Storia do Mogor 266: MAGIC PROLONGATION OF LIFE
Storia do Mogor (Irvine) 266
- Language
- English
Contents
MAGIC PROLONGATION OF LIFE
266.1.1
husband, called Nicolao Borges, a young man of twenty, married to a daughter of Francisco de Souza. This Suzana Borges, without her husband's knowledge, paid money every month to a diviner or sorcerer to obtain information on any subject she wanted, and give her such advice as was necessary. Ordinarily all women in Agrah and Dihli more or less make use of the same art, and are of much the same sort. The mother of the young man wanted to know how many years her son's wife would live, so she asked the sorcerer. He replied that if some treatment were not speedily applied, she had not long to live. The mother asked him what was the course to be taken, when he pledged his word that he would so act that the daughter would survive for many years. But the condition was that the necessary expenses were provided for the rites that must be performed. To meet these she sent an ornament of gold, weighing fifty Venetians, to be melted. She also gave a band of silver, her gold rings, a bow and a small arrow of silver [257], a gold chain, various kinds of silk and white cotton cloth, with fifty rupees for expenses. All this was given as a present to the sorcerer, who carried off the whole to his house.
266.1.2
After three days he returned, and placed in the hands of Suzana Borges a well-dressed doll, which he ordered her to place in a room upon a bed. Four times every day she must enter the room slowly and inquire from the said doll in a low voice what it would like to eat, how it felt, how it had slept, and whether it wanted anything. His orders were that she should put these questions for ten days. Meanwhile at his own house he would make the necessary sacrifices. At the end of ten days the sorcerer appeared and instructed her afresh. She was to ask the doll if anyone owed it money, or if it had buried jewels anywhere, or if anyone had promised it a reward. Let it tell the truth; for it could see the efforts they were making for its health, so that it might be cured. She was to continue thus for five days, doing these acts each day four times. His further orders were that the wife of Nicolao Borges should not sleep upon her bed, that she must diet herself, not washing her body or putting on fresh clothes.
266.1.3
Suzana Borges did as she was told, obeying the sorcerer in every particular. He came back after five days, and told her to send for her acquaintances and friends. Of these twelve assembled, the chief among them being Isabel Bocara and Isabel Correa, Catherina Correa and Maria Toscana. He ordered all these and the bride to enter the room, and, standing round the couch, to make lamentation over the doll, as if weeping over some dead body. After an hour the doll was to be wrapped in a shroud and put into a little coffin. They were to follow it in a body, carrying it as far as a certain garden, where it must be buried. They were then to renew their lamentation and undo their hair. All this accomplished, they consoled each other and exchanged condolences, and, having carried out the sorcerer's directions, they returned home. There, according to his instructions, they all bathed and put on their richest clothes and finest jewels. The bride did the same, decking herself as if it were her wedding-day. At this point a banquet was made ready, which lasted all night, with music, dancing, and feasting. Everybody congratulated the bride on the long life she was to have, while at the street-door they sacrificed four goats and eight cocks. In this way were the orders of the sorcerer carried out. He received what they had to give him; he was dismissed with additional presents and profuse thanks. He was mocking at them all.
266.1.4
The inquisitive reader will ask how the master of the house could give consent to such goings on. I say that this sort of men who take wandering negro women as wives, or keep them in their houses, are persons of small capacity and little judgment. They let these women do as they like, and if one of them attempts to reform his household, he stands a good chance of losing his life; and usually they bind these men to them with such witcheries that they are in their hands tender as a ewe-lamb.
266.1.5
Such a case happened to a man I knew, called Thomas Gudellett, an Englishman. On arriving in the Mogul country he took into his house a public woman of evil life called Leanora Nunes Pereira de Mello, a native of India. Three days afterwards, being accustomed to full liberty, she took up with a Mohamedan servant without any disguise. At that time Gudellett returned home, and beheld this perverted inclination [258] and uncontrolled lust. Driven out of himself with passion, he rushed to find some staff or weapon. Just then the woman shut the door, and, opening the window, cried loudly to the neighbours for help. The 'Farangi' who lived in her house was drunk and wanted to murder her, and had cursed Muhammad. The servant who was in her society went to the other window, and also shouted to the same effect. The man's own servants came and attacked their master with sticks and stones. The neighbours and passers-by aided in binding him, giving him a thorough beating. He was taken before the magistrate on the charge of having cursed Muhammad. There he received many affronts and was punished. When word was brought to me, I had great labour in getting him released, expending money from my own purse. Thomas Gudellett said to me that had he listened to my advice, such calamities would not have overtaken him. God, who is our Lord, punished the woman. She did not have long enjoyment of the boy, for within a year they killed him.
