GOKUL. 
187 
her forgiveness; but his mother being wroth, regarded 
not his contrition, but carried him into the village, 
and having procured some string, endeavoured to bind 
him to two trees, which stood by the river side ; but 
Krishna being still full of sport, showed her that all 
the cord which she could obtain from the rope-makers 
was not long enough to bind him, until he was pleased 
to permit it. Then, being inclined to liberate himself 
after his mother had departed, he planted his foot 
firmly against the ground, and, with god-like strength, 
tore up the trees by the roots. Now, at this time 
there were great numbers of children playing around 
and making sport of the chastised Krishna, but im- 
mediately upon the miraculous fall of those trees, 
they became greatly alarmed, and the more so, when, 
as the earth trembled, the prostrate trees were in a 
moment transformed into two very beautiful youths, 
who laid their heads in the dust in token of reve- 
rence, and then kissing the feet of the young god, 
suddenly vanished. This report of the children was 
not however at that time believed by the ignorant men 
of Gokul, who thought of the fall of those trees only 
as a miraculous escape of the boy from being crushed, 
and Krishna himself was too nobly modest to boast 
of his performance. 
Gokul, though so peculiarly sanctified a spot, and 
in truth a remarkably picturesque one, has no sort of 
importance in wealth, or commerce, or extent of ha- 
bitations ; there are however a great number of 
