Footnote 239:
In text “Ta’ayyun” = influence, especially by the “’Ayn,” or (Evil)
Eye.
Footnote 240:
I have somewhat abridged the confession of the Princess, who carefully
repeats every word known to the reader. This iteration is no objection
in the case of a coffee-house audience to whom the tale is told bit by
bit, but it is evidently unsuited for reading.
Footnote 241:
In text “Irham turham:” this is one of the few passive verbs still
used in popular parlance.
Footnote 242:
This formula will be in future suppressed.
Footnote 243:
I spare my readers the full formula:—“Yúsuf took it and brake the seal
(fazza-hu) and read it and comprehended its contents and purport and
significance: and, after perusing it,” etc. These forms, _decies
repetitæ_, may go down with an Eastern audience, but would be
intolerable in a Western volume. The absence of padding, however,
reduces the story almost to a patchwork of doggerel rhymes, for
neither I nor any man can “make a silk purse from a suille ear.”
Footnote 244:
Here again in full we have:—“He mounted the she-camel and fared and
ceased not faring until he drew near to the Palace of Al-Hayfá, where
he dismounted and concealed his dromedary within the same cave. Then
he swam the stream until he had reached the Castle and here he landed
and appeared before Al-Hayfá,” etc.
Footnote 245:
“’Tis dogged as does it” was the equivalent expression of our British
Aristotle, the late Charles Darwin.
Footnote 246:
Arab. “Jannat al-Khuld” = the Eternal Garden: vol. ix. 214.
Footnote 247:
[I read: Wa inní la-ar’ákum wa ar’à widáda-kum, wa-hakki-kumú antum
a’azzu ’l-Warà ’andí = And I make much of you and of your love; by
your rights (upon me, formula of swearing), you are to me the dearest
of mankind.—ST.]
Footnote 248:
In text: “He swam the stream and bestrode his she-camel.”
Footnote 249:
In text “Then she folded the letter and after sealing it,” etc.
Footnote 250:
Not “her hands” after Christian fashion.
Footnote 251:
In text, “Ahyaf,” alluding to Al-Hayfá.
Footnote 252:
Arab. “Al-Kawá’ib,” also P. N. of the river.
Footnote 253:
This is moralising with a witness, and all it means is “handsome is
that handsome does.”
Footnote 254:
In text “’Arsh” = the Ninth Heaven; vol. v. 167.
Footnote 255:
The Shi’ah doctrine is here somewhat exaggerated.
Footnote 256:
“Them” for “her,” as has often occurred.
Footnote 257:
In the original “entrusted to her the missive:” whereas the letter is
delivered afterwards.
Footnote 258:
The cloud (which contains rain) is always typical of liberality and
generous dealing.
Footnote 259:
The Koranic chapt. No. xx., revealed at Meccah and recounting the
(apocryphal) history of Moses.
Footnote 260:
The “broken” (wall) to the North of the Ka’abah: Pilgrimage iii. 165.
Footnote 261:
_i.e._ “Delight of the Age:” see vol. ii. 81.
Footnote 262:
In the text written “Imriyyu ’l-Kays”: for this pre-Islamitic poet see
Term. Essay, p. 258. “The Man of Al-Kays” or worshipper of the
Priapus-idol was a marking figure in Arabian History. The word occurs,
with those of Aera, Dusares (Theos Ares), Martabu, Allat and Manát in
the Nabathæan (Arabian) epigraphs brought by Mr. Doughty from Arabia
Deserta (vol. i. pp. 180–184).
Footnote 263:
In text “Zakka,” which means primarily a bird feeding her young.
Footnote 264:
In the text “months and years,” the latter seeming _de trop_.
Footnote 265:
Or “Yathrib” = Al-Madinah; vol. iv. 114.
Footnote 266:
Scott (vi. 358 et seqq.) who makes Ali bin Ibrahim, “a faithful
eunuch,” renders the passage, “by some accident the eunuch’s turban
unfortunately falling off, the precious stones (N.B. the lovers’ gift)
which, with a summary of the adventures (!) of Eusuff and Aleefa, and
his own embassy to Sind, were wrapped in the folds, tumbled upon the
floor.”
