218 
THE ORIENTAL ANNUAL. 
for that of a goat. Poor fellow ! ’ and turning aside, 
he passed the Brahmin as if he feared to be polluted by 
his touch. 
“ f Ah, ah ! ’ said Suryaput, as he again took the goat 
upon his shoulder, " ’tis laughable that two madmen 
should have mistaken my goat for a dog ; but the 
longer we live, t^ie stranger things we see and hear. 
These men perchance were brothers, born with the 
same deficiency of reason, and but here is an aged 
fellow coming ; he cannot be a brother ; he has the 
air and appearance of a goat-herd ; perhaps he will 
offer to purchase my goat/ 
e< As the old man approached the Brahmin, he pre- 
pared to accost him, making a humble salaam, and 
putting off his shoes to receive the priest’s blessing ; 
but suddenly, as his eye fell upon the goat, he started 
back, overcome with disgust and abhorrence ; then 
averting his head, and clasping his hands as if in an 
agony of grief, he cried out, ‘ Ah, woe is me ! what evil 
have I done, that my eyes should behold this infamous 
sight ! Is this Brahmin mad, or does he wilfully dese- 
crate his sacred birth and holy office by carrying a dog 
as if for sacrifice. O horrible, horrible ! ’ 
“ Suryaput, hearing this fearful accusation for the third 
time, believed that a judgment had come upon him for 
his iniquitous desertion of his former faith, and the 
sacred rites of that religion which he knew to be pure 
and infallible. Believing that Genesa had cast a de- 
ceitful veil over his senses, and had thus permitted him 
