A Record Of Buddhistic Kingdoms - Being An Account By The Chinese Monk Fa-hien Of His Travels In India And Ceylon (a.d. 399-414) By James Legge
- Page 185 of 190 - First - Home
The
Countries Through Which He Passed Were A Few Under Thirty.
From the
sandy desert westwards on to India, the beauty of the dignified
demeanour of the monkhood and of
The transforming influence of the Law
was beyond the power of language fully to describe; and reflecting how
our masters had not heard any complete account of them, he therefore
(went on) without regarding his own poor life, or (the dangers to be
encountered) on the sea upon his return, thus incurring hardships and
difficulties in a double form. He was fortunate enough, through the
dread power of the three Honoured Ones,[15] to receive help and
protection in his perils; and therefore he wrote out an account of his
experiences, that worthy readers might share with him in what he had
heard and said.[15]
It was in the year Keah-yin,[16] the twelfth year of the period E-he
of the (Eastern) Tsin dynasty, the year-star being in Virgo-Libra, in
the summer, at the close of the period of retreat, that I met the
devotee Fa-hien. On his arrival I lodged him with myself in the winter
study,[17] and there, in our meetings for conversation, I asked him
again and again about his travels. The man was modest and complaisant,
and answered readily according to the truth. I thereupon advised him
to enter into details where he had at first only given a summary, and
he proceeded to relate all things in order from the beginning to the
end.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 185 of 190
Words from 49590 to 49845
of 51126
