245
and in it meat for all—under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the fowls of the air had their habitation. " He whose reign reached over one half of the whole period of the empire — he who was the last conqueror amongst the primeval monarchies, as Nimrod had been the first — the Lord of the then known historical world from Greece to India, — was the favorite of Nebo, who when he looked on his vast constructions might truly say, " Is not this Great Babylon that I have built for the house of my kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty ? "
Hardly any other name than Nebuchadnezzar's is found on " the bricks of Babylon. " — (Rawlinson. ) Palace and Temple were both rebuilt by him ; and not only in Babylon but through out the country. The representations of him in the Book of Daniel may belong to a later epoch ; but they agree in their general outline with the few fragments preserved to us of ancient annals or inscriptions ; and they have a peculiar interest of their own, from the fact that the combination which they exhibit of savage power with bursts of devotion and tenderness is not found elsewhere amongst the Hebrew portraitures of any Gentile potentate. It is loftier and more generous than their conception of the Egyptian Pharaoh, the Assyrian Sennacherib, or the Greek Antiochus ; it is wilder and fiercer than the adumbrations of the Persian Cyrus or the Roman Caesar.
His decrees as recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures may breathe a more didactic spirit than they actually bore ; but they are not unlike in tone to those which are preserved on the monuments. And the story of his insanity, even if the momen tary light thrown upon it by the alleged interpretation of the inscriptions be withdrawn, may remain as the Hebrew version of the sickness described by Berosus and the sudden disappear ance described by Abydenus, and also as the profound Biblical expression of "the Vanity of Human Wishes" — the punish ment of the "vaulting ambition that overleaps itself" — the eclipse and the return of reason, which when witnessed even in modern times in the highest places of the State have moved the heart of a whole nation to sympathy or to thanksgiving. He was to the Israelite captives, not merely a gigantic tyrant, but with something like " the prophetic soul of the wide world, dreaming on things to come " — himself the devoted worshiper of his own Merodach, yet bowing before the King of Heaven, "whose works are truth, and whose ways judgment. "
246 THE FIRST RECORDED FUGITIVE-SLAVE CASE.
THE FIRST RECORDED FUGITIVE-SLAVE CASE. (From a Babylonian tablet : " Records of the Fast. ")
By Db. OPPEBT.
[Jot-ius or Jules Oppebt, a leading Assyriologist and Orientalist, was a German by birth, a Jew by race, and a Frenchman by need. Born in Hamburg July 0, 1825, and educated at Heidelberg and Bonn in law, Arabic, and Sanskrit, he removed to France in 1847 because Jews could not have places in German universities ; was professor of German in Laval and Rheims ; accompanied a government expedition to Mesopotamia and wrote a report of it in 1867 ; became professor of Sanskrit at Paris. His life work has been the deciphering and study of legal decisions and contracts in the cuneiform script. His chief works, be sides the report above named, are : " Inscriptions of the Achaemenidae " (1852) ; " Assyrian Studies " (1859-34) ; " Sanskrit Grammar " (1869) ; " History of the Chaldean and Assyrian Empires " (1866) ; " Immortality of the Soul among the Chaldeans " (1876) ; " People and Language of the Medes " (1879). ]
Babachiel, a captive Jew, carried to Babylon after the de struction of Jerusalem, had been the property of a wealthy per son named Akhi-nuri, who had sold him to a widow of the name of Gaga, about 570 B. C. He remained in the house of this lady as a slave, with the power of liberating himself by paying a sum equal to his peculium, or private property which he had been allowed to acquire, like a slave in ancient Rome; but it seems that he was never fortunate enough to be able to afford the sum of money required. He remained with Gaga twenty- one years, and was considered the res or property of the house, and as such was handed over in pledge, was restored, and finally became the dowry of Nubta (" Bee "), the daughter of Gaga. Nubta gave him to her son and husband in exchange for a house and some slaves.
