Chapter 11

A Nursery-Tale Of Babbalanja's

Having taken to our canoes once again, we were silently sailing along,
when Media observed, "Babbalanja; though I seldom trouble myself with
such thoughts, I have just been thinking, how difficult it must be,
for the more ignorant sort of people, to decide upon what particular
image to worship as a guardian deity, when in Maramma, it seems, there
exists such a multitude of idols, and a thousand more are to be heard
of."

"Not at all, your highness. The more ignorant the better. The
multitude of images distracts them not. But I am in no mood for
serious discourse; let me tell you a story."

"A story! hear him: the solemn philosopher is desirous of regaling us
with a tale! But pray, begin."

"Once upon a time, then," said Babbalanja, indifferently adjusting his
girdle, "nine blind men, with uncommonly long noses, set out on their
travels to see the great island on which they were born."

"A precious beginning," muttered Mohi. "Nine blind men setting out to
see sights."

Continued Babbalanja, "Staff in hand, they traveled; one in advance of
the other; each man with his palm upon the shoulder next him; and he
with the longest nose took the lead of the file. Journeying on in this
manner, they came to a valley, in which reigned a king called Tammaro.
Now, in a certain inclosure toward the head of the valley, there stood
an immense wild banian tree; all over moss, and many centuries old,
and forming quite a wood in itself: its thousand boughs striking into
the earth, and fixing there as many gigantic trunks. With Tammaro, it
had long been a question, which of those many trunks was the original
and true one; a matter that had puzzled the wisest heads among his
subjects; and in vain had a reward been offered for the solution of
the perplexity. But the tree was so vast, and its fabric so complex;
and its rooted branches so similar in appearance; and so numerous,
from the circumstance that every year had added to them, that it was
quite impossible to determine the point. Nevertheless, no sooner did
the nine blind men hear that there was a reward offered for
discovering the trunk of a tree, standing all by itself, than, one and
all, they assured Tammaro, that they would quickly settle that little
difficulty of his; and loudly inveighed against the stupidity of his
sages, who had been so easily posed. So, being conducted into the
inclosure, and assured that the tree was somewhere within, they
separated their forces, so as at wide intervals to surround it at a
distance; when feeling their way, with their staves and their noses,
they advanced to the search, crying out--'Pshaw! make room