“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 caout-chouc. 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.
[FN#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.
[FN#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.”
[FN#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.
[FN#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.
[FN#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.)
[FN#250] Arab. “Tásúmah,” a rare word for a peculiar slipper. Dozy (s.
v.) says only, espece de chaussure, sandale, pantoufle, soulier.
[FN#251] Arab. “Ijtilá”=the displaying of the bride on her wedding
night so often alluded to in The Nights.
[FN#252] Arab. Khiskhánah; a mixed word from Klaysh=canvass or stuffs
generally and Pers. Khánah=house room. Dozy (s.v.) says armoire,
buffet.
[FN#253] The Bresl. Edit. “Kamaríyah”=Moon-like (fem.) for
Moon.
[FN#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.)
[FN#255] She could legally compel him to sell her; because, being an
Infidel, he had attempted to debauch a Moslemah.
[FN#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.”
[FN#257] Arab. “‘Ubb” from a root=being long: Dozy (s.v.), says poche
au sein; Habb al-‘ubb is a woman’s ornament.
[FN#258] Who, it will be remembered, was Dalilah’s grandson.
[FN#259] Arab. “Tábút,” a term applied to the Ark of the Covenant
(Koran ii. 249), 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 2 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.
[FN#260] _i.e._ What we have related is not “Gospel Truth.”
[FN#261] Omitted by Lane (iii. 252) “because little more than a
repetition” of Taj al-Mulúk and the Lady Dunyá. This is true; but the
nice progress of the nurse’s pimping is a well-finished picture and the
old woman’s speech (_infra_ p. 243) is a gem.
[FN#262] Artaxerxes; in the Mac. Edit. Azdashir, a misprint.
[FN#263] I use “kiss ground” as we say “kiss hands.” But it must not be
understood literally: the nearest approach would be to touch the earth
with the finger-tips and apply them to the lips or brow. Amongst Hindus
the Ashtánga-prostration included actually kissing the ground.
[FN#264] The “key” is mentioned because a fee so called (miftáh) is
paid on its being handed to the new lodger. (Pilgrimage i. 62.)
[FN#265] The Koranic term for semen, often quoted.
[FN#266] Koran, xii. 31, in the story of Joseph, before noticed.
[FN#267] Probably the white woollens, so often mentioned, whose use is
now returning to Europe, where men have a reasonable fear of dyed
stuffs, especially since Aniline conquered Cochineal.
[FN#268] Arab. “samír,” one who enjoys the musámarah or night-talk
outside the Arab tents. “Samar” is the shade of the moon, or half
darkness when only stars shine without a moon, or the darkness of a
moonless night. Hence the proverb (A. P. ii. 513) “Má af’al-hú al-samar
wa’l kamar;” I will not do it by moondarkness or by moonshine, _i.e._
never. I have elsewhere remarked that “Early to bed and early to rise”
is a civilised maxim; most barbarians sit deep into the night in the
light of the moon or a camp-fire and will not rise till nearly noon.
They agree in our modern version of the old saw:—
Early to bed and early to rise
Makes a man surly and gives him red eyes.
The Shayks of Arab tribes especially transact most of their public
business during the dark hours.
[FN#269] Suspecting that it had been sent by some Royal lover.
[FN#270] Arab. “Rubbamá” a particle more emphatic than rubba,=perhaps,
sometimes, often.
[FN#271] “The broken (wall)” from Hatim=breaking. It fences the Hijr or
space where Ishmael is buried (vol. vi. 205); and I have described it
in Pilgrimage iii. 165.
[FN#272] Arab. “Faráis” (plur. of farísah): the phrase has often
occurred and is=our “trembled in every nerve.” As often happens in
Arabic, it is “horsey;” alluding to the shoulder-muscles (not
shoulder-blades, Preston p. 89) between neck and flank which readily
quiver in blood-horses when excited or frightened.
[FN#273] Arab. “Fazl”=exceeding goodness as in “Fazl wa
ma’rifah”=virtue and learning.
[FN#274] Arab. “Al-Mafárik” (plur. of Mafrak),=the pole or crown of the
head, where the hair parts naturally and where baldness mostly begins.
[FN#275] Arab. “Ná’i al-maut”, the person sent round to announce a
death to the friends and relations of the deceased and invite them to
the funeral.
[FN#276] Arab. “Táir al-bayn”, any bird, not only the Hátim or black
crow, which announces separation. Crows and ravens flock for food to
the camps broken up for the springtide and autumnal marches, and thus
become emblems of desertion and desolation. The same birds are also
connected with Abel’s burial in the Koran (v. 34), a Jewish tradition
borrowed by Mohammed. Lastly, here is a paranomasia in the words
“Ghuráb al-Bayn”=Raven of the Wold (the black bird with white breast
and red beak and legs): “Ghuráb” (Heb. Oreb) connects with
Ghurbah=strangerhood, exile, and “Bayn” with distance, interval,
disunion, the desert (between the cultivated spots). There is another
and a similar pun anent the Bán-tree; the first word meaning “he fared,
he left.”
