Alaeddin and the Enchanted Lamp
by
John Payne
Part 4 out of 4
"good men and true."
[FN#317] Bedsa
[FN#318] Keisein. Burton, "his pockets."
[FN#319] Lit. "neck." The Muslims fable that all will appear at
the Day of Resurrection with their good and evil actions in
visible form fastened about their necks. "And each man, we
constrain him to carry his actions (ta
as told by augury from the flight of birds, according to the
method so much in favour with the ancients, but interpreted by
the scholiasts as 'actions,' each man's actions being, according
to them, the cause of his good and evil fortune, happiness or
misery), on (or about,.fi) his neck."--Koran, xvii, 14.
[FN#320] Night DXL
[FN#321] An idiomatic expression, equivalent to our vulgar
English phrase, "He was struck all of a heap."
[FN#322] Beszireh, mental (as opposed to bodily) vision.
[FN#323] Night DXLI.
[FN#324] Gheramuha.
[FN#325] Lit. "be rightly guided," "return to the right way."
[FN#326] Heds, Syrian for hheds.
[FN#327] i.e.. if thou be in earnest.
[FN#328] Aamin. Burton, "fonder and more faithful."
[FN#329] Night DXLII.
[FN#330] Lit. "blood of my liver."
[FN#331] i.e. the bride's parents.
[FN#332] Burton, "Also who shall ask her to wife for the son of
a snip?"
[FN#333] Night DXLIII.
[FN#334] Lit. "near and far," the great being near to the king's
dignity, and the small far from it.
[FN#335] Lit. "before" (cuddam).
[FN#336] Lit. "thou art not of its measure or proportion"
(kedd).
[FN#337] Ijreker ti bi 'l hhecc. Burton. "thou hast reminded me
aright."
[FN#338] Night DXLIV.
[FN#339] Kiyas, a mistake for akyas, pl.of keis, a purse.
[FN#340] Lit. "So, an thou wilt, burden thy mind (i.e. give
thyself the trouble, kellifi khatiraki,) and with us [is] a China
dish; rise and come to me with it." Kellifi (fem.) khatiraki is
an idiomatic expression equivalent to the French, "donnez-vous
(or prenez) la peine" and must be taken in connection with what
follows, i.e. give yourself the trouble to rise and bring me,
etc. (prenez la peine de vous lever et de m'apporter, etc.).
Burton, "Whereupon, an-thou please, compose thy mind. We have in
our house a bowl of china porcelain: so arise thou and fetch it."
[FN#341] Lit. "were not equal to one quarter of a carat," i.e. a
ninety-sixth part, "carat" being here used in its technical sense
of a twenty-fourth part of anything.
[FN#342] Kellifi khatiraki (prenez la peine) as before. Burton,
"Compose thy thoughts."
[FN#343] Night DXLV.
[FN#344] Elladhi hu alan ca
thou hast learned, O mother mine, that the Lamp which we possess
hath become to us a stable income."
[FN#345] Or "pay attention" (diri balek); see ante, pp. 78 and
81. {see FN#220 and FN#228}
[FN#346] Minhu. Burton translates, "for that 'tis of him," and
says, in a note, "Here the MS. text is defective, the allusion
is, I suppose, to the Slave of the Lamp." I confess I do not see
the defect of which he speaks. Alaeddin of course refers to the
lamp and reminds his mother that the prosperity they enjoy "is
(i.e. arises) from it."
[FN#347] Lit. "completed," "fully constituted."
[FN#348] The attitude implied in the word mutekettif and
obligatory in presence of a superior, i.e. that of a schoolboy in
class.
[FN#349] Or "complainants," "claimants."
[FN#350] Fi teriketihi, apparently meaning "in its turn."
Burton, "Who (i.e. the Sultan) delivered sentence after his
wonted way."
[FN#351] Night DXLVI.
[FN#352] Illezemet. Burton, "she determined."
[FN#353] Lit. "the Divan;" but the door of the presence-chamber
is meant, as appears by the sequel.
[FN#354] Burton, "and when it was shut, she would go to make
sure thereof."
[FN#355] Muddeh jumah. Burton, "the whole month."
[FN#356] Burton, "come forward."
[FN#357] Burton, "levee days"
[FN#358] Izar. Burton, "mantilla."
[FN#359] Here the copyist, by the mistaken addition of fe (so),
transfers the "forthright" to the Vizier's action of submission
to the Sultan's order.
[FN#360] Night DXLVII.
[FN#361] I have arranged this passage a little, to make it read
intelligibly. In the original it runs thus, "Alaeddin's mother,
whenas she took a wont and became every Divan-day going and
standing in the Divan before the Sultan, withal that she was
dejected, wearying exceedingly, but for Alaeddin's sake, her son,
she used to make light of all weariness."
[FN#361] Aman; i.e. promise or assurance of indemnity,
permission to speak freely, without fear of consequences.
[FN#362] Aman in secondary sense of "protection" or "safeguard."
[FN#363] i.e. I pardon thee, under God, ("then I" being
understood). The right of pardon residing with God, the pious
Muslim can only say, "God pardon thee first and then I pardon
thee."
[FN#364] Burton, "shun the streets."
[FN#365] Arad. Burton, "felt an uncontrollable longing."
[FN#366] Or "food (aish, bread) hath not been pleasant (or had
any savour) for him."
[FN#367] Seadetuk, lit. "thy felicity;" this and jenabuk (lit.
"thy side"), "thine excellence" or "thy highness," and hhedsretuk
"thy highness," (lit. "thy presence") are the titles commonly
given to kings in Arabic-speaking countries, although hhedsretuk
is strictly applicable only to the Prophet and other high
spiritual dignitaries. They are often, but erroneously, rendered
"thy majesty"; a title which does not exist in the East and which
is, as is well known to students of history, of comparatively
recent use in Europe.
