rarity
; the gods appropriate it from the sky . . . Of cloud-begotten Pearls,
those which resemble a hen's egg, which are beautifully circular,
substantial, weighty, and bright as the sun, are enjoyable by the gods,
and cannot be obtained by men." The Oriental imagination describes them
as " Clad in the mighty effulgence of the mid-day sun."
"A cloud-begotten Pearl is a blessing not only to its owner, but it shoots its blessed influence a hundred yojanas, (a
yojana is said to be-equal to about one Europeon league), beyond the
precincts of the dominion of the king possessing it." As to its value
as a talisman, we read that " This world ornamented by the four oceans,
the home of the most splendid gems of infinite variety, can scarcely
equal in value one cloud-generated Pearl, and if by rare good fortune,
a person belonging to the very lowest order comes in possession of such
a Pearl, he shall reign paramount in this world, so long as the gem is
with him."
Clouds
are produced by the union of three things—water, energy, and air-—and
the resulting Pearls are divided into three corresponding classes,
according to the preponderance of one or more of these elements.
" Pearls that originate in the head of the Elephants of Khambogia are large as the fruit of the emblit
