having saluted Ali of Cairo with the salam, asked him the reason of his
enchantment and what had befallen him; and he answered by telling him
all that had passed, when the broker said to him, “Will not my daughter
and the handmaid suffice thee?” but he answered, “Needs must I have
Zaynab also.” Now suddenly there came a rap at the door and the maid
said, “Who is at the door?” The knocker replied, “Kamar, daughter of
Azariah the Jew; say me, is Ali of Cairo with you?” Replied the broker’s
daughter, “O thou daughter of a dog! If he be with us, what wilt thou
with him? Go down, O maid, and open to her.” So the maid let her in, and
when she looked upon Ali and he upon her, he said, “What bringeth thee
hither O dog’s daughter?” Quoth she, “I testify that there is no god but
_the_ God and I testify that Mohammed is the Apostle of God.” And,
having thus Islamised, she asked him, “Do men in the Faith of Al-Islam
give marriage portions to women or do women dower men?” Quoth he, “Men
endow women.” “Then,” said she, “I come and dower myself for thee,
bringing thee, as my marriage-portion, my dress together with the rod
and charger and chains and the head of my father, the enemy of thee and
the foeman of Allah.” And she threw down the Jew’s head before him. Now
the cause of her slaying her sire was as follows. On the night of his
turning Ali into a dog, she saw, in a dream, a speaker who said to her,
“Become a Moslemah.” She did so; and as soon as she awoke next morning
she expounded Al-Islam to her father who refused to embrace the Faith;
so she drugged him with Bhang and killed him. As for Ali, he took the
gear and said to the broker, “Meet we to-morrow at the Caliph’s Divan,
that I may take thy daughter and the handmaid to wife.” Then he set out
rejoicing, to return to the barrack of the Forty. On his way he met a
sweetmeat seller, who was beating hand upon hand and saying, “There is
no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great!
Folk’s labour hath waxed sinful and man is active only in fraud!” Then
said he to Ali, “I conjure thee, by Allah, taste of this confection!” So
Ali took a piece and ate it and fell down senseless, for there was Bhang
therein; whereupon the sweetmeat-seller seized the dress and the charger
and the rest of the gear and thrusting them into the box where he kept
his sweetmeats hoisted it up and made off. Presently he met a Kazi, who
called to him, saying, “Come hither, O sweetmeat seller!” So he went up
to him and setting down his sack laid the tray of sweetmeats upon it and
asked, “What dost thou want?” “Halwá and dragées,[256]” answered the
Kazi and, taking some in his hand, said, “Both of these are
adulterated.” Then he brought out sweetmeats from his breast-pocket[257]
and gave them to the sweetmeat-seller, saying, “Look at this fashion;
how excellent it is! Eat of it and make the like of it.” So he ate and
fell down senseless, for the sweetmeats were drugged with Bhang,
whereupon the Kazi bundled him into the sack and made off with him,
charger and chest and all, to the barrack of the Forty. Now the Judge in
question was Hasan Shuman and the reason of this was as follows. When
Ali had been gone some days in quest of the dress and they heard no news
of him, Calamity Ahmad said to his men, “O lads, go and seek for your
brother Ali of Cairo.” So they sallied forth in quest of him and among
the rest Hasan Shuman the Pestilence, disguised in a Kazi’s gear. He
came upon the sweetmeat-seller and, knowing him for Ahmad al-Lakit[258]
suspected him of having played some trick upon Ali; so he drugged him
and did as we have seen. Meanwhile, the other Forty fared about the
streets and highways making search in different directions, and amongst
them Ali Kitf al-Jamal, who espying a crowd, made towards the people and
found the Cairene Ali lying drugged and senseless in their midst. So he
revived him and he came to himself and seeing the folk flocking around
him asked, “Where am I?” Answered Ali Camel-shoulder and his comrades,
“We found thee lying here drugged but know not who drugged thee.” Quoth
Ali, “’Twas a certain sweetmeat-seller who drugged me and took the gear
