was angered against Kut al-Kulub, he ordered her to a dark chamber where
she abode eighty days, at the end of which the Caliph, happening to pass
on a certain day the place where she was, heard her repeating poetry,
and after she ceased reciting her verse, saying, "O my darling, O my
Ghanim! how great is thy goodness and how chaste is thy nature! thou
didst well by one who did ill by thee and thou guardedst his honour who
garred thine become dishonour, and his Harim thou didst protect who to
enslave thee and thine did elect! But thou shalt surely stand, thou and
the Commander of the Faithful, before the Just Judge, and thou shalt be
justified of him on the Day when the Lord (to whom be honour and glory!)
shall be Kazi and the Angels of Heaven shall be witnesses!" When the
Caliph heard her complaint, he knew that she had been wronged and,
returning to the palace, sent Masrur the Eunuch for her. She came before
him with bowed head and eyes tearful and heart sorrowful; and he said to
her, "O Kut al-Kulub, I find thou accusest me of tyranny and oppression,
and thou avouchest that I have done ill by one who did well by me. Who
is this who hath guarded my honour while I garred his become dishonour?
Who protected my Harim and whose Harim I wrecked?" "He is Ghanim son of
Ayyub," replied she, "for he never approached me in wantonness or with
lewd intent, I swear by thy munificence, O Commander of the Faithful!"
Then said the Caliph, "There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in
Allah! Ask what thou wilt of me, O Kut al-Kulub." "O Prince of the
Faithful!", answered she, "I require of thee only my beloved Ghanim son
of Ayyub." He did as she desired, whereupon she said, "O Lord of the
Moslems, if I bring him to thy presence, wilt thou bestow me on him?";
and he replied, "If he come into my presence, I will give thee to him as
the gift of the generous who revoketh not his largesse." "O Prince of
True Believers," quoth she, "suffer me to go and seek him; haply Allah
may unite me with him:" and quoth he, "Do even as thou wilt." So she
rejoiced and, taking with her a thousand dinars in gold, went out and
visited the elders of the various faiths and gave alms in Ghanim's
name.[133] Next day she walked to the merchants' bazar and disclosed her
object to the Syndic and gave him money, saying, "Bestow this in charity
to the stranger!" On the following Friday she fared to the bazar (with
other thousand dinars) and, entering the goldsmiths' and jewellers'
market-street, called the Chief and presented to him a thousand dinars
with these words, "Bestow this in charity to the stranger!" The Chief
looked at her (and he was the Syndic who had taken in Ghanim) and said,
"O my lady, wilt thou come to my house and look upon a youth, a stranger
I have there and see how goodly and graceful he is?" Now the stranger
was Ghanim, son of Ayyub, but the Chief had no knowledge of him and
thought him to be some wandering pauper, some debtor whose wealth had
been taken from him, or some lover parted from his beloved. When she
heard his words her heart fluttered[134] and her vitals yearned, and she
said to him, "Send with me one who shall guide me to thy house." So he
sent a little lad who brought her to the house wherein was the head
man's stranger-guest and she thanked him for this. When she reached the
house, she went in and saluted the Syndic's wife, who rose and kissed
the ground between her hands, for she knew her. Then quoth Kut al-Kulub,
"Where is the sick man who is with thee?" She wept and replied, "Here is
he, O my lady; by Allah, he is come of good folk and he beareth the
signs of gentle breeding: you see him lying on yonder bed." So she
turned and looked at him: and she saw something like him, but he was
worn and wasted till he had become lean as a toothpick, so his identity
was doubtful to her and she could not be certain that it was he. Yet
pity for him possessed her and she wept saying, "Verily the stranger is
unhappy, even though he be a prince in his own land!"; and his case was
grievous to her and her heart ached for him, yet she knew him not to be
Ghanim. Then she furnished him with wine and medicines and she sat
awhile by his head, after which she mounted and returned to her palace
and continued to visit every bazar in quest of her lover. Meanwhile
Ghanim's mother and sister Fitnah arrived at Baghdad and met the Syndic,
who carried them to Kut al-Kulub and said to her, "O Princess of
beneficent ladies, there came to our city this day a woman and her
daughter, who are fair of favour and signs of good breeding and dignity
are apparent in them, though they be dressed in hair-cloth and have each
one a wallet hanging to her neck; and their eyes are tearful and their
hearts are sorrowful. So I have brought them to thee that thou mayst
give them refuge, and rescue them from beggary, for they are not of
asker-folk and, if it please Allah, we shall enter Paradise through
them." "By Allah, O my master," cried she, "thou makest me long to see
them! Where are they?", adding, "Here with them to me!" So he bade the
eunuch bring them in; and, when she looked on them and saw that they
were both of distinguished beauty, she wept for them and said, "By
Allah, these are people of condition and show plain signs of former
opulence." "O my lady," said the Syndic's wife, "we love the poor and
the destitute, more especially as reward in Heaven will recompense our
love; and, as for these persons, haply the oppressor hath dealt hardly
with them and hath plundered their property and harried their houses."
