h."

A place of pilgrimage, you know, is one where some great event,
generally connected with religion, has taken place, to which
pilgrims go to pray in the hope of winning some special favour from
God. The word pilgrim means a wanderer, but it has come in course
of time to signify any traveller who comes from a distance to some
such place. Benares in India is a very famous place of pilgrimage,
because it is on the River Ganges, which the Hindus worship and love,
believing that its waters can wash away their sins. Hundreds and
thousands of Hindus go there every year to bathe in it, and many
who know that they have not long to live wait on its banks to die,
so that after their bodies have been burnt, as is the custom with
the Hindus, their ashes may be thrown into the sacred stream.

7. Can you name two other places of pilgrimage, one held sacred by
Christians and one by Hindus?

8. Will you explain exactly why the two places you have thought of
are considered holy?

CHAPTER V

The news of the Brahman's loss spread very quickly through Sravasti;
and as is so often the case, every one who told the story made it a
little different, so that it became very difficult to know what the
truth really was. There was great distress in the town, because the
people thought the Brahman would go away, and they did not want him to
do that. They were proud of having a man they thought so holy, living
amongst them, and ashamed that he should have been robbed whilst he was
with them. When they heard that he meant to starve himself to death,
they were dreadfully shocked, and determined to do all they possibly
could to prevent it. One after another of the chief men of Sravasti
came to see him, and entreated him not to be in such a hurry to be
sure that his treasure would never be found. They said they would
all do everything they possibly could to get it back for him. Some of
them thought it was very wrong of him to make such a fuss about it,
and blamed him for being a miser. They told him it was foolish to
care so much for what he could not take with him when he died, and
one specially wise old man gave him a long lecture on the wickedness
of taking away the life which had been given to him by God to prepare
for that in the other world. "Put the idea of starving yourself out
of your head," he said, "and whilst we are seeking your treasure,
go on as you did before you lost it. Next time you have any money
and jewels, turn them to