There was once a man of fortune, who lost his wealth, and chagrin
and melancholy got the mastery of him, so that he became an idiot
and lost his wit. There abode with him of his wealth about a
score of dinars and he used to beg alms of the folk, and that
which they gave him he would gather together and lay to the
dinars that were left him. Now there was in that town a vagabond,
who made his living by sharping, and he knew that the idiot had
somewhat of money; so he fell to spying upon him and gave not
over watching him till he saw him put in an earthen pot that
which he had with him of money and enter a deserted ruin, where
he sat down, [as if] to make water, and dug a hole, in which he
laid the pot and covering it up, strewed earth upon the place.
Then he went away and the sharper came and taking what was in the
pot, covered it up again, as it was.
Presently, the idiot returned, with somewhat to add to his hoard,
but found it not; so he bethought him who had followed him and
remembered that he had found the sharper aforesaid assiduous in
sitting with him and questioning him. So he went in quest of him,
assured that he had taken the pot, and gave not over looking for
him till he espied him sitting; whereupon he ran to him and the
sharper saw him. [Then the idiot stood within earshot] and
muttered to himself and said, 'In the pot are threescore dinars
and I have with me other score in such a place and to-day I will
unite the whole in the pot.' When the sharper heard him say this
to himself, muttering and mumbling after his fashion, he repented
him of having taken the dinars and said, 'He will presently
return to the pot and find it empty; wherefore that[FN#264] for
which I am on the look-out will escape me; and meseemeth I were
best restore the dinars [to their place], so he may see them and
leave all that is with him in the pot, and I can take the whole.'
Now he feared [to return to the pot then and there], lest the
idiot should follow him to the place and find nothing and so his
plan be marred. So he said to him, 'O Ajlan,[FN#265] I would have
thee come to my lodging and eat bread with me." So the idiot went
with him to his lodging and he seated him there and going to the
market, sold somewhat of his clothes and pawned somewhat from his
house and bought dainty food. Then he betook himself to the ruin
and replacing the money in the pot, buried it again; after which
he returned to his lodging and gave the idiot to eat and drink,
and they went out together. The sharper went away and hid
himself, lest the idiot should see him, whilst the latter
repaired to his hiding- place and took the pot
Presently, the sharper came to the ruin, rejoicing in that which
he deemed he should get, and dug in the place, but found nothing
and knew that the idiot had tricked him. So he buffeted his face,
for chagrin, and fell to following the other whithersoever he
went, so he might get what was with him, but availed not unto
this, for that the idiot knew what was in his mind and was
certified that he spied upon him, [with intent to rob him]; so he
kept watch over himself. Now, if the sharper had considered [the
consequences of] haste and that which is begotten of loss
therefrom, he had not done thus. Nor," continued the vizier, "is
this story, O king of the age, rarer or more extraordinary or
more diverting than the story of Khelbes and his wife and the
learned man and that which befell between them."
When the king heard this story, he renounced his purpose of
putting the vizier to death and his soul prompted him to continue
him on life. So he bade him go away to his house.
The Seventeenth Night of the Month.
When the evening evened, the king summoned the vizier, and when
he presented himself, he required of him the [promised] story. So
he said, "Hearkening and obedience. Know, O august king, that
STORY OF KHELBES AND HIS WIFE AND THE
LEARNED MAN.
There was once a man hight Khelbes, who was a lewd fellow, a
calamity, notorious for this fashion, and he had a fair wife,
renowned for beauty and loveliness. A man of his townsfolk fell
in love with her and she also loved him. Now Khelbes was a crafty
fellow and full of tricks, and there was in his neighbourhood a
learned man, to whom the folk used to resort every day and he
told them stories and admonished them [with moral instances]; and
Khelbes was wont to be present in his assembly, for the sake of
making a show before the folk.
Now this learned man had a wife renowned for beauty and
loveliness and quickness of wit and understanding and the lover
cast about for a device whereby he might win to Khelbes's wife;
so he came to him and told him, as a secret, what he had seen of
the learned man's wife and confided to him that he was enamoured
of her and besought him of help in this. Khelbes told him that
she was distinguished to the utterest for chastity and continence
and that she exposed herself not to suspicion; but the other
said, 'I cannot renounce her, [firstly,] because the woman
inclineth to me and coveteth my wealth, and secondly, because of
the greatness of my love for her; and nothing is wanting but thy
help.' Quoth Khelbes, 'I will do thy will;' and the other said,
'Thou shalt have of me two dirhems a day, on condition that thou
sit with the learned man and that, when he riseth from the
assembly, thou speak a word notifying the breaking up of the
session.' So they agreed upon this and Khelbes entered and sat in
the assembly, whilst the lover was assured in his heart that the
secret was safe with him, wherefore he rejoiced and was content
to pay the two dirhems.
