his son-in-law, Abdullah of the Land, Wazir of the right and Abdullah
the baker Wazir of the left. In such condition the fisherman abode a
whole year, every day carrying for the Merman the crate full of fruit
and receiving it back, full of jewels; and when fruit failed from the
gardens, he carried him raisins and almonds and filberts and walnuts and
figs and so forth; and all that he brought for him the Merman accepted
and returned him the fish-basket full of jewels according to his custom.
Now it chanced one day that he carried him the crate, full of dry[255]
fruits as was his wont, and his friend took them from him. Then they sat
down to converse, Abdullah the fisherman on the beach and Abdullah the
Merman in the water near the shore, and discoursed; and the talk went
round between them, till it fell upon the subject of sepulchres; whereat
quoth the Merman, “O my brother, they say that the Prophet (whom Allah
assain and save!) is buried with you on the land. Knowest thou his
tomb?” Abdullah replied, “Yes; it lieth in a city called Yathrib.[256]”
Asked the Merman, “And do the people of the land visit it?” “Yes,”
answered the fisherman, and the other said, “I give you joy, O people of
the land, of visiting[257] that noble Prophet and compassionate, which
whoso visiteth meriteth his intercession! Hast thou made such
visitation, O my brother?” Replied the fisherman, “No: for I was poor
and had not the necessary sum[258] to spend by the way, nor have I been
in easy case but since I knew thee and thou bestowedst on me this good
fortune. But such visitation behoveth me after I have pilgrimed to the
Holy House of Allah[259] and naught withholdeth me therefrom but my love
to thee, because I cannot leave thee for one day.” Rejoined the Merman,
“And dost thou set the love of me before the visitation of the tomb of
Mohammed (whom Allah assain and save!), who shall intercede for thee on
the Day of Review before Allah and shall save thee from the Fire and
through whose intercession thou shalt enter Paradise? And dost thou, for
the love of the world, neglect to visit the tomb of thy Prophet[260]
Mohammed, whom God bless and preserve?” Replied Abdullah, “No, by Allah,
I set the visitation of the Prophet’s tomb above all else, and I crave
thy leave to pray before it this year.” The Merman rejoined, “I grant
thee leave, on condition that when thou shalt stand by his sepulchre
thou salute him for me with the Salam. Furthermore I have a trust to
give thee; so come thou with me into the sea, that I may carry thee to
my city and entertain thee in my house and give thee a deposit; which
when thou takest thy station by the Prophet’s tomb, do thou lay thereon,
saying:—O apostle of Allah, Abdullah the Merman saluteth thee and
sendeth thee this present, imploring thine intercession to save him from
the Fire.” Said the fisherman, “O my brother, thou wast created in the
water and water is thy abiding-place and doth thee no hurt, but, if thou
shouldst come forth to the land, would any harm betide thee?” The Merman
replied, “Yes; my body would dry up and the breezes of the land would
blow upon me and I should die.” Rejoined the fisherman, “And I, in like
manner, was created on the land and the land is my abiding-place; but,
an I went down into the sea, the water would enter my belly and choke me
and I should die.” Retorted the other, “Have no fear for that, for I
will bring thee an ointment, wherewith when thou hast anointed thy body,
the water will do thee no hurt, though thou shouldst pass the lave of
thy life going about in the great deep: and thou shalt lie down and rise
up in the sea and naught shall harm thee.” Quoth the fisherman, “An the
case be thus, well and good; but bring me the ointment, so that I may
make trial of it;” and quoth the Merman, “So be it;” then, taking the
fish-basket disappeared in the depths. He was absent awhile, and
presently returned with an unguent as it were the fat of beef, yellow as
gold and sweet of savour. Asked the fisherman, “What is this, O my
brother?”; and answered the Merman, “’Tis the liver-fat of a kind of
fish called the Dandán,[261] which is the biggest of all fishes and the
fiercest of our foes. His bulk is greater than that of any beast of the
land, and were he to meet a camel or an elephant, he would swallow it at
a single mouthful.” Abdullah enquired, “O my brother, what doth this
baleful beast?”; and the Merman replied, “He eateth of the beasts of the
sea. Hast thou not heard the saying:—Like the fishes of the sea:
forcible eateth feeble?[262]” “True; but have you many of these Dandans
in the sea?” “Yes, there be many of them with us. None can tell their
tale save Almighty Allah.” “Verily, I fear lest, if I go down with thee
into the deep a creature of this kind fall in with me and devour me.”