After the death of the two ladies he was sold to the wealthy publican Itti-Mardukbaladh, from whose house he escaped twice. Taken the second time, he instituted an action in order that he might be recognized as a free-born citizen, of the family of Bel-rimanni ; and to prove that he was of noble origin, he pre tended that he had performed the matrimonial solemnities at the marriage of his master's daughter Qudasu with a certain Samas-mudammiq. Such a performance doubtless implied that the officiating priest was of free birth. The case was brought before a court of justice, and the royal judges asked Barachiel to prove that he was of free birth. Eventually Barachiel was obliged to retract his former statements. He was unable to rebut the evidence alleged against him 5 and though it is prob
THE FIRST RECORDED FUGITIVE-SLAVE CASE. 247
able that the two married persons whose " hands he had joined " were dead, other witnesses came forward who proved that he was "a slave of ransom " ; that is to say, a slave who was allowed by special laws to employ his private fortune in the work of liberating himself.
The judges, after perusing all the evidence, do not find any proofs that Barachiel was a man of free birth, and accordingly say to him, " Prove to us that you are the descendant of a (noble) ancestor. " Thereupon Barachiel confesses that he is not free-born, but has twice run away from the house of his master ; as, however, the act was seen by many people, he was afraid, and said, "I am the son of a (noble) ancestor. " "But I am not free-born," he continues, and then gives an account of the events of his life. "
The expression " letter of citizenship (dippi mar-banui) occurs several times, and signifies the warrant given by a master to his emancipated slave. " Non-citizenship " was the fourth fact guaranteed by the seller of a slave to the purchaser, the other three being : (1) that the slave should not rebel or run away, if he returned to his former master he was to be sent back ; (2) that no claim should lie against the validity of the sale on account of technical or other errors ; (3) that the purchaser should be secured against any claim made upon the services of a slave by a royal officer.
The judges decided that Barachiel should be restored to his original status. The only penalty imposed upon the slave is his restoration to his ancient condition ; penalties were decreed against those who wished to annul a contract, not against those who pretended to be free citizens. In this respect the Baby lonian law was more humane than the Roman. The old Jew escaped with the failure of his attempt to recover his unde served loss of liberty ; perhaps the court took into serious con sideration his fidelity to his former master, who had esteemed him to be worth not only a house but other slaves as well.
The Text.
Barachiel is a slave of ransom belonging to Gaga the daughter of
. . . whom in the 35th year of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, [from Akhi-]nuri, the son of Nabu-nadin-akh, for the third of a mina
and 8 shekels
she had bought. Recently he has instituted an action, saying thus
248 THE FIRST RECORDED FUGITIVE-SLAVE CASE.
I am the son of a (noble) ancestor, of the family of Bel-rimanni, who have joined the hands (in matrimony) of Samas-mudammiq the son of Nabu-nadin-akh
and the woman Qudasu the daughter of Akhi-nuri, even L In the presence of
the high priest, the nobles and the judges of NaboniduB king of Babylon
they pleaded the case and listened to their arguments in regard to
the obligation of servitude
of Barachiel. From the 35th year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Baby- to the 7th year of Nabonidus king of Babylon, he had been sold for
money, had been put
in pledge, (and) as the dowry of Nubta the daughter
of Gaga had. been given. Afterwards Nubta had alienated him by a
sealed contract ;
in exchange for a house and slaves to Zamama-nadin
her son and Idina her husband had given him. They read (the
evidence) and
said thus to Barachiel : Thou hast brought an action and said : The
son of a (noble) ancestor
am I. Prove to us thy (noble) ancestry. Barachiel his former
statement
retracted, saying : Twice have I run away from the house of my
master, but many people (were present),
and I was seen. I was afraid and said (accordingly) that I am the
son of a (noble) ancestor.
My citizenship exists not ; I am the slave of ransom of Gagfi.
