Storia do Mogor 211.6
Storia do Mogor (Irvine) 211.6
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211.6.1
After a time it came to pass that Mirza Muhammad Muqim, brother of the deceased, of whom I have just spoken, went out of his mind. In an access of his madness he slew his father-in-law and some servants, and committed many other crimes. On hearing this the prince made him over to his physicians. Their report was that such a man could never recover the senses that he had lost. To demonstrate the force of their opinion, they cited as proof a passage in the Quran which says that for madness there is no cure. Shah 'Alam heard this sad decision pronounced, and at once ordered the patient to be placed in my care, as he believed I should find a remedy. I know not whether this was actually because he thought me cleverer than the others, or because I was a Christian. For I had often noticed that many patients were made over to me when their health was in a desperate state, because they had taken it into their heads that the Saviour had invested me with some virtue or other. With the permission of God I cured this lord in a few days. To reward me for my trouble and for any expense I had incurred, he sent me a horse with very good paces, but made no other payment. The reason of such a meagre present was his miserliness. On my side I was much put out at getting so little for all the trouble I had taken.
211.6.2
So, without any words of thanks, I sent the horse back, telling the groom who had brought him, when many men were present, that his master was in no state to send gifts before he had recovered his reason perfectly, and when he had recovered his health I would accept what he sent to me. He had hardly heard my message when he sent me the same horse with a thousand rupees and a very handsome set of robes. The truth is that he did not send me the present willingly, but felt constrained to do it for fear I might tell everyone he was still mad. By this means he would lose the office he held at the court, and also lose everyone's confidence. Shah 'Alam, when he learnt what had passed, was very satisfied at the cure, and still more with the answer I had given about the present. On his part he gave me a horse and a set of robes, adding many praises from his own lips, a habit common enough to these princes with physicians who succeed in curing patients they have made over to their care.
211.6.3
Shah 'Alam had directed the physician Muqlm to treat the wife of one of his captains called Mabarescan (Mubariz Khan), a man much beloved by that prince. This woman had been long in a decline, and was worn out by the quantity of blood she had lost. The doctor, finding that his remedies did her no good, lost all hope of her, and intimated to the prince that her life was in danger. On hearing this, Shah 'Alam ordered me to take over the case. I applied myself to her relief with all possible care and diligence, and in a short time I had pulled her through. The physician was vexed in his mind, but outwardly he displayed much goodwill to me, just the contrary of his real feeling. I was not taken in, for I had known that pilgrim for many a long day [45]. The physician Muhsin Khan treated a uterine (? foster) brother of the prince, whose name was Muhammad Riza. He had a severe fever, which made him delirious. The physician, not recognising his complaint, came to the conclusion that there was no remedy, and gave him up. After that I was ordered to treat the man, and in a short time I put him on his legs again. There were other patients who had been given up in the same way by these gentlemen, but subsequently recovered their health under my hands, to those physicians' disgrace and loss of reputation. This is the reason they were no friends of mine; still more so that, though their patients came to me, none of mine went to them.
211.6.4
I also cured a noble from Balkh called Fath-ullah Khan, a title conferred on him by the king. He had afterwards married an extremely pretty woman, who had served up to him nothing but delicious plats until he had got ill and lost his appetite. He grew so thin that he looked like a skeleton, and no physician was able to do him any good. In the end Shah 'Alam ordered me to take charge of him. I knew the constitution of these savages, so I gave him a comforting syrup, which could do him neither harm nor good. Then I ordered him to get his stews made of horseflesh, and by this means he was in a short time restored to his former rude strength.
211.6.5
From this I acquired such renown that many men of this race came to me for treatment. But I got very little out of them, for they are very avaricious, and paid me highly in compliments only. Moreover, I had the reputation of being charitable and of curing the poor for the love of God. Thus everybody flocked to my house. The Mahomedan and Hindu surgeons and physicians were very much provoked, for their interests were involved and they lost their practice. However, as they saw they could not injure me directly, they started the rumour that I drank the blood I drew from Mahomedans; that it was by this means I was made so brisk and energetic, and had such a high colour. All this was simply to hinder people coming to me to be treated. Everybody supposed that what they had published was true, and great repugnance was shown to be bled by me. Aware of what it was that troubled them, I told them to bring with them a china vessel, and all they had to do was to carry the blood home, and there bury it, for fear any dog or cat might consume it; for if that happened, they would make noises exactly like those animals. By this measure I put an end to the false rumours, and they were no longer spoken of.
211.6.6
One day, as I was attending to the treatment of some patients with all possible care, there comes into my house a king's slave in a great rage and a great hurry, making much noise and throwing everything into confusion. This man, I imagine, had been sent by the other doctors, my enemies. I went up to him and begged him most civilly and even humbly to do me the favour of not upsetting the sick men. But he paid me no heed, and went on worse than before, and abused me. Seeing how insolent he was, I signed to my men to fall upon him without giving him time to draw, which they forthwith did. Our man, finding himself caught, flew into a fearful rage, and made more noise than ever. He said he would kill me and my men, and such other outrageous speeches. Thereupon I assumed an aspect of mingled severity and sadness, and said I had compassion for him, seeing he was suffering from blood to the head. His was a case for bloodletting. This remark made him more furious still, and he struggled to get free. Without heat, I ordered them to undress him and then bind him; and sending for a lancet, I made ready to bleed him. The slave, still angry, insisted that I must not bleed him; if I did, he would kill me. My answer was given in an amiable tone before every one, that it was absolutely necessary to bleed him, that the blood had got to his head, and assuredly if not treated he would be the death of someone.
211.6.7
In the end, by force, I opened two veins in his arm. The fellow was still angry, and wanted me to close the veins; but, ignoring what he said, I showed sorrow at beholding his blood, from time to time feeling his pulse and saying that his blood was very vitiated. Then, raising my eyes, I looked in his face and asked if he did not already feel an alteration in his body. Finding that his menaces and loud talk were of no good to him, nobody listening to them, he adopted at last the mode of humble entreaty, and said in a feeble voice that God had brought him to my house to be cured of the ills he had suffered from through many years. He thanked me for my trouble. In spite of this, I did not trust him without precautions, so, closing the veins with two fingers, I put several new questions. Having replied very properly and civilly to these, just as he ought, I closed the veins and had his clothes and his weapons returned to him. After this he said a thousand flattering things about me, and never more passed in front of my door. When he met me at the king's or elsewhere, he was very polite to me. I have always thought that he did this only from the fear he had that I might announce he was mad, or that I might drain all the blood from his body.