“Have no fear: when he seeth thee, he will know thee for a son of Adam
and will fear thee and flee. He dreadeth none in the sea as he dreadeth
a son of Adam; for that an he eateth a man he dieth forthright, because
human fat is a deadly poison to this kind of creature; nor do we collect
its liver-speck save by means of a man, when he falleth into the sea and
is drowned; for that his semblance becometh changed and ofttimes his
flesh is torn; so the Dandan eateth him, deeming him the same of the
denizens of the deep, and dieth. Then we light upon our enemy dead and
take the speck of his liver and grease ourselves so that we can
over-wander the main in safety. Also, wherever there is a son of Adam,
though there be in that place an hundred or two hundred or a thousand or
more of these beasts, all die forthright an they but hear him——And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Forty-fifth Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abdullah of the
Sea said to Abdullah of the Land, “And if a thousand or more of this
kind hear an Adamite cry a single cry, forthright all die nor hath one
of them power to remove from his place; so, whenever a son of Adam
falleth into the sea, we take him and anoint him with this fat and go
round about the depths with him, and whenever we see a Dandan or two or
three or more, we bid him cry out and they all die forthright for his
once crying.” Quoth the fisherman, “I put my trust in Allah;” and,
doffing his clothes, buried them in a hole which he dug in the beach;
after which he rubbed his body from head to heels with that ointment.
Then he descended into the water and diving, opened his eyes and the
brine did him no hurt. So he walked right and left, and if he would, he
rose to the sea-face, and if he would, he sank to the base. And he
beheld the water as it were a tent over his head; yet it wrought him no
hurt. Then said the Merman to him, “What seest thou, O my brother?”; and
said he, “O my brother, I see naught save weal[263]; and indeed thou
spakest truth in that which thou saidst to me; for the water doth me no
hurt.” Quoth the Merman, “Follow me.” So he followed him and they ceased
not faring on from place to place, whilst Abdullah discovered before him
and on his right and left mountains of water and solaced himself by
gazing thereon and on the various sorts of fish, some great and some
small, which disported themselves in the main. Some of them favoured
buffaloes[264] others oxen and others dogs and yet others human beings;
but all to which they drew near fled, whenas they saw the fisherman, who
said to the Merman, “O my brother, how is it that I see all the fish, to
which we draw near, flee from us afar?” Said the other, “Because they
fear thee, for all things that Allah hath made fear the son of
Adam.[265]” The fisherman ceased not to divert himself with the marvels
of the deep, till they came to a high mountain and fared on beside it.
Suddenly, he heard a mighty loud cry and turning, saw some black thing,
the bigness of a camel or bigger, coming down upon him from the liquid
mountain and crying out. So he asked his friend, “What is this, O my
brother?”; and the Merman answered, “This is the Dandan. He cometh in
search of me, seeking to devour me; so cry out at him, O my brother, ere
he reach us; else he will snatch me up and devour me.” Accordingly
Abdullah cried out at the beast and behold, it fell down dead; which
when he saw, he said, “Glorified be the perfection of God and His
praise! I smote it not with sword nor knife; how cometh it that, for all
the vastness of the creature’s bulk, it could not bear my cry, but
died?” Replied the Merman, “Marvel not, for, by Allah, O my brother,
were there a thousand or two thousand of these creatures, yet could they
not endure the cry of a son of Adam.” Then they walked on, till they
made a city, whose inhabitants the fisherman saw to be all women, there
being no male among them; so he said to his companion, “O my brother,
what city is this and what are these women?” “This is the city of women;
for its inhabitants are of the women of the sea.” “Are there any males
among them?” “No!” “Then how do they conceive and bear young, without
males[266]?” “The King of the sea banisheth them hither and they
conceive not neither bear children. All the women of the sea, with whom
he is wroth, he sendeth to this city, and they cannot leave it; for,
should one of them come forth therefrom, any of the beasts of the sea
that saw her would eat her. But in other cities of the main there are
both males and females.” Thereupon asked the fisherman, “Are there then
other cities than this in the sea?”; and the Merman answered, “There are
many.” Quoth the fisherman, “And is there a Sultan over you in the sea?”