Then Ghanim's mother and sister wept with sore weeping, remembering
their former prosperity and contrasting it with their present poverty
and miserable condition; and their thoughts dwelt upon son and brother,
whilst Kut al-Kulub wept for their weeping; and they said, "We beseech
Allah to reunite us with him whom we desire, and he is none other but my
son named Ghanim bin Ayyub!" When Kut al-Kulub heard this, she knew them
to be the mother and sister of her lover and wept till a swoon came over
her. When she revived she turned to them and said, "Have no fear and
sorrow not, for this day is the first of your prosperity and the last of
your adversity!" ——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Forty-fourth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Kut al-Kulub
had consoled them she bade the Syndic lead them to his house and let his
wife carry them to the Hamman and dress them in handsome clothes and
take care of them and honour them with all honour; and she gave him a
sufficient sum of money. Next day, she mounted and, riding to his house,
went in to his wife who rose up and kissed her hands and thanked her for
her kindness. There she saw Ghanim's mother and sister whom the Syndic's
wife had taken to the Hammam and clothed afresh, so that the traces of
their former condition became manifest upon them. She sat talking with
them awhile, after which she asked the wife about the sick youth who was
in her house and she replied, "He is in the same state." Then said Kut
al-Kulub, "Come, let us go and visit him." So she arose, she and the
Chief's wife and Ghanim's mother and sister, and went in to the room
where he lay and sat down near him. Presently Ghanim bin Ayyub, the
Distraught, the Thrall o' Love, heard them mention the name of Kut
al-Kulub; whereupon life returned to him, emaciated and withered as he
was, and he raised his head from the pillow and cried aloud, "O Kut
al-Kulub!" She looked at him and made certain it was he and shrieked
rather than said, "Yes, O my beloved!" "Draw near to me;" said he, and
she replied, "Surely thou art Ghanim bin Ayyub?"; and he rejoined "I am
indeed!" Hereupon a swoon came upon her; and, as soon as Ghanim's mother
and his sister Fitnah heard these words, both cried out "O our joy!" and
fainted clean away. When they all recovered, Kut al-Kulub exclaimed,
"Praise be to Allah who hath brought us together again and who hath
reunited thee with thy mother and thy sister!" And she related to him
all that had befallen her with the Caliph and said, "I have made known
the truth to the Commander of the Faithful, who believed my words and
was pleased with thee; and now he desireth to see thee," adding, "He
hath given me to thee." Thereat he rejoiced with extreme joy, when she
said, "Quit not this place till I come back" and, rising forthwith,
betook herself to her palace. There she opened the chest which she had
brought from Ghanim's house and, taking out some of the dinars, gave
them to the Syndic saying, "Buy with this money for each of them four
complete suits of the finest stuffs and twenty kerchiefs, and else
beside of whatsoever they require;" after which she carried all three to
the baths and had them washed and bathed and made ready for them
consommés, and galangale-water and cider against their coming out. When
they left the Hammam, they put on the new clothes, and she abode with
them three days feeding them with chicken meats and bouillis, and making
them drink sherbet of sugar candy. After three days their spirits
returned; and she carried them again to the baths, and when they came
out and had changed their raiment, she led them back to the Syndic's
house and left them there, whilst she returned to the palace and craved
permission to see the Caliph. When he ordered her to come in, she
entered and, kissing the ground between his hands, told him the whole
story and how her lord, Ghanim bin Ayyub, yclept the Distraught, the
Thrall o' Love, and his mother and sister were now in Baghdad. When the
