THE CHĀOTREE.
“ONE SNAKE HAS BIT THEM ALL[150].”
“THE PRINCESS HAS GROWN FOOLISH, SHE PELTS HER OWN RELATIONS WITH
SWEETMEATS, OTHERS WITH STONES[151].”
“THEY HAVE SCATTERED DATŪRA (thorn apple) IN THE AIR[152].”
_i.e._ the people are all gone mad.
The Chāotree—Timūrian Dance—Churees—Finale of the
Wedding—Jhanee Khanum—The Zenāna Doll—Jealousy of the
Natives—Meals of the Slave Girls—Tara the pretty Slave—Conduct
of English Ladies considered extraordinary—Poppy-heads—Devotion
of Native Women to their Husbands—Illness of Colonel
Gardner—Burial-ground of the Family—My Departure—Death of
Colonel Gardner, and of his Begam—Orders of Knighthood—Remarks
on the Muhammadān Religion and the Punishments of the Grave.
1835, _April 2nd_.—The chāotree was to be played this day, it being the
finale of the wedding. When the Prince and Shubbeah arrived at Khāsgunge
they came into the zenāna, and were seated on the gaddī; a large number
of trays, containing fruits and vegetables of every description, fresh
from the garden, were placed before them, with sugar, &c. Shubbeah had
divested herself of her bridal attire, and wore the peshwāz, the court
dress of Delhi, which was made of Benares tissue of gold and silver, and
she wore all her jewels. Nine fruits of different sorts were wrapped in a
cloth, and suspended round her waist by her attendants; it had a curious
effect, because the whole was placed beneath her garments; she arose,
encumbered with these fruits, and made salām to each of the four corners
of the room. Her hair was then decked with natural flowers, her face
having previously been covered with silver dust; and she and the Prince
were both fed with sugar off a rupee. A stick, ornamented with silver
tissue, was given to him, and another to her, with which they pretended
to beat each other; these silver wands were presented to all the ladies,
and wands covered with flowers were given to the slaves. For some days
before the chāotree, the Begam had been employed in teaching the ladies
in the zenāna and the slave girls a particular dance, the ancient
Princess herself dancing with them, with a silver wand in her hand. I
mentioned this to Colonel Gardner; he said, “It is very remarkable that,
at weddings, all the ladies of this family perform this particular nāch,
but at no other time do they dance; it would lower their dignity.” This
is an old Tartar dance, and always performed at weddings amongst the
Timūrians; it is the dastūr. The tamāshā consisted in beating each other
with these silver sticks, and throwing handfuls of fruits, of turnips,
of oranges, of pomegranates, in fact, any thing that could be seized
from the trays, at each other; the slaves joining in the fun, breaking
the glass windows by accident, and doing much damage. The more you pelt
a person, the greater the compliment; sharp jealousy was created in many
a breast this day, the source of much anxiety afterwards. This is called
playing the chāotree, and finishes the ceremonies of the wedding.
Soon after, a woman came in, with a large basket full of chūrīs for
the arms (bracelets), which were made of rings of glass, ornamented
with beads. Every body at the wedding, from the Begam to the youngest
slave, had chūrīs put on their arms; I was also decorated. These rings
are extremely small; to put them on requires considerable art, it being
necessary to mull the hand, and render it very pliant, before it can pass
through so very small a circumference as that of the churee.
Thus ended the wedding of Prince Unjun Shekō and Shubbeah Begam. They
quitted their tents, and went to reside at a pretty little fort and
indigo factory, the property of Colonel Gardner, at Moreechee.
The dūlhān (bride) visits her mother on the four first Fridays after her
marriage, on each of which the dūlhā (bridegroom) is bribed with a full
suit.
“A marriage may be celebrated with a mŭn of rice as well as a mŭn of
pearls[153].”
Another wedding immediately began, that of Jhanee Khanum, an adopted
daughter of Colonel Gardner’s, a slave girl; but I did not stay to
witness it, having before seen the grand display.
It is the custom in the zenāna for every young lady to adopt the child of
a slave, which serves as a doll, an amusement for her. Shubbeah had an
adopted child, for whom she will have eventually to provide; and every
lady in the zenāna had an adopted daughter of the same description. The
slaves are a set of the most idle, insolent, good-tempered, thievish,
laughing girls I ever saw. I should think, counting babies, slaves and
all, there must have been two hundred souls within the four walls of
Colonel Gardner’s zenāna.
The prince allowed his brothers to see the bride the day of the wedding,
but said he should not allow them to see her in future. A native woman
thinks this sort of jealousy very flattering, and prides herself upon it.
The mother of Shubbeah was the happiest of the happy: in her idea, her
child had made the finest match in the world, by marrying a prince of the
house of Delhi, although she was brought up a Christian, he a follower of
the prophet. Her other daughter was happily married, her husband being
very fond of native life and native customs.
At noon all the slave girls came for their dinners; each had given her a
great chapātī (cake of flour) as large as a plate, and this was filled
brim full from two great vessels of curry and rice. This repast took
place again at eight in the evening. One day, just as they were beginning
their meal, I sat down in the verandah and played an Hindostanee air
on a sitar (a native instrument made of a gourd); up started all the
slaves in an instant and set to, dancing with their food in their hands
and their mouths full! Each slave girl carried her curry and rice on the
wheaten cake, which was about the size of a plate, and used it as such;
until having eaten the contents she finished with the cake. In spite of
their dexterity in putting the food down their throats without dropping
the rice or soiling their dresses, the fingers retain a considerable
portion of the yellow turmeric and the greasy ghee! They eat custards,
rice, and milk, and more fluid food with the hand, sucking the fingers
to clean them, and afterwards wipe them dry with a chapātī! They were
merry, and fat, and happy, unless the Begam happened to catch one out
in a theft, when the other girls punished her. Some of the slaves were
pretty girls, and great favourites. To show how little they had to do,
the following anecdote may suffice. A pretty slave girl was sitting by my
bedside; I held out my hand, and desired her to shampoo it: the girl’s
countenance became clouded, and she did not offer to do it—her name was
Tara (the Star). “Why do you not mull my hand, Tara?” said I. “Oh,” she
replied, “I never mull the hand; the other girls do that; I only mull
the Colonel Sāhib’s eyebrows. I can take the pain from them when he is
ill;—that is my duty. I will not shampoo the hand.” I laughed at her
description of the work that fell to her lot as a slave, and said, “Well,
Tara, mull my eyebrows; my head aches;” with the greatest good-humour she
complied, and certainly charmed away the pain. It is the great luxury of
the East.
I might have lived fifty years in India and never have seen a native
wedding. It is hardly possible for a European lady to be present at one.
Alaida and her sister the Evening Star learnt to read and write Persian;
a very old moonshee was allowed to teach them. Musulmānī ladies generally
forget their learning when they grow up, or they neglect it. Every thing
that passes without the four walls is reported to them by their spies:
never was any place so full of intrigue, scandal, and chit-chat as a
zenāna. Making up marriages is their great delight, and the bustle
attendant on the ceremonies. They dote upon their children, and are so
selfish they will not part from them to allow them to go to school, if
it be possible to avoid it. The girls, of course, never quit the zenāna.
Within the four walls surrounding the zenāna at Khāsgunge is a pretty
garden, with a summer-house in the centre; fountains play before it, and
they are fond of spending their time out of doors. During the rains they
take great delight in swinging under the large trees in the open air.
They never ride on horseback, or go on the water for pleasure. They are
very fond of atr of all sorts, the scent of which is overpowering in
their houses. They put scented oil on their hair; to eau-de-Cologne and
lavender-water they have the greatest aversion, declaring it to be gin,
to drink! The prophet forbade all fermented liquors, after a battle which
he nearly lost by his soldiers getting drunk, and being surprised.
