OUR HUMBLE HELPERS 



Thus takes place throughout all France, with more 

 or less pomp, the procession of the fattened ox. 



"But here is a peculiarity worthy of note. If the 

 house has a wide enough entrance door, the ox is led 

 into the vestibule, where its presence is supposed to 

 confer honor; and if by good luck at that moment 

 the animal deposits on the floor some of the material 

 used by the Hindoo for smearing himself, it is the 

 greatest possible blessing for the visited. A pros- 

 perous future is presaged by a few spans' breadth 

 of this dung, according to the hope and belief of the 

 simple folk. You see, my friends, without leaving 

 home we find, under a little different form, the In- 

 dian customs that make you smile so. I cannot but 

 see therein the survivals of the ancient honors paid 

 to the bull. Without explaining these customs to 

 themselves, without knowing their origin, without 

 understanding their significance, the people perpet- 

 uate them among us." 



"The survivals from those old customs," re- 

 marked Jules, "prove clearly that the acquisition of 

 the ox left an ineffaceable trace on man 's mind ; but, 

 once more, why did n 't they hit on some better way 

 to honor the ox?" 



"Well, if you want something better as a mark of 

 honor, perhaps this will satisfy you : the invaluable 

 animal has its name written forever among the 

 stars, those jewels of the sky. I will explain myself. 

 History tells us that we owe the invention of astron- 

 omy to the shepherds of the East, who spent their 

 leisure night-hours, under the mildest of skies, in 



