_The fortune-telling philosopher, who inspected the finger nails: his
visiters--Another philosopher, who judged of the character by the
hair--The fortune-teller duped--Predatory warfare._
As we returned to our lodgings, we saw a number of persons, some of whom
were entering and some leaving a neat small dwelling; and on joining the
throng, we learnt that a famous fortune-teller lived there, who, at
stated periods, opened his house to all that were willing to pay for
being instructed in the events of futurity, or for having the secrets of
the present or past revealed to them. On entering the house, and
descending a flight of steps, we found, at the farther end of a dark
room, lighted with a chandelier suspended from the ceiling, an elderly
man, with a long gray beard, and a thin, pale countenance, deeply
furrowed with thought rather than care. He received us politely, and
then resumed the duties of his vocation. His course of proceeding was to
examine the finger nails, and, according to their form, colour,
thickness, surface, and grain, to determine the character and destinies
of those who consulted him. I was at once pleased and surprised at the
minuteness of his observation, and the infinite variety of his
distinctions. Besides the qualities of the nails that I have mentioned,
he noticed some which altogether eluded my senses, such as their
milkiness, flintiness, friability, elasticity, tenacity, and
sensibility; whether they were aqueous, unctious, or mealy; with many
more, which have escaped my recollection.
A modest, pensive looking girl, apparently about seventeen, was timidly
holding forth her hand for examination, at the time we entered.
Avarabet, (for that was the name of this philosopher,) uttered two or
three words, with a significant shake of his head, upon which I saw the
rising tear in her eyes. She withdrew her hand, and had not courage to
let him take another look.
A fat woman, of a sanguine temperament, holding a little girl by the
hand, then stepped up and showed her fingers. He pronounced her amorous,
inconstant, prone to anger, and extravagant; that she had made one man
miserable, and would probably make another. She also abruptly withdrew,
giving manifest signs of one of the qualities ascribed to her.
An elderly matron then approached, holding forth one trembling, palsied
hand, with a small volume in the other. Avarabet hesitated for some
time; examined the edges as well as the surface of the nails; drew his
finger slowly over them, and then said,--"You have a susceptible heart;
you are in sorrow, but your affliction will soon have an end." It was
easy to see, in the look of the applicant, signs of pious resignation,
and a lively hope of another and a better state of existence.
I thought I perceived in the scene that was passing before us, an
exhibition that is not uncommon on our earth, of cunning knavery
imposing on ignorance and credulity; and I expressed my opinion to the
Brahmin; but he assured me that the class of persons in the moon, who
were resorted to on account of their supposed powers of divination, was
very different from the similar class in Asia or Europe, and that
oracular art was here regularly studied and professed as a branch of
philosophy. "You would be surprised," said he, "to find how successful
they have been in investing their craft with the forms and trappings of
science, the parade of classification, and the mystery imparted by
technical terms. By these means they have given plausibility enough to
their theories, to leave many a one in doubt, whether it is really a new
triumph of human discovery, or merely a later form of empiricism. Its
professors are commonly converts to their own theories, at least in a
great degree; for, strange as it may seem, there can mingle with the
disposition to deceive others, the power of deceiving one's self; and
while they exercise much acuteness and penetration in discovering, by
the air, look, dress, and manner of those who consult them, the leading
points in the history or character of persons of whom they have no
previous knowledge, they at the same time persuade themselves that they
see something indicative of their circumstances in their finger nails.
Such is the equivocal character of the greater part of their sect: but
there are some who are mere honest dupes to the pretensions of the
science; and others again, who have not one tittle of credulity to
extenuate their impudent pretensions.
"When I was here before, I remember a physician, who acquired great
celebrity by affecting to cure diseases by examining a lock of the
patient's hair; and, not content with merely pronouncing on the nature
of the disease, and suggesting the remedy, he would enter into an
elaborate, and often plausible course of reasoning, in defence of his
system. That system was briefly this: that the hair derived its length,
strength, hue, and other properties, from the brain; which opinion he
supported by a reference to acknowledged facts--as, that it changes its
hue with the difference of the mental character in the different stages
of life; that violent affections of the mind, such as grief or fear,
have been known to change it in a single night. Science on this, as on
other occasions, is merely augmenting and methodizing facts that the
mass of mankind had long observed--as, that red hair had always been
considered indicative of warm temperament; that affliction, and even
love, were believed to create baldness; and that in great terror, the
hair stands on end. The different ages too, are distinguished as much by
their hair as their complexion, their facial angle, or in any other way.
