morphoses of them."

Suddenly a naked man appears, seated in the middle of the sand with his
legs crossed. A large circle vibrates, suspended behind him. The little
curls of his black hair, deepening into an azure tint, twist
symmetrically around a protuberance at the top of his head. His arms, of
great length, fall straight down his sides. His two hands, with open
palms, rest evenly on his thighs. The lower portions of his feet present
the figures of two suns; and he remains completely motionless in front
of Antony and Hilarion, with all the gods around him placed at intervals
upon the rocks, as if on the seats of a circus. His lips open, and in a
deep voice he says:

"I am the master of the great charity, the help of creatures, and I
expound the law to believers and to the profane alike. To save the world
I wished to be born amongst men; the gods wept when I went away. At
first, I sought a woman suitable for the purpose--of warlike race, the
spouse of a king, exceedingly virtuous and beautiful, with a deep navel,
a body firm as a diamond; and at the time of the full moon, without the
intervention of any male, I entered her womb. I came out through her
right side. Then the stars stopped in their motions."

Hilarion murmurs between his teeth:

"'And when they saw the stars stop, they conceived a great joy!'"

Antony looks more attentively at the Buddha, who resumes:

"From the bottom of the Himalaya, a religious centenarian set forth to
see me."

_Hilarion_--"'A man called Simeon, who was not to die before he had seen
the Christ!'"

_The Buddha_--"They brought me to the schools. I knew more than the
doctors."

_Hilarion_--" ... 'In the midst of the doctors; and all those who heard
him were ravished by his wisdom.'"

Antony makes a sign to Hilarion to keep silent.

_The Buddha_--"I went continually to meditate in the gardens. The
shadows of the trees used to move; but the shadow of the one that
sheltered me did not move. No one could equal me in the knowledge of the
Sacred Writings, the enumeration of atoms, the management of elephants,
waxworks, astronomy, poetry, boxing, all exercises and all arts. In
compliance with custom, I took a wife; and I passed the days in my royal
palace, arrayed in pearls, under a shower of perfumes, fanned by the
fly-flappers of thirty-three thousand women, and gazing at my people
from the tops of my terraces adorned with resounding bells. But the
sight of the world's miseries