beginning with these words, “Have we not opened thy breast for thee
and eased thee of thy burden which galled thy back? * * * Verily with
the difficulty cometh ease.!”—Koran xciv. vol. I, 5.
Footnote 137:
Lane renders Nur al-Hudà (Light of Salvation) by Light of Day which
would be Nur al-Hadà.
Footnote 138:
In the Bresl. Edit. “Yá Salám” = O safety!—a vulgar ejaculation.
Footnote 139:
A favourite idiom meaning from the mischief which may (or will) come
from the Queen.
Footnote 140:
He is not strong-minded but his feminine persistency of purpose,
likest to that of a sitting hen, is confirmed by the “Consolations of
religion.” The character is delicately drawn.
Footnote 141:
In token that she intended to act like a man.
Footnote 142:
This is not rare even in real life: Moslem women often hide and change
their names for superstitious reasons, from the husband and his
family.
Footnote 143:
Arab. “Sabab” which also means cause. Vol. ii. 14. There is the same
metaphorical use of “Habl” = cord and cause.
Footnote 144:
Arab. “Himà,” a word often occurring in Arab poetry, domain, a pasture
or watered land forcibly kept as far as a dog’s bark would sound by
some masterful chief like “King Kulayb.” (See vol. ii. 77). This
tenure was forbidden by Mohammed except for Allah and the Apostle
(_i.e._ himself). Lane translates it “asylum.”
Footnote 145:
She was a maid and had long been of marriageable age.
Footnote 146:
The young man had evidently “kissed the Blarney stone”; but the
flattery is the more telling as he speaks from the heart.
Footnote 147:
“Inshallah” here being = D. V.
Footnote 148:
_i.e._ The “Place of Light” (Pharos), or of Splendour. Here we find
that Hasan’s wife is the youngest sister, but with an extraordinary
resemblance to the eldest, a very masterful young person. The
anagnorisis is admirably well managed.
Footnote 149:
_i.e._ the sweetmeats of the feast provided for the returning
traveller. The old woman (like others) cannot resist the temptation of
a young man’s lips. Happily for him she goes so far and no farther.
Footnote 150:
The first, fourth, fifth and last names have already occurred: the
others are in order, Star o’ Morn, Sun of Undurn and Honour of
Maidenhood. They are not merely fanciful, but are still used in Egypt
and Syria.
Footnote 151:
Arab. “Fájirah” and elsewhere “’Áhirah,” = whore and strumpet used
often in loose talk as mere abuse without special meaning.
Footnote 152:
This to Westerns would seem a most improbable detail, but Easterns
have their own ideas concerning “Al-Muhabbat al-gharizíyah” = natural
affection, blood speaking to blood, etc.
Footnote 153:
One of the Hells (see vol. iv. 143). Here it may be advisable to give
the names of the Seven Heavens (which are evidently based upon
Ptolemaic astronomy) and which correspond with the Seven Hells after
the fashion of Arabian system-mania. (1) Dár al-Jalál (House of
Glory), made of pearls; (2) Dár al-Salám (of Rest), rubies and
jacinths; (3) Jannat al-Maawá (Garden of Mansions, not “of mirrors,”
as Herklots has it, p. 98), made of yellow copper; (4) Jannat al-Khuld
(of Eternity), yellow coral; (5) Jannat al-Na’ím (of Delights), white
diamond; (6) Jannat al-Firdaus (of Paradise), red gold; and (7) Jannat
al-’Adn (of Eden, or Al-Karár = of everlasting abode, which some make
No. 8), of red pearls or pure musk. The seven Hells are given in vol.
v. 241; they are intended for Moslems (Jahannam); Christians (Lazà);
Jews (Hutamah); Sabians (Sa’ír); Guebres (Sakar); Pagans or idolaters
(Jahím); and Hypocrites (Háwiyah).
Footnote 154:
Arab. “’Atb,” more literally = “blame,” “reproach.”
Footnote 155:
Bresl. Edit. In the Mac. “it returned to the place whence I had
brought it”—an inferior reading.
Footnote 156:
The dreams play an important part in the Romances of Chivalry, _e.g._
the dream of King Perion in Amadis de Gaul, chapt. ii. (London;
Longmans, 1803).
Footnote 157:
Amongst Moslems bastardy is a sore offence and a love-child is
exceedingly rare. The girl is not only carefully guarded but she also
guards herself knowing that otherwise she will not find a husband.
