European.
Footnote 313:
_i.e._ “Have some regard for thy life.”
Footnote 314:
Arab. “Awák” plur. of Úkiyyah a word known throughout the Moslem East.
As an ounce it weighs differently in every country and in Barbary
(Mauritania) which we call Morocco, it is a nominal coin containing
twelve Flús (fulús) now about = a penny. It is a direct descendant
from the “Uk” or “Wuk” (ounce) of the hieroglyphs (See Sharpe’s Egypt
or any other Manual) and first appeared in Europe as the Greek οὐγκία.
Footnote 315:
Arab. “Kárah” usually a large bag.
Footnote 316:
Arab. “Lúlúah,” which may mean the Union-pearl; but here used in the
sense of “wild cow,” the bubalus antelope, alluding to the _farouche_
nature of Miss Jamilah. We are also told infrà that the park was full
of “Wuhúsh” = wild cattle.
Footnote 317:
Arab. “Sákiyah,” the venerable old Persian wheel, for whose music see
Pilgrimage ii. 198. But “Sakiyah” is also applied, as here, to the
water-channel which turns the wheel.
Footnote 318:
Arab. “Kawádís,” plur. of “Kádús,” the pots round the rim of the
Persian wheel: usually they are of coarse pottery.
Footnote 319:
In the text “Sákiyah” a manifest error for “Kubbah.”
Footnote 320:
Easterns greatly respect a _belle fourchette_, especially when the
eater is a lover.
Footnote 321:
Arab. “’Aríshah,” a word of many meanings, tent, nest, vine-trellis,
etc.
Footnote 322:
To spit or blow the nose in good society is “vulgar.” Sneezing
(Al-’Atsah) is a complicated affair. For Talmudic traditions of death
by sneezing see Lane (M. E. chapt. viii). Amongst Hindus sneezing and
yawning are caused by evil spirits whom they drive away by snapping
thumb and forefinger as loudly as possible. The pagan Arabs held
sneezing a bad omen, which often stopped their journeys. Moslems
believe that when Allah placed the Soul (life?) in Adam, the dry clay
became flesh and bone and the First Man, waking to life, sneezed and
ejaculated “Alhamdolillah;” whereto Gabriel replied, “Allah have mercy
upon thee, O Adam!” Mohammed, who liked sneezing because accompanied
by lightness of body and openness of pores, said of it, “If a man
sneeze or eructate and say ‘Alhamdolillah’ he averts seventy diseases
of which the least is leprosy” (Juzám); also, “If one of you sneeze,
let him exclaim, ‘Alhamdolillah,’ and let those around salute him in
return with, ‘Allah have mercy upon thee!’ and lastly let him say,
‘Allah direct you and strengthen your condition.’” Moderns prefer,
“Allah avert what may joy thy foe!” = (our God bless you!) to which
the answer is “Alhamdolillah!” Mohammed disliked yawning (Suabá or
Thuabá), because not beneficial as a sneeze and said, “If one of you
gape and cover not his mouth, a devil leaps into it.” This is still a
popular superstition from Baghdad to Morocco.
Footnote 323:
A duenna, nursery governess, etc. See vol. i. 231.
Footnote 324:
For this belief see the tale called “The Night of Power,” vol. vi.
180.
Footnote 325:
The Anglo-Indian “Kincob” (Kimkh’áb); brocade, silk flowered with gold
or silver.
Footnote 326:
Lane finds a needless difficulty in this sentence, which is
far-fetched only because Kuus (cups) requires Ruus (head-tops) by way
of jingle. It means only “’Twas merry in hall when beards wag all.”
Footnote 327:
The Mac. Edit. gives two couplets which have already occurred from the
Bul. Edit. i. 540.
Footnote 328:
The lines are half of four couplets in vol. iv. 192; so I quote Lane.
Footnote 329:
_i.e._ none hath pleased me. I have quoted the popular saying, “The
son of the quarter filleth not the eye.” _i.e._ women prefer stranger
faces.
Footnote 330:
Here after the favourite Oriental fashion, she tells the truth but so
enigmatically that it is more deceptive than an untruth; a good
Eastern quibble infinitely more dangerous than an honest downright
lie. The consciousness that the falsehood is part fact applies a salve
to conscience and supplies a force lacking in the mere fib. When an
Egyptian lies to you look straight in his eyes and he will most often
betray himself either by boggling or by a look of injured innocence.
Footnote 331:
Another true lie.
Footnote 332:
Arab. “Yastaghíbúní,” lit. = they deem my absence too long.
Footnote 333:
An euphemistic form of questioning after absence: “Is all right with
thee?”
