Supplemental Nights, Volume 5
by
Richard F. Burton
Part 9 out of 9
[FN#390] i.e. My wife. In addition to notes in vols. i. 165, and
iv. 9, 126, I would observe that "Har¡m" (women) is the broken
plur. of "Hurmah;" from Haram, the honour of the house, forbidden
to all save her spouse. But it is also an infinitive whose plur.
is Harim t=the women of a family; and in places it is still used
for the women's apartment, the gynaeceum. The latter by way of
distinction I have mostly denoted by the good old English
corruption "Harem."
[FN#391] In text "Misla 'l-kh r£f" (for Khar£f) a common phrase
for an "innocent," a half idiot, so our poets sing of "silly
(harmless, Germ. Selig) sheep."
[FN#392] In text this ends the tale.
[FN#393] In text "Wa l huwa 'ashamn min-ka talkash 'al…
Harimi-n ." "'Ashama," lit.=he greeded for; and "Lakasha"=he
conversed with. [There is no need to change the "talkas" of the
text into "talkash." "Lakasa" is one of the words called "Zidd,"
i.e. with opposite meanings: it can signify "to incline
passionately towards," or "to loath with abhorrence." As the noun
"Laks" means "itch" the sentence might perhaps be translated:
"that thou hadst an itching after our Har¡m." What would lead me
to prefer the reading of the MS. is that the verb is construed
with the preposition "'al…"=upon, towards, for, while "lakash,"
to converse, is followed by "ma'"=with.--ST.]
[FN#394] Such was the bounden duty of a good neighbour.
[FN#395] He does not insist upon his dancing because he looks
upon the offence as serious, but he makes him tell his tale--for
the sake of the reader.
[FN#396] "S hib al-Hay t:" this may also=a physiognomist, which,
however, is probably not meant here.
[FN#397] In text "Har rah"=heat, but here derived from
"Hurr"=freeborn, noble.
[FN#398] In text "Azay m taf£t-n¡?"
[FN#399] In the Arab. "Rajul Khuzar¡"=a green-meat man. [The
reading "Khuzar¡" belongs to Lane, M.E. ii. 16, and to Bocthor.
In Schiaparelli's Vocabulista and the Muh¡t the form "Khuzr¡" is
also given with the same meaning.--ST.]
[FN#400] [In text "Far rij¡," as if the pl. of "Farr£j"=chicken
were "Far rij" instead of "Far r¡j." In modern Egyptian these
nouns of relation from irregular plurals to designate
tradespeople not only drop the vowel of the penultimate but
furthermore, shorten that of the preceding syllable, so that
"Far rij¡" becomes "Fararj¡." Thus "San dik¡," a maker of boxes,
becomes "Sanadk¡," and "Dakh khin¡, a seller of tobacco brands,"
"Dakhakhn¡." See Spitta Bey's Grammar, p. 118.--ST.]
[FN#401] In the Arab. "Al-M j£r," for "Maaj£r"=a vessel, an
utensil.
[FN#402] In text "shaklaba" here="shakala"=he weighed out (money,
whence the Heb. Shekel), he had to do with a woman.
[FN#403] [The trade of the man is not mentioned here, p. 22 of
the 5th vol. of the MS., probably through negligence of the
copyist, but it only occurs as far lower down as p. 25.--ST.]
[FN#404] A certain reviewer proposes "stained her eyes with
Kohl," showing that he had never seen the Kohl-powder used by
Asiatics.
[FN#405] ["Bi-M al-fas¡kh 'al… Akr s al-Jullah." "M
al-Fas¡kh"=water of salt-fish, I would translate by "dirty brine"
and "Akr s al-Jullah" by "dung-cakes," meaning the tale should be
written with a filthy fluid for ink upon a filthy solid for
paper, more expressive than elegant.--ST.]
[FN#406] "Al-Jan¡n ti"; or, as the Egyptians would pronounce the
word, "Al-Gan¡n t¡". [Other Egyptian names for gardener are
"Jan in¡," pronounced "Gan in¡," "Bust nj¡" pronounced
"Bustangi," with a Turkish termination to a Persian noun, and
"Bakhshaw ng¡," for Baghchaw nj¡," where the same termination is
pleonastically added to a Persian word, which in Persian and
Turkish already means "gardener."--ST.]
[FN#407] A Koranic quotation from "Joseph," chap. xii. 28: Sale
has "for verily your cunning is great," said by Potiphar to his
wife.
[FN#408] I have inserted this sentence, the tale being absolutely
without termination. So in the Mediaeval Lat. translations the
MSS. often omit "explicit capitulum (primum). Sequitur capitulum
secundum," this explicit being a sine qua non.
[FN#409] In text "Fatairi" = a maker of "Fatirah" = pancake, or
rather a kind of pastry rolled very thin, folded over like a
napkin, saturated with butter and eaten with sugar or honey
poured over it.
[FN#410] In Arab. "Nayizati," afterwards "Nuwayzati," and lastly
"Rayhani" (p. 34)=a man who vends sweet and savoury herbs. We
have neither the craft nor the article, so I have rendered him by
"Herbalist."
[FN#411] In text a "Mihtar"=a prince, a sweeper, a scavenger, the
Pers. "Mihtar," still used in Hindostani. [In Quatremere's
Histoire des Sultans Mamlouks "Mihtar" occurs also in the sense
of superintendent, of head-equerry, and of chief of a military
band. See Dozy Supp. s. v.--ST.]
[FN#412] "Ant' aysh" for "man," decidedly not complimentary,
"What (thing) art thou?"
[FN#413] Arab. "Kabsh." Amongst the wilder tubes of the East
ram's mutton is preferred because it gives the teeth more to do:
on the same principle an old cock is the choicest guest-gift in
the way of poultry.
[FN#414] "Naubah," lit.=a period, keeping guard, and here a band
of pipes and kettledrums playing before the doors of a great man
at certain periods.
[FN#415] In text "Al-Mubtali."
[FN#416] Arab. "Hawwalin"; the passage is apparently corrupt.
["Hawalin" is clerical error for either "hawala"=all around, or
"Hawali" = surroundings, surrounding parts, and "Audan" is pl. of
the popular "Widn" or "Wudn" for the literary "Uzn," ear.--ST.]
[FN#417] The exclamation would be uttered by the scribe or by
Shahrazad. I need hardly remind the reader that "Khizr" is the
Green Prophet and here the Prophet of greens.
[FN#418] For "Israfil"=Raphael, the Archangel who will blow the
last trump, see vol. ii. 287.
[FN#419] Gen. meaning "Look sharp," here syn. with "Allah!
Allah!"=I conjure thee by God. Vol. i. 346.
[FN#420] A Persian would say, "I am a Irani but Wallahi indeed I
am not lying."
[FN#421] [This sentence of wholesale extermination passed upon
womankind, reminds me of the Persian lines which I find quoted in
'Abdu 'l-Jalil's History of the Barmecides:
Agar nek budi Zan u Ray-i-Zan
Zan-ra Ma-zan Nam budi, na Zan,
and which I would render Anglice:
If good there were in Woman and her way
Her name would signify "Slay not," not "Slay."