Then Khelbes used to attend the learned man's assembly, whilst
the other would go in to his wife and abide with her, on such
wise as he thought good, till the learned man arose from his
session; and when Khelbes saw that he purposed rising, he would
speak a word for the lover to hear, whereupon he went forth from
Khelbes's wife, and the latter knew not that calamity was in his
own house. At last the learned man, seeing Khelbes do on this
wise every day, began to misdoubt of him, more by token of that
which he knew of his character, and suspicion grew upon him; so,
one day, he advanced the time of his rising before the wonted
hour and hastening up to Khelbes, laid hold of him and said to
him, 'By Allah, an thou speak a single syllable, I will do thee a
mischief!' Then he went in to his wife, with Khelbes in his
grasp, and behold, she was sitting, as of her wont, nor was there
about her aught of suspicious or unseemly.
The learned man bethought him awhile of this, then made for
Khelbes's house, which adjoined his own, still holding the
latter; and when they entered, they found the young man lying on
the bed with Khelbes's wife; whereupon quoth he to him, 'O
accursed one, the calamity is with thee and in thine own house!'
So Khelbes put away his wife and went forth, fleeing, and
returned not to his own land. This, then," continued the vizier,
"is the consequence of lewdness, for whoso purposeth in himself
craft and perfidy, they get possession of him, and had Khelbes
conceived of himself that[FN#266] which he conceived of the folk
of dishonour and calamity, there had betided him nothing of this.
Nor is this story, rare and extraordinary though it be, more
extraordinary or rarer than that of the pious woman whose
husband's brother accused her of lewdness."
When the king heard this, wonderment gat hold of him and his
admiration for the vizier redoubled; so he bade him go to his
house and return to him [on the morrow], according to his wont.
Accordingly, the vizier withdrew to his lodging, where he passed
the night and the ensuing day.
End of Vol. I.
Tales from the Arabic, Volume 1
Endnotes
[FN#1] Breslau Text, vol. iv. pp. 134-189, Nights
cclxxii.-ccxci. This is the story familiar to readers of the old
"Arabian Nights" as "Abon Hassan, or the Sleeper Awakened" and is
the only one of the eleven tales added by Galland to his version
of the (incomplete) MS. of the Book of the Thousand Nights and
One Night procured by him from Syria, the Arabic original of
which has yet been discovered. (See my "Book of the Thousand
Nights and One Night," Vol. IX. pp. 264 et seq.) The above title
is of course intended to mark the contrast between the everyday
(or waking) hours of Aboulhusn and his fantastic life in the
Khalif's palace, supposed by him to have passed in a dream, and
may also be rendered "The Sleeper and the Waker."
[FN#2] i.e. The Wag.
[FN#3] Always noted for debauchery.
[FN#4] i.e. the part he had taken for spending money.
[FN#5] i.e. "those," a characteristic Arab idiom.
[FN#6] Lit. draw thee near (to them).
[FN#7] i.e. that over the Tigris.
[FN#8] "Platter bread," i.e. bread baked in a platter, instead
of, as usual with the Arabs, in an oven or earthen jar previously
heated, to the sides of which the thin cakes of dough are
applied, "is lighter than oven bread, especially if it be made
thin and leavened."--Shecouri, a medical writer quoted by Dozy.
[FN#9] Or cooking-pots.
[FN#10] Or fats for frying.
[FN#11] Or clarified.
[FN#12] Taam, lit. food, the name given by the inhabitants of
Northern Africa to the preparation of millet-flour (something
like semolina) called kouskoussou, which forms the staple food of
the people.
[FN#13] Or "In peace."
[FN#14] Eastern peoples attach great importance, for good or evil
omen, to the first person met or the first thing that happens in
the day.
[FN#15] Or "attributed as sin."
[FN#16] A common Eastern substitute for soap.
[FN#17] This common formula of assent is an abbreviation of
"Hearkening and obedience are due to God and to the Commander of
the Faithful" or other the person addressed.
[FN#18] Dar es Selam, one of the seven "Gardens" into which the
Mohammedan Paradise is divided.
[FN#19] i.e. a mattrass eighteen inches thick.
[FN#20] Complimentary form of address to eunuchs, generally used
by inferiors only.
[FN#21] The morning-prayer consists of four inclinations (rekäat)
only. A certain fixed succession of prayers and acts of adoration
is called a rekah (sing, of rekäat) from the inclination of the
body that occurs in it.