Hence seduction is all but unknown. The wife is equally well guarded
and lacks opportunities hence adultery is found difficult except in
books. Of the Ibn (or Walad) Harám (bastard as opposed to the Ibn
Halál) the proverb says, “This child is not thine, so the madder he be
the more is thy glee!” Yet strange to say public prostitution has
never been wholly abolished in Al-Islam. Al-Mas’údi tell us that in
Arabia were public prostitutes (Bagháyá), even before the days of the
Apostle, who affected certain quarters as in our day the Tartúshah of
Alexandria and the Hosh Bardak of Cairo. Here says Herr Carlo Landberg
(p. 57, Syrian Proverbs) “Elles parlent une langue toute à elle.” So
pretentious and dogmatic a writer as the author of Proverbes et
Dictons de la Province de Syrie, ought surely to have known that the
Hosh Bardak is the head-quarters of the Cairene Gypsies. This author,
who seems to write in order to learn, reminds me of an acute Oxonian
undergraduate of my day who, when advised to take a “coach,” became a
“coach” himself.
Footnote 158:
These lines occur in vol. vii. p. 340. I quote Mr. Payne.
Footnote 159:
She shows all the semi-maniacal rancour of a good woman, or rather a
woman who has not broken the eleventh commandment, “Thou shalt not be
found out,” against an erring sister who has been discovered. In the
East also these unco’ gúid dames have had, and too often have, the
power to carry into effect the cruelty and diabolical malignity which
in London and Paris must vent itself in scan. mag. and anonymous
letters.
Footnote 160:
These faintings and trances are as common in the Romances of Chivalry
_e.g._ Amadis of Gaul, where they unlace the garments to give more
liberty, pour cold water on the face and bathe the temples and pulses
with diluted vinegar (for rose water) exactly as they do in The
Nights.
Footnote 161:
So Hafiz, “Bád-i-Sabá chu bugzarí” etc.
Footnote 162:
Arab. “Takiyah.” See vol. i. 224 and for the Tarn-Kappe vol. iv. p.
176. In the Sinthásana Dwatrinsati (vulgo. Singhásan Battísí), or
Thirty-two Tales of a Throne, we find a bag always full of gold, a
bottomless purse; earth which rubbed on the forehead overcomes all; a
rod which during the first watch of the night furnishes jewelled
ornaments; in the second a beautiful girl; in the third invisibility,
and in the fourth a deadly foe or death; a flower-garland which
renders the possessor invisible and an unfading lotus-flower which
produces a diamond every day.
Footnote 163:
Arab. “Judad,” plur. of Jadíd, lit. = new coin, ergo applied to those
old and obsolete; 10 Judad were = one nusf or half dirham.
Footnote 164:
Arab. “Raff,” a shelf proper, running round the room about 7–7⅓ feet
from the ground. During my day it was the fashion in Damascus to range
in line along the Raff splendid porcelain bowls brought by the
Caravans in olden days from China, whilst on the table were placed
French and English specimens of white and gold “china” worth perhaps a
franc each.
Footnote 165:
Lane supposes that the glass and chinaware had fallen upon the divan
running round the walls under the Raff and were not broken.
Footnote 166:
These lines have occurred in Night dclxxxix. vol. vii. p. 119. I quote
Lane.
Footnote 167:
The lines have occurred before. I quote Mr. Payne.
Footnote 168:
This formula, I repeat, especially distinguishes the Tale of Hasan of
Bassorah.
Footnote 169:
These lines have occurred in vol. i. 249. I quote Lane.
Footnote 170:
She speaks to the “Gallery,” who would enjoy a loud laugh against
Mistress Gadabout. The end of the sentence must speak to the heart of
many a widow.
Footnote 171:
These lines occur in vol. i. 25: so I quote Mr. Payne.
Footnote 172:
Arab. “Musáhikah;” the more usual term for a Tribade is “Sahíkah” from
“Sahk” in the sense of rubbing: both also are applied to onanists and
masturbators of the gender feminine.
Footnote 173:
_i.e._ by way of halter. This jar is like the cask in Auerbach’s
Keller; and has already been used by witches; Night dlxxxvii. vol. vi.
158.
Footnote 174:
Here they are ten but afterwards they are reduced to seven: I see no
reason for changing the text with Lane and Payne.
Footnote 175:
Wazir of Solomon. See vol. i. 42; and vol. iii. 97.
Footnote 176:
Arab. Ism al-A’azam, the Ineffable Name, a superstition evidently
derived from the Talmudic fancies of the Jews concerning their tribal
god, Yah or Yahvah.