Footnote 334:
Arab. “Kallim al-Sultan!” the formula of summoning which has often
occurred in The Nights.
Footnote 335:
Lane translates “Almost died,” Payne “well-nigh died;” but the text
says “died.” I would suggest to translators
Be bould, be bould and every where be bould!
Footnote 336:
He is the usual poltroon contrasted with the manly and masterful girl,
a conjunction of the lioness and the lamb sometimes seen in real life.
Footnote 337:
That he might see Jamilah as Ibrahim had promised.
Footnote 338:
A popular saying, _i.e._, les absents ont toujours tort.
Footnote 339:
Who had a prior right to marry her, but not against her consent after
she was of age.
Footnote 340:
Arab. “Sirwál.” In Al-Hariri it is a singular form (see No. ii. of the
twelve riddles in Ass. xxiv.); but Mohammed said to his followers
“Tuakhkhizú” (adopt ye) “Saráwílát.” The latter is regularly
declinable but the broken form Saráwíl is imperfectly declinable on
account of its “heaviness,” as are all plurals whose third letter is
an Alif followed by i or í in the next syllable.
Footnote 341:
Arab. “Matarik” from mitrak or mitrakah a small wooden shield coated
with hide. This even in the present day is the policeman’s equipment
in the outer parts of the East.
Footnote 342:
“Arab. “Sabíyah” for which I prefer Mr. Payne’s “young lady” to Lane’s
“damsel”; the latter should be confined to Járiyah as both bear the
double sense of girl and slave (or servant) girl. “Bint” again is
daughter, maid or simply girl.
Footnote 343:
The sense of them is found in vol. ii. 41.
Footnote 344:
Here the text is defective, but I hardly like to supply the omission.
Mr. Payne introduces from below, “for that his charms were wasted and
his favour changed by reason of the much terror and affliction he had
suffered.” The next lines also are very abrupt and unconnected.
Footnote 345:
Arab. “Yá Mauláya!” the term is still used throughout Moslem lands;
but in Barbary where it is pronounced “Mooláee” Europeans have
converted it to “Muley” as if it had some connection with the mule.
Even in Robinson Crusoe we find “muly” or “Moly Ismael” (chapt. ii.);
and we hear the high-sounding name Maulá-i-Idrís, the patron saint of
the Sunset Land, debased to “Muley Drís.”
ABU AL-HASAN OF KHORASAN.[346]
The Caliph Al-Mu’tazid Bi ’llah[347] was a high-spirited Prince and a
noble-minded lord; he had in Baghdad six hundred Wazirs and of the
affairs of the folk naught was hidden from him. He went forth one day,
he and Ibn Hamdún,[348] to divert himself with observing his lieges and
hearing the latest news of the people; and, being overtaken with the
heats of noonday, they turned aside from the main thoroughfare into a
little by-street, at the upper end whereof they saw a handsome and
high-builded mansion, discoursing of its owner with the tongue of
praise. They sat down at the gate to take rest, and presently out came
two eunuchs as they were moons on their fourteenth night. Quoth one of
them to his fellow, “Would Heaven some guest would seek admission this
day! My master will not eat but with guests and we are come to this hour
and I have not yet seen a soul.” The Caliph marvelled at their speech
and said, “This is a proof of the house-master’s liberality: there is no
help but that we go in to him and note his generosity, and this shall be
a means of favour betiding him from us.” So he said to the eunuch, “Ask
leave of thy lord for the admission of a company[349] of strangers.” For
in those days it was the Caliph’s wont, whenas he was minded to observe
his subjects, to disguise himself in merchant’s garb. The eunuch went in
and told his master, who rejoiced and rising, came out to them in
person. He was fair of favour and fine of form and he appeared clad in a
tunic of Níshápúr[350] silk and a gold laced mantle; and he dripped with
scented waters and wore on his hand a signet ring of rubies. When he saw
them, he said to them, “Well come and welcome to the lords who favour us
with the utmost of favour by their coming!” So they entered the house
and found it such as would make a man forget family and fatherland for
it was like a piece of Paradise.”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of
day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Sixtieth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
Caliph entered the mansion, he and the man with him, they saw it to be
such as would make one forget family and fatherland, for it was like a
piece of Paradise. Within it was a flower-garden, full of all kinds of
trees, confounding sight and its dwelling-places were furnished with
costly furniture. They sat down and the Caliph fell to gazing at the
house and the household gear. (Quoth Ibn Hamdún), I looked at the Caliph
and saw his countenance change, and being wont to know from his face
whether he was amused or anangered, said to myself, “I wonder what hath
vexed him.” Then they brought a golden basin and we washed our hands,
