[5]
'But what', said he with a smile, 'could you expect from men who
believe that Indra is the god who rules the heavens immediately over
the earth, that he sleeps during eight months in the year, and during
the other four his time is divided between his duties of sending down
rain upon the earth, and repelling with his arrows Raja Bali, who by
his austere devotions (_tapasya_) has received from the higher gods a
promise of the reversion of his dominions? The lightning which we
see', said the learned Maulavi, 'they believe to be nothing more than
the glittering of these arrows, as they are shot from the bow of
Indra upon his foe Raja Bali '.[6]
'But, my good friend Maulavi Sahib, there are many good Muhammadans
who believe that the meteors, which we call shooting stars, are in
reality stars which the guardian angels of men snatch from the
spheres, and throw at the devil as they see him passing through the
air, or hiding himself under one or other of the constellations. Is
it not so?'
'Yes, it is; but we have the authority of the holy prophet for this,
as delivered down to us by his companions in the sacred traditions,
and we are bound to believe it.
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