[FN#368] Lit, "having regard to his clemency, he took to
laughing and asked her." Burton, "He regarded her with kindness,
and laughing cloud, asked her."
[FN#369] Surreh, lit. purse and by extension, as here, anything
tied up in bag-shape.
[FN#370] Night DXLVIII.
[FN#371] Lit. "Be clement unto me, Thy Grace promised me."
[FN#372] Lit. "Forbearance (hhilm, clemency, longanimity, delay
in requiting an evil-doer) is incumbent from thine exalted
highness unto (ila) three months'
[FN#373] Aatsem melik, an ungrammatical construction of common
occurrence in the present MS., properly aatsemu 'l mulouk.
[FN#374] Syn. "his clemency required."
[FN#375] i.e. shall he reserved for him alone.
[FN#376] i.e. the marriage trousseau.
[FN#377] Lit. "Except that, O my son, the Vizier bespoke him a
privy word (kelam sirriyy) ere he promised me; then, after the
Vizier bespoke him a word privily (sirran), he promised me to
(ila) three months."
[FN#378] Lit. an ill presence (mehhdser sau). This expression has
occurred before in the Nights, where I have, in deference to the
authority of the late M. Dozy (the greatest Arabic scholar since
Silvestre de Sacy) translated it "a compend of ill," reading the
second word as pointed with dsemmeh (i.e. sou, evil, sub.)
instead of with fetheh (i.e. sau, evil, adj.), although in such a
case the strict rules of Arabic grammar require sou to be
preceded by the definite article (i.e. mehhdseru's sou). However,
the context and the construction of the phrase, in which the
present example of the expression occurs, seem to show that it is
not here used in this sense.
[FN#379] Night DXLIX.
[FN#380] Lit. (as before) "promised her to" (ila).
[FN#381] Lit. "to" (ila), as before.
[FN#382] i.e. the delay.
[FN#383] Lit. "he thanked his mother and thought (or made) much
of her goodness (istekthera bi-kheiriha, a common modern
expression, signifying simply 'he thanked her') for her toil."
Burton, "Then he thanked his parent, showing her how her good
work had exceeded her toil and travail "
[FN#384] Lit. "Wonder took her at this wonder and the
decoration." Burton amplifies, "She wondered at the marvellous
sight and the glamour of the scene." Me judice, to put it in the
vernacular, she simply wondered what the dickens it was all
about.
[FN#385] Min wectiha. Burton, "And for some time, O my son, I
have suspected." See ante, p. 134. {see FN#378}
[FN#386] Lit. "fever seized him of his chagrin."
[FN#387] Night DL.
[FN#388] Lit. "promised me to" (ila), as before.
[FN#389] Eshaa; or, if we take the word as pointed with kesreh
(i.e. ishaa), we may read, with Burton, "to pass the rest of the
evening," though this expression seems to me hardly in character
with the general tone of the MS.
[FN#390] Musterah.
[FN#391] Sic (el gheir).
[FN#392] Night DLI.
[FN#393] Min doun khiyaneh i.e. without offering her any
affront. Burton, "and he did no villain deed."
[FN#394] Galland adds, "et passe dans une garde-robe o-- il
s'etoit deshabille le soir." Something of the kind appears to
have dropped out of the present MS.
[FN#395} Night DLII.
[FN#396] Lit. "with the eye of anger." Ghedseb (anger) and its
synonym ghaits are frequently used in the Nights in this sense;
see especially Vol. II. of my translation, p. 234, " she smiled a
sad smile," lit. a "smile of anger," (twice) and p. 258, "my
anguish redoubled," lit. "I redoubled in anger."
[FN#397] Wesikh. Burton, "fulsome."
[FN#398] Night DLIII.
[FN#399] Diri balek an [la]. Burton, "compose thy thoughts. If,
etc." See ante, passim.
[FN#400] Sic.
[FN#401] Kedhebaka.
[FN#402] i.e. that which he derived from such an alliance.
[FN#403] Lit. "Wretches" (mesakin).
[FN#404] Night DLIV.
[FN#405] Inketaet (lit. "she was cut or broken") min el khauf.
Burton, "She was freed from her fear of the past."
[FN#406] Or "honoured" (azlz)
[FN#407] i.e. "in my behaviour to thee."
[FN#408] Kema akedu min mehebbetika li. Burton, "even as I
claim of thee affection for thy child."
[FN#409] Night DLV.
[FN#410] Hhashaha min el kidhb; lit. "Except her from lying!"
Hhasha (which commonly signifies, "Far be it," "God forbid!") is
here used in a somewhat unusual manner. The sense seems to be,
"God forbid that the Lady Bedrulbudour should be suspected of
lying! "
[FN#411] Or "shrunken" (kusziret). Burton, "bursten."
[FN#412] Or "honoured" (aziz).
[FN#413] Night DLVI.
[FN#414] Lit. "how [was] the device therein;" i.e how he should
do for an expedient thereanent. Burton, "the device whereby he
should manage it."
[FN#415] Or "called upon" (nedeh).
[FN#416] El ashreh [mubeshshereh understood], "the ten [who were
rejoiced with glad tidings]," i.e. ten of Mohammed's companions
(Abou Bekr, Omar, Othman, Ali, Telheh, Zubeir, Saad ibn Abi
Weccas, Abdurrehman ibn Auf, Abou Ubeideh ibnu'l Jerrah and Said
ibn Zeid), to whom (and to whom alone) he is said to have
promised certain entrance into Paradise. They are accordingly
considered to have pre-eminence over the Prophet's other
disciples and are consequently often invoked by the less orthodox
Muslims as intercessors with him, much after the fashion of the
Quatuordecim Adjutores, the Fourteen Helpers [in time of need],
(i.e. Saints Catherine, Margaret, Barbara, Pantaleon, Vitus,
Eustace, Blase, Gregory, Nicholas, Erasmus, Giles, George,
Leonard and Christopher) of Romish hagiology.