Caliph heard this, he turned to the eunuchs and said, "Here with Ghanim
to me." So Ja'afar went to fetch him; but Kut al-Kulub forewent him and
told Ghanim, "The Caliph hath sent to fetch thee before him," and
charged him to show readiness of tongue and firmness of heart and
sweetness of speech. Then she robed him in a sumptuous dress and gave
him dinars in plenty, saying, "Be lavish of largesse to the Caliph's
household as thou goest in to him." Presently Ja'afar, mounted on his
Nubian mule, came to fetch him; and Ghanim advanced to welcome the Wazir
and, wishing him long life, kissed the ground before him. Now the star
of his good fortune had risen and shone brightly; and Ja'afar took him;
and they ceased not faring together, he and the Minister, till they went
in to the Commander of the Faithful. When he stood in the presence, he
looked at the Wazirs and Emirs and Chamberlains, and Viceroys and
Grandees and Captains, and then at the Caliph. Hereupon he sweetened his
speech and his eloquence and, bowing his head to the ground, broke out
in these extempore couplets:—
May that Monarch's life span a mighty span, ✿ Whose lavish of
largesse all lieges scan:
None other but he shall be Kaysar hight, ✿ Lord of lordly hall and
of haught Divan:
Kings lay their gems on his threshold-dust ✿ As they bow and salam
to the mighty man;
And his glances foil them and all recoil, ✿ Bowing beards aground
and with faces wan:
Yet they gain the profit of royal grace, ✿ The rank and station of
high soldan.
Earth's plain is scant for thy world of men, ✿ Camp there
in Kaywán's[135] Empyrean!
May the King of Kings ever hold thee dear; ✿ Be counsel thine and
right steadfast plan,
Till thy justice spread o'er the wide-spread earth ✿ And the near
and the far be of equal worth.
When he ended his improvisation the Caliph was pleased by it and
marvelled at the eloquence of his tongue and the sweetness of his
speech,——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.
Now when it was the Forty-fifth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Caliph, after
marvelling at his eloquence of tongue and sweetness of speech, said to
him, "Draw near to me." So he drew near and quoth the King, "Tell me thy
tale and declare to me thy case." So Ghanim sat down and related to him
what had befallen him in Baghdad, of his sleeping in the tomb and of his
opening the chest after the three slaves had departed, and informed him,
in short, of everything that had happened to him from commencement to
conclusion—none of which we will repeat for interest fails in twice told
tales. The Caliph was convinced that he was a true man; so he invested
him with a dress of honour, and placed him near himself in token of
favour, and said to him, "Acquit me of the responsibility I have
incurred."[136] And Ghanim so did, saying, "O our lord the Sultan, of a
truth thy slave and all things his two hands own are his master's." The
Caliph was pleased at this and gave orders to set apart a palace for him
and assigned to him pay and allowances, rations and donations, which
amounted to something immense. So he removed thither with sister and
mother; after which the Caliph, hearing that his sister Fitnah was in
beauty a very "fitnah,"[137] a mere seduction, demanded her in marriage
of Ghanim who replied, "She is thy handmaid as I am thy slave." The
Caliph thanked him and gave him an hundred thousand dinars, then
summoned the witnesses and the Kazi, and on one and the same day they
wrote out the two contracts of marriage between the Caliph and Fitnah
and between Ghanim bin Ayyub and Kut al-Kulub; and the two marriages
were consummated on one and the same night. When it was morning, the
Caliph gave orders to record the history of what had befallen Ghanim
from first to last and to deposit it in the royal muniment-rooms, that
those who came after him might read it and marvel at the dealings of
Destiny and put their trust in Him who created the night and the day.
