anthropophagy

“A famous general, at that time in the Muscovite service, having come to Paris for the recovery of his wounds, brought along with him a young Turk, whom he had taken prisoner. Some of the doctors of the Sorbonne (who are altogether as positive as the dervises of Constantinople) thinking it a pity, that the poor Turk should be damned for want of instruction, solicited Mustapha very hard to turn Christian, and promised him, for his encouragement, plenty of good wine in this world, and paradise in the next. These allurements were too powerful to be resisted; and therefore, having been well instructed and catechized, he at last agreed to receive the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s supper. The priest, however, to make every thing sure and solid, still continued his instructions; and began the next day with the usual question, ‘How many Gods are there?’ ‘None at all,’ replies Benedict; for that was his new name. ‘How! None at all!’ cries the priest. ‘To be sure,’ said the honest proselyte. ‘You have told me all along that there is but one God: And yesterday I eat him.’ ”

(David Hume, The Natural History of Religion, cited by Jenny Diski.)

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