Travels in the Mogul Empire (Bernier) 5.5.5

5.5.5

The vice of flattery pervades all ranks. When a Mogol, for instance, has occasion for my services, he comes to tell me by way of preamble, and as matter of course, that I am the Aristotalis, the Bocrate, and the Abouysina-Ulzaman, the Aristotle, the Hippocrates, and the Avicenna of the age. At first I endeavoured to prevent this fulsome mode of address by assuring my visitors that I was very far from possessing the merit they seemed to imagine, and that no comparison ought to be made between such great men and me; but finding that my modesty only increased their praise, I determined to accustom my ears to their flattery as I had done to their music. I shall here relate an anecdote which I consider quite characteristic. A Brahnen Pendet or Gentile doctor, whom I introduced into my Agah's service, would fain pronounce this panegyric; and after comparing him to the greatest Conquerors the world has ever known, and making for the purpose of flattery a hundred nauseous and impertinent observations, he concluded his harangue in these words, uttered with all conceivable seriousness: 'When, my Lord, you place your foot in the stirrup, marching at the head of your cavalry, the earth trembles under your footsteps; the eight elephants, on whose heads it is borne, finding it impossible to support the extraordinary pressure.' The conclusion of this speech produced the effect that might be expected.