[FN#277] Arab. “Tayr,” any flying thing, a bird; with true
Arab carelessness the writer waits till the tale is nearly
ended before letting us know that the birds are pigeons
(Hamám).
[FN#278] Arab. “Karr’aynan.” The Arabs say, “Allah cool thine eye,”
because tears of grief are hot and those of joy cool (Al-Asma’i);
others say the cool eye is opposed to that heated by watching; and
Al-Hariri (Ass. xxvii.) makes a scorching afternoon “hotter than the
tear of a childless mother.” In the burning climate of Arabia coolth
and refrigeration are equivalent to refreshment and delight.
[FN#279] Arab. “Muunah,” the “Mona” of Maroccan travellers (English not
Italian who are scandalised by “Mona”) meaning the provisions supplied
gratis by the unhappy villagers to all who visit them with passport
from the Sultan. Our cousins German have lately scored a great success
by paying for all their rations which the Ministers of other nations,
England included, were mean enough to accept.
[FN#280] Arab. “Kaannahu huwa”; lit.=as he (was) he. This reminds us of
the great grammarian, Sibawayh, whose name the Persians derive from
“Apple-flavour”(Sib + bú). He was disputing, in presence of Harun
al-Rashid with a rival Al-Kisá’í, and advocated the Basrian form,
“Fa-izá huwa hú” (behold, it was he) against the Kufan, “Fa-izá huwa
iyyáhu” (behold, it was him). The enemy overcame him by appealing to
Badawin, who spoke impurely, whereupon Sibawayh left the court, retired
to Khorasan and died, it is said of a broken heart.
[FN#281] This is a sign of the Saudáwí or melancholic temperament in
which black bile pre-dominates. It is supposed to cause a distaste for
society and a longing for solitude, an unsettled habit of mind and
neglect of worldly affairs. I remarked that in Arabia students are
subject to it, and that amongst philosophers and literary men of Mecca
and Al-Medinah there was hardly one who was not spoken of as a
“Saudawi.” See Pilgrimage ii. 49, 50.
[FN#282] _i.e._ I am a servant and bound to tell thee what my orders are.
[FN#283] A touching lesson on how bribes settle matters in the
East.
[FN#284] _i.e._ fresh from water (Arab. “Rutub”), before the air can
tarnish them. The pearl (margarita) in Arab. is Lu’lu’; the “unio” or
large pearl Durr, plur. Durar. In modern parlance Durr is the second
quality of the twelve into which pearls are divided.
[FN#285] _i.e._ the Wazir, but purposely left vague.
[FN#286] The whole of the nurse’s speech is admirable: its naïve and
striking picture of conjugal affection goes far to redeem the grossness
of The Nights.
[FN#287] The bitterness was the parting in the morning.
[FN#288] English “Prin’cess,” too often pronounced in French fashion
Princess.
[FN#289] In dictionaries “Bán” (Anglice ben-tree) is the myrobalan
which produces gum benzoin. It resembles the tamarisk. Mr. Lyall (p. 74
Translations of Ancient Arab Poetry, Williams and Norgate, 1885), calls
it a species of Moringa, tall, with plentiful and intensely green
foliage used for comparisons on account of its straightness and
graceful shape of its branches. The nut supplies a medicinal oil.
[FN#290] A sign of extreme familiarity: the glooms are the hands and
the full moons are the eyes.
[FN#291] Arab. “Khal’a al-‘izár”: lit.=stripping off jaws or
side-beard.
[FN#292] Arab. “Shimál”=the north wind.
[FN#293] An operation well described by Juvenal—
Illa supercilium, modicâ fuligine tactum,
Obliquâ producit acu, pingitque, trementes
Attolens oculos.
Sonnini (Travels in Egypt, chapt. xvi.) justly remarks that this
pencilling the angles of the eyes with Kohl, which the old Levant trade
called alquifoux or arquifoux, makes them appear large and more oblong;
and I have noted that the modern Egyptian (especially Coptic) eye, like
that of the Sphinx and the old figures looks in profile as if it were
seen in full. (Pilgrimage i. 214.)
[FN#294] The same traveller notes a singular property in the
Henna-flower that when smelt closely it exhales a “very powerful
spermatic odour,” hence it became a favourite with women as the
tea-rose with us. He finds it on the nails of mummies, and identifies
it with the Kupros of the ancient Greeks (the moderns call it Kene or
Kena) and the {Bótrys tês kýproy} (Botrus cypri) of Solomon’s Song (i.
14). The Hebr. is “Copher,” a well-known word which the A. V.
translates by “a cluster of camphire (?) in the vineyards of En-gedi”;
and a note on iv. 13 ineptly adds, “or, cypress.” The Revised Edit.
amends it to “a cluster of henna-flowers.” The Solomonic (?)
description is very correct; the shrub affects vineyards, and about
Bombay forms fine hedges which can be smelt from a distance.
