Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 1.djvu/440

426 The first inhabitants of this world were divine beings. They primarily inhabited the seventh heaven, but at one time they lapsed into war one against the other. The good conquered; and the wicked were forced to quit heaven, and they installed themselves upon the summit of Summer. Nevertheless, the contest begun in heaven always continued, and the number of fugitives increased so that they occupied all the islands which surrounded the mountain Summer. At the commencement of their terrestrial life, they preserved their divine qualities. Thus, for instance, they each lived 80,000 years, their faces were luminous, they possessed wings wherewith to fly, they went without food, etc. But one day there appeared upon the earth a certain fruit named shime [sic], which was as sweet and as white as sugar. As soon as men tasted it, they lost all their qualities of perfection; the brilliancy of their faces disappeared, their wings fell off, they felt the need of nourishment, and the duration of their lives sank to 10,000 years only.

As long as men had luminous faces, there was no reason or necessity for the existence of the sun and moon. But, as soon as the shining of their faces was extinguished, obscurity spread over all the earth. Then four benevolent persons having taken pity on the human race, and having seized the Mount Summer in their arms, shook it so violently that the ocean of the universe was agitated, in consequence of which there appeared the sun, the moon, and the stars.

The sun, according to the doctrine of the Buddhists, is a globe of crystal, being more than 700 miles in circumference. In its interior there is lodged a luminous being, whose radiant face spreads light and heat over all the earth. The sun is placed in an enormous plain, all covered with the most splendid flowers. Every twenty-four hours seven aerial horses draw it round Mount Summer. In the morning the rays of the sun fall upon the silver side of Summer, before noon upon the blue side, at noon upon the golden side, and lastly, in the evening, its red side is illumined. Afterward the sun hides himself entirely behind the mountain, in consequence of which darkness and night ensue.

The moon, according to the ideas of the Buddhists, is also a globe of crystal, but filled with water, and it also is inhabited by a luminous being. The phases of the moon depend on its more or less remoteness from the sun; and the spots which are perceived on its surface are the shadows of the different marine animals which live in the universal ocean. After having created the sun and the moon, the creative gods held a council, during which the wicked spirit glided in unperceived and drank up all the sacred water of the vase which stood before the gods. Indignant at this audacity, they decided to punish him; but for a long time they could not discover where he was. They then interrogated the sun, and the sun gave them an unsatisfactory reply. They then addressed themselves to the moon, and she indicated to them the place in which he was hidden. In revenge for this