specify the “Tayr” (any bird) but the Bresl. Edit. has Ak’ak, a pie.
The true Magpie (_C. Pica_) called Buzarái (?) and Zaghzaghán Abú
Massáh (= the Sweeper, from its tail) is found on the Libanus and
Anti-Libanus (Unexplored Syria ii. 77–143), but I never saw it in
other parts of Syria or in Arabia. It is completely ignored by the
Reverend Mr. Tristram in his painfully superficial book “The Natural
History of the Bible,” published by the Society for Promoting
Christian Knowledge (or rather Ignorance), London, 1873.
Footnote 219:
This is “The Story of the Two Partridges,” told at great length in the
Book of Sindibad. See De Sacy’s text in the Kalilah wa Damnah, quoted
in the “Book of Kalilah and Damnah” (p. 306).
Footnote 220:
This extremely wilful young person had rendered rape excusable. The
same treatment is much called for by certain heroines of modern
fiction—let me mention Princess Napraxine.
Footnote 221:
The Story of the Hidden Robe, in the Book of Sindibad; where it is
told with all manner of Persian embellishments.
Footnote 222:
Now turned into Government offices for local administration; a
“Tribunal of Commerce,” etc.
Footnote 223:
Arab. “Bawwáb,” a personage as important as the old French concierge
and a man of trust who has charge of the keys and with letting vacant
rooms. In Egypt the Berber from the Upper Nile is the favourite
suisse; being held more honest or rather less rascally than the usual
Egyptian. These Berbers, however, are true barbarians, overfond of
Búzah (the beer of Osiris) and not unfrequently dangerous. They are
supposed by Moslems to descend from the old Syrians expelled by
Joshua. For the favourite chaff against them, eating the dog (not the
puppy-pie), see Pilgrimage i. 93. They are the “Paddies” of Egypt to
whom all kinds of bulls and blunders are attributed.
Footnote 224:
Arab. “Juma’ah,” which means either Friday or a week. In pre-Moslem
times it was called Al-Arúbah (the other week-days being Shiyár or
Saturday, Bawal, Bahan, Jabar, Dabar and Fámunís or Thursday).
Juma’ah, literally = “Meeting” or Congregation (-day), was made to
represent the Jewish Sabbath and the Christian Sunday because on that
day Allah ended the work of creation; it was also the date of
Mohammed’s entering Al-Medinah. According to Al-Bayzáwí, it was called
Assembly-day because Ka’ab ibn Lowa, one of the Prophet’s ancestors,
used to gather the people before him on Fridays. Moslems are not
forbidden to do secular work after the congregational prayers at the
hour when they must “hasten to the commemoration of Allah and leave
merchandising” (Koran, chapt. lxii. 9).
Footnote 225:
This is done only by the very pious: if they see a bit of bread they
kiss it, place it upon their heads and deposit it upon a wall or some
place where it will not be trodden on. She also removed the stones
lest haply they prove stumbling-blocks to some Moslem foot.
Footnote 226:
Arab. “Ashjár,” which may mean either the door-posts or the wooden
bolts. Lane (iii. 174) translates it “among the trees”—in a room!
Footnote 227:
Koran (ix. 51), when Mohammed reproaches the unbelievers for not
accompanying him to victory or martyrdom.
Footnote 228:
Arab. “Kiná’,” a true veil, not the “Burka’” or “nose-bag” with the
peepholes. It is opposed to the “Tarkah” or “head-veil.” Europeans
inveigh against the veil which represents the _loup_ of Louis
Quatorze’s day: it is on the contrary the most coquettish of
contrivances, hiding coarse skins, fleshy noses, wide mouths and
vanishing chins; and showing only lustrous and liquid black eyes.
Moreover a pretty woman, when she wishes, will always let you see
something under the veil. (Pilgrimage i. 337).
Footnote 229:
A yellow-flowered artemisia or absinthe whose wood burns like
holm-oak. (Unexplored Syria ii. 43). See vol. ii. 24 for further
details.