after which they spread a silken cloth and set thereon a table of
rattan. When the covers were taken off the dishes, we saw therein meats
rare as the blooms of Prime in the season of their utmost scarcity,
twofold and single, and the host said, “Bismillah, O my lords! By Allah,
hunger pricketh me; so favour me by eating of this food, as is the
fashion of the noble.” Thereupon he began tearing fowls apart and laying
them before us, laughing the while and repeating verses and telling
stories and talking gaily with pleasant sayings such as sorted with the
entertainment. We ate and drank, then removed to another room, which
confounded beholders with its beauty and which reeked with exquisite
perfumes. Here they brought us a tray of fruits freshly-gathered and
sweetmeats the finest flavoured, whereat our joys increased and our
cares ceased. But withal the Caliph (continued Ibn Hamdun) ceased not to
wear a frowning face and smiled not at that which gladdened all souls,
albeit it was his wont to love mirth and merriment and the putting away
of cares, and I knew that he was no envious wight and oppressor. So I
said to myself, “Would Heaven I knew what is the cause of his moroseness
and why we cannot dissipate his ill-humour!” Presently they brought the
tray of wine which friends doth conjoin and clarified draughts in
flagons of gold and crystal and silver, and the host smote with a
rattan-wand on the door of an inner chamber, whereupon behold, it opened
and out came three damsels, high-bosomed virginity with faces like the
sun at the fourth hour of the day, one a lutist, another a harpist and
the third a dancer-artiste. Then he set before us dried fruits and
confections and drew between us and the damsels a curtain of brocade,
with tassels of silk and rings of gold. The Caliph paid no heed to all
this, but said to the host, who knew not who was in his company, “Art
thou noble?”[351] Said he, “No, my lord; I am but a man of the sons of
the merchants and am known among the folk as Abú al-Hasan Ali, son of
Ahmad of Khorasan.” Quoth the Caliph, “Dost thou know me, O man?”; and
quoth he, “By Allah, O my lord, I have no knowledge of either of your
honours!” Then said I to him, “O man, this is the Commander of the
Faithful, Al-Mu’tazid Bi’llah grandson of Al-Mutawakkil alà’llah.”[352]
Whereupon he rose and kissed the ground before the Caliph, trembling for
fear of him, and said, “O Prince of True Believers, I conjure thee, by
the virtue of thy pious forbears, an thou have seen in me any
shortcomings or lack of good manners in thy presence, do thou forgive
me!” Replied the Caliph, “As for that which thou hast done with us of
honouring and hospitality nothing could have exceeded it; and as for
that wherewith I have to reproach thee here, an thou tell me the truth
respecting it and it commend itself to my sense, thou shalt be saved
from me; but, an thou tell me not the truth, I will take thee with
manifest proof and punish thee with such punishment as never yet
punished any.” Quoth the man, “Allah forbid that I tell thee a lie! But
what is it that thou reproachest to me, O Commander of the Faithful?”
Quoth the Caliph, “Since I entered thy mansion and looked upon its
grandeur, I have noted the furniture and vessels therein, nay even to
thy clothes, and behold, on all of them is the name of my grandfather
Al-Mutawakkil ala ’llah.”[353] Answered Abu al-Hasan, “Yes, O Commander
of the Faithful (the Almighty protect thee), truth is thine inner garb
and sincerity is thine outer garment and none may speak otherwise than
truly in thy presence.” The Caliph bade him be seated and said, “Tell
us.” So he began, “Know, O Commander of the Faithful, that my father
belonged to the markets of the money-changers and druggists and
linendrapers and had in each bazar a shop and an agent and all kinds of
goods. Moreover, behind the money-changer’s shop he had an apartment,
where he might be private, appointing the shop for buying and selling.
His wealth was beyond count and to his riches there was none amount; but
he had no child other than myself, and he loved me and was tenderly fain
of me. When his last hour was at hand, he called me to him and commended
my mother to my care and charged me to fear Almighty Allah. Then he
died, may Allah have mercy upon him and continue the Prince of True
Believers on life! And I gave myself up to pleasure and eating and
drinking and took to myself comrades and intimates. My mother used to
forbid me from this and to blame me for it, but I would not hear a word
from her, till my money was all gone, when I sold my lands and houses
and naught was left me save the mansion wherein I now dwell, and it was
a goodly stead, O Commander of the Faithful. So I said to my mother, “I
wish to sell the house;” but she said, “O my son, an thou sell it, thou
wilt be dishonoured and wilt have no place wherein to take shelter.”