from me; but where is he gone?” Quoth his comrades, “We have seen
nothing of him; but come, rise and go home with us.” So they returned to
the barrack, where they found Ahmad al-Danaf, who greeted Ali and
enquired if he had brought the dress. He replied, “I was coming hither
with it and other matters, including the Jew’s head, when a
sweetmeat-seller met me and drugged me with Bhang and took them from
me.” Then he told him the whole tale ending with, “If I come across that
man of goodies again, I will requite him.” Presently Hasan Shuman came
out of a closet and said to him, “Hast thou gotten the gear, O Ali?” So
he told him what had befallen him and added, “If I know whither the
rascal is gone and where to find the knave, I would pay him out. Knowest
thou whither he went?” Answered Hasan, “I know where he is,” and opening
the door of the closet, showed him the sweetmeat-seller within, drugged
and senseless. Then he aroused him and he opened his eyes and finding
himself in presence of Mercury Ali and Calamity Ahmad and the Forty,
started up and said, “Where am I and who hath laid hands on me?” Replied
Shuman, “’Twas I laid hands on thee;” and Ali cried, “O perfidious
wretch, wilt thou play thy pranks on me?” And he would have slain him:
but Hasan said to him, “Hold thy hand for this fellow is become thy
kinsman.” “How my kinsman?” quoth Ali; and quoth Hasan, “This is Ahmad
al-Lakit son of Zaynab’s sister.” Then said Ali to the prisoner, “Why
didst thou thus, O Lakit?” and he replied, “My grandmother, Dalilah the
Wily, bade me do it; only because Zurayk the fishmonger foregathered
with the old woman and said:—Mercury Ali of Cairo is a sharper and a
past master in knavery, and he will certainly slay the Jew and bring
hither the dress. So she sent for me and said to me, O Ahmad, dost thou
know Ali of Cairo? Answered I:—Indeed I do and ’twas I directed him to
Ahmad al-Danaf’s lodging when he first came to Baghdad. Quoth she:—Go
and set thy nets for him, and if he have brought back the gear, put a
cheat on him and take it from him. So I went round about the highways of
the city, till I met a sweetmeat-seller and buying his clothes and
stock-in-trade and gear for ten dinars, did what was done.” Thereupon
quoth Ali, “Go back to thy grandmother and Zurayk, and tell them that I
have brought the gear and the Jew’s head and say to them:—Meet me
to-morrow at the Caliph’s Divan, there to receive Zaynab’s dowry.” And
Calamity Ahmad rejoiced in this and said, “We have not wasted our pains
in rearing thee, O Ali!” Next morning Ali took the dress, the charger,
the rod and the chains of gold, together with the head of Azariah the
Jew mounted on a pike, and went up, accompanied by Ahmad al-Danaf and
the Forty, to the Divan, where they kissed ground before the Caliph——And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Nineteenth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Ali the
Cairene went up to the Caliph’s Divan, accompanied by his uncle Ahmad
al-Danaf and his lads they kissed ground before the Caliph who turned
and seeing a youth of the most valiant aspect, enquired of Calamity
Ahmad concerning him and he replied, “O Commander of the Faithful, this
is Mercury Ali the Egyptian captain of the brave boys of Cairo, and he
is the first of my lads.” And the Caliph loved him for the valour that
shone from between his eyes, testifying for him and not against him.
Then Ali rose; and, casting the Jew’s head down before him, said, “May
thine every enemy be like this one, O Prince of True Believers!” Quoth
Al-Rashid, “Whose head is this?”; and quoth Ali, “’Tis the head of
Azariah the Jew.” “Who slew him?” asked the Caliph. So Ali related to
him all that had passed, from first to last, and the Caliph said, “I had
not thought thou wouldst kill him, for that he was a sorcerer.” Ali
replied, “O Commander of the Faithful, my Lord made me prevail to his
slaughter.” Then the Caliph sent the Chief of Police to the Jew’s
palace, where he found him lying headless; so he laid the body on a
bier,[259] and carried it to Al-Rashid, who commanded to burn it.
