seminarist

Вода, в которой вымыл ноги Брамин, считается весьма священной и даже целебной.

Некий Индийский принц был очень болен; ему советовали испытать это лечение. Он созвал во дворец Браминов со всех концов страны. Пришли многие тысячи. Каждого, как тот приходил, просили вымыть ноги в тазу: это было лекарство для больного принца. Лекарство вышло чрезвычайно дорого, ибо каждому Брамину за беспокойство заплатили несколько шиллингов, и всех угостили хорошим обедом. Говорят, что принц немедленно выздоровел, но мы совершенно уверены, что исцелила его не вода.

(Интересно, откуда такая уверенность? - S.)

для дошкольного и младшего школьного возраста.

Ганг

Жестокие дела творятся у этой реки. Индусы думают, будто всякий, кто там умрёт, попадает в рай. Поэтому умирающих тащат туда на постелях, кладут в грязь под лучами палящего солнца и вёдрами льют им на голову воду.

Один больной Индус, которого несли к реке под покрывалом, будто мёртвого, вдруг откинул покрывало и закричал: "Я не умер, я только очень болен!" Он знал, что жестокие люди, которые несли его к воде, хотят бросить его в воду ещё живым: но как он ни умолял, ничто не могло его спасти. Жестокосердные создания отвечали: "Не все ли тебе равно, когда умирать: теперь или позже?" и так утопили его, притворяясь всё это время очень добрыми.

Считается, что покойников нужно бросать в реку после смерти. Ганг поэтому - большое кладбище, и в его водах можно видеть множество плывущих мёртвых тел, раздираемых воронами и стервятниками. Их было бы гораздо больше, если бы многих покойников не сжигали. Тогда в реку бросают пепел.

Иной одураченный бедняк топится в Ганге, в надежде на великое счастье в будущей жизни. Брамины охотно сопровождают таких людей к воде. Некоторые входили в воду, привязав за плечами большой пустой горшок. Горшок не давал им утонуть, но в руке у каждого бедняка была чашка, и черпая этой чашкой, он наполнял кувшин, и так начинал тонуть. Один из них испугался и хотел выбраться на берег; но злые Брамины погнались за ним на своих лодках, и старались удержать его в воде; однако не могли его поймать, и несчастный сбежал. Возле реки есть селенья, куда сходятся эти злосчастные создания, и там сообща доживают свой век; ибо прежние друзья не захотели бы их видеть.

для дошкольного и младшего школьного возраста

Sheeva's wife is far fiercer than himself. Her name is Kalee. Her whole delight is said to be in blood. Those who wish to please her, offer up the blood of beasts; but those who wish to please her still more, offer up their own blood.

Her great temple, called Kalee Ghaut, is near Calcutta. There is a great feast in her honor once a year at that temple. Early in the morning crowds assemble there with the noise of trumpets and kettle-drums.
See those wild fierce men adorned with flowers. They go towards the temple. A blacksmith is ready. Lo! one puts out his tongue, and the blacksmith cuts it: ( Read more... )
And WHY all these cruel tortures? To please Kalee, and to make the people wonder and admire, for the multitude around shout with joy as they behold these horrible deeds.

Those who have no caste at all are the most despised. They are called pariahs. These are people who have lost their caste. It is a very easy thing to lose caste, and once lost it can never be regained. A Brahmin would lose his caste by eating with a sudra; a sudra would lose his by eating with a pariah, and by eating with you--yes, with you, for the Hindoos think that no one is holy but themselves. It often makes a missionary smile when he enters a cottage to see the people putting away their food with haste, lest he should defile it by his touch. (развлечения у этих миссионеров... - S.)

There was once a little Hindoo girl named Rajee. She went to a missionary's school, but she would not eat with her schoolfellows,( Read more... )

An hour afterwards Rajee went to heaven; but I have never heard whether her mother gave up her idols.

The first book which children read is full of stories, with a picture on each page. Would you like to hear one of these stories?

"There was a boy of eight years old, named Um-wen. His parents were so poor that they could not afford to buy a gauze curtain for their bed, to keep off the flies in summer. This boy could not bear that his parents should be bitten by the flies; so he stood by their bedside, and uncovered his little bosom and his back that the flies might bite him, instead of his parents. 'For,' said he, 'if they fill themselves with my blood, they will let my parents rest.'"

Would it be right for a little boy to behave in this way? Certainly not; for it would grieve kind parents that their little boys should be bitten.

The Arabs are very proud, and will not bear the least affront. Sometimes one man says to another, "The wrong side of your turban is out." This speech is considered an affront never to be forgotten. The Arabs are so unforgiving and revengeful that they will seek to kill a man year after year...

