And Then They Cook The Meat, And
Set It Before The Idols, And Sprinkle The Broth Hither And Thither, Saying
That In This Way The Idols Get Their Bellyful.
Thus it is that they keep
their festivals.
You must know that each of the idols has a name of his
own, and a feast-day, just as our Saints have their anniversaries.[NOTE
12]
They have also immense Minsters and Abbeys, some of them as big as a small
town, with more than two thousand monks (i.e. after their fashion) in a
single abbey.[NOTE 13] These monks dress more decently than the rest of
the people, and have the head and beard shaven. There are some among these
Bacsi who are allowed by their rule to take wives, and who have plenty
of children.[NOTE 14]
Then there is another kind of devotees called SENSIN, who are men of
extraordinary abstinence after their fashion, and lead a life of such
hardship as I will describe. All their life long they eat nothing but
bran,[NOTE 15] which they take mixt with hot water. That is their food:
bran, and nothing but bran; and water for their drink. 'Tis a lifelong
fast! so that I may well say their life is one of extraordinary
asceticism. They have great idols, and plenty of them; but they sometimes
also worship fire. The other Idolaters who are not of this sect call these
people heretics - Patarins as we should say[NOTE 16] - because they do not
worship their idols in their own fashion.
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