Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 27.djvu/262

 not be sold. Ground set apart for graves could not be sought (for any other purpose).

12. The minister of Works with his (various) instruments measured the ground for the settlements of the people. About the hills and rivers, the oozy ground and the meres, he determined the periods of the four seasons. He measured the distances of one spot from another, and commenced his operations in employing the labour of the people. In all his employment of them, he imposed (only) the tasks of old men (on the able-bodied), and gave (to the old) the food-allowance of the able-bodied.

13. In all their settlements, the bodily capacities of the people are sure to be according to the sky and earthly influences, as cold or hot, dry or moist Where the valleys are wide and the rivers large, the ground was differently laid out; and the people born in them had different customs. Their temperaments,