I will tell you of an English clergyman who travelled to see that mountain. As he knew there were many robbers on the way, he hired an Arab sheikh to take care of him... Suleiman was a fine-looking man, dressed in a red shirt, with a shawl twisted round his waist, a purple cloak, and a red cap. His feet and legs were bare. His eyes were bright, his skin was brown, and his beard black. To his girdle were fastened a huge knife and pistols, and by his side hung a sword...

But the traveller soon found that it is dangerous to pass through a desert. Why? Not on account of wild beasts, ( Read more... )

для дошкольного и младшего школьного возраста

FOOD.-The poor can get nothing but rice to eat and water to drink; except now and then they mix a little pork or salt fish with their rice. Any sort of meat is thought good; even a hash of rats and snakes, or a mince of earth-worms. Cats and dogs’ flesh are considered as nice as pork, and cost as much.

An Englishman was once dining with a Chinaman, and he wished to know what sort of meat was on his plate. But he was not able to speak Chinese. How then could he ask? He thought of a way. Looking first at his plate, and then at the Chinaman, he said, «Ba-a-a,» meaning to ask, «Is this mutton?» The Chinaman understood the question, and immediately replied, «Bow-wow,» meaning to say, «It is puppy-dog.» You will wish to know whether the Englishman went on eating; but I cannot tell you this.

APPEARANCE.-The Chinese are not at all like the other natives of Asia. The Turks and Arabs are fine-looking men, but the Chinese are poor-looking creatures. You have seen their pictures on their boxes of tea, for they are fond of drawing pictures of themselves.

Their complexion is rather yellow, but many of the ladies, who keep in doors, are rather fair. They have black hair, small dark eyes, broad faces, flat noses, and high cheek-bones. In general they are short. The men like to be stout; and the rich men are stout: the fatter they are, the more they are admired: but the women like to be slender.

A Chinese lady wears a loose gown like a Chinaman’s; but she may be known by her head-dress, her baby feet, and her long nails... Her feet are no bigger than those of a child of five years old; because, when she was five, they were cruelly bound up to prevent them from growing. She suffered much pain all her childhood, and now she trips about as if she were walking on tiptoes. A little push would throw her down. As she walks she moves from side to side like a ship in the water, for she cannot walk firmly with such small feet. The Chinese are so foolish as to admire these small feet, and to call them the «golden lilies». ( Read more... )

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продолжение http://seminarist.livejournal.com/257383.html

SIAM

The Siamese resemble Burmese in appearance, but they are much worse-looking. Their faces are very broad and flat; and so large are the jaws under the ears, that they appear as if they were swollen. Their manner of dressing their hair does not improve their looks; for they cut their hair quite close, except just on the top of their heads, where they make it stand up like bristles...

In disposition the Siamese are deceitful and cowardly. It has been said of them, that as friends they are not to be trusted, and as enemies not to be feared: they cannot be trusted, because they are deceitful: they need not be feared, because they are cowardly.
The Siamese are like Burmese in cruelty. When an enemy falls into their hands, no mercy is shown.

A king of a small country, called Laos, was taken captive by the Siamese. This king, with his family, was shut up in a large iron cage, and exhibited as a sight. There he was, surrounded by his sons and grandsons, and all of them heavily laden with chains on their necks and legs. Two of them were little boys, and they played and laughed in their cage! - so thoughtless are children! But the elder sons looked very miserable; they hung down their heads, and fixed their eyes on the ground; and well they might; for within their sight were various horrible instruments of torture; - spears with which to pierce them; - an iron boiler in which to heat oil to scald them; - a gallows on which to hang their bodies, and - a pestle and mortar in which to pound the children to powder.
What became of the unhappy family is not known.

продолжение http://seminarist.livejournal.com/255014.html

TURKEY

Once there was a man named Mahomet, who told people he was a prophet sent from God; but he was a false prophet, and a wicked man. He wrote a book called the Koran, and filled it with foolish stories, and absurd laws, and horrible lies...

Constantinople... like many other towns it looks beautiful at a distance, but turns out, when you arrive there, to be very unpleasant...

If you lived in Turkey, you would not be fond of dogs. There are a number of hungry dogs roaming about Constantinople, and eating up all the dead things or offal, lying in the streets. I will tell you an anecdote about them.

An English lady was walking one morning with her little niece in a burial ground in Constantinople, amongst the shady trees and beds of flowers; - when suddenly she saw troops of hungry dogs approaching her from every quarter. There they were on every side, whith their sharp teeth and glaring eyes, and noses snuffing the air, as if they smelt something very nice. The lady knew not what to do. She tried to reach the gate, dragging the child after her, while the dogs followed - howling and raging, and even daring to take her dress between their teeth. At last she came close to the door; then, flinging the bread as far as she could from her, she rushed through and escaped by a narrow path to the inn.