[FN#295] Hardly the equivalent of the Arab. “Kataba” (which includes
true tattooing with needles) and is applied to painting “patches” of
blue or green colour, with sprigs and arabesques upon the arms and
especially the breasts of women. “Kataba” would also be applied to
striping the fingers with Henna which becomes a shining black under a
paste of honey, lime and sal-ammoniac. This “patching” is alluded to by
Strabo and Galen (Lane M. E. chapt. ii.); and we may note that savages
and barbarians can leave nothing of beauty unadorned; they seem to hate
a plain surface like the Hindu silversmith, whose art is shown only in
chasing.
[FN#296] A violent temper, accompanied with _voies de fait_ and personal
violence, is by no means rare amongst Eastern princesses; and terrible
tales are told in Persia concerning the daughters of Fath Ali Shah. Few
men and no woman can resist the temptations of absolute command. The
daughter of a certain Dictator all-powerful in the Argentine Republic
was once seen on horseback with a white bridle of peculiar leather; it
was made of the skin of a man who had boasted of her favours. The
slave-girls suffer first from these masterful young persons and then it
is the turn of the eunuchry.
[FN#297] A neat touch; she was too thorough-bred to care for herself
first.
[FN#298] Here the ground or earth is really kissed.
[FN#299] Corresponding with our phrase, “His heart was in his mouth.”
[FN#300] Very artful is the contrast of the love-lorn Princess’s
humility with her furious behaviour, in the pride of her purity, while
she was yet a virginette and fancy free.
[FN#301] Arab. “Suhbat-hu” lit.=in company with him, a popular idiom in
Egypt and Syria. It often occurs in the Bresl. Edit.
[FN#302] In the Mac. Edit. “Shahzamán,” a corruption of Sháh
Zamán=King of the Age. (See vol. i. 2)
[FN#303] For a note on this subject see vol. ii. 2.
[FN#304] _i.e._ bathe her and apply cosmetics to remove all traces of
travel.
[FN#305] These pretentious and curious displays of coquetry are not
uncommon in handsome slave-girls when newly bought; and it is a kind of
pundonor to humour them. They may also refuse their favours and a
master who took possession of their persons by brute force would be
blamed by his friends, men and women. Even the most despotic of
despots, Fath Ali Shah of Persia, put up with refusals from his
slave-girls and did not, as would the mean-minded, marry them to the
grooms or cooks of the palace.
[FN#306] Such continence is rarely shown by the young Jallabs or
slave-traders; when older they learn how much money is lost with the
chattel’s virginity.
[FN#307] Midwives in the East, as in the less civilised parts of the
West, have many nostrums for divining the sex of the unborn child.
[FN#308] Arabic (which has no written “g”) from Pers. Gulnár
(Gul-i-anár) pomegranate-flower, the “Gulnare” of Byron who learnt his
Orientalism at the Mekhitarist (Armenian) Convent, Venice. I regret to
see the little honour now paid to the gallant poet in the land where he
should be honoured the most. The systematic depreciation was begun by
the late Mr. Thackeray, perhaps the last man to value the noble
independence of Byron’s spirit; and it has been perpetuated, I regret
to see, by better judges. These critics seem wholly to ignore the fact
that Byron founded a school which covered Europe from Russia to Spain,
from Norway to Sicily, and which from England passed over to the two
Americas. This exceptional success, which has not yet fallen even to
Shakespeare’s lot, was due to genius only, for the poet almost ignored
study and poetic art. His great misfortune was being born in England
under the Georgium Sidus. Any Continental people would have regarded
him as one of the prime glories of his race.
[FN#309] Arab. “Fí al-Kamar,” which Lane renders “in the moonlight.”
It seems to me that the allusion is to the Comorin Islands; but the
sequel speaks simply of an island.
[FN#310] The Mac. Edit. misprints Julnár as Julnáz (so the Bul. Edit.
ii. 233), and Lane’s Jullanár is an Egyptian vulgarism. He is right in
suspecting the “White City” to be imaginary; but its sea has no
apparent connection with the Caspian. The mermen and mermaids appear to
him to be of an inferior order of the Jinn, termed Al-Ghawwásah, the
Divers, who fly through air and are made of fire which at times issues
from their mouths.
[FN#311] Arab. “Alá Kulli hál,” a popular phrase, like the
Anglo-American “anyhow.”
[FN#312] In the text the name does not appear till near the end of the
tale.
[FN#313] _i.e._ Full moon smiling.
[FN#314] These lines have occurred in vol. iii. 264. so I quote
Lane ii. 499.
[FN#315] ‘These lines occurred in vol. ii. 301. I quote Mr.
Payne.
