CHAPTER XLI

　　Have you ever seen the dusty cobwebs and the mould in the cellarsof some ancient castle in Italy, France or England? This is thedust of centuries. Perhaps it touched the faces, helmets andswords of a Roman Augustus, St. Louis, the Inquisitor, Galileo orKing Richard. Your heart is involuntarily contracted and you feela respect for these witnesses of elapsed ages. This sameimpression came to me in Ta Kure, perhaps more deep, morerealistic. Here life flows on almost as it flowed eight centuriesago; here man lives only in the past; and the contemporary onlycomplicates and prevents the normal life.

"Today is a great day," the Living Buddha¹ once said to me, "the dayof the victory of Buddhism² over all other religions. It was a longtime ago--on this day Kublai Khan called to him the Lamas of allreligions and ordered them to state to him how and what theybelieved. They praised their Gods and their Hutuktus. Discussionsand quarrels began. Only one Lama remained silent. At last hemockingly smiled and said:

"'Great Emperor! Order each to prove the power of his Gods by theperformance of a miracle and afterwards judge and choose.'

"Kublai Khan so ordered all the Lamas to show him a miracle but allwere silent, confused and powerless before him.

"'Now,' said the Emperor, addressing the Lama who had tendered thissuggestion, 'now you must prove the power of your Gods!'

"The Lama looked long and silently at the Emperor, turned and gazedat the whole assembly and then quietly stretched out his handtoward them. At this instant the golden goblet³ of the Emperorraised itself from the table and tipped before the lips of the Khanwithout a visible hand supporting it. The Emperor felt the delightof a fragrant⁴ wine. All were struck with astonishment⁵ and theEmperor spoke⁶:

"'I elect to pray to your Gods and to them all people subject to memust pray. What is your faith? Who are you and from where do youcome?'

"'My faith is the teaching of the wise Buddha. I am Pandita Lama,Turjo Gamba, from the distant and glorious monastery⁷ of Sakkia inTibet, where dwells incarnate⁸ in a human body the Spirit of Buddha,his Wisdom and his Power. Remember, Emperor, that the peoples whohold our faith shall possess all the Western Universe and duringeight hundred and eleven years shall spread their faith throughoutthe whole world.'

"Thus it happened on this same day many centuries ago! Lama TurjoGamba did not return to Tibet but lived here in Ta Kure, wherethere was then only a small temple. From here he traveled to theEmperor at Karakorum and afterwards with him to the capital ofChina to fortify⁹ him in the Faith, to predict the fate of stateaffairs and to enlighten him according to the will of God."The Living Buddha was silent for a time, whispered a prayer andthen continued:

"Urga, the ancient nest of Buddhism. . . . With Jenghiz Khan onhis European conquest went out the Olets or Kalmucks. Theyremained there almost four hundred years, living on the plains ofRussia. Then they returned to Mongolia because the Yellow Lamascalled them to light against the Kings of Tibet, Lamas of the 'redcaps,' who were oppressing the people. The Kalmucks helped theYellow Faith but they realized that Lhasa was too distant from thewhole world and could not spread our Faith throughout the earth.

Consequently the Kalmuck Gushi Khan brought up from Tibet a holyLama, Undur Gheghen, who had visited the 'King of the World.' Fromthat day the Bogdo Gheghen has continuously lived in Urga, aprotector of the freedom of Mongolia and of the Chinese Emperors ofMongolian origin. Undur Gheghen was the first Living Buddha in theland of the Mongols. He left to us, his successors, the ring ofJenghiz Khan, which was sent by Kublai Khan to Dalai Lama in returnfor the miracle shown by the Lama Turjo Gamba; also the top of theskull of a black, mysterious miracle worker from India, using whichas a bowl, Strongtsan, King of Tibet, drank during the templeceremonies one thousand six hundred years ago; as well as anancient stone statue of Buddha brought from Delhi by the founder¹⁰ ofthe Yellow Faith, Paspa."The Bogdo clapped his hands and one of the secretaries took from ared kerchief a big silver key with which he unlocked the chest withthe seals. The Living Buddha slipped his hand into the chest anddrew forth¹¹ a small box of carved ivory, from which he took out andshowed to me a large gold ring set with a magnificent ruby¹² carvedwith the sign of the swastika.