Footnote 177:
The tradition is that Mohammed asked Akáf al-Wadá’ah “Hast a wife?”;
and when answered in the negative, “Then thou appertainest to the
brotherhood of Satans! An thou wilt be one of the Christian monks then
company therewithal; but an thou be of us, know that it is our custom
to marry!”
Footnote 178:
The old woman, in the East as in the West, being the most vindictive
of her kind. I have noted (Pilgrimage iii. 70) that a Badawi will
sometimes though in shame take the blood-wit; but that if it be
offered to an old woman she will dash it to the ground and clutch her
knife and fiercely swear by Allah that she will not eat her son’s
blood.
Footnote 179:
Neither dome nor fount etc. are mentioned before, the normal
inadvertency.
Footnote 180:
In Eastern travel the rest comes before the eating and drinking.
Footnote 181:
Arab. ’Id (pron. ’Eed) which I have said (vol. i. 42, 317) is applied
to the two great annual festivals, the “Fete of Sacrifice,” and the
“Break-Fast.” The word denotes restoration to favour and Moslems
explain as the day on which Adam (and Eve) who had been expelled from
Paradise for disobedience was re-established (U’ída) by the relenting
of Allah. But the name doubtless dates amongst Arabs from days long
before they had heard of the “Lord Nomenclator.”
Footnote 182:
Alluding to Hasan seizing her feather dress and so taking her to wife.
Footnote 183:
Arab. “Kharajú” = they (masc.) went forth, a vulgarism for “Kharajna”
(fem.)
Footnote 184:
Note the notable housewife who, at a moment when youth would forget
everything, looks to the main chance.
Footnote 185:
Arab. “Al-Malakút” (not “Malkút” as in Freytag) a Sufi term for the
world of Spirits (De Lacy Christ, Ar. i. 451). Amongst Eastern
Christians it is vulgarly used in the fem. and means the Kingdom of
Heaven, also the preaching of the Gospel.
KHALIFAH THE FISHERMAN OF BAGHDAD.
There was once in tides of yore and in ages and times long gone before
in the city of Baghdad a fisherman, Khalífah hight, a pauper wight, who
had never once been married in all his days.[186] It chanced one
morning, that he took his net and went with it to the river, as was his
wont with the view of fishing before the others came. When he reached
the bank, he girt himself and tucked up his skirts; then stepping into
the water, he spread his net and cast it a first cast and a second but
it brought up naught. He ceased not to throw it, till he had made ten
casts, and still naught came up therein; wherefore his breast was
straitened and his mind perplexed concerning his case and he said, “I
crave pardon of God the Great, there is no god but He, the Living, the
Eternal, and unto Him I repent. There is no Majesty and there is no
Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great! Whatso He willeth is and
whatso He nilleth is not! Upon Allah (to whom belong Honour and Glory!)
dependeth daily bread! Whenas He giveth to His servant, none denieth
him; and whenas He denieth a servant, none giveth to him.” And of the
excess of his distress, he recited these two couplets:—
An Fate afflict thee, with grief manifest, ✿ Prepare thy patience and
make broad thy breast;
For of His grace the Lord of all the worlds ✿ Shall send to wait upon
unrest sweet Rest.
Then he sat awhile pondering his case, and with his head bowed down
recited also these couplets:—
Patience, with sweet and with bitter Fate! ✿ And weet that His will He
shall consummate:
Night oft upon woe as on abscess acts ✿ And brings it up to the bursting
state:
And Chance and Change shall pass o’er the youth ✿ And fleet from his
thoughts and no more shall bait.
Then he said in his mind, “I will make this one more cast, trusting in
Allah, so haply He may not disappoint my hope;” and he rose and casting
into the river the net as far as his arm availed, gathered the cords in
his hands and waited a full hour, after which he pulled at it and,
finding it heavy,——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to
say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Eight Hundred and Thirty-second Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Khalifah
the Fisherman had cast his net sundry times into the stream, yet had it
brought up naught, he pondered his case and improvised the verses afore
quoted. Then he said in his mind, “I will make this one more cast,
trusting in Allah who haply will not disappoint my hope.” So he rose and
threw the net and waited a full hour, after which time he pulled at it
and, finding it heavy, handled it gently and drew it in, little by
little, till he got it ashore, when lo and behold! he saw in it a
one-eyed, lame-legged ape. Seeing this quoth Khalifah, “There is no
Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah! Verily, we are Allah’s and
to Him we are returning! What meaneth this heart-breaking, miserable
ill-luck and hapless fortune? What is come to me this blessed day? But
all this is of the destinies of Almighty Allah!” Then he took the ape
and tied him with a cord to a tree which grew on the river-bank, and
grasping a whip he had with him, raised his arm in the air, thinking to
bring down the scourge upon the quarry, when Allah made the ape speak
with a fluent tongue, saying, “O Khalifah, hold thy hand and beat me
not, but leave me bounden to this tree and go down to the river and cast
thy net, confiding in Allah; for He will give thee thy daily bread.”
