![]() ![]() Here, on the night when the shrine was completed, Vishnu the Preserver appeared to the three Brahmins in a dream. Here, in a new shrineâ âin a hall inlaid with precious stones, under a roof supported by pillars of goldâ âthe moon-god was set up and worshipped. Preserved by three Brahmins, the inviolate deity, bearing the Yellow Diamond in its forehead, was removed by night, and was transported to the second of the sacred cities of Indiaâ âthe city of Benares. Of all the deities worshipped in the temple, the moon-god alone escaped the rapacity of the conquering Mohammedans. The adventures of the Yellow Diamond begin with the eleventh century of the Christian era.Īt that date, the Mohammedan conqueror, Mahmoud of Ghizni, crossed India seized on the holy city of Somnauth and stripped of its treasures the famous temple, which had stood for centuriesâ âthe shrine of Hindu pilgrimage, and the wonder of the Eastern world. A similar superstition was once prevalent, as I have heard, in ancient Greece and Rome not applying, however (as in India), to a diamond devoted to the service of a god, but to a semitransparent stone of the inferior order of gems, supposed to be affected by the lunar influencesâ âthe moon, in this latter case also, giving the name by which the stone is still known to collectors in our own time. Partly from its peculiar colour, partly from a superstition which represented it as feeling the influence of the deity whom it adorned, and growing and lessening in lustre with the waxing and waning of the moon, it first gained the name by which it continues to be known in India to this dayâ âthe name of The Moonstone. The earliest known traditions describe the stone as having been set in the forehead of the four-handed Indian god who typifies the Moon. One of the wildest of these stories related to a Yellow Diamondâ âa famous gem in the native annals of India. In order that the circumstances may be clearly understood, I must revert for a moment to the period before the assault, and to the stories current in our camp of the treasure in jewels and gold stored up in the Palace of Seringapatam. The private difference between my cousin and me took its rise in a great public event in which we were both concernedâ âthe storming of Seringapatam, under General Baird, on the 4th of May, 1799. And I declare, on my word of honour, that what I am now about to write is, strictly and literally, the truth. I request them to suspend their decision until they have read my narrative. The reserve which I have hitherto maintained in this matter has been misinterpreted by members of my family whose good opinion I cannot consent to forfeit. My object is to explain the motive which has induced me to refuse the right hand of friendship to my cousin, John Herncastle. I address these linesâ âwritten in Indiaâ âto my relatives in England. The Moonstone Prologue The Storming of Seringapatam (1799) You can download this and other ebooks carefully produced for true book lovers at. ![]() Standard Ebooks is a volunteer-driven project that produces ebook editions of public domain literature using modern typography, technology, and editorial standards, and distributes them free of cost. For full license information, see the Uncopyright at the end of this ebook. The creators of, and contributors to, this ebook dedicate their contributions to the worldwide public domain via the terms in the CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. They may still be copyrighted in other countries, so users located outside of the United States must check their local laws before using this ebook. The source text and artwork in this ebook are believed to be in the United States public domain that is, they are believed to be free of copyright restrictions in the United States. This particular ebook is based on a transcription from Project Gutenberg and on digital scans from various sources. This ebook is the product of many hours of hard work by volunteers for Standard Ebooks, and builds on the hard work of other literature lovers made possible by the public domain. II: The Statement of the Captain (1849).I: The Statement of Sergeant Cuffâs Man (1849). ![]() Second Period: The Discovery of the Truth (1848â∱849). ![]()
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