[FN#22] i.e. the terminal formula of prayer, "Peace be on us and
on all the righteous servants of God!"
[FN#23] i.e. said "I purpose to make an end of prayer."
[FN#24] Or "linen."
[FN#25] A well-known poet of the time.
[FN#26] i.e. Ibrahim of Mosul, the greatest musician of his day.
[FN#27] i.e., doughty men of war, guards.
[FN#28] The Abbaside Khalifs traced their descent from Abbas, the
uncle of Mohammed, and considered themselves, therefore, as
belonging to the family of the Prophet.
[FN#29] i.e. May thy dwelling-place never fall into ruin.
[FN#30] i.e. the raised recess situate at the upper end of an
Oriental saloon, wherein is the place of honour.
[FN#31] ie, the necromancers.
[FN#32] Lit. I have not found that thou hast a heel blessed (or
propitious) to me.
[FN#33] i.e. O thou who art a calamity to those who have to do
with thee!
[FN#34] Abou Nuwas ibn Hani, the greatest poet of the time.
[FN#35] As a charm against evil spirits.
[FN#36] i.e. the vein said to have been peculiar to the
descendants of Hashim, grandfather of Abbas and great-grandson of
Mohammed, and to have started out between their eyes in moments
of anger.
[FN#37] Lit. that I may do upon her sinister deeds.
[FN#38] "The pitcher comes not always back unbroken from the
well."--English proverb.
[FN#39] i.e. of sorrow for his loss.
[FN#40] i.e. of grief for her loss.
[FN#41] Breslau Text, vol. vl. pp. 182-188, Nights
ccccxxxii-ccccxxxiv.
[FN#42] The eighth Khalif (A.D. 717-720) of the house of Umeyyeh
and the best and most single-hearted of all the Khalifs, with the
exception of the second, Omar ben Khettab, from whom he was
descended.
[FN#43] A celebrated statesman of the time, afterwards governor
of Cuia* and Bassora under Omar ben Abdulaziz.
[FN#44] The most renowned poet of the first century of the
Hegira. He is said to have been equally skilled in all styles of
composition grave and gay.
[FN#45] Or eternal.
[FN#46] Or "in him."
[FN#47] Chief of the tribe of the Benou Suleim. Et Teberi tells
this story in a different way. According to him, Abbas ben Mirdas
(who was a well-known poet), being dissatisfied with the portion
of booty allotted to him by the Prophet, refused it and composed
a lampoon against Mohammed, who said to Ali, "Cut off this tongue
which attacketh me," i.e. "Silence him by giving what will
satisfy him," whereupon Ali doubled the covetous chief's share.
[FN#48] Bilal ibn Rebeh was the Prophet's freedman and crier. The
word bilal signifies "moisture" or (metonymically) "beneficence"
and it may well be in this sense (and not as a man's name) that
it is used in the text.
[FN#49] Said to have been the best poet ever produced by the
tribe of Cureish. His introduction here is an anachronism, as he
died A.D. 712, five years before Omar's accession.
[FN#50] i.e. odorem pudendorum amicæ?
[FN#51] A famous poet of the tribe of the Benou Udhreh, renowned
for their passionate sincerity in love-matters. He is celebrated
as the lover of Butheineh, as Petrarch of Laura, and died A.D.
701, sixteen years before Omar's accession.
[FN#52] A friend of Jemil and a poet of equal renown. He is
celebrated as the lover of Azzeh, whose name is commonly added to
his, and kept a grocer's shop at Medina.
[FN#53] i.e. in the attitude of prayer.
[FN#54] A famous satirical poet of the time, afterwards banished
by Omar for the virulence of his lampoons. His name is wrongly
given by the text; it should be El Ahwes. He was a descendant of
the Ansar or (Medinan) helpers of Mohammed.
[FN#55] A famous poet of the tribe of the Benou Temim and a rival
of Jerir, to whom he was by some preferred. He was a notorious
debauchee and Jerir, in one of the satires that were perpetually
exchanged between himself and El Ferezdec, accuses his rival of
having "never been a guest in any house, but he departed with
ignominy and left behind him disgrace."
[FN#56] A Christian and a celebrated poet of the time.
[FN#57] The poet apparently meant to insinuate that those who
professed to keep the fast of Ramazan ate flesh in secret. The
word rendered "in public," i.e. openly, avowedly, may also
perhaps be translated "in the forenoon," and in this El Akhtel
may have meant to contrast his free-thinking disregard of the
ordinances of the fast with the strictness of the orthodox
Muslim, whose only meals in Ramazan-time are made between sunset
and dawn-peep. As soon as a white thread can be distinguished
from a black, the fast is begun and a true believer must not even
smoke or swallow his saliva till sunset.