266.1.6
I will recount a few more similar cases. In Dihli there was an English renegade named Joao Witt (? John White), who had married a Mahomedan woman. She was addicted to vicious practices. As the Englishman suspected his wife, he decided to reform matters in the house. When she saw this, she disappeared, taking with her the best of their belongings. The young man at this result was very sorrowful and anxious; he made every effort to discover her retreat. In the end he came to know that she was in the house of some people whom she declared to be her relations. On obtaining this information he sent a message, not daring to go himself for fear of a beating. He told her that she might return without any hesitation. She did not respond to the young man's overtures, but sent him many menaces and much abuse. The man persevered with all possible diligence, in the hope of winning her over. In the end the wife made the concession that she would return home, the condition imposed being that he should come to see her where she was, and, falling at her feet in the presence of everybody, beg her pardon. He was to state as his excuse that his suspicions arose from his having been drunk, and that long ago he had withdrawn them.
266.1.7
He agreed to all these conditions, and, going to the house where his wife was living, fell at her feet. The woman spurned him and overwhelmed him with abuse, while those present did nothing but try to add fuel to the wrath of the aggrieved wife. In this way the husband was led to agree to another condition — that he would deliver a signed paper, attested by witnesses, to the effect that she should be absolute mistress in the house; that he must yield her obedience, and must seek her advice, doing nothing without her consent. The money he received as pay must be made over untouched to her, and other similar articles. All this he executed, and these preliminaries ended, the infatuated youth ordered a carriage to be brought to carry her home. Once more she flew into a rage and tossed the paper at him, saying that it did not satisfy her, and that only when he did as she demanded would she accompany him. What she required was that the fool should give a feast to her relations, and that when she left their house he should precede her carriage on horseback. Round it were to be carried a number of trays of flowers and fruit, attended by dancers, pipes, kettle-drums, and trumpets, until they reached their own house. As I was passing along the street I saw the renegade [259] in high delight, his chest covered half-way down with flowers.
266.1.8
He was also elevated by a glass or two he had drunk, and he was chewing betel. Altogether he looked like a bridegroom conveying home a newly-married wife. I pulled up, and sent to inquire who it was that he had married now, and they brought back an answer to the effect of what I have above related.
266.2.1
There was another case of a woman named Luiza Barboza. She was excessively corpulent, and therefore asked a sorcerer for some cure for this excess of fat. His orders were that she should take the stoutest slave-girl she had in her house, should bind her hand and foot, and place her on the ground flat, so that she could not move. Then she was to sit over the negress, and bathe herself, and not to rise up until the slave expired. This was done by Luiza Barboza. Next the sorcerer ordered that within eight days the corpse must be carried to the river. He handed to her some ointment to be applied to the soles of the feet; and while carrying away the body she fell into a quagmire and disappeared, a merited chastisement for her cruelty. It would take me a great deal of space to detail all the wiles of sorcerers that I have seen and heard, for they are infinite and quite common in Indian countries. I will tell one small instance that happened at Agrah to a Portuguese named Pero Gomes de Oliveira. He was friends with a sorcerer, whom he entreated to show him something of the art. To gratify him, the sorcerer took him with him at midnight outside the citadel, and advised him not to breathe a word, whatever he might see during that night, nor ask him any questions, until the sun had risen. If he disobeyed it would cost him his life. The inquisitive Portuguese accepted this condition, and in the company of the sorcerer left the city.