The old Begam said to Colonel Gardner, “They are curious creatures, these
English ladies; I cannot understand them or their ways,—their ways are so
odd!” And yet the Begam must have seen so many European ladies, I wonder
she had not become more reconciled to our _odd ways_.
The conduct that shocked them was our dining with men not our relations,
and that too with uncovered faces. A lady’s going out on horseback is
monstrous. They could not comprehend my galloping about on that great
English horse, just where I pleased, with one or two gentlemen and the
coachman as my attendants. My not being afraid to sleep in the dark
without having half a dozen slave girls snoring around me, surprised
them. My remaining _alone_ writing in my own room, my not being unhappy
when I was alone,—in fact, they looked upon me as a very odd creature.
It was almost impossible to enjoy solitude, the slave girls were peeping
under the corner of every parda. Some one or other was always coming to
talk to me; sometimes asking me to make up a marriage! If a native lady
is relating a story, and you look incredulous, she exclaims, “I swear
to God it is true!” They are very fond of this exclamation. One day, in
the gardens, I was talking to Tara, the pretty slave girl, when she
darted away over the poppy beds, screaming out, “I swear to God there
is a ripe poppy-head!” and she came back with her ripe poppy-head, out
of which she beat the seeds on the palm of her hand, and ate them. She
then brought some more for me, which I ate in her fashion. The half-ripe
seeds of the poppy eaten raw, and fresh gathered, are like almonds; they
do not intoxicate. “Remember,” said Tara, “after dinner you shall have a
dish sent you; partake of it, you will like it.” It is made thus; gather
three or four young poppy-heads when they are full of opium, and green;
split each head into four parts, fry them in a little butter, _a very
little_, only just enough to fry them, with some pepper and salt—send
them to table, with the dessert. The flavour is very pleasant, and if
you only eat enough, you will become as tipsy as mortal may desire. We
had them often at Colonel Gardner’s; and I have felt rather sleepy from
eating them. The old nawab was in his glory when he had two or three
spoonfuls of these poppy-heads in his plate, one of which is a good dose.
I was so fond of the unripe seeds, that I never went into the garden,
but the mālī brought me ten or twelve heads, which I usually finished at
once. There were some beds of the double red poppy, especially set apart
for the Begam, the opium from that poppy being reckoned the finest; a
couple of lumps of opium were collected, and brought in daily. Colonel
Gardner said to me, “The Begam is perplexed; she wants to know how
you, a married woman, can have received the gift of a nose-ring from a
gentleman not your husband? She says the nose-ring is the bridal ring.
She is perplexed.” I had differed in opinion with a gentleman: he said,
“I will bet you a nose-ring you are in the wrong.” The native jewellers
had been at the house that morning showing their nose-rings, and other
native ornaments. I accepted the bet, and was victorious: the gentleman
presented me with a nose-ring, which I declined, because its value was
one hundred and sixty rupees, _i.e._ £16. “I will accept the n’hut I have
won, but it must be one from the bazār, which will be an exact imitation
of this ring, and will cost one rupee and a half.” It was accordingly
procured for me. The Begam having heard this story was perplexed until
it was explained to her, that I was not going to marry the gentleman, and
had only accepted the nose-ring to make a native dress perfect.
Three of the slave girls, wishing to see the world, I suppose, went to
the Begam, and asked her to give them to me. She laughed and told me
their request.
Science has not yet entered the confines of the zenāna; nature and
superstition reign supreme; nevertheless, native women suffer less on the
birth of a child than the women of Europe. The first nourishment given
an infant medicinally is composed of umaltass (cassia fistula), sugar,
aniseed water, and russote, from a colt just born! Native women do not
approve of flannel for infants, thinking it excites the skin too much.
In page 230 is the following remark by Colonel Gardner,—“Nothing can
exceed the quarrels that go on in a zenāna, or the complaints the Begams
make against each other; a common complaint is, such an one has been
practising witchcraft against me.” The following extracts will account
for their belief in witchcraft. “Aa’yeshah said, ‘His Majesty was
bewitched while he was with me, and he prayed to God, and then said, ‘O
Aa’yeshah! do you know, that verily God gave me what I asked him? Two men
came to me, one sitting at my head, the other at my feet; and one of them
said to the other, ‘What is the cause of his Majesty’s pain and illness?’
The other said, ‘The man has been bewitched.’ The other asked, ‘Who
did it?’ He said, ‘Labid-bin-As’am, the Jew.’ The first said, ‘In what
thing?’ The other replied, ‘In a comb, and in the hair which falls from
it, and in the film of the male date bud.’ And one of them said, ‘Where
has he put them?’ The other said, ‘In the well Dharwān.’ Then his Majesty
sent Alī and Omer to bring the things out of the well; and they found in
the bud an image of his Majesty, made with wax, with needles stuck into
it, and a thread tied upon it, with eleven knots in it. Then Gabriel
brought the chapters imploring protection, every verse of which repeated
opened one of the knots; and his Majesty received ease from every needle
that was pulled out of it.”
“His Highness permitted spells being used, to counteract the effects of a
malignant eye; and on those bit by snakes, or scorpions, and for sores in
the side. A man said to his Majesty, ‘We made use of charms in the time
of ignorance, may we use them now or not?’ He said, ‘Describe your spells
to me, that I may see the meaning of them; there is no fear in using
spells which do not associate any thing with God.’”
“Zainab, wife of Abdullah-bin-Masu’ud, said, ‘Abdullah saw a thread round
my neck, and said, ‘What is this?’ I said, ‘This is a thread which has
been made as a charm for me.’ Then he took and broke it to pieces; after
that he said, ‘O family of Abdullah! verily you stand not in need of this
kind of charm used by the polytheists; because I heard the Prophet say,
Verily, spells and tying to the necks of children the nails of tearing
animals, and the thread which is tied round a wife’s neck, to make her
husband love her, are all in the way of the polytheists.’”
“Then I said to Abdullah, ‘Why do you say so? Verily, I had such a pain
in my eyes that I thought they would have fallen out; and I went to a
_Jew_; and when he applied a spell I got ease.’ Then Abdullah said, ‘This
is nothing but the work of the devil; he was shaking your eyes with his
hands, and when the spell was used he stopped. It will be sufficient for
you to repeat such words as his Majesty used to say: O Cherisher of men!
remove this punishment, and give ease; thou art the giver of health,
there is no cure but from thee, the remover of sickness.’”
“A man said, ‘O messenger of God! verily the family of Jaspar are soon
affected by the baneful influence of a malignant eye; may I use spells
for them or not?’ His Majesty said, ‘Yes; for the eye has a complete
influence; because, verily, if there was a thing to overcome fate, it
most certainly would be a malignant eye.’”
Sons are of inestimable value; the birth of a daughter is almost a
calamity; but even the mother blest with a son is not likely to remain
long without a rival in the heart of her husband, since ninety-nine out
of a hundred take new wives; besides the concubines given by the mother
before marriage!
When a Muhammadan has sworn to separate himself from his wife, she
retires to her own apartments, and does not behold her husband for
four months; if they are not reconciled by the end of that time, all
their ties are broken; the woman recovers her liberty, and receives,
on quitting the house, the property settled on her by the contract of
marriage. The girls follow the mother, the boys remain with the father.
The husband cannot send her from his house until the expiration of the
four months.
One day Colonel Gardner was ill; he was in the large garden without. The
Begam begged me to go to him; she _dared not_ leave the zenāna, even to
assist her husband, who was so ill that his attendants had run in for
aid! I went to him. After a time he was better, and wished to return to
the house; he leaned on my shoulder for support, and led the way to the
burial-ground of his son Allan, just without the garden. He sat down on
a tomb, and we had a long conversation; “If it were not for old age, and
the illness it brings on,” said he, “we should never be prepared, never
ready to leave this world. I shall not last long; I shall not see you
again, my betī; I wish to be buried by the side of my son; but I have
spoken to James about it. The poor Begam, she will not survive me long;
mark my words,—she will not say much, but she will take my death to
heart, she will not long survive me: when her son Allan died she pounded
her jewels in a mortar.” Shortly afterwards we returned to the house.