[FN#58] Prominent words of the Muezzin's fore-dawn call to
prayer.
[FN#59] i.e. fall down drunk.
[FN#60] i.e. she who ensnares [all] eyes.
[FN#61] Imam, the spiritual title of the Khalif, as head of the
Faith and leader (lit. "foreman") of the people at prayer.
[FN#62] Or "worldly."
[FN#63] Or "worldly."
[FN#64] A town and province of Arabia, of which (inter alia) Omar
ben Abdulaziz was governor, before he came to the Khalifate.
[FN#65] Syn. munificence.
[FN#66] About 2 pounds sterling 10 s.
[FN#67] i.e. what is thy news?
[FN#68] Or "I approve of him."
[FN#69] Breslau Text, vol. vi. pp. 188-9, Night ccccxxxiv.
[FN#70] El Hejjaj ben Yousuf eth Thekefi, a famous statesman and
soldier of the seventh and eighth centuries. He was governor of
Chaldaea (Irak Arabi), under the fifth and sixth Khalifs of the
Ommiade dynasty, and was renowned for his cruelty, but appears to
have been a prudent and capable administrator, who used no more
rigour than was necessary to restrain the proverbially turbulent
populations of Bassora and Cufa, Most of the anecdotes of his
brutality and tyranny, which abound in Arab authors, are, in all
probability, apocryphal.
[FN#71] Used, by synecdoche, for "heads."
[FN#72] i.e. the governed, to wit, he who is led by a halter
attached (metaphorically of course) to a ring passed through his
nose, as with a camel.
[FN#73] i.e. the governor or he who is high of rank.
[FN#74] i.e. their hair, which may be considered the wealth of
the head. This whole passage is a description a double-entente of
a barber-surgeon.
[FN#75] Syn. cooking-pot.
[FN#76] Syn. be lowered. This passage is a similar description of
an itinerant hot bean-seller.
[FN#77] The rows of threads on a weaver's loom.
[FN#78] Syn. levelleth.
[FN#79] i.e. that of wood used by the Oriental weaver to govern
the warp and weft.
[FN#80] Syn. behave aright.
[FN#81] The loop of thread so called in which the weaver's foot
rests.
[FN#82] Syn. eloquence.
[FN#83] Adeb, one of the terribly comprehensive words which
abound in Arabic literature for the confusion of translators. It
signifies generally all kinds of education and means of mental
and moral discipline and seems here to mean more particularly
readiness of wit and speech or presence of mind.
[FN#84] Breslau Text, vol. vi. pp. 189-191, Night ccccxxxiv.
[FN#85] Syn. (Koranic) "Thou hast swerved from justice" or "been
unjust" (adeita).
[FN#86] Syn. (Koranic) "Thou hast transgressed" (caset-ta).
[FN#87] Or falling-away.
[FN#88] Koran vi. 44.
[FN#89] Or do injustice, tadilou (syn. do justice).
[FN#90] Koran iv. 134.
[FN#91] El casitouna (syn. those who act righteously or
equitably).
[FN#92] Koran lxxii. 15.
[FN#93] Name of the Persian ancestor of the Barmecide (properly
Bermeki) family.
[FN#94] Breslau Text, vol. vi. pp. 191-343, Nights
ccccxxv-cccclxxxvii. This is the Arab version of the well-known
story called, in Persian, the Bekhtyar Nameh, i.e. the Book of
Bekhtyar, by which name the prince, whose attempted ruin by the
envious viziers is the central incident of the tale, is
distinguished in that language. The Arab redaction of the story
is, to my mind, far superior to the Persian, both in general
simplicity and directness of style and in the absence of the
irritating conceits and moral digressions with which Persian (as
well as Indian) fiction is so often overloaded. The Persian
origin of the story is apparent, not only in the turn of the
incidents and style and the names of the personages, but in the
fact that not a single line of verse occurs in it.
[FN#95] Rawi; this is probably a copyist's mistake for raai, a
beholder, one who seeth.
[FN#96] Lit. what was his affair? It may be here observed that
the word keif (how?) is constantly used in the Breslau Text in
the sense of ma (what?).
[FN#97] A district of Persia, here probably Persia itself.
[FN#98] Probably a corruption of Kisra (Chosroës).
[FN#99] i.e. waylaying travellers, robbing on the high road.