266.2.2
They travelled half a league, and then took a rest beneath a large tree. The sorcerer lighted a candle, and made a sign to Pero Gomes to stay where he was. The sorcerer, with the lighted candle, went off to search under the tree for a man who had been hung on it. When he reached the body, he put the light below the soles of the corpse's feet. When four minutes had elapsed, the body turned gently three times and gave forth a most affrighting yell, at which Pero Gomes fell flat on the earth and covered his eyes with his two hands. Thus did the corpse move three times in twelve minutes. At the completion of this the sorcerer scraped from the soles of the executed man's feet the lamp-black made by his candle, and carried it off to employ in his spells. When these were finished, Pero Gomes came up, took the candle and carried it, and both men re-entered the city before daybreak. Pero Gomes himself told me of this case that had happened to him, and he swore an oath that he would never again have any intercourse with a sorcerer, owing to what he had undergone during the terrors of that night.
266.2.3
During the time when Masqat was governed by the famous Ruj Freori de Andradi, Portuguese, many complaints were brought to him of a Mahomedan sorcerer whose name was Cafata. It was said that he could by a simple look kill people whenever he pleased. As there was no proof of this power the governor declined to believe it. Then it happened that a woman had a child two years old, stout and in perfect health. Suddenly it died. The mother carried it to the presence of Rey Freire, and with lamentations [260] and complaints said the sorcerer had looked on the child and killed it. Rey Freire caused the child to be dissected, when it was found that its heart and liver had gone entirely. He recognised the evil deed of the sorcerer, but, pretending to be angry, he ordered the woman to be turned out, and assuming the side of the sorcerer, he said it was false that the man had taken the child's life. When the sorcerer heard the result he lost the fear he had that Rey Freire would do him an injury. Therefore, taking some trays of fruit, he offered them as a mark of gratitude, and made offers of service. Rey Freire received him affectionately, and begged him to frequent the house, for his conversation and talk pleased him. The Mahomedan was gratified, and, being entirely reassured, came back and fore to the house.
266.2.4
Some days afterwards the said Rey Freire feigned anger and depression about a man of rank with whom he had some difference. He was in search of revenge, and pretended that he wanted to slay his opponent. He took the Mahomedan into his counsels as to how this could be effected. The man replied that if orders were issued he would find a way to execute them. Rey Freire made out he was satisfied with what the sorcerer said, but expressed some doubts, and asked how he would set to work. The man answered that he would employ a sorcerer who would teach him certain words, and through these he could effect the business, should the person not be clad in scarlet; should that be the case, the words would have no effect. The following day the Mahomedan came and said that he was now prepared. Rey Freire answered that he would never be satisfied till he had first afforded some proof. With this object, he placed a melon on the table, and told him to consume it by those words he knew. Gazing intently at the melon, he moved his lips as if reciting words, and then stopped. Rey Freire cut the melon open, and found it void of seeds and pith, with nothing left but the rind. He was satisfied, and said to the man: 'Now I am certain you have the power to do what I want. To-morrow I will point out the man concerned.'
266.2.5
As he had already knowledge from the sorcerer that, should the person be dressed in scarlet, the magic would not work, Rey Freire made use of the fact. Next day when the sorcerer appeared there fell on him four men clad in scarlet cloth. He was bound hand and foot, and thrown into the sea with an anchor attached to his neck. Rey Freire assumed that, having been plunged into the sea, the sorcerer had died. Five days or so afterwards the man's mother and wife came to the [governor's] gate and complained that the guards on the beach would not allow them to carry away and eat what was at the bottom of the sea. Rey Freire ordered that they should be allowed to draw out the food. When they began to pull it up, he [the sorcerer] came out. The governor sent the four men in scarlet with orders to apprehend him once more. They were to place him at the mouth of a cannon and fire it off. This was the end of the sorcerer. If he could with his eyes consume the entrails of living beings, the cannon consumed him bones and all. They say that, to this day, similar sorcerers are found in the regions of Masqat and Arabia. I was assured of the truth of this story by an ancient Portuguese called Joao Carvalho, who was very intimate with me, and he had actually been a soldier in Masqat, in addition to which the matter is notorious in India [261].
