476 THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES

 

but nothing was more awkward to me than to see such a haughty, inn-
perious, insolent people, in the midst of the grossest simplicity and
ignorance; for all their famed ingenuity isno more. My friend Father
Simon, and I, used to be very merry upon these occasions, to see the
beggarly pride of those people. For example, coming by the house
of a country gentleman, as Father Simon called him, about ten leagues
off from the city of Nanquin, we had, first of all, the honour to ride
with the master of the house about two miles; the state he rode in
was a perfect Don Quixotism, being a mixture of pomp and poverty.

The habit of this greasy Don was very proper for a scaramouch, or
merry-andrew, being a dirty calico, with all the tawdry trappings of a
fool’s coat, such as hanging sleeves, taffety, and cuts and slashes
almost on every side; it covered a rich taffety vest, as greasy as a
butcher, and which testified, that his honour must needs be a most
exquisite sloven. ;

His horse was a poor, lean, starved, hobbling creature, such as in
England might sell for about thirty or forty shillings; and he had two
slaves followed him on foot, to drive the poor creature along: he had
a whip in his hand, and he belaboured the beast as fast about the head
as his slaves did about the tail; and thus he rode by us with about ten
or twelve servants, and we were told he was going from the city to his
country-seat, about half a league before us. We travelled on gently,
- but this figure of a gentleman rode away before us; and as we stopped
at a village about an hour to refresh us, when we came by the country
seat of this great man, we saw him in a little place before his door,
eating his repast: it was a kind of a garden, but he was easy to be
seen; and we were given to understand, that the more we looked on
him, the better he would be pleased.

He sat under a tree, something like the palmetto tree, which effect-
ually shaded him over the head, and on the south side; but under the
tree also was placed a large umbrella, which made that part look well
enough: he sat lolling back in a great elbow chair, being a heavy cor-
pulent man, and his meat being brought him by two women slaves; he
had two more, whose office, I think, few gentlemen in Europe would
accept of their service in, namely, one fed the squire with a spoon,
and the otler held the dish with one hand, and scraped off what he let
fall upon his worship’s beard and taffety vest, with the other; while
the great fat brute thought it below him to employ his own hands in
any of those familiar offices, which kings and monarchs would rather
do than be troubled with the clumsy fingers of their servants.

I took this time to think what pain men’s pride puts them to, and
how troublesome a haughty temper, thus ill managed, must be to