Hearing this Khalifah went down to the river and casting his net, let
the cords run out. Then he pulled it in and found it heavier than
before; so he ceased not to tug at it, till he brought it to land, when,
behold, there was another ape in it, with front teeth wide apart,[187]
Kohl-darkened eyes and hands stained with Henna-dyes; and he was
laughing and wore a tattered waistcloth about his middle. Quoth
Khalifah, “Praised be Allah who hath changed the fish of the river into
apes[188]!” Then, going up to the first ape, who was still tied to the
tree, he said to him, “See, O unlucky, how fulsome was the counsel thou
gavest me! None but thou made me light on this second ape: and for that
thou gavest me good-morrow with thy one eye and thy lameness,[189] I am
become distressed and weary, without dirham or dinar.” So saying, he
hent in hand a stick[190] and flourishing it thrice in the air, was
about to come down with it upon the lame ape, when the creature cried
out for mercy and said to him, “I conjure thee, by Allah, spare me for
the sake of this my fellow and seek of him thy need; for he will guide
thee to thy desire!” So he held his hand from him and throwing down the
stick, went up to and stood by the second ape, who said to him, “O
Khalifah, this my speech[191] will profit thee naught, except thou
hearken to what I say to thee; but, an thou do my bidding and cross me
not, I will be the cause of thine enrichment.” Asked Khalifah, “And what
hast thou to say to me that I may obey thee therein?” The Ape answered,
“Leave me bound on the bank and hie thee down to the river; then cast
thy net a third time, and after I will tell thee what to do.” So he took
his net and going down to the river, cast it once more and waited
awhile. Then he drew it in and finding it heavy, laboured at it and
ceased not his travail till he got it ashore, when he found in it yet
another ape; but this one was red, with a blue waistcloth about his
middle; his hands and feet were stained with Henna and his eyes
blackened with Kohl. When Khalifah saw this, he exclaimed, “Glory to God
the Great! Extolled be the perfection of the Lord of Dominion! Verily,
this is a blessed day from first to last: its ascendant was fortunate in
the countenance of the first ape, and the scroll[192] is known by its
superscription! Verily, to-day is a day of apes: there is not a single
fish left in the river, and we are come out to-day but to catch
monkeys!” Then he turned to the third ape and said, “And what thing art
thou also, O unlucky?” Quoth the ape, “Dost thou not know me, O
Khalifah!”; and quoth he, “Not I!” The ape cried, “I am the ape of Abu
al-Sa’ádát[193] the Jew, the shroff.” Asked Khalifah, “And what dost
thou for him?”; and the ape answered, “I give him good-morrow at the
first of the day, and he gaineth five ducats; and again at the end of
the day, I give him good-even and he gaineth other five ducats.”
Whereupon Khalifah turned to the first ape and said to him, “See, O
unlucky, what fine apes other folk have! As for thee, thou givest me
good-morrow with thy one eye and thy lameness and thy ill-omened phiz
and I become poor and bankrupt and hungry!” So saying, he took the
cattle-stick and flourishing it thrice in the air, was about to come
down with it on the first ape, when Abu al-Sa’adat’s ape said to him,
“Let him be, O Khalifah, hold thy hand and come hither to me, that I may
tell thee what to do.” So Khalifah threw down the stick and walking up
to him cried, “And what hast thou to say to me, O monarch of all
monkeys?” Replied the ape, “Leave me and the other two apes here, and
take thy net and cast it into the river; and whatever cometh up, bring
it to me, and I will tell thee what shall gladden thee.”——And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Eight Hundred and Thirty-third Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the ape of Abu
al-Sa’adat said to Khalifah, “Take thy net and cast it into the river;
and whatever cometh up bring it to me and I will tell thee what shall
gladden thee.” He replied, “I hear and obey,” and took the net and
gathered it on his shoulder, reciting these couplets:—
When straitened is my breast I will of my Creator pray, ✿ Who may and
can the heaviest weight lighten in easiest way;
For ere man’s glance can turn or close his eye by God His grace ✿ Waxeth
the broken whole and yieldeth jail its prison-prey.
Therefore with Allah one and all of thy concerns commit ✿ Whose grace
and favour men of wit shall nevermore gainsay.
