Storia do Mogor 266.3
Storia do Mogor (Irvine) 266.3
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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.