NubtS her daughter received me as (her) dowry ; Nubta
alienated me by a sealed contract, and to Zamama-nadin her son and
Idina her husband
gave me in exchange ; and after the death of GagS. (and) Nubta,
to Itti-Marduk-baladh the son of Nabu-akhe-iddin of the family of
Egibi, for silver
I [was sold]. I am a slave. Go now, [pronounce sentence] about me. [The high priest], the nobles and the judges heard the evidence [and] restored [Barachiel] to his condition as slave of ransom, not
withstanding the absence of Samas-mudammiq
[the son of Nabu-nadin-akh] and Qudasu the daughter of Akhi-nuri,
the seller
[of the slave]. For the registration of this [decision] Musezib the
[priest]
[and] . . . Nergal-akhe-iddin the judges
. . . of the family of Epis-el, in the city of the palace of the king
of Babylon, the 17th day of
the month Marchesvan [October], [the 7th? year] of Nabonidus king of Babylon.
[lon
PASSAGES IN THE BUDDHA'S LIFE. 249
PASSAGES IN THE BUDDHA'S LIFE.
(From " The Romantic Legend of Sakya Buddha" : Translated by Samuel Beal. )
[He had previously existed in heaven, but descended and was miraculously incarnated in his mother, without human agency or the usual accompaniments of gestation or birth, at which the devas (angels) sang hymns of joy. ]
His Birth.
Bodhisatwa having thus been born without any assistance or support, he forthwith walked seven steps towards each quarter of the horizon ; and as he walked, at each step, there sprang from the earth beneath his feet a lotus flower ; and as he looked steadfastly in each direction his mouth uttered these words; first looking to the east, he said, in no childish accents, but according to the very words of the Gatha, plainly pronounced, " In all the world I am the very chief ; from this day forth my births are finished. " Bodhisatwa having been born, the at tendants looked everywhere for water; hurriedly they ran in every direction, but found none ; when lo ! before the very face of the mother there suddenly appeared two beautiful tanks, one of cold, the other of hot water, which she mixed as most agree able to herself, and used. And so again from the midst of space, there fell two streamlets of water, cold and hot, with which the body of Bodhisatwa was washed. Then all the Devas brought a golden seat for Bodhisatwa to occupy, which done, he refreshed and washed his body with the grateful streams of water.
At this time there was a great minister of state (koue sse) whose family name was Basita, and his private name Mahanama. He, in company with various other ministers and Brahmans, went together to visit the Lumbini garden. Having arrived there, and standing without the gates, at that time Basita addressed the ministers and said : " Do you perceive how the great earth is rocking as a ship borne over the waves? And see how the sun and moon are darkened and deprived of their light ; just as the stars of the night in their appearance ! And see how all the trees are blossoming as if the season had come — and hark ! whilst the heavens are serene and calm — listen ! there is the roll of thunder! and though there be no clouds, yet the soft rain is falling ; so beautifully fertilizing in its quali ties ! and the air is moved by a gentle and cool breeze coming from the eight quarters — and hark to the sound of that voice
250 PASSAGES IN THE BUDDHA'S LIFE.
of Brahma so sweetly melodious in the air, and all the Devas chanting their hymns and praises ! whilst the flowers and sweet unguents rain down through the void ! "
Then a minister answered Mahanama and said, "These things are so ! yet it is nothing extraordinary ; it is the nature of things (earth) to produce such results ! " Another said, "No doubt these things are very wonderful and not to be accounted for. " Thus they deliberated together on the point. All at once, from the garden, there came tripping along a woman who came forth from Lumbini and stood outside the very gate where Basita and the Brahmans were in consulta tion ; on seeing whom, she was greatly rejoiced, and could not contain herself for very gladness of heart ; and so she cried out, " Oh ! ye sons of Sakya ! hurry away as fast as possible to Maharaja. " Then the ministers replied, seeing her high
spirits, " And what news shall we give him when we see him ; what does your manner signify — is it good tidings or bad ? " To whom she replied, " Oh ! Sakyas ! it is wonderfully good news ! " "What is it then? " they said ; "come let us know. " Then she continued, " The queen has borne a son ! oh ! so beau tiful and such a lovely child ! a child without peer on earth ! and the Devas are scattering flowers about him, and there is a heavenly light diffused round his person. " The great minis ters having heard these words, their hearts were filled with joy, and they could not contain themselves for gladness of heart.
