Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Page 463

LETTER TO A SUPERIOR
kissed it and put it on my head,
423
to me, having
I afterwards
read it with all possible attention and care. Your excel-
lency may rest assured that I will execute punctually the
orders contained in it, without departing from them by the
breadth of a grain of sesamum. The business mentioned
in the letter has already been fairly begun, and I hope that
by the efficacy of your excellency's benediction it will soon
terminate to your excellency's honour and advantage.
As
soon as it is finished, I, your most humble servant and slave,
shall not fail to present myself at your excellency's feet to
receive your orders.
Lastly, I entreat your excellency to impart to me the
commands and instructions necessary to enable me to act
in a manner agreeable to your excellency, and to point out
to me in what way I may render myself most acceptable
to your sacred feet, which are real tamarasa flowers.
For
this purpose it will not be necessary for your excellency to
humble yourself still more by writing to me a second time
but it will suffice if I receive from your excellency's bounty
a leaf of betel indented with your nail, through some con-
fidential person who can verbally explain to me the orders
of your excellency \
Such is my most humble prayer.'
'
:
'
The complimentary expressions used at the beginning of
these letters, and the humble and servile tone which
all
pervades them, especially the third letter, present when
translated sufficiently remarkable examples of epistolary
style, yet I have by no means brought out the full force,
rather
or
the
extreme platitude, of
all
these
expres-
sions.
Our language has no equivalents for the expressions of
base flattery and humility with which the Hindus are so
lavish in their correspondence.
These expressions are,
moreover, used with a certain amount of moderation in the
letters just quoted.
I have seen some the complimentary
preface alone of which would have filled two pages of this
book. The eloquence of a writer is inexhaustible under this
head, especially when there is any question of obtaining
This device frequently serves for credentials in conveying verbal
Dubois.
messages.
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