THINGS AND THOUGHTS,
FOUND IIERE AND THERE. •
LIVE CATTLR.—An old man whom I met soon after leaving Tulli, offered me the fairest of his daughters for sixty rupees, and seemed eonsiderably moki7 fled on my declining the bargain ; and this morning, a respectable-looking man came from sonic distance on the same errand. "I have something to sell," said he, taking me on one side with an air of mystery. This is no uncommon thing, by the by •' for, as if ashamed of trade, they conceal the smallest articleii under their cloaks, and even a pot of honey is displayed with as much caution as a smuggling pedlafshows his contraband ware. "I have sinnething to sell," said he; "and as I am a poor man, I hope you will buy—very cheap—a little girl, so big," measuring about four feet from the ground, "and only eighty rupees. She is my daughter, and my only child." " What !" interrupted 1, "sell the only child- you have?" "I must live," was his laconic ansiter; givrn with the most perfect sang froid. •" She is the prettiest girl in 'the village," continued he, urging the bargain ; "and as I cannot afford to have her Married; I must sell her.":—Skinner's Excursions in India.
THE CAUSE OF ALL Evir..—It is the orthodox belief of the Eist, that no i evil can take place of which a woman is not the first • cause. "Who is she? r a Rajah was always in the habit of asking, whenever a calamity was related to him, however severe or however trivial. His attendants reported to him one morning that a labourer had fallen from the scaffold when working at his palace, and had broken his neck. "Who is she?" immediately demanded the Rajah. "A man ; no woman, great prince ! "was the reply. "Who is'She ?" repeated with increased anger, was all the Rajah deigned to utter. In vain did the servants assert the manhood of the labourer. "Bring me instant intelli- gence what woman caused this accident, or wo upon your heads!" exclaimed the Prince. In an hour the active attendants returned; and, prostrating them- selves, cried out, "0 wise and 'powerful prince!" "Well, who is she?" in- terrupted he. "As the ill-fated labourer was working on the scaffold, he was / attracted by the beauty of one of your Highness's damsels ; and gazing upon 7 her, lost his balance, and fell to the ground." "You hear now " said the,. Prince, "no accident can' happen without a woman, in some way, being an in: strument."7/Skinnerra Excursions in" India: • _
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