This awakened grave suspicions, and the people hunted for reasons for
it. 'The boys are to be trained as porters, and made to carry
burdens over the mountains,' said some. 'Nay,' said others, 'they
are to be sent to England and made Christians of.' [All foreigners,
no matter what their nationality is, are supposed to be English.]
Others again said, 'They are to be kidnapped,' and so the decree was
ignored, till Mr. Redslob and Dr. Marx went among the parents and
explained matters, and a large attendance was the result; for the
Tibetans of the trade route have come to look upon the acquisition of
'foreign learning' as the stepping-stone to Government appointments
at ten rupees per month. Attendance on religious instruction was
left optional, but after a time sixty pupils were regularly present
at the daily reading and explanation of the Gospels. Tibetan fathers
teach their sons to write, to read the sacred classics, and to
calculate with a frame of balls on wires. If farther instruction is
thought desirable, the boys are sent to the lamas, and even to the
schools at Lhassa. The Tibetans willingly receive and read
translations of our Christian books, and some go so far as to think
that their teachings are 'stronger' than those of their own,
indicating their opinions by tearing pages out of the Gospels and
rolling them up into pills, which are swallowed in the belief that
they are an effective charm.
Pages:
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108