Footnote 230:
The Farz or obligatory prayers, I have noted, must be recited (if
necessary) in the most impure place; not so the other orisons. Hence
the use of the “Sajjádah” or prayer-rug, an article too well known to
require description.
Footnote 231:
_Anglicè_ a stomach-ache, a colic.
Footnote 232:
Arab. Al-Háfizah which has two meanings. Properly it signifies the
third order of Traditionists out of a total of five, or those who know
300,000 traditions and their ascriptions. Popularly “one who can
recite the Koran by rote.” There are six great Traditionists whose
words are held to be prime authorities; (1) Al-Bokhári; (2) Muslim;
and these are entitled Al-Sahíhayn, The (two true) authorities. After
them (3) Al-Tirmidi; and (4) Abu Dáud: these four being the authors of
the “Four Sunan;” the others are (5) Al-Nasái and (6) Ibn Májah (see
Jarrett’s Al-Siyuti pp. 2, 6; and, for modern Arab studies. Pilgrimage
i. 154 _et seq._)
Footnote 233:
Lane (iii. 176) marries the amorous couple, thus making the story
highly proper and robbing it of all its point.
Footnote 234:
Arab. “Sabbahat,” _i.e._ Sabbah-ak’ Allah bi’l khayr = Allah give thee
good morning: still the popular phrase.
Footnote 235:
Arab. “Ta’rísak,” with the implied hint of her being a “Mu’arrisah” or
shepander. The Bresl. Edit. (xii. 356) bluntly says “Kiyádatak”—thy
pimping.
Footnote 236:
Arab. “Rafw”; the “Rafu-gar” or fine-drawer in India, who does this
artistic style of darning, is famed for skill.
Footnote 237:
The question sounds strange to Europeans, but in the Moslem East a man
knows nothing, except by hearsay, of the women who visit his wife.
Footnote 238:
Arab. “Ahl al-bayt,” so as not rudely to say “wife.”
Footnote 239:
This is a mere abstract of the tale told in the Introduction (vol. i.
10–12). Here, however, the rings are about eighty; there the number
varies from ninety to five hundred and seventy.
Footnote 240:
The father suspected the son of intriguing with one of his own women.
Footnote 241:
Arab, and Heb. “Laban” (opp. to “laban-halíb,” or simply “halíb” =
fresh milk), milk artificially soured, the Dahin of India, the Kisainá
of the Slavs and our Corstophine cream. But in The Nights, contrary to
modern popular usage, “Laban” is also applied to fresh milk. The
soured form is universally in the East eaten with rice and enters into
the Salátah or cucumber-salad. I have noted elsewhere that all the
Galactophagi, the nomades who live on milk, use it in the soured never
in the fresh form. The Badawi have curious prejudices about it: it is
a disgrace to sell it (though not to exchange it), and “Labbán,” or
“milk-vendor,” is an insult. The Bráhni and Beloch nomades have the
same pundonor possibly learnt from the Arabs (Pilgrimage i. 363). For
‘Igt (Akit), Mahir, Saribah, Jamídah and other lactal preparations,
see _ibid._ i. 362.
Footnote 242:
I need hardly say that the poison would have been utterly harmless,
unless there had been an abrasion of the skin. The slave-girl is
blamed for carrying the jar uncovered because thus it would attract
the evil eye. In the Book of Sindibad the tale appears as the Story of
the Poisoned Guests; and the bird is a stork.
Footnote 243:
The Prince expresses the pure and still popular Moslem feeling; and
yet the learned and experienced Mr. Redhouse would confuse this
absolute Predestination with Providence. A friend tells me that the
idea of absolute Fate in The Nights makes her feel as if the world
were a jail.
Footnote 244:
In the Book of Sindibad this is the Story of the Sandal-wood Merchant
and the Advice of the Blind Old Man. Mr. Clouston (p. 163) quotes a
Talmudic joke which is akin to the Shaykh’s advice and a reply of Tyl
Eulenspiegel, the arch-rogue, which has also a family resemblance.