It may appear extraordinary to an European lady that the Begam, in her
affliction, should have pounded her jewels in a mortar: ornaments are put
aside in times of mourning; and jewellery with native ladies is highly
prized, not merely for its own sake—that of adding to their beauty, but
as a proof of the estimation in which they are held by their husbands. If
a man be angry with his wife, he will take away her jewels, and not allow
her to wear them; if pleased, it is his delight to cover her with the
most valuable ornaments, precious stones set in pure gold. The quantity
and value of the jewellery thus ascertains the rank to which a lady
is entitled in this sort of domestic “order of merit;” the women pride
themselves upon this adornment, and delight in jewellery as much as the
men of England in stars and garters.
A lady wears slippers only out of doors, and puts them off on entering
the house; the slippers are of various forms and patterns; some of them
are square at the toes, and have iron heels. “She combs his head with the
iron heel of her slipper,” is applied to a woman who domineers over her
husband. The slippers for the ladies are of cloth, of the gayest colours,
ornamented with embroidery of gold and silver, adorned with seed pearls,
and with beetle wings, which are worked into flowers upon the cloth, and
cover the long peak that turns up over the toes.
Stockings are never worn; but I have seen little coloured socks, made of
the wool of Cashmir, worn at times during the cold season. The ankles
of a native lady are decorated with massive rings, called kurrā; those
worn by the Begam were of gold, thickly studded with jewels; the ladies
had them of solid embossed gold; and for the slaves, they were of solid
silver. These rings are generally hexagonal or octagonal, of an equal
thickness throughout, and terminated by a knob at each end. The gold
or the silver of which they are composed being pure metal, they may be
opened sufficiently to be put on or off at pleasure; the ends being
brought together by the pressure of the hand.
Another ornament consists of a great number of small bells, ghoonghroo,
strung on a cord, and worn around the ankle, hanging to the heel. It is
reckoned very correct to wear these tinkling bells; if a native wishes
to praise a woman most highly, he says, “She has never seen the sun, she
always wears bells.”
In lieu of this string of bells, another ornament is often worn, called
pāezēb, which consists of heavy rings of silver, resembling a horse’s
curb chain, but much broader, set with a fringe of small spherical bells,
all of which tinkle at every motion of the limb; and all the toes are
adorned with rings, some of which are furnished with little bells; such
rings are called ghoonghroodar chhallā. The ladies wear their dresses,
unless they be grand dresses for occasions of state, until they are
dirty; perhaps for five or six days together; the dresses are then thrown
away, and they put on new attire.
_5th._—I took leave of my dear Colonel Gardner, and quitted him with a
heavy heart, for I saw how feeble his health had become, how necessary
quiet and attention were for him, and I knew that, left to the care of
natives, his comfort would be little considered.
After my departure, I heard he endured much annoyance from domestic
concerns, and that it was too much for his feeble health. He suffered
greatly from asthma and violent headaches, and had only recently
recovered from an attack of paralysis. I was strongly tempted to return
to Khāsgunge when I heard of his illness, but was deterred from a
feeling of delicacy: an adopted child has a right to a portion of the
inheritance, and my presence might have caused the ladies of the zenāna
to imagine a sinister motive influenced me.
A gentleman who was with him afterwards told me,—“During his last
illness, Colonel Gardner often spoke of you in terms of the greatest
affection, and expressed many times his wish for your presence; I did
not write to tell you so, because the hot winds were blowing, and the
distance some five or six hundred miles.”
Had he only written to me, I would have gone dāk to Khāsgunge
immediately; what would the annoyance of hot winds or the distance have
been, in comparison with the satisfaction of gratifying the wish of
my departing friend? I had lived for weeks in his house, enjoying his
society, admiring his dignified and noble bearing, and listening with
delight to the relation of his marvellous escapes and extraordinary
adventures. His chivalric exploits and undaunted courage deserve a better
pen than mine, and he alone was capable of being his own historian.
Colonel Gardner told me, if I ever visited Delhi, he would give me an
introduction to the Nawāb Shah Zamānee Begam, the Emperor’s unmarried
sister; who would show me all that was worth seeing in the zenāna of the
palace of the King of Delhi. This pleased me greatly; so few persons
ever have an opportunity of seeing native ladies.
On the 29th of the following July my beloved friend, Colonel Gardner,
departed this life at Khāsgunge, aged sixty-five. He was buried,
according to his desire, near the tomb of his son Allan. From the time
of his death the poor Begam pined and sank daily; just as he said, she
complained not, but she took his death to heart; she died one month and
two days after his decease. Native ladies have a number of titles; her
death, names, and titles were thus announced in the papers:—“On the 31st
of August, at her residence at Khāsgunge, Her Highness Furzund Azeza
Zubdeh-tool Arrakeen Umdehtool Assateen Nuwab Mah Munzil ool Nissa Begam
Dehlmī, relict of the late Colonel William Linnæus Gardner.”
“The sound of the Nakaras and Dumana have ceased[154].”
Colonel Gardner’s Begam was entitled from her rank to the use of the
nalkī, the morchhal or fan of peacock’s feathers, and the nakara and
dumana, state kettle drums.
The following extract from Colonel Sleeman’s most interesting work will
explain the value of these articles of pomp and state:—“The Nalkee is one
of the three great insignia which the Mogul Emperors of Delhi conferred
upon independent Princes of the first class, and could never be used
by any person upon whom, or upon whose ancestors, they had not been so
conferred. These were the Nalkee, the Order of the Fish, and the fan of
Peacock’s feathers.
“These insignia could be used only by the Prince, who inherited the
sovereignty of the one on whom they had been originally conferred.
“The Order of the Fish, or Mahee Moratub, was first instituted by
Khoosroo Purwez, King of Persia, and grandson of the celebrated
Nowsherwan the Just. He ascertained from his astrologer, Aruz Khushusp,
that, when he ascended the throne, the moon was in the constellation of
the Fish; and he gave orders to have two balls made of polished steel,
which were to be called konkubas (planets), and mounted on long poles.
These two planets, with a large fish, made of gold, upon a third pole
in the centre, were ordered to be carried in all regal processions,
immediately after the King. The two konkubas are now generally made of
copper, and plated, and in the shape of a jar, instead of quite round,
as at first; but the fish is still made of gold. Two planets are always
considered necessary to one fish; and they are still carried in all
processions between the Prince and his prime minister. Noosamanee, who
ascended the throne of Persia after the Sassanians, ascertained that the
moon was in the sign Leo at the time of his accession, and ordered that
the gold head of a lion should henceforward accompany the fishes and the
two balls in all royal processions. The Persian order of knighthood is,
therefore, that of the Fish, the Moon, and the Lion; and not the Lion and
Sun, as generally supposed.
“The Emperors of the House of Timour, in Hindoostan, assumed the right of
conferring the order upon all they pleased; and they conferred it upon
the great territorial sovereigns of the country, without distinction as
to religion. He only who inherits the sovereignty can wear the order;
and I believe no Prince would venture to wear or carry the order who was
not generally reputed to have received the investiture from one of the
Emperors of Delhi.”
Reading the history of the Dynasty of Timur, the free-thinking of all the
race is remarkable; religion appeared principally to be used by them for
political purposes.
I cannot quit the zenāna without some observations on the Muhammadan
religion, and some extracts from the Kū’rān and other works on the
subject.
The Prophet was a cunning fellow, and made the religion he preached
subservient to the interests of his own sex. Muhammad, in a vision,
beheld the infernal regions; his blood curdled; behold! the greater part
of its inhabitants were women, sent there for not having obeyed their
husbands!