He was led to this theory first, by observing at school that a boy of a
stiff, bristly head of hair, was remarkably cruel. He professed to have
been able, from a long course of observation, to assign to every
different colour and variety of hair, its peculiar temperament and
character. One mental quality was indicated by its length, another by
its fineness, and others again as it chanced to be greasy, or lank, or
curled. He would also blow on it with a bellows, to see how the parts
arranged themselves: hold it near the fire, and watch the operation of
its crisping by the heat: and although he had often been mistaken in his
estimates of character, by the rules of his new science, he did not lose
the confidence of his disciples on that account--some of them refusing
to believe the truth, rather than to admit themselves mistaken; and
others insisting that, if his science was not infallible, it very rarely
deceived."
It was now our turn to submit our hands to Avarabet for examination. He
discovered signs of the loftiest virtues and most heroic enterprise in
the Brahmin; and, near the bottom of one of his nails, a deep-rooted
sorrow, which would leave him only with his life. A transient shade of
gloom on the Brahmin's countenance was soon succeeded by a piercing,
inquisitive glance cast on the diviner. He saw the other's eyes directed
on the miniature which he always wore, and which discovered itself to
Avarabet as he stooped forward. A smile of contempt now took the place
of his first surprise, and he seemed in a state of abstraction, during
the continued rhapsodies of the oracle.
My hand was next examined; but little was said of me, except that I had
been a great traveller, and should be so again; that I should encounter
many dangers and difficulties; that I possessed more intelligence than
sensibility, and more prudence than generosity. Thus he discovered in me
great courage, enterprise, and constancy of purpose.
A hale, robust, well-set man, now bursting through the crowd, and
thrusting out his hand, abruptly asked the wise man to tell him, if he
could, in what part of the country he lived. Avarabet mentioned a
distant district on the coast of Morosofia.
"Good," said the other; "and what is my calling?"
After a slight pause, he replied, that he got his living on the water.
"Good again. Shall I ever be rich?"
"No, not very:--never."
"Better and better," rejoined the inquirer, at the same time giving vent
to a loud and hearty laugh. Surely, thought I, sailors are every where
the same sort of beings, rough and boisterous as the elements they
roam over.
"And what is your opinion of me farther?"
"You are bold, frank, improvident, credulous and good-natured."
"Excellent, indeed! Now, what will you say, old sham wisdom, when I tell
you that I never made a voyage in my life; was never two days' journey
from this spot, and am seldom off my own dominion? That I own the forest
of Tongloo, where I sometimes hunt, from morning till night, and from
night till morning, twelve out of the thirteen days in the year? That my
wealth, which was considerable when I came to my estate, has, by my
habits of life, greatly increased, and that I am bent upon adding to it
yet more? I drink nothing but water; and have come here only to win a
wager, that you were not as knowing as you pretended to be, and that I
could impose on you. You thus have a specimen of my candour,
improvidence, and credulity." So saying, he leaped on his zebra, gave a
sort of huntsman's shout, and was off in a twinkling.
This adventure created great tumult in the crowd, a few enjoying the
jest, but the greater number manifesting ill-will and resentment towards
the sportsman. The Brahmin and I took advantage of the confusion, to
withdraw unnoticed by the bystanders. After remaining at our lodgings
long enough to take rest and refreshment, and to make minutes of what we
had seen, we proposed to spend the remainder of the night in the
country, the weather being more pleasant at this time in that climate,
than when the sun is above the horizon.