Quoth I, “’Tis worth five thousand dinars, and with one thousand of its
price I will buy me another house and trade with the rest.” Quoth she,
“Wilt thou sell it to me at that price?”; and I replied, “Yes.”
Whereupon she went to a coffer and opening it, took out a porcelain
vessel, wherein were five thousand dinars. When I saw this meseemed the
house was all of gold and she said to me, “O my son, think not that this
is of thy father’s good. By Allah, O my son, it was of my own father’s
money and I have treasured it up against a time of need; for, in thy
father’s day I was a wealthy woman and had no need of it.” I took the
money from her, O Prince of True Believers, and fell again to feasting
and carousing and merrymaking with my friends, unheeding my mother’s
words and admonitions, till the five thousand dinars came to an end,
when I said to her, “I wish to sell the house.” Said she, “O my son, I
forbade thee from selling it before, of my knowledge that thou hadst
need of it; so how wilt thou sell it a second time?” Quoth I, “Be not
longsome of speech with me, for I must and will sell it;” and quoth she,
“Then sell it to me for fifteen thousand dinars, on condition that I
take charge of thine affairs.” So I sold her the house at that price and
gave up my affairs into her charge, whereupon she sought out the agents
of my father and gave each of them a thousand dinars, keeping the rest
in her own hands and ordering the outgo and the income. Moreover she
gave me money to trade withal and said to me, “Sit thou in thy father’s
shop.” So I did her bidding, O Commander of the Faithful, and took up my
abode in the chamber behind the shop in the market of the
money-changers, and my friends came and bought of me and I sold to them;
whereby I made good cheape and my wealth increased. When my mother saw
me in this fair way, she discovered to me that which she had treasured
up of jewels and precious stones, pearls, and gold, and I bought back my
houses and lands that I had squandered and my wealth became great as
before. I abode thus for some time, and the factors of my father came to
me and I gave them stock-in-trade, and I built me a second chamber
behind the shop. One day, as I sat there, according to my custom, O
Prince of True Believers, there came up to me a damsel, never saw eyes a
fairer than she of favour, and said, “Is this the private shop of Abu
al-Hasan Ali ibn Ahmad al-Khorasani?” Answered I, “Yes,” and she asked,
“Where is he?” “He am I,” said I, and indeed my wit was dazed at the
excess of her loveliness. She sat down and said to me, “Bid thy page
weigh me out three hundred dinars.” Accordingly I bade him give her that
sum and he weighed it out to her and she took it and went away, leaving
me stupefied. Quoth my man to me, “Dost thou know her?”; and quoth I,
“No, by Allah!” He asked, “Then why didst thou bid me give her the
money?”; and I answered, “By Allah, I knew not what I said, of my
amazement at her beauty and loveliness!” Then he rose and followed her,
without my knowledge, but presently returned, weeping and with the mark
of a blow on his face. I enquired of him what ailed him, and he replied,
“I followed the damsel, to see whither she went; but, when she was aware
of me, she turned and dealt me this blow and all but knocked out my
eye.” After this, a month passed, without her coming, O Commander of the
Faithful, and I abode bewildered for love of her; but, at the end of
this time, she suddenly appeared again and saluted me, whereat I was
like to fly for joy. She asked me how I did and said to me, “Haply thou
saidst to thyself, What manner of trickstress is this, who hath taken my
money and made off?” Answered I, “By Allah, O my lady, my money and my
life are all thy very own!” With this she unveiled herself and sat down
to rest, with the trinkets and ornaments playing over her face and
bosom. Presently, she said to me, “Weigh me out three hundred dinars.”
“Hearkening and obedience,” answered I and weighed out to her the money.
She took it and went away and I said to my servant, “Follow her.” So he
followed her, but returned dumbstruck, and some time passed without my
seeing her. But, as I was sitting one day, behold, she came up to me and
after talking awhile, said to me, “Weigh me out five hundred dinars, for
I have need of them.” I would have said to her, “Why should I give thee
my money?”; but my love immense hindered me from utterance; for, O
Prince of True Believers, whenever I saw her, I trembled in every joint
and my colour paled and I forgot what I would have said and became even
as saith the poet:—
“’Tis naught but this! When a-sudden I see her ✿ Mumchance I bide nor a
word can say her.”
So I weighed out for her the five hundred ducats, and she took them and
went away; whereupon I arose and followed her myself, till she came to
the jewel-bazar, where she stopped at a man’s shop and took of him a
necklace. Then she turned and seeing me, said, “Pay him five hundred
dinars for me.” When the jeweller saw me, he rose to me and made much of
me, and I said to him, “Give her the necklace and set down the price to
me.” He replied, “I hear and obey,” and she took it and went away;——And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Sixty-first Night,