234 
THE ORIENTAL ANNUAL. 
hill, and seat yourself upon the skin, in the manner 
of a penitent, whose soul is absorbed in contempla- 
tion. Your eyes must be fixed upon the ground, 
your whole person immoveable, having one hand 
resting upon the crown of your head, while the other 
keeps your nostrils closed. Under the penalty of 
death stir not, whatever may befal you. It may be 
that the Raja himself, with all his retinue of state 
and a vast concourse of people, will come to visit 
you. Should the Raja speak to you, or entreat of 
you, hold your peace. Should he touch or strike 
you, remain immoveable ; and think of a bag of ten 
thousand rupees, which I now pledge myself to 
bestow on you, if your part be well performed.” 
“ Beloved of the stars! most incomprehensible 
Apa-ji, though the king should pluck every hair 
from my body, yet shall not even my skin be moved ; 
my contemplation shall be at the bottom of the bag 
of ten thousand rupees ; my insensibility shall be like 
that of death — hearing nothing, feeling nothing, 
seeing nothing, saying nothing. I am clay, you are 
the potter.” 
Doubtless, the poor goatherd, having spent his 
whole life in tending his goats, had no ambition to 
change his occupation for that of a Jogi ; he had 
been more willing to have slain a wolf, or to have 
encountered a tiger, but the buhkshi's will was an 
absolute law, and the bag of ten thousand rupees a 
fine stimulus. Forthwith he betook himself to the 
execution of his task. Apa-ji in the meantime 
