English
They thought (if an infant mind can think) that the object which they had followed had somehow escaped them in the woods and dark- ness, but had come to visit them again from another quarter. Hunger was meanwhile pressing that pair; and hun- ger, from that day to this, has been the main spur to man's exertion. They shook the leaves from their naked bodies and wandered forth, whither they knew not. But soon they came to a little brook that ran close by, and instinctively they paused. They watched it; the man touched its waters; he tasted them, and his parched tongue was cooled ; he smiled and beckoned to his mate to follow his example, which she did, and was likewise refreshed. They saw some little lively things moving around in the stream : what they were they knew not ; they tried to touch them, but the fishes were too wary. The waters of the brook had quenched their thirst, and in their joy they made a noise with their lips like the word "Ap," and, ever since then, "Ap" has been the name of water in India. At that moment the woman (we must call her a woman, although "created" or "made" only about twenty- four hours before) espies some peculiar look- ing objects in the branches of a nearby tree, which in some respects closely resembles herself. She grasps her mate's arm, and with much agitation points him to the spot. Children in brain and experience, as they arc, they yet are sufficiently discriminating to notice their resemblance to themselves. Those objects had arms A QUESTION OF MIRACLES 177 and legs and hands, but they were covered with some- thing; yet the man and woman were naked. The monkeys chattered together and seemed happy. (17) They were putting something in their mouths; and the man drew nearer and watched them. It was not "ap" — that he could plainly see. Directly a young ape, more mischievous than the rest, threw something at the man. Fortunately it missed him and fell at his feet; he picked it up and, imitating the monkey, he tasted it. At once he offered it to the woman, who seized and ate it, then held out her hand towards the ape as if begging for more. The man took her hand and led her cautiously toward the monkeys, which, seeing them advance, must have concluded that they were to be assailed. For, after chattering a moment, they skipped off to some trees further away (18) and left the first Aryans, our Grandfather and Grandmother of ten thousand generations back, in full possession of the field. At this point Genesis and this Aryan legend agree, for the woman found that "the tree was good for food," and she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and her husband did eat also. (19) Now if there be such a hateful and horrible thing (17) Professor Garner has proven that monkeys have a lan- guage of forty-five or more words ; and, as before observed, they were much better provided by their maker than man, except as to brains ; but brains have won and will always win. (18) I have never yet been able to learn what kind of fruit that was; it was not an apple, as apples do not grow in hot climates; it may have been a sweet Mango — not the stringy, Bour kind. It may have been a banana, which it probably was. (19) Gen. 3, v. 6. 178 A QUESTION OF MIRACLES in this world as predestination, then it is possible that when the foundations of the earth were laid it was predestined in the councils of Heaven that that young Ape should fling a piece of fruit at our first parents, when they were in sore straits for sustenance. Three things were there in conjunction : the ape, the man and woman, and the fruit. Yet something else was wanting, viz. : the mischievous act of that young monkey. A believer in predestination must hold that "in the beginning" God did know that that young ape would cast that fruit at that juncture, and that the man and woman would be there at that pre- cise moment to profit by it. Section 4. If the monkey, and the fruit, and the man were all predestined, as above stated, then the culmination of the matter was happy beyond all meas- ure for that man and woman. For, having appeased their appetite, they wandered back to the brook, where they drank again, and then, without a care in the world, lay down in the warm sunshine and went to sleep. Children of a few hours require much sleep. When they awoke they saw the Sun was disappear- ing, as it had before; and, that it might not escape them again, they started off briskly to find where it hid. Of course, that was impossible; and to their grief it left them once more in darkness. These children of a day knew neither logic nor poetry; in fact, as we have already said, they did not know themselves. But instinctively they loved the Sun — that is to say, they wanted it to stay with them, A QUESTION OF MIRACLES 179 though they knew not what it was, or why it left them, nor why it had once come back to them. With many misgivings they turned back and sought the log of the first night, again covered themselves with the friendly leaves and slept the sweet sleep of childhood. The next morning was an object lesson to them, for the Moon had not gone down in the West when the Sun came streaming up in the East. Thus they found they had two friends ; and, as near as we can now de- termine, the Sun and Moon were the first objects of man's adoration. How many generations it was be- fore they worshiped them as deities, no one can truly tell. The next chapter will show the absurd lengths to which Sun and Moon and Fire worship extended. But I cannot leave this new man and woman, my dis- tant relatives, without a feeling of depression and sympathy for the hard and toilsome lives before them and their children. And the same hard fate will con- tinue until the "elements melt with fervent heat." I must also add that I do not find, even after much seri- ous study, that God, at the coming of man, revealed by any natural or supernatural means any of the essen- tials of religion. It would seem to be more necessary to reveal a plan how to get something to eat and to wear. Suppose an angel had been sent to talk to this new man and woman about Heaven and a pure life. Their lives were pure, and, as to heaven, will not a pure life win it? If not, what will? Read Chapter 20, Exodus, and you will find not a l8o A QUESTION OF MIRACLES single one of tlie ten commandments that tliis new man and new woman could break. As I have heretofore said, every animal on the face of the earth was better equipped to live, when it came, than was man when he came. He was cast by a seeming cruel fortune naked upon a friendless shore. The horse and the dog were, and are, more favored than man ; for when they die there is no hell for them. All their troubles are over. But man is commanded to love a being ivhom he never saw; and, if he fails in that, he is to roast in an everlasting fire (20) where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. (21) And there is a law that when man would do good, evil is present (22) to pull him back. But if he is born with goodness paramount in his nature, and holds to it without wavering, he is finally blest beyond all measure in a paradise of glory far exceeding all his merits. At least, so I have been taught. (23) (20) Matt. 25:41. (21) Luke 13:28. (22) Romans 7, v. 21 to 24. (23) The latter part of this chapter is simply a bit of imagi- nation, yet it seems to be more nearly exact than some parts of Genesis. CHAPTER XVI Hindu and Hebrew Sacrifices. Section i. There are persons who are absolutely certain that the Hindu Bible was composed by men; and that their sacrifices, to obtain the favors of their Gods, were the inventions of scheming priests. But the Hindus insist that it was Sruti (heard) from heaven by their Rishis (prophets). In short, that their Bible (the Veda) was divinely inspired from on high. Here is one of the reasons why our mission- aries make such slow progress in converting them to Christianity. Their Bible, they say, is as truthful and as perfect as ours; that ours is in two parts; and one of our Gods, they say, was killed because he did not conform to or preach the doctrines of Judaism (the first part of our Bible). They claim, moreover, that our Bible was composed by men and translated by men, and they produce the very names of the men who composed it and translated it.