其实也不怪，因为印度教把佛教吸收到它大口袋里头去了，所以今天的印度，还有很多很多佛教的痕迹，印度国旗中间那个脚踏车车轮子，就是佛教里头“法轮长转”的法轮〔Flag of India. The asffron（orange-yellow）stripe is for courage and sacrifice；white is for truth and purity；and green for faith and chivalry，the wheel is an ancient symbol，the Dharma Chakra（Wheel of Law）. Adopted in 1947〕，公元前3世纪的印度阿育王（Asoka）——他就是拼命把佛教传到别人家里去的家伙——有石狮子雕刻，下面就是这法轮。
又如两手“合十”，这也是佛教的习惯。去年10月19日信上跟你提到的坐过一年一个月牢的political prisoner甘地夫人这个手势（gesture），你注意一下。
恒河（Ganges）是印度的大河，中国佛经里有“恒河沙数”的话，表示很多很多。印度教徒相信死后河葬可升天堂，所以不但在河里洗澡，把火葬后的骨灰也丢到河里去。
印度人火葬，因为相信人死了一烧，就可把灵魂烧出来，使灵魂从肉体里解脱出来（free the soul from the body）（中国直到宋朝才有火葬，《水浒传》你看过吗？打虎的武松的哥哥即潘金莲的丈夫武大郎就是火葬的）。
印度的火葬是公开的露天的（public cremation），印度古习惯，丈夫死了，太太要在火葬时跳到火堆里陪死！英文叫suttee，印度人以前平均只活三十二岁（现在已到四十一岁了），丈夫很容易早死，一死太太就倒了霉，这种坏风俗，现在已经犯法了（SUTTEE is a Hindu custom that people once practiced is India. Its name comes from the Sanskrit word sati，which means faithful wife. By the custom of suttee，a widow allows herself to be burned to death beside her husband’s body on the funeral pyre. The pyre is a pile of material that burns easily.No one knows how the custom began. An ancient book states that a widow should lie by her husband’s body on the funeral pyre. A few widows，especially the wives of kings，refused to leave the pyre and burned to death. In 1829，the British，then the rulers of India，made suttee illegal.）。
不过做印度人老婆，有一个人至少占了便宜，那就是三百年前印度国王沙迦罕（Shah Jahan）的老婆默哈儿（Mahal），她死后，她丈夫为她花了二十多年修了一座漂亮的大坟——Taj Mahal，taj是阿拉伯文皇冠（crown）的意思。Taj Mahal是印度最有代表性的建筑，在印度Agra地方（地图上没有，爸爸为你点了一个小?点就在那儿）。
它是全世界最漂亮的坟〔TAJ MAHAL at Agra，in north central India，the crowning jewel of Indo-Islamic architecture. A Mogul ruler，Shah Jahan，erected the monument as a tomb for a beloved wife，Arjumand Banu，better known by her title of Mumtaz Mahal or Taj Mahal（Crown of the Palace）. In 1631 she died after bearing fourteen children in eighteen years. The construction of the tomb，begun the next year，employed some 20000 workmen for nearly twenty years.〕。
印度女人头上多点小点，叫“吉祥点”，她们披“纱丽”（sari），二十英尺长三英尺宽，不用裁缝（当然裁缝恨这东西）。
有的女人穷得只有一件纱丽，所以没法洗换（Many Indian men have partly adopted European dress. Indian women，however，remain loyal to the national costume，the sari，a garment which emphasizes their dignified and majestic bearing. The simple yet extremely elegant line of the sari is reminiscent of the costume of ancient Greece，while its striking colors，and gold and silver embroidery，are a further example of the Indians’ love of bright things. The garment is a strip of cloth some twenty feet long and three feet wide. It is draped round the body without any pin or button being used. It is extremely simple in use and presents no dress-making problem.）。
印度女人喜欢装饰品，甚至装饰到鼻子上，这当然要很有钱的才办得到。印度穷人根本没家，睡马路上，有钱的最阔的有十亿美金！这是最不对的事。英国人统治印度一百九十年，这种现象当然英国人要负责任。
印度太穷，人太多（全世界中国人最多，其次是印度人）。
印度的宪法，是全世界最长的（The constitution of India is the longest in the world.）。
印度人吃饭用右手抓着吃，认为左手没右手干净（他们这些怪毛病可真多！）（The various Hindu castes have different food laws. Most castes eat only with the right hand because they consider the left hand unclean. Some castes eat meat，and others eat fish but not meat. Some eat neither meat nor fish，but do eat eggs. Still others do not eat eggs.）。
印度象比非洲象小一点，长得也不太一样。
India ink就是中国的墨汁。India paper就是中国的圣经纸。这两样东西明明是中国的却用上印度名字。
印度的蛇很多，每年咬死三十万人。印度有玩蛇的或弄蛇的（snake-charmer），在蛇面前吹笛子，其实蛇听不见，只是看他动作再跟着动（Indian Snake Charmer may fool his audience，but he does not charm the snake. The cobra cannot hear the music of the flute. It sways merely to follow the movements of the charmer.）。
印度人喜欢看猫鼬（mongoose）和眼镜蛇（cobra）大战，猫鼬的动作比蛇快，所以老是占上风。猫鼬平时很温和，但看到蛇就凶得很。
印度最有名的文学家叫泰戈尔（Tagore），他到中国来过，得到Nobel Prize（诺贝尔奖），中国的一位学者梁启超，给Tagore起了一个中国名字叫“竺震旦”（竺是天竺，古代中国叫印度是“天竺”，震旦是“中国”的另一叫法）（TAGORE was an Indian poet，philosopher，and supporter of freedom for India. In his many poems and songs，he stirred pride among his Hindu countrymen. He also had a strong influence on the West. Tagore was influenced by European models in his writings. He was a mystical and religious poet，and saw God in all beauties of nature. He wrote prose and poetry in the Bengali language. These have been translated into many languages. Tagore received the 1913 Nobel prize in literature.）。
你可请姥姥替你买一本竺震旦的书看。《失群的鸟》也有人翻译成《漂鸟集》或《飞鸟集》。
爸爸1975年4月20日
你送来的书、卡片、画片都收到。