Footnote 245:
Arab. “Sá’a,” a measure of corn, etc., to be given in alms. The Kamus
makes it = four mudds (each being ⅓ lbs.); the people understand by it
four times the measure of a man’s two open hands.
Footnote 246:
_i.e._ till thou restore my eye to me. This style of prothesis without
apodosis is very common in Arabic and should be preserved in
translation, as it adds a naiveté to the style. We find it in Genesis
iii. 2, “And now lest he put forth his hand,” etc.
Footnote 247:
They were playing at Muráhanah, like children amongst us. It is also
called “Hukm wa Rizá” = order and consent. The penalty is usually
something ridiculous, but here it was villainous.
Footnote 248:
Every Moslem capital has a “Shaykh of the thieves” who holds regular
levées and who will return stolen articles for a consideration; and
this has lasted since the days of Diodorus Siculus (Pilgrimage i. 91).
Footnote 249:
This was not the condition; but I have left the text as it is
characteristic of the writer’s inconsequence.
Footnote 250:
The idea would readily occur in Egypt where the pulex is still a
plague although the Sultan is said to hold his court at Tiberias.
“Male and female” says the rogue, otherwise it would be easy to fill a
bushel with fleas. The insect was unknown to older India according to
some and was introduced by strangers. This immigration is quite
possible. In 1863 the jigger (_P. penetrans_) was not found in Western
Africa; when I returned there in 1882 it had passed over from the
Brazil and had become naturalised on the equatorial African seaboard.
The Arabs call shrimps and prawns “sea-fleas” (bargúth al-bahr)
showing an inland race. (See Pilgrimage i. 322.)
Footnote 251:
Submission to the Sultan and the tidings of his well-being should
content every Eastern subject. But, as Oriental history shows, the
form of government is a Despotism tempered by assassination. And under
no rule is man socially freer and his condition contrasts strangely
with the grinding social tyranny which characterises every mode of
democracy or constitutionalism, _i.e._ political equality.
Footnote 252:
Here the text has “Markúb” = a shoe; elsewhere “Na’al” = a sandal,
especially with wooden sole. In classical Arabia, however, “Na’al” may
be a shoe, a horse-shoe (iron-plate, not rim like ours). The Bresl.
Edit. has “Watá,” any foot gear.
Footnote 253:
Water-melons (batáyikh) says the Mac. Edit. a misprint for Aruz or
rice. Water-melons are served up raw cut into square mouthfuls, to be
eaten with rice and meat. They serve excellently well to keep the
palate clean and cool.
Footnote 254:
The text recounts the whole story over again—more than European
patience can bear.
Footnote 255:
The usual formula when telling an improbable tale. But here it is
hardly called for: the same story is told (on weak authority) of the
Alewife, the Three Graziers and Attorney-General Nay (temp. James II.
1577–1634) when five years old (Journ. Asiat. Soc. N.S. xxx. 280). The
same feat had been credited to Thomas Egerton, Lord Chancellor in A.D.
1540–1617 (Chalmers, Biographical Dictionary xxiii. 267–68). But the
story had already found its way into the popular jest-books such as
“Tales and Quick Answers, very Mery and Pleasant to Rede” (1530);
“Jacke of Dover’s Quest of Inquirie for the Foole of all Fooles”
(1604) under the title “The Foole of Westchester”, and in “Witty and
Entertaining Exploits of George Buchanan, commonly called the King’s
Fool.” The banker-bard Rogers (in Italy) was told a similar story
concerning a widow of the Lambertini house (xiv^{th} century). Thomas
Wright (Introduction to the Seven Sages) says he had met the tale in
Latin (xiii^{th}-xiv^{th} centuries) and a variant in the “Nouveaux
Contes à rire” (Amsterdam 1737), under the title “Jugement Subtil du
Duc d’Ossone contre Deux Marchands.” Its origin is evidently the old
Sindibád-namah translated from Syriac into Greek (“Syntipas,” xi^{th}
century); into Hebrew (Mishlé Sandabar, xii^{th} century), and from
the Arabian version into old Castilian, “Libro de los Engannos et los
Asayamientos de las Mugeres” (A.D. 1255), whereof a translation is
appended to Professor Comparetti’s “Ricerche intorne al Libro di
Sindibad,” translated by Mr. H. C. Coote for the Folk-Lore Society.