Footnote 267:
_i.e._ “Drawer-out of Descriptions.”
Footnote 268:
_i.e._ a Refuser, a Forbidder.
Footnote 269:
_i.e._ both could not be seen at the same time.
Footnote 270:
[The MS. has T Kh D H, which the translator reads “takhuz-hu.” I
suspect that either the second or eighth form of “ahad” is meant, in
the sense that thou comest to an agreement (Ittihád) with him.—ST.]
Footnote 271:
In the MS. v. 327, we find four hemistichs which evidently belong to
Al-Mihrján; these are:—
“Hadst come to court her in fairer guise ✿ I had given Al-Hayfá in
bestest style;
But in mode like this hast thou wrought me wrong ✿ And made Envy gibe
me with jeering smile.”
Also I have been compelled to change the next sentence, which in the
original is, “And hardly had King Al-Mihrján ended his words,” etc.
Footnote 272:
In this doggerel, “Kurúd” (apes) occurs as a rhyme twice in three
couplets.
Footnote 273:
“Upon the poll of his head” (’alà hámati-hi) says the Arabian author,
and instantly stultifies the words.
Footnote 274:
Arab. “Haudaj” = a camel-litter: the word, often corrupted to Hadáj,
is now applied to a rude pack-saddle, a wooden frame of mimosa-timber
set upon a “witr” or pad of old tent-cloth, stuffed with grass and
girt with a single cord. Vol. viii. 235. Burckhardt gives “Maḳṣar,”
and Doughty (i. 437) “Muḳṣir” as the modern Badawi term for the crates
or litters in which are carried the Shaykhly housewives.
Footnote 275:
In text “Sunnah” = the practice, etc., of the Prophet: vol. v. 36,
167.
Footnote 276:
This, as the sequel shows, is the far-famed Musician, Ibrahim of
Mosul: vol. vii. 113.
Footnote 277:
In the text King of Al-Sín = China, and in p. 360 of MS. Yusuf is made
“King of China and Sind,” which would be much like “King of Germany
and Brentford.”
Footnote 278:
This is the full formula repeated in the case of all the ten blessed
damsels. I have spared the patience of my readers.
Footnote 279:
This formula of the cup and lute is _decies repetitæ_, justifying
abbreviation.
Footnote 280:
_i.e._ The Beginner, the Originator.
Footnote 281:
The Zephyr, or rather the cool north breeze of upper Arabia, vol.
viii. 62.
Footnote 282:
The “Full Moon”; plur. Budúr: vols. iii., 228, iv., 249.
Footnote 283:
“Dann” = amphora, Gr. ἀμφορεύς short for ἀμφιφορεύς = having two
handles.
Footnote 284:
= “The large-hipped,” a form of Rádih.
Footnote 285:
In text “Minba’ada-hu” making Jesus of later date than Imr al-Kays.
Footnote 286:
_i.e._ “The Delight”: also a P.N. of one of the Heavens: vols. iii.
19; iv. 143.
Footnote 287:
_i.e._ Joy, Contentment.
Footnote 288:
In text “Lá khuzibat Ayday al-Firák,” meaning, “may separation never
ornament herself in sign of gladness at the prospect of our parting.”
For the Khazíb-dye see vol. iii. 105.
Footnote 289:
_i.e._ “Bloom of the Tribe.” “Zahrat” = a blossom especially yellow
and commonly applied to orange-flower. In line 10 of the same page the
careless scribe calls the girl “Jauharat (Gem) of the Tribe.”
Footnote 290:
For this Hell, see vol. viii. 111.
Footnote 291:
“Core” or “Life-blood of Hearts.”
Footnote 292:
Presently explained.
Footnote 293:
In text “Afrákh al-Jinn,” lit. = Chicks of the Jinns, a mere
vulgarism; see “Farkh ’Akrab,” vol. iv. 46.
Footnote 294:
“Ibráa” = deliverance from captivity, etc. Yá = í, and Mím = m,
composing the word “Ibrahím.” The guttural is concealed in the Hamzah
of Ibráa, a good illustration of Dr. Steingass’s valuable remarks in
Terminal Essay, pp. 273, 275.
