Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XXIV. Revolution
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
CHAPTER XXIV
revolution
Travellers who have been to India tell strange tales
about the phenomena which certain fakirs can produce.
Although meeting these tales with a strong dose of
scepticism, yet one cannot reject wholesale the evidence
of so many honourable people; the illusive
"experiences" of the fakirs have been really seen and
observed by serious-minded and truthful people ; and
it is only when one submits these phenomena to a
strictly scientific inspection and analysis that the illusion
vanishes. But then how is this illusion to be explained ?
One theory which seems extremely sound, holds that the
fakir acts on the spectator, now by auto-suggestion,
now by the use of some process of a physical nature.
The Indian accomplishes nothing supernatural; at the
most he indulges in some sleight-of-hand; but the
spectator, swayed by suggestion or else under the
influence of subtle intoxication, believes he sees all that
the fakir wishes him to see, and then tells the tale in
all good faith.
Exactly in the same way do I explain, at the present
time, the impression produced on the world at large,
except in the camp of our enemies, by the Russian
Revolution.
In the first place this revolution was desired and
called for by the conscience of the whole of the West.
There they knew that the Russian people were deprived
of those primary rights which by now have become
indispensable to every European. This idea was often
exaggerated; ancient prejudices, old political grudges
469
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