Yet, O auspicious King, this story to which thou hast deigned give ear
is on no wise more wondrous than the
-----
Footnote 79:
Our "Job." The English translators of the Bible, who borrowed Luther's
system of transliteration (of A.D. 1522), transferred into English the
German "j" which has the sound of "i" or "y"; intending us to
pronounce Yacob (or Yakob), Yericho, Yimnites, Yob (or Hiob) and
Yudah. Tyndall who copied Luther (A.D. 1525-26), preserved the true
sound by writing Iacob, Ben Iamin and Iudas. But his successors
unfortunately returned to the German; the initial I having from the
xiii. century been ornamentally lengthened and bent leftwards became a
consonant; the public adopted the vernacular sound of "j" (dg) and
hence our language and our literature are disgraced by such barbarisms
as "Jehovah" and "Jesus"—Dgehovah and Dgeesus for Yehovah and Yesus.
Future generations of school-teachers may remedy the evil; meanwhile
we are doomed for the rest of our days to hear
Gee-rusalem! Gee-rusalem! etc.
Nor is there one word to be said in favour of the corruption except
that, like the Protestant mispronunciation of Latin and the Erasmian
ill-articulation of Greek, it has become "English," and has lent its
little aid in dividing the Britons from the rest of the civilised
world.
Footnote 80:
The moon, I repeat, is masculine in the so-called "Semitic" tongues.
Footnote 81:
_i.e._ camel-loads about lbs. 300; and for long journeys lbs. 250.
Footnote 82:
Arab. "Janázah," so called only when carrying a corpse; else Na'ash,
Sarír or Tábút: Irán being the large hearse on which chiefs are borne.
It is made of plank or stick-work; but there are several varieties
(Lane, M. E. chapt. xxviii).
Footnote 83:
It is meritorious to accompany the funeral cortège of a Moslem even
for a few paces.
Footnote 84:
Otherwise he could not have joined in the prayers.
Footnote 85:
Arab. "Halwá" made of sugar, cream, almonds, etc. That of Maskat is
famous throughout the East.
Footnote 86:
_i.e._ "Camphor" to a negro as we say "Snowball," by the figure
antiphrase.
Footnote 87:
"Little Good Luck," a dim. form of "bakht"=luck, a Persian word
naturalized in Egypt.
Footnote 88:
There are, as I have shown, not a few cannibal tribes in Central
Africa and these at times find their way into the slave market.
Footnote 89:
_i.e._ After we bar the door.
Footnote 90:
Arab. "Jáwísh" from Turk. Cháwúsh, Chiaoosh, a sergeant, poursuivant,
royal messenger. I would suggest that this is the word "Shálish" or
"Jálish" in Al-Siyúti's History of the Caliphs (p. 501) translated by
Carlyle "milites," by Schultens "Sagittarius" and by Jarett "picked
troops."
Footnote 91:
This familiarity with blackamoor slave-boys is common in Egypt and
often ends as in the story: Egyptian blood is sufficiently mixed with
negro to breed inclination for miscegenation. But here the girl was
wickedly neglected by her mother at such an age as ten.
Footnote 92:
Arab. "Farj"; hence a facetious designation of the other sex is
"Zawi'l-furuj" (grammatically Zawátu'l-furúj)=habentes rimam, slit
ones.
Footnote 93:
This ancient and venerable practice of inspecting the marriage-sheet
is still religiously preserved in most parts of the East; and in
old-fashioned Moslem families it is publicly exposed in the Harem to
prove that the "domestic calamity" (the daughter) went to her husband
a clean maid. Also the general idea is that no blood will impose upon
the experts, or jury of matrons, except that of a pigeon-poult which
exactly resembles hymeneal blood—when not subjected to the microscope.
This belief is universal in Southern Europe and I have heard of it in
England. Further details will be given in Night ccxi.
Footnote 94:
"Agha" Turk.=sir, gentleman, is, I have said, politely addressed to a
eunuch.
Footnote 95:
As Bukhayt tells us he lost only his testes, consequently his _erectio
et distensio penis_ was as that of a boy before puberty and it would
last as long as his heart and circulation kept sound. Hence the eunuch
who preserves his penis is much prized in the Zenanah where some women
prefer him to the entire man, on account of his long performance of
the deed of kind. Of this more in a future page.
