The History of Java, v. 1-2Raffles, Thomas Stamford, Sir
History
The History of Java, v. 1-2
Raffles, Thomas Stamford, Sir
Java (Indonesia) -- History
"A joy generally followed by sorrow is that which we feel in
borrowing money. We feel happy in having obtained what we wished,
but as soon as our creditors come for their money, our joy is
converted into grief; and that is the greatest when the money is
spent, and we have not wherewith to satisfy our creditors: then
arise quarrels and ill will, and yet no sooner are these settled
than we again have recourse to the old habit of lending and
borrowing.
"Laughing and joking at our companions is also a bad custom, for it
generally begets quarrels, and is thus the cause of grief.
"Should medicine be mixed with poison, we would naturally separate
the poisonous parts before we swallowed it, and we would also
clean rusty metal in time before it becomes rusty and corroded.
In the same manner we should distinguish between the good and bad
actions of man, rewarding knowledge and opposing evil: and be it
recollected, that a woman, however low her birth, if her manners
are amiable and her person good, may without impropriety be made
the wife of a great man.
"Riches only tend to torment the mind of man, and sometimes even
to death; they are therefore, with justice, disregarded and
despised by the wise. They are collected with pain and troubles
in afterwards administering them; for if we neglect to watch
them properly, thieves will come and steal them, and the loss
occasions as much grief as the point of death.
"Therefore is it advisable to give part of our property to the poor
and indigent, who will thence naturally become under obligations
to us, and not only assist in guarding our property against
all accidents, but pray that our property may increase, being
themselves interested in our success, and our names will be
blessed by our children and grandchildren.
"As dykes cannot long resist the force of water, unless the water
is allowed a free current and a place to pass through, so riches
cannot long be enjoyed, unless employed for charitable purposes;
but, on the contrary, they will turn to the injury of the
possessor, both here and hereafter, who will be exposed to the
wrath of all the nine deities.
"_Batára gúru_ is cool, still colder is the moon; but the coolness
of neither is to be compared to that which is instilled by the
voice of a holy man. Fire is hot, still hotter is the sun; but
neither is to be compared to the heat of a man's heart.
"Like those flies and birds, which fly in the air to procure food,
and still continue to feed on filth and dirt, is the man of bad
character; for although he may have the means of procuring an
honest subsistence, still will he continue to take what he should
not, by unlawful means, to the prejudice of others. But a good
man wishes the success of another, and is happy when his brother
prospers.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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