Obedience to the master ensured the slave—_i.e._ the wife—admittance to
Paradise.
The Prophet says, “Admonish your wives with kindness, because women
were created from a crooked bone of the side; therefore, if you wish to
straighten it, you will break it; and if you let it alone, it will always
be crooked.”
“When a woman performs the five times of prayer, and fasts the month of
Ramdān, and guards herself in purity, and obeys her husband, then tell
her to enter Paradise by whichever door she likes.” “Every woman who
dies, and her husband is pleased with her, shall enter Paradise.”
“No one woman vexes her husband in the world; but the husband’s wife in
Paradise says, ‘Vex not thy husband, may God destroy thee! because he
is nothing more than a traveller with thee; he will soon come to me in
Paradise.’”
“Verily the best of women are those who are most content with little.”
This tradition is recorded:—
“An unknown person came to the Prophet, and said,—‘O Muhammad, instruct
me in Islām!’ The Prophet said, ‘Islām is, that thou bear witness there
is no God but God, and that Muhammad is his messenger; and be stedfast
in prayer, and charitable; and fast during the month of Ramdān; and make
a pilgrimage to the Kaaba, if thou have it in thy power to go there.’
The man replied, ‘Thou hast spoken true.’ On which we wondered at his
questioning the Prophet, and then telling him that he spoke the truth.
Then the man said, ‘Instruct me in Imān.’ The Prophet said, ‘That thou
believe in God, and in his angels, and in his books, and in his prophets,
and in the day of resurrection, and that every virtue and vice is by
the will of God.’ The man said, ‘Thou hast spoken true.’ He then said,
‘Inform me in Ih’sān.’ The Prophet said, ‘That thou worship God as if
thou sawest him; for though thou dost not see him, know that he seeth
thee.’ The man said, ‘Thou hast spoken true.’ He then said, ‘Instruct me
concerning the resurrection.’ The Prophet said, ‘I am no wiser than the
questioner.’ Omer said, ‘After this, the man departed, and I remained
sitting a long time; after which the Prophet said to me, ‘Didst thou
know who that person was?’ I replied, ‘God and his prophet know best.’
Muhammad said, ‘Verily it was Gabriel, he came for the purpose of
instructing you in your faith.’”
The Ramdān is the ninth month of the Muhammadan year, in which a rigid
fast, from daybreak till night, is enjoined to all Musalmāns; the reason
assigned for this is, that the Kū’rān began to descend from heaven in
this month.
The Kaaba is the square temple at Mecca; that is, the Kibla of the
Muhammadans, or place to which they turn their faces when at prayer. The
Kibla of the Jews was the Temple of Jerusalem.
“When the month of Ramdān arrives, the doors of Paradise are opened, and
the doors of the infernal regions are shut, and the devils are chained by
the leg. The person who fasts the month of Ramdān, on account of belief
in God, shall be pardoned all his past faults.”
“Keep not fast until you see the new moon; and if the moon be hidden from
you by clouds, count the days. Eat at the first dawn of day, because it
gives increase of strength for performing the fast.”
The prophet used to say, when he saw the new moon, “O Lord! make the new
moon rise upon us, safe from calamities, and firm in faith, and pure in
heart, and secure in Islām. Oh, new moon! our Lord, and your Lord, is
God.”
“When the darkness of the night advances from the west, and day follows
from the western quarter, I mean the sunset, the keeper of fast may begin
to eat.”
Those who profess this religion are interdicted from eating and drinking
between the dawn and appearance of the stars at night. On the 27th of
this month, the Kū’rān began to descend; and every prayer offered up that
night will be complied with.
The Adhān, or call to prayer, is to repeat the Jacbir twice over with a
loud voice, as a signal for prayer. The prophet ordered the Muadhd’hin,
the person who calls the people to prayer, to put his two forefingers
into his ears, when repeating the Adhān, because it strengthens the
voice.
“The Jacbir: God is greatest, God is greatest; I bear witness there is no
God but God, I bear witness there is no God but God; I bear witness that
Mohammud is the messenger, I bear witness that Mohammud is the messenger.
Hasten to prayer, hasten to prayer; hasten to redemption, hasten to
redemption. God is greatest, God is greatest; there is no God but God.”
“Verily, Friday is the chief of days in the estimation of God, and it is
greater than either the festival of sacrifice, or that of Ramdān. Why do
they call Friday Jumâh? or the assembly? Because, on that day the clay of
thy father Adam was collected, and on that day will be destruction, and
rising from the dead; and on it resurrection, and in the last three sáâts
of Friday there is one in which the requests of a servant are granted.
“Pronounce ye many blessings on me on Friday, because the angels are
present. There is not a Musalmān that dies in the day or night of Friday,
that God doth not preserve from the punishments of the grave.
“He who visits the graves of his father and mother, or one of them, on
every Friday, his faults will be pardoned: and there will be written, in
the register of his actions, a doer of good to his father and mother.
Visiting and seeing graves dispels worldly wishes and gives disgust to
them, and reminds of futurity.”
The efficacy of prayer is greatly enhanced by the use of the miswác, a
kind of tooth-brush made of the twig or the root of a tree, beaten at
the end into a brush. When the prophet stood up to prayer in the night
he rubbed and washed his mouth with the miswác. The Musalmanī ladies
regarded our European tooth-brushes with horror, and considered them
unfit to be used, as being formed from the bristles of the unclean beast.
“When you hear a cock crow, then supplicate God for an increase of his
beneficence, because the cock sees an angel and crows at the sight; and
when you hear an ass bray, seek protection with God from the devil and
say, ‘I take protection with God from the cast-out devil, because the ass
has seen the devil.’”
Pilgrimage to Mecca once during life is necessary for every Musalmān: and
pilgrimage for women is as the Holy War for the men.
The prophet performed his farewell pilgrimage after an interval of ten
years, nine of which he spent at Medinah.
“When the prophet arrived at the Kaaba, he kissed the Black Stone, then
encompassed the kaaba three times in a quick step, and walked four
times in a gentle pace; after which he came to the stone on which is
the impression of Abraham’s foot, and repeated this revelation; ‘Take
the station of Abraham for a place of prayer.’ Then he gave the salām.
One hundred camels were brought for sacrifice, of which the prophet
slew sixty-five with his own hands at the place of sacrifice, which is
in Mina. The prophet kissed the Black Stone and the Yemáni Pillar of
the Kaaba, which pillar belonged to the original structure of the kaaba
ascribed to Abraham, and on that account it is held in higher reverence
than any of the others.
“The black stone came down from Paradise, and at the time of its descent
it was whiter than milk, and the sins of the children of Adam have caused
it to be black, by their touching it. ‘Verily, God will suspend the Black
Stone, on the day of resurrection, when it will have two eyes, by which
it will see and know all those who touched it, and kissed it; and it
will have a tongue by which it will speak, and it will give evidence for
all those who touched and kissed it on Imàn.’ ‘God has appointed seventy
angels over the Yemáni Pillar.’
“The Hindoos insist, that the Black Stone in the wall of the Kaaba, or
sacred temple of Mecca, is no other than a form of Mahadēo; and that it
was placed there by Mohammud out of contempt; but the newly-converted
pilgrims would not give up the worship of the Black Stone, and sinistrous
portents forced the ministers of the new religion to connive at it.”
The pilgrims to Mecca visit the graves of Adam, and Noah, and Ali, who
was buried near them on the Mount on which Noah’s Ark rested, and make
salām also to the grave of Eve, said to be nine yards long!
“It is said God created Adam a handsome figure; he was sixty cubits in
stature, and his children also; since which time they have degenerated;
but when they enter into Paradise, they will be as tall as Adam was. His
stature was sixty cubits, and he was seven cubits broad.”