[FN#417] i.e the marriage of his son to the Sultan's daughter.
Burton, "it having been a rare enjoyment to him that he had
fallen upon such high good fortune."
[FN#418] Lit. "marriage," i.e. "wedding festivities are out of
place." The word (zijeh) here used is a dialectic (Syrian)
variant of zewaj, marriage. Burton, "we require no delay,"
[FN#419] Lit. "the lord (i.e. he) of the suit or claim" (sahibu
'd dewat).
[FN#420] Or "inestimable," lit. "might not be measured by (or
appraised at) a price or value." Burton, "far beyond his power to
pay the price."
[FN#421] Lit. "How is the management or contrivance (tedbir)
with thee?" i.e. "canst thou suggest to us any expedient?"
[FN#422] Night DLVII.
[FN#423] Burton adds, "speaking privily."
[FN#424] Or perhaps, "we may with impunity rebut," etc.
[FN#425] Gherib, lit. a stranger, an exile, but vulg. by
extension, a poor, homeless wretch.
[FN#426] i.e Alaeddin's mother.
[FN#427] Lit. "that day."
[FN#428] Fr. "... l'aimable." Lit. "by a way or means"
(bi-terikeh). It may be we should read bi [hatheti'l]] terikeh, "
by [this] means; " but the rendering in the text seems the more
probable one, the Sultan meaning that he would thus get rid of
Alaeddin's importunity by practice, without open breach of faith
or violence.
[FN#429] Night DLVIII.
[FN#430] Lit. "Burden thyself (prenez la peine) and rise",
(kellifi khatiraki, etc., as before).
[FN#431] Here szewani (trays) instead of, as before, szuhoun
(dishes).
[FN#432] Night DLIX.
[FN#433] i.e. "look with open eyes"
[FN#434] En nuwwab, i.e. those whose turn it was to be on guard.
[FN#435] Need (lit. coin), a vulgar Syrian corruption of neket,
customary gift of money or otherwhat to a bride on the
marriage-day.
[FN#436] The whole of the foregoing passage is so confused that
I think it well to add here (l) a literal translation, as I read
it: " So the Vizier, yea, indeed, he marvelled at the greatness
of that wealth more than the Sultan, but envy was killing him and
waxed on him more and more when he saw the Sultan that he was
satisfied with (or accepted of) the bride-gift and the dowry;
however, it was not possible to him that he should gainsay the
truth and should say to the Sultan, 'He is not worthy;' only, he
practised with a device upon the Sultan so he should not let him
give his daughter the Lady Bedrulbudour to Alaeddin, and this
[was] that he said to him, etc ,"--and also (2)) the version given
by Sir K. F. Burton, who takes a different view of the passage: "
Then the Minister (although he marvelled at these riches even
more than did the Sultan), whose envy was killing him and growing
greater hour by hour, seeing his liege lord satisfied with the
moneys and the dower and yet being unable to fight against fact,
made answer, 'Tis not worthy of her.' Withal he fell to devising
a device against the King, that he might withhold the Lady
Badr-al-Budur from Alaeddin, and accordingly he continued, etc."
[FN#437] Or "in comparison with her" (ent hhedsretuk istatsemet
hatha aleiha). This is an ambiguous passage and should perhaps be
read, " Thou magnifiest this (i.e. the gift) over her."
[FN#438] Night DLX.
[FN#439] Lit. "swiftly, the winds overtook her not."
[FN#440] Aksen. Burton, "more suitable to thee."
[FN#441] Kethir[an]. Burton, "And right soon (Inshallah !) O my
daughter, thou shalt have fuller joy with him."
[FN#442] Muebbed. Burton, "alone."
[FN#443] Sic (kum),
[FN#444] Or "commission" (mishwar).
{FN#445] Bekia ma bekia hatha shey aleik, lit. "remaineth what
remaineth this is a thing upon (or for) thee." Burton, "Happen
whatso may happen; the rest is upon thy shoulders." The first
bekia is perhaps used in the common colloquial sense of "then."
[FN#446] Shekeraha wa istekthera bi-kheiriha. See ante, p. 155,
note 3. Burton, "enhancing her kindly service."
[FN#447] Surname of the ancient Kings of Persia, vulg. Chosroes.
[FN#448] Night DLXI.
[FN#449] Lit. "the."
[FN#450] Burton, "the costliest of clothes.
[FN#451] Generally that of aloes-wood.
[FN#452] Quoth Shehrzad to Shehriyar.
[FN#453] Yetsunnuhu; quare a clerical error for yentsuruku ("had
seen him" )?
[FN#454] i.e. male white slaves (memlouk, whence our "mameluke,"
sing. for plural memalik).
[FN#455] Lit. "and let there be with each slave-girl a suit,
etc." Burton "And let every handmaid be robed in raiment that
befitteth queens wearing." The twelve suits of clothes to be
brought by the slave-girls were of course intended for the
wearing of Alaeddin's mother; see post, p. 167. {see FN#457 in
text}
[FN#456] i.e. the genuine Arabs of the unmixed blood.
[FN#457] See ante, p. 166, note 2. {see FN#455}
[FN#458] Likai telbesa (tetelebbesa ?) hiya. Burton, "she should
wear."
[FN#459] Sic, the meaning seeming to be that kings' sons were
out of comparison with Alaeddin, as who should say (in Cockney
parlance, "Don't talk to me about kings' sons."
[FN#460] Lit. "upon."
[FN#461] El kendil el ajib.
[FN#462] Syn. "old and young."
[FN#463] Night DLXII.
[FN#464] Ictedsa an tesmuha li bi, lit. "decided (or demanded)
that thou be bountiful to (or grace) me with;" but icledsa is
here used in the colloquial sense of "willed, vouchsafed."
[FN#465] i.e. that of his tongue, lit. "its bounds or reach"
(kheddahu). Burton, "passing all measure."
