n the cave_."

When _Apollo_ was born, _a halo of serene light encircled his cradle_,
the nymphs of heaven attended, and bathed him in pure water, and girded
a broad golden band around his form.[157:5]

When the Saviour _AEsculapius_ was born, his countenance shone like the
sun, and he was surrounded by a fiery ray.[157:6]

In the life of _Zoroaster_ the common mythos is apparent. He was born in
innocence of an immaculate conception of a Ray of the Divine Reason. As
soon as he was born, _the glory arising from his body enlightened the
whole room_, and he laughed at his mother.[157:7]

It is stated in the legends of the Hebrew Patriarchs that, at the birth
of _Moses_, a bright light appeared and shone around.[157:8]

There is still another feature which we must notice in these narratives,
that is, the contradictory statements concerning the _time_ when Jesus
was born. As we shall treat of this subject more fully in the chapter on
"The Birthday of Christ Jesus," we shall allude to it here simply as far
as necessary.

The _Matthew_ narrator informs us that Jesus was born _in the days of
Herod the King_, and the _Luke_ narrator says he was born _when
Cyrenius_ was _Governor of Syria_, or later. This is a very awkward and
unfortunate statement, as Cyrenius was not Governor of Syria until some
_ten years after the time of Herod_.[158:1]

The cause of this dilemma is owing to the fact that the Luke narrator,
after having interwoven into _his_ story, of the birth of Jesus, the
_old myth_ of the tax or tribute, which is said to have taken place at
the time of the birth of some _previous_ virgin-born Saviours, looked
among the records to see if a taxing had ever taken place in Judea, so
that he might refer to it in support of his statement. He found the
account of the taxing, referred to above, and without stopping to
consider _when_ this taxing took place, or whether or not it would
conflict with the statement that Jesus was born _in the days of Herod_,
he added to his narrative the words: "And this taxing was _first made_
when Cyrenius was governor of Syria."[158:2]

We will now show the ancient myth of the taxing. According to the
_Vishnu Purana_, when the infant Saviour _Crishna_ was born, his foster
father, _Nanda_, had come to the city _to pay his tax or yearly tribute
to the king_. It distinctly speaks of Nanda, and other cowherds,
"_bringing tribute or tax to Kansa_" the reigning monarch.[158:3]

It also describ