The Muhammadan religion is intolerant: “His Majesty said, ‘Alláho-Acber
I bear witness that I am God’s servant, and sent by him.’ And he added,
‘O Bill’al! get up, and give notice that none will enter Paradise but
Musalmāns.’
“There are six duties from one Musalmān to another; to salute each other
when they meet; to accept each other’s invitations to dinner; to say ‘God
have mercy upon you!’ after sneezing; to visit the sick; and to follow
each other’s biers when dead; and for one Musalmān to wish for another
what he wishes for himself.” The Muhammadans stand in great awe of the
punishments of the grave. “The prophet of God said, ‘When a Musalmān is
interrogated in his grave about his God, his prophet, and religion, he
will give evidence to the unity of God, and the mission of his prophet,
and will say, My religion is Islām.’ When a servant is put into his grave
and mankind leave him; verily he hears the noise they make in walking
away: when two black angels, with blue eyes, come to the dead body, the
name of the one Munkir, the other Nak’ir, and cause it to sit up, and
say to it, ‘Who is thy defender?’ and it will say, ‘My defender is God.’
‘And what is thy religion?’ It will say, ‘My religion is Islām.’ Then
they will ask, ‘Who is this man who was sent to thee?’ It will say, ‘He
is the messenger of God.’ ‘And how didst thou know he was the prophet of
God?’ It will say, ‘I read the book of God, and put faith in it.’ Then
a voice will come from heaven, saying, ‘My servant hath spoken true.’
And a bed shall be prepared and clothes provided for it from Paradise;
and a door shall be opened for it towards Paradise, when a fragrant gale
will breathe upon it from above, and a place will be opened for it in
the grave to see out of; but the soul of an infidel will be replaced in
its body in the grave. Two angels will come to it and say, ‘Who is thy
cherisher?’ It will say, ‘Alas! alas! I know not.’ Then the angels will
ask about Muhammad. It will reply, ‘Alas! I know him not.’ A voice will
then come from heaven, saying, ‘This servant hath lied; then give it a
bed from hell, and clothes also, and open for it a door towards hell.’
Then a hot wind will come to it, and its grave will be contracted so
as to break the bones on each side; after which an angel will come to
it, deaf and dumb, with a mace of iron, with which, if a mountain were
struck, it would turn to dust. Then the angel will strike the body with
the mace, the noise of which will be heard by every thing between the
east and west, excepting the genii and man, and it will turn to dust;
after which, a soul will be returned to it, and it will be tormented to
the day of resurrection.”
The iron mace with which the angels torment the wicked is, it is said,
the goorz, a sort of iron club, pointed at one end, and having a knob on
the other covered with spikes. This sort of mace is carried by Muhammadan
fakīrs, the goorz-mar, who believe the wounds made by it will quickly
heal from the application of their spittle, by the influence of Syud
Ahmad Kabeer.
The prophet said, “When any one of you dieth, his place is shown him
morning and evening, whether in heaven or hell; and it is said to him,
‘This grave is thy sitting place until the day of resurrection.’”
“Aa’yeshah said, ‘A Jew came to me, and mentioned the punishments of the
grave.’ Then I interrogated the prophet about them, and he said, ‘Yes,
punishments in the grave are true: and I always observed the prophet, at
the end of every prayer, implore God to defend him from the sufferings of
the grave.’”
The sums of money and the quantity of food distributed by Colonel
Gardner’s Begam in charity was surprising; she was a religious woman, and
fulfilled, as far as was in her power, the ordinances of her religion.
The necessity of giving alms is strongly inculcated. “To whomsoever God
gives wealth, and he does not perform the charity due from it, his wealth
will be made into the shape of a serpent on the day of resurrection,
which shall not have any hair upon its head; and this is a sign of its
poison and long life; and it has two black spots upon its eyes; and it
will be twisted round his neck, like a chain, on the day of resurrection:
then the serpent will seize the man’s jawbones, and will say, ‘I am thy
wealth, from which thou didst not give in charity; I am thy treasure,
from which thou didst not separate any alms.’ After this the prophet
repeated this revelation. ‘Let not those who are covetous of what God of
his bounty hath granted them, imagine that their avarice is better for
them: nay, rather it is worse for them. That which they have covetously
reserved shall be bound as a collar about their necks on the day of
resurrection.’”
FOOTNOTES
[1] Oriental Proverbs and Sayings, No. 2.
[2] Ibid. No. 3.
[3] Ibid. No. 4.
[4] Oriental Proverbs, No. 5.
[5] Ibid. No. 6.
[6] Ibid. No. 7.
[7] Oriental Proverbs, No. 8.
[8] Oriental Proverbs, No. 9.
[9] Drank grog.
[10] A technical term used in the whale fishery.
[11] Oriental Sayings, No. 10.
[12] Oriental Proverbs, No. 11.
[13] Oriental Proverbs, No. 12.
[14] Oriental Proverbs, No. 13.
[15] Oriental Proverbs, No. 14.
[16] Bilwa, or Bilva, the Cratæva Marmelos of Linnæus.
[17] Moor’s Hindoo Pantheon.
[18] Oriental Proverbs, No. 15.
[19] Oriental Proverbs, No. 16.
[20] See Sketch, “The Thug’s Dice,” No. 4.
[21] Oriental Proverbs, No. 17.
[22] Alluding to the mutiny at Barrackpore.
[23] The gentleman of the house. The master.
[24] “Cicero, Demosthenes, Judge Blackstone, and myself.” Edward
Christian (subaudi Paul), _passim_.
[25] See Appendix, No. 1.
[26] Oriental Proverbs, No. 18.
[27] See the Sketch entitled “a Dhrum sālā—Bene Mahadēo Ghāt.”
[28] Guzrattee Proverb.
[29] Oriental Proverbs, No. 19.
[30] Oriental Sayings, No. 20.
[31] See the sketch of the Ice Pits, with this man and his mashk
(water-bag).
[32] European gentleman.
[33] Nos. 1 to 10.
[34] Oriental Proverbs, No. 21.
[35] The flour or meal of pulse, particularly of chanā (cicer arietinum).
[36] Khīsās.
[37] Oriental Proverbs, No. 22.
[38] A Hindoo queen or princess.
[39] In Volume the Second.
[40] Oriental Proverbs, No. 23.
[41] Ibid. No. 24.
[42] Oriental Proverbs, No. 25.
[43] Acacia Arabica, or Babool.
[44] Oriental Proverbs, No. 26.
[45] Oriental Proverbs, No. 27.
[46] Oriental Proverbs, No. 28.
[47] Mishcat ul Masabih.
[48] Ward on the History, Literature, and Religion of the Hindoos.
[49] See Appendix, No. 17.
[50] Oriental Proverbs, No. 29.
[51] See the plate entitled “The Thug’s Dice,” in which Fig. 4 represents
a small brass lota covered by a sprig of the kala toolsee.
[52] See the plate entitled “The Thug’s Dice,” in which fig. 2 represents
the lāthī.
[53] Alexander the Second, King of Delhi.
[54] In the plate entitled “Superstitions of the Natives,” No. 6 is a
representation of these coins.
[55] Properly Banglā.
[56] See Appendix, No. 13.
[57] Oriental Proverbs and Sayings, No. 30.
[58] See Appendix, No. 15.
[59] Oriental Proverbs and Sayings, No. 31.
[60] Oriental Proverbs, No. 32.
[61] Oriental Proverbs, No. 33.
[62] From the Calcutta Literary Gazette, inserted in the Government
Gazette, October 7th, 1830.
[63] Appendix, No. 16.
[64] Oriental Proverbs, No. 33.
[65] Ibid. 35.
[66] Oriental Proverbs, No. 36.
[67] Most respectful reverence.
[68] Oriental Proverbs, No. 37.
[69] Ibid. No. 38.
[70] A karor is ten millions.
[71] Oriental Proverbs, No. 39.
[72] Ibid. No. 40.
[73] Oriental Proverbs, No. 41.
