Cox, George - Aryan Mythology Vol 2.pdf

304 MYTHOLOGY OF THE ARYAN NATIONS.
BOOK the myth far more elaborate than that of either Hellenic or
__ y :—, Teutonic
legends. This beautiful child, the daughter of a
poor milkwoman, is stolen by two eagles, who bear her to a
nest made of wood hooped with iron, and having seven
doors. Here, having lavished upon her all the costliest
treasures of the earth, they leave her, to go and fetch a
diamond ring for her little finger. While they are still
away, the fire in the nest, without which the maiden could
not cook her food, is put out ; and in her perplexity, Surya,
peering over the walls of the nest, sees smoke curling up
afar off, and going towards it, finds herself at the house of
a Eakshas, or evil demon, whose mother tries to keep her
that she may serve as a feast for her son. Surya Bai, how-
ever, will not stay ; and when the Eakshas, learning from
his mother what a prize he had missed, comes to the nest, he
finds the little maiden asleep, and in his frantic efforts to
break open the walls, leaves a piece of his claw sticking in
the crack of the door. This nail is, of course, the spindle
which wounds Briar Eose and the narcissus which stupifies
Persephone ; and thus Surya, placing her hand unwittingly
upon it, loses all consciousness. In this state she is found
by a Rajah, who, after gazing long upon her, feels sure that
her slumber is not the sleep of death, and spies the claw
sticking in her hand. As soon as it is taken out, Surya
revives, and becomes the bride of the Rajah, thus rousing
the jealousy of his other wife, as 16 rouses the jealousy of
Here ; and like 16, Surya is made to disappear, not by the
stinging of a gadfly, but by the fate which Here had designed
for Semele and her child Dionysos. Surya is enticed to the
edge of a tank and thrown in ; but on the spot where she
fell there sprang up a golden sunflower, which the Eajah
sees as he wanders about in his inconsolable agony. The
flower bends lovingly towards him, and he lavishes on it the
wealth of affection which he had bestowed on Surya, until
the jealous wife has the flower carried into a forest and
burnt. From its ashes a mango tree rises, with one fair
blossom on its topmost bough, which swells into a fruit so
beautiful that it is to be kept only for the Eajah. This
mango, when ripe, falls into the can of the poor milkwoman,