Storia do Mogor 65.4.6

65.4.6

Although Shahjahan delighted in well-made women, he also required them to have good sense. Therefore, at different times, by different questions, he tested the understanding of every one of them. But it was a strange thing that happened to him with four servant women in his palace, who bore the names of the four quarters of the world. He rose at midnight to try the good judgment of these four, and going into the room of each one, asked her if dawn were near. The first replied ' No,' giving as her reason that she still had the taste of betel in her mouth. The second also gave a negative answer, because the light of the candle in her room was still bright, whereas when dawn was approaching it no longer burnt so clearly. The third said that it was still a long time to daybreak, the reason being that when daylight was coming on the pearls that she wore felt cold, whereas at that hour this was not so. The fourth, a woman from the kingdom of Kashmir, where it is the habit of the women to speak freely, told Shahjahan that the day would not be here so very soon, for when it was near she felt the call to relieve her necessities, and at that moment her bowels gave her no such warning. With these answers Shahjahan retired, and when the next day arose, he gave to the first the office of looking after the betel that he ate; to the second charge of the royal lamps; to the third the care of the pearls and jewels; to the fourth, the supervision of the cleanliness of the royal retiring place.