第82章

This king is accustomed every day to drink QUARTILHO (three-quarter pint)of oil of GINGELLY[403]before daylight,and anoints himself all over with the said oil;he covers his loins with a small cloth,and takes in his arms great weights made of earthenware,and then,taking a sword,he exercises himself with it till he has sweated out all the oil,and then he wrestles with one of his wrestlers.After this labour he mounts a horse and gallops about the plain in one direction and another till dawn,for he does all this before daybreak.Then he goes to wash himself,and a Brahman washes him whom he holds sacred,and who is a great favourite of his and is a man of great wealth;and after he is washed he goes to where his pagoda is inside the palace,and makes his orisons and ceremonies,according to custom.Thence he goes to a building made in the shape of a porch without walls,which has many pillars hung with cloths right up to the top,and with the walls handsomely painted;it has on each side two figures of women very well made.In such a building he despatches his work with those men who bear office in his kingdom,and govern his cities,and his favourites talk with them.The greatest favourite is an old man called Temersea;[404]he commands the whole household,and to him all the great lords act as to the king.After the king has talked with these men on subjects pleasing to him he bids enter the lords and captains who wait at the gate,and these at once enter to make their salaam to him.As soon as they appear they make their salaam to him,and place themselves along the walls far off from him;they do not speak one to another,nor do they chew betel before him,but they place their hands in the sleeves of their tunics (CABAYAS)and cast their eyes on the ground;and if the king desires to speak to any one it is done through a second person,and then he to whom the king desires to speak raises his eyes and replies to him who questions him,and then returns to his former position.So they remain till the king bids them go,and then they all turn to make the salaam to him and go out.The salaam,which is the greatest courtesy that exists among them,is that they put their hands joined above their head as high as they can.Every day they go to make the salaam to the king.

When we came to this country the king was in this new town,and there went to see him Christovao de Figueiredo[405]with all of us Portuguese that came with him,and all very handsomely dressed after our manner,with much finery;the king received him very well,and was very complacent to him.The king was as much pleased with him as if he had been one of his own people,so much attention did he evince towards him;and also towards those amongst us who went with him he showed much kindness.We were so close to the king that he touched us all and could not have enough of looking at us.Then Christovao de Figueiredo gave him the letters from the Captain-Major[406]and the things he had brought for him,with which he was greatly delighted;principally with certain organs[407]that the said Christovao de Figueiredo brought him,with many other things (PECAS).The king was clothed in certain white cloths embroidered with many roses in gold,and with a PATECA[408]of diamonds on his neck of very great value,and on his head he had a cap of brocade in fashion like a Galician helmet,covered with a piece of fine stuff all of fine silk,and he was barefooted;for no one ever enters where the king is unless he has bare feet,and the majority of the people,or almost all,go about the country barefooted.The shoes have pointed ends,in the ancient manner,and there are other shoes that have nothing but soles,but on top are some straps which help to keep them on the feet.They are made like those which of old the Romans were wont to wear,as you will find on figures in some papers or antiquities which come from Italy.The king gave to Christovao de Figueiredo on dismissing him a CABAYA (tunic)of brocade,with a cap of the same fashion as the king wore,[409]and to each one of the Portuguese he gave a cloth embroidered with many pretty figures,and this the king gives because it is customary;he gives it in token of friendship and love.

When Christovao de Figueiredo had been dismissed by the king we came to the city of Bisnaga,which is a league from this new city,and here he commanded us to be lodged in some very good houses;and Figueiredo was visited by many lords and captains,and other persons who came on behalf of the king.And the king sent him many sheep and fowls,and many vessels (CALOEES)full of butter and honey and many other things to eat,which he at once distributed amongst all the foot-soldiers and people whom he had brought with him.The king said many kind and pleasant things to him,and asked him concerning the kind of state which the king of Portugal kept up;and having been told about it all he seemed much pleased.

Returning then to the city of Bisnaga,you must know that from it to the new city goes a street as wide as a place of tourney,with both sides lined throughout with rows of houses and shops where they sell everything;and all along this road are many trees that the king commanded to be planted,so as to afford shade to those that pass along.On this road he commanded to be erected a very beautiful temple of stone,[410]and there are other pagodas that the captains and great lords caused to be erected.