86 



Byrani and GJiopal. 



a mere shell, is to be tlie friend of man, 

 then the white ant is his friend. If to 

 destroy everything made of wood, or leather, 

 or paper, or wool, and every other vegetable 

 and animal substance, which man has pre- 

 pared with toil, is to be the friend of man, 

 the white ant is his friend. If to attack the 

 roots of fruit trees and kill them is to be 

 the friend of man, then the white ant is his 

 friend." 



Then said the Faquir, smiling: " It is 

 plain enough that thou art no Faquir, vowed 

 to poverty, but an idle vagabond, assuming 

 the guise, that thou mayest eat thy bread 

 without labor. Come now, thou art a stout. 



sturdy fellow, and I will make a contract 

 with thee. As thou seest, I have no legs. 

 My pious father had them cut off, to guard 

 me from the risk of inadvertently trampling 

 on a worm, and all the world knows me as 

 iJyram the Legless. Pious Hindoos every- 

 where give alms liberally to enable me to 

 hire the services of some sturdy knave to 

 carry me from village to village on his 

 shcnilders. Thou shalt perform that office, 

 and I will make thee my disciple and dis- 

 pute with tliee by the way. Every day thou 

 shalt be at lii^erty to find one fault with 

 Brahma and His work. If I vindicate Him 

 and prove thee wrong, thou shalt eat thy 

 nil of f(Kjd, l)ut of wages thou shalt 



have none ; if, on the contrary, thou per- 

 plexest me with objections which I cannot 

 answer, the money collected in alms shall 

 all be thine." 



Ghopal pricked up his ears at this, and 

 advanced to the side of Byram's bed, passed 

 his left arm under his stumps, and with his 

 right arm behind Byram's back, lifted him 

 off the bed and poised him in his arms. 



"Thou art no great weight," said Ghopal 

 as he laid him down again, "but tell me, 

 holy Faquir, suppose I win a victory after 

 numerous defeats only, shall I take the alms 

 collected for that day alone, or the accumu- 

 lation of all the preceding days?" And 

 Byram said, "What need have Faquirs to ac- 

 cumulate money? Pious people give me 

 coppers to pay the wages of the knave who 

 carries me on his shoulders, but as all are 

 anxious to subscribe to so pious a duty, no 

 one knows how much others have given, 

 and I receive tenfold what I need, but all 

 know that whatever the surplus, it is given 

 in charity. The surplus of to-day is given to 

 the necessitous people I may meet to-mor- 

 row." 



"And by this indiscriminate charity," 

 said Ghopal, "thou frequently doest more 

 harm than good." 



"It may be so," said Byram, "but if we 

 act as our consciences dictate, we have no 

 need to concern our.selves with the conse- 

 quences, many of which no man can foresee. 

 The one thing we may be sure of is, that 

 good and evil deeds invariably bring their 

 own recompense to ourselves." 



"Wilt thou in all cases forbear to give 

 alms until thou hast disputed the matter 

 with me, and silenced my objections ? " said 

 (ihopal. 



"Thou art a shrewd fellow," said Byram 

 laughing, "for I cannot say that my gifts 

 are always bestowed with judgment, but it 

 shall be as thou sayest. The money I have 

 in my girdle shall be given in alms at my 

 discretion, but the collection of to-day and 

 henceforth shall not be touched, for any 