"Zan" as noun=woman; as imp. of "zadan"=strike, kill, whose
negative is "mazan."--ST.]
[FN#422] In the text the Shaykh, to whom "Aman" was promised, is
also gelded, probably by the neglect of the scribe.
[FN#423] This tale is a variant of "The First Constable's
History:" Suppl. Nights, vol. ii. 3-11.
[FN#424] In text "Al-Bawwabah"=a place where door-keepers meet, a
police-station; in modern tongue "Karakol," for
"Karaghol-khanah"=guard-house.
[FN#425] In text 'Kazi al-'Askar"=the great legal authority of a
country: vol. vi. 131.
[FN#426] Anglo-Indice "Mucuddum"=overseer, etc., vol. iv. 42.
[FN#427] i.e. is not beyond our reach.
[FN#428] In text "Ya Sultan-am" with the Persian or Turkish
suffixed possessional pronoun.
[FN#429] In text "mal," for which see vol. vi. 267. Amongst the
Badawin it is also applied to hidden treasure.
[FN#430] I carefully avoid the obnoxious term "intoxication"
which properly means "poisoning," and should be left to those
amiable enthusiasts the "Teetotallers."
[FN#431] A sign of foul play; the body not having been shrouded
and formally buried.
[FN#432] For the title, the office and the date see vol. ix. 289.
[FN#433] The names are=Martha and Mary.
[FN#434] MS. vi. 57-77, not translated by Scott, who entitles it
(vi. 461) "Mhassun, the Liberal, and Mouseh, the treacherous
Friend." It is a variant of "The Envier and the Envied:" vol. i.
123.
[FN#435] The Arab. "Jarrah": vol. viii. 177.
[FN#436] i.e. One who does good, a benefactor.
[FN#437] In the text "M£s… wa M£zi," the latter word==vexatious,
troublesome. [I notice that in the MS. the name is distinctly and
I believe purposely spelt with Hamzah above the W w and Kasrah
beneath the S¡n, reading "Muus¡." It is, therefore, a travesty of
the name M£s…, and the exact counterpart of "Muhsin", being the
active participle of "as a", 4th form of "s a,"==he did evil, he
injured, and nearly equivalent with the following "Muuz¡." The
two names may perhaps be rendered: Muhsin, the Beneficent, and
Muus¡, the Malignant, the Malefactor.--ST.]
[FN#438] In text "Fat¡r" for "Fat¡rah"==a pancake, before
described.
[FN#439] In text "Bi-kh tiri-k"==Thy will be done; the whole
dialogue is in pure Fellah speech.
[FN#440] Supposed to be American, but, despite Bartlett, really
old English from Lancashire, the land which has supplied many of
the so-called "American" neologisms. A gouge is a hollow chisel,
a scoop; and to gouge is to poke out the eye: this is done by
thrusting the fingers into the side-hair thus acting as a base
and by prising out the ball with the thumbnail which is purposely
grown long.
[FN#441] [In the text: "Fa tarak-hu Muus¡ am'… d ir yaltash f¡
'l-Tar¡k." Latash has the meaning of beating, tapping; I
therefore think the passage means: "hereupon Muus¡ left him,
blind as he was, tramping and groping his way" (feeling it with
his hands or stick). -ST.]
[FN#442] In text "Biiru mily nah Moyah." As a rule the Fellah of
Egypt says "Mayyeh," the Cairene "Mayya," and the foreigner
"Moyah": the old Syrian is "May ," the mod. "Moy," and the
classical dim. of "M " is "Muwayy," also written"Muwayy" and
"Muwayhah."
[FN#443] "Sabt"==Sabbath, Saturday: vol. ii. 305, and passim.
[FN#444] i.e. "By Allah," meaning "Be quick!"
[FN#445] For this well-nigh the sole equivalent amongst the
Moslems of our "thank you," see Vol. iv. 6. and v. 171.
[FN#446] In Arab. "Ana 'l-Tab¡b, al-Mud wi." In pop. parlance,
the former is the scientific practitioner and the latter
represents the man of the people who deals in simples, etc.
[FN#447] In text "R kiba-h ," the technical term for demoniac
insiliation or possession: the idea survives in our "succubi" and
"incubi." I look upon these visions often as the effects of
pollutio nocturne. A modest woman for instance dreams of being
possessed by some man other than her husband; she loves the
latter and is faithful to him, and consequently she must explain
the phenomena superstitiously and recur to diabolical agency. Of
course it is the same with men, only they are at less trouble to
excuse themselves.
[FN#448] The construction here, MS. p. 67, is very confused. [The
speech of Muhsin seems to be elliptical. In Ar. it runs: "Li-ann¡
iz , lam nukhullis-ha (or nukhlis-h , 2nd or 4th form) taktuln¡,
wa an iz lam tattafik ma'¡ ann¡ iz khallastu-h tu't¡-h
alayya" --which I believe to mean: "for if I do not deliver her,
thou wilt kill me; so I (say) unless thou stipulate with me that
when I have delivered her thou wilt give her to me in marriage--"
supply: "well then I wash my hand of the whole business." The
Shaykh acts on the tit for tat principle in a style worthy of the
"honest broker" himself.--ST.]
[FN#449] In text "Yaum Sabt" again.
[FN#450] As has been said (vol. ii. 112) this is a sign of
agitation. The tale has extended to remote Guernsey. A sorcier
named Hilier Mouton discovers by his art that the King's daughter
who had long and beautiful tresses was dying because she had
swallowed a hair which had twined round her praecordia. The cure
was to cut a small square of bacon from just over the heart, and
tie it to a silken thread which the Princess must swallow, when
the hair would stick to it and come away with a jerk. See (p. 29)
"Folk-lore of Guernsey and Sark," by Louise Lane-Clarke, printed
by E. Le Lievre, Guernsey, 1880; and I have to thank for it a
kind correspondent, Mr. A. Buchanan Brown, of La Couture, p. 53,
who informs us why the Guernsey lily is scentless, emblem of the
maiden who sent it from fairy-land.
[FN#451] The text says only, "O my father, gift Shaykh Mohsin."
[FN#452] Her especial "shame" would be her head and face: vol.
vi. 30, 118.
[FN#453] In northern Africa the "D r al-Ziy fah" was a kind of
caravanserai in which travellers were lodged at government
expense. Ibn Khald£n (Fr. Transl. i. 407).
[FN#454 In most of these tales the well is filled in over the
intruding "villain" of the piece. Ibn Khaldun (ii. 575) relates a
"veritable history" of angels choking up a well; and in Mr.
Doughty (ii. 190) a Pasha-governor of Jiddah does the same to a
Jinni-possessed pit.
[FN#455] This tale is of a kind not unfrequent amongst Moslems,
exalting the character of the wife, whilst the mistress is a mere
shadow.
[FN#456] Here written "Jalab¡" (whence Scott's "Julbee," p. 461)
and afterwards (p. 77, etc.) "Shalab¡": it has already been
noticed in vol. i. 22 and elsewhere.
[FN#457] In text "Baltah" for Turk. "B ltah"==an axe, a hatchet.
