imagination, and their lofty ways and sad fortunes wring
many a heart. Yet there is always a new element in
the play imported by the topical allusions and jokes, the
material for which is collected by the actors by listening
with attention to the voces populi and noting the misadventures
of the day. Jokes of this
kind are received with exuberant
delight by the assembled people.
The plays near the pagoda are
organised and paid for by the
trustees ; many . of those in the
town by notabilities of a generous
habit. The audience assembles
without invitation.
Thus; one by one, the days
of the great festival are accomplished
; the ox-waggons in which
the nearest multitude has come
are harnessed again, and the
clanging bells of the cattle, the
merriment of the occupants, prolong
the festivity far into the
countryside. Steamers a n d
trains now bear away more
,. . Jg F IGU R E OP GAUTAM A distant dwellers. Yet even now
many a pilgrim walks a month’s journey to his home.
The festival passes; but the life remains. Every
day has its harmony of colour, its passion of praise and
worship, its unending change....' Every day that one
goes to the pagoda it has something new to offer, and
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