BABYLON AND PERSIA

46 MEDIA, BABYLON, AND PERSIA.the horrors of drought and famine, are, in rhythicalspeech, stealers of cows or of women.They eitherspirit them away altogether out of sight, or shutthem up in dark mountain caves, or in strongholdsbeing standing designations, in Aryan my¬thology, for the dark, lowering clouds which i-ise atthe end of the sky in the shape of mountain ridgesor fortress-walls, with battlements and towers.ThenIndKjV, the god of the thunderbolt, resplendent inhis golden armor, mounts his chariot, drawn by fleetdappled steedsthe racing clouds of the storm, to¬gether with his inseparable companion Vayu, thewind that ever moves in the heights of the atmos¬phere ; after them ride the troop of the strongStorm-Winds, and the battle begins.Not long canthe mountain or the fortress hold out against theironslaught. After repeated blows from Indra'sfiery mace, the rocks, the walls are burst open, thecows are brought forth and pour down their longedformilk ; or, if the other image be adopted, themaidens, the wives are delivered.14. But there is no end to the suggestiveness ofclouds, as whoever has spent idle hours at sea or inthe mountains watching them will nOtneed to betold.There is not a child who has not discoveredin the sky likenesses, animal shapes, fantastic formsof monsters and giants, landscapes, and cities.Toour Aryan ancestors the cloud that gave no rain wasthe most malignant of fiends ; it was to them Vritra,the "coverer" or "enfolder," and " KiUer of Vritra,"Vritrahanis the highest term of praise, themost triumphant title bestowed on the devas who sue-