At this time the great minister Basita loosed from his neck the string of precious stones that he wore, and gave it to the woman, because of the news she brought ; but having done so, again he thought, " This woman, perhaps, is a favorite of the king, and his majesty, seeing her so beautifully adorned, will naturally inquire and find out where these pearls were ob tained, and so it will cause trouble. " So he took back the gems and desired that whatever merit would have attached to the gift, that this might redound to the woman's benefit.
Then dismissing the other Brahmans to go to the king and tell the joyful news, he himself began to question the woman straitly as to the character of the event which had happened. To whom the woman replied, " Great minister 1 pray listen to me well ; the circumstances attending the birth of the child were very wonderful ! for our queen, Maya, standing upright on the ground, the child came forth of her right side ; there was no rent in her bosom, or side, or loins 1 when the child
PASSAGES IN THE BUDDHA'S LIFE.
251
came forth, from the air there fell beautiful garments, soft as the stuff of Kasi, sent by the Devas ! these the Devas wrapped round the body of the babe, and holding him before his mother, they said, ' All joy be to you, queen Maya ! rejoice and be glad ! for this child you have borne is holy ! ' Then the child, having come forth from his mother's side, said these words, 'No further births have I to endure! this is my very last body ! now shall I attain to the condition of Buddha ! ' then, without aid, standing on the ground, he walked seven steps, whilst lotus flowers sprang up beneath his feet, and faced each quarter ; and whilst looking to the east, in perfectly rounded accents, unlike the words of a child, he said, 'Amongst all creatures I am the most excellent ; for I am about to destroy and extirpate the roots of sorrow caused by the universal evil of birth and death. " Then there came forth from mid air two streams of water hot and cold, respectively, to refresh and cleanse the child's body as he stood there on the ground ; and again there was brought to him a golden seat on which to repose whilst he was washed. Then such brightness shone around, eclipsing the very sun and moon, and all the Devas brought a white umbrella with an entire gold handle — it was large as a chariot wheel — with which to shelter him, and they held great chamaras in their hands, waving them over the child's head ! whilst in the air there was the sound of beautiful music, but no instruments ; and there was the voice of people singing hymns of praise in every direction ; and flowers beau tifully scented fell down in profusion, and though the sun was shining fiercely, yet they withered not, nor dried ! "
Then Mah&nama, the great minister, having heard this description, immediately reflected : " Wonderful ! wonderful ! doubtless a great teacher has been born into the world in the midst of this wicked age ! Now then will I myself go to Suddhodana Raja, and acquaint him with these wonderful circumstances. "
Then the great minister, taking his swiftest horses, and yoking them to a beautiful chariot, drove, fleet as the wind, from the gate of Lumbini straight to Kapilavastu, and without waiting to see the king, he sounded aloud the drum of joy, until his very strength was exhausted. Now, at this time, Suddhodana Raja was sitting on his royal throne, settling with his ministers some important affairs of state, surrounded by attendants on every side ; suddenly hearing the sound of the
252
PASSAGES IN THE. BUDDHA'S LIFE.
joy drum, the king, in surprise, inquired of his minister, " Who is it so abruptly dares to make this noise in front of the gate of one of the Ikshwaku family ? exhausting all his strength in beating the drum of joy ! " Then " the guard in front of the gate replied, and said to the king, Maharaja ! your majesty's minister, Basita, surnamed Mahanama, is approaching in a four- horsed chariot, swift as the wind, from the direction of Lum- bini ; and now he is getting down from his chariot, and, with all his might, beating the drum of joy belonging to the Maharaja ; and without any further words he demands straight way to see the king. " The Suddhodana replied thus to his min isters, " What can be the good news which Basita Mahanama has to tell that he comes so hurriedly to my presence ? " The ministers replied, "Let him be summoned to your majesty's pres ence. " So then Mahanama, coming before the king, cried out with a loud voice, " May the king be ever victorious ! may the king be ever honored ! " Having said this, he paused to regain his strength. Meantime Suddhodana, having heard these words, addressed Mah&nama, and said, " Mahanama ! great minister of the Sakyas ! tell me why you thus come without preface into our presence, your strength exhausted with beat ing the drum of joy. " Then the great minister, Mahanama, replied, " Oh king ! your majesty's queen, the queen of the ruler of the city of Devadaho and Lumbini, having gone forth into the midst of that garden, has brought forth a son, beauti ful as gold in color, heralded into the world by a supernatural light, and provided with a cradle by the Devas ! "
His Love fob all Living Things.