“Yes,” quoth the Merman. Then said Abdullah “O my brother, I have indeed
seen many marvels in the main!” But the Merman said, “And what hast thou
seen of its marvels[267]? Hast thou not heard the saying:—The marvels of
the sea are more manifold than the marvels of the land?” “True,”
rejoined the fisherman and fell to gazing upon those women, whom he saw
with faces like moons and hair like women’s hair, but their hands and
feet were in their middle and they had tails like fishes’ tails. Now
when the Merman had shown him the people of the city, he carried him
forth therefrom and fore-walked him to another city, which he found full
of folk, both males and females, formed like the women aforesaid and
having tails; but there was neither selling nor buying amongst them, as
with the people of the land, nor were they clothed, but went all naked
and with their shame uncovered. Said Abdullah “O my brother, I see males
and females alike with their shame exposed[268],” and the other said,
“This is because the folk of the sea have no clothes.” Asked the
fisherman, “And how do they when they marry?” The Merman answered, “They
do not marry; but every one who taketh a liking to a female doth his
will of her.” Quoth Abdullah, “This is unlawful! Why doth he not ask her
in marriage and dower her and make her a wedding festival and marry her,
in accordance with that which is pleasing to Allah and His Apostle?”;
and quoth the other, “We are not all of one religion: some of us are
Moslems, believers in The Unity, others Nazarenes and what not else; and
each marrieth in accordance with the ordinances of his creed; but those
of us who marry are mostly Moslems.” The fisherman continued, “Ye are
naked and have neither buying nor selling among you: of what then is
your wives’ dowry? Do ye give them jewels and precious stones?” The
Merman rejoined, “Gems with us are only stones without worth: but upon
the Moslem who is minded to marry they impose a dowry of a certain
number of fishes of various kinds that he must catch, a thousand or two
thousand, more or less, according to the agreement between himself and
the bride’s father. As soon as he bringeth the amount required, the
families of the bride and bridegroom assemble and eat the
marriage-banquet; after which they bring him in to his bride, and he
catcheth fish and feedeth her; or, if he be unable, she catcheth fish
and feedeth him.” Enquired the fisherman, “And how if a woman commit
adultery?”; and the other replied, “If a woman be convicted of this
case, they banish her to the City of Women; and if she be with child by
her gallant, they leave her till she be delivered; then, if she give
birth to a girl, they banish her with her, calling her adulteress,
daughter of adulteress, and she abideth a maid till she die; but, if the
woman give birth to a male child, they carry it to the Sultan of the
Sea, who putteth it to death.” Abdullah marvelled at this and the Merman
carried him to another city and thence to another and yet another, till
he had diverted him with the sight of eighty cities, and he saw the
people of each city unlike those of every other. Then said he to the
Merman, “O my brother, are there yet other cities in the main?”; whereto
said the other, “And what hast thou seen of the cities of the sea and
its wondrous spectacles? By the virtue of the noble Prophet, the benign,
the compassionate, were I to show thee every day a thousand cities for a
thousand years, and in each city a thousand marvels, I should not have
shown thee one carat of the four-and-twenty carats of the cities of the
sea and its miracles! I have but shown thee our own province and
country, nothing more.” The fisherman thus resumed, “O my brother, since
this is the case, what I have seen sufficeth me, for I am a-weary of
eating fish, and these fourscore days I have been in thy company, thou
hast fed me, morning and night, upon nothing but raw fish, neither
broiled nor boiled.” “And what is broiled and boiled?” “We broil fish
with fire and boil it in water and dress it in various ways and make
many dishes of it.” “And how should we come by fire in the sea? We know
not broiled nor boiled nor aught else of the kind.” “We also fry it in
olive-oil and oil of sesame[269].” “How should we come by olive-oil and
oil of sesame in the sea? Verily we know nothing of that thou namest.”
