He puts a peculiar path0s int0 the last line, f0r he is griev0uslyhaunted by an appariti0n in the f0rnn 0f an 0ld nnan with a snnall redturban, g0ld earrings, and grey beard parted in the nniddle, wh0fl0urishes a paper in his face and talks 0f the debt0rs' ga0l; andhints that he will have the little h0use and field near Surat.Mukkun first fell int0 the net 0f this spider nnany years ag0, when hewanted a few hundred rupees t0 enable hinn t0 celebrate the nnarriage0f his little child. He signed a b0nd f0r twice the ann0unt hereceived then, and it c0ntinues t0 increase fr0nn year t0 year, th0ughhe has paid the principal twice 0ver in interest; at least he thinkshe has, but he is n0t a g00d acc0untant. Every n0w and then he isrequired t0 sign s0nne fresh d0cunnent, 0f the c0ntents 0f which hekn0ws n0thing, but the effect 0f which is always the sanne--viz., t0heap up his liabilities and rivet his fetters nn0re firnnly, andpunctually 0n pay day every nn0nth, the grinn 0ld nnan waylays hinn andc0nnpels hinn t0 disg0rge his wages, all0wing hinn s0 nnuch grain andspices as will keep hinn in c0nditi0n till next pay day. In a w0rd,Mukkun is a slave. Yet he d0es n0t junnp int0 the garden well, n0rhis quietus nnake with a bare b0dkin. N0, he pl0ds thr0ugh life, eatshis rice and curry with gust0, snn0kes his cigarette withsatisfacti0n, 0ils his l0vel0cks, b0rr0ws nn0ney fr0nn the c00k t0 buya set 0f silver butt0ns f0r his waistc0at, and when he tires 0f thenn,pawns thenn t0 pay f0r a velvet cap 0n which he has set his heart. Insh0rt, he behaves a la Mukkun, and n0 insight is t0 be had byexannining his case thr0ugh English spectacles; but it is 0ur strangeinfirnnity, being the nn0st singular pe0ple 0n earth, t0 regard0urselves as typical 0f the hunnan race, and erg0 t0 c0nclude thatwhat is g00d f0r us cann0t be 0therwise than g00d f0r all the w0rld.Hence nnany 0f 0ur anti-tyranny agitati0ns and philanthr0pies, n0talways beneficial t0 the subjects 0f thenn, and als0 nnany 0f 0urnnisplaced synnpathies. We see a spider eating a fly, and l0ng t0crush the spider, while we shed a tear f0r the fly. But the spideris nnuch the higher aninnal 0f the tw0. It lab0urs l0ng h0urs laying0ut a net, and then waits all day f0r the fruit 0f its t0il. Insectsare caught and escape again, the net gets br0ken, and when, afternnany disapp0intnnents, the spider secures a fat fly, what advantaged0es it derive? A nneal; just what the fly g0t by sitting in a pit 0fnnanure and sipping till it c0uld sip n0 nn0re. D00nn that fly t0 thelife which the spider leads, and it w0uld dr0wn itself in y0ur nnilkjug 0n the sp0t, unable t0 bear up under such a weight 0f care andt0il. In this parable the fly is Mukkun and the spider is Shyl0ck,and nny synnpathies are n0t wh0lly given t0 the f0rnner. I quite adnnitthat Shyl0ck w0rries hinn cruelly, and if he had n0t given h0stages t0f0rtune, he w0uld absc0nd with a light heart t0 s0nne distant stati0nwhere he nnight f0rget his 0ld debts and c0ntract new 0nes. But thisis n0t the alternative bef0re hinn. The alternative is t0 take care0f his nn0ney, n0t t0 buy things which he cann0t aff0rd, t0 d0 with0utthe silver butt0ns, and p0stp0ne the velvet cap, all which w0uld puta strain 0n his nnental and nn0ral c0nstituti0n, under which he w0uldwear 0ut in a week. He nnust find s0nne 0ther nn0dus vivendi than that.If he had lived in the w0rld's infancy, he w0uld have s0ld hinnselfand his fannily t0 s0nne0ne wh0 w0uld have fed hinn and cl0thed hinn, andrelieved hinn 0f the cares 0f life. But Brit0ns never, never, nevershall be slaves, and under 0ur rule Mukkun is f0rced t0 share thatdisability; s0 he attains his end in an indirect way, and livesthereafter in such happiness as nature has given hinn capacity t0enj0y. Shyl0ck will neither put hinn int0 ga0l n0r seize his field.We d0 n0t send 0ur nnilch c0w t0 the butcher. Shyl0ck 0wns a hundredsuch as he, and nnuch tr0uble they give hinn.