The Persian metrical form (an elaboration of one much older) dates
from 1375; and gave rise to a host of imitations such as the Turkish
Tales of the Forty Wazirs and the Canarese “Kathá Manjari,” where four
persons contend about a purse. See also Gladwin’s “Persian Moonshee,”
No. vi. of “Pleasing Stories;” and Mr. Clouston’s paper, “The Lost
Purse,” in the _Glasgow Evening Times_. All are the Eastern form of
Gavarni’s “Enfants Terribles,” showing the portentous precocity for
which some children (infant phenomena, calculating boys, etc. etc.)
have been famous.
Footnote 256:
From the Bresl. Edit. xii. 381. The Sa’lab or Abu Hosayn (Father of
the Fortlet) is the fox, in Marocco Akkáb: Talib Yúsuf and Wa’wi are
the jackal. Arabs have not preserved “Jakal” from the Heb. Shu’al and
Persian Shaghál (not Shagul) as the Rev. Mr. Tristram misinforms his
readers (Nat. Hist. p. 85).
JUDAR[257] AND HIS BRETHREN.
There was once a man and a merchant named Omar and he had for issue
three sons, the eldest called Sálim, the youngest Júdar, and the cadet
Salím. He reared them all till they came to man’s estate, but the
youngest he loved more than his brothers, who, seeing this, waxed
jealous of Judar and hated him. Now when their father, who was a man
shotten in years, saw that his two eldest sons hated their brother, he
feared lest after his death trouble should befal him from them. So he
assembled a company of his kinsfolk, together with divers men of
learning and property-distributors of the Kazi’s court, and bidding
bring all his monies and cloth, said to them, “O folk, divide ye this
money and stuff into four portions according to the law.” They did so,
and he gave one part to each of his sons and kept the fourth himself,
saying, “This was my good and I have divided it among them in my
lifetime; and this that I have kept shall be for my wife, their mother,
wherewithal to provide for her subsistence whenas she shall be a
widow.”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.
Now when it was the Six Hundred and Seventh Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the merchant
had divided his money and stuff into four portions, he said, “This share
shall be for my wife, their mother, wherewithal to provide for her
subsistence whenas she shall be a widow.” A little while after this he
died, and neither of the two elder brothers was content with his
share,[258] but sought more of Judar, saying, “Our father’s wealth is in
thy hands.” So he appealed to the judges; and the Moslems who had been
present at the partition came and bore witness of that which they knew,
wherefore the judge forbade them from one another; but Judar and his
brothers wasted much money in bribes to him. After this, the twain left
him awhile; presently, however, they began again to plot against him and
he appealed a second time to the magistrate, who once more decided in
his favour; but all three lost much money which went to the judges.
Nevertheless Sálim and Salím forbore not to seek his hurt and to carry
the case from court to court,[259] he and they losing till they had
given all their good for food to the oppressors and they became poor,
all three. Then the two elder brothers went to their mother and flouted
her and beat her, and seizing her money drave her away. So she betook
herself to her son Judar and told him how his brothers had dealt with
her and fell to cursing the twain. Said he, “O my mother, do not curse
them, for Allah will requite each of them according to his deed.” But, O
mother mine, see, I am become poor, and so are my brethren, for strife
occasioneth loss ruin-rife, and we have striven amain, and fought, I and
they, before the judges, and it hath profited us naught: nay, we have
wasted all our father left us and are disgraced among the folk by reason
of our testimony one against other. Shall I then contend with them anew
on thine account and shall we appeal to the judges? This may not be!