Whereat, behold, up came Kamar and kissing the ground before the Caliph,
informed him that she was the daughter of Jew Azariah and that she had
become a Moslemah. Then she renewed her profession of Faith before the
Commander of the Faithful and said to him “Be thou my intercessor with
Sharper Ali that he take me to wife.” She also appointed him her
guardian to consent to her marriage with the Cairene, to whom he gave
the Jew’s palace and all its contents, saying, “Ask a boon of me.” Quoth
Ali, “I beg of thee to let me stand on thy carpet and eat of thy table;”
and quoth the Caliph, “O Ali, hast thou any lads?” He replied, “I have
forty lads; but they are in Cairo.” Rejoined the Caliph, “Send to Cairo
and fetch them hither,” presently adding, “But, O Ali, hast thou a
barrack for them?” “No,” answered Ali; and Hasan Shuman said, “I make
him a present of my barrack with all that is therein, O Commander of the
Faithful.” However, the Caliph retorted, saying, “Thy lodging is thine
own, O Hasan;” and he bade his treasurer give the court architect ten
thousand dinars, that he might build Ali a hall with four daïses and
forty sleeping-closets for his lads. Then said he, “O Ali, hast thou any
further wish, that we may command its fulfilment?”; and said Ali, “O
King of the age, be thou my intercessor with Dalilah the Wily that she
give me her daughter Zaynab to wife and take the dress and gear of
Azariah’s girl in lieu of dower.” Dalilah accepted the Caliph’s
intercession and accepted the charger and dress and what not, and they
drew up the marriage contracts between Ali and Zaynab and Kamar, the
Jew’s daughter and the broker’s daughter and the handmaid. Moreover, the
Caliph assigned him a solde with a table morning and evening, and
stipends and allowances for fodder; all of the most liberal. Then Ali
the Cairene fell to making ready for the wedding festivities and, after
thirty days, he sent a letter to his comrades in Cairo, wherein he gave
them to know of the favours and honours which the Caliph had bestowed
upon him and said, “I have married four maidens and needs must ye come
to the wedding.” So, after a reasonable time the forty lads arrived and
they held high festival; he homed them in his barrack and entreated them
with the utmost regard and presented them to the Caliph, who bestowed on
them robes of honour and largesse. Then the tiring-women displayed
Zaynab before Ali in the dress of the Jew’s daughter, and he went in
unto her and found her a pearl unthridden and a filly by all save
himself unridden. Then he went in unto the three other maidens and found
them accomplished in beauty and loveliness. After this it befel that Ali
of Cairo was one night on guard by the Caliph who said to him, “I wish
thee O Ali, to tell me all that hath befallen thee from first to last
with Dalilah the Wily and Zaynab the Coney-catcher and Zurayk the
Fishmonger.” So Ali related to him all his adventures and the Commander
of the Faithful bade record them and lay them up in the royal
muniment-rooms. So they wrote down all that had befallen him and kept it
in store with other histories for the people of Mohammed the Best of
Men. And Ali and his wives and comrades abode in all solace of life, and
its joyance, till there came to them the Destroyer of Delights and
Sunderer of Societies; and Allah (be He extolled and exalted!) is
All-knowing![260] And also men relate the tale of
-----
Footnote 214:
This is a sequel to the Story of Dalilah and both are highly relished
by Arabs. The Bresl. Edit. ix. 245, runs both into one.
Footnote 215:
Arab. Misr, Masr, the Capital, says Savary, applied alternately to
Memphis, Fostat and Grand Cairo each of which had a Jízah (pron.
Gízah), skirt, angle outlying suburb.
Footnote 216:
For the curious street-cries of old Cairo see Lane (M. E. chapt. xiv.)
and my Pilgrimage (i. 120): here the rhymes are of Zabíb (raisins),
habíb (lover) and labíb (man of sense).
Footnote 217:
The Mac. and Bul. Edits. give two silly couplets of moral advice:—
Strike with thy stubborn steel, and never fear ✿ Aught save the
Godhead of Almighty Might;
And shun ill practices and never show ✿ Through life but generous
gifts to human sight.