266.2.6
This Rey Freire was a leader of much valour, and fortunate in war. I have heard this from persons who served with him, and I have seen in his chronicles many marvels, principally done against the Arabs, a warlike race, among whom the name of this captain roused great terror. To pacify any restless or crying child, it sufficed to pronounce Rey Freire's name to suppress and subdue the noise. The Arabs, finding themselves thus oppressed by this governor, concerted with the neighbouring princes to eject the famous Rey Freire, so that they might enjoy more liberty. With this object they made ready a great fleet, and came out with great resolution to attack the hero. They met near Masqat. He brought out only a small force, leaving the rest in port, in reliance upon his own valour, as he was used to do.
266.2.7
On this occasion fortune did not smile upon him. After many deaths and the spilling of much blood, he was defeated and taken prisoner. The Arab general received him with a great show of affection, doing him much honour, as his bravery deserved. His only object in flattering him was that through this means he might become master of the fortress of Masqat, a very strong place — nay, impregnable. Rey Freire pretended that he wished to cede him the fortress, hoping to gain his own liberty. During the days that this negotiation lasted Rey Freire seemed much cast down and full of melancholy. The Arab general asked the reason of this depression. The deceiver replied that he was sorrowful because, being a prisoner, he was unable to celebrate the festival of his birthday, as he had hitherto been used to do. The Arab general replied that he would provide all the supplies that were required, and he might do what he wished. The trickster remarked that without wine there was no gladness. He was then permitted to send for some, boats being provided which brought a large supply of wine. Then the general and other Arab officers joined him, and they sat all night drinking deeply. In this way they all became intoxicated. The astute prisoner fell on the ground and made out he had drunk too much, rolling about and vomiting. The Arabs, who were also drunk, returned to the island without any one of them taking possession of his boat.
266.3.1
In the depth of night the make-believe drunkard, seeing that most of them were senseless and the rest had gone, rose up gently, followed by two men of his own faction, whom he had already warned to this end. These men were slaves of the Arab general, who for some injury done them wanted to take vengeance upon him. The three entered a boat and landed at Masqat, where the escaped captive set to work to fit out the rest of his fleet. Next morning he fell on the enemy's ships unawares, cannonading them, setting them on fire and destroying all that was in them ; then, disembarking on the mainland, he seized the general and the rest of the officers who had got drunk, not being accustomed to wine. Thus did Ruy Freire obtain a signal victory by his own skill and genius. He took his prisoners to Masqat, and instead of making that place over to the general, as had been demanded, he forced the Arab to deliver to him much booty. Thus the Arabs lived during his government in great fear and trembling.
266.3.2
During the time I was in Hindustan (Northern India) there was a woman who dwelt near the city [262] of Cochin, in the territory of a Hindu prince. Her name was Lunna ; she was an Indian, and a great magician or sorcerer. This woman made her living by the sale of devil-dolls in the shape of rats, rings, jewels, buttons, flowers, et cetera. Within them were enclosed the demons, who did as she told them. There was a young man who wanted to obtain illicit possession of an honourable woman. Not having money enough to buy one of these troubling demon-dolls, he had recourse to Lunna to acquire something from her. She directed him to bring a hair from the head of the woman that he coveted. The youth took steps through a servant girl of the woman, who made a fool of him by giving him the hair out of a sieve. The amorous swain carried off the hair to Lunna, who ordered him to remain in his house at night, when the woman would come to his room in search of him. At night, when the youth was in his room waiting for the woman, behold suddenly a sieve appeared and began to mount on him and worry him, without his being able to get rid of it. The youth, on finding himself thus pursued, had recourse to Lunna, the sieve following him. She acted so that he was delivered, and he thereby discovered the trick played on him by the negress.
266.3.3
I have heard it said that the famous Mir Jumlah, of whom I have spoken, had bought from the said Lunna one of these devil-dolls, with which he did extraordinary things and could learn what was going on. This may be so, as may be seen from the events of his life as related by me (I. 161-164; II. 72-74). There was a Portuguese youth who lived on friendly terms with Lunna. This man had a wife in Lisbon, and he pressed the witch to give him news of his wife. The witch told him his wife was already engaged to be married; if he wanted to go home before his wife married, she would give him the means. Unable to suffer this slight, the young man accepted Lunna's advice. She bound up his eyes, and put a staff into his hands with its end on the ground. Then she ordered him to turn his body three times, and after that let go of the stick and open his eyes. Doing as he had been told by Lunna, he found himself in his house at Lisbon, and by his arrival he stopped the marriage. Confessing himself to the Holy Office (the Inquisition), he was absolved.