[FN#100] Or skill.
[FN#101] Lit. the descended fate.
[FN#102] The Arabs attribute to a man's parentage absolute power
in the determination of his good and evil qualities; eg. the son
of a slave, according to them, can possess none of the virtues of
the free-born, whilst good qualities are in like manner
considered congenitally inherent in the latter.
[FN#103] Or "business."
[FN#104] i.e. whither he should travel.
[FN#105] About half-a-crown.
[FN#106] It is a common practice with Eastern nations to keep a
child (especially a son and one of unusual beauty) concealed
until a certain age, for fear of the evil eye. See my "Book of
the Thousand Nights and One Night," Vol. III. p. 234; Vol. IX. p.
67, etc., etc.
[FN#107] i.e. killing a man.
[FN#108] i.e., it will always be in our power to slay him, when
we will.
[FN#109] i.e. the grave.
[FN#110] i.e. the wedding-day.
[FN#111] i.e. thy women
[FN#112] i.e. hath been unduly prolonged.
[FN#113] i.e. Let thy secret thoughts and purposes be righteous,
even as thine outward profession.
[FN#114] See my "Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night," Vol.
V. p. 264.
[FN#115] Afterwards called his "chamberlain," i.e. the keeper of
the door of the harem or chief eunuch. See post, p. III.
[FN#116] i.e. the eunuch who had dissuaded Dadbin from putting
her to death.
[FN#117] Apparently referring to Aboulkhair (see ante p. 107),
whom Dabdin would seem to have put to death upon the vizier's
false accusation, although no previous mention of this occurs.
[FN#118] The Arabs believe that each man's destiny is
charactered, could we decipher it, in the sutures of his skull.
[FN#119] ie. the lex talionis, which is the essence of Muslim
jurisprudence.
[FN#120] i.e. a soldier of fortune, going about from court to
court, in quest of service.
[FN#121] This phrase refers to the Arab idiom, "His hand (or arm)
is long or short," i.e. he is a man of great or little puissance.
[FN#122] The Arabs consider it a want of respect to allow the
hands or feet to remain exposed in the presence of a superior.
[FN#123] Adeb. See ante, p. 54, note 9.
[FN#124] i.e. that he become my son-in-law.
[FN#125] It is a common Eastern practice to have the feet kneaded
and pressed (shampooed) for the purpose of inducing sleep, and
thus the king would habitually fall asleep with his feet on the
knees of his pages.
[FN#126] Syn. whoso respecteth not his lord's women.
[FN#127] i.e. a domed tomb.
[FN#128] Of a man's life. The Muslims believe each man's last
hour to be written in a book called "The Preserved Tablet."
[FN#129] i.e, the Autumnal Equinox, one of the two great festival
days (the other being the New Year) of the Persians. See my "Book
of the Thousand Nights and One Night," Vol. IV. p. 144.
[FN#130] i.e. heritage.
[FN#131] i.e. The Emperor of the Romans of the Lower Empire, so
called by the Arabs. "Caesar" is their generic term for the
Emperors of Constantinople, as is Kisra (Chosroës) for the
ancient Kings of Persia.
[FN#132] i.e. Shah Khatoun.
[FN#133] i.e. our power increased by his alliance, a. familiar
Arab idiom.
[FN#134] In token of deputation of authority, a ceremony usual on
the appointment of a governor of a province.
[FN#135] Or enigma.
[FN#136] i.e. if my death be ordained of destiny to befall on an
early day none may avail to postpone it to a later day.
[FN#137] Of life. See supra, note, p. 147.
[FN#138] The hoopoe is fabled by the Muslim chroniclers to have
been to Solomon what Odin's ravens were to the Norse god. It is
said to have known all the secrets of the earth and to have
revealed them to him; hence the magical virtues attributed by the
Mohammedans to its heart.
[FN#139] This phrase may be read either literally or in its
idiomatic sense, i.e., "Folk convicted or suspected of murder or
complicity in murder."
[FN#140] Or purse-belt.
[FN#141] See supra, p. 66.
[FN#142] Khilaah, lit. that which one takes off from one's own
person, to bestow upon a messenger of good tidings or any other
whom it is desired especially to honour. The literal meaning of
the phrase, here rendered "he bestowed on him a dress of honour,"
is "he put off on him [that which was upon himself." A Khilaah
commonly includes a horse, a sword, a girdle or waist-cloth and
other articles, according to the rank of the recipient, and might
more precisely be termed "a complete equipment of honour."
[FN#143] An economical mode of rewarding merit, much in favour
with Eastern monarchs.