The above is from the Bresl. Edit. ix. 247.
Footnote 218:
Arab. “Al-Khanakah” now more usually termed a Takíyah (Pilgrim. i.
124).
Footnote 219:
Arab. “Ka’b al-ba’íd” (Bresl. Edit. ix. 255) = heel or ankle, metaph.
for fortune, reputation: so the Arabs say the “Ka’b of the tribe is
gone!” Here “the far one” = the caravan-leader.
Footnote 220:
Arab. “Sharít,” from Sharata = he Scarified; “Mishrat” = a lancet and
“Sharítah” = a mason’s rule. Mr. Payne renders “Sharít” by whinyard:
it must be a chopper-like weapon, with a pin or screw (laulab) to keep
the blade open like the snap of the Spaniard’s cuchillo. Dozy explains
it = epée, synonyme de Sayf.
Footnote 221:
Text “Dimágh,” a Persianism when used for the head: the word properly
means brain or meninx.
Footnote 222:
They were afraid even to stand and answer this remarkable ruffian.
Footnote 223:
Ahmad the Abortion, or the Foundling, nephew (sister’s son) of Zaynab
the Coney-catcher. See _supra_, p. 145.
Footnote 224:
Here the sharp lad discovers the direction without pointing it out. I
need hardly enlarge upon the prehensile powers of the Eastern foot:
the tailor will hold his cloth between his toes and pick up his needle
with it, whilst the woman can knead every muscle and at times catch a
mosquito between the toes. I knew an officer in India whose mistress
hurt his feelings by so doing at a critical time when he attributed
her movement to pleasure.
Footnote 225:
Arab. “Hullah” = dress. In old days it was composed of the Burd or
Ridá, the shoulder-cloth from 6 to 9 or 10 feet long, and the Izár or
waistcloth which was either tied or tucked into a girdle of leather or
metal. The woman’s waistcloth was called Nitáh and descended to the
feet while the upper part was doubled and provided with a Tikkah or
string over which it fell to the knees overhanging the lower folds.
This doubling of the “Hujrah,” or part round the waist, was called the
“Hubkah.”
Footnote 226:
Arab. “Taghaddá,” the dinner being at eleven a.m. or noon.
Footnote 227:
Arab. Ghandúr for which the Dictionaries give only “fat, thick.” It
applies in Arabia especially to a Harámi, brigand or freebooter, most
honourable of professions, slain in foray or fray, opposed to “Fatís”
or carrion (the _corps crévé_ of the Klephts), the man who dies the
straw-death. Pilgrimage iii. 66.
Footnote 228:
My fair readers will note with surprise how such matters are hurried
in the East. The picture is, however, true to life in lands where
“flirtation” is utterly unknown and, indeed, impossible.
Footnote 229:
Arab. “Zabbah,” the wooden bolt (before noticed) which forms the lock
and is opened by a slider and pins. It is illustrated by Lane (M. E.
Introduction).
Footnote 230:
_i.e._ I am not a petty thief.
Footnote 231:
Arab. “Satl” = kettle, bucket. Lat. Situla (?)
Footnote 232:
_i.e._ “there is no chance of his escaping.” It may also mean, “And
far from him (Hayhát) is escape.”
Footnote 233:
Arab. “Ihtilám,” the sign of puberty in boy or girl; this, like all
emissions of semen, voluntary or involuntary, requires the Ghuzl or
total ablution before prayers can be said, etc. See vol. v. 199, in
the Tale of Tawaddud.
Footnote 234:
This is the way to take an Eastern when he tells a deliberate lie; and
it often surprises him into speaking the truth.
Footnote 235:
The conjunctiva in Africans is seldom white; often it is red and more
frequently yellow.
Footnote 236:
So in the texts, possibly a clerical error for the wine which he had
brought with the kabobs. But beer is the especial tipple of African
slaves in Egypt.