Character of the Turks. - They are so grave that they look wise. But how can lazy people be really wise? They like to spend their time in eating opium, sipping coffee and sitting still. They are so lazy that, though the land is very fruitful, they do not sow grain enough for their own bread, but send for grain to other countries. Thery read scarcely anything but the Koran, which they learn by heart. Yet in one respect they are to be praised. It is this. They bear troubles well.

GREECE
Children. - The Greeks do not know how to bring up their children. I will relate an anecdote of one spoiled child.

An English lady was in a ship not far from Athens. When it grew dark she went down into the cabin. ( Read more... )

Character. - The Greeks are very unlike the Turks. They are lively and warm in their manners, and fond of talking. They love singing, though they sing badly... They give way to all their feelings, crying one moment and laughing another. They do not bear their troubles well; when they are unhappy, they scream like babies.

продолжение http://seminarist.livejournal.com/254329.html

SWEDEN
Almost every one can read. In every little town there is a bookseller's shop, and sometimes there are more booksellers than butchers. It is never so in America, as you will see if you observe.

You are ready to think the Swedes are a wise and good people. Not so. There is no country in Europe where so many people are put in prison.
I do not mean to say that there are as many robbers in Sweden as in Sicily; there the robbers are seldom punished at all: in Sweden they are punished; but yet the rest of the people go on stealing. Travellers think the Swedes honest, because they do not steal their trunks; but I suppose they know they should be found out if they did, for the king has a great number of men watching to take up thieves. The Swedes swear also in a dreadful manner, the gentlemen as well as the poor people. They get drunk also very often.
The great people in Sweden set a bad example to the poor. There are many lords and ladies who spend all their time in dressing, and dancing, and singing foolish songs. The shopkeepers also neglect their business and waste their time.
The Swedes are very polite. Even the beggars will show their gratitude by kissing your sleeve or the skirt of your coat. But what is politeness compared to truth and honesty!

The Swedes do not care as much for comfort, as for ornaments. They have fine looking-glasses, and sofas, and chandeliers, and pictures, but they often go without basins, jugs, chests of drawers, curtains and other useful furniture. Nothing useful is well done in Sweden. The carpenters and blacksmiths are very clumsy in their work, but the musicians play beautifully, and the sculptors make fine statues.

продолжение http://seminarist.livejournal.com/252114.html:

HOLLAND
There is no country in the world so damp as Holland. There is so much water that every place is wet; indeed, people could not live there at all if it were not for the pains they take to make it a little more dry. Even cows are often made sick by the damp. There is no people in Europe as clean as the Dutch. If they did not rub and scrub a good deal, the damp would cover all their brass pans with rust...

The Dutch do not take their pleasure on Sundays as the Germans do, though they do not rest as much as they ought. (! - S.)

AMSTERDAM: This is the capital city of Holland. There is no city in which there is so much danger of being drowned, for it is full of canals.

BELGIUM
There are a great many neat little farm houses among the fields. Each farm is not larger than a good-sized field, that is, about six acres; yet on this small piece of land the whole family live comfortably. They must be very industrious. Yes, not one in the family is idle.

The farmer works very hard, for often he has no plough, and no cart, and no horse. Therefore he digs his land with his spade and wheels along his barrow full of hay. This is slow work, but it is the only way these poor people can manage. They live on common food.

Do you not hope that these industrious, honest people, love to read their Bibles in their pleasand cottages? Alas! they worship idols. They are Roman Catholics.

BRUSSELS.
There is a fountain in Brussels and a brass image of a boy near it. This brass image is called "The Mannekin." This image has a servant to wait upon it and dress it up very fine on holidays. Many kings have given presents to the Mannekin. One gave him a soldier's dress. You are ready to laugh at the people of Brussels, and to call them very silly; but they are sensible in many things, only they do not understand the Scriptures and so they honor images.

продолжение http://seminarist.livejournal.com/251591.html
HUNGARY

The Hungarians are a much wilder people than the Germans; they are not industrious; they do not know how to make things; most of them cannot read or write...

If you were to travel in the forest of Bakony, you would see a great number of pigs feeding on the acorns under the trees. The men who take care of these pigs are called swine-herds. They have not such a pleasant employment as shepherds have. Who could like as well to take care of dirty, greedy, grunting pigs, as of clean, soft, bleating sheep?

These poor swine-herds know nothing and many of them are robbers... I advise you, if you ever go to Bakony forest, not to go too near the pigs, for they are very fierce. The swine-herds, when they please, can make their pigs attack men and tear them to pieces.

SITZERLAND

The Protestants follow one of the bad customs of the Roman Catholics; they amuse themselves on Sunday. Even the poor men among the mountains go down to the public-house on Sunday evening, and drink wine; and though they do not get drunk, they ought not to be there.

