Travels in India (Tavernier) 156.1.3

156.1.3

Thus the whole funeral cost me 1223 livres of French money, and after I had paid this sum it made me resolve, for my own part, not to die in a country where it cost so much to be interred. I praised God that notwithstanding the troubles which I had experienced in Batavia, and of which I have only as yet told a part, and the small dissipations which one cannot altogether avoid in this country, I have taken such good care of myself that I have never been inconvenienced by the least headache, nor a bloody flux, which is the ailment that carries away many people. That which in my opinion has contributed most to my health is, that I do not think I have ever suffered from sorrow on account of any misfortune which has happened to me. I have sometimes made great profits, and I have sometimes also experienced severe losses ; but when in unpleasant circumstances I have never been more than half an hour in deciding what course I should adopt in the future, without thinking more of the past, having always in my mind the thought of Job, that God gives and takes away as it pleases him, and that one should render thanks for all that happens to us, whether it be good or evil.