266.3.4
It happened that a married woman lived in Cochin, while her husband was in Portugal. She desired to see her husband, and enlisted the services of Lunna, the magician. The latter sent her to Portugal to visit her husband, the condition being that she should act so as to bring him back a second time to India. She gave the requisite spell for going, and taught her what to do in Portugal to succeed in her efforts. In one night the woman reached Portugal and visited her husband; without being recognised, she drew a ring from his finger, and the same night returned to Cochin. After the lapse of some months the husband arrived at the same port, and disembarking, went to his house. His wife came out to greet him, made over his ring to him, and declared she was pregnant. Then she told him the facts, detailing particulars of the year, month, day, and hour. The husband, having ascertained it was the truth, said nothing; for if he had, he would have lost his life. On making confession to the Inquisition, she was not interfered with. This woman (Lunna) was much renowned in India, and it may be forty years since she died, leaving the house where she dwelt so haunted that no one could live in it.
266.3.5
In this same land of Cochin, where a Hindu prince ruled, there was an alligator or crocodile in the river which the Hindus called the 'Crocodile of the Oath.' When they wanted to asseverate the truth of any plea, they would appeal to the crocodile. All would go to the river bank, and there he who was to swear placed himself on the crocodile and said these words: 'If I swear falsely, you must throw me into the middle of the river; and if I swear the truth, you must bring me back again and deposit me in this same place.' Thus many times did it happen that the truthful were brought back and released on the river-side, and the liars were pitched into the middle of the river and drowned. It happened once that a youth, the son of a rich man, after his father's death appropriated the whole estate, and refused to share with his brother. They appealed to the Oath of the Crocodile. This youth, finding himself pledged to make an oath, took a staff and put into it half of the property he had appropriated, having converted it all into precious stones. They were really the property of his brother. With this staff in his hand, and quite easy in his mind, he came to the river-side and called the crocodile. He then proposed to his brother to take the oath in this form: '"I owe you nothing; what was mine I took, and what was yours I made over to you. I speak the truth." Meanwhile, until I come back, hold this staff.' He placed the staff in his brother's hand.
266.3.6
When he had done speaking these words, he mounted on the top of the crocodile, which carried him round in the river without harming him, and brought him back to the same place in safety. The magistrate and those present shouted out great abuse to the man who had the staff in his hand. The latter, enraged at the injustice done him by the crocodile, and put out at the abuse poured on him, struck the staff angrily on the ground, and broke it by the blow. The precious stones in it fell out, and thereby everyone perceived the deceit and trick of the first brother, the correct conduct of the crocodile, and the plaintiffs innocence. All that was in the staff was made over to the claimant, and thus he obtained his inheritance which the other had embezzled.
266.3.7
It looks as if I had said enough touching sorcerers, and I will finish with telling one small instance. There was a man called Antonio Goncalves, who was married and had a sickly daughter three years old. In order to search for remedies to restore her to health, he left the city and went to a village to obtain the services of a Hindu physician, who was renowned as a great doctor. This physician gave him medicine, and in a few days the daughter grew well. The physician gave him a written note, bound with threads of different colours, and said this paper was of use against the evil eye, malignant winds, the ghosts of birds, and such-like superstitions. The said paper was tied to the child's waist, and they put her to sleep. Then during the night the child began to cry, wanting her father and mother. They ran and saw that on the bed were two awful-looking monkeys, and when they wanted to come close [264] the wild monkeys menaced them.
