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CHAPTER II THE STORY OF KABLU, THE ARYAN BOY, WHO CAME DOWN TO THE PLAINS OF THE INDUS ''Man is he who thinks" Are you ready to take a long journey, first across the Atlantic to Europe, then across Europe, through Italy, and Greece, and Turkey, past the Black Sea, and into Persia? Look at your map and see where you are going, for this is a true story, and you will like to know where Kablu really lived. We have passed the Persian boundary and are in Afghanistan, and now we must climb the ' Here lived Kablu, far away in distance, and far away in time, too." steep slopes of the Hindoo Koosh Mountains, and in a sheltered nook we shall find a house. It is built of logs laid one upon another, and the chinks are filled with moss and clay. It leans against a great rock, which forms, as you see, one whole side of the house. The roof slopes from the rock down to the top of the front door (the only door indeed), which faces the sunrise. Here lived Kablu, far away in distance, and far away in time, too, for it was four thousand years, or more, ago. It is very early in the morning; you can still see a few stars shining in the gray light of dawn. Kablu is waked by his father, and he knows he must not linger a moment, for the first duty of an Aryan is to offer a prayer to the great god of light and fire, who will soon shed warmth and beauty over the whole mountain land. He never fails to rise and bless them, and certainly the least they can do is to rise to receive him and offer thanks to him. So in the soft morning light you can see the whole family standing around a broad, flat stone,in front of their house, on which are laid ready materials for a fire. Kablu's two sisters stand beside theirfather. He rubs dry sticks rapidly together, and, just as ' the sun ...
