Page:Indira and Other Stories.pdf/181

 Tiger, the term implies the possession of strength, beauty, and valour. But if a man is called Great Man, we are not to suppose that he is eight or ten feet long. No, the expression merely signifies that he has the sacred image in his possession, by whatever means it may be acquired. If a man lacks this advantage, he is called 'a low fellow', no matter what his actual stature may be.

When I first became acquainted with the marvellous qualities of this deity, it occurred to me that I might advocate the extension of its cult to our community. I was deterred, however, by my subsequent investigations. I discovered, alas, that this insidious power is the very root and origin of the calamities of men. Tigers and other leading species of animals do not dislike and envy one another. Far otherwise is it with the miserable race of men. They detest and envy one another to an incredible degree, and the sole cause of this extraordinary state of things is their principal deity. In their greed for its possession, they are always planning the