Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Page 346

EUROPEAN CLOTHING
306
and joking with other men, and, above
dancing with them he, in whose presence a wife dare
not even sit, and to whom it is inconceivable that any
woman, unless she be a concubine or a prostitute, could
even think of indulging in such pastimes ? How, again,
could he mix with Europeans when he sees their clothing,
which in shape alone seems to him to savour of indecency
by showing too much of the human form, and of which so
many articles, such as shoes, boots, gloves, are made from
he, who cannot understand how
the skins of animals
any decent man could handle, wear, or even touch these
remains of dead animals without shuddering with dis-
drinking, laughing,
all,
:
;
gust
?
CHAPTER
—
The Morality
XII
—
Their Deceit and Dissimulation. Their
of Brahmins.
Their Incontinence. Causes of their
of Filial Devotion.
Unnatural Offences. Outward Decency. The Chastity
Depravity.
of their Women.
Brahmin Methods of Revenge. Brahmin Selfish-
Want
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
are the Brahmins, who are so easily shocked at the
are they themselves exempt from
vices of others
all human weaknesses ?
Are their morals irreproachable
Oh, far from it
pen would refuse to describe all their
wrong-doings but, so far as is possible, I will try to give
a clear and impartial sketch of them.
I think that we may take as their greatest vices the
untrustworthiness, deceit, and double-dealing which I have
so often had occasion to mention, and which are common
to all Hindus.
It is quite impossible to fathom their
minds and discover what they really mean more impos-
sible, indeed, than with any other race.
He would indeed
be a fool who relied on their promises, protestations, or
oaths, if it were to their interest to break them.
All the
same, I do not think that these vices are innate in them.
But
sins
—
and
?
!
My
;
;
must be remembered that they have always been until
quite recently under the yoke of masters who had recourse
to all sorts of artifices to oppress and despoil them.
The
timid Hindu could think of no better expedient with which
to defend himself than to meet ruse with ruse, dissimulation
It