Footnote 237:
Arab. Laun, prop. = color, hue; but applied to species and genus, our
“kind”; and especially to dishes which differ in appearance; whilst in
Egypt it means any dish.
Footnote 238:
Arab. “Zardah” = rice dressed with honey and saffron. Vol. ii. 313.
The word is still common in Turkey.
Footnote 239:
Arab. “Laylat Ams,” the night of yesterday (Al-bárihah) not our “last
night” which would be the night of the day spoken of.
Footnote 240:
Arab. “Yakhní,” a word much used in Persia and India and properly
applied to the complicated broth prepared for the rice and meat. For a
good recipe see Herklots, Appendix xxix.
Footnote 241:
In token of defeat and in acknowledgment that she was no match for
men.
Footnote 242:
This is a neat touch of nature. Many a woman, even of the world, has
fallen in love with a man before indifferent to her because he did not
take advantage of her when he had the opportunity.
Footnote 243:
The slightest movement causes a fight at a funeral or a
wedding-procession in the East; even amongst the “mild Hindus.”
Footnote 244:
Arab. “Al-Musrán” (plur. of “Masír”) properly the intestines which
contain the chyle. The bag made by Ali was, in fact, a “Cundum” (so
called from the inventor, Colonel Cundum of the Guards in the days of
Charles Second) or “French letter”; une capote anglaise, a “check upon
child.” Captain Grose says (Class. Dict. etc. s.v. Cundum) “The dried
gut of a sheep worn by a man in the act of coition to prevent venereal
infection. These machines were long prepared and sold by a matron of
the name of Philips at the Green Canister in Half Moon Street in the
Strand * * * Also a false scabbard over a sword and the oilskin case
for the colours of a regiment.” Another account is given in the Guide
Pratique des Maladies Secrètes, Dr. G. Harris, Bruxelles. Librairie
Populaire. He calls these petits sachets de baudruche “Candoms, from
the doctor who invented them.” (Littré ignores the word) and declares
that the famous Ricord compared them with a bad umbrella which a storm
can break or burst, while others term them cuirasses against pleasure
and cobwebs against infection. They were much used in the last
century. “Those pretended stolen goods were Mr. Wilkes’s Papers, many
of which tended to prove his authorship of the North Briton, No. 45,
April 23, 1763, and some _Cundums_ enclosed in an envelope” (Records
of C. of King’s Bench, London, 1763). “Pour finir l’inventaire de ces
curiosités du cabinet de Madame Gourdan, il ne faut pas omettre une
multitude de _redingottes_ appelées _d’Angleterre_, je ne sais
pourquois. Vous connoissez, au surplus, ces espèces de boucliers qu’on
oppose aux traits empoisonnés de l’amour; et qui n’emoussent que ceux
du plaisir.” (L’Observateur Anglois, Londres 1778, iii. 69). Again we
read:—
“Les capotes mélancoliques
Qui pendent chez les gros Millan (?)
S’enflent d’elles-mêmes, lubriques,
Et dechargent en se gonflant.”
Passage Satyrique.
Also in Louis Prolat:—
“Il fuyait, me laissant une capote au cul.”
The articles are now of two kinds mostly of baudruche (sheep’s gut)
and a few of caoutchouc. They are made almost exclusively in the
faubourgs of Paris, giving employment to many women and young girls;
Grenelle turns out the baudruche and Grenelle and Lilas the
India-rubber article; and of the three or four makers M. Deschamps is
best known. The sheep’s gut is not joined in any way but of single
piece as it comes from the animal after, of course, much manipulation
to make it thin and supple; the inferior qualities are stuck together
at the sides. Prices vary from 4½ to 36 francs per gross. Those of
India-rubber are always joined at the side with a solution especially
prepared for the purpose. I have also heard of fish-bladders but can
give no details on the subject. The Cundum was unknown to the ancients
of Europe although syphilis was not: even prehistoric skeletons show
traces of its ravages.
Footnote 245:
Arab. “Yá Ustá” (for “Ustáz.”) The Pers. term is Ustád = a
craft-master, an artisan and especially a barber. Here it is merely a
polite address.