Footnote 96:
It is or rather was the custom in Egypt and Syria to range long rows
of fine China bowls along the shelves running round the rooms at the
height of six or seven feet, and they formed a magnificent cornice. I
bought many of them at Damascus till the people, learning their value,
asked prohibitive prices.
Footnote 97:
The tale is interesting as well as amusing, excellently describing the
extravagances still practised in middle-class Moslem families on the
death of the pater familias. I must again note that Arab women are
much more unwilling to expose the back of the head covered by the
"Tarhah" (head-veil) than the face, which is hidden by the "Burka" or
nose-bag.
Footnote 98:
The usual hysterical laughter of this nervous race.
Footnote 99:
Here the slave refuses to be set free and starve. For a master so to
do without ample reason is held disgraceful. I well remember the
weeping and wailing throughout Sind when an order from Sir Charles
Napier set free the negroes whom British philanthropy thus doomed to
endure if not to die of hunger.
Footnote 100:
Manumission, which is founded upon Roman law, is an extensive subject
discussed in the Hidáyah and other canonical works. The slave here
lays down the law incorrectly, but his claim shows his truly "nigger"
impudence.
Footnote 101:
This is quite true to nature. The most remarkable thing in the wild
central African is his enormous development of "destructiveness." At
Zanzibar I never saw a slave break a glass or plate without a grin or
a chuckle of satisfaction.
Footnote 102:
Arab. "Khassá-ni"; Khusyatáni (vulg.) being the testicles, also called
"bayzatán" (the two eggs) a _double entendre_ which has given rise to
many tales. For instance in the witty Persian book "Dozd o Kazi" (The
Thief and the Judge) a footpad strips the man of learning and offers
to return his clothes if he can ask him a puzzle in law or religion.
The Kazi (in folk-lore mostly a fool) fails, and his wife bids him ask
the man to supper for a trial of wits on the same condition. She
begins with compliments and ends by producing five eggs which she
would have him distribute equally amongst the three; and, when he is
perplexed, she gives one to each of the men taking three for herself.
Whereupon the "Dozd" wends his way, having lost his booty as his
extreme stupidity deserved. In the text the eunuch, Kafur, is made a
"Sandali" or smooth-shaven, so that he was of no use to women.
Footnote 103:
Arab. "Khara," the lowest possible word: Yá Khara! is the commonest of
insults, used also by modest women. I have heard one say it to her
son.
Footnote 104:
Arab. "Kámah," a measure of length, a fathom, also called "Bá'a." Both
are omitted in that sadly superficial book, Lane's Modern Egyptians,
App. B.
Footnote 105:
Names of her slave-girls which mean (in order), Garden-bloom, Dawn (or
Beautiful), Tree o' Pearl (P. N. of Saladin's wife), Light of (right)
Direction, Star o' the Morn, Lewdness (=Shahwah, I suppose this is a
chaff), Delight, Sweetmeat and Miss Pretty.
Footnote 106:
This mode of disposing of a rival was very common in Harems. But it
had its difficulties and on the whole the river was (and is)
preferred.
Footnote 107:
An Eastern dislikes nothing more than drinking in a dim dingy place:
the brightest lights seem to add to his "drinkitite."
Footnote 108:
He did not sleep with her because he suspected some palace-mystery
which suggested prudence, she also had her reasons.
Footnote 109:
This is called in Egypt "Aslah" (Lane M. E. chapt. i.).
Footnote 110:
It would be a broad ribbon-like band upon which the letters could be
worked.
Footnote 111:
In the Arab. "_he_ cried." These "Yes, Yes! and No! No!" trifles are
very common amongst the Arabs.
Footnote 112:
Arab. "Maragha" lit. rubbed his face on them like a fawning dog.
Ghanim is another "softy" lover, a favourite character in Arab tales;
and by way of contrast, the girl is masterful enough.
Footnote 113:
Because the Abbaside Caliphs descend from Al-Abbas paternal uncle of
Mohammed. The text means more explicitly, "O descendant of the
Prophet's uncle!"
Footnote 114:
The most terrible part of a _belle passion_ in the East is that the
beloved will not allow her lover leave of absence for an hour.
