PRINTED BY
TURNBULL AND SPEARS,
EDINBURGH
CONTENTS
| PAGE | ||
| I. | The Story of the World | [ 9] |
| II. | The Story of the Ganges | [ 12] |
| III. | The Story of Life and Death | [ 16] |
| IV. | The Story of Caste | [ 17] |
| V. | The Story of Fate | [ 21] |
| VI. | The Story of the Prophet | [ 24] |
| VII. | Children in Hindu Homes | [ 27] |
| VIII. | Boys and Girls | [ 39] |
| IX. | The King of India | [ 52] |
| X. | New Sights in India | [ 56] |
| XI. | Ananta, the Seeker | [ 65] |
| XII. | The Pandita Ramabai | [ 72] |
| XIII. | Hormasdji Pestonji | [ 79] |
| XIV. | Sita the Widow | [ 82] |
| XV. | Dilawur Khan and the King | [ 87] |
| XVI. | Sooboo | [ 91] |
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
| 1. | A Village Street | [ Frontispiece] |
| PAGE | ||
| 2. | On Pilgrimage to the Mountain | [ 10] |
| 3. | Fakirs | [ 18] |
| 4. | A Snake Charmer | [ 28] |
| 5. | A Wayside Shrine | [ 46] |
| 6. | Rescued Famine Children | [ 64] |
| 7. | A School for Girls | [ 72] |
| 8. | Rescued Child Widows | [ 86] |
CHILDREN OF INDIA
CHAPTER I
THE STORY OF THE WORLD
India is a very old land, and those who live there look far back into the past. They listen to the stories that were told of men and gods in those old days, and follow the customs that were followed then.
There are many gods in India, and many priests who serve in their temples and at their shrines. The priests have more power over the lives of the people than the gods have, but custom has far more power than either gods or priests.
No one can tell how many hundreds of years have passed since the stories that rule the lives of Hindu children to-day were first told. Long before the earliest time of which we know anything in the history of our islands, there were wise thinkers and clever workmen in India, and the men and women of that land think of them and of their customs with awe and reverence. And because much of the life of a Hindu child to-day is the result of the thoughts that have come from that far past time, we must listen to some of those old stories.