Storia do Mogor 60.7.3

60.7.3

Akbar having noticed this class of faqīrs, who cut their own bodies, concluded that such men would be sure to fight with great spirit and courage. He selected four thousand as armed horsemen with good pay, and he sent them against the villagers of Matora (Mathurā). At the very first advance, without waiting for the fighting to begin, all of them turned tail, and fled as hard as they could go. On hearing of this cowardly flight, Akbar ordered them to be summoned, and asked them the cause; they had not even waited for the enemy, and yet had such courage that they inflicted wounds on themselves. Their reply was in very few words, and they made Akbar understand that their making cuts on themselves was not courage but deceit. They said: 'When we cut our own flesh, we avoid veins, nerves, and bones; but an enemy wounds without mercy, and it does not suit us to have our bodies cut about by the hands of others.' The king on hearing these words thrust them forth, being satisfied at having unveiled the cowardice and the deceit of this sort of faqir, of whom in the Mogul country there are to this day a great number.