[FN#466] Lit. "acquired, gotten, come by thee" (khetsitu bika).
[FN#467] Night DLXIII.
[FN#468] Nuweb (properly naubat).
[FN#469] Musica.
[FN#470] Acamou el fereh el atsim. Burton, "a mighty fine
marriage-feast was dispread in the palace."
[FN#471] Muashir.
[FN#472] Netser.
[FN#473] Lit. "but the behoving on me for her service engageth
(or enforceth) me to apply myself "hereunto."
[FN#474] i.e. at thy disposition.
[FN#475] Night DLXIV.
[FN#476] Tebakhin. Burton, "kitcheners."
[FN#477] Keszr.
[FN#478] Wa, but quaere au ("or")?
[FN#479] Kushk.
[FN#480] The description of the famous upper hall with the
four-and- twenty windows is one of the most contused and
incoherent parts of the Nights and well-nigh defies the efforts
of the translator to define the exact nature of the building
described by the various and contradictory passages which refer
to it. The following is a literal rendering of the above passage:
"An upper chamber (keszr) and (or?) a kiosk (kushk, a word
explained by a modern Syrian dictionary as meaning '[a building]
like a balcony projecting from the level of the rest of the
house,' but by others as an isolated building or pavilion erected
on the top of a house, i.e. a keszr, in its classical meaning of
'upper chamber,' in which sense Lane indeed gives it as
synonymous with the Turkish koushk, variant kushk,) with
four-and-twenty estrades (liwan, a raised recess, generally a
square-shaped room, large or small, open on the side facing the
main saloon), all of it of emeralds and rubies and other jewels,
and one estrade its kiosk was not finished." Later on, when the
Sultan visits the enchanted palace for the first time, Alaeddin
"brought him to the high kiosk and he looked at the belvedere
(teyyareh, a square or round erection on the top of a house,
either open at the sides or pierced with windows, =our
architectural term 'lantern') and its casements (shebabik,, pl.
of shubbak, a window formed of grating or lattice-work) and their
lattices (she"ri for she"rir, pl. of sheriyyeh, a lattice), all
wroughten of emeralds and rubies and other than it of precious
jewels." The Sultan "goes round in the kiosk" and seeing "the
casement (shubbak), which Alaeddin had purposely left defective,
without completion," said to the Vizier, "Knowest thou the reason
(or cause) of the lack of completion of this casement and its
lattices?" (shearihi, or quaere, "[this] lattice," the copyist
having probably omitted by mistake the diacritical points over
the final ha). Then he asked Alaeddin, "What is the cause that
the lattice of yonder kiosk (kushk) is not complete?" The
defective part is soon after referred to, no less than four
times, as "the lattice of the kiosk" (sheriyyetu 'l kushk), thus
showing that, in the writer's mind, kushk, liwan and shubbak were
synonymous terms for the common Arab projecting square-sided
window, made of latticework, and I have therefore rendered the
three words, when they occur in this sense, by our English
"oriel," to whose modern meaning (a window that juts out, so as
to form a small apartment), they exactly correspond. Again, in
the episode of the Maugrabin's brother, the princess shows the
latter (disguised as Fatimeh) "the belvedere (teyyarrh) and the
kiosk (kushk) of jewels, the which [was] with (i.e. had) the
four-and-twenty portals" (mejouz, apparently a Syrian variant of
mejaz, lit. a place of passage, but by extension a porch, a
gallery, an opening, here (and here only) used by synecdoche for
the oriel itself), and the famous roe's egg is proposed to be
suspended from "the dome (cubbeh) of the upper chamber" (el keszr
el faucaniyy), thus showing that the latter was crowned with a
dome or cupola. It is difficult to extricate the author's exact
meaning from the above tangle of confused references; but, as far
as can be gathered. in the face of the carelessness with which
the text treats kushk as synonymous now with keszr or teyyareh
and now with liwan or shubbak, it would seem that what is
intended to be described is a lofty hall (or sorer), erected on
the roof of the palace, whether round or square we cannot tell,
but crowned with a dome or cupola and having four-and-twenty deep
projecting windows or oriels, the lattice or trellis-work of
which latter was formed (instead of the usual wood) of emeralds,
rubies and other jewels, strung, we may suppose, upon rods of
gold or other metal I have, at the risk of wearying my reader,
treated this point at some length, as well because it is an
important one as to show the almost insuperable difficulties that
beset the. conscientious translator at well-nigh every page of
such works as the "Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night."
[FN#481] Night DLXV.
[FN#482] The text has imar (an inhabited country), an evident
mistake for emair (buildings).
[FN#483] Night DLXVI.
[FN#484] Atsm sekhahu. Burton. "his dignity was enhanced."
[FN#485] Or "imitate" (yetemathelou bihi). Burton, "which are
such as are served to the kings."
[FN#486] Night DLXVII.
[FN#487] Wectu 'l asr, i.e. midway between noon and nightfall.
[FN#488] Lit. "was broken" (inkeseret).
[FN#489] Burton, "with the jerid," but I find no mention of this
in the text. The word used (le
all kinds of martial exercises; it may also mean simply,
"caracoling."
[FN#490] See ante, p. 167, note 1. {see FN#456}
[FN#491] Or "turns" (adwar).
[FN#492] El hemmam a sultaniyy el meshhour. Burton, "the royal
Hammam (known as the Sult ni)."
[N#493] Muhliyat. Burton, "sugared drinks."
[FN#494] Night DLXVIII.
[FN#495] Keszriha. Burton, "her bower in the upper story."
[FN#496] Lit. "changed the robes (khila) upon her." For the
ceremony of displaying (or unveiling) the bride, see my "Book of
the Thousand Nights and One Night," Vol. I. pp. 192 et seq., and
"Tales from the Arabic," Vol. III. pp. 189 et seq.
[FN#497] Meshghoul.
