Auld lang syne. Second series : $b My Indian friendsMüller, F. Max (Friedrich Max)
History
Auld lang syne. Second series : $b My Indian friends
Müller, F. Max (Friedrich Max)
India; Müller, F. Max (Friedrich Max), 1823-1900 -- Friends and associates
If I knew the Râjah Râdhâkânta Deva by correspondence only, the next son
of India whom I came to know, and for a time very intimately, as one
knows and loves a friend, had travelled all the way from India, having
come to England with Dhulip Singh. While I was sitting in my room at
Oxford copying Sanskrit MSS., a gentleman was shown in, dressed in a
long black coat, looking different from my usual visitors, and
addressing me in a language of which I did not understand a single word.
I spoke to him in English, and asked him what language he was speaking,
and he replied with great surprise, “Do you not understand Sanskrit?”
“No,” I said, “I have never heard it spoken, but here are some MSS. of
the Veda which will interest you.” He was delighted to see them, and
began to read, but he had soon to confess that he was not able to
translate a single word. When I expressed my surprise—though perhaps I
ought not to have done so—he told me that he did not believe in the Veda
any longer, but had become a Christian. His countenance was most
intelligent, and almost heavy with thought, his language and his manners
most winning, and we were soon deep in conversation. His name had been
Nîlaka_nth_a Goreh—Nîlaka_nth_a being a name of _S_iva (the
Blue-neck)—but had been changed into Nehemiah Goreh, when he became a
Christian. I have tried to find out more about his birth-place and his
parents, but in vain; and, after all, who cares for all these monotonous
details with which biographers generally fill the first chapters of
their books? Nor did I care much for them myself, except to know that he
came from a highly respected Brâhman family, and that his father had
been an educated man and a Sanskrit scholar. What I really cared for was
the man himself, such as he stood before me, a man, I should have
guessed, of about five-and-twenty, glowing with youthful enthusiasm, and
evidently brimful of thought. I must leave it to others to supply the
year of his birth and all the details of his paternal and maternal
genealogy.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account