Note 6 — Chapter XXIX · GRIDHRA-KUTA HILL, AND LEGENDS. FÂ-HIEN PASSES A NIGHT ON IT. HIS REFLECTIONS.

(6) In a note (p. lx) to his revised version of our author, Mr. Beal says, “There is a full account of this perilous visit of Fâ-Hien, and how he was attacked by tigers, in the ‘History of the High Priests.’” But “the high priests” merely means distinguished monks, “eminent monks,” as Mr. Nanjio exactly renders the adjectival character. Nor was Fâ-Hien “attacked by tigers” on the peak. No “tigers” appear in the Memoir. “Two black lions” indeed crouched before him for a time this night, “licking their lips and waving their tails;” but their appearance was to “try,” and not to attack him; and when they saw him resolute, they “drooped their heads, put down their tails, and prostrated themselves before him.” This of course is not an historical account, but a legendary tribute to his bold perseverance.