At These Words, Asaph Khan Offered To Pull Away My Interpreter,
But I Held Him Fast, While Asaph Khan Continued To Make Signs To Him Not
To Interpret My Words.
On this the king became suddenly very angry,
pressing to know who had wronged us, and seemed in such
Fury, that I was
unwilling to follow it out, and spoke in broken Spanish to my
interpreter, desiring him to say, That I would not trouble his majesty
with what was past, but would seek justice of the prince his son, whose
favour I doubted not to obtain. Not attending to what my interpreter
said, but hearing the name of his son, the king mistakingly conceived I
accused him; and hastily saying mio filio! mio filio! he called for
the prince, who came in great fear, humbling himself. Asaph Khan
trembled, and all those present were amazed.
He chid the prince roundly, and he excused himself. But as I perceived
the king's error, I made both the king and prince understand the
mistake, by means of a Persian prince who offered himself as
interpreter, as my Italian understood Turkish better than Persian. By
this means I appeased the king, saying that I in no respect accused the
prince, but wished to inform his majesty that I should appeal to the
prince's justice, in regard to the past wrongs our nation had suffered
in those places which were under his government. The king then commanded
the prince, that he should give as effective justice. In his
justification, the prince said that he had already offered me a firmaun,
which I had refused. The king asked me the reason of this. To which I
answered, that I humbly thanked the prince, but he knew that it
contained a condition I could not accept; and besides, that I wished to
propound our own demands, in which I would insert all the desires of the
king my master at once, that I might not daily trouble his majesty and
the prince with complaints. And, when the conditions on both sides were
mutually agreed upon, I would reciprocally bind my sovereign, to mutual
offices of friendship, and to such reasonable conditions for the benefit
of his majesty's subjects as he might propose: All of which being drawn
up in tripartite, I hoped his majesty would graciously sign one, his son
the prince another, and I would confirm the third in the name of my
sovereign, in virtue of my commission.
The king pressed to know what was the condition in the prince's firmaun
which I had refused, which I stated. So we fell into earnest dispute
before the king, with some heat. Mukrob Khan interposed, saying he was
advocate for the Portuguese, and spoke slightingly of us, alleging that
the king ought to grant no articles to us that were unfavourable for
them. I answered, that I did not propose any against them, but only in
our own just defence, and that I had not conceived he was so great a
friend to the Portuguese.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 227 of 474
Words from 118239 to 118747
of 247546
