"Probably they were compelled to desert this dreadful place because
they were threatened by chronic deafness," Miss X - - expressed her
opinion. She could not help being out of temper at being prevented
from enjoying her quiet slumber, our tents being right in the middle
of the orchestra.
"A propos of Orpheus," asked the Takur, "do you know that the lyre
of this Greek demigod was not the first to cast spells over people,
animals and even rivers? Kui, a certain Chinese musical artist,
as they are called, expresses something to this effect: `When I
play my kyng the wild animals hasten to me, and range themselvis
into rows, spellbound by my melody.' This Kui lived one thousand
years before the supposed era of Orpheus."
"What a funny coincidence!" exclaimed I. "Kui is the name of one
of our best artists in St. Petersburg. Where did you read this?"
"Oh, this is not a very rare piece of information. Some of your
Western Orientalists have it in their books. But I personally
found it in an ancient Sanskrit book, translated from the Chinese
in the second century before your era. But the original is to be
found in a very ancient work, named The Preserver of the Five Chief
Virtues.
