88 Alexander to the Brahmins. The pillars he raises.

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[NOTE: I was doing translation and transcription on the same page; I'm coming back to this]

[In margin]
The more
one has the
more one
desires.
The Greeks
worship
wicked
men, being
themselves
wicked,
offering up
beasts to
their idols.
Thus do
they, who
shall die,
honour
themselves.

* Leaf 37.
Alexander
to Dindi-
mus.
The Brah-
mins live
as they do
because
they do not
mingle
with other
men, but
are shut
off from
them.
They suffer
even as
those who
lie in
prison.
He holds
them as
wretched
fools, and
could he
but do it
would
march to-
wards them
with an
army to
make them
leave their
miserable
life and
become
warriors.

For ay þe mare þat a man hase þare-offe, þe mare he couetes.
Wikkede men are wyrchippede amangeȝ ȝow. For comonly a
man luffes hym þat es luke till hym selfen. Ȝe say þat godd
takes nane hede till dedly thynges. And neuer-þe-lesse ȝe bygge 4
temples, and makes autres in þam, and settis vp mawmettes
abownn þam, and grete delyte hase when bestes ere offerde, &
in þam, and at ȝour name es noysede, þis was done to þi
fader, to thyn Eldfader, & till all thi progenytours. And þe 8
same also es highte on-to þe. Wit swilke wirchipes þay ere
rewarded, þat knawes noȝte þam selfe dedly.' When Alexander
hadd redd þis lettre onane he sente anoþer agayne and that was
of this tenour þe whilk þat folowes.1 12
2 * ' Alexander, þe son of godd Amon & þe quene Olympias
kybng of kyngȝ & lorde of lordeȝ, vn-to Dyndymus kynge of þe
Bagmayns we sende. For als mekill als ȝour duellynge es in
þat partye of þe werlde fra þe begyngynge, whare na strangers 16
may com to ȝow, bot if it be riȝte fewe, ne ȝe may noȝte passe
forte of ȝour cuntree, but als swa say ȝe, are parred in, and na
ferrer may passe; þarefore ȝe magnyfye ȝour manere of lyffynge
and supposeȝ þat ȝe are blyssed be-cause þat ȝe er so sered in 20
þat if ȝe walde neuer so gladly passe furthe for to lere þe
customes þat oþer men vseȝ,

--- ȝe may noȝte; and nyll-ȝe will-ȝe,
ȝow by-houeȝ nedis suffere þat caytefftee þat ȝe lyffe in. Whare-
fore it semeȝ bi ȝour techynge, that þay þat liggeȝ in presonn

For the more that a man thereof has, the greater he feels greed.
Wicked men are worshipped among you, for commonly a
man loves he that reminds him of himself. You say that god
takes no heed towards deadly things. And nevertheless, you build
temples and make alters in them, and set up monuments
above them, and feel great delight when beasts are offered in them,
and as your name is [said?], this was done to the
father, your grandfather, and all the children. And the
same also is [true of you?]. With such worships they are
rewarded, that does not know themselves deadly. When Alexander
had read this letter, he at once sent another again and that was
of this tenor the following.
Alexander, the son of god Amon and the queen Olympias,
king of kings and lord of lords, we send to Dindymus, king of the
Brahmins. For as great as it is, your dwelling has been in
a part of the world from the beginning where no strangers
may come to you, but if there are right few, neither of you may leave the
fort of your country, but also you say, [you are] shut in [possible MS], and you cannot
go far; therefore you magnify your manner of living
and assume that you are blessed because you are so seperated [from society] in
that you'd gladly never go far, for you may not learn the
customs that other men use;

1 The second vowel of folowes is often
written so small as to render it uncertain
whether it is an o or e.

2 Four lines with red capital A.

3 fou written in MS. before fule and
scratched out. This word fon or fou was
complete and not a half-written word, as
the MS. shows.

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