Footnote 246:
In common parlance Arabs answer a question (like the classics of
Europe who rarely used Yes and No, Yea and Nay), by repeating its last
words. They have, however, many affirmative particles _e.g._ Ni’am
which answers a negative “Dost thou not go?”—Ni’am (Yes!); and Ajal, a
stronger form following a command, _e.g._ Sir (go)—Ajal, Yes verily.
The popular form is Aywá (’lláhi) = Yes, by Allah. The chief negatives
are Má and Lá, both often used in the sense of “There is not.”
Footnote 247:
Arab. “Khalbús,” prop. the servant of the Almah-girls who acts buffoon
as well as pimp. The “Maskharah” (whence our “mask”) corresponds with
the fool or jester of mediæval Europe: amongst the Arnauts he is
called “Suttari” and is known by his fox’s tails: he mounts a mare,
tom-toms on the kettle-drum and is generally one of the bravest of the
corps. These buffoons are noted for extreme indecency: they generally
appear in the ring provided with an enormous phallus of whip-cord and
with this they charge man, woman and child, to the infinite delight of
the public.
Footnote 248:
Arab. “Shúbash” pronounced in Egypt Shobash: it is the Persian
Sháh-básh lit. = be a King, equivalent to our bravo. Here, however,
the allusion is to the buffoon’s cry at an Egyptian feast, “Shohbash
’alayk, yá Sáhib al-faraj,” = a present is due from thee, “O giver of
the fête!” See Lane M. E. xxvii.
Footnote 249:
Arab. “Ka’ak al-I’d:” the former is the Arab form of the Persian
“Kahk” (still retained in Egypt) whence I would derive our word
“cake.” It alludes to the sweet cakes which are served up with dates,
the quatre mendiants and sherbets during visits of the Lesser (not the
greater) Festival, at the end of the Ramazan fast. (Lane M.E. xxv).
Footnote 250:
Arab. “Tásúmah,” a rare word for a peculiar slipper. Dozy (s.v.) says
only, espèce de chaussure, sandale, pantoufle, soulier.
Footnote 251:
Arab. “Ijtilá” = the displaying of the bride on her wedding night so
often alluded to in The Nights.
Footnote 252:
Arab. Khiskhánah; a mixed word from Khaysh = canvass or stuffs
generally and Pers. Khánah = house room. Dozy (s.v.) says _armoire_,
_buffet_.
Footnote 253:
The Bresl. Edit. “Kamaríyah” = Moon-like (fem.) for Moon.
Footnote 254:
Every traveller describes the manners and customs of dogs in Eastern
cities where they furiously attack all canine intruders. I have
noticed the subject in writing of Al-Medinah where the beasts are
confined to the suburbs (Pilgrimage ii. 52–54).
Footnote 255:
She could legally compel him to sell her; because, being an Infidel,
he had attempted to debauch a Moslemah.
Footnote 256:
Arab. “Haláwat wa Mulabbas”; the latter etymologically means one
dressed or clothed. Here it alludes to almonds, etc., clothed or
coated with sugar. See Dozy s.v. “labas.”
Footnote 257:
Arab. “’Ubb” from a root = being long: Dozy (s.v.), says poche au
sein; Habb al-’ubb is a woman’s ornament.
Footnote 258:
Who, it will be remembered, was Dalilah’s grandson.
Footnote 259:
Arab. “Tábút,” a term applied to the Ark of the Covenant (Koran ii.
349), which contained Moses’ rod and shoes, Aaron’s mitre, the
manna-pot, the broken Tables of the Law, and the portraits of all the
prophets which are to appear till the end of time—an extensive list
for a box measuring 3 by cubits. Europeans often translate it coffin,
but it is properly the wooden case placed over an honoured grave.
“Irán” is the Ark of Moses’ exposure, also the large hearse on which
tribal chiefs were carried to earth.
Footnote 260:
_i.e._ What we have related is not “Gospel Truth.”
ARDASHIR AND HAYAT AL-NUFUS.[261]