[FN#144] Breslau Text, vol. vii. pp. 251-4, Night dlxv.
[FN#145] Syn. doorkeper (hajib).
[FN#146] Ibn Khelbkan, who tells this story in a somewhat
different style, on the authority of Er Reshid's brother Ibrahim
ben El Mehdi, calls the person whom Jaafer expected "Abdulmelik
ben Behran, the intendant of his demesnes."
[FN#147] The wearing of silk and bright colours is forbidden to
the strict Muslim and it is generally considered proper, in a man
of position, to wear them only on festive occasions or in
private, as in the text.
[FN#148] The Abbasides or descendants of El Abbas, the Prophet's
uncle, were noted for their excessive pride and pretensions to
strict orthodoxy in all outward observances. Abdulmelik ben
Salih, who was a well-known general and statesman of the time,
was especially renowned for pietism and austerity of manners.
[FN#149] i.e. Do not let my presence trouble you.
[FN#150] As a member of the reigning family, he of course wore
black clothes, that being the especial colour of the house of
Abbas, adopted by them in opposition to the rival (and fallen)
dynasty of the Benou Umeyyeh, whose family colour was white, that
of the house of Ali being green.
[FN#151] About £25,000. Ibn Khellikan makes the debt four
millions of dirhems or about £100,000
[FN#152] Breslau text, vol vii, pp.258-60, Night dlxvii.
[FN#153] Fourth Khalif of the house of Abbas, A.D. 785-786.
[FN#154] Third Khalif of the house of Abbas, A.D. 775-785.
[FN#155] The following is Et Teberi's version of this anecdote.
El Mehdi had presented his son Haroun with a ruby ring, worth a
hundred thousand dinars, and the latter being one day with his
brother [the then reigning Khalif], El Hadi saw the ring on his
finger and desired it. So, when Haroun went out from him, he sent
after him, to seek the ring of him. The Khalif's messenger
overtook Er Reshid on the bridge over the Tigris and acquainted
him with his errand; whereupon the prince enraged at the demand,
pulled off the ring and threw it into the river. When El Hadi
died and Er Reshid succeeded to the throne, he went with his
suite to the bridge in question and bade his Vizier Yehya ben
Khalid send for divers and cause them make search for the ring.
It had then been five months in the water and no one believed it
would be found. However, the divers plunged into the river and
found the ring in the very place where he had thrown it in,
whereat Haroun rejoiced with an exceeding joy, regarding it as a
presage of fair fortune.
[FN#156] This is an error. Jaafer's father Yehya was appointed by
Haroun his vizier and practically continued to exercise that
office till the fall of the Barmecides (A.D. 803), his sons Fezl
and Jaafer acting only as his assistants or lieutenants. See my
Essay on the History and Character of the Book of the Thousand
Nights and One Night.
[FN#157] Another mistake. It was Fezl, the Khalif's
foster-brother, to whom he used to give this title.
[FN#158] A third mistake. The whole period during which the
empire was governed by Yehya and his sons was only seventeen
years, i.e. A.D 786-803, but see my Essay.
[FN#159] The apparent meaning of this somewhat obscure saying is,
"Since fortune is uncertain, conciliate the favour of those with
whom thou hast to do by kind offices, so thou mayst find refuge
with them in time of need."
[FN#160] For a detailed account of the Barmecides and of their
fall, see my Essay.
[FN#161] Breslau Text, vol. vii. pp. 260-1, Night dlxviii.
[FN#162] Aboulabbas Mohammed Ibn Sabih, surnamed Ibn es Semmak
(son of the fishmonger), a well-known Cufan jurisconsult and
ascetic of the time. He passed the latter part of his life at
Baghdad and enjoyed high favour with Er Reshid, as the only
theological authority whom the latter could induce to promise him
admission to Paradise.
[FN#163] Breslau Text, vol. vii. pp. 261-2, Night dlxviii.
[FN#164] Seventh Khalif of the house of Abbas, A.D. 813-33.
[FN#165] Sixth Khalif of the house of Abbas, A.D. 809-13, a
sanguinary and incapable prince, whose contemplated treachery
against his brother El Mamoun, (whom, by the advice of his
vizier, the worthless intriguer Fezl ben Rebya, the same who was
one of the prime movers in the ruin of the illustrious Barmecide
family and who succeeded Yehya and his sons in the vizierate (see
my Essay), he contemplated depriving of his right of succession
and murdering,) was deservedly requited with the loss of his own
kingdom and life. He was, by the way, put to death by El Mamoun's
general, in contravention of the express orders of that generous
and humane prince, who wished his brother to be sent prisoner to
him, on the capture of Baghdad.
