Budge_Ethiopic_Alexander

ALEXANDER AND THE BRAHMANS. I3I
their country,' and he marched on to them with
only a few of his friends. Now when he had
come to them he found them to be naked men, The Brah-
and poor and miserable, and they dwelt in the""^"^"^^
mountains and in caves; and their women, and
children, and aged folk fed upon the herb of the
field like animals; and Alexander sat down in one
of their places and sent after their chiefs and
sages. And he asked ^ one of their chiefs, saying,
"What is the manner of your life and also of your Alexander
"death?" And an interpreter made answer to him,^ ^estions^""
saying, "The life which we lead is thus. We fast
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^ See Pseudo-Callisthenes, Bk. iii. chap. 6 (Muller^ p. 100,
Meusel, p. 773); and Plutarchj Life of Alexander, LXIV.
According to the Greek, Alexander asked the Brahmans ten
questions which Pseudo-Callisthenes gives as follows:
1. Have ye no graves? 2. Do the living exceed the dead
in number? 3. Which is the stronger, death or life? 4. Which
is the larger, the earth or the sea? 5. Which animal is the
most cunning? 6. What is kingship? 7. Which came first,
the night or the day? 8. Which limbs are the best, those
of the right or those of the left side? 9. Have ye a ruler?
10. Have ye any possessions? In Plutarch the questions
are nine:— i. Do the living exceed the dead in number?
2. Does the earth or the sea produce the largest animals?
3. Which is the craftiest of all animals? 4. What was your
reason for persuading Sabbas to revolt? 5. Which do ye
think the older, the day or the night? 6. What are the best
means for a man to make himself beloved? 7. How may
a man become a god? 8. Which is the stronger, life or
death? 9. How long is it good for a man to live?
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