Hence "Baltah-ji" a pioneer, one of the old divisions of the
Osmanli troops which survives as a family name amongst the
Levantines and semi-European Perotes of Constantinople.
[FN#458] Here the public gaol is in the Head Policeman's house.
So in modern times it is part of the Wali or Governor's palace
and is included in the Maroccan "Kasbah" or fortalice.
[FN#459] In text "Naakhaz bi-lissati-him;" "Luss" is after a
fashion {Greek}; but the Greek word included piracy which was
honourable, whenas the Arab. term is mostly applied to larcenists
and similar blackguards. [I would read the word in the text
"Balsata-hum," until I have received their "ransom."--ST.]
[FN#460] In the text "Tajr¡s" which I have rendered by a
circumlocution. [For the exact meaning of "Tajr¡s," see Dozy,
Suppl.s.v. "jarras," where an interesting passage from "Mas'£d¡"
is quoted.--ST.]
[FN#461] In Moslem lands prisoners are still expected to feed
themselves, as was the case in England a century ago and is still
to be seen not only in Al-Islam, Egypt and Syria, but even in
Madeira and at Goa.
[FN#462] In text "Hud Sirru-hu," i.e. his secret sin was guided
(by Allah) to the safety of concealment. [A simpler explanation
of this passage would perhaps be: "wa had Sirru-hu,"== and his
mind was at rest.--ST.]
[FN#463] Arab. "Aud j" (plur. of "Wadaj") a word which applies
indiscriminately to the carotid arteries and jugular veins. The
latter, especially the external pair, carry blood from the face
and are subject abnormally to the will: the late lamented Mr.
Charley Peace, who murdered and "burgled" once too often, could
darken his complexion and even change it by arresting jugular
circulation. The much-read Mr. F. Marion Crawford (Saracinesca,
chapt. xii.) makes his hero pass a foil through his adversary's
throat, "without touching the jugular artery (which does not
exist)or the spine." But what about larynx and pharynx? It is to
be regretted that realistic writers do not cultivate a little
more personal experience. No Englishman says "in guard" for "on
guard." "Colpo del Tancredi" is not=="Tancred's lunge" but "the
thrust of the (master) Tancredi:" it is quite permissible and to
say that it loses half its dangers against a left-handed man is
to state what cannot be the fact as long as the heart is more
easily reached from the left than from the right flank.
[FN#464] Lit. "Then faring forth and sitting in his own place." I
have modified the too succinct text which simply means that he
was anxious and agitated.
[FN#465] After this in the text we have only, "End of the
Adventure of the Kazi's Daughter. It is related among the many
wiles of women that there was a Fellah-man, etc." I have supplied
the missing link.
[FN#466] On the margin of the W. M. MS. (vi. 92) J. Scott has
written: "This story bears a faint resemblance to one in the
Bahardanush." He alludes to the tale I have already quoted. I
would draw attention to "The Fellah and his Wicked Wife," as it
is a characteristic Fellah-story showing what takes place too
often in the villages of Modern Egypt which the superficial
traveller looks upon as the homes of peace and quiet. The text is
somewhat difficult for technicalities and two of the pages are
written with a badly nibbed reed-pen which draws the lines
double.
[FN#467] The "Faddan" (here miswritten "Faddad") = a plough, a
yoke of oxen, a "carucate," which two oxen can work in a single
season. It is also the common land-measure of Egypt and Syria
reduced from acre 1.1 to less than one acre. It is divided into
twenty-four Kirats (carats) and consists or consisted of 333
Kasabah (rods), each of these being 22-24 Kabzahs (fists with the
thumb erect about = 6 1/2 inches). In old Algiers the Faddan was
called "Zuijah" (= a pair, i.e. of oxen) according to Ibn Khaldun
i. 404.
[FN#468] In text "Masbubah."
[FN#469] Arab. "Dashish," which the Dicts. make=wheat-broth to be
sipped. ["Dashish" is a popular corruption of the classical
"Jashish" = coarsely ground wheat (sometimes beans), also called
"Sawik," and "Dashishah" is the broth made of it.-ST.]
[FN#470] In text "Ahmar" = red, ruddy-brown, dark brown.
[FN#471] In text "Kas'at (=a wooden platter, bowl) afrukah." [The
"Mafrukah," an improvement upon the Fatirah, is a favourite dish
with the Badawi, of which Dozy quotes lengthy descriptions from
Vansleb and Thevenot. The latter is particularly graphical, and
after enumerating all the ingredients says finally: "ils en font
une grosse pate dont ils prennent de gros morceaux.--ST.]
[FN#472] The Fellah will use in fighting anything in preference
to his fists and a stone tied up in a kerchief or a rag makes no
mean weapon for head-breaking.
[FN#473] The cries of an itinerant pedlar hawking about woman's
wares. See Lane (M. E.) chapt. xiv. "Flfl'a" (a scribal error?)
may be "Filfil"=pepper or palm-fibre. "Tutty," in low- Lat.
"Tutia," probably from the Pers. "Tutiyah," is protoxide of zinc,
found native in Iranian lands, and much used as an eye-wash.
[FN#474] In text "Samm Sa'ah."
[FN#475] "Laban halib," a trivial form="sweet milk;" "Laban"
being the popular word for milk artificially soured. See vols.
vi. 201; vii. 360.
[FN#476] In text "Nisf ra'as Sukkar Misri." "Sukkar" (from Pers.
"Shakkar," whence the Lat. Saccharum) is the generic term, and
Egypt preserved the fashion of making loaf-sugar (Raas Sukkar)
from ancient times. "Misri" here=local name, but in India it is
applied exclusively to sugar-candy, which with Gur (Molasses) was
the only form used throughout the country some 40 years ago.
Strict Moslems avoid Europe-made white sugar because they are
told that it is refined with bullock's blood, and is therefore
unlawful to Jews and the True Believers.
[FN#477] Lit. "that the sugar was poison."
[FN#478] In text "Kata'a Judur-ha" (for "hu"). [I refer the
pronoun in "Judur-ha" to "Rakabah," taking the "roots of the
neck" to mean the spine.-ST.]
[FN#479] In text "Fahata" for "Fahasa" (?) or perhaps a clerical
error for "Fataha"=he opened (the ground). ["Fahata," probably a
vulgarisation of "fahatha" (fahasa)=to investigate, is given by
Bocthor with the meaning of digging, excavating. Nevertheless I
almost incline to the reading "fataha," which, however, I would
pronounce with Tashdid over the second radical, and translate:
"he recited a 'Fatihah' for them," the usual prayer over the dead
before interment. The dative "la-hum," generally employed with
verbs of prayer, seems to favour this interpretation. It is true
I never met with the word in this meaning, but it would be quite
in keeping with the spirit of the language, and in close analogy
with such expressions as "kabbara," he said "Allabu akbar,"
"Hallala," he pronounced the formula of unity, and a host of
others. Here it would, in my opinion, wind up the tale with a
neat touch of peasant's single-mindedness and loyal adherence to
the injunctions of religion even under provoking circumstances.-
-ST.]
[FN#480] In the MS. we have only "Ending. And it is also told,"
etc. I again supply the connection.
