Storia do Mogor 262: Of the Opinions held by the Hindus about Europeans and mahomedans (maures).
Storia do Mogor (Irvine) 262
- Language
- English
Of the Opinions held by the Hindus about Europeans and mahomedans (maures).
262.1
The Hindus call all the Europeans and Mahomedans in India by the name of Farangis, a designation so low, so disgraceful in their tongue, that there is nothing in ours which could reproduce it. As they hold the Farangis to be vile and abominable, they have persuaded themselves that that people have no polite manners, that they are ignorant, wanting in ordered life, and very dirty. For these things they would sooner die unaided than drink a cup of water from the hand of a Farangi; nor would they eat anything that he has prepared. They believe such an act to be an irremediable disgrace, and a sin for which there is no remission. The reason is, as I imagine, this. When the Europeans began to make use of the mode of speech used in this country, they were entirely ignorant of oriental languages [134]. At the very commencement, when they had discovered India, they were forced to use its language. Either intentionally, or from ignorance, they made use of the phrases adopted by the Mahomedans, who when they wished to persuade a Hindu to turn Mahomedan, asked him to join their caste. By this they meant, besides the necessity of becoming a Mahomedan like the speaker, that the convert would also be required to follow all the Mahomedan's other habits, and abandon all those in which he had been brought up himself, including the purity maintained by those of his caste, to which they attach more importance than to matters more strictly religious.
262.2
In addition, the Hindus suppose that when a man is above others in nobility of race, he also surpasses them in understanding. They assert, relying on this unsound prejudice, that only those who are as high-born as Brahmans can know religion and true science; and that all those who are low by birth (which they believe to be the matter most essential) are ignorant, and consequently incapable of being superiors. They state openly that a man of low birth is as despicable as is a Farangi; in spite of being rich and brave, he can never be wise. For this paradox they assign as a reason that the highest nobility lies in wisdom; and as no one can be both lowly and noble at once, it is clear that he who is not of abject condition must be wise. But, just as all that the Brahmans say is chimerical and fantastical, so is it with their nobility and their science. For they have no hesitation in carrying loads on their backs day and night in public places, nor in working with an axe and doing other acts which among Europeans would pass for very humble. To all this I need only add that more often than not they cannot read or write.
262.3
I have stated in my history that the Hindus know no higher delight in the world than consorting with women. To that I think it appropriate to add what they say about that sex. They hold that in this world there are four kinds of women. The first they call Padmani (Padmini), the second Chaterni (Chitrini), the third Asteni (Hastini), the fourth Sengueni (Sankhini). The first means 'Perfection,' as much in body as in mind; for, so they say, such women are liberal, love their husbands, and are invincibly faithful to them. They have much wit, are of a sweet and peaceable disposition; in short, they possess all the perfections that God and Nature can bestow upon a mortal. Those of the second class are also most beneficent and have lovable qualities, but do not approach the perfection of the first class. Those of the third class are of a very bad disposition, and do not maintain the fidelity they owe to their husbands; and when they get their five fingers into any place, they never fail to clear it of everything to be found there. The women of the fourth class are of such a nature that they do not keep their word, they love noise, they sow discord wherever they can, and are very ill-bred [135] in their mode of life.
262.4
About these four kinds of women the Hindus have a number of curious statements, and they possess a book four fingers thick from which these details may be learnt. They are distinguished by the different signs they bear upon their bodies. According to the position of these, their humours and dispositions may be recognised. In my preface to this section (see III. 90), I have said that several persons have written upon the manners and customs of the Hindus. To this I have to add that the reader must remember that any difference found between what is said by me and by others is due to the difference in the places we have visited and the peoples we have come across. For the East is an extremely large region divided into many provinces widely separated from each other, divided also by many mountain ranges. The inhabitants of these places differ in their customs, as well as in their mode of life, the ceremonial at their temples, and the doctrines of their religion. It should be remembered that what I have recorded refers to the manners and customs of the Hindu subjects of the Great Mogul and the Malabaris, these being the countries I have seen and through which I have travelled. [Pages 136-143 of the Text are blank ; on page 144 the narrative is resumed in Portuguese instead of French.]