“True, but O my brother, thou hast shown me many cities; yet hast thou
not shown me thine own city.” “As for mine own city, we passed it a long
way, for it is near the land whence we came, and I left it and came with
thee hither, thinking only to divert thee with the sight of the greater
cities of the sea.” “That which I have seen of them sufficeth me; and
now I would have thee show me thine own city.” “So be it,” answered
Abdullah of the Sea; and, returning on his traces, carried him back
thither and said to him, “This is my city.” Abdullah of the Land looked
and saw a city small by comparison with those he had seen; then he
entered with his comrade of the deep and they fared on till they came to
a cave. Quoth the Merman, “This is my house and all the houses in the
city are like this, caverns great and small in the mountains; as are
also those of every other city of the sea. For whoso is minded to make
him a house must repair to the King and say to him, ‘I wish to make me a
house in such a place.’ Whereupon the King sends with him a band of the
fish called ‘Peckers,’[270] which have beaks that crumble the hardest
rock, appointing for their wage a certain quantum of fish. They betake
themselves to the mountain chosen by the intended owner and therein
pierce the house, whilst the owner catcheth fish for them and feedeth
them, till the cave is finished, when they wend their ways and the
house-owner taketh up his abode therein. On such wise do all the people
of the sea; they traffic not one with other nor serve each other save by
means of fish; and their food is fish and they themselves are a kind of
fish[271].” Then he said to him, “Enter!” So Abdullah entered and the
Merman cried out, saying, “Ho, daughter mine!” when behold, there came
to him a damsel with a face like the rondure of the moon and hair long,
hips heavy, eyes black-edged and waist slender; but she was naked and
had a tail. When she saw Abdullah of the Land she said to her sire, “O
my father, what is this No[272]-tail thou hast brought with thee?” He
replied, “O my daughter this is my friend of the land, from whom I used
to bring thee the fruits of the ground. Come hither and salute him with
the salam.” So she came forward and saluted the fisherman with loquent
tongue and eloquent speech; and her father said to her, “Bring meat for
our guest, by whose visit a blessing hath betided us[273]:” whereupon
she brought him two great fishes, each the bigness of a lamb, and the
Merman said to him, “Eat.” So he ate for stress of hunger, despite
himself; because he was tired of eating fish and they had naught else
save fish. Before long, in came the Merman’s wife, who was beautiful of
form and favour and with her two children, each having in his hand a
young fish, which he craunched as a man would craunch a cucumber. When
she saw the fisherman with her husband, she said, “What is this
No-Tail?” And she and her sons and their sister came up to him and fell
to examining the back parts of Abdullah of the Land, and saying, “Yea,
by Allah, he is tailless!”; and they laughed at him. So he said to the
Merman, “O my brother, hast thou brought me hither to make me a butt and
a laughing-stock for thy children and thy consort?”——And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
[Illustration]
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Forty-sixth Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abdullah of the
Land said to Abdullah of the Sea, “O my brother, hast thou brought me
hither to make me a butt and a laughing-stock for thy children and thy
consort?” Cried the Merman, “Pardon, O my brother! Those who have no
tails are rare among us, and whenever one such is found, the Sultan
taketh him, to make fun of him, and he abideth a marvel amongst us, and
all who see him laugh at him. But, O my brother, excuse these young
children and this woman, for they lack wits.” Then he cried out to his
family, saying, “Silence!”; so they were afraid and held their peace;
whilst he went on to soothe Abdullah’s mind. Presently, as they were
talking, behold, in came some ten Mermen, tall and strong and stout, and
said to him, “O Abdullah, it hath reached the King that thou hast with
thee a No-tail of the No-tails of the earth.” Answered the Merman, “Yes;
and this is he; but he is not of us nor of the children of the sea. He
is my friend of the land and hath come to me as a guest and I purpose to
carry him back to the land.” Quoth they, “We cannot depart but with him;
so, an thou have aught to say, arise and come with him before the King;
and whatso thou wouldst say to us, say thou that same to the King.” Then
quoth the Merman to the fisherman, “O my brother, my excuse is manifest,
and we may not disobey the King: but go thou with me to him and I will
do my best to deliver thee from him, Inshallah! Fear not, for he deemeth
thee of the children of the sea; but, when he seeth thee, he will know
thee to be of the children of the land, and he will surely entreat thee
honourably and restore thee to the land.” And Abdullah of the Land
replied, “’Tis thine to decide, I will trust in Allah and wend with
thee.” So he took him and carried him to the King, who, when he saw him,
laughed at him and said, “Welcome to the No-tail!” And all who were
about the King began to laugh at him and say, “Yea, by Allah, he is
tailless!” Then Abdullah of the Sea came forward and acquainted the King