[FN#481] Scott does not translate this tale, but he has written
on the margin (MS. vi. 101), "A story which bears a strong
resemblance to that I have read (when a boy) of the Parson's maid
giving the roasted goose to her Lover and frightening away the
guests, lest he should geld them."
[FN#482] In text "Zakarayn Wizz (ganders) siman"; but afterwards
"Wizzatayn"=geese.
[FN#483] These dried fruits to which pistachios are often added,
form the favourite "filling" of lamb and other meats prepared in
"pulao" (pilaff).
[FN#484] "Anta jaib(un) bas rajul (an) wahid (an)"--veritable and
characteristic peasant's jargon.
[FN#485] i.e., it is a time when men should cry for thy case. "La
Haula"=there is no Majesty, etc. An ejaculation of displeasure,
disappointments, despair.
[FN#486] In text "Mahashima-k"=good works, merits; in a secondary
sense beard and mustachios. The word yard (etymologically a rod)
is medical English, and the young student is often surprised to
see, when a patient is told to show his yard, a mere inchlet of
shrunken skin. ["Mahashim," according to Bocthor, is a plural
without singular, meaning: les parties de la generation. Pedro de
Alcala gives "Hashshum," pl. "Hashashim," for the female parts,
and both words are derived from the verb "hasham, yahshim," he
put to shame.--ST.]
[FN#487] Characteristic words of abuse, "O thou whose fate is
always to fail, O thou whose lot is ever subject to the accidents
of Fortune!"
[FN#488] Arab. "Bayzah"=an egg, a testicle. See "Bayza'ani," vol.
ii. 55.
[FN#489] Here the text ends with the tag, "Concluded is the story
of the Woman with her Husband and her Lover. It is related of a
man which was a Kazi," etc. I have supplied what the writer
should have given.
[FN#490] The "Mahkamah" (Place of Judgment), or Kazi's Court, at
Cairo is mostly occupied with matrimonial disputes, and is
fatally famous for extreme laxness in the matter of bribery and
corruption. During these days it is even worse than when Lane
described it. M.E. chapt. iv.
[FN#491] The first idea of an Eastern would be to appeal from the
Kazi to the Kazi's wife, bribing her if he failed to corrupt the
husband; and he would be wise in his generation as the process is
seldom known to fail.
[FN#492] In Arab. "Sitta-ha": the Mauritanians prefer "Sidah,"
and the Arabian Arabs Kabirah"=the first lady, Madame Mere.
[FN#493] In text "Ahu 'inda-k,"--pure Fellah speech.
[FN#494] In text here and below "Maghbun" usually=deceived,
cajoled.
[FN#495] He began to fear sorcery, Satan, etc. "Muslimina" is
here the reg. Arab. plur. of "Muslim"=a True Believer. "Musulman"
(our "Mussalman" too often made plur. by "Mussalmen") is
corrupted Arab. used in Persia, Turkey and India by the best
writers as Sa'adi; the plur. is "Musulmanan" and the Hind. fem.
is Musalmani. Francois Pyrard, before alluded to, writes (i. 261)
"Mouselliman, that is, the faithful."
[FN#496] In the text "help ye the Moslems."
[FN#497] Again the old, old story of the "Acrisian maid," and a
prose variant of "Yusuf and Al-Hayfa" for which see supra p. 93.
I must note the difference of treatment and may observe that the
style is rough and the incidents are unfinished, but it has the
stuff of an excellent tale.
[FN#498] In text "Min ghayr Wa'ad" = without appointment, sans
pr‚m‚ditation, a phrase before noticed.
[FN#499] In text, "Al-Mukawwam¡na wa Arb bu 'l-Aklam," the latter
usually meaning "Scribes skilled in the arts of caligraphy."
[FN#500] In text "Zarb al-F l" = casting lots for presage, see v.
136.
[FN#501] "The Mount of Clouds."
[FN#502] In the margin is written "Kbb," possibly "Kubb" for
"Kubbah" = a vault, a cupola. [I take "Kubba" for the passive of
the verb "Kabba" = he cut, and read "Fajwatun" for "Fajwatan" =
"and in that cave there is a spot in whose innermost part from
the inside a crevice is cut which," etc.--ST.]
[FN#503] "Zarb al-Akl m," before explained: in a few pages we
shall come upon "San'at al-Akl m.
[FN#504] A pun upon the name of the Mountain.
[FN#505] In text "Wa kulli T rik" = Night-traveller, magician,
morning-star.
[FN#506] i.e. In Holy Writ--the Koran and the Ah d¡s.
[FN#507] "Walad al-Hay h" for "Hay t" i.e. let him be long-lived.
[FN#508] This and other incidents appear only at the latter end
of the tale, MS. p. 221.
[FN#509] i.e. "Father of a Pigeon," i.e. surpassing in swiftness
the carrier-pigeon.
[FN#510] "Bi-sab'a Sikak" = lit. "with seven nails;" in the MS.
vol. vi. p. 133, 1. 2, and p. 160, 1. 4, we have "four Sikak,"
and the word seems to mean posts or uprights whereto the chains
were attached. ["Sakk," pl. "Sik k" and "Suk£k," is nail, and
"Sikkah," pl. "Sikak," has amongst many other meanings that of
"an iron post or stake" (Bocthor: piquet de fer).--ST.]
[FN#511] In text "Al-Lij m w' al-B¡l m" = the latter being a
"T bi'" or dependent word used only for jingle. [The Muh¡t
explains "Bil m" by "Kim m at-Thaur" = muzzle of a bull, and
Bocthor gives as equivalent for it the French "cavecon" (English
"cavesson" nose-band for breaking horses in). Here, I suppose, it
means the headstall of the bridle.--ST.]
[FN#512] In Arab. "Al-Sayfu w'-al Kalani."
[FN#513] In text "Itowwaha," which is repeated in p. 146, 1. 2.
["Ittawwah" seems to be the modern Egyptian 5th form of "Tauh."
In classical Arabic it would be "tatawwah," but in the dialect of
to-day the prefix becomes "it," whose final dental here
assimilates with the initial palatal of the root; p. 146 the word
is correctly spelt with two Tashdids. The meaning is: he threw
himself (with his right foot foremost) upon the horse's back.
Instances of this formation, which has now become all but general
in Egyptian, are not infrequent in old Arabic, witness chapters
lxxiii. and lxxiv. of the Koran, which begin with "ayyuh 'l
Muddassiru" and "ayyuh… 'l-Muzzammilu" respectively.--ST.]
[FN#514] In text "Ramaha bi-h."
[FN#515] The vowel points in the MS. show this to be a quotation.
[FN#516] In text "Yarj£," I presume an error for "yarja'u." [I
believe "yarju" is an error for yajr£," and the various paces to
which they put their horses are meant: sometimes they galloped
(ramah£), sometimes they trotted (Pedro de Alcala gives "trotar"
for "jar yajr¡"), sometimes they ambled (yas¡r£).--ST.]
[FN#517] In text "Saith the Sayer of this say so wondrous and
this delectable matter seld-seen and marvellous,"--which I omit
as usual.
[FN#518] In text "Sar'a 'l-Lij m."
