This king was a Mohammedan, and when the Englishmen came to take leave of him, he turned to Captain Lancaster and asked, “Do you know the Psalms of David?”*
“Yes,” replied Lancaster, greatly astonished, “we say them every day.”
“Then,” said the King, “I and these nobles about me will sing a psalm to God for your prosperity.”
So very solemnly this heathen king and his nobles sang a psalm. It was a curious sight. There in the gorgeous heathen palace stood the few rough English sailors. Around them singing crowded the dark-faced Indians, clad in brilliant dresses of red and yellow, glittering with jewels and gold.
When the psalm was ended, the King again turned to Lancaster. “Now,” he said, “I would hear you too sing a psalm in your own language.”
So in their turn the Englishmen sang. And the psalm being finished, they took their leave.
abridged
* The Psalms of David are, like the Christian Gospels, regarded respectfully by Muslims and regarded as having some value as divine revelation, though not on the same level as the Koran.
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Psalm 23 (The Lord is My Shepherd), sung here by the Choir of Westminster Abbey. The chant is by Sir George C. Martin (1844-1916), from 1909. The translation is by Myles Coverdale, and comes from the Book of Common Prayer first published in 1549.
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