[FN#316] Arab. “Khadd” = cheek from the eye-orbit to the place where
the beard grows; also applied to the side of a rough highland, the
side-planks of a litter, etc. etc.
[FN#317] The black hair of youth.
[FN#318] This manner of listening is not held dishonourable amongst
Arabs or Easterns generally; who, however, hear as little good of
themselves as Westerns declare in proverb.
[FN#319] Arab. “Hasab wa nasab,” before explained as inherited degree
and acquired dignity. See vol. iv. 171.
[FN#320] Arab. “Mujájat”=spittle running from the mouth: hence Lane,
“is like running saliva,” which, in poetry is not pretty.
[FN#321] Arab. and Heb. “Salmandra” from Pers. Samandal (— dar—duk—dun,
etc.), a Salamander, a mouse which lives in fire, some say a bird in
India and China and others confuse with the chameleon (Bochart Hiero.
Part ii. chapt. vi).
[FN#322] Arab. “Mahá” one of the four kinds of wild cows or bovine
antelopes, bubalus, Antelope defassa, A. Ieucoryx, etc.
[FN#323] These lines have occurred in vol. iii. 279; so I quote Lane
(iii. 274) by way of variety; although I do not like his “bowels.”
[FN#324] The last verse (286) of chapt. ii. The Cow: “compelleth” in
the sense of “burdeneth.”
[FN#325] Salih’s speeches are euphuistic.
[FN#326] From the Fátihah.
[FN#327] A truly Eastern saying, which ignores the “old maids” of the
West.
[FN#328] _i.e._ naming her before the lieges as if the speaker were
her and his superior. It would have been more polite not to have gone
beyond “the unique pearl and the hoarded jewel:” the offensive part of
the speech was using the girl’s name.
[FN#329] Meaning emphatically that one and all were nobodies.
[FN#330] Arab Badr, the usual pun.
[FN#331] Arab. “Kirát” (κεράτιον) the bean of the _Abrus precatorius_,
used as a weight in Arabia and India and as a bead for decoration in
Africa. It is equal to four Kamhahs or wheat grains and about 3 grs.
avoir.; and being the twenty fourth of a miskal, it is applied to that
proportion of everything. Thus the Arabs say of a perfect man, “He is
of four-and-twenty Kirát” _i.e._ pure gold. See vol. iii. 239.
[FN#332] The (she) myrtle: Kazimirski (A. de Biberstein)
Dictionnaire Arabe-Francais (Pairs Maisonneuve 1867) gives
Marsín=Rose de Jericho: myrte.
[FN#333] Needless to note that the fowler had a right to expect a
return present worth double or treble the price of his gift. Such is
the universal practice of the East: in the West the extortioner says,
“I leave it to you, sir!”
[FN#334] And she does tell him all that the reader well knows.
[FN#335] This was for sprinkling him, but the texts omit that
operation. Arabic has distinct terms for various forms of
metamorphosis. “Naskh” is change from a lower to a higher, as beast
to man; “Maskh” (the common expression) is the reverse; “Raskh” is
from animate to inanimate (man to stone) and “Faskh” is absolute
wasting away to corruption.
[FN#336] I render this improbable detail literally: it can only mean
that the ship was dashed against a rock.
[FN#337] Who was probably squatting on his shop counter. The “Bakkál”
(who must not be confounded with the _épicier_), lit. “vender of herbs”
=greengrocer, and according to Richardson used incorrectly for Baddál
(?) vendor of provisions. Popularly it is applied to a seller of oil,
honey, butter and fruit, like the Ital. “Pizzicagnolo”=Salsamentarius,
and in North-West Africa to an inn-keeper.
[FN#338] Here the Shaykh is mistaken: he should have said, “The Sun in
old Persian.” “Almanac” simply makes nonsense of the Arabian Circe’s
name. In Arab. it is “Takwím,” whence the Span. and Port. “Tacuino:”
in Heb. Hakamathá-Takunah=sapientia dispositionis astrorum (Asiat.
Research. iii. 120).
[FN#339] _i.e._ for thy daily expenses.
[FN#340] _Un adolescent aime toutes les femmes._ Man is by nature
polygamic whereas woman as a rule is monogamic and polyandrous only
when tired of her lover. For the man, as has been truly said, loves the
woman, but the love of the woman is for the love of the man.
[FN#341] I have already noted that the heroes and heroines of Eastern
love-tales are always _bonnes fourchettes_: they eat and drink hard
enough to scandalise the sentimental amourist of the West; but it is
understood that this abundant diet is necessary to qualify them for the
Herculean labours of the love night.
[FN#342] Here again a little excision is necessary; the reader already
knows all about it.
[FN#343] Arab. “Hiss,” prop. speaking a perception (as of sound or
motion) as opposed to “Hadas,” a surmise or opinion without proof.
