"
The Japanese would not allow that the Mikado should expose his
sacred person to the open air, and the sun was not thought worthy to
shine on his head. The Indians of Granada, in South America, "kept
those who were to be rulers or commanders, whether men or women,
locked up for several years when they were children, some of them
seven years, and this so close that they were not to see the sun,
for if they should happen to see it they forfeited their lordship,
eating certain sorts of food appointed; and those who were their
keepers at certain times went into their retreat or prison and
scourged them severely." Thus, for example, the heir to the throne
of Bogota, who was not the son but the sister's son of the king, had
to undergo a rigorous training from his infancy; he lived in
complete retirement in a temple, where he might not see the sun nor
eat salt nor converse with a woman; he was surrounded by guards who
observed his conduct and noted all his actions; if he broke a single
one of the rules laid down for him, he was deemed infamous and
forfeited all his rights to the throne.
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