the state of the case, he asked whether his majesty did not use
the hot baths very frequently;[37] whether, when he smoked, he did not
immediately bring on a fit of coughing; and whether, in his food, he was
not particularly addicted to pickles, sweetmeats, and rice swimming
in butter? The king has given him three days to consider his case, to
consult his books, and to gather the opinions of the Frank sages on
subjects so important to the state of Persia, and to compose such a
medicine as will entirely restore and renovate his constitution. The
Centre of the Universe then asked my opinion, and requested me to speak
boldly upon the natures and properties of Franks in general, and of
their medicines. I did not lose this opportunity of giving utterance to
my sentiments; so, after the usual preface to my speech, I said, "that
as to their natures, the Shah, in his profound wisdom, must know, that
they were an unbelieving and an unclean race; for that they treated our
Prophet as a cheat, and ate pork and drank wine without any scruple;
that they were women in looks, and in manners bears; that they ought to
be held in the greatest suspicion, for their ultimate object (see what
they had done in India) was to take kingdoms, and to make Shahs and
Nabobs their humble servants. As to their medicines," I exclaimed,
"Heaven preserve your majesty from them! they are just as treacherous in
their effects as the Franks are in their politics: with what we give
to procure death, they pretend to work their cures. Their principal
ingredient is mercury (and here I produced my pill); and they use their
instruments and knives so freely, that I have heard it said they will
cut off a man's limbs to save his life." I then drew such a picture of
the fatal effects likely to proceed from the foreign prescription, that
I made the Shah promise that he would not take it without using every
precaution that his prudence and wisdom might suggest. To this he
consented; and as soon as the Frank shall have sent in the medicine
which he is preparing, I shall be summoned to another interview.

Now, Hajji,' added the doctor, 'the Shah must not touch the infidel's
physic; for if perchance it were to do good, I am a lost man. Who will
ever consult Mirza Ahmak again? No, we must avert the occurrence of such
an event, even if I were obliged to take all his drugs myself.'

We parted with mutual promises of doing everything in our power to
thwart the infidel doctor; a