When people go to Switzerland for the first time, they often think, "How happy should I be to live in a cottage here, to look down upon those sweet lakes, to hear the grand waterfall, and to gaze upon the snowy peaks of those high mountains!" But very often a great lump of snow as big as a house, rolls down the side of the mountain, and making a noise as loud as a thunder, crushes a cottage that lies on the side! O, what a terrible disaster! But I am going to tell you of a worse.

It was on the 2d of September, 1806, about five o'clock in the afternoon, that the earth began to slide. Very slowly it went at first. A young man felt the ground giving way, and called out to an old man to come away; but the old man, who was smoking his pipe by his door, said, "I have time to fill my pipe once more," and he went back, and the house fell upon him, and killed him, but the young man running as fast as he could, though he often fell down, escaped.

продолжение http://seminarist.livejournal.com/251066.html

In Italy there are crowds of miserable beggars. It is quite unpleasant to see the poor creatures in troops, clothed in filthy rags, many of them with bad sores, and others with broken backs or legs... When money is given to these poor creatures, they are not as thankful as Irish beggars are.

It is dreadful to think what number of murders are committed in Italy. Even boys, instead of fighting with their hands, take up stones and throw at each other, and men take out their knives and cut each other.

HOUSES: All day you must keep the blinds down or the sun will scorch you. But may you open them in the evening and enjoy the pure air? No, then you must shut the windows, or the mosquitoes will come in and bite you all over...

FOOD: The favourite food of poor people is macaroni. What is that? It is made of flour and water in the shape of pipes. Macaroni looks like white serpents... You may see them (poor people) holding up this serpent-like food and letting it slip down their throats.

CUSTOMS: One very bad custom is burying the poor people in large pits. In the evening the dead bodies in coffins are taken in carts and thrown into a deep hole and covered up.

MOUNT VESUVIUS: It is a terrible mountain, for fire comes out of a hole at the top. Very few people dare to look down the hole at the top. It is foolish to look down, for no one can tell when the hot boiling stuff called lava will burst forth.

продолжение: http://seminarist.livejournal.com/250831.html

Португалия:
The Portuguese language is not as beautiful as the Spanish, it has more hissing sounds and is spoken in harsh and squeaking tones.
No people in Europe are so clumsy and awkward with their hands... It is curious to see how badly the carpenters make boxes and the smiths make keys. The carts are very ill-made; as they move slowly along, the wheels make a loud creaking noise, which almost stuns people of other countries; but the Portuguese do not mind the sound, and say it is of use, for then there will be no danger of two carts meeting in the narrow roads...

Some places look pretty at a distance which look very ugly when you come up to them - Lisbon is one of these places... But what are those heaps of stones? - Those large heaps of great stones? They look like churches and houses fallen down. And so they are; for about a hundred years ago a great earthquake shook Lisbon, and threw down many of the buildings, and killed numbers of people.

Россия: ( Read more... )

продолжение http://seminarist.livejournal.com/250397.html

Но больше всего миссис Мортимер любила писать про разные страны и народы, населяющие Землю. Несколько поколений английских детей узнавали начала географии по её книгам. И о каждой стране, обо всяком народе она находила, что сказать хорошего. Вот, например, американцы:

The children are brought up in a very unwholesome manner. At the dinner table of the boarding house they see all kinds of dainties, and they are allowed to eat hot cakes and rich preserves at breakfast, and ices and oysters at supper, when they ought to be satisfied with their basin of porridge, or their milk and water and bread and butter. The consequence is that many children die, and others are pale and sickly. ( Read more... )

В старой доброй Англии жила-была знаменитая детская писательница, миссис Мортимер. Она писала для детей познавательные книжки. Дети очень любили книги миссис Мортимер. Одна из них - The Peep of Day; or, a Series of the Earliest Religious Instructions the Infant Mind is Capable of Receiving - выходит до сих пор.

Вот из неё отрывок:

Бог покрыл твои кости плотью. Твоя плоть мягкая и тёплая.
В твоей плоти течёт кровь. Бог поместил кожу снаружи, и она одевает твою плоть и кровь, как одежда... Как добр Бог, что дал тебе тело! Я надеюсь, что твоё тело не пострадает... Могут ли твои кости сломаться? Да, конечно, если ты упадешь с высоты, или если через них переедет телега...
Как легко было бы поранить твоё бедное маленькое тельце!
Если бы оно упало в огонь, оно бы обгорело. Если бы его проткнуть насквозь большим ножом, потекла бы кровь. Если бы тебе на голову упал большой ящик, он раздавил бы твою голову. Если бы ты выпал из окна, то сломал бы шею. Если бы ты несколько дней подряд ничего не ел, твое маленькое тело стало бы очень больным, дыхание бы прекратилось, ты бы похолодел и очень скоро был бы мёртв.