The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1908-06-09
''oh. Weld It. lest Marin Overtaky

"oh, yield it, lest harm overraKv =
alsol"
| And Acharya Chick knew tkSt bis
hold over them was rudely shaken. il
! not lost forever Suddenly he turned
to the Brahman and said "Tafm it,
and trouble us no more"
The Brakman was not PRECISELY the
man to spare defeated adversary a
single pang. 1t was good policy to
make as much of his advantage as
possible, and, besides, it was clearly
impossible to walk out with the sur
rendered idol under his arm.
This submission is tardy, but pru-
dent" he said, "and accept it in the
mighty name of silva, conqueror of
death. With glory and rejoicing shall
the sacred image of Iswara be CON
Quoted to more seemly abode. AT
the hour of sunset the idol Of the
everything Brahma shall come hirS-
self to escort him. See that your
gates are open to us when we arrive,
and should any unseemly encounter
| take place between our respective fol-
| lowers | shall hold you responsible"
Acharya Chick bent his head in 81
lent resignation; he felt a sullen inn
patience to have the measure of his
| humiliation filled to the brim; the
handspring of his simple, inoffensive
life was snapped, the good he had
tried to do all undone, and he felt a
bitter protest against the apathy
which could allow such things to be-
At last he came out of his reverie
with a groan and fled like haunted
man from his dishonored temple, and
up the rocky heights, till the noon
| day blaze forced him to fall painting
| in the shade of projecting crag, and
| the temple attendants went their own
ways, and the temple itself was de-
serted
| The Brahman meanwhile had gone
down to the village bent upon organ
izing as magnificent display as
could be procured on such short no
| tice. He was excessively pleased at
! having so completely outwitted the
hypocritical and cowardly old Jain,
and he arranged in his mind where
the new idol should be set up; it only
needed little publication, few
mantrams, to be as good as ever.
And before the day declined the
whole Hindu portion of the villagers,
thanks to the Brahman's endeavors,
was in a ferment of religious excite
ment
Acharya, greatly cast down, spent
the greater part of the day crouched
in such shade as he could find, his
mind possessed by kind of stupor,
his main impulse the childish deter
mination to mortify himself to the
utmost. But as the sun began to set,
and, the plain below steamed with the
mists from the paddy fields, he grew
more collected; some powerful at
traction seemed to be drawing him
down the slope to where his temple
stood; he was impelled to be present
at his own humiliation.
So, feeling faint and weak, he
c1ambered painfully down until he
reached banyan grove, from which
he could command his own COM
pound, and see all that took place
without attracting attention.
Very soon the air thickened with
sudden dusk, and part of the village
became outlined in Pickering lines
of fire, while confused buzzing be-
gan to be heard in the direction of
the bazaar.
The buzzing grew louder, swelling
into low roar, above which rose the
clash of cynabals and the screaming
of chank shells; with a little stretch
ing the Jain could make out dim,
confused mass swarming up the slope,
and knew that the procession had al
ready started TO conduct silva to his
new home
Up they came, with clouds of dust,
and waving banners and sacred in
sigma, with leaping fanatics, and
slow, serpentine movements of the
nautch girls at the head, and in the
midst, drawn by bullocks, came the
huge, clumsy idol-chariot, with it's
barbaric splendor of carving and gild-
ing, its dome-shaped canopy, which
caught the last red ray of the sun.
And now the crowd had surged
through the temple gates, and there
was Ram Chunga with other white
robed Brahmans, keeping what order
was possible in the wild throng.
And then, the road being clear for
it, the idol-car rolled creaking and
jolting over the threshold, whilst the
idol it bore wobbled, with some loss
of dignity, upon the lofty seat to
which it had very prudently been
strapped.
1t was representation of Brahma
in one of his numerous avatars,. the
god being fashioned as manlion,
with the usual superabundance of
arms, one pair of which seemed busy
plucking small figure which lay
across his knees and was supposed to
be personal enemy.
To be Continued.