[FN#498] Keszr.
[FN#499] Szeraya, properly serayeh.
[FN#500] i.e. Alexander the Great; see my "Book of the Thousand
Nights and One Night," Vol. V. p. 6, note.
[FN#501] Night DLXIX.
[FN#502] Henahu.
[FN#503] Fetour, the slight meal eaten immediately on rising,
answering to the French "premier dejeuner," not the
"morning-meal" (gheda), eaten towards noon and answering to the
French "dejeuner ... la fourchette."
[FN#504] Gheda.
[FN#505] Tekerrum (inf. of V of kerem), lit. "being liberal to
any one." here an idiomatic form of assent expressing
condescension on the part of a superior. Such at least is the
explanation of the late Prof. Dozy; but I should myself incline
to read tukremu (second person sing. aorist passive of IV), i.e.
" Thou art accorded [that which thou seekest]."
[FN#506] Indhehela.
[FN#507] Or "upper hall, gallery." Lit. "kiosk." See ante,
p.l75, note 4. {see FN#480}
[FN#508] Teyyareh. See ante, l.c. The etymology of this word is
probably [caah] teyyareh, "a flying [saloon]."
[FN#509] Shebabik, pl. of shubbak; see ante, l.c.
[FN#510] Sheari, see ante, l.c.
[FN#511] Shubbak.
[FN#512] Night DLXX.
[FN#513] Lit. "kiosk" (kushk); see ante, p. 175, note 4.{see
FN#480}
[FN#514] Ma lehiket el muallimin (objective for nom. muallimoun,
as usual in this text) an.
[FN#515] Yebca lika dhikra. Burton, "So shall thy memory
endure."
[FN#516] Lit. "kiosk."
[FN#517] ? (teba
[FN#518] Or "melodious."
[FN#519] El kelb el hhezin.
[FN#520] i.e. "might not avail unto."
[FN#521] Muhlivat, as before; see ante. p. 183, note 2. {see
FN#493}
[FN#522] Szeraya.
[FN#523] Night DLXXI.
[FN#524] Sheriyyetu 'l kushk.
[FN#525] Lit. "the lattice of the kiosk which (i.e. the lattice)
is lacking or imperfect." The adjective (nakiszeh) is put in the
feminine, to agree with "lattice" (sheriyyeh), which is
femminine, kiosk (kushk) being masculine.
[FN#526] Kushk.
[FN#527] She"rihi.
[FN#528] Et tewashiyy, a term here used for the first time in
the present text, where we generally find the Turkish Aga in this
sense.
[FN#529] Night DLXXII.
[FN#530] Lit. "kiosk" (kushk).
[FN#531] Fi szerayyetika.
[FN#532] Szeraya.
[FN#533] Lit. "that I was not lacking in ableness to complete
it."
[FN#534] Kushk, here used in sense of "belvedere."
[FN#535] Or "upper chamber" (keszr).
[FN#536] Kushk. From this passage it would seem as if the
belvedere actually projected from the side of the upper story or
soler (keszr), instead of being built on the roof, lantern-wise,
or being (as would appear from earlier passages) identical with
the hall itself, but the whole description is as before remarked.
so full of incoherence and confusion of terms that it is
impossible to reconcile its inconsistencies.
[FN#537] Lit. "a brother resembling thee."
[FN#538] Lit. "he increased (or exceeded) in the salaries (or
allowances) of the poor and the indigent " (zada fi jewanicki 'l
fukera wa 'l mesakin). Jewamek is an Arabicized Persian word,
here signifying systematic or regular almsgivings.
[FN#539] Kull muddeh.
[FN#540] Labu 'l andab, lit. "arrow-play."
[FN#541] Night DLXXIII.
[FN#542] Szerayeh.
[FN#543] Keszr.
[FN#544] Burton adds, "and confections."
[FN#545] Lit. "he set them down the stablest or skilfullest
(mustehhkem) setting down."
[FN#546] Hherrem, i.e. arranged them, according to the rules of
the geomantic art.
[FN#547] Netsera jeyyidan fi. Burton, "He firmly established the
sequence of."
[FN#548] Technical names of the primary and secondary figures.
