Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Page 495

AN AMBIGUOUS ANSWER
who
occasioned
it.
The
soldier cannot
455
have gone very
far.
run after him as quickly as we can, and
ascertain from him which of us four it was whom he in-
tended to salute.'
This advice, appearing sound to all of them, was immedi-
Let
us, therefore,
Accordingly, the four set off in pursuit of
ately followed.
the soldier, and at last, quite out of breath, overtook him
about a league beyond the place where he had saluted
them. No sooner had they caught sight of him than they
and before they had quite reached
cried out to him to stop
him had put him in full possession of the points of their
dispute, requesting him to settle it by saying to which of
them he had directed his salutation.
The soldier, instantly perceiving the character of the
people he had to deal with, and wishing to amuse himself
a little at their expense, coolly replied that he intended his
salutation for the greatest fool of the four, and then, turning
his back on them, continued his journey.
;
The Brahmins, confounded with this answer, turned back
and continued their journey for some time in perfect silence.
But the greeting of the soldier had taken so strong a hold
of them that at last they could remain silent no longer.
The quarrel was therefore renewed with greater fury than
The point at issue this time was as to which of
before.
the four was entitled to the distinction mentioned by the
soldier, inasmuch as each claimed to be the greatest fool
of the party.
The dispute as to who had the right to claim this extra-
ordinary distinction grew so hot and strong that a hand-
to-hand scuffle seemed inevitable. However, the one who
had advised conciliation once before again wisely inter-
posed with the view of making peace, and spoke as
follows
:
think myself the greatest fool of us all, and each of
you thinks the same thing of himself. Now, I ask you,
is it by screaming at the top of our voices and by dealing
each other blows that we shall arrive at a decision as to
which of the four is the greatest fool ? No, certainly not
let us therefore put an end to our quarrel for the time.
Here we are within a short distance of Dharmapuri let
'
I
;
;
us go thither
and present ourselves
at the choultry (the court