Storia do Mogor 203.3.1

203.3.1

If anyone makes a present at court in the hope of obtaining some charge or an appointment, and, as sometimes happens, he gets nothing, his present is useless. I was witness of something of the sort, which happened to Monsieur Raisin, a French merchant. He presented to the king an emerald worth one thousand rupees on the supposition that the king, in consideration of the gift, would buy all the jewels he had for sale. Yet he never bought one. Then he (Raisin) was sorry at having given the present, and spoke to Multafat Khan, at that time superintendent of the king's wardrobe, and prayed that he would use influence to get him back his emerald. It is true that he obtained it, but it cost him half of what it was worth [10]. Even then it was a favour the king showed him, because he was a foreigner. It is a custom established throughout India that without friends and without interest nothing can be done. Even princes of the blood royal, if they want to carry out any purpose, cannot do so without paying. It is such a usual thing to give and to receive that when any eunuch or any princess asks the king for something as a favour to some general or officer, be it an appointment or some other favour of any consequence, the king never omits to ask how much has been received. The other side ordinarily admit the exact amount, which the prince is aware of, and he leaves a portion with the intercessor and takes the rest himself, sending it to be locked up in the treasury.