And also these twain:—
Thou art the cause that castest men in ban and bane; ✿ Sorrow e’en so
and sorrow’s cause Thou canst assain:
Make me not covet aught that lies beyond my reach; ✿ How many a greedy
wight his wish hath failed to gain!
Now when Khalifah had made an end of his verse, he went down to the
river and casting his net, waited awhile; after which he drew it up and
found therein a fine young fish,[194] with a big head, a tail like a
ladle and eyes like two gold pieces. When Khalifah saw this fish, he
rejoiced, for he had never in his life caught its like, so he took it,
marvelling, and carried it to the ape of Abu al-Sa’adat the Jew, as
’twere he had gotten possession of the universal world. Quoth the ape,
“O Khalifah, what wilt thou do with this and with thine ape?”; and quoth
the Fisherman, “I will tell thee, O monarch of monkeys all I am about to
do. Know then that first, I will cast about to make away with yonder
accursed, my ape, and take thee in his stead and give thee every day to
eat of whatso thou wilt.” Rejoined the ape, “Since thou hast made choice
of me, I will tell thee how thou shalt do wherein, if it please Allah
Almighty, shall be the mending of thy fortune. Lend thy mind, then, to
what I say to thee and ’tis this! Take another cord and tie me also to a
tree, where leave me and go to the midst of The Dyke[195] and cast thy
net into the Tigris.[196] Then after waiting awhile, draw it up and thou
shalt find therein a fish, than which thou never sawest a finer in thy
whole life. Bring it to me and I will tell thee how thou shalt do after
this.” So Khalifah rose forthright and casting his net into the Tigris,
drew up a great cat-fish[197] the bigness of a lamb; never had he set
eyes on its like, for it was larger than the first fish. He carried it
to the ape, who said to him, “Gather thee some green grass and set half
of it in a basket; lay the fish therein and cover it with the other
moiety. Then, leaving us here tied, shoulder the basket and betake thee
to Baghdad. If any bespeak thee or question thee by the way, answer him
not, but fare on till thou comest to the market-street of the
money-changers, at the upper end whereof thou wilt find the shop of
Master[198] Abu al-Sa’adat the Jew, Shaykh of the shroffs, and wilt see
him sitting on a mattress, with a cushion behind him and two coffers,
one for gold and one for silver, before him, while around him stand his
Mamelukes and negro-slaves and servant-lads. Go up to him and set the
basket before him, saying,:—O Abu al-Sa’adat, verily I went out to-day
to fish and cast my net in thy name, and Allah Almighty sent me this
fish. He will ask, Hast thou shown it to any but me?; and do thou
answer, No, by Allah! Then will he take it of thee and give thee a
dinar. Give it him back and he will give thee two dinars; but do thou
return them also and so do with everything he may offer thee; and take
naught from him, though he give thee the fish’s weight in gold. Then
will he say to thee, Tell me what thou wouldst have; and do thou reply,
By Allah, I will not sell the fish save for two words! He will ask, What
are they? And do thou answer, Stand up and say, Bear witness, O ye who
are present in the market, that I give Khalifah the fisherman my ape in
exchange for his ape, and that I barter for his lot my lot and luck for
his luck. This is the price of the fish, and I have no need of gold. If
he do this, I will every day give thee good-morrow and good-even, and
every day thou shalt gain ten dinars of good gold; whilst this one-eyed,
lame-legged ape shall daily give the Jew good-morrow, and Allah shall
afflict him every day with an avanie[199] which he must needs pay, nor
will he cease to be thus afflicted till he is reduced to beggary and
hath naught. Hearken then to my words; so shalt thou prosper and be
guided aright.” Quoth Khalifah, “I accept thy counsel, O monarch of all
the monkeys! But, as for this unlucky, may Allah never bless him! I know
not what to do with him.” Quoth the ape, “Let him go[200] into the
water, and let me go also.” “I hear and obey,” answered Khalifah and
unbound the three apes, and they went down into the river. Then he took
up the cat-fish[201] which he washed then laid it in the basket upon
some green grass, and covered it with other; and lastly shouldering his
load, set out chanting the following Mawwál[202]:—
Thy case commit to a Heavenly Lord and thou shalt safety see; ✿ Act
kindly through thy worldly life and live repentance-free.
Mate not with folk suspected, lest eke thou shouldst suspected be ✿ And
from reviling keep thy tongue lest men revile at thee!
[Illustration]
——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.
Now when it was the Eight Hundred and Thirty-fourth Night,