[FN#519] The invariable practice of an agent de police in England
and France, according to the detective tales of MM. Gaboriau and
Du Boisgobey. In Africa the guide often attempts to follow
instead of leading the party, and this proceeding should always
awake suspicion.
[FN#520] In text another prothesis without apodosis: see vol. vi.
203, etc.
[FN#521] In text "Fa gh ba thal that ayyamin" = and he (or it the
mountain?) disappeared for three days. ["Gh ba" = departed, may
have here the meaning of "passed away" and three days had gone,
and he ever travelling, before (il… an) he reached it.--ST.]
[FN#522] A feeling well-known to the traveller: I have often been
laughed at for gazing fondly upon the scanty brown-green growth
about Suez after a few months' sojourn in the wolds of Western
Arabia. It is admirably expressed in that book of books Eothen
(chapt. xvii.): --"The next day I entered upon Egypt, and floated
along (for the delight was as the delight of bathing) through
green wavy fields of rice, and pastures fresh and plentiful, and
dived into the cold verdure of grasses and gardens, and quenched
my hot eyes in shade, as though in deep, rushing waters."
[FN#523] The writer does not mean to charge the girl with
immodesty (after the style "Come to my arms, my slight
acquaintance!") but to show how powerfully Fate and Fortune
wrought upon her. Hence also she so readily allowed the King's
son to possess her person.
[FN#524] [I read "al-Muhibbattu," fem. of "Muhibb," lover (in
Tasawwuf particularly = lover of God), and take the "lam taku
taslah" in the second verse for the 3rd person fem., translating:
The loving maiden has come in obedience to the lover's call,
proudly trailing her skirts ("tajarru min al-T¡hi Azy la-h "),
and she is meet, etc.--ST.]
[FN#525] Again the work of Fate which intended to make the lovers
man and wife and probably remembered the homely old English
proverb, "None misses a slice from a cut loaf."
[FN#526] A little matter of about a ton at the smallest
computation of 200 lbs. to each beast.
[FN#527] In text "Nataw s£ saw¡yah" [Clerical error for
"nataw nas£ (nata nas£, the rarely used 6th form of anisa)
shuwayyah" = let us divert ourselves a little.--ST.]
[FN#528] In text "salaku-hu wa nashal£-hu." The "salk" = scoring
the skin and the "nashl" = drawing meat from the cooking-pot with
the fingers or a flesh-hook or anything but a ladle which would
be "Gharf."
[FN#529] This account has been slightly abridged seeing that it
is a twice-told tale.
[FN#530] "Written" either on the Preserved Tablet (vol. ii. 68)
or on the sutures of the skull (iii. 123).
[FN#531] In Arab. "Kh lat-k¡ ins nun," meaning also to lie with.
Lat. misceo. [The same word occurs presently in another tropical
sense: "Kh lata-h al-Khajal wa 'l-Hay " = shame and abashment
mixed with her, i.e. suffused or overwhelmed her.--ST.]
[FN#532] In text "Istanade 'al… Shakkati-h." ["Istan da 'al…" is
in the Vocabulista in Arabico rendered by "recumbere" and
"Shikkah" is a rug, while I can find no authority for "Shakkah"
as "quarter." The passage may therefore mean he lay down on his
rug. If he had been leaning against the standing horse, it would
on bolting have thrown him on the ground and awaked him rudely.--
ST.]
[FN#533] "Rajul ikhtiy r," a polite term for an old man: See i.
55. In the speech of the Badawin it means a man of substance and
hospitality.
[FN#534] **In**? Arab. "Wa l sh: Mur d¡ bas Ism al-Madinah." I
seem to hear some Fellah speaking to me from the door of his clay
hut.
[FN#535] "Mad¡nat al-Andal£s" = usually Seville.
[FN#536] In text "Kabd n," the usual form being "Kaptan," from
the Ital. Capitano (iv. 85): here, however, we have the Turk.
form as in "Kap£d n-pash " = Lord High Admiral of ancient
Osmanli-land.
[FN#537] Arab. "Khaznat al-S¡l h." When Easterns, especially
Maroccan Moslems and Turkish Pilgrims, embark as passengers,
their weapons are taken from them, ticketed and placed in a safe
cabin.
[FN#538] Arab. "Waka'h" = an affair (of fight).
[FN#539] i.e. crying the war-cry, "All ho Akbar" = God is most
Great (vol. ii. 89, etc.) and "L il ha illa 'llah," the refrain
of Unity: vol. ii. 236.
[FN#540] In text "A'at£ Al-W¡rah." ["W¡rah" is gerund of the
Turkish "w¡rmek" or "wermek," to give, to give up, and the phrase
in the text corresponds to the Turkish "w¡rah w¡rmek" = to
capitulate.--ST.]
[FN#541] The "buccaneers," quite as humane, made their useless
prisoners "walk a plank." The slave-ships, when chased and
hard-driven, simply tossed the poor devil niggers overboard; and
the latter must often have died, damning the tender mercies of
the philanthrope which had doomed them to untimely deaths instead
of a comfortable middle passage from Blackland to Whiteland.
[FN#542] [In the text "K rish¡n" = chasing, being in hot pursuit
of; see Dozy, Suppl. s. v. "karash."--ST.]
[FN#543] See in Mr. Doughty's valuable "Arabia Deserta" (i. 309)
how the Badawi's mare puts down her soft nose to be kissed by the
sitters about the coffee-hearth.
[FN#544] In text, "Hadda 'll ho bayn¡ wa baynakum."
[FN#545] The last clause is omitted in the text which is
evidently defective: MS. vol. vi. p. 180, line 7.
[FN#546] In text "Tauh n al-Hus n."
[FN#547] In Abyssinia the "Khil'at" = robe of honour (see vol. i.
195) is an extensive affair composed of a dress of lion's pelt
with silver-gilt buttons, a pair of silken breeches, a cap and
waist-shawl of the same material, a sword, a shield and two
spears; a horse with furniture of silk and silver and a mule
similarly equipped. These gifts accompany the insignia of the
"Order of Solomon," which are various medals bearing an imperial
crown, said to represent the Hierosolymitan Temple of the Wise
King, and the reverses show the Amharic legend "Yohanne Negus zei
Etiopia"--John, Emperor of Ethiopia. The orders are distinguished
as (1) the Grand Cross, a star of 100 grammes in massive gold,
hammer-wrought, and studded with gems, given only to royalties;
(2) the Knighthood, similar, but of 50 grammes, and without
jewels, intended for distinguished foreigners; (3) the Officer's
Star, silver-gilt, of 50 grammes; and (4) the Companion's, of
pure silver, and the same weight. All are worn round the neck
save the last, which hangs upon the chest. This practice of
gilding the metals prevails also in Europe, for instance in
Austria, where those made of gunmetal are often gilt by the
recipients contrary to all official etiquette.
[FN#548] Meaning only that the babe was perfectly beautiful.