Now the Royal Prince, up to the time of his eighth year, grew up in the royal palace without attention to study; but from his eighth year till his twelfth year he was trained under the care of Visvamitra and Kshantedeva, as we have related.
But now, having completed twelve years and being perfectly acquainted with all the customary modes of enjoyment, as men speak, such as hunting, riding, and driving here and there, according to the desire of the eye or for the gratification of the mind, such being the case, it came to pass on one occasion that he was visiting the Kan-ku garden, and whilst there amused himself by wandering in different directions, shooting with his bow and arrow at whatever he pleased ; and so he
PASSAGES IN THE BUDDHA'S LIFE. 253
separated himself from the other Sakya youths who were also in the several gardens enjoying themselves in the same way.
Just at this time it happened that a flock of wild geese, flying through the air, passed over the garden, on which the young man, Devadatta, pointing his bow, shot one of them through the wing, and left his arrow fixed in the feathers ; whilst the bird fell to the ground at some distance off in the middle of the garden. The Prince Royal, seeing the bird thus transfixed with the arrow, and fallen to the ground, took it with both his hands, and sitting down, with his knees crossed, he rested it in his lap, and with his own soft and glossy hand, smooth and pliable as the leaf of the plantain, his left hand holding it, with his right hand he drew forth the arrow, and anointed the wound with oil and honey.
At this time Devadatta, the young prince, sent certain mes sengers to the Prince Royal, who spoke to him thus : " Deva datta has shot a goose which has fallen down in your garden ; send it to him without delay. "
Then the Prince Royal answered the messengers and said, " If the bird were dead, it would be only right I should return it forthwith to you ; but if it is not dead you have no title to it. " Then Devadatta sent again to the Prince Royal, and the message was this : " Whether the bird be Uving or dead it is mine : my skill it was that shot it, and brought it down : on what ground do you delay to send it me ? " To which the Prince Royal answered : " The reason why I have taken posses sion of the bird is this, to signify that in time to come, when I have arrived at the condition of perfection to which I tend, I shall thus receive and protect all living creatures ; but if still you say that this bird belongs not to me, then go and summon all the wise and ancient men of the Sakya tribe, and let them decide the question on its merits I "
At this time there was a certain Deva belonging to the Sud- dhavasa heaven, who assumed the appearance of an old man and entered the assembly of the Sakyas, where they had come together, and spoke thus : " He who nourishes and cherishes is by right the keeper and owner ; he who shoots and destroys is by his own act the loser and the disperser. "
At this time all the ancient men of the Sakyas at once con firmed the words of the would-be clansman and said, " Verily, verily, it is as this venerable one says, with respect to the dif ference between Devadatta and the Royal Prince. "
254 PASSAGES 1ST THE BUDDHA'S LIFE.
The Competition for his Hand.
Now at this time Suddhodana Raja, having watched his son gradually growing up to manhood, once more recalled the words of the Rishi Asita to his memory, and in consequence he sum moned the great ministers"of the Sakya race to an assembly, and spake thus to them : Do you not remember at the time of the birth of the Royal Prince that the assembled Brahmans and Asita all bear record when they calculated the babe's horo scope, that if he remained a prince he would be a Chakravartin, but if he became a recluse, he would be a supreme Buddha. Now then, my Ministers, tell me by what contrivance I can prevent the Prince leaving his home and assuming a religious life? " "
Then the Sakyas answered and said,
to construct another Palace for the Prince, and let there be prepared there every accommodation for voluptuous pleasures, with women and handmaidens ; so the prince will give up the
idea of leaving his home and becoming a recluse.
