The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-03-10
INSIDE ASIATIc LIFE.
CURIOUS THINGS SEEN AND NOTED
By An OBsERVANT AMERICAN.
The Indian story Of the Garden of
EdeR-The Sacred Monkey Riot.

plants.
From the New York Tribune.
A good many years ago ]. B. Gaylord
began haunting the Orient, and the habit
has grown upon him so that now he finds
himself more at home almost anywhere
in India, Burmah. Siam. Ceylon. Japan or
China than he feels when in the United
States. the land of his birth. The Oft
mentioned fascination Of the east is
reality, so far as he is concerned, and he
believes it likely to be operative upon any
intelligent, Observant and Mberal-minded
man from the occident who enjoys such
opportunities as he has had Of knowing
intimately the people Of Asia, mingling IN
their life and understanding their beliefs
and ways Of thinking. Primarily, he was
commissioned agent for Barnum & Bal
ley, deputed TO obtain rare strange and
interesting things for the great show. In
that capacity he had a wide range of
experience with all classes, from peasants
to kings. 1t was he who secured in Bur-
NAH the famous white elephant, and later
the queer representatives of uttle-known
races included In Barnums Pathological
Congress" But gradually he has gravi-
tated into an independent position, carry
ing on negotiations for himself, and, with
a Cingalese partner doing a nice little
trade in wild beasts, gems. or almost any
other product Of the east that commends
itself to the acumen Of a shrewd Ameri-
can.
AS may be imagined Mr.. Gaylord is one
0 ~ he
really see things as they journey-things
[ Of human interest; and, being singularly
Tree from prejudices, racial or religious,
his observations have been impartial and
particularly as recounted by him-are
exceedingly interesting. The orthodox
| Christianity with which he started out
seems to have been seriously damaged
by contact with Oriental philosophy, and
II called upon for a profession Of faith
now, 1t is probable he would wish to be
classed as a Buddhist-rather as an I'M
Outstanding believer in and follower of
Gautama Buddha than as a professor Of
modernized Buddhism, however. He says
that India has comparatively few Budd-
hists, only about s, 600, which seems like
good many, but is only a small percent
age of the stupendOus population of that
country. But nearly all Ceylon is Budd-
histic That was the birthplace of this
religion, and, by the way, in the legends
island was the original garden of Eden.
Il must say there are points about their
story of the Garden Of Eden, and the
events connected herewith, that make me
like it good deal better than do the one
we get in our Bible. ! don't say it is any
more probable--or, perhaps 1 should say,
any less improbable-but il puts our first
parents in a much better light to my
thinking. This is the way of IT, as 1 got
It. The great Brahm having created the
world and made the Island of Ceylon the
most beautiful and perfectly delightful
| spot in it, put the first man and woman
there and told them to remain there and
not to go to the mainland, which was
plainly visible, fifteen or twenty miles
away. The man and woman went wander
| ing about, perfectly happy and wanting
/ nothing for a while, but then they got to
/ looking over at the forbidden mainland,
| and wondering what 1t was like. 1t was
/ really a barren sandy and rocky desert
| a good way inland. but, from the distance
/ as they saw it, seemed to their eyes green
/ and fair.
| "And Adam made up his mind he wanted
| to get over there. They strolled along the
shore until they found little narrow neck
I of land that then connected the island
with the mainland, and Adami-that is
/ the name they give him, practically the
same as our Adam, and his wife they
called Heva, just like our Eve-Adami
was for going right over But Heva said:
/ Mo- that the Lord had told them to stay
/ where they were and she did not wish to
! be disobedent But Adami insisted and
finally took her on his back and carried
/ her over. The moment they set foot on
the mainland there was terrible earth
! quake, an upheayal, and tossing and sink
| ing of the ground and the little neck of
land they had crossed on disappeared for
ever. They were terrified by the awful
commotion, which was all a new expert
ence to them, and Mortified to see what
barren, miserable country they had come
to, away from the perfect loneliness of
/ the Garden of Eden. Then the great
/ Brahm appeared before them, and lectured
them, telling them that in punishment for
/ their sin of disobedience they would have
to stay and starve to death in the wretched
/ country to which they had chosen to come.
/ But Adami spoke up like man and said:
! Punish me if you will, / deserve 1t. But
/ do not punish her, for she IS not to blame.
/ She did not want to come and compelled
her by my insistance, so l only am guilty
/ Then Brahm said: Very well, so be it,
will let you stay here and starve, but the
| woman l will take back to the garden
| But to that Heva made answer: No; if
my husband is to be punished, 1 should be
punished. too. If he is to remain here to
! starve and die. l wish to remain and die
/ with him. Brahm admired her courage
/ Gus affection and the mans honest frank
ness and said: Seeing you are both such
/ good persons will pardon you this time.
and put you back on the island, which he
/ did.
Now, to my thinking, that puts our
! first parents in a much more creditable
! light than the Biblical version casts on
/ them. 1t is true that il leaves out the
/ devil, but see there were no churches
/ then, so there was no need of him. I
! don't say I've given the exact words of
the story as it appears in the ancieut
manuscripts of both Brahmins and Budd-
hists, but the gist of it is all right; the
! events and the spirit of the talk between
a manly man, womanly woman, and a
kind, forgiving god And the mass of
the people believe 1t, at least to about the
same extent as Christians believe our
Biblical version of the affair." though. of
course, the priests and educted know
that it has an esoteric significance, cos
biological, probably. like the others of
/ the myriad legends in their ancient books.
a good many of which reappear-with a
/ little change in the dressing up, as in this
] caSe-in our Bible
Somewhere below Bombay on the