[FN#344] Arab. “Sawík,” the old and modern name for native frumenty,
green grain (mostly barley) toasted, pounded, mixed with dates or sugar
and eaten on journeys when cooking is impracticable. M. C. de Perceval
(iii. 54), gives it a different and now unknown name; and Mr. Lane also
applies it to “ptisane.” It named the “Day of Sawaykah” (for which
see Pilgrimage ii. 19), called by our popular authors the “War of the
Meal-sacks.”
[FN#345] Mr. Keightley (H. 122–24 Tales and Popular Fictions, a book
now somewhat obsolete) remarks, “There is nothing said about the bridle
in the account of the sale (_infra_), but I am sure that in the original
tale, Badr’s misfortunes must have been owing to his having parted with
it. In Chaucer’s Squier’s Tale the bridle would also appear to have
been of some importance.” He quotes a story from the Notti Piacevoli of
Straparola, the Milanese, published at Venice in 1550. And there is a
popular story of the kind in Germany.
[FN#346] Here, for the first time we find the name of the mother who
has often been mentioned in the story. Faráshah is the fem. or singular
form of “Farásh,” a butterfly, a moth. Lane notes that his Shaykh gives
it the very unusual sense of “a locust.”
[FN#347] Punning upon Jauharah = “a jewel” a name which has an
Hibernian smack.
[FN#348] In the old version “All the lovers of the Magic Queen resumed
their pristine forms as soon as she ceased to live;” moreover, they
were all sons of kings, princes, or persons of high degree.
[FN#349] Arab. “Munádamah,” = conversation over the cup (Lane), used
somewhat in the sense of “Musámarah” = talks by moonlight.
[FN#350] Arab. “Kursi,” a word of many meanings; here it would allure
to the square crate-like seat of palm-fronds used by the Ráwi or public
reciter of tales when he is not pacing about the coffee-house.
[FN#351] Von Hammer remarks that this is precisely the sum paid in
Egypt for a MS. copy of The Nights.
[FN#352] Arab. “Samar,” the origin of Musámarah, which see, vol. iv.
237.
[FN#353] The pomp and circumstance, with which the tale is introduced
to the reader showing the importance attached to it. Lane, most
injudiciously I think, transfers the Proemium to a note in chapt.
xxiv., thus converting an Arabian Night into an Arabian Note.
[FN#354] ‘Asim = defending (honour) or defended, son of Safwán = clear,
cold (dry). Trébutien ii. 126, has Safran.
[FN#355] Fáris = the rider, the Knight, son of Sálih = the righteous,
the pious, the just.
[FN#356] In sign of the deepest dejection, when a man would signify
that he can fall no lower.
[FN#357] Arab. Yá Khawand (in Bresl. Edit. vol. iv. 191) and fem. form
Khawandah (p. 20) from Pers. Kháwand or Kháwandagár = superior, lord,
master; Khudáwand is still used in popular as in classical Persian, and
is universally understood in Hindostan.
[FN#358] The Biblical Sheba, whence came the Queen of many
Hebrew fables.
[FN#359] These would be the interjections of the writer or
story-teller. The Mac. Edit. is here a sketch which must be filled up
by the Bresl. Edit. vol. iv. 189–318: “Tale of King Asim and his son
Sayf al-Mulúk with Badí’a al-Jamál.”
[FN#360] The oath by the Seal-ring of Solomon was the Stygian “swear”
in Fairy-land. The signet consisted of four jewels, presented by as
many angels, representing the Winds, the Birds, Earth (including sea)
and Spirits, and the gems were inscribed with as many sentences: (1) To
Allah belong Majesty and Might; (2) All created things praise the Lord;
(3) Heaven and Earth are Allah’s slaves and (4) There is no god but _the_
God and Mohammed is His messenger. For Sakhr and his theft of the
signet see Dr. Weil’s, “The Bible, the Koran, and the Talmud.”
[FN#361] Trébutien (ii. 128) remarks, “Cet Assaf peut être celui auquel
David adresse plusieurs de ses psaumes, et que nos interprètes disent
avoir été son maître de chapelle (from Biblioth. Orient).”
[FN#362] Mermen, monsters, beasts, etc.
[FN#363] This is in accordance with Eastern etiquette; the guest must
be fed before his errand is asked. The Porte, in the days of its pride,
managed in this way sorely to insult the Ambassadors of the most
powerful European kingdoms and the first French Republic had the honour
of abating the barbarians’ nuisance. So the old Scottish Highlanders
never asked the name or clan of a chance guest, lest he prove a foe
before he had eaten their food.
[FN#364] In Bresl. Edit. (301) Kháfiyah: in Mac. Kháinah, the perfidy.
[FN#365] So in the Mac. Edit., in the Bresl. only one “Kabá” or Kaftan;
but from the sequel it seems to be a clerical error.
[FN#366] Arab. “Su’ubán” (Thu’ubán) popularly translated “basilisk.”
The Egyptians suppose that when this serpent forms ring round the Ibn
‘Irs (weasel or ichneumon) the latter emits a peculiar air which causes
the reptile to burst.
