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One day there entered a learned Persian theologian. He
had spent his whole life in studying the being of God, and had
both read and written many books on the subject. He had
thought, read and written so much about God that he had lost
all power of right thinking, and became muddled in his head
to such a degree that he had lost faith in God altogether.
When the Persian King heard of this he banished him from his
kingdom.
After having belaboured his brains all his life concerning the
First Cause, this unhappy theologian had become so confused
that instead of perceiving that he had himself lost his mind, he
began to think that no greater mind ruled the world than his
own.
This theologian had a slave, an African, who accompanied
him everywhere. When the theologian went into a café, the
African remained outside in the court, and sat on a stone in
the sun; so he sat at this time driving away the flies. The
theologian threw himself on a divan, and ordered a small cup
of opium, which was brought to him. When he had finished
the whole cup, and the poison began to work in his brain, he
turned to his slave and said,
“Now, wretched slave, tell me, is there a God or not?”
“Of course there is,” said the slave, and pulled out a little
wooden idol from his girdle. “Here is the God that has
protected me all my life in this world. It is made of a bough of
that holy tree that is worshipped everywhere in our land.”
The other customers in the café heard the conversation
between the theologian and his slave, and were astonished.
The question seemed to them odd enough, but the slave’s
answer more so.
A Brahmin, who heard what the slave said, turned to him,
and exclaimed, “Miserable fool! how is it possible to believe
that God can be hidden in a man’s girdle? There is only one
God—Brahma. That God is greater than the whole world,
for he created the whole world. Brahma is the one great God,
the God to whom temples have been raised on Ganges’ shores;
the God who is served only by his priests, the Brahmins.
These priests alone have knowledge of the true God. Twenty
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