[74] Oriental Proverbs, No. 42.
[75] Oriental Proverbs, No. 43.
[76] See Appendix, No. 18.
[77] Oriental Proverbs, No. 44.
[78] Ibid. 45.
[79] Oriental Proverbs, No. 46.
[80] Oriental Proverbs, No. 47.
[81] Oriental Proverbs, No. 48.
[82] Oriental Proverbs, No. 49.
[83] Ibid. No. 50.
[84] Ibid. No. 51.
[85] Vide Moor’s Pantheon.
[86] Appendix, No. 19.
[87] See Appendix, No. 20.
[88] Ibid. No. 21.
[89] Oriental Proverbs, No. 52.
[90] Convolvulus speciosus, (Linn.) Broad-leaved bindweed.
[91] Oriental Proverbs, No. 53.
[92] Ibid. No. 54.
[93] Gram, chanā, cicer arietinum, chick pea, called by mistake _chick
weed_, in page 101.
[94] Oriental Proverbs, No. 55.
[95] The Carob-tree, St. John’s bread, Ceratonia Siliqua.
[96] Pilgrim.
[97] Mishcat ul Masabih.
[98] Oriental Proverbs, No. 56.
[99] Braided locks.
[100] Fig. 4, in the plate entitled “Jugunnathu,” is a sketch of the idol
Gopalu.
[101] In the plate entitled “Jugunnathu,” No. 9 represents this bead.
[102] Ibid. No. 10.
[103] This was a rude imitation of the real idol, as represented in No. 1
of the plate entitled “Jugunnathu.”
[104] Jungle grass—sarput or sirki—saccharum procerum.
[105] See Appendix, No. 24.
[106] Oriental Proverbs, No. 57.
[107] Ibid. No. 58.
[108] Oriental Proverbs, No. 59.
[109] Oriental Proverbs, No. 60.
[110] Mishcat ul Masabih.
[111] Shakespear’s Dict.
[112] Appendix, No. 25.
[113] Revelation of St. John.
[114] Oriental Proverbs, No. 61.
[115] Oriental Proverbs, No. 62.
[116] Oriental Proverbs, No. 63.
[117] Ipomæa quamoclit.
[118] Asclepias rosea.
[119] Ipomæa speciosa, or convolvolus speciosus; broad-leaved bindweed.
[120] Convolvolus grandiflora.
[121] Water-lily.
[122] Oriental Proverbs, No. 64.
[123] See Appendix, No. 28.
[124] Oriental Proverbs, No. 65.
[125] Oriental Proverbs, No. 66.
[126] Oriental Proverbs, No. 67.
[127] Extract from Captain Franklin’s Reign of Shah Aulam.
[128] Oriental Proverbs and Sayings, No. 68.
[129] Oriental Proverbs, No. 69.
[130] Oriental Proverbs, No. 70.
[131] Oriental Proverbs, No. 71.
[132] Oriental Proverbs, No. 72.
[133] Oriental Proverbs, No. 73.
[134] Ibid. 74.
[135] Ibid. 75.
[136] Ibid. 76.
[137] Ibid. 77.
[138] Oriental Proverbs, No. 78.
[139] Ibid. 79.
[140] Oriental Proverbs, No. 80.
[141] Qanoon-e-Islam.
[142] Oriental Proverbs, No. 81.
[143] Oriental Proverbs, No. 82.
[144] Oriental Proverbs, No. 83.
[145] Ibid. 84.
[146] Qanoon-e-islam.
[147] Oriental Proverbs, No. 85.
[148] Qanoon-e-islam.
[149] Oriental Proverbs, No. 86.
[150] Oriental Proverbs, No. 87.
[151] Ibid. 88.
[152] Ibid. 89.
[153] Oriental Proverbs, No. 90.
[154] Oriental Proverbs and Sayings, No. 100.
ORIENTAL PROVERBS AND SAYINGS.
“_Masal i mârūf pirāyah-e-zabānhā._”
“A proverb is an ornament to language.”
“_Har chi bādābād-i-mā kishte dar āb āndākhtem._”
No. 1. “Let the result be what it may, I have launched my boat.”
_i.e._ The die is cast. The bolt is shot.
“_Ghosh kh’ābānīh._”
2. Lit.—“He put his ears to sleep.”
“_Tu marā dil dih o dilīrī bīn._
_Rubah-e-kh’esh kh’ān o shere bīn._”
3. “Encourage me, and then behold my bravery:—call me your own fox, and
then you will see me perform the exploits of a lion!”
“_Chi bāk az mauj-i-bahr ānrā ki bāshad Nauh kishtibān._”
4. “What fear need he have of the waves of the sea, who has Noah for his
pilot?”
_i.e._ He is safe who has a powerful protector.
“_Kalandar har-chi goyad dīdah goyad._”
5. “Whatever the wandering traveller says, he does so from having seen
that of which he speaks.”
“_Unt dāgh hote the makrā abhī dāgh hone ko āyā._”
6. “The camels were being branded (with hot irons for the public
service), and the spider came to be marked also.”
“_Mekke gaye na Medine gaye bīch hī bīch hājjī the._”
7. “He neither went to Mekka nor Medina, but was a pilgrim nevertheless.”
“_Dharyārē men kahūn lauharyāre to kān de._”
8. “I speak to those who have daughters, and let those who have sons
listen.”
“_Bālā-e-tawīlah bar sar-i-maimūn._”
9. “The misfortunes of the stable (fall) on the head of the monkey.”
It is the custom in Hindostān to keep a monkey in or near a stable, to
guard the horses from the influence of evil eyes. This proverb is applied
whenever a poor man or a servant is punished for the crimes of his
superior.
“_Sūndhī bawā chatāī kā lahangā._”
10. “A handsome sister, with a mat for a petticoat.”
“_Dekha shahr-i-Bangālā dant lāl munh kālā._”
11. “I have seen Bengal, there the teeth are red, and the mouth is black.”
_i.e._ From chewing betel.
“_Karz shauhar-i-mardān ast._”
12. “Debt is a man’s husband.”
_i.e._ A man in debt is always at the mercy of his creditors, as a woman
at her husband’s.
“_Ek aur ek igārah._”
13. “One and one make eleven.”
From the way of writing (11) in figures.
“_Āmadan ba irādat raftan ba ijāzat._”
14. “Coming is voluntary, but departing depends upon permission.”
“_Fakīr kī surat hī sawāl hai._”
15. “The appearance of a fakīr is his petition in itself.”
“_Shāh-isparam az do barg paidā ast._”
16. “The sweet basil is known by its two leaves.”
“_Sonā jāne kase aur mānus jāne base._”
17. “Gold is known by the touchstone, and a man by living with him.”
“_Zahir-āsh az shaikh bātin az Shaitān._”
18. “Externally he is a saint, but internally he is a devil.”
“_Nīm na mithā ho sech gar ghī se._”
19. “The nīm-tree (which is very bitter) will not become sweet, though
watered with syrup and clarified butter.”
“_Tum ghī ke dīye jalāo._”
20. “Light thou the lamp of ghī.”
(Clarified butter.)
“_Hawā ke ghore par sawār hain._”
21. “He rides a steed of air.”
“Chateaux d’Espagne.”—To build castles in the air.
“_Jā ko piyā chāhen wuhī suhāgan._”
22. “She who is beloved is the wife.”
“_Kyā dam kā bharosā hai?_”
23. “What reliance is there on life?”
“_Bakht-i-bad bā kase ki yār bavad_
_Sag gazad gar shutur-sawār bavad._”
24. “He who has ill luck for his companion will be bitten by a dog,
although mounted on a camel.”
“_Bhūkhe se kahā do aur do kyā? kahā chār rotīyān._”
25. “If you ask a hungry man how much two and two make—he answers Four
loaves.”