[FN#367] _i.e._ that prophesied by Solomon.
[FN#368] Arab. “Takliyah” from kaly, a fry: Lane’s Shaykh explained it
as “onions cooked in clarified butter, after which they are put upon
other cooked food.” The mention of onions points to Egypt as the origin
of this tale and certainly not to Arabia, where the strong-smelling
root is hated.
[FN#369] Von Hammer quotes the case of the Grand Vizier Yúsuf
throwing his own pelisse over the shoulders of the Aleppine
Merchant who brought him the news of the death of his enemy,
Jazzár Pasha.
[FN#370] This peculiar style of generosity was also the custom in
contemporary Europe.
[FN#371] Khátún, which follows the name (_e.g._ Hurmat Khatun), in India
corresponds with the male title Khan, taken by the Pathan Moslems (_e.g._
Pír Khán). Khánum is the affix to the Moghul or Tartar nobility, the
men assuming a double designation _e.g._ Mirza Abdallah Beg. See Oriental
collections (Ouseley’s) vol. i. 97.
[FN#372] Lit. “Whatso thou wouldest do that do!” a contrast with our
European laconism.
[FN#373] These are booths built against and outside the walls, made of
palm-fronds and light materials.
[FN#374] Von Hammer in Trébutien (ii. 135) says, “Such rejoicings are
still customary at Constantinople, under the name of Donánmá, not only
when the Sultanas are _enceintes_, but also when they are brought to bed.
In 1803 the rumour of the pregnancy of a Sultana, being falsely spread,
involved all the Ministers in useless expenses to prepare for a Donánmá
which never took place.” Lane justly remarks upon this passage that the
title Sultán precedes while the feminine Sultánah follows the name.
[FN#375] These words (Bresl. Edit.) would be spoken in jest, a grim
joke enough, but showing the elation of the King’s spirits.
[FN#376] A signal like a gong: the Mac. Edit. reads “Tákah,” = in at
the window.
[FN#377] Sayf al-Mulúk = “Sword (Egyptian Sif, Arab. Sayf, Gr.
{xíphos}) of the Kings”; and he must not be called tout bonnement Sayf.
Sái’d = the forearm.
[FN#378] Arab. “Fakíh” = a divine, from Fikh = theology, a man versed
in law and divinity _i.e._ (1) the Koran and its interpretation
comprehending the sacred ancient history of the creation and prophets
(Chapters iii., iv., v. and vi.), (2) the traditions and legends
connected with early Moslem History and (3) some auxiliary sciences as
grammar, syntax and prosody; logic, rhetoric and philosophy. See p. 18
of “El-Mas’údí’s Historical Encyclopædia etc.,” by my friend Prof.
Aloys Springer, London 1841. This fine fragment printed by the Oriental
Translation Fund has been left unfinished when the Asiatic Society of
Paris has printed in Eight Vols. 8vo the text and translation of MM.
Barbier de Meynard and Pavet de Courteille. What a national disgrace!
And the same with the mere abridgment of Ibn Batutah by Prof. Lee
(Orient. Tr. Fund 1820) when the French have the fine Edition and
translation by Defrémery and Sanguinetti with index etc. in 4 vols. 8vo
1858–59. But England is now content to rank in such matters as
encouragement of learning, endowment of research etc., into the basest
of kingdoms, and the contrast of status between the learned Societies
of London and of Paris, Berlin, Vienna or Rome is mortifying to an
Englishman—a national opprobrium.
[FN#379] Arab. “Maydán al-Fíl,” prob. for Birkat al-Fíl, the Tank of
the Elephant before-mentioned. Lane quotes Al-Makrizi who in his Khitat
informs us that the lakelet was made about the end of the seventh
century (A.H.), and in the seventeenth year of the eighth century
became the site of the stables. The Bresl. Edit. (iv. 214) reads
“Maydan al-‘Adl,” prob. for Al-‘Ádil the name of the King who laid out
the Maydán.
[FN#380] Arab. “Asháb al-Ziyá’,” the latter word mostly signifies
estates consisting, strictly speaking, of land under artificial
irrigation.
[FN#381] The Bresl. Edit. (iv. 215) has “Chawáshiyah” = ‘Chiaush, the
Turkish word, written with the Pers. “ch,” a letter which in Arabic is
supplanted by “sh,” everywhere except in Morocco.
[FN#382] Arab. “Záwiyah” lit. a corner, a cell. Lane (M. E., chapt.
xxiv.) renders it “a small kiosque,” and translates the famous Zawiyat
al-Umyán (Blind Men’s Angle) near the south-eastern corner of the Azhar
or great Collegiate Mosque of Cairo, “Chapel of the Blind” (chapt.
ix.). In popular parlance it suggests a hermitage.
[FN#383] Arab. “Takht,” a Pers. word used as more emphatic than the
Arab. Sarír.