The following account of the geomantic process, as described by
Arabic writers de re magicf, is mainly derived from the
Mukeddimat or Prolegomena of Abdurrehman ibn Aboubekr Mohammed
(better known as Ibn Khaldoun) to his great work of universal
history. Those (says he) who seek to discover hidden things and
know the future have invented an art which they call tracing or
smiting the sand; to wit, they take paper or sand or flour and
trace thereon at hazard four rows of points, which operation,
three times repeated (i.e. four times performed), gives sixteen
rows. These points they eliminate two by two, all but the last
(if the number of the points of a row be odd) or the last two (if
it he even) of each row. by which means they obtain sixteen
points, single or double. These they divide into four figures,
each representing the residual points of four lines, set one
under another, and these four figures, which are called the
mothers or primaries, they place side by side in one line. From
these primaries they extract four fresh figures by confronting
each point with the corresponding point in the next figure, and
counting for each pair a single or double point, according to one
of two rules, i.e. (1) setting down a single point for each
single point being on the same line with another point, whether
single or double, and a double point for. each pair of double
points in line with each other, or (2) reckoning a double point
for each pair of like points (single or double), corresponding
one with another on the same line' and a single point for each,
unlike pair. These new figures (as well as those that follow) are
called the daughters or secondaries and are placed beside the
primaries, by confrontation with which (i,e, 5 with 1, 6 with 2,
7 with 3 and " with 4) four fresh figures are obtained after the
same fashion and placed side by side below the first eight. From
this second row a thirteenth and fourteenth figure are obtained
in the same way (confronting 9 with lo and 1 l with 12)) and
placed beneath them, as a third row. The two new figures,
confronted with each other, in like manner, furnish a fifteenth
figure, which, being confronted with the first of the primaries,
gives a sixteenth and last figure, completing the series. Then
(says our author), the geomant proceeds to examine the sixteen
figures thus obtained (each of which has its name and its
mansion, corresponding to one of the twelve signs of the zodiac
or the four cardinal points, as well as its signification, good
or bad, and indicates also, in a special way, a certain part of
the elemental world) and to note each figure according to its
presage of weal or ill; and so, with the aid of an astrological
table giving the explanations of the various signs and
combinations, according to the nature of the figure, its aspect,
influence and temperament (astrologically considered) and the
natural object it indicates, a judgment is formed upon the
question for a solution of which the operation was undertaken. I
may add that the board or table of sand (tekht reml), so
frequently mentioned in the Nights, is a shallow box filled with
fine sand, carefully levelled, on which the points of the
geomantic operation are made with a style of wood or metal. (The
name tekht reml is however now commonly applied to a mere board
or tablet of wood on which the necessary dots are made with ink
or chalk. ) The following scheme of a geomantic operation will
show the application of the above rules. Supposing the first
haphazard dotting to produce these sixteen rows of points,
1 ......... (9) 5 ..... (6) 9 ......... (9) 13 ...... (6)
2 ......... (9) 6 .... (4) 10 ........ (8) 14 .... (4)
3 ........ (8) 7 ....... (7) 11 ......... (9) 15 ........ (8)
4 ....... (7) 8 ..... (5) 12 ....... (7) 16 ..... (5)
By the process of elimination we get the following four primaries:
Fig. 1 x Fig. 2 x x Fig. 3 x Fig. 4 x x
x x x x x x x
x x x x x x
x x x x
The process of confrontation of the corresponding points of these
four figures (according to rule 2) gives the following four
secondaries:
Fig. 5 x Fig. 6 x Fig. 7 x Fig. 8 x
x x x x x x
x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x
By confrontation of the points of each secondary with those of
its corresponding primary, the following four fresh figures are
obtained:
Fig. 9 x x Fig. 10 x Fig. 11 x x Fig. 12 x
x x x x x x x
x x x x x x
x x x x
Fig. 9, confronted with Fig. 10 gives a thirteenth figure x
x x
x x
x x
And Fig. 11 confronted with Fig. 12, a fourteenth x
x
x x
x x
Figures 13 and 14, similarly treated, yield a fifteenth figure
x x
x
x x
x x
Which, in its turn, confronted with Fig. 1, gives a sixteenth
and last figure, x
x x
x x
x
Completing the scheme, which shows the result of the operation as
follows:
(1) x (2) x x (3) x (4) x x (5) x (6) x (7) x (8) x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x
(9) x x (10) x (11) x x (12) x
x x x x x x x
x x x x x x
x x x x
(13) x (14) x
x x x
x x x x
x x x x
(15) x x
x
x x
x x
(16) x
x x
x x
x
[FN#549] Burton adds here, "in order that other than I may carry
it off."
[FN#550] Min el meloum, lit. "[it is] of the known (i.e. that
which is known)." Burton, "who knoweth an he wot, etc."
[FN#551] Night DLXXIV.
[FN#552] Sic, meaning of course that he had discovered its
properties and availed himself thereof.
[FN#553] Medinetu 's seltaneh, i e. the seat of government or
capital.
[FN#554] Lit. "donned " (lebesa).
[FN#555] Here Galland says, " Il entra dans le lien le plus
fameux et le plus frequente par les personnel de grande
distinction, ou l'on s'assembloit pour boire d'une certaine
boisson chance qui luy etoit connue des son premier voyage. Il
n'y e-t pas plust"t pris place qu'on lay versa de cette boisson
dans une tasse et qu'on la luy presenta. En la prenant, comme il
prestoit l'oreille ... droite et ... gauche, il entendit qu'on
s'entretenoit du palais d'Aladdin." The Chavis MS. says, "He
entered a coffee-house (kehweh, Syrian for kehawi), and there
used to go in thereto all the notables of the city, and he heard
a company, all of them engaged in (ammalin bi, a very vulgar
expression) talking of the Amir Alaeddin's palace, etc." This (or
a similar text) is evidently the original of Galland's
translation of this episode and it is probable, therefore, that
the French translator inserted the mention "of a certain warm
drink"(tea), out of that mistaken desire for local colouring at
all costs which has led so many French authors (especially those
of our own immediate day) astray. The circumstance was apparently
evolved (alla tedesca) from his inner consciousness, as, although
China is a favourite location with the authors of the Nights, we
find no single mention of or allusion to tea in the rest of the
work.
[FN#556] Lit. "I will make him lose."
[FN#557] Night DLXXV.
[FN#558] Lit. "Instruments of astronomy or astrology" (tenjim);
but tenjim is also used in the sense of geomancy, in which
operation, as before explained, astrology plays an important
part, and the context shows that the word is here intended to
bear this meaning. Again, the implements of a geomancer of the
higher order would include certain astrological instruments, such
as an astrolabe, star-table, etc., necessary, as I have before
explained, for the elucidation of the scheme obtained by the
sand-smiting proper.
[FN#559] He had apparently learned (though the Arabic author
omits, with characteristic carelessness, to tell us so) that
Alaeddin was absent a. hunting.
[FN#560] Akemm, vulg. for kemm, a quantity.
[FN#561] Minareh, lit. "alight-stand," i.e. either a lamp-stand
or a candlestick.
[FN#562] Bi-ziyadeh, which generally means "in excess, to boot,"
but is here used in the sense of "in abundance."
[FN#563] Aalem.
[FN#564] After the wont of "the natural enemy of mankind' in all
ages.
[FN#565] Keszr.
[FN#566] Night DLXXVI.
[FN#567] Aghatu 't tuwashiyeh.
[FN#568] Ubb.
[FN#569] Lit. "who" (men), but this is probably a mistake for ma
(that which).
