If he should ever cross to the other side of the Ganges and get caught out and die there he would at once come to life again in the form of an ass.
Think of that, after all this trouble and expense.

You see how capricious and uncertain salvation is there.

The Hindoo has a childish and unreasoning aversion to being turned into an ass.

It is hard to tell why.

One could properly expect an ass to have an aversion to being turned into a Hindoo.