Footnote 295:
“Kalím” = one who speaks with another, a familiar. Moses’ title is
Kalímu’llah on account of the Oral Law and certain conversations at
Mount Sinai.
Footnote 296:
In text “Istífá” = choice, selection: hence Mustafà = the Chosen
Prophet, Mohammed; vols. i. 7; ii. 40.
Footnote 297:
In text “Jazr” = cutting, strengthening, flow (of tide).
Footnote 298:
In the text “Náfishah” = Pers. “Náfah,” derived, I presume, from the ✓
“Náf” = belly or testicle, the part which in the musk-deer was
supposed to store up the perfume.
Footnote 299:
For “Nahávand,” the celebrated site in Al-Irak where the Persians
sustained their final defeat at the hands of the Arabs A.H. 21. It is
also one of the many musical measures, like the Ispaháni, the Rásti,
the Rayháni, the Búsalik, the Navá, etc., borrowed from the conquered
’Ajamí.
Footnote 300:
This second half of the story is laid upon the lines of “The Man of
Al-Yaman and his six Slave-girls”: vol. iv. 245.
Footnote 301:
This history again belongs to the class termed “Abtar” = tailless. In
the text we find for all termination, “After this he (Yúsuf) invited
Mohammed ibn Ibrahim to lie that night in the palace.” Scott (vi. 364)
ends after his own fashion:—“They (the ten girls) recited extempore
verses before the caliph, but the subject of each was so expressive of
their wish to return to their beloved sovereign, and delivered in so
affecting a manner, that Mamoon, though delighted with their wit and
beauty, sacrificed his own pleasure to their feelings, and sent them
back to Eusuff by the officer who carried the edict, confirming him in
his dominions, where the prince of Sind and the fair Aleefa continued
long, amid a numerous progeny, to live the protectors of their happy
subjects.”
Footnote 302:
This tale is headless as the last is tailless. We must suppose that
soon after Mohammed ibn Ibrahim had quitted the Caliph, taking away
the ten charmers, Al-Maamun felt his “breast straitened” and called
for a story upon one of his Ráwis named Ibn Ahyam. This name is
repeated in the text and cannot be a clerical error for Ibn Ibrahim.
Footnote 303:
Scott (vi. 366) “Adventures of the Three Princes, sons of the Sultan
of China.”
Footnote 304:
In the text “’Ajam,” for which see vol. i. 2, 120. Al-Irak, I may
observe, was the head-quarters of the extensive and dangerous
Khárijite heresy; and like Syria has ever a bad name amongst orthodox
Moslems.
Footnote 305:
In the Arab. “Salkh,” meaning also a peculiar form of circumcision,
for which see Pilgrimage iii. 80–81. The Jew’s condition was of course
a trick, presenting an impossibility and intended as a mere pretext
for murdering an enemy to his faith. Throughout the Eastern world this
idea prevails, and both Sir Moses Montefiore and M. Cremieux were
utterly at fault and certainly knew it when they declared that Europe
was teaching it to Asia. Every Israelite community is bound in
self-defence, when the murder of a Christian child or adult is charged
upon any of its members, to court the most searching enquiry and to
abate the scandal with all its might.
Footnote 306:
The text has “Fí Kíb,” which Scott (vol. vi. 367) renders “a mat.”
[According to the Muhít “Kíb” is a small thick mat used to produce
shade, pl. “Kiyáb” and “Akyáb.” The same authority says the word is of
Persian origin, but this seems an error, unless it be related to “Keb”
with the Yá majhúl, which in the Appendix to the Burháni Káti’ is
given as synonymous with “Pech,” twist, fold. Under “Bardí” = papyrus
the Muhít mentions that this is the material from which the mats known
by the name of “Akyáb” are made.—ST.]
Footnote 307:
[The text has here “Wasayah,” probably a clerical error for “wa Miah”
(spelt “Máyah”), and a hundred pair of pigeons.—ST.]
Footnote 308:
Showing utter ignorance of the Jewish rite which must always be
performed by the Mohel, an official of the Synagogue duly appointed by
the Sheliach = legatus; and within eight days after birth. The rite
consists of three operations. Milah = the cut; Priah = tearing the
foreskin and Mezzízah = applying styptics to the wound. The latter
process has become a matter of controversy and the Israelite community
of Paris, headed by the Chief Rabbi, M. Zadoc Kahin, has lately
assembled to discuss the question. For the difference between Jewish
and Moslem circumcision see vol. v. 209.
