e him some fine speeches, and flattered
him to the best of my abilities, informing him of the great reputation
he had already acquired in Persia; that Locman[35] was a fool when
compared to one of his wisdom; and that as for his contemporaries, the
Persian physicians, they were not fit to handle his pestle for him. To
all this he said nothing. I then told him that the king himself, having
heard of the wonderful effects of his medicine upon the person of his
grand vizier, had ordered his historian to insert the circumstance in
the annals of the empire, as one of the most extraordinary events of his
reign,--that a considerable sensation had been produced in his majesty's
seraglio, for many of the ladies had immediately been taken ill, and
were longing to make a trial of his skill,--that the king's favourite
Georgian slave was, in fact, at this moment in great pain,--that I had
been deputed by the chief eunuch, owing to a special order from his
majesty, to procure medicine similar to that which the first minister
had taken--and I concluded my speech by requesting the doctor
immediately to furnish me with some.

He seemed to ponder over what I had told him; and, after reflecting a
short time, said that it was not his custom to administer medicine
to his patients without first seeing them, for by so doing he would
probably do more harm than good; but that if he found that the slave was
in want of his aid, he should be very happy to attend her.

I answered to this, that as to seeing the face of the Georgian slave,
that was totally out of the question, for no man ever was allowed that
liberty in Persia, excepting her husband. In cases of extreme necessity,
perhaps a doctor might be permitted to feel a woman's pulse, but then it
must be done when a veil covers the hand.

To which the Frank replied, 'In order to judge of my patient's case I
must not only feel the pulse, but see the tongue also.'

'Looking at the tongue is totally new in Persia,' said I; 'and I am sure
you could never be indulged with such a sight in the seraglio, without
a special order from the king himself; a eunuch would rather cut out his
own tongue first.'

'Well, then,' said the doctor, 'recollect, that if I deliver my medicine
to you, I do so without taking any responsibility upon myself for its
effects; for if it does not cure it may perhaps kill.'

When I had assured him that no harm or prejudice could possibly accrue
to him, he opened a large che