FOR NORTHERN INDIA 81 



repelled by its overpowering scent and sickly 

 flavour. Fortunately the tastes of all men 

 are not alike. In the eyes of the Indian this 

 fruit is a dish fit to be set before the gods. 

 The pipal trees, which are covered with tender 

 young leaves, now offer to the birds a feast in 

 the form of numbers of figs, no larger than 

 cranberries. This generous offer is greedily 

 accepted by green pigeons, mynas and many 

 other birds which partake with right goodwill 

 and make much noise between the courses. 

 No matter how intense the heat be, the patient 

 cultivator issues forth with his cattle before 

 sunrise and works at his threshing floor until 

 ten o'clock, then he seeks the comparative 

 coolness of the mango tope and sleeps until the 

 sun is well on its way to the western horizon, 

 when he resumes the threshing of the corn, 

 not ceasing until the shades of night begin to 

 steal over the land. 



The birds do not object to the heat. They 

 revel in it. It is true that in the middle of the 

 day even they seek some shady tree in which to 

 enjoy a siesta and await the abatement of the 

 heat of the blast furnace in which they live, 

 move and have their being. The long day, 

 which begins for them before 4 a.m., rather 