Footnote 115:
It is hard to preserve these wretched puns. In the original we have "O
spray" (or branch) of capparis-shrub (_aráki_) which has been thinned
of leaf and fruit (_tujna_, _i.e._, whose fruit, the hymen, has been
plucked before and not by me) I see thee (_aráka_) against me sinning
(_tajní_).
Footnote 116:
Apparently the writer forgets that the Abbaside banners and dress were
black, originally a badge of mourning for the Imám Ibrahim bin
Mohammed put to death by the Ommiade Caliph Al-Marwán. The modern
Egyptian mourning, like the old Persian, is indigo-blue of the
darkest; but, as before noted, the custom is by no means universal.
Footnote 117:
Koran, chapt. iv. In the East as elsewhere the Devil quotes Scripture.
Footnote 118:
A servant returning from a journey shows his master due honour by
appearing before him in travelling suit and uncleaned.
Footnote 119:
The first name means "Rattan"; the second "Willow-wand," from the
"Bán" or "Khiláf" the Egyptian willow (_Salix Ægyptiaca_ Linn.)
vulgarly called "Safsáf." Forskal holds the "Bán" to be a different
variety.
Footnote 120:
Arab. "Ta'ám," which has many meanings: in mod. parlance it would
signify millet, holcus-seed.
Footnote 121:
_i.e._ "I well know how to deal with him."
Footnote 122:
The Pen (title of the Koranic chapt. lxviii.) and the Preserved Tablet
(before explained).
Footnote 123:
These plunderings were sanctioned by custom. But a few years ago, when
the Turkish soldiers mutinied about arrears of pay (often delayed for
years) the governing Páshá would set fire to the town and allow the
men to loot what they pleased during a stated time. Rochet
(_soi-disant_ D'Héricourt) amusingly describes this manœuvre of the
Turkish Governor of Al-Hodaydah in the last generation (Pilgrimage
iii. 381).
Footnote 124:
Another cenotaph whose use was to enable women to indulge in their pet
pastime of weeping and wailing in company.
Footnote 125:
The lodging of pauper travellers, as the chapel in Iceland is of the
wealthy. I have often taken benefit of the mosque, but as a rule it is
unpleasant, the matting being not only torn but over-populous. Juvenal
seems to allude to the Jewish Synagogue similarly used:—"in quâ te
quæro proseuchâ"? (iii. 296) and in Acts iii. we find the lame, blind
and impotent in the Temple-porch.
Footnote 126:
This foul sort of vermin is supposed to be bred by perspiration. It is
an epoch in the civilised traveller's life when he catches his first
louse.
Footnote 127:
The Moslem peasant is a kind-hearted man and will make many sacrifices
for a sick stranger even of another creed. It is a manner of
"pundonor" with the village.
Footnote 128:
Such treatment of innocent women was only too common under the
Caliphate and in contemporary Europe.
Footnote 129:
This may also mean, "And Heaven will reward thee;" but camel-men do
not usually accept any drafts upon futurity.
Footnote 130:
He felt that he was being treated like a corpse.
Footnote 131:
This hatred of the Hospital extends throughout Southern Europe, even
in places where it is not justified.
Footnote 132:
The importance of the pillow (wisádah or makhaddah) to the sick man is
often recognised in The Nights. "He took to his pillow" is=took to his
bed.
Footnote 133:
_i.e._ in order that the reverend men, who do not render such suit and
service gratis, might pray for him.
Footnote 134:
The reader will notice in The Nights the frequent mention of these
physical prognostications, with which mesmerists are familiar.
Footnote 135:
The Pers. name of the planet Saturn in the Seventh Heaven. Arab.
"Zuhal"; the Kiun or Chiun of Amos vi. 26.
Footnote 136:
_i.e._ "Pardon me if I injured thee"—a popular phrase.
Footnote 137:
A "seduction," a charmer. The double-entendre has before been noticed.
TALE OF KING OMAR BIN AL-NU'UMAN AND HIS SONS
SHARRKAN AND ZAU AL-MAKAN,
AND WHAT BEFEL THEM OF THINGS SELD-SEEN AND PEREGRINE.[138]