[FN#570] Ifrikiyeh.
[FN#571] Night DLXXVII.
[FN#572] Ummar. This may, however, be a mistake (as before, see
ante p. 177, note 2 {see FN#482}) for ema
[FN#573] Lit. "O company" (ya jema"t), a polite formula of
address, equivalent to our "Gentlemen."
[FN#574] Night DLXXVIII.
[FN#575] Lit. "the affair (or commandment, amr) is going to be
sealed upon us."
[FN#576] Sic (dara haulahu thelatheta dauratin); but qu're
should it not rather be, "gave three sweeps or whirls with his
sword round his head"? See my "Book of the Thousand Nights and
One Night," Vol. VI. p. 355.
[FN#577] Lit. "hath been bountiful unto me ;" [the matter of] my
life."
[FN#578] Night DLXXIX.
[FN#579] Previous to prayer.
[FN#580] Lit. made easy to (yessera li).
[FN#581] The name of the province is here applied to an
imaginary city.
[FN#582] Night DLXXX.
[FN#583] Lit. "who hath a head with the head-seller or dealer in
heads, etc." The word here employed (rewwas) commonly signifies
"a man who cooks and sells sheepsheads, oxheads, etc." M.
Zotenberg makes the following note on this passage in. his
edition of Alaeddin; "Rewwas (for raa"s) signifies not only 'he
who sells cooked heads,' but also 'he who makes a business of
cooking heads.' Consequently whoso entrusteth a head to the
rewwas is preoccupied and sleeps not." M. Zotenberg's note is
unintelligible, in consequence of his having neglected to explain
that the passage in question is a common Egyptian proverb,
meaning (says Burckhardt), "the person whose fortune is entrusted
to the hands of strangers cannot enjoy repose." "The poor," adds
he, "at Cairo buy sheepsheads and for a trifle have them boiled
in the bazaar by persons who are not only cooks, but sellers of
sheepsheads, and are therefore called raa"s, or in the Egyptian
dialect rewwas." The proverb is in the present case evidently
meant as a play upon the literal meaning ("headsman," hence by
implication "executioner") of the word rewwas, although I cannot
find an instance of the word being employed in this sense. It is,
however, abundantly evident from the general context that this is
the author's intention in the passage in question, Alaeddin's
head being metaphorically in the hands of (or pledged to) the
headsman, inasmuch as he had engaged to return and suffer
decapitation in case he should not succeed in recovering the
princess within forty days.
[FN#584] I suppose the verb which I render "caused [sleep] get
the mastery," to be ghelleba, II of gheleba, as the only way of
making sense of this passage, though this reading involves some
irregularity from a grammatical point of view. This, however, is
no novelty in the present text. Burton, "But whoso weareth head
hard by the headsman may not sleep o'nights save whenas slumber
prevail over him."
[FN#585] Zeczekeh, a word which exactly renders the sparrow's
dawn-cheep.
[FN#586] Lit. "From (as Fr. des) the deep or remote dawn" (min
el fejri 'l ghemic, Syr. for emic), cf. Matthew Arnold's
"Resignation ;" "The cockoo, loud on some high lawn, Is answered
from the depth of dawn.."
[FN#587] The terminal formula of the dawn-prayer.
[FN#588] i.e. the magician
[FN#589] Lit. "bride'' (arouseh). She is always, to the end of
the tale, spoken of as Alaeddin's " bride," never as his "wife,"
whilst he, in like manner, is called her "bridegroom" (arous).
[FN#590] This, at first sight, appears a contradiction, as we
are distinctly told (see ante, p. 207) that the princess was
unaware of the properties of the lamp; but the sequel shows that
she had learned them, in the mean time. from the magician
himself. See post.
[FN#591] Ifrikiyeh.
[FN#592] Night DLXXXI.
[FN#593] Lit. "a spit (ric) of sweet." We may also read reic or
reyyic, "the first part of anything" (especially "the first drop
of rain").
[FN#594] Lit. "having changed the clothes of this my dress."
[FN#595] i.e. taking effect the moment of its administration.
[FN#596] Night DLXXXII.
[FN#597] Because white wine would have been visibly troubled by
the drug.
[FN#598] Ishebi bi-surrihi (lit. "drink by his pleasure or
gladness;" surr or surour). Burton, "Pledge him to his secret in
a significant draught."
[FN#599] Kasein thelatheh, lit. two cups three (unusual way of
putting it).
[FN#600] Reshoush (for reshash), "anything sprinkled," i.e.
powder or drops. I translate "powder," as I find no mention in
the Nights of the use of this narcotic in a liquid form.
[FN#601] Takkeltu, lit. "I have conceived in my mind." Sir R.
Burton is apparently inclined to read tallectu by transposition,
as he translates, "I depend upon thy say."
[FN#602] Night DLXXXIII.
[FN#603] Lit. "I will not delay upon thee."
[FN#604] Lit. "Thou hast burdened or incommoded thyself"
(kellefta khatiraka), see previous note, p. 120, {see FN#340} on
this idiomatic expression.
[FN#605] Ana atebtu mizajaka, lit. "I have wearied thy
temperament."
[FN#606] Lit. "pleasure" (surr), see ante, p. 223, note 2. {see
FN#598}
[FN#607] Or "playing the boon-companion."
[FN#608] Syn. "equivocal, a double entente."
[FN#609] Lit. "proceeded from her in truth."
[FN#610] Tih, lit. pride, haughtiness, but, by analogy,
"coquetry."
[FN#611] Lit. "Gaiety, ecstasy or intoxication (keif) whirled
(dara) in his head."
[FN#612] Lit. "not itself exactly with him" (ma hiya bi-eimhi
indahu.)
[FN#613] Lit. "turned over" (kelebet, a clerical error for
kebbelel).
[FN#614] Tekeddemet lihi wa basethu fi kheddihi. Burton, "again
she kissed its lip and offered it to him."
