Page:The Religion of the Veda.djvu/123

 1 1 1 The Prehistoric Gods 107 strayed into this sphere of conceptions without any organic mythological meaning, simply as a baying, hostile, watchdog in heaven or hell. We cannot therefore ignore the wonderful yet simple Indo-Eu- ropean myth which is begotten of high reason and keen appreciation of myth-making opportunity. Plainly, this myth requires no further explanation from the usually vague and half-understood analo- gies that may be found on the broad ground of univer- sal Ethnology and Folk-lore. Far be it from me to suggest that mythological evidence, whencesoever obtainable, should be excluded from these delibera- tions: all I want to prevent is the importation of bad coal into Newcastle. Since the Indo-Europeans are one people, let us first study their own minds in their own literature or archeological remains, before turn- ing to the Iroquois, the Papuas, or the inhabitants of the Alcutian Islands for sporadic reports that, more often than not, reach our ear out of their proper connection, or with their point bent. When the smoke shall have cleared there will be-of this I am certain less airy reliance on ethnological quantities irrational in Indo-European mathematics. But there will be left a goodly stock of Indo-European divini- ties and simple myths, profoundly interesting, not only with the interest of hoary antiquity, but even more so because they determine and explain the main