[FN#166] i.e. forfeits. It is a favourite custom among the Arabs
to impose on the loser of a game, in lieu of stakes, the
obligation of doing whatsoever the winner may command him. For an
illustration of this practice, see my "Book of the Thousand
Nights and One Night," Vol. V. pp. 336-41, Story of the
Sandalwood Merchant and the Sharpers.
[FN#167] El Mamoun was of a very swarthy complexion and is said
to have been the son of a black slave-girl. Zubeideh was Er
Reshid's cousin, and El Amin was, therefore, a member of the
house of Abbas, both on the father's and mother's side. Of this
purity of descent from the Prophet's family (in which he is said
to have stood alone among the Khalifs of the Abbaside dynasty)
both himself and his mother were exceedingly proud, and it was
doubtless this circumstance which led Er Reshid to prefer El Amin
and to assign him the precedence in the succession over the more
capable and worthier El Mamoun.
[FN#168] Breslau Text, vol. viii. pp. 226-9, Nights dclx-i.
[FN#169] A pre-Mohammedan King of the Arab kingdom of Hireh (a
town near Cufa on the Euphrates), under the suzerainty of the
Chosroes of Persia, and a cruel and fantastic tyrant.
[FN#170] The tribe to which belonged the renowned pre-Mohammedan
chieftain and poet, Hatim Tal, so celebrated in the East for his
extravagant generosity and hospitality.
[FN#171] i.e. I will make a solemn covenant with him before God.
[FN#172] i.e. he of the tribe of Tai.
[FN#173] In generosity.
[FN#174] A similar anecdote is told of Omar ben el Khettab,
second successor of Mohammed, and will be found in my "Book of
the Thousand Nights and One Night," Vol. IV. p. 239.
[FN#175] Breslau Text, vol. viii. pp. 273-8, Nights dclxxv--vi.
[FN#176] A similar story will be found in my "Book of the
Thousand Nights and One Night", Vol. V. p. 263.
[FN#177] Breslau Text, vol xi. pp. 84-318, Nights
dccclxxv-dccccxxx.
[FN#178] i.e. A pilgrimage. Pilgrimage is one of a Muslim's
urgent duties.
[FN#179] By a rhetorical figure, Mecca is sometimes called El
Hejj (the Pilgrimage) and this appears to be the case here. It is
one of the dearest towns in the East and the chief occupation of
its inhabitants a the housing and fleecing of pilgrims. An Arab
proverb says, "There is no place in which money goes [so fast] as
it goes in Mecca."
[FN#180] lit. loved with it.
[FN#181] It is not clear what is here meant by El Hejj; perhaps
Medina, though this is a "visitation" and not an obligatory part
of the pilgrimage. The passage is probably corrupt.
[FN#182] It is not clear what is here meant by El Hejj; perhaps
Medina, though this is a "visitation" and not an obligatory part
of the pilgrimage. The passage is probably corrupt.
[FN#183] Syn. whole or perfect (sehik).
[FN#184] i.e. in white woollen garments.
[FN#185] i.e. I desire a privy place, where I may make the
preliminary ablution and pray.
[FN#186] It is customary in the East to give old men and women
the complimentary title of "pilgrim," assuming, as a matter of
course, that they have performed the obligatory rite of
pilgrimage.
[FN#187] Or saint.
[FN#188] Keniseh, a Christian or other non-Muslim place of
worship.
[FN#189] Apparently the harem.
[FN#190] i.e. otherwise than according to God's ordinance.
[FN#191] A city of Persian Irak.
[FN#192] Lit. its apparatus, i.e. spare strings, etc.?
[FN#193] i.e. the woman whose face he saw.
[FN#194] Lit. the place of battle, i.e. that where they had lain.
[FN#195] A common Eastern fashion of securing a shop, when left
for a short time. The word shebekeh (net) may also be tendered a
grating or network of iron or other metal.
[FN#196] i.e. gave her good measure.
[FN#197] i.e. she found him a good workman. Equivoque erotique,
apparently founded on the to-and-fro movement of the shuttle in
weaving.
[FN!198] Equivoque érotique.
[FN#199] i.e. removed the goods exposed for sale and laid them up
in the inner shop or storehouse.
[FN#200] The Eastern oven is generally a great earthenware jar
sunken in the earth.
[FN#201] i.e. a boughten white slave (memlouk).
[FN#202] Apparently changing places. The text is here fearfully
corrupt and (as in many other parts of the Breslau Edition) so
incoherent as to be almost unintelligible.