266.3.8
The father made off in all haste to inform the physician as to what had happened after tying on the paper. The doctor calmly gave him another inscribed paper, telling him to carry it in his hand and show it to the monkeys. They would be forced to leave the place, and then they could remove the paper that was attached to the child's waist. That paper was to be brought back to him, and they were not to be frightened. When Antonio Goncalves went into the house with the paper in his hand the monkeys disappeared. Taking the paper that the doctor wanted back, he set out again. On the way he had need to urinate, and hardly had he undone his drawers, when he saw himself surrounded by a host of monkeys, who seemed as if about to attack him. Seeing this, he laid hold of his drawers with one hand, and of the paper with the other; and thus equipped, he went to the doctor's house, followed by the monkeys. He made over the paper, and recounted what had happened on the road. The doctor replied that the reason of the attack was the little respect he had paid to the letter in wanting to make water with it in his hand.
266.4.1
From what I have observed, Hindu doctors do not exercise their profession or prescribe without having given offerings to the devil. These men imagine that the drugs will not operate if these incantations I have described are omitted. From such doctors and such drugs libera nos, Domine! In order that everyone who visits this country may guard himself against entering into certain kinds of friendship, which the young mostly count mere civility and pastime, I will relate what happened to me in the year one thousand six hundred and fifty-five (1655) at the city of Dihli. There was a woman of eighteen years of age (the same age as myself), who was the daughter of a European, and her name was Maria Veronea. She was very desirous of forming a close friendship with me. As I found she did not suit me, I drew back. Desirous of satisfying her inclinations, she pursued me to my very house. Aware that an intimacy such as she desired was unsuitable to me, I ordered my servants to say when she came that I was not at home. A few days afterwards she turned up, and my servants, in obedience to my orders, gave her the above message. They stopped her entry into the house. She was put out at this message, and went off to a sorcerer called Dolang (whose name remains in my memory from the experience I had of him). The magician performed his spells, and assured the woman that it would not be long before I was in her presence.
266.4.2
Thus it came to pass, for before an hour had elapsed the woman in question came to my mind, and caused me the very greatest uneasiness for not having allowed her to enter. Added to this uneasiness were regrets, afflictions, and various imaginations. Leaving no time for reason to ponder the question, I ordered my horse to be fetched at once ; and not waiting for him to be saddled, I jumped on his back and went off. My servants in consternation asked where I was going. But my movements were guided by imagination only, and in reality I knew not the place [265], for I had not seen it ; nor did I know the name of the quarter, the street, the house, or its landlord. Thus I cried to my servants to follow me, and then I would show where I wanted to go. This was done. Going through various streets, and turning various corners, all by myself, I finally appeared in front of a house. Behind the door stood the said woman, and opening it, she began to laugh and to make complaint at one and the same time, only to be by a few words from me delivered from the passion under which she had hitherto suffered.
266.4.3
When I was in Bandora, near the island of Bombaim (Bombay), in the year one thousand six hundred and seventy-seven, there was a Portuguese there called Antonio de Deixas, who wanted me to marry his daughter. His hope was that he would be supported by me, as I had a quantity of money. He made many efforts through priests and friars, who are ordinarily in this land of India the marriage-brokers ; but finding that no effort prevailed over me, and that I had already penetrated his true purpose, he went to a sorcerer to ask for a potion to make me love his daughter. The sorcerer gave the drug. The Portuguese wanted to test whether the mixture was efficacious, and took a little. Forthwith he fell into such miserable condition that, leaving the rightful paths of Nature, he became mad and pursued his daughter, committing such acts as to force his relations to separate them, and put him in another dwelling. Nor by this did he get rid of his trouble ; it was requisite to put chains on his legs, and in this miserable condition he soon after died, and I had a lucky escape.
266.4.4
Now I have come to the finale of my History, an object by me so ardently desired. As I have had the good fortune to finish these three Books, and narrate the things that happened to me in these eight-and-forty years, may it also please God that this work, which I present to Europeans, may succeed in the object on which I have set my heart. Meanwhile I am making my preparations for a much longer journey, and am in search of the true route and the safest that can be hoped for. The veritable terminus of our desires being what the Lord All-Powerful wishes, may He grant assurance to my search for it. The reader must meanwhile content himself with accepting these my labours, without pointing out in them the absence of flowers. For how can one produce flowers when for ever dwelling in the midst of thorns ?