180 A HINDU FESTIVAL 



drunk and do and say things which we had better 

 not see and hear. And the children will look on and 

 try to imitate their elders. And women will find 

 it best to keep out of the way for the sake of their 

 pretty dresses, if there were no better reason. 

 For pots of water dyed crimson with goolal powder 

 are ready, and everybody has licence to splash 

 everybody when he gets a chance. Any time 

 during the next two or three days you may find your 

 own servants coming home dappled with red. 



So the ape has his fling. And the tiger is lurking 

 not far behind. In each of those fires it is the 

 proper thing to roast a cock, throwing him in alive. 

 If the fire is a great one, a general village fire, then 

 it is still greater fun to throw in a five goat. But 

 the worst of these ceremonies are happily going out 

 of fashion. For the English law is stern, and the 

 sahibs have strange and quixotic notions about 

 cruelty to animals, and although they are far away 

 on tour at this season and no native officer would 

 voluntarily interfere with an immemorial custom, 

 still the tiger walks in fear in these days and the 

 Koli is often content to roast a coconut as proxy for 

 a cock or a goat. 



