Page:Apollonius of Tyana - the pagan Christ of the third century.pdf/30

Rh purifies from all pollution, a well which delivers oracles, two large stone vases, which contain, the one wind and the other rain, both at the disposal of the sages, by whom it was asserted that the mountain was the navel or centre of India. There they worshipped fire, which they boasted had been brought down directly from the sun, the peculiar prerogative of Prometheus, and the symbol both to them and to him of inventive science. With his own eyes Damis saw these sages rise up into the air, to the height of two cubits, without any extraneous support and without any trickery whatsoever. The wise men do not live in houses, but when it rains they summon a cloud and shelter under it. They wear their hair long, have white mitres on their heads, and are clothed in linen garments, woven from a peculiar kind of flax which it is only lawful for themselves to gather. Their prodigious wisdom overwhelmed even Apollonius, who was not frequently astonished, They are in possession of absolute science; they know at once the past history of every one they see; they can answer all questions. When