[FN#549] In order that the cord might not be subject to the evil
eye or fall into the hand of a foe who would use it magically to
injure the babe. The navel-string has few superstitions in
England. The lower classes mostly place over the wound a bit of
cloth wherein a hole has been burned, supposing that the carbon
will heal the cut, and make it fast to the babe by a "binder" or
swathe round the body, as a preventative to "pot-belly." But
throughout the East there are more observances. In India, on the
birth of the babe, the midwife demands something shining, as a
rupee or piece of silver, and having touched the navel-string
therewith she divides it and appropriates the glittering
substance, under the pretence that the absence of the
illuminating power of some such sparkling object would prevent
her seeing to operate. The knife with which the umbilical cord
has been cut is not used for common purposes but is left beside
the puerpera until the "Chilla" (fortieth day), when "Kajjal"
(lamp-black), used by way of Kohl, is collected on it and applied
to the child's eyelids. Whenever the babe is bathed or taken out
of the house the knife must be carried along with it; and when
they are brought in again the instrument is deposited in its
former place near the mother. Lastly, on the "Chilla"-day they
must slaughter with the same blade a cock or a sheep (Herklots,
chapt. i. sec. 3). Equally quaint is the treatment of the
navel-string in Egypt; but Lane (M.E.) is too modest to give
details.
[FN#550] In text "Sarsarah," a clerical error for "Akhaza(?)
surratan." See MS. vol. vi. p. 197, line 9. [I read "sarra Surrah
(Surratan)" = he tied up a purse.--ST.]
[FN#551] In the text "on account of the dust-cloud" which, we
were just told, had cleared away [The translator seems to have
overlooked the "k na" before "kad d khala-hu al-Ra'b," which
gives to the verb the force of a pluperfect: "and fear had
entered into him at the sight of the dust-cloud."--ST.]
[FN#552] i.e. his daughter, of whom he afterwards speaks in the
plur.
[FN#553] These concealments are inevitable in ancient tale and
modern novel, and it need hardly be said that upon the nice
conduct of them depends all the interest of the work. How careful
the second-rate author is to spoil his plot by giving a needless
"pregustation" of his purpose, I need hardly say.
[FN#554] The mysteries of the marriage-night are touched with a
light hand because the bride had already lost her virginity.
[FN#555] In text "Ab£yah," a Fellah vulgarism for Ab¡ which
latter form occurs a few lines lower down.
[FN#556] In text "Wa-Saw bi 'hu (As bi 'a-hu?) f¡ hanaki-h:" this
is explained in MS. p. 216: "Bi-yarza'u f¡ As b¡ hi." [Dozy,
Suppl. i. 815, gives "Saw bi'" as an irregular pl. of "Asba'"
quoting from Bresl. ed. iii. 381, 9.] I would rather say it is a
regularly formed broken plural of a singular "S bi'" = the
pointing one, i.e. index, now commonly called "Sabb bah" the
reviler, where the same idea of pointing at with contempt seems
to prevail, and "Sh hid" = the witnessing, because it is raised
in giving testimony. In the plural it would be naturally
generalised to "finger," and in point of fact, the sing. "S bi'"
is used nowadays in this sense in Egypt along with the other
popular form of "Sub '."
[FN#557] I write "Cafilah" and not "Cafila" with the
unjustifiable suppression of the final "h" which is always made
sensible in the pure pronunciation of the Badawi. The malpractice
has found favour chiefly through the advocacy of Dr. Redhouse, an
eminent Turkish scholar whose judgments must be received with
great caution; and I would quote on this subject the admirable
remarks of my late lamented friend Dr. G. P. Badger in "The
Academy" of July 2, 1887. "Another noticeable default in the same
category is that, like Sale, Mr. Wherry frequently omits the
terminal 'h' in his transliteration of Arabic. Thus he writes
Sura, Am¡na, F tima, Mad¡na, Tah ma; yet, inconsistently enough,
he gives the 'h' in Allah, Khadijah, Kaabah, Makkah, and many
other words. This point deserves special notice, owing to Dr.
Redhouse's letter, published in 'The Academy' of November 22
last, in which he denounces as 'a very common European error' the
addition of the 'h' or 'final aspirate,' in the English
transliteration of many Arabic words. Hence, as I read the
eminent Orientalist's criticism, when that aspirate is not
sounded in pronunciation he omits it, writing "F&amacron;tima,"
not Fatimah, lest, as I presume, the unwary reader may aspirate
the 'h.' But in our Bibles we find such names as Sarah, Hannah,
Judah, Beulah, Moriah, Jehovah, in the enunciation of which no
one thinks of sounding the last letter as an aspirate. I quite
agree with Dr. Redhouse that in the construct case the final h
assumes the sound of t, as in Fatimatu bint-Muhammed; yet that
does not strike me as a valid reason for eliding the final h,
which among other uses, is indicative of the feminine gender, as
in Fƒtimah, Khadijah, Aminah, etc.; also of the nomina vicis, of
many abstract nouns, nouns of multitude and of quality, as well
as of adjectives of intensiveness, all which important
indications would be lost by dropping the final h. And further
unless the vowel a, left after the elision of that letter, be
furnished with some etymological mark of distinction, there would
be great risk of its being confounded with the ƒ, formative of
the singular of many verbal nouns, such as binƒ, safƒ, jalƒ; with
the masculine plurals ending in the same letters, such as hukamƒ,
ghniyƒ, k£farƒ; and with the feminine plurals of many
adjectives, such as k£bra, s£ghra, h£sna, etc. Dr. Redhouse says
that 'many eminent Arabists avoid such errors'--a remark which
rather surprises me, since Pocock, Lane and Palmer, and Fresnel
and Perron among French Orientalists, as also Burton, all retain
the final aspirate h, the latter taking special care to
distinguish, by some adequate, diacritical sign, those
substantive and adjective forms with which words ending in the
final aspirate h might otherwise be confounded."
[FN#558] In the text, "Wa s ba'l-d r wa Zaujatu-hu mutawass¡y¡n
bi-h ." [I cannot explain to myself the plural "Mutawass¡n"
unless by supposing that the preceding "S b al-D r" is another
blunder of the scribe for "S hibu 'l-D r" when the meaning would
be: "and the master of the house and his wife took charge of her
(the nurse) during the days of suckling." --ST.]
[FN#559] In text "S r£ yar sh£-hu wa yatawassu."
[FN#560] [In the text "Fik¡" the popular form of the present day
"Fik¡h," properly "learned in the law" (LL.D. as we would say),
but now the usual term for "school-master."--ST.]
[FN#561] Both of which are practised by Easterns from horseback,
the animal going at fullest speed. With the English saddle and
its narrow stirrup-irons we can hardly prove ourselves even
moderately good shots after Parthian fashion.
[FN#562] In text "Ihtim m wa Ghullah": I suspect that the former
should be written with the major h, meaning fever.
[FN#563] See Suppl. vol. iv. p. 191.
[FN#564] i.e. tempt not Providence unless compelled so to do by
necessity.
[FN#565] The youth was taking a "F l" or omen: see vol. v. 136.
[FN#566] In text "Hasal," for which I would read "Khasal."
[FN#567] A wiser Sprichwort than those of France and America. It
compares advantageously with the second par. of the Declaration
of Independence (July 4, 1776) by the Representatives of the
U.S., which declares, "these truths to be self-evident:--that all
men are created equal," etc. It is regretable that so trenchant a
state-paper should begin with so gross and palpable a fallacy.
