Tales of Vampires & Werewolves. Редьярд Джозеф Киплинг

[ Meaning, in spite of themselves.]

      144. [ When the moon is in a certain lunar mansion, at the conclusion of the wet season.]

      145. [ In Hindustan, it is the prevailing wind of the hot weather.]

      146. [ Vishnu, as a dwarf, sank down into and secured in the lower regions the Raja Bali, who by his piety and prayerfulness was subverting the reign of the lesser gods; as Ramachandra he built a bridge between Lanka (Ceylon) and the main land; and as Krishna he defended, by holding up a hill as an umbrella for them, his friends the shepherds and shepherdesses from the thunders of Indra, whose worship they had neglected.]

      147. [ The priestly caste sprang, as has been said, from the noblest part of the Demiurgus; the three others from lower members.]

      148. [ A chew of betel leaf and spices is offered by the master of the house when dismissing a visitor.]

      149. [ Respectable Hindus say that receiving a fee for a daughter is like selling flesh.]

      150. [ A modern custom amongst the low caste is for the bride and bridegroom, in the presence of friends, to place a flower garland on each other’s necks, and thus declare themselves man and wife. The old classical Gandharva-lagan has been before explained.]

      151. [ Meaning that the sight of each other will cause a smile, and that what one purposes the other will consent to.]

      152. [ This would be the verdict of a Hindu jury.]

      153. [ Because stained with the powder of Mhendi, or the Lawsonia inermis shrub.]

      154. [ Kansa’s son: so called because the god Shiva, when struck by his shafts, destroyed him with a fiery glance.]

      155. [ “Great Brahman”; used contemptuously to priests who officiate for servile men. Brahmans lose their honour by the following things: By becoming servants to the king; by pursuing any secular business; by acting priests to Shudras (serviles); by officiating as priests for a whole village; and by neglecting any part of the three daily services. Many violate these rules; yet to kill a Brahman is still one of the five great Hindu sins. In the present age of the world, the Brahman may not accept a gift of cows or of gold; of course he despises the law. As regards monkey worship, a certain Rajah of Nadiya is said to have expended 10,000L in marrying two monkeys with all the parade and splendour of the Hindu rite.]

      156. [ The celebrated Gayatri, the Moslem Kalmah.]

      157. [ Kama again.]

      158. [ From “Man,” to think; primarily meaning, what makes man think.]

      159. [ The Cirrhadae of classical writers.]

      160. [ The Hindu Pluto; also called the Just King.]

      161. [ Yama judges the dead, whose souls go to him in four hours and forty minutes; therefore a corpse cannot be burned till after that time. His residence is Yamalaya, and it is on the south side of the earth; down South, as we say. (I, Sam. xxv. 1, and xxx. 15). The Hebrews, like the Hindus, held the northern parts of the world to be higher than the southern. Hindus often joke a man who is seen walking in that direction, and ask him where he is going.]

      162. [ The “Ganges,” in heaven called Mandakini. I have no idea why we still adhere to our venerable corruption of the word.]

      163. [ The fabulous mountain supposed by Hindu geographers to occupy the centre of the universe.]

      164. [ The all-bestowing tree in Indra’s Paradise which grants everything asked of it. It is the Tuba of Al-Islam and is not unknown to the Apocryphal New Testament.]

      165. [ “Vikramaditya, Lord of the Saka.” This is prevoyance on the part of the Vampire; the king had not acquired the title.]

      166. [ On the sixth day after the child’s birth, the god Vidhata writes all its fate upon its forehead. The Moslems have a similar idea, and probably it passed to the Hindus.]

      167. [ Goddess of eloquence. “The waters of the Saraswati” is the classical Hindu phrase for the mirage.]

      168. [ This story is perhaps the least interesting in the collection. I have translated it literally, in order to give an idea of the original. The reader will remark in it the source of our own nursery tale about the princess who was so high born and delicately bred, that she could discover the three peas laid beneath a straw mattress and four feather beds. The Hindus, however, believe that Sybaritism can be carried so far; I remember my Pandit asserting the truth of the story.]

      169. [ A minister. The word, as is the case with many in this collection, is quite modern Moslem, and anachronistic.]