Rather do thou take up thine abode with me, and the scone I eat I will
share with thee. Do thou pray for me and Allah will give me the means of
thine alimony. Leave them to receive of the Almighty the recompense of
their deed, and console thyself with the saying of the poet who said:—
If a fool oppress thee bear patiently; ✿ And from Time expect thy
revenge to see:
Shun tyranny; for if mount oppressed ✿ A mount, ‘twould be shattered by
tyranny.
And he soothed and comforted her till she consented and took up her
dwelling with him. Then he gat him a net and went a-fishing every day in
the river or the banks about Bulák and old Cairo or some other place in
which there was water; and one day he would earn ten coppers,[260]
another twenty and another thirty, which he spent upon his mother and
himself, and they ate well and drank well. But, as for his brothers,
they plied no craft and neither sold nor bought; misery and ruin and
overwhelming calamity entered their houses and they wasted that which
they had taken from their mother and became of the wretched naked
beggars. So at times they would come to their mother, humbling
themselves before her exceedingly and complaining to her of hunger; and
she (a mother’s heart being pitiful) would give them some mouldy,
sour-smelling bread or, if there were any meat cooked the day before,
she would say to them, “Eat it quick and go ere your brother come; for
‘twould be grievous to him and he would harden his heart against me, and
ye would disgrace me with him.” So they would eat in haste and go. One
day among days they came in to their mother, and she set cooked meat and
bread before them. As they were eating, behold, in came their brother
Judar, at whose sight the parent was put to shame and confusion, fearing
lest he should be wroth with her; and she bowed her face earthwards
abashed before her son. But he smiled in their faces, saying, “Welcome,
O my brothers! A blessed day![261] How comes it that ye visit me this
blessed day?” Then he embraced them both and entreated them lovingly,
saying to them, “I thought not that ye would have left me desolate by
your absence nor that ye would have forborne to come and visit me and
your mother.” Said they, “By Allah, O our brother, we longed sore for
thee and naught withheld us but abashment because of what befel between
us and thee; but indeed we have repented much. ‘Twas Satan’s doing, the
curse of Allah the Most High be upon him! And now we have no blessing
but thyself and our mother.”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day
and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Six Hundred and Eighth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Judar entered
his place and saw his brothers, he welcomed them both, saying, “And I
have no blessing but you twain.” And his mother exclaimed, “Allah whiten
thy face, and increase thy prosperity, for thou art the most generous of
us all, O my son!” Then he said “Welcome to you both! Abide with me; for
the Lord is bountiful and good aboundeth with me.” So he made peace with
them, and they supped and nighted with him; and next morning, after they
had broken their fast, Judar shouldered his net and went out, trusting
in The Opener[262] whilst the two others also went forth and were absent
till midday, when they returned and their mother set the noon-meal
before them. At nightfall Judar came home, bearing meat and greens, and
they abode on this wise a month’s space, Judar catching fish and selling
it and spending their price on his mother and his brothers, and these
eating and frolicking till, one day, it chanced he went down to the
river-bank and throwing his net, brought it up empty. He cast it a
second time, but again it came up empty and he said in himself, “No fish
in this place!” So he removed to another and threw the net there, but
without avail. And he ceased not to remove from place to place till
nightfall, but caught not a single sprat[263] and said to himself,
“Wonderful! Hath the fish fled the river or what?” Then he shouldered
the net and made for home, chagrined, concerned, feeling for his mother
and brothers and knowing not how he should feed them that night.
