ns from all parts of the country to
assemble at his palace. Many thousands came. Each, as he arrived, was
requested to wash his feet in a basin. This was the medicine given to the
sick prince to drink. It cost a great deal of money to procure it; for
several shillings were given to each Brahmin to pay him for his trouble,
and a good dinner was provided for all. It is said that the prince
recovered immediately, but we are quite certain that it was not the water
which cured him.

In the holy books, or shasters, great blessings are promised to those who
are kind to a Brahmin. Any one who gives him an umbrella will never more
be scorched by the sun; any one who gives him a pair of shoes will never
have blistered feet; any one who gives him sweet spices will never more
be annoyed by ill smells; and any one who gives him a cow will go to
heaven.

You may be sure that, after such promises, the Brahmins get plenty of
presents; indeed, they may generally be known by their well-fed
appearance, as well as by their proud manner of walking. They always wear
a white cord hung round their necks.

But we must not suppose that all Brahmins are rich, and all sudras poor;
for it is not so. There are so many Brahmins that some can find no
employment as priests, and they are obliged to learn trades. Many of them
become cooks.

There are sudras as rich as princes; but still a sudra can never be as
honorable as a Brahmin, though the Brahmin be the cook and the sudra the
master.

But the sudras are not the _most_ despised people. Far from it. It is
those who have no caste at all who are the most despised. They are called
pariahs. These are people who have lost their caste. It is a very easy
thing to lose caste, and once lost it can never be regained. A Brahmin
would lose his caste by eating with a sudra; a sudra would lose his by
eating with a pariah, and by eating with _you_--yes, with _you_, for the
Hindoos think that no one is holy but themselves. It often makes a
missionary smile when he enters a cottage to see the people putting away
their food with haste, lest he should defile it by his touch.

Once an English officer, walking along the road, passed very near a
Hindoo just going to eat his dinner; suddenly he saw the man take up the
dish and dash it angrily to the ground. Why? The officer's shadow had
passed over the food and polluted it.

If you were to invite poor Hindoos to come to a feast, they would not eat
if you sat down