Then Suddhodana Raja began to think with himself thus :
" If I do not go to the Prince Royal and consult with him about taking a wife, then I shall but provoke him to disobey and thwart my design ; and again, if I do go to him and consult, then I fear he will take the subject deeply to heart, and in the end not fall in with my views. What then shall I do ? what expedient shall I adopt ? I will do this ;
I will cause every sort of precious ornament to be made, and, when complete, I
will offer them to the prince with the request that he will dis tribute them among the females of his tribe, and then, having trusty persons in watch, I will request them to look well and observe the prince's countenance, and on whichever of the ladies he looks with tenderness, her will I select, and propose to him for a wife. "
Accordingly the king ordered every kind of jeweled orna ment, and delightful trifle (un lung*), to be made of silver and gold ; and then he sent messengers throughout Kapilavastu to proclaim as follows : " After seven days the Prince Royal de sires all the ladies of the Sakya race to assemble at the court, and, after receiving them, he purposes to distribute among them every kind of precious ornament and delightful toy. Let all the ladies, therefore, come, as they are bidden to the palace gate! "
You ought, O King 1
. . . "
PASSAGES IN THE BUDDHA'S LIFE. 255
Then six days passed, and on the seventh the Prince Royal, first going forth, arrived in front of the gate of the palace, and, advancing towards his cushioned throne, he sat down. There upon the ladies, decorated with every sort of precious jewel, began to assemble in numbers before the palace, desiring to see the prince, and still more anxious to receive from him the jewels and precious toys he had promised to bestow upon them.
The prince, seeing the ladies coming, took the jewels he had by him, and the ornaments which had been made, and began to bestow them as he proposed ; whilst the ladies, because of the grace and beauty of the prince's demeanor, could not look him straight in the face ; but each one, simply passing by and bow ing the head in profound obeisance, took her gift, and departed. And now, when all the gifts were exhausted, at the very last there came a certain damsel of the family of Basita, of the Sakya tribe, whose name was Yasodhara, the daughter of Mahanama, the great minister of state, surrounded on every side by a circle of personal attendants, to see the Prince Royal. With an easy gait, and her eyes fixed before her, she advanced towards the prince, as one who had known him in old time, and, without any timidity, addressed him thus : " Your Royal" High ness ! what gift or costly ornament have you for me ? The prince forthwith replied, " You have come too late, the presents are all distributed. " To whom she replied again, "And what have I done that you should not have reserved one for me ? " To whom the prince said, " I do not refuse to give you one, but why did you not come in time ? " Now, on the prince's finger there was a very costly signet ring worth a hundred thousand (pieces of gold). Taking this from his finger, he offered it to Yasodhara. Yasodhara rejoined, "Your Highness! I can re main here by your side, perhaps you may have something else to give. " On this the prince replied, " You can take my neck lace of pearls if you please ; " — to whom she rejoined, " It would be a pity for me to do that, and so deprive the prince of that which so much becomes him. " Saying which, she departed in no very amiable temper.
The Story of YasSdharA.
At this time the world-honored one, having arrived at com plete enlightenment, was addressed by the venerable Udayi as follows : "How was it when you were still residing in your
256 PASSAGES IN THE BUDDHA'S LIFE.
father's royal palace, and you offered to Yasodhara, the priceless jewels and ornaments that adorned your person, you were un able to cause her any gratification ? "
On this Buddha answered Udayi as follows : " Listen ! and weigh my words. It was not only on this occasion that Yaso dhara was discontented with the gifts I offered her, but from old time, because of an offense she had taken through succes sive ages, she"has never been pleased with me. " On which Udayi said, Oh ! would that the world-honored Buddha would recount this history to me. "
At this time Buddha addressed the venerable Udayi and
I remember, in there was in the ages gone by
said : "
Kasi, and in the city of Benares, a certain king who was an unbeliever. That king had a son who, for some trivial fault, was banished by his father from the kingdom. As he wan dered along, he came to a certain Devalaya, and having there contracted a marriage with a woman, he stopped in the place, and lived with her. Now, after a time it so happened that, all their food being exhausted, this king's son went out to hunt to try to get something to eat. It so chanced that on that day
he shot a large sort of lizard, and having skinned it, he cut up the flesh, and put it in a pot of water to boil. When it was nearly cooked, the water in the pot having boiled away, the king's son said to his wife, ' This flesh is hardly done yet, will you run and get some more water ?