[FN#203] i.e. in the (inner) courtyard.
[FN#204] i.e. the essential nature, lit. jewel.
[FN#205] i.e. in proffering thee the kingship.
[FN#206] Without the city.
[FN#207] According to the conclusion of the story, this
recompense consisted in an augmentation of the old man's
allowances of food. See post, p. 245.
[FN#208] i.e. I have given my opinion.
[FN#209] This passage is evidently corrupt. I have amended it, on
conjecture, to the best of my power.
[FN#210] The words ruteb wa menazil, here rendered "degrees and
dignities," may also be rendered, "stations and mansions (of the
moon and planets)."
[FN#211] Syn. "ailing" or "sickly."
[FN#212] i.e. the caravan with which he came.
[FN#213] i.e. I seek to marry thy daughter, not for her own sake,
but because I desire thine alliance.
[FN#214] i.e. the face of his bride.
[FN#215] i.e. his wife.
[FN#216] i.e. his wife.
[FN#217] Naming the poor man.
[FN#218] Naming his daughter.
[FN#219] i.e. united.
[FN#220] Or "humble."
[FN#221] i.e. one another.
[FN#222] Or "conquer."
[FN#223] Or "commandment."
[FN#224] Lit. "will be higher than."
[FN#225] Syn. device or resource (hileh).
[FN#226] Syn. chasten or instruct.
[FN#227] Students of our old popular poetry will recognize, in
the principal incident of this story, the subject of the
well-known ballad, "The Heir of Linne."
[FN#228] i.e. Turcomans; afterwards called Sejestan.
[FN#229] With a pile of stones or some such landmark.
[FN#230] i.e. the extraordinary resemblance of the supposed
sister to his wife.
[FN#231] The foregoing passage is evidently very corrupt and the
meaning is by no means plain, but, in the absence of a parallel
version, it is impossible to clear up the obscurity of the text.
[FN#232] This appears to be the sense of the text; but the whole
passage is to obscure and corrupt that it is impossible to make
sure of its exact meaning.
[FN#233] Meaning apparently, "thou puttest my devices to nought"
or (perhaps) "thou art so skilful that I fear lest thou undermine
my favour with the king and oust me from my post of vizier."
[FN#234] Lit. "land;" but the meaning is evidently as in the
text.
[FN#235] The reader will recognize the well-known story used by
Chaucer, Boccaccio and La Fontaine.
[FN#236] Syn. flourishing.
[FN#237] Syn. depopulated.
[FN#238] Lit. an oppressor.
[FN#239] i.e. a man of commanding presence.
[FN#240] Syn. cause flourish.
[FN#241] Syn. depopulateth.
[FN#242] Lit. the year.
[FN#243] The whole of the tither's account of himself is terribly
obscure and so corrupt that it is hardly possible to make sense
of it. The same remark applies to much of the rest of the story.
[FN#244] Or "cause flourish."
[FN#245] Lit. a better theologian. The Muslim law being entirely
based on the Koran and the Traditions of the Prophet, the terms
"lawyer" and "theologian" are necessarily synonymous among
Mohammedan peoples.
[FN#246] A danic is the sixth of a dirhem, i.e. about one penny.
[FN#247] i.e. say, "May I be [triply] divorced from my wife, if
etc.!" By the Muslim law, a divorce three times pronounced is
irrevocable, and in case of its appearing that the user of such
an oath as the above had sworn falsely, his wife would become
divorced by operation of law, without further ceremony. Hence the
frequency and binding nature of the oath in question.
[FN#248] i.e. thousandfold cuckold.
[FN#249] i.e. the blows which the thief had given him.
[FN#250] i.e. at least, at the most moderate reckoning.
[FN#251] Or "Breath of God," a title given to Jesus by the
Mohammedans.
[FN#252] i.e. attaineth his desire.
[FN#253] Syn. guards.
[FN#254] i.e. the husbandman.
[FN#255] i.e. those bound to render suit and service to the king,
as holders of fiefs.
[FN#256] Syn. the revenue or rent-charge of thy fief.
[FN#257] Heads of families?
[FN#258] Or "caused flourish."
[FN#259] Or froward.
[FN#260] i.e. sold and spent the price of.
[FN#261] i.e. his lack of means to entertain her.
[FN#262] i.e. all that can conduce to.
[FN#263] i.e. it is for you (after God) to excuse me.
[FN#264] i.e. the [supposed] rest of his hoard.
[FN#265] Apparently the idiot's name.
[FN#266] i.e. had he been on his own guard against that, etc.
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