Footnote 309:
The Jewish quarter (Hárah), which the Israelites themselves call
“Hazer,” = a court-yard, an inclosure. In Mayer’s valuable
“Conversations-lexicon” the Italian word is derived from the Talmudic
“Ghet” = divorce, separation (as parting the Hebrews from the rest of
the population) and the Rev. S. R. Melli, Chief Rabbi of Trieste, has
kindly informed me that the word is Chaldaic.
Footnote 310:
[Ar. “Sarmújah,” from Persian “Sar-múzah,” a kind of hose or gaiter
worn over a boot.—ST.]
Footnote 311:
[Arab. “Yastanít,” aor. to the preter. “istanat,” which has been
explained, p. 34.—ST.]
Footnote 312:
The bed would be made of a carpet or thin mattress strewn upon the
stucco flooring of the terrace-roof. But the ignorant scribe overlooks
the fact that by Mosaic law every Jewish house must have a parapet for
the “Sakf” (flat roof), a precaution neglected by Al-Islam.
Footnote 313:
Good old classical English. In the “Breeches Bible” (A.D. 1586) we
read, “But a certaine woman cast a piece of millstone upon Abimelech’s
head and broke his brain-panne” (Judges ix. 33).
Footnote 314:
[The words “’Irz,” protection, in the preceding sentence, “Hurmah” and
“Shatáráh” explain each other mutually. The formula “fí ’irzak” (vulg.
“arzak,”) I place myself under thy protection, implies an appeal to
one’s honour (“’Irz”). Therefore the youth says: “Inna házih Hurmah
lam ’alay-há Shatárah,” _i.e._ “Truly this one is a woman” (in the
emphatic sense of a sacred or forbidden object; “this woman” would be
“házih al-Hurmah”), “I must not act vilely or rashly towards her,”
both vileness and rashness belonging to the many significations of
“Shatárah,” which is most usually “cleverness.”—ST.]
Footnote 315:
In the text “Sind,” still confounding this tale with the preceding.
Footnote 316:
In text “Intihába ’l furas,” lit. = the snatching of opportunities, a
jingle with “Kanas.”
Footnote 317:
[Compare with this episode the viith of Spitta Bey’s Tales: Histoire
du Prince qui apprit un métier.—ST.]
Footnote 318:
_i.e._ enables a man to conceal the pressure of impecuniosity.
Footnote 319:
In text “Al-Sádah wa al-Khatáyát.”
Footnote 320:
Subaudi, “that hath not been pierced.” “The first night,” which is
often so portentous a matter in England and upon the Continent (not of
North America) is rarely treated as important by Orientals. A long
theoretical familiarity with the worship of Venus
Leaves not much mystery for the nuptial night.
Such lore has been carefully cultivated by the “young person” with the
able assistance of the ancient dames of the household, of her juvenile
companions and co-evals and especially of the slave-girls. Moreover
not a few Moslems, even Egyptians, the most lecherous and salacious of
men, in all ranks of life from prince to peasant take a pride in
respecting the maiden for a few nights after the wedding-feast
extending, perhaps to a whole week and sometimes more. A brutal haste
is looked upon as “low”; and, as sensible men, they provoke by
fondling and toying Nature to speak ere proceeding to the final and
critical act. In England it is very different. I have heard of brides
over thirty years old who had not the slightest suspicion concerning
what complaisance was expected of them: out of _mauvaise honte_, the
besetting sin of the respectable classes, neither mother nor father
would venture to enlighten the elderly innocents. For a delicate girl
to find a man introducing himself into her bedroom and her bed, the
shock must be severe and the contact of hirsute breast and hairy limbs
with a satiny skin is a strangeness which must often breed loathing
and disgust. Too frequently also, instead of showing the utmost regard
for virginal modesty and innocence (alias ignorance), the bridegroom
will not put a check upon his passions and precipitates matters with
the rage of the bull, _ruentis in venerem_. Even after he hears “the
cry” which, as the Arabs say, “must be cried,” he has no mercy: the
newly made woman lies quivering with mental agitation and physical
pain, which not a few describe as resembling the tearing out of a
back-tooth, and yet he insists upon repeating the operation, never
supposing in his stupidity, that time must pass before the patient can
have any sensation of pleasure and before the glories and delights of
the sensual orgasm bathe her soul in bliss. Hence complaints,
dissatisfaction, disgust, mainly caused by the man’s fault, and hence
not unfrequently a permanent distaste for the act of carnal congress.
