The lama, careful fellow, is ever on the watch to save the world and its inhabitants: from a cruel and untimely end. 'The summer' and winter solstices see him on hand watching, carefully the turn of events. They may not turn, but if they do turn, well he has turned them, and there is no more to be said about, it, According to Tuden quite a number of! things might come to pass if the sun pursued] ils wayward course. There would come! famines and pestilence and earthquakes and Moods and plagues and terrible destruction, Tuden could give nothing from precedent, as} there was no record in Tibetan history of the sun having failed to perform as it had always! done, How then, I asked Tuden, could he: prophesy that such terrible things. would happen if they had never happened before? And Tuden led me 16 believe he accepted all} these things on general principles, Tudon was sublimely ignorant of the laws of gravitation and quite unconscious that they were responsible for the movements of sun, moon' and stars. I tried to explain these things to him but it seemed somewhat like love's labour lost. 'To spring gravitation on an untutored Tibetan mind might have serious reactions, so T took no risks. To begin with, my large Tibetan dictionary by Sarat Chandra Das has more than 1,300 pages, and I question very much if the' word gravitation has been worked out in Tibetan; and how to express: it in that language is quite beyond me. To} explain an apple falling from a tree in the Land of the Lamas one would need to produce' an apple tree and this initial difficulty might be more difficult than the simple law of gravitation, Science and scientific terms, have not yet disturbed the lama's peace of mind.
'Tuden's explanation for the solstice something like this: 'The sun being a "ha' or minor deity, apparently knows what it is about and evidently is quite conscious of its Jown powers and movements, so at the right time and exact date and precise place, it) simply picks up its skirts and retraces' its steps. There is nothing left to chance or even' gravitation, 'This enormous: luminary was} not born yesterday and has travelled this] road many' times, and moreover feels itself] mage or less responsible for a certain line of] fconduet and is quite prepared to carry on.
Accepting this theory, we now understand the Iama's blowing of huge trumpets and the reading of long prayers. He is dealing a conscious deity wha might at any time turn' round his perverse' side with disastrous results not only to time but to eternity, The]
10m, 19-—Perhaps it ix because of the chang-conditions produced. by local warfare, hi this: year T have noticed forthe Ast time many countrymen Walking out in the early morning with a long bamboo, pole atthe end whieh'is a" thin' cotton net: the whale thing looks" tke a cumay" utterly net. with the bag. made of Cun often-cloth instead zo. and 1 have continually wondered What {'eoiad possibly be intended to. eaten: This morning my curiosity. was satis hed' when, Erle Fal tu mud ound ak lary native ating this Implement. in a deep. stag na ut Bonk, He slood on the Dank with the' pole ili fis hands twisting. the net round and' round the water so that he stockingsike bag, with ite wide mouth and narrow tall, followed the bole in an endless spirals ho went on twisting ud. turning his bamboo for minutes on end
fan expert turn of' the pole and wiped. his na, edge e cle' te mouth wih heated: brow. 1. prompiy asked him" Gin. very bad Chinese) what he was catching, hho" mast_obligingly "withdrew the "bai "and stowed: mo clinging {0 is sides. a. number of Snail round particles which Twas unable. 10 Fecasiize..s.at- the same time alying me' ne explanation which Tuite tiled fo under Stand, although. thought heard the. word "ash "Returning home. somewhat dampened body and sprit, got into. touch with Chinese telend who promptly told me that the lown aa. meaning rater un "the. shops 'x food for Goldfish ats ott of about 29 cents per bole, industry which by ly 2 Mishing" far ood fords" tet, pastime vevtooked "even by Teaake Walton. chay' about food for Goldsh have been Jon, 22—Ever since 1 made an onto
tacked' by every fancier of the golden eatplat this ely, all surprised at my" Ignoronee. the fact that the favourite food Alternntively) as Waterseo, Daphnia: 1 mist. "sate 1am, and always have been, the. most goldishless man in Chis But it had to handle these. Utbits 1 she certainty chose the third name, te the othe found to me somewhat revolting. "One oruelte ioldishefancier very. kindly" Minded. me. the fess than one-tenth of an inch in length, hot Its body. Enclosed in a "transparent bivalved stefl"fno female eatness her opus in a beget: ing) chamber-senti hatching "takes" place: Uhvughout the" greater part at the year only Femalet occur and the egos develop part bond EeneUenlly. When the "small eggs" appear, tenerally" inthe' autumn, fon "winter= "resting eggs" are produced wich are set Self in'anephipplum formed: by a spectlly edited. portion of the. parent's shell These "Teallng.egus" enable the race to survive ihe cold of winter or the drying up of the. wale it's Interesting to. note that that Aietahnikot Dicrved in the daphnin the phagosytes of the blood devouring acterin anand ihe sried hie tovestiations into the funclons of the White corpuscles" "Coocer! tas the. youth of the motion tay when receiving 8 mental sock) Tiatie knew at T war tottering on the brink Ox auth tu geon of long Words when T watched that simple. countryman working" hie white ellen net ina stagnant pond! But {am glad fo know that the gold ah enjoy" their spot of Jan, 29:-—Went out to Jossfild Park early this morning to see the world all white with snow, even though its root was a dim. dark grey. Snow on the eve of the Chinese New' Year holidays! What lek! No wonder that all the Chinese watchmen in the park smiled and saluted me until my arm ached. 'The snow-covered grass told mie many little stone creatures which break the curfew hours. proved conclusively that barbed wire will' not een out dogs; that our local badger docs not sleep all winter; and that the rooks come out for an early feed before they return to the Army huts and place: their raucous voices in competition with' those of the Sergeant-major and the P. T. Instructor. 1 listened to this competition later,.and the Sergeant-major won. But snow has an exhilarating effect animals: the Blackbirds started an eisteddfod of their own (for birds instead of bards) while the Hawfinches chipped in as free-lance entries. Even in the 200 there seemed to be an alr of artiielal cheerfulness: one wretched Crane slept peacefully, knee-deep in icy water sun so far hgs shown himself a kind and benevolent deity, and if he can be taught to behave himself by merely blowing enormous trumpets and offering other gifts, then the Tamas will keep up this good work and a warm-hearted though superstitious populace is quite prepared to make its quota. Why. [disturb this burning deity when a little music [so gratifies him? This, in short, is Tuden's philosophy as applied to the sun, and I suppose it can be extended to other Iuminaries and other deities and other powers. There "obviously because these birds, slow in the laic-off, find such uncomfortable quarters a safeguard against ground vermin....but another, feeling the universal excitement, held his wings up high and danced up and down his compound with a most ridiculous. hop-skip-and-jump step, until 1, too, had to laugh with alt the rest. Only the wise old Owl in his corner cage looked glum....but the Owl always was, fand always will be, what my American friends delightfully calla "sour-puss." Any sudden changes in natural surroundings. are' always packed with interest.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.