"This ring was always worn on the right hand of the Khans Jenghizand Kublai," said the Bogdo.

When the secretary had closed the chest, the Bogdo ordered him tosummon his favorite Maramba, whom he directed to read some pagesfrom an ancient book lying on the table. The Lama began to readmonotonously.

"When Gushi Khan, the Chief of all the Olets or Kalmucks, finishedthe war with the 'Red Caps' in Tibet, he carried out with him themiraculous 'black stone' sent to the Dalai Lama by the 'King of theWorld.' Gushi Khan wanted to create in Western Mongolia thecapital of the Yellow Faith; but the Olets at that time were at warwith the Manchu Emperors for the throne of China and suffered onedefeat after another. The last Khan of the Olets, Amursana, ranaway into Russia but before his escape sent to Urga the sacred'black stone.' While it remained in Urga so that the Living Buddhacould bless the people with it, disease and misfortune nevertouched the Mongolians and their cattle. About one hundred yearsago, however, some one stole the sacred stone and since thenBuddhists have vainly sought it throughout the whole world. Withits disappearance¹³ the Mongol people began gradually to die.""Enough!" ordered Bogdo Gheghen. "Our neighbors hold us incontempt. They forget that we were their sovereigns but wepreserve our holy traditions and we know that the day of triumph ofthe Mongolian tribes and the Yellow Faith will come. We have theProtectors of the Faith, the Buriats. They are the truestguardians of the bequests¹⁴ of Jenghiz Khan."So spoke the Living Buddha and so have spoken the ancient books!

1 Buddha   

n.佛；佛像；佛陀

参考例句：

• Several women knelt down before the statue of Buddha and prayed.几个妇女跪在佛像前祈祷。
• He has kept the figure of Buddha for luck.为了图吉利他一直保存着这尊佛像。

2 Buddhism   

n.佛教（教义）

参考例句：

• Buddhism was introduced into China about 67 AD.佛教是在公元67年左右传入中国的。
• Many people willingly converted to Buddhism.很多人情愿皈依佛教。

3 goblet   

n.高脚酒杯

参考例句：

• He poured some wine into the goblet.他向高脚酒杯里倒了一些葡萄酒。
• He swirled the brandy around in the huge goblet.他摇晃着高脚大玻璃杯使里面的白兰地酒旋动起来。

4 fragrant   

adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的

参考例句：

• The Fragrant Hills are exceptionally beautiful in late autumn.深秋的香山格外美丽。
• The air was fragrant with lavender.空气中弥漫薰衣草香。

5 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 monastery   

n.修道院，僧院，寺院

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• She was appointed the superior of the monastery two years ago.两年前她被任命为这个修道院的院长。

8 incarnate   

adj.化身的，人体化的，肉色的

参考例句：

• She was happiness incarnate.她是幸福的化身。
• That enemy officer is a devil incarnate.那个敌军军官简直是魔鬼的化身。

9 fortify   

v.强化防御，为…设防；加强，强化

参考例句：

• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。
• This treaty forbade the United States to fortify the canal.此条约禁止美国对运河设防。

10 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

11 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

12 ruby   

n.红宝石，红宝石色

参考例句：

• She is wearing a small ruby earring.她戴着一枚红宝石小耳环。
• On the handle of his sword sat the biggest ruby in the world.他的剑柄上镶有一颗世上最大的红宝石。

13 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

14 bequests   

n.遗赠( bequest的名词复数 )；遗产，遗赠物

参考例句：

• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He left bequests of money to all his friends. 他留下一些钱遗赠给他所有的朋友。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》