The purpose for which this addition was made to the simpler legend is
clear enough. It was to avoid the dilemma of a creation from nothing on
the one hand, and the eternity of matter on the other. _Ex nihilo nihil_
is an apothegm indorsed alike by the profoundest metaphysicians and the
rudest savages. But the other horn was no easier. To escape accepting
the theory that the world had ever been as it now is, was the only
object of a legend of its formation. As either lemma conflicts with
fundamental laws of thought, this escape was eagerly adopted, and in the
suggestive words of Prescott, men "sought relief from the oppressive
idea of eternity by breaking it up into distinct cycles or periods of
time."[199-1] Vain but characteristic attempt of the ambitious mind of
man! The Hindoo philosopher reconciles to his mind the suspension of the
world in space by imagining it supported by an elephant, the elephant by
a tortoise, and the tortoise by a serpent. We laugh at the Hindoo, and
fancy we diminish the difficulty by explaining that it revolves around
the sun, and the sun around some far-off star.
Pages:
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332