“_Shirīn zabānī o lutf o khūshī Tu agar pīle bā mūe kashī._”
26. “By sweet words and gentleness you may lead an elephant by a hair.”
“_Ghawās gar andeshah kunad kām-i-nihang_
_Hargiz na kunad dar girān-māyah._”
27. “If the diver were to think on the jaws of the crocodile, he would
never gather precious pearls.”
“_Kāle ke āge chirāgh nahīn jaltā._”
28. “The lamp burns not before the black snake.”
(Which is supposed to carry a precious jewel in its head.)
“_Khatt pona to adhā mulākāt._”
29. “A letter is half an interview.”
“_Gharīb-parwar salāmat._”
30. “Cherisher of the poor—peace be unto you.”
31. “_Allah, Muhammad, Ali, Fatima, Hussun, Hussein._”
“_Chyūnte kī jo maut ānī hai to par nikalti hai._”
32. “When ants are about to die they get wings.”
“_Nayā naukar hiran māre._”
33. “A new servant will catch deer.”
“_Rāst darogh ba gardan-i-rāwī._”
34. “The truth or falsehood of the story rests on the head of the
narrator.”
_i.e._ I tell you the story as it was told to me, but I am not answerable
for the truth of it.
“_Baghl men chhurī munh men Rām! Rām!_”
35. “The dagger in his bosom and salutation in his mouth.”
“_Fāl-i-bad bar zabān bad bāshad._”
36. “A bad omen ought not to be mentioned.”
“_Ishk o mashk panhān na mī-mānad._”
37. “Love and musk do not remain concealed.”
“_Har jā ki parī-rukhī ast dīve bā o ast._”
38. “Wherever there is a fairy-faced damsel, she is attended by a demon.”
“_Bhale bābā band pare Gobar chhor kashīde pare._”
39. “Oh! Father! I have got into a strange difficulty, I have left off
picking cow-dung, and am employed in embroidery.”
“_Rīsh-i-khudrā ba dast-i-dígare ma-dih._”
40. “Do not put your beard into the hands of another.”
_i.e._ Do not put yourself into the power of another person.
“_Ādmī sā pakherū koi nahīn._”
41. “There is no bird like a man.”
_i.e._ So volatile and unsteady.
“_Kal kase dekhā hai?_”
42. “Who has seen to-morrow?”
_i.e._ Enjoy to-day, no one knows what may happen to-morrow.
“_Us se achhā khudā kā nām._”
43. “The name of God is better than this.”
_i.e._ This is the best of all.
“_Āh dar jigar na mānad._”
44. “There was not left even a sigh in his heart.”
_i.e._ He was totally destitute.
“_Dūdhon nahāo pūton phaliyo!_”
45. “May you bathe in milk and be fruitful in children!”
“_Tū ki īn kadar az khwāb mahzūzī chirā na mi-mīrī?_”
46. “You who are so fond of sleep, why don’t you die at once?”
“_Ber tale kā bhūt._”
47. “A demon under a Bér-tree.”
That attached to Bér-trees (Ficus Indica) is said to be exceedingly
obstinate—hence applied to a very importunate person of whom you cannot
get rid.
“_Us ki jar hain to Pātāl ko pahunch gaye hain._”
48. “Its roots have already reached to Pātāl.”
_i.e._ The infernal regions. Said of a person who has established himself
firmly in any situation.
“_Apnī Rādhā ko yād kar._”
49. “Attend to your own Rādhā.”
_i.e._ Attend to your own business.
“_Jhūth-bolne men to sarfah kyā?_”
50. “What need of economy in telling lies?”
51. “_Jhūth na bole, to pet na phut jāe?_”
Transcriber’s Note: The meaning of this proverb was omitted in the
original.
“_Khānah-i-khālī dīv mī-gīrānd._”
52. “Demons take possession of an empty house.”
“_Zamīndārī dūb kī jar hai._”
53. “Landed property is like the root of the Dūb-grass.”
_i.e._ It is not easily destroyed.
“_Shamlah ba mikdār-i-îlm._”
54. “The pendant part of the turban should be in proportion to the
learning.”
It was formerly the custom of the learned to have the end of the turban
hanging down the back.
“_Gāchh men kathal honth men tīl._”
55. “The jack fruit is upon the tree, and oil on your lips.”
“_Hāl men fāl dahī men mosal._”
56. “Talking to a man who is in ecstasy (of a religious nature, feigned
or practised by fakīrs) is like beating curds with a pestle.”
“_Merā māthā tabhī thonkā thā._”
57. “It was hammered upon my forehead.”
“_Takdīr chū sābik ast tadbīr chi saud?_”
58. “What is the use of taking precautions, since what has been
pre-ordained must happen?”
“_Jaisā des waisā bhes._”
59. “Every country hath its own fashions.”
“_Jādū hakk hai karne-wālā kāfir._”
60. “Magic is truth, but the magician is an infidel.”
“_Gul se hamāre nishīn Siwā kānte ke nahīn._”
61. “My only portion of the rose is the thorn.”
“_Nigāh-e-darwesh âīn-i-sawāl._”
62. “The sight of a beggar is a request personified.”
“_Ek gharīb ko mārā thā to nau man charbī._”
63. “I have killed such a poor man as you, and have got nine mŭns of fat
out of him.”
“_Jal men basī kamudinī chandā basī ākās._
_Jo jan jā ke man basī so jan tā ke pās._”
64. “The Nymphæa dwells in the water, and the moon in the sky, (but) he
that resides in the heart of another is always present with him.”
The Nymphæa expands its flowers in the night, and thence is feigned to be
in love with the moon.
“_Himmat-i-mardān hārhā dārad._”
65. “Resolution overcomes great difficulties.”
“_Har-kirā sabr nīst hikmat nīst._”
66. “He who has not patience, possesses not philosophy.”
“_Ki gumbad har-chi goyī goyad-at bāz._”
67. “Whatever you say to a dome, it says to you again.”
“_Kab mue kab kire pare._”
68. “When he died and when the worms ate him (I know not).”
“_Ab bhī merā murdah tere zinde par bhārē hai._”
69. “My dead are better than your living.”
“_Har ki dil pesh-i-dilbarē dārad,_
_Rīsh dar dast-i-dīgare dārad._”
70. “Whoever hath given his heart to a beloved object, hath put his beard
into the hands of another.”
“_Bī-tāb-i-îshk har-chi kunad hakk ba dast-i-o ast._”
71. “Whatever a man does who is afflicted with love, he must be excused
for it.”
“_Laili ko Majnūn ke ankhon se dekhnā._”
72. “One must behold Laīlī with the eyes of Majnūn.”
“_Dah darwesh dar kalīme bi-khuspand_
_Do pādshāh dar iklīme na ganjand._”
73. “Ten derveshes may sleep under the same blanket, but two kings cannot
exist in one kingdom.”
“_Hūr bhī saugan koden se burī._”
74. “A contemporary wife, although a hūri, is worse than a she-devil.”
“_Saut chun kī bhī burī._”
75. “The very voice of a rival wife is intolerable.”
“_Sautīyā dāh mashhūr hai._”
76. “The malice of a rival wife is notorious.”
“_Saut mūrat kī bhī burī._”
77. “A contemporary wife is intolerable even in effigy.”
“_Saut bhalī sautela burā._”
78. “A contemporary wife may be good, but her child is bad.”
“_Āsūdah kase ki buz na dārad._”
79. “The man is happy who has no she-goat.”
“_Būnd kā gharon dhal gayā._”
80. “The house may be filled with the falling of drops.”
“_Ham māl ba-dast āyad o ham mār na ranjad._”
81. “To get possession of the wealth without disturbing the snake that
guards it.”
“_Saidrā chūn ājal āyad sū-e-sayyād rawad._”
82. “When death approaches the game it goes towards the sportsman.”
“_Apnī guriyā sanwār-denā._”
83. “To dress one’s own doll.”
