Page:Barlaam and Josaphat. English lives of Buddha.djvu/52

xlvi Rh pears under disguise to Joasaph, tells him of Christianity, and converts him. After the departure of Barlaam, Joasaph tries to lead the life of a Hermit in his palace.

The King tries every means to turn Joasaph from the true faith, but in vain.

goes out by the North Gate, when he sees a Bhikshu, calm and reserved, with cast-down eyes, carrying an alms-dish. He asks what sort of man this is, and is told that he is an Ascetic, who has renounced all passion and ambition, and lives on charity. "It is well," says Siddharta; "I have found the clue to the miseries of life." And once more he returns to the palace.

The Prince informs his father of his intention to become an Ascetic. The King tries to dissuade him, but in vain.

After this exercise on the parallel bars there can be no doubt of the identity of Josaphat and Buddha. As we have already seen, their very names are the same, for Josaphat is only the Roman spelling for Yosaphat, this again being a confusion between the Biblical Jehoshaphat and the Greek form Joasaph. This is directly derived from the Arabic; it is a contracted form of Yodasaph, which is a mis-