[FN#615] Terakedsou, lit. raced with one another.
[FN#616] Babu 'sz szeray.
[FN#617] Night DLXXXIV.
[FN#618] Keszr.
[FN#619] Lit. "in" (fi); but fi is evidently used here in
mistake for bi, the two prepositions being practically
interchangeable in modern Arabic of the style of our present
text.
[FN#620] Burton, "his costliest raiment."
[FN#621] Or chamber (keszr).
[FN#622] Night DLXXXV.
[FN#623] Sic (raihh), a common vulgarism in this text.
[FN#624] Night DLXXXVI.
[FN#625] Lit. "also" (eidsan).
[FN#626] i.e. the two were as like as two halves of a bean.
[FN#627] i.e. the world.
[FN#628] Or death (Saturn), the eighth division of the common
astrological figure.
[FN#629] Menkeleh. See my Book of the Thousand Nights and One
Night, Vol. I. p. 129, note 1. {see Vol. 1 of Payne's Book of the
Thousand Nights and One Night, FN#41}
[FN#630] Dsameh.
[FN#631] Liha keramat kethireh. Kerameh (sing. of keramat),
properly a favour or mark of grace, a supernatural gift bestowed
by God upon His pious servants, by virtue whereof they perform
miracles, which latter are also by derivation called keramat. Cf.
Acts viii. 28: "Thou hast thought that the gift of God," i.e. the
power of performing miracles, "may be purchased with money."
[FN#632] Night DLXXXVII.
[FN#633] Weliyeh.
[FN#634] Fe-ain (where), probably a mistranscription for fe-men
(who).
[FN#635] Sitti, fem. of Sidi, "my lord," the common title of a
saint among modern Arabic-speaking peoples.
[FN#635] Meskin, lit. "poor wretch," but used as our "good man"
and the French "bonhomme," in a sense of somewhat contemptuous
familiarity.
[FN#636] Lit. "wished the man increase of his good (istekthera
bi-kheirihi, for which idiomatic expression= "he thanked him,"
see ante, p. 135, note 3 {see FN#383}), and thanked his
excellence" (favour or kindness, fedsl).
[FN#637] Sherabati. Burton, "vintner."
[FN#638] Keniz, a word which I cannot find in any dictionary,
but which appears to be the past participle (in the secondary
form for mecnouz, as ketil, slain, for mertoul,) of keneza, a
lost verb of which only the fourth form acneza, he drank from a
cup (kinz), survives, and to mean "something drunk from a cup."
Burton, "wine."
[FN#639] Ca"da. Burton translates "he mounted," apparently
reading szfida for ca"da.
[FN#640] Lit. "belly " (betn); but that "breast" is meant is
shown by the next line, which describes Fatimeh as finding the
enchanter seated on her heart.
[FN#641] Lit. "heart" (kelb).
[FN#642] The text adds here, "she went not and came not" (la
rahet wa la jaet). Burton translates, "as though she had never
gone or come" and adds, in a note, by way of gloss, "i.e. as she
was in her own home;" but I confess that his explanation seems to
me as obscure as the text.
[FN#643] Night DLXXXVIll.
[FN#644] Keszr.
[FN#645] The first or "opening" chapter of the Koran.
[FN#646] En nas bi 'l ghewali kethir an, lit. "The folk in
[things] precious (or dear or high-priced, ghewali, pl. of
ghalin, also of ghaliyeh, a kind of perfume) are abundant anent."
This is a hopelessly obscure passage, and I can only guess at its
meaning. Bi 'l ghewali may be a clerical error for bi 'l ghalibi,
"for the most part, in general," in which case we may read, "Folk
in general abound [in talk] anent her virtues;" or bi 'l ghewali
may perhaps be used in the sense (of which use, however, I know
no instance) of " in excessive estimation,' in which latter case
the passage might be rendered, "Folk abound in setting a high
value on (or extolling) her virtues." Burton boldly amplifies,
"the folk recount her manifestations in many cases of
difficulty."
[FN#647] Lit. "That he might complete his deceit the more." The
meaning is that he dissembled his satisfaction at the princess's
proposal and made a show of refusal, so he might hoodwink her the
more effectually.
[FN#648] Keszr.
[FN#649] Night DLXXXIX.
[FN#650] Teyyareh.
[FN#651] Lit. "openings for passage" (mejous). See ante, p. 176,
note. {see FN#480}
[FN#652] Keszr.
[FN#653] Lit. "an extreme" (ghayeh).
[FN#654] Szeraya.
[FN#655] Szeraya.
[FN#656] i.e. "O thou that art dear to me as mine eyes."
[FN#657] Keszr.
[FN#658] Night DLXC.
[FN#659] Keszr.
[FN#660] i.e. its apparent from its real import.
[FN#661] Mustekim.
[FN#662] Minka. Burton, "of me."
[FN#663] Lit. "for that secret that she healed." Burton, "for
the art and mystery of healing."
[FN#664] Min wejaihi.
[FN#665] Szeraya.
[FN#666] Terehhhheba bihi.
[FN#667] Lit. "believed not in."
[FN#668] Night DLXCI.
[FN#669] Ghereza (i.q.. gheresa).
[FN#670] Lit. "Out of regard to or respect for thine eyes."
(Keramet[an] li-uyouniki), i.e. "Thanks to the favourable
influence of thine eyes." When "the eye" is spoken of without
qualification, the "evil eye" is commonly meant; here, however,
it is evident that the reverse is intended.
[FN#671] Lit. "I had no news or information (ma indi kkeber) [of
the matter]."
[FN#672] Lit. "neglectful of the love of thee." This is a
difficult passage to translate, owing to its elliptical form; but
the meaning is that the princess wished to assure Alaeddin that
what had happened was not due to any slackening in the warmth of
her affection for him.
End of Alaeddin and the Enchanted Lamp
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