[FN#384] This girding the sovereign is found in the hieroglyphs as a
peculiarity of the ancient Kings of Egypt, says Von Hammer referring
readers to Denon.
[FN#385] Arab. “Mohr,” which was not amongst the gifts of Solomon in
Night dcclx. The Bresl. Edit. (p. 220) adds “and the bow,” which is
also de trop.
[FN#386] Arab. “Batánah,” the ordinary lining opp. to Tazríb, or
quilting with a layer of cotton between two folds of cloth. The idea in
the text is that the unhappy wearer would have to carry his cross (the
girl) on his back.
[FN#387] This line has occurred in Night dccxliv. supra p. 280.
[FN#388] Arab. “Mu’attik al-Rikáb” _i.e._ who frees those in bondage from
the yoke.
[FN#389] In the Mac. Edit. and in Trébutien (ii. 143) the King is here
called Schimakh son of Scharoukh, but elsewhere, Schohiali = Shahyál,
in the Bresl. Edit. Shahál. What the author means by “Son of ‘Ád the
Greater,” I cannot divine.
[FN#390] Lit. “For he is the man who can avail thereto,” with the
meaning given in the text.
[FN#391] Arab. “Jazírat,” insula or peninsula, vol. i. 2.
[FN#392] Probably Canton with which the Arabs were familiar.
[FN#393] _i.e._ “Who disappointeth not those who put their trust in Him.”
[FN#394] Arab. “Al-Manjaníkát” plur. of manjanik, from Gr. Μάγγανον,
Lat. Manganum (Engl. Mangonel from the dim. Mangonella). Ducange
Glossarium, s.v. The Greek is applied originally to defensive weapons,
then to the artillery of the day, Ballista, catapults, etc. The kindred
Arab. form “Manjanín” is applied chiefly to the Noria or Persian
waterwheel.
[FN#395] Faghfúr is the common Moslem title for the Emperors of China;
in the Kamus the first syllable is Zammated (Fugh); in Al-Mas’udi
(chapt. xiv.) we find Baghfúr and in Al-Idrisi Baghbúgh, or Baghbún. In
Al-Asma’i Bagh = god or idol (Pehlewi and Persian); hence according to
some Baghdád (?) and Bághistán a pagoda (?). Sprenger (Al-Mas’údi, p.
327) remarks that Baghfúr is a literal translation of Tien-tse and
quotes Visdelou, “pour mieux faire comprendre de quel ciel ils veulent
parler, ils poussent la généalogie (of the Emperor) plus loin. Ils lui
donnent le ciel pour père, la terre pour mère, le soleil pour frère
aîné et la lune pour sœur aînée.”
[FN#396] Arab. “Kayf hálak” = how de doo? the salutation of a
Fellah.
[FN#397] _i.e._ subject to the Maharajah of Hind.
[FN#398] This is not a mistake: I have seen heavy hail in
Africa, N. Lat. 4 degrees; within sight of the Equator.
[FN#399] Arab. “Harrákat,” here used in the sense of smaller craft, and
presently for a cock-boat.
[FN#400] See vol. i. 138: here by way of variety I quote Mr.
Payne.
[FN#401] This explains the Arab idea of the “Old Man of the Sea” in
Sindbad the Seaman (vol. vi. 50). He was not a monkey nor an unknown
monster; but an evil Jinni of the most powerful class, yet subject to
defeat and death.
[FN#402] These Plinian monsters abound in Persian literature.
For a specimen see Richardson Dissert. p. xlviii.
[FN#403] Arab. “Anyáb,” plur. of “Náb” = canine tooth (eye-tooth of
man), tusks of horse and camel, etc.
[FN#404] Arab, “Kásid,” the Anglo-Indian Cossid. The post is called
Baríd from the Persian “burídah” (cut) because the mules used for the
purpose were dock-tailed. Barid applies equally to the post-mule, the
rider and the distance from one station (Sikkah) to another which
varied from two to six parasangs. The letter-carrier was termed
Al-Faránik from the Pers. Parwánah, a servant. In the Diwán al-Baríd
(Post-office) every letter was entered in a Madraj or list called in
Arabic Al-Askidár from the Persian “Az Kih dárí” = from whom hast thou
it?
[FN#405] “Ten years” in the Bresl. Edit. iv. 244.
[FN#406] In the Bresl. Edit. (iv. 245) we find “Kalak,” a raft, like
those used upon the Euphrates, and better than the “Fulk,” or ship, of
the Mac. Edit.
[FN#407] Arab. “Timsah” from Coptic (Old Egypt) Emsuh or Msuh.
The animal cannot live in salt-water, a fact which proves that
the Crocodile Lakes on the Suez Canal were in old days fed by
Nile-water; and this was necessarily a Canal.
[FN#408] So in the Bresl. Edit. (iv. 245). In the Mac. text “one man,”
which better suits the second crocodile, for the animal can hardly be
expected to take two at a time.
