HURDWAR. 
217 
hoofs of the hind legs, which he had in his grasp, he 
burst into a scornful laugh, exclaiming, * Fool ! are 
these the feet of a dog P ’ But the stranger replied 
not, except by a look of the most heart-felt commise- 
ration, and each proceeded on his way. 
“ Suryaput walked on about half a kos farther, think- 
ing over the singular mistake of the stranger, and having 
his eyes cast upon the ground. He had just ex- 
pressed aloud his conviction of the traveller’s unhappy 
state of mind, muttering as he went, — ‘ A dog indeed! 
Mad ! mad ! ’ when he was met by a second traveller, 
who on approaching him, and fixing his eyes upon the 
goat, shrunk back as if in horror at the sight; and then 
holding out his hand as if to arrest his progress, he 
cried, f Alas! alas! how shocking! Behold, a sacred 
Brahmin defiles himself by carrying upon his back the 
foulest of unclean beasts! Oh horrible! horrible! that 
a Brahmin should carry a dog! ’ 
" Suryaput stopped short, utterly confounded at this 
second inexplicable occurrence. Then putting down 
the goat, he looked at it again and again, and seeing 
that it had indeed the form of a goat, he stretched out 
his hand, unwilling to trust the evidence of a single 
sense, and felt the beasts horns. ‘ It is a goat,’ cried 
he. f Maa-a-a-a,’ cried the goat. * Idiot ! ’ ex- 
claimed the enraged Brahmin. * Have I neither eyes, 
nor hands, nor ears ? ” 
“ ‘ Alas ! alas ! ’ said the stranger, ‘ how melancholy ! 
the dog barked, and the poor madman mistook its voice 
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