Men are not born equal, nor do they become equal before their
death-days even in condition, except by artificial levelling; and
in republics and limited monarchies, where all are politically
equal, the greatest social inequalities ever prevail. Still
falser is the shibboleth-crow of the French cock, "Libert‚,
Egalit‚, Fraternit‚," which has borrowed its plumage from the
American Bird o' Freedom. And Douglas Jerrold neatly expressed
the truth when he said,--"We all row in the same boat but not
with the same sculls."
[FN#568] Sayf Kun£z¡ = a talismanic scymitar: see "Kanz," ix.
320.
[FN#569] In Arab. "Al-Kutb al-Ghauth" = lit. the pole-star of
invocation for help; or simply "Al-Ghauth" is the highest degree
of sanctity in the mystic fraternity of Tasawwuf. See v. 384; and
Lane (A. N.) i. 232. Students who would understand these titles
will consult vol. iii. chapt. 12 of The Dabist n by Shaw and
Troyer, Paris and London, 1843. By the learned studies of Dr.
Pertsch the authorship of this work of the religious eclecticism
of Akbar's reign, has been taken from the wrongful claimant and
definitively assigned to the legitimate owner, Mobed Shah. (See
Z. d. M. G. xvi. 224.) It is regretable that the index of the
translation is worthless as its contents are valuable.
[FN#570] Arab. "Su'ub n" = cockatrice, etc., vols. i. 172; vii.
322. Ibn Khaldun (vol. iii. 350) tells us that it was the title
of a famous and fatal necklace of rubies.
[FN#571] In Ar. "Anakati-h." [This is a very plausible conjecture
of the translator for the word written in the text: "'Anfakati-h"
= the hair between the lower lips and the chin, and then used for
the chin itself.--ST.]
[FN#572] In the text "Tisht" (a basin for the ewer), which I have
translated tray: these articles are often six feet in diameter.
[FN#573] A neat touch of realism: the youth is worn out by the
genial labours of the night which have made the bride only the
merrier and the livelier. It is usually the reverse with the
first post-nuptial breakfast: the man eats heartily and the woman
can hardly touch solid food. Is this not a fact according to your
experience, Mesdames?
[FN#574] In text "Tazargh¡t" a scribal error for "Zaghr¡tah." In
Mr. Doughty (ii. 621) "Zal gh¡t" for "Zagh rit" and the former is
erroneously called a "Syrian word." The traveller renders it by
"Lullul-lullul-lullul-l ." [Immediately before, however, the
correct form "hiya tazaghritu," she was lulli-looing, had been
used. The word occurs in numerous forms, differentiated by the
interchange of the dental and palatal "t" and of the liquid
letters "r" and "l." Dozy gives: "Zaghrata," "Zaghlata" and
"Zalghata" for the verb, and "Zaghr¡tah," "Zaghr£tah" (both with
pl. "Zagh r¡t"), "Zalgh£tah," "Zalghatah" (both with pl.
"Zal gh¡t"), and even a plural "Zagh l¡t" for the noun.--ST.]
[FN#575] In these cases usually an exception is made of brigands,
assassins and criminals condemned for felony. See Ibn Khaldun,
iv. 189.
[FN#576] [In text: "biyarza' f¡ As b¡-hi" (see supra p. 294).
This is, as far as I remember, the only instance where in the MS.
the aorist is preceded by the preposition "bi," a construction
now so common in the popular dialects. Strange as it may appear
at first sight, it has a deep foundation in the grammatical
sentiment, if I may say so, of the Arabic language, which always
ascribed a more or less nominal character to the aorist. Hence
its inflection by Raf' (u), Nasb (a) and Jazm (absence of final
vowel), corresponding to the nominative, accusative and oblique
case of the noun. Moreover in the old language itself already
another preposition ("li") was joined to the aorist. The less
surprising, therefore, can it be to find that the use of a
preposition in connection with it has so largely increased in the
modern idiom, where it serves to mark this semi-nominal character
of the aorist, which otherwise would be lost in consequence of
the loss of the vowel terminations. This interesting subject
deserves a fuller development, but I must reserve it for another
opportunity--insh 'll h!--ST.]
[FN#577] [Again "yastanit" = he listened attentively; comp. note
p. 24.--ST.]
[FN#578] In text "Zarb al-Akl m."
[FN#579] Vol. iii. 247-261. This violation of the Harem is very
common in Egypt.
[FN#580] Arab. "Fadawi," here again = a blackguard, see Suppl.
vol. iv. 220.
[FN#581] The Irishman says, Sleep with both feet in one stocking.
[FN#582] Arab. or rather Egypt. "Babuj," from "Babug," from the
Pers. "Pay-push" = foot-clothing, vulg. "Papush." To beat with
shoe, slipper, or pipe-stick is most insulting; the idea, I
believe, being that these articles are not made, like the rod and
the whip, for coporal chastisement, and are therefore used by way
of slight. We find the phrase "he slippered the merchant" in old
diaries, e.g. Sir William Ridges, 1683, Hakluyts, mdccclxxvii.
[FN#583] Arab. "Sarmujah" = sandals, slippers, shoes, esp. those
worn by slaves.
[FN#584] Suggesting carnal need.
[FN#585] The young man being grown up did not live in his
father's house.
[FN#586] Arab. "Tartara." The lexicons give only the sigs.
"chattering" and so forth. Prob. it is an emphatic reduplication
of "Tarra" = sprouting, pushing forward.
[FN#587] The youth plays upon the bride's curiosity, a favourite
topic in Arab. and all Eastern folk-lore.
[FN#588] There is a confusion in the text easily rectified by the
sequel. The facetia suggests the tale of the Schildburgers, who
on a fine summer's day carried the darkness out of the house in
their caps and emptied it into the sunshine which they bore to
the dark room.
[FN#589] A kindly phrase popularly addressed to the returning
traveller whether long absent or not.
[FN#590] In the text "Hamakah."
[FN#591] Arab. "Adi" which has occurred before.
[FN#592] This "little orgie," as moderns would call it, strongly
suggests the Egyptian origin of the tale.
[FN#593] MS. vol. vi. 262-271. Arab. " 'Adim al-Zauk" which the
old Latin dictionaries translate "destitutus experientiae" and
"expers desiderii," and it is = to our deficient in taste,
manners, etc. The term is explained in vol. ix. 266. Here it
evidently denotes what we call "practical joking," a dangerous
form of fun, as much affected by Egyptians as by the Hibernians.
[FN#594] In text "Wakalah" = an inn: vol. i. 266.
[FN#595] " 'Ausaj," for which the dictionaries give only a thorny
plant, a bramble.
[FN#596] The grand old Eastern or Desert-gate of Cairo: see vol.
vi. 234.
[FN#597] Arab. "Thakalah," lit. = heaviness, dullness, stupidity.
[FN#598] This is a mere shot: the original has "Baitharan."
[FN#599] Arab. "Mayzah" = the large hall with a central fountain
for ablution attached to every great Mosque.
[FN#600] In the text "Shashmah," from Pers. "Chashmah" a
fountain; applied in Egypt to the small privies with slab and
hole; vol. i. 221.
