Byram and Ghopal. 



15. 



"Do you suppose there is one for every 

 case of distress that arises ? " 



"1 fear," said Ghopal, "there are a hun- 

 dred cases of distress for every person will- 

 ing and able to relieve it." 



"Consequently," said Byram, "Brahma 

 has not a messenger available for every 

 case. If any man wants to devote himself 

 to the relief of suffering, Brahma will direct 

 him to the necessitous. If relief fails to 

 reach all who are in distress, it is not be- 

 cause Brahma lacks sympathy, but because 

 he lacks messengers." 



Again Ghopal plodded on in silence un- 

 til they came to a little clump of acacia 

 trees standing by a well, in a field, a short 

 distance from the road. 



" Let us go in and get a drink of water 

 and rest a little," said Ghopal. 



" Good," said Byram, and they went in, 

 and the farmer and his men, who were at 

 the well, hastened and set the charpoy for 

 Byram; and they themselves with Ghopal 

 sat on the ground and smoked a few whiffs 

 from the hookah in turns. 



The conversation with the farmers was 

 not very elevating; they asked the price of 

 grain in distant towns, not because they 

 wanted to know, but simply to make con- 

 versation, and our travelers, having rested 

 and refreshed themselves, proceeded on 

 their journey. 



But scarcely had they gone a hundred 

 paces, when, before reaching the high road, 

 Byram. called "Halt!" with a suddenness 

 which startled Ghopal, and filled him with a 

 dread suspense; for the thought flashed 

 through his mind that Byram must have 

 dropped the money from his girdle. 



"You should look where you are going," 

 said Byram quietly, " you came very near 

 treading on that worm there, a little in ad- 

 vance to the right." 



" Was that all ? " said Ghopal. 



"All! " exclaimed Byram. "What, think 

 you, would my father's pious act avail, if 1 

 could see with indifference another tread 



on a worm^ or if I had failed to arrest 

 thy footsteps when thou wert in the very 

 act of setting thy foot on a worm inadvert- 

 ently?" 



" Thy father was doubtless a very pious 

 man," said Ghopal, pursuing his way, "but 

 pardon me if I add that, in respect of the 

 act which made thee dependent on me, his 

 piety was too exalted. A worm, too, the 

 meanest of all living creatures! Surely 

 Brahma cares little for worms." 



" Brahma gives evidence of his care for 

 all his creatures, the least as well as the 

 greatest, by providing food for them, and 

 from every creature he exacts a service in 

 return for his food. That Brahma cares for 

 the worm is due simply to the benevolence 

 of his disposition, but that man should care 

 for the worm is a matter of moral obliga- 

 tion, for the service which Brahma exacts 

 from the worm is for man's benefit, and is 

 so important as to place us under deep 

 obligations to these lowly creatures, which 

 are certainly not mean if we measure them 

 by the importance of their labors to human 

 welfare." 



" Human welfare! " echoed Ghopal, "Why, 

 what can an earthworm do for man ! I 

 yield the point freely as regards the white 

 ants, they are intelligent little creatures, for 

 although they cannot talk, they must have 

 a great deal of sense to live in communities 

 with king and queen and soldier and citizen 

 classes, and orderly forms of social govern- 

 ment. Besides, all that the white ant does 

 for man is to eat timber, and that the worms, 

 I am sure, cannot do." 



"Nevertheless," said Byram, "the worms 

 are more immediately important to man 

 than even the white ant. The soil prepared 

 by these latter is the best soil for timber, 

 but not stimulating enough for grass and 

 grain; the soil created by the worms is, on 

 the contrary, adapted to grass and grain 

 crops." 



"But how do the worms make soil?" said 

 Ghopal. " They do not eat timber, and 



