62 



Byj'Livi and Ghopal. 



frequenters, who led him at once to the 

 strange Brahmin, and introduced him, but 

 the Brahmin went on counting his beads 

 without once looking up. Then some of 

 the people said, " This is Ghopal, whom we 

 have summoned to dispute with you ;" but 

 the Brahmin went on counting his beads, 

 and took no notice. Then Ghopal said: 

 " The Holy man has traveled far, and left 

 his wits to travel by easy stages, we must 

 defer the disputation until they arrive." 

 Then the Brahmin said : " I never dispute 

 with fools," and went on counting his 

 beads. 



Ghopal felt a little provoked, but he con- 

 trolled his temper and replied : " Assertion 

 is not argument, O vain Faquir, you have 

 not yet proved me a fool." "It is not 

 necessary," said the Brahmin, " for you have 

 proved yourself one." Then Ghopal said: 

 ''The fool is always a wise man, until a 

 wiser convicts him of folly. Let us hear the 

 proofs that I am a fool. By giving them 

 you will confer a great pleasure upon the 

 assemblage, for men enjoy nothing more 

 than to see one of their number humbled ; 

 and the mortification of the one should not 

 be allowed to count against the gratification 

 of the many." 



Then the Brahmin looked fully at him, 

 and said : "O Ghopal! from thy language 

 I might infer that thou wert a wise man if 

 thine actions did not proclaim thee a fool." 

 " To what especial actions dost thou al- 

 lude?" said Ghopal. Then the Brahmin 

 said : " Oh, Ghopal, dost thou not earn 

 thy bread by the sweat of thy brow ?" And 

 Ghopal answered: "Thou sayest right." 

 Then said the Faquir, glancing slyly at the 

 money lender, " The wise man eateth his 

 bread by the sweat of other men's brows." 

 And all the people laughed, but the laugh 

 was not a very hearty one, for if the work- 

 ing men felt they were being charged with 

 folly, the money-lenders had a suspicion 

 that while Daloora classed them as wise 

 men, the charge that they ate their bread 



by the sweat of other men's brows was in- 

 tended as a covert reproach. 



Ghopal answered never a word, but turn- 

 ing on his heel, he went to his own place, 

 and lighting his hookah, sat down and com- 

 muned with himself : 



" Verily, O Ghopal, thou art a fool," said 

 he, " at least in this, that thou toilest year 

 after year to swell a debt which thou hast 

 already repaid three times over. Ten years 

 hast thou been paying eighteen rupees a 

 year to cover a loan of fifty rupees which 

 thy father borrowed of the wily Moneram 

 to buy thee the child wife that died the 

 next year ; and now Moneram's claim 

 against thee is for hundreds, and will be 

 like a millstone on thy neck as long as 

 thou livest. And the account is all correct. 

 But six and a half per cent, per month 

 compound interest ! Who can stand up 

 against such a charge ? It is by lending 

 money at compound interest that the 

 usurers live on the sweat of other men's 

 brows ; but if there were no fools there 

 would soon be an end to this caste of wise 

 men — I, at least, will be a fool no longer, 

 toiling for four rupees a month, and hand- 

 ing over one and a half rupees a month to 

 this Moneram. For his fifty rupees I have 

 already repaid him one hundred and eighty, 

 or thereabouts ; and now, Ghopal, con- 

 victed fool that thou art, let us see if thou 

 hast not good stuff enough in thee to cut a 

 wise man out of. Look at this wily Brah- 

 min ! He carries no burthen on his 

 shoulders, but goeth from town to town as 

 the whim takes him, and gets his bit of rice 

 and bread from the pious, almost without 

 asking. Like the money-lenders, the Faquirs 

 live by the sweat of other men's brows ! 

 This is a strange world — one must either 

 eat or be eaten. I am tired of being eaten 

 — well, what then ? Simply this — I must 

 eat others. I must live by the sweat of 

 other men's brows. An usurer I cannot be 

 for I have nothing to lend. A Faquir I 

 may be, for a Faquir must be destitute. 