All women are by no means equally capable of such enjoyment, and not a
few have become mothers of many children without ever being or
becoming thoroughly reconciled to it. Especially in the case of highly
nervous temperaments—and these seem to be increasing in the United
States and notably in New England—the fear of nine months’ pains and
penalties makes the sex averse to the “deed of kind.” The first child
is perhaps welcomed, the second is an unpleasant prospect and there is
a firm resolve not to conceive a third. But such conjugal chastity is
incompatible, except in the case of “married saints,” with a _bon
ménage_. The husband, scandalised and offended by the rejection and
refusal of the wife, will seek a substitute more complaisant; and the
spouse also may “by the decree of Destiny” happen to meet the right
man, the man for whom and for whom only every woman will sweep the
floor. And then adieu to prudence and virtue, honour and fair fame.
For, I repeat, it is the universal custom of civilized and Christian
Europeans to plant their womankind upon a pedestal exposed as butts to
every possible temptation: and, if they fall, as must often be
expected, to assail them with obloquy and contempt for succumbing to
trials imposed upon them by the stronger and less sensitive sex. Far
more sensible and practical, by the side of these high idealists,
shows the Moslem who guards his jewel with jealous care and who, if
his “honour,” despite every precaution, insist upon disgracing him,
draws the sabre and cuts her down with the general approbation and
applause of society.
Footnote 321:
[Arab. “’Alà ghayri tarík,” which I would translate “out of the way,”
like the Persian “bí-Ráh.”—ST.]
Footnote 322:
In text “Kababjí” (for Kabábji) seller of Kabábs, mutton or kid
grilled in small squares and skewered: see vol. vi. 225.
Footnote 323:
In text “Sujjádah;” vol. vi. 193.
Footnote 324:
In text “Faddah” all through.
Footnote 325:
In text “Kirsh” (= piastre) a word before explained. See Lane (M.E.)
Appendix B.
Footnote 326:
In Arab. “Samár;” from the Pers. “Sumar” = a reed, a rush.
Footnote 327:
In Arab. “Díwán:” vols. vii. 340; ix. 108.
Footnote 328:
Scott has (vol. vi. 373), “The desired articles were furnished, and
the Sultan setting to work, in a few days finished a mat, in which he
ingeniously contrived to plait in flowery characters, known only to
himself and his vizier, the account of his situation.”
Footnote 329:
In Arab. “Ghirárah” (plur. “Gharáír”) = a sack. In Ibn Khall. (iv. pp.
90, 104) it is a large sack for grain and the especial name of a tax
on corn.
Footnote 330:
In the text “Mohammed ibn Ibrahim,” another confusion with the last
tale. This story is followed in the MS. by (1) “The History of the
First Brave,” (2) “The History of the Second Brave,” and “The Tale of
the Noodle and his Asses,” which I have omitted because too feeble for
insertion.
Footnote 331:
Scott (vi. 375) “Story of the Good Vizier unjustly imprisoned.”
Gauttier (vi. 394) _Histoire du bon Vizier injustement emprisonné_.
Footnote 332:
This detail has no significance, though perhaps its object may be to
affect the circumstantial, a favourite manœuvre with the Ráwí. [It may
mean that the prisoner had to pass through seven gates before reaching
it, to indicate its formidable strength and the hopelessness of all
escape, except perhaps by a seven-warded, or as the Arabs would say, a
seven-pinned key of gold. In the modern tale mentioned on p. 223 the
kidnapped Prince and his Wazir are made to pass “through one door
after the other until seven doors were passed,” to emphasise the utter
seclusion of their hiding place.—ST.]
Footnote 333:
_i.e._ the mats and mattresses, rugs and carpets, pillows and cushions
which compose the chairs, tables and beds of a well-to-do Eastern
lodging.