[FN#409] He had ample reason to be frightened. The large Cynocephalus
is exceedingly dangerous. When travelling on the Gold Coast with my
late friend Colonel De Ruvignes, we suddenly came in the grey of the
morning upon a herd of these beasts. We dismounted, hobbled our nags
and sat down, sword and revolver in hand. Luckily it was feeding time
for the vicious brutes, which scowled at us but did not attack us.
During my four years’ service on the West African Coast I heard enough
to satisfy me that these powerful beasts often kill men and rape women;
but I could not convince myself that they ever kept the women as
concubines.
[FN#410] As we should say in English “it is a far cry to Loch
Awe”: the Hindu by-word is, “Dihlí (Delhi) is a long way off.”
See vol. i. 37.
[FN#411] Arab. “Fútah”, a napkin, a waistcloth, the Indian
Zones alluded to by the old Greek travellers.
[FN#412] Arab. “Yají (it comes) miat khwánjah”—quite Fellah talk.
[FN#413] As Trébutien shows (ii. 155) these apes were a remnant of some
ancient tribe possibly those of Ád who had gone to Meccah to pray for
rain and thus escaped the general destruction. See vol. i. 65. Perhaps
they were the Jews of Aylah who in David’s day were transformed into
monkeys for fishing on the Sabbath (Saturday) Koran ii. 61.
[FN#414] I can see no reason why Lane purposely changes this to “the
extremity of their country.”
[FN#415] Koran xxii. 44, Mr. Payne remarks:—This absurd addition is
probably due to some copyist, who thought to show his knowledge of the
Koran, but did not understand the meaning of the verse from which the
quotation is taken and which runs thus, “How many cities have We
destroyed, whilst yet they transgressed, and they are laid low on their
own foundations and wells abandoned and high-builded palaces!” Mr. Lane
observes that the words are either misunderstood or purposely
misapplied by the author of the tale. Purposeful perversions of Holy
Writ are very popular amongst Moslems and form part of their rhetoric;
but such is not the case here. According to Von Hammer (Trébutien ii.
154), “Eastern geographers place the Bir al-Mu’utallal (Ruined Well)
and the Kasr al-Mashíd (High-builded Castle) in the province of
Hadramaut, and we wait for a new Niebuhr to inform us what are the
monuments or the ruins so called.” His text translates puits arides et
palais de plâtre (not likely!). Lane remarks that Mashíd mostly means
“plastered,” but here = Mushayyad, lofty, explained in the Jalálayn
Commentary as = rafí’a, high-raised. The two places are also mentioned
by Al-Mas’údi; and they occur in Al-Kazwíni (see Night dccclviii.):
both of these authors making the Koran directly allude to them.
[FN#416] Arab. (from Pers.) “Aywán” which here corresponds with the
Egyptian “líwán” a tall saloon with estrades.
[FN#417] This naïve style of “renowning it” is customary in the East,
contrasting with the servile address of the subject—“thy slave” etc.
[FN#418] Daulat (not Dawlah) the Anglo-Indian Dowlat; prop. meaning the
shifts of affairs, hence, fortune, empire, kingdom. Khátún = “lady,” I
have noted, follows the name after Turkish fashion.
[FN#419] The old name of Suez-town from the Greek Clysma (the
shutting), which named the Gulf of Suez “Sea of Kulzum.” The ruins in
the shape of a huge mound, upon which Sá’id Pasha built a Kiosk-palace,
lie to the north of the modern town and have been noticed by me.
(Pilgrimage, Midian, etc.) The Rev. Prof. Sayce examined the mound and
from the Roman remains found in it determined it to be a fort guarding
the old mouth of the Old Egyptian Sweet-water Canal which then
debouched near the town.
[FN#420] _i.e._ Tuesday. See vol. iii. 249.
[FN#421] Because being a Jinniyah the foster-sister could have come to
her and saved her from old maidenhood.
[FN#422] Arab. “Hájah” properly a needful thing. This consisted
according to the Bresl. Edit. of certain perfumes, by burning which she
could summon the Queen of the Jinn.
[FN#423] Probably used in its sense of a “black crow.” The Bresl. Edit.
(iv. 261) has “Khátim” (seal-ring) which is but one of its almost
innumerable misprints.
[FN#424] Here it is called “Tábik” and afterwards “Tábút.”
[FN#425] _i.e._ raising from the lower hinge-pins. See vol. ii. 214.
[FN#426] Arab. “Abrísam” or “Ibrísam” (from Persian Abrísham or
Ibrísham) = raw silk or floss, _i.e._ untwisted silk.
[FN#427] This knightly practice, evidently borrowed from the
East, appears in many romances of chivalry _e.g._ When Sir
Tristram is found by King Mark asleep beside Ysonde (Isentt)
with drawn sword between them, the former cried:—
Gif they weren in sinne
Nought so they no lay.