“_Ghar kar ghar kar sattar balā sir dhar._”
84. “He who builds a house and takes a wife, heaps seventy afflictions on
his head.”
“_Jahān dekhe to ā barat._
_Wahān gāwe sārī rāt._”
85. “Where there is a marriage they may sing all night.”
“_Jis dūlhah tis banī barāt._”
86. “The nuptial procession is proportioned to the rank of the
bridegroom.”
“_Hamahrā yak mār gazīdah ast._”
87. “One snake has bit them all.”
“_Rānī dīwānī hoyī oron ko patthar apnon ko laddū mār kī._”
88. “The princess is grown foolish, she pelts her own relations with
sweetmeats, others with stones.”
“_Tātorah ba hawā pāshīdah and._”
89. “They have scattered datūra (thorn-apple) in the air.”
_i.e._ The people are all gone mad.
“_Man motion byāh_
_Man chāwalon byāh._”
90. “A marriage may be celebrated with a mŭn of rice, as well as with a
mŭn of pearls.”
“_Nakāre bāj damāne bāj gaye._”
100. “The sound of the nakaras and dumana has ceased.”
“_Misi kājil kisko_
_Miyān chale bhasko._”
101. “For whom should I stain my teeth and blacken my eyelashes? the
master is turned to ashes.”
“_Zabān-i-khūsh mārrā az sorākh bar mī-ārad._”
102. “A pleasant voice brings a snake out of a hole.”
“_Kharbūzāh chhurī par gire, yā chhurī kharbūze par to kharbūze kā
zarūr._”
103. “Whether the melon falls on the knife, or the knife on the melon,
the melon is the sufferer.”
_i.e._ The weakest go to the wall.
“_Dhūl kī rassī batnā._”
104. “To twist a rope of sand.”
“_Az bīwah kīr gadā’ī._”
105. “To beg a husband from a widow.”
“_Āthon gānth kumīt._”
106. “Bay in all his eight joints.”
“_Māmū jī juhār._”
107. “God save you, uncle!”
“_Ek nahīn sattar balā taltī hai._”
108. “Not one, but seventy misfortunes it keeps off.”
“_Kāne kī ek rag siwā hotī hai._”
109. “One-eyed men have a vein extra.”
“_Thorā khānā aur Banāras rahnā._”
110. “A little to eat and to live at Benares.”
The wish of a pious Hindu.
“_Zabar-dast kā thengā sir par._”
111. “The cudgel of the powerful must be obeyed.”
Club law—the weakest always suffer.
“_Jiskī lāthī us kī bhains._”
112. “He who has the stick, his is the buffalo.”
To express that the most powerful is generally the most successful in all
disputes. Club law.
“_Jis ne na dekhā ho bāgh wuh dekhe bilāī._
_Jis ne na dekhā ho thag wuh dekhe kasāī._”
113. “He who has never seen a tiger let him look at a cat; and he who has
never seen a Thug, let him look at a butcher.”
“_Zauk-i-chaman ’z khātir-i-bulbul na mī-rawad._”
114. “The desire of the garden never leaves the heart of the nightingale.”
“_Ghar gūr to bāhir mamāke._”
115. “A gooroo at home, but a beggar abroad.”
“_Gharīb ko kaurī ashrafī hai._”
116. “A kourī is a gold mohur to a pauper.”
“_Hazār niamat aur ek tand-rastī._”
117. “Health alone is equal to a thousand blessings.”
“_Chirāgh tale andherā._”
118. “It is dark under the lamp.”
“_Larke ko jab bheriyā le-gayā tab tattī bāndhī._”
119. “Fasten the door when the wolf has run away with the child.”
“_Khwāb āsāīsh-i-jān ast._”
120. “Sleep is the repose of the soul.”
“_Agar firdause bar rū-e-zamīn ast_
_Hamen ast, hamen ast, hamen ast._”
121. “If there be a Paradise upon earth, it is this, it is this.”
“_Dar-i-khānah-e-khudā dāim bāz ast._”
122. “The gate of the house of God is always open.”
“_Jitnā chhota itnā khota._”
123. “Vicious as he is little.”
“_Tārīkī-i-shab surmah-e-chashm-i-mūsh-i-kūr ast._”
124. “The darkness of the night is collyrium to the eyes of the mole.”
“_Sabz bar sang na-rawad chi gunah-e-bārānrā?_”
125. “If grass does not grow upon stones, what fault is it in the rain?”
“_Ek jorū sāre kumbe ko bas hai._”
126. “One wife is enough for a whole family.”
“_Murdah ān ast ki nām ash ba nikūī na burand._”
127. “He only is dead whose name is not mentioned with respect.”
“_Roz-i-tangī siyāh ast._”
128. “The days of distress are black.”
_i.e._ White and red amongst the Persians denote good.
“_Shutur-ghamze karte hain._”
129. “They cast camels’ glances.”
“_Chhīnkte khāē, chhīnkte nahāe chhīnkte par ghar na jāe._”
130. “After sneezing you may eat or bathe, but not go into any one’s
house.”
“_Astarrā guftand, pidar ast kīst? Guft asp khāl-i-man ast yā mādar-am
mādiyān ast._”
131. “The mule was asked ‘Who is your father?’ he answered, ‘The horse is
my maternal uncle, and the mare is my mother.”
“_Wahm kī dārū hī nahīn._”
132. “There is no physic for false ideas.”
“_Āb dar jaughan kobīdan._”
133. “To pound water in a mortar.”
Labour in vain.
“_Ām machhli bahtā ho hī rahtā hī._”
134. “Mangoes and fish meet of necessity.”
“_Murdan ba-izzat bih ki zindagānī ba-mazallat._”
135. “It is better to die with honour than live with infamy.”
“_Bhāgalpūr ke bhagliye aur Kahalgaon ke thag,_
_Patne ke diwāliye tīnon nām-zad._”
136. “The hypocrites of Bhagulpūr, the thugs of Kuhulgaon, and the
bankrupts of Patna are famous.”
“_Zāt bhānt puchhe na koi, jatio pahan kar Bahman hoe._”
137. “No one enquires his caste or tribe, he has put on the string and is
therefore a Brahman.”
“_Rānd sānd sīrhī sanyāsī_
_In chāron se bache Kāshī._”
138. “At Benares you should be upon your guard against the women, the
sacred bulls, the stairs, and the devotees.”
“_Bel ke māre babūl tale_
_Babūl ke māre bel tale._”
139. “He who was hurt by the bel (its large fruit falling on his head)
fled for refuge to the babūl (the prickles of which wounded his feet),
and he who was hurt by the babūl, fled to the bel.”
“_Mānte to deo nahīn to bhīt kā leo._”
140. “If you believe, it is a god—if not, plaister detached from a wall.”
“_Daryā men rahnā aur magar machh se bair karnā._”
141. “To dwell in the river and be at enmity with the crocodile.”
“_Khudā shakar-khore ko shakar detā hai._”
142. “God gives sugar to him who eats sugar.”
_i.e._ He provides for his creatures according to their wants.
“_Na burad kazz-i-narmrā tegh-i-tez._”
143. “A sharp sword will not cut raw silk.”
“_Nakl-i-âish bih az âīsh._”
144. “The narration of pleasure is better than the pleasure itself.”
“_Ukhle men sir diyā to dhamkon se kyā dar._”
145. “I have put my head into the mortar; it is useless to dread the
sound of the pestle.”
“_Āp kī topī par salāmat rahī._”
146. “The blessing of heaven be upon your head.”
“_Kalam īn jā rasīd o sar bi-shikast._”
147. “The pen arrived thus far and broke its point.”
_i.e._ It is finished.
_RAM! RAM!_
END OF VOL. I.
LONDON: GILBERT & RIVINGTON, PRINTERS, ST. JOHN’S SQUARE.