[105] Kama, the god of love.
[106] Translated from the Persic, and read before the Oriental Society in India.
[107] The reason why the Egyptian Pyramids, though comprehending the same idea, did not exhibit this form, will be assigned hereafter.
[108] In his treatise, De Deâ Syriâ.
“Astarte, queen of heaven, with crescent horns,
To whose bright image nightly by the moon,
Sidonian virgins paid their vows and songs.”—Milton.
[110] “Les Indiens ont le Lingam qui ajoute encore quelque chose à l’infamie du Phallus des Egyptiens et des Grecs: ils adorent le faux dieu Isoir sous cette figure monstreuse, et qu’ils exposent en procession insultant d’une manière horrible à la pudeur et à la crédulité de la populace” (La Croze, p. 431).
[111] We can now see how it happened that the Irish word Toradh, i.e. “to go through the tower ceremony,” should signify also “to be pregnant”; and we can equally unravel the mythos of that elegant little tale which Sir John Malcolm tells us from Ferdosi, in his History of Persia. “It is related,” says he, “that Gal, when taking the amusement of the chase, came to the foot of a tower, on one of the turrets of which he saw a young damsel of the most exquisite beauty. They mutually gazed and loved, but there appeared no mode of ascending the battlement. After much embarrassment, an expedient occurred to the fair maiden. She loosened her dark and beautiful tresses, which fell in ringlets to the bottom of the tower, and enabled the enamoured prince to ascend. The lady proved to be Noudabah, the daughter of Merab, king of Cabul, a prince of the race of Zohauk.”
[112] Chap. iv. p. 48.
[113] Syncellus accordingly spells Budh, even in the singular number, with an F; and Josephus, from the Scriptures, additionally commutes the final d into t. We shall see more inflections anon.