We accordingly set out when the earth was in her second quarter, and it
was about two of our days before sunrise. After walking about three
miles, the freshness of the morning air, the fragrance of the flowers,
and the music of innumerable birds, whose unceasing carols testified
their joy and delight at the approach of a more genial month, we came to
a large, well cultivated farm, in which a number of coarse looking men
were employed, with the aid of dogs, cross-bows, and other martial
weapons, in hunting down llamas, and a small kind of buffalo, which, in
one of our former walks, we had seen quietly feeding on a rich and
extensive pasture. We inquired of some stragglers from the throng, the
meaning of what we saw; but they were too much occupied with their sport
to afford us any satisfaction. We walked on, indulging our imaginations
in conjecture; but had not proceeded more than a quarter of a mile,
before we beheld a similar scene going on to our left, by the same
ill-looking crew. Our curiosity was now redoubled, and we resolved to
wait a while on the highway, for the chance of some passenger more at
leisure to answer our inquiries, and more courteously inclined than
these fierce marauders. We had not stopped many minutes, before a
well-dressed man, wearing the appearance of authority, having ridden up,
we asked him to explain the cause of their violent, and seemingly
lawless proceedings.
"You are strangers, I see, or you would have understood that I am
exercising my baronial privilege of doing myself justice. These cattle
belong to the owners of a neighbouring estate, by whom I and my tenants
have been injured and insulted; and, according to the usage in such
cases, I have given the signal to my people to lay hold on what they can
of his flocks and herds, and, to quicken their exertions, I give them
half of what they catch."
"And how does your neighbour bear this in the mean time?" said the
Brahmin.
"Oh, for that matter," said the other, "he is not at all behindhand, and
I lose nearly as many cattle as I get. But it gives me much more
pleasure to kill one of his buffaloes or llamas, than it does pain me
when he kills one of mine. I consider how much it will vex him, and that
some of his vassals are thereby deprived of their sustenance. I have
upwards of thirty strong men employed in ranging this plain and wood,
and during the last year they took for me four hundred head."
"Indeed!--and how many did you lose in the same time?
"Not above three hundred and eighty."
"But very inferior?" said the Brahmin.
"Why, no," replied he: "as my pastures are richer and more luxuriant
than his, two of my cattle are worth perhaps three of his."
"Is this custom," asked the Brahmin, "an advantage or a tax on your
estate?"
"A tax, indeed! Why it is worth from four to five hundred head a-year."
"And how much is it worth to your neighbour?"
"I presume nearly as much."
"Do your vassals get rich by the bounty you give them?"
"As to that matter, some who are lucky succeed very well, and the rest
make a living by it."
"And what do they give you for the privilege of hunting your neighbour's
cattle?"
"Nothing at all: I even lose my customary rent from those who engage in
it."
"And it is the same case with your neighbour?"
"Certainly," said he.
"Then," said the Brahmin, "it seems to me, if you would agree to lay
aside this old custom, you would both be considerable gainers. I see you
look incredulous, but listen a moment. Each one would, in that case,
instead of having half his neighbour's cattle, have all his own; and,
being kept in their native pastures, they would be less likely to stray
away, and you could therefore slay and eat as you wanted them; whereas,
in your hunting matches many more are either killed or maimed than are
wanted for present use, and they are consequently consumed in waste. You
would, moreover, be a gainer by the amount of the labour of these thirty
boors, whom you keep in this employment, and who very probably acquire
habits of ferocity, licentiousness, and waste, which are not very
favourable to their obedience or fidelity."
The proprietor, having pondered a while upon my friend's remarks, in a
tone of exultation said,--"Do you think, then, I could ever prevail on
my people to forbear, when they saw a likely flock, from laying violent
hands on it; or could I resist so favourable an opportunity of revenge?
Nay, more; if we were then tamely to tie up our hands, do you think that
Bulderent and his men would consent to do the same? No, no, old man," he
continued, with great self-complacency, "your arguments appear plausible
at first, but when closely considered, they will not stand the lest of
experience. They are the fancies of a stranger--of one who knows more of
theory than practice. Had you lived longer among us, you would have
known that your ingenious project could never be carried into execution.
If I observed it, Bulderent would not; and if he observed it, I verily
believe I could not--and thus, you see, the thing is altogether
impracticable." As one soon tires of preaching to the winds, the Brahmin
contented himself with asking his new acquaintance to think more on the
subject at his leisure; and we proceeded on our walk.