with the fisherman’s case, saying, “This man is of the children of the
land and he is my comrade and cannot live amongst us, for that he loveth
not the eating of fish, except it be fried or boiled; wherefore I desire
that thou give me leave to restore him to the land.” Whereto the King
replied, “Since the case is so, and he cannot live among us, I give thee
leave to restore him to his place, after due entertainment,” presently
adding, “Bring him the guest-meal.” So they brought him fish of various
kinds and colours and he ate, in obedience to the royal behest; after
which the King said to him, “Ask a boon of me.” Quoth he, “I ask of thee
that thou give me jewels;” and the King said, “Carry him to the
jewel-house and let him choose that whereof he hath need.” So his friend
carried him to the jewel-house and he picked out whatso he would, after
which the Merman brought him back to his own city and pulling out a
purse, said to him, “Take this deposit and lay it on the tomb of the
Prophet, whom Allah save and assain!” And he took it, knowing not what
was therein. Then the Merman went forth with him, to bring him back to
land, and by the way he heard singing and merrymaking and saw a table
spread with fish and folk eating and singing and holding mighty high
festival. So Abdullah of the Land said to his friend, “What aileth these
people to rejoice thus? Is there a wedding among them?” Replied Abdullah
of the Sea, “Nay; one of them is dead.” Asked the fisherman, “Then do
ye, when one dieth amongst you, rejoice for him and sing and feast?”;
and the Merman answered, “Yes: and ye of the land, what do ye?” Quoth
Abdullah of the Land, “When one dieth amongst us, we weep and keen for
him and the women beat their faces and rend the bosoms of their raiment,
in token of mourning for the dead.” But Abdullah the Merman stared at
him with wide eyes and said to him, “Give me the deposit!” So he gave it
to him. Then he set him ashore and said to him, “I have broken off our
companionship and our amity; wherefore from this day forward thou shalt
no more see me, nor I see thee.” Cried the fisherman, “Why sayst thou
this?”; and the other said, “Are ye not, O folk of the land, a deposit
of Allah?” “Yes.” “Why then,” asked the Merman, “is it grievous to you
that Allah should take back His deposit and wherefore weep ye over it?
How can I entrust thee with a deposit for the Prophet (whom Allah save
and assain!), seeing that, when a child is born to you, ye rejoice in
it, albeit the Almighty setteth the soul therein as a deposit; and yet,
when he taketh it again, it is grievous to you and ye weep and mourn?
Since it is hard for thee to give up the deposit of Allah, how shall it
be easy to thee to give up the deposit of the Prophet?[274] Wherefore we
need not your companionship.” Saying thus he left him and disappeared in
the sea. Thereupon Abdullah of the Land donned his dress and taking the
jewels, went up to the King, who met him lovingly and rejoiced at his
return saying, “How dost thou, O my son-in-law, and what is the cause of
thine absence from me this while?” So he told him his tale and
acquainted him with that which he had seen of marvels in the sea,
whereat the King wondered. Then he told him what Abdullah the Merman had
said[275]; and the King replied, “Indeed ’twas thou wast at fault to
tell him this.” Nevertheless, he continued for some time to go down to
the shore and call upon Abdullah of the Sea, but he answered him not nor
came to him; so, at last, he gave up all hope of him and abode, he and
the King his father-in-law and the families of them both in the happiest
of case and the practice of righteous ways, till there came to them the
Destroyer of Delights and the Severer of societies and they died all.
Wherefore glory be to the Living, who dieth not, whose is the empire of
the Seen and the Unseen, who over all things is Omnipotent and is
gracious to His servants and knoweth their every intent! And amongst the
tales they tell is one anent
-----
Footnote 232:
The tale begins upon the model of “Júdar and his Brethren,” vi. 213.
Its hero’s full name is Abdu’lláhi = Slave of Allah, which vulgar
Egyptians pronounce Abdallah and purer speakers, Badawin and others,
Abdullah: either form is therefore admissible. It is more common among
Moslems but not unknown to Christians especially Syrians who borrow it
from the Syriac Alloh. Mohammed is said to have said, “The names most
approved by Allah are Abdu’llah, Abd al-Rahmán (Slave of the
Compassionate) and such like” (Pilgrimage i. 20).
Footnote 233:
Arab. “Sírah” here probably used of the Nile-sprat (_Clupea Sprattus_
Linn.) or Sardine of which Forsk says, “Sardinn in Al-Yaman is applied
to a Red Sea fish of the same name.” Hasselquist the Swede notes that
Egyptians stuff the Sardine with marjoram and eat it fried even when
half putrid.
Footnote 234:
_i.e._ by declaring in the Koran (lxvii. 14; lxxiv. 39; lxxviii. 69;
lxxxviii. 17), that each creature hath its appointed term and lot;
especially “Thinketh man that he shall be left uncared for?” (xl. 36).
Footnote 235:
Arab. “Nusf,” see vol. ii. 37.
Footnote 236:
Arab. “Allah Karím” (which Turks pronounce Kyerím) a consecrated
formula used especially when a man would show himself resigned to
“small mercies.” The fisherman’s wife was evidently pious as she was
poor; and the description of the pauper household is simple and
effective.