Presently, he came to a baker’s oven and saw the folk crowding for
bread, with silver in their hands, whilst the baker took no note of
them. So he stood there sighing, and the baker said to him, “Welcome to
thee, O Judar! Dost thou want bread?” But he was silent and the baker
continued, “An thou have no dirhams, take thy sufficiency and thou shalt
get credit.” So Judar said, “Give me ten coppers’ worth of bread and
take this net in pledge.” Rejoined the baker, “Nay, my poor fellow, the
net is thy gate of earning thy livelihood, and if I take it from thee, I
shall close up against thee the door of thy subsistence. Take thee ten
Nusfs’ worth of bread and take these other ten, and to-morrow bring me
fish for the twenty.” “On my head and eyes be it!” quoth Judar and took
the bread and money saying, “To-morrow the Lord will dispel the trouble
of my case and will provide me the means of acquittance.” Then he bought
meat and vegetables and carried them home to his mother, who cooked them
and they supped and went to bed. Next morning he arose at daybreak and
took the net, and his mother said to him, “Sit down and break thy fast.”
But he said, “Do thou and my brothers breakfast,” and went down to the
river about Bulak where he ceased not to cast once, twice, thrice; and
to shift about all day, without aught falling to him, till the hour of
mid-afternoon prayer, when he shouldered his net and went away sore
dejected. His way led him perforce by the booth of the baker who, when
he saw him, counted out to him the loaves and the money, saying, “Come,
take it and go; an it be not to-day, ‘twill be to-morrow.” Judar would
have excused himself, but the baker said to him, “Go! There needeth no
excuse; an thou had netted aught, it would be with thee; so seeing thee
empty-handed, I knew thou hadst gotten naught; and if to-morrow thou
have no better luck, come and take bread and be not abashed, for I will
give thee credit.” So Judar took the bread and money and went home. On
the third day also he sallied forth and fished from tank to tank until
the time of afternoon-prayer, but caught nothing; so he went to the
baker and took the bread and silver as usual. On this wise he did seven
days running, till he became disheartened and said in himself, “To-day I
go to the Lake Kárún.”[264] So he went thither and was about to cast his
net, when there came up to him unawares a Maghrabí, a Moor, clad in
splendid attire and riding a she-mule with a pair of gold-embroidered
saddle-bags on her back and all her trappings also orfrayed. The Moor
alighted and said to him, “Peace be upon thee, O Judar, O son of Omar!”
“And on thee likewise be peace, O my lord the pilgrim!” replied the
fisherman. Quoth the Maghrabi, “O Judar, I have need of thee and, given
thou obey me, thou shalt get great good and shalt be my companion and
manage my affairs for me.” Quoth Judar, “O my lord, tell me what is in
thy mind and I will obey thee, without demur.” Said the Moor, “Repeat
the Fatihah, the Opening Chapter of the Koran.”[265] So he recited it
with him and the Moor bringing out a silken cord, said to Judar, “Pinion
my elbows behind me with this cord, as fast as fast can be, and cast me
into the lake; then wait a little while; and, if thou see me put forth
my hands above the water, raising them high ere my body show, cast thy
net over me and drag me out in haste; but if thou see me come up feet
foremost, then know that I am dead; in which case do thou leave me and
take the mule and saddle-bags and carry them to the merchants’ bazar,
where thou wilt find a Jew by name Shamáyah. Give him the mule and he
will give thee an hundred dinars, which do thou take and go thy ways and
keep the matter secret with all secrecy.” So Judar tied his arms tightly
behind his back and he kept saying, “Tie tighter.” Then said he, “Push
me till I fall into the lake:” so he pushed him in and he sank. Judar
stood waiting some time till, behold, the Moor’s feet appeared above the
water, whereupon he knew that he was dead. So he left him and drove the
mule to the bazar, where seated on a stool at the door of his storehouse
he saw the Jew who spying the mule, cried, “In very sooth the man hath
perished,” adding, “and naught undid him but covetise.” Then he took the
mule from Judar and gave him an hundred dinars, charging him to keep the
matter secret. So Judar went and bought what bread he needed, saying to
the baker, “Take this gold piece!”; and the man summed up what was due
to him and said, “I still owe thee two days’ bread”——And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Six Hundred and Ninth Night,