The doing of this extends over one,
two, three, five, or even seven days; and when all is finished, he takes
his own riding-horse, saddles, bridles, and waits on him himself, while
he makes the noblest and most important minister of the kingdom mount
him. Then, taking fine white woollen cloth, all sorts of precious
things, and articles which the Sramans require, he distributes them
among them, uttering vows at the same time along with all his ministers;
and when this distribution has taken place, he again redeems whatever he
wishes from the monks.
The country, being among the hills and cold, does not produce the other
cereals, and only the wheat gets ripe. After the monks have received
their annual portion of this, the mornings suddenly show the hoar-frost,
and on this account the king always begs the monks to make the wheat
ripen [1] before they receive their portion. There is in the country a
spittoon which belonged to Buddha, made of stone, and in color like his
alms-bowl. There is also a tooth of Buddha, for which the people have
reared a tope, connected with which there are more than a thousand monks
and their disciples, all students of the hinayana. To the east of these
hills the dress of the common people is of coarse materials, as in our
country of Ts'in, but here also there were among them the differences of
fine woollen cloth and of serge or haircloth.
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