Lives of Alcyone

and wise in counsel, and he had a series of long talks with her. She
did not make the mistake of discouraging or ridiculing him, but
admitted at once that his attitude was a reasonable one, and indeed
agreed entirely with her own ; but she pointed out to him that he had
been born in the rajan caste, not by chance but as the result of
some previous thought or action, and her opinion was that,
distasteful as it all was to him, he should yet uphold the traditional
honour of his house, and fulfil the duties of his position until such
time as the gods should see fit to release him from it, as they easily
could if they chose; and she believed and hoped that they would do
so when they saw that the time had come.
So he went on through many years of all sorts of stormy,
horrible, impossible scenes, always tired of it all and yearning for a
life of learning and meditation, till at last at the age of fifty he lost his
right arm in a battle, and was in other ways so crippled as to render
further fighting impossible. When he recovered, at the earnest
invitation of Mercury and Brihat he took up his abode with them, and
may be said to have passed practically into the Brahman caste—a
change which was quite possible in those days. Thus began the
really happy period of his life, and he felt rather thankful than
otherwise for the accident which had forced him into retirement from
the field. His experience of the soldier’ s life had bred a permanent
distaste for it, so that he never wished for it again in any future life,
and though sometimes, when he had to do it as a matter of duty he
did it bravely and honourably, he never again felt any delight in it.
His attachment to Mercury was specially strong, and when
she died he mourned her long and sincerely. He remained with
Brihat and Naga, taking part in the temple ceremonies(though
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