[FN#601] [In Ar. "Unsak," an expression principally used when
drinking to one's health, in which sense it occurs, for instance,
in the Bresl. ed. of The Nights, i. 395, 7.-ST.]
[FN#602] Arab. "Mutati bi zahri-h": our ancestors' expression was
not polite, but expressive and picturesque.
[FN#603] The normal pun: "Fatihah," fem. of "fatih" = an opener,
a conqueror, is the first Koranic chapter, for which see iv. 36.
[FN#604] This appears to be a kind of padding introduced to fill
up the Night. The loan of an ass is usually granted gratis in
Fellah villages and Badawi camps. See Matth. xxi. 2, 3; Mark xi.
2-6, and Luke xix. 30-34.
[FN#605] i.e. O Moslem, opposed to Enemy of Allah = a non-Moslem.
In text Ya 'Ibad, plur. for sing.
[FN#606] Arab. "Kashshara" = grinned a ghastly smile; it also
means laughing so as to show the teeth.
[FN#607] This tale follows "The Kazi of Baghdd, his Treacheous
Brother and his Virtuous Wife," which is nothing but a replica o
"The Jewish Kazi and his Pious Wife" (vol. v. 256). Scott has
translated it, after his fashion, in vol. vi. p. 396-408, and
follows it up with "The sultan's Story of Himself," which ends
his volume as it shall be the conclusion of mine.
[FN#608] In text, "Wa yaakhazu 'l thalatha arba' min mali-hi wa
salbi hali-hi."
[FN#609] In text, "La-hu Diraah (for "Dirayah" = prudence) fi
tadbiri 'l-Muluk."
[FN#610] In text, "Al-Sirru 'l-ilahi," i.e. the soul, which is
"divinae particula aurae."
[FN#611] In text, "Nuwajiru 'l-wukufat." [I read "nuwajiru (for
nuajiru") 'l-wukufat," taking the first word to be a verb
corresponding to the preceding, "nabi'u," and the second a
clerical error for "al-Maukufat." In this case the meaning would
be: "and letting for hire such parts of my property as were
inalienable."--ST.]
[FN#612] Here the text has the normal enallage of persons, the
third for the first, "the youth" for "I." I leave it unaltered by
way of specimen.
[FN#613] In text "'Arus muhalliyah."
[FN#614] He fainted thinking of the responsibilities of whoso
should sit thereupon.
[FN#615] Here is a third enallage, the King returning to the
first person, the oratio directa.
[FN#616] i.e. "by Allah;" for "Bi" (the particle proper of
swearing) see viii. 310.
[FN#617] Here again is a fourth enallage; the scribe continuing
the narrative.
[FN#618] i.e. well fed, sturdy and bonny.
[FN#619] "Sara la-hu Shanan." [The work in the text, which is
exceedingly badly written, looks to me as if it were meant for
"Thaniyan" = and he (the youth) became second to him (the
Sultan), i.e. his alter ego.--ST.]
[FN#620] In text "Yatama'ash min-hu." [A denominative of the 5th
form from "Ma'ash," livelihood. It usually has the meaning of
"earning one's living," but occurs in Makkari's Life of Ibn
al-Khatib also in the sense of "feeding or glutting upon,"
although applied there not to victuals but to books.--ST.]
[FN#621] In text "Sara yurashi-h." ["Yurashi" and "yurashu,"
which had occured p. 304, are the 6th form of "rasha, yarshu" =
he bestowed a gift (principally for the sake of bribery, hence
"Rashwah" or "Rishwah" = a bribe), he treated kindly.--ST.]
[FN#622] "Markab Mausukah," from "Wask" = conceiving, being
pregnant, etc.
[FN#623] "Mutawassi * * * al-Wisayat al-Tammah." ["Mutawassi" has
been met with before (see p. 303) and "Wisayah" is the
corresponding noun = he charged himself with (took upon himself)
her complete charge, i.e. maintnance.--ST.]
[FN#624] [In Ar. "khalli-na nak'ud," a thoroughly modern
expression. It reads like a passage from Spitta Bey's Contes
Arabes Modernes, where such phrases as: "khalli-na niktib
al-Kitab," let us write the marriage contract, "ma-ttkhallihsh
(for "ma takhalli-hu shay") yishufak," let him not see thee and
the like are very frequent.--ST.]
[FN#625] "Fi Kashshi 'l-Markab;" According to custome in the East
all the ship's crew had run on shore about their own business as
soon as she cast anchor. This has happened to me on board an
Egyptian man-of-war where, on arriving at Suez, I found myself
the sum total of the crew.
[FN#626] In text, "Jilan ba'da Jil:" the latter word =
revolutions, change of days, tribe, people.
[FN#627] The denoument is a replica of "The Tale of the King who
lost kingdom and wife and wealth and Allah restored them to him"
(Suppl. Nights, vol. i. 221). That a Sultan should send his
Ministers to keep watch over a ship's cargo sounds passably
ridiculous to a European reader, but a coffee-house audience in
the East would have found it perfectly natural. Also, that three
men, the Sultan and his sons, should live together for years
without knowing anything of one another's lives seems to us an
absurdity; in the case of an Oriental such detail would never
strike him even as impossible or even improbable.
[FN#628] Between Nights lxviii. and xci. (p. 401) the Nights are
not numbered.
[FN#629] Here the numeration begins again.
[FN#630] In Ouseley he becomes a "King of Greece."
[FN#631] The Arab. is "Ja'idi": Scott has "Artizans or Sharpers":
Ouseley, "labourers."
[FN#632] Ouseley has "Story of the first foolish Man."
[FN#633] In the Latin Catalogue he is called Agricola, and by
Scott the Husbandman.
[FN#634] In Ouseley he now becomes a King of Greece.
[FN#635] In Ouseley, "Bint-Ameen."
[FN#636] In Arab. "Rujub al-Mutarmakh," in the Lat. list
"insipicus."
[FN#637] In Ouseley "The Tailor, a story told by the Cauzee."
[FN#638] In Scott "The Deformed Jester," reading "Al-Ahdab" for
"Al-Maskharat al-Azib."
[FN#639] In text "Al-Jalabi," whence Ouseley and Scott's
"Mahummud Julbee."
[FN#640] Further notes illustrative of this and the succeeding
volumes will be found in the Bibliography in Volume xvi. I
frequently refer to tales by their numbers in the Table (Nights,
vol. x., pp. 455-472).
[FN#641] Veckenstedt, Mythen, Sagen und Legenden der Zamaiten,
ii. pp. 160,162.
[FN#642] Compare, too, Mr. Clouston's "Book of Noodles," chap.
v., "The Silly Son."
[FN#643] Cf. "An Apology for the Character and Conduct of
Shylock," in a volume of Essays published by a Society of
Gentlemen in Exeter (1796), pp. 552-573.
[FN#644] This incident shews that the story belongs to the
Grateful Beasts' class, though it is not said that Tiomberombi
had conferred any benefit on the rats; it is only implied that he
understood their language.
[FN#645] Veckenstedt, Mythen, Sagen und Legenden der Zamaiten, i.
pp. 163-166.
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