Travels in the Mogul Empire (Bernier) 6.6.7

6.6.7

They say also that the third person of the Trinity has manifested himself to the world; the following story is related of him. The daughter of a certain king, when she had reached the age of puberty, was desired by her father to mention the person whom she felt disposed to marry, and having answered that she would be united to none but a divine being, the third person of the Trinity appeared in the same instant to the king in the form of fire. He presently apprised his daughter of this happy circumstance, and she without hesitation consented to the marriage. The divine personage, though still assuming a fiery appearance, was invited to the king's council, and finding that the privy counsellors opposed the match, he first set fire to their beards, and then burnt them together with the royal household, after which he married the princess. Ridiculous! In regard to the second person, the Gentiles say that his first incarnation was in the nature of a Lion, the second in that of a Hog, the third in that of a Tortoise, the fourth in that of a Serpent, the fifth in that of a dwarfish female Brahmen [Pygmee Brahmane], only a cubit in height, the sixth was in the form of a monstrous Man-lion, the seventh in that of a Dragon, the eighth as already described, the ninth in the nature of an Ape, and the tenth is to be in the person of a mighty Cavalier.