Footnote 334:
The pretext was natural. Pious Moslems often make such vows and
sometimes oblige themselves to feed the street dogs with good bread.
Footnote 335:
In text “Min hakk házá ’l-Kalám sahíh.”
Footnote 336:
In text “Káík” and “Káík-jí,” the well-known caïque of the Bosphorus,
a term which bears a curious family resemblance to the “Kayak” of the
Eskimos.
Footnote 337:
Here coffee is mentioned without tobacco, whereas in more modern days
the two are intimately connected. And the reason is purely hygienic.
Smoking increases the pulsations without strengthening them and
depresses the heart-action with a calming and soothing effect. Coffee,
like alcohol, affects the circulation in the reverse way by exciting
it through the nervous system; and not a few authorities advise
habitual smokers to end the day and prepare for rest with a glass of
spirits and water. It is to be desired that the ignorants who write
about “that filthy tobacco” would take the trouble to observe its
effects on a large scale, and not base the strongest and extremest
opinions, as is the wont of the Anglo-Saxon _Halb-bildung_, upon the
narrowest and shakiest of vases. In Egypt, India and other parts of
the Eastern world they will find nicotiana used by men, women and
children, of all ranks and ages; and the study of these millions would
greatly modify the results of observing a few hundreds at home. But,
as in the case of opium-eating, _populus vult decipi_, the
philanthrope does not want to know the truth, indeed he shrinks from
it and loathes it. All he cares for is his own especial “fad.”
Footnote 338:
Arab. “Finjál” systematically repeated for “Finján” pronounced in
Egypt “Fingán:” see vol. viii. 200. [The plural “Fanájíl,” pronounced
Fanágíl, occurs in Spitta Bey’s Contes Arabes Modernes, p. 92, and in
his Grammar, p. 26, the same author states that the forms “Fingán” and
“Fingál” are used promiscuously.—ST.]
Footnote 339:
For the “Khaznah” (Khazínah) or 10,000 kís each = £5, see vols. ii.
84; iii. 278.
Footnote 340:
A euphuism meaning some disaster. The text contains a favourite
incident in folk-lore; the first instance, I believe, being that of
Polycrates of Samos according to Herodotus (lib. iii. 41–42). The
theory is supported after a fashion by experience amongst all versed
in that melancholy wisdom the “knowledge of the world.” As Syr Cauline
the knight philosophically says:—
Everye white will have its blacke,
And everye sweete its sowre: etc.
Footnote 341:
Thus making the food impure and unfit for a religious Moslem to eat.
Scott (vi. 378) has “when a huge rat running from his hole leaped into
the dish which was placed upon the floor.” He is probably thinking of
the East Indian “bandycoot.”
Footnote 342:
In text this tale concludes, “It is ended and this (next) is the
History of the Barber.”
Footnote 343:
A dandy, a macaroni, from the Turk. Chelebi, see vol. i. 22. Here the
word is thoroughly Arabised. In old Turk. it means, a Prince of the
blood; in mod. times a gentleman, Greek or European.
Footnote 344:
In the text “Úzbáshá” (اوضباشا) or “Uzbáshá,” a vile Egyptianism for
Yúzbáshí = head of a hundred (men) centurion, captain.
Footnote 345:
_Scil._ the household, the Harem, etc. As usual, the masc. is used for
the fem.
Footnote 346:
[Ar. “Al-Rashákah,” a word is not found in the common lexicons. In
“Dozy and Engelmann’s Glossary of Spanish and Portuguese words derived
from the Arabic,” it is said to be a fork with three prongs, here
probably a hat-stand in the shape of such a fork.—ST.]
Footnote 347:
In text “Shá’il” copyist’s error for “Shághil,” act. part. of “Shughl”
= business, affairs. [Here it stands probably for the fuller “Shughl
shághil,” an urgent business.—ST.]
Footnote 348:
In text “Yá ’Ars, yá Mu’arras”: vol. i. 338.
Footnote 349:
In Syria most houses have a rain cistern or tank into which the
terrace-roof drains and which looks from above like a well with a
cover. The water must have been low when the lover hid himself in the
reservoir.
Footnote 350: