Rev. F. W. Hinton, of Allahabad, relates this story in the C. M. S.
_Gazette_:
A young Bengali student came to me to ask for an explanation of
difficult passages in a book he was reading. He said his name
was “Sat Kori,” which means “seven cowry-shells,” and explained
the reason for his curious name. His mother had borne several
children before him, but all had died; so, like many other Hindu
mothers, she thought God or the Evil One had a grudge against
her, and if he could, he would take this last little one also.
So she called the nurse who attended her in her illness, and
made pretense to sell the baby to her for seven cowry-shells,
and gave the boy the name of Seven Cowries to deceive the God
into thinking he was of little worth. I asked the student if
he thought the ruse had made any difference, and he replied,
“Perhaps--at any rate, I did not die as the others had done.”
So, a university student more than half believes that one can
cheat God by a trick like that!
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