Note 37 — The Tenth New Year’s Festival after my auspicious Accession.

I also ordered that the arrack should be diluted with wine of the grape so that there should be two parts wine and one part arrack. Every day I diminished the quantity I took, and in the course of seven years I brought it down to six cups. The weight of each cupful was 18¼ misqals. It is now fifteen years that I have drunk at this rate, neither more nor less. And my drinking time is the night except on the day of Thursdays, as it is the day of the blessed accession. Also on the eve37 of Friday, which is the most blessed eve of the week, and is the prelude to a blessed day (I do not drink). I drink at the end of each day with these two38 exceptions, for it does not appear right that this eve (Thursday night) should be spent in neglect, and that there should be an omission (on Friday) of returning thanks to the True Benefactor. On the day of Thursday and on the day of Sunday I do not eat meat. Not on Thursday, because it is the day of my auspicious accession, and not on Sunday, because it is the birthday of my revered father, and he greatly honoured and held dear the day. After some time I substituted opium for filuniya. Now that my age has arrived at 46 solar years and 4 months, I eat eight surkhs (a red berry used as a weight) of opium when five gharis of day have passed, and six surkhs after one watch of night.