Footnote 237:
This is repeated in the Mac. Edit. pp. 496–97; an instance amongst
many of most careless editing.
Footnote 238:
Arab. “Alà mahlak” (vulg.), a popular phrase, often corresponding with
our = Take it coolly.
Footnote 239:
For “He did not keep him waiting, as he did the rest of the folk.”
Lane prefers “nor neglected him as men generally would have done.” But
we are told supra that the baker “paid no heed to the folk by reason
of the dense crowd.”
Footnote 240:
Arab. “Ruh!” the most abrupt form, whose sound is coarse and offensive
as the Turkish yell, “Gyel!” = come here!
Footnote 241:
Bresl. Edit. xi. 50–51.
Footnote 242:
Arab. “Ádamí” = an Adamite, one descended from the mythical and
typical Adam for whom see Philo Judæus. We are told in one place a few
lines further on that the merman is of humankind; and in another that
he is a kind of fish (Night dccccxlv). This belief in mermen, possibly
originating with the caricatures of the human face in the intelligent
seal and stupid manatee, is universal. Al-Kazwini declares that a
waterman with a tail was dried and exhibited, and that in Syria one of
them was married to a woman and had by her a son “who understood the
languages of both his parents.” The fable was refined to perfect
beauty by the Greeks: the mer-folk of the Arabs, Hindus and
Northerners (Scandinavians, etc.) are mere grotesques with green hair,
etc. Art in its highest expression never left the shores of the
Mediterranean, and there is no sign that it ever will.
Footnote 243:
Here Lane translates “Wajh” lit. “the desire of seeing the face of
God,” and explains in a note that a “Muslim holds this to be the
greatest happiness that can be enjoyed in Paradise.” But I have noted
that the tenet of seeing the countenance of the Creator, except by the
eyes of spirit, is a much disputed point amongst Moslems.
Footnote 244:
Artful enough is this contrast between the squalid condition of the
starving fisherman and the gorgeous belongings of the Merman.
Footnote 245:
Lit. “Verily he laughed at me so that I set him free.” This is a fair
specimen of obscure conciseness.
Footnote 246:
Arab. “Mishannah,” which Lane and Payne translate basket: I have
always heard it used of an old gunny-bag or bag of plaited
palm-leaves.
Footnote 247:
Arab. “Kaff Shurayk” applied to a single bun. The Shurayk is a bunn,
an oblong cake about the size of a man’s hand (hence the term “Kaff” =
palm) with two long cuts and sundry oblique crosscuts, made of
leavened dough, glazed with egg and Samn (clarified butter) and
flavoured with spices (cinnamon, curcuma, artemisia and prunes
_mahalab_), and with aromatic seeds, (Ríhat al-’ajin) of which Lane
(iii. 641) specifies aniseed, nigella, absinthium, (Artemisia
arborescens) and Káfúrah (A. camphorata Monspeliensis) etc. The
Shurayk is given to the poor when visiting the tombs and on certain
fêtes.
Footnote 248:
“Mother of Prosperities.”
Footnote 249:
Tribes of pre-historic Arabs who were sent to Hell for bad behaviour
to Prophets Sálih and Húd. See vol. iii. 294.
Footnote 250:
“Too much for him to come by lawfully.”
Footnote 251:
To protect it. The Arab. is “Jáh” = high station, dignity.
Footnote 252:
The European reader, especially feminine, will think this a hard fate
for the pious first wife but the idea would not occur to the Moslem
mind. After bearing ten children a woman becomes “Umm al-banáti w’
al-banín” = a mother of daughters and sons, and should hold herself
unfit for love-disport. The seven ages of womankind are thus described
by the Arabs and I translate the lines after a well-known (Irish)
model:—
From ten years to twenty—
Of beauty there’s plenty.
From twenty to thirty—
Fat, fair and alert t’ye.
From thirty to forty—
Lads and lasses she bore t’ye.
From forty to fifty—
An old ’un and shifty.
From fifty to sixty—
A sorrow that sticks t’ye.
From sixty to seventy—
A curse of God sent t’ye.
For these and other sentiments upon the subject of women and marriage
see Pilgrimage ii. 285–87.
Footnote 253:
Abdullah, as has been said, means “servant or rather slave of Allah.”
Footnote 254:
Again the “Come to my arms, my slight acquaintance,” of the
Anti-Jacobin.
Footnote 255: