Supplemental Nights, Volume 6
by
Richard F. Burton
Part 8 out of 9
[FN#99] He was indignant because twitted with having married a
beggar-maid like good King Cophetua. In Heron he is "moved by so
sensible a reply."
[FN#100] Plur. "Kataif," a kind of pancake made of flour and
sugar (or honey) and oil or butter.
[FN#101] Arab. "Sakka" = a water-carrier, generally a bad lot. Of
the "Sakka Sharbah," who supplies water to passengers in the
streets, there is an illustration in Lane; M. E. chapt. xiv.
[FN#102] In the text "Kahbah" an ugly word = our whore (i.e.
hired woman): it is frightfully
common in every-day speech. See vol. ii. 70.
[FN#103] Arab. "Sibak" usually = a leash (for falconry, etc.).
[FN#104] I have emphasised this detail which subsequently becomes
a leading incident.
[FN#105] Usual formulae when a respectable person is seen
drinking: the same politeness was also in use throughout the
civilised parts of mediaeval Europe. See the word "Hanian" (vol.
ii. 5), which at Meccah and elsewhere is pronounced also
"Haniyyan."
[FN#106] In text "Ya Ta'is," a favorite expression in this MS.
Page 612 (MS.) has "Ta'ish," a clerical error, and in page 97 we
have "Ya Ta'asat-na" = O our misery!
[FN#107] As might a "picker-up of unconsidered trifles."
[FN#108] In text "Akba' wa Zarabil." I had supposed the first to
be the Pers. Kaba = a short coat or tunic, with the Arab. 'Ayn
(the second is the common corruption for "Zarabin" = slaves'
shoes, slippers: see vol. x. 1), but M. Hondas translates Ni
calottes ni calecons, and for the former word here and in MS.
p.227 he reads "'Arakiyah" = skull-cap: see vol. i. 215. ["Akba'"
is the pi. of "Kub'," which latter occurs infra, p.227 of the Ar.
MS., and means, in popular language, any part of a garment
covering the head, as the hood of a Burnus or the top-piece of a
Kalansuwah; also a skull-cap, usually called "'Araqiyah." --ST.]
[FN#109] Heron dubs him "Hazeb (Hajib) Yamaleddin." In text
"'Alai al-Din;" and in not a few places it is familiarly
abbreviated to "'Ali" (p. 228, etc.). For the various forms of
writing the name see Suppl. vol. iii. 30. The author might have
told us the young Chamberlain's name Arabice earlier in the tale;
but it is the Rawi's practice to begin with the vague and to end
in specification. I have not, however, followed his example
here or elsewhere.
[FN#110] i.e. Destiny so willed it. For the Pen and the Preserved
Tablet see vol. v. 322.
[FN#111] This was the custom not only with Harun as Mr. Heron
thinks, but at the Courts of the Caliphs generally.
[FN#112] In text "Ghiyar," Arab. = any piece of dress or uniform
which distinguishes a class, as the soldiery: in Pers. = a strip
of yellow cloth worn by the Jews subject to the Shah.
[FN#113] Arab. "Zarbul taki," the latter meaning "high-heeled."
Perhaps it may signify also "fenestrated, or open-worked like a
window." So "poules" or windows cut in the upper leathers of his
shoes. Chaucer, The Miller's Tale.
[FN#114] "Mayzar," in Pers. = a turband: in Arab. "Miizar" = a
girdle; a waistcloth.
[FN#115] Arab. "Kaus al-Bunduk" (or Banduk) a pellet-bow, the
Italian arcobugio, the English arquebuse; for which see vol. i.
10. Usually the "Kis" is the Giberne or pellet-bag; but here it
is the bow-cover. Gauttier notes (vii. 131):--Bondouk signifie en
Arabe harquebuse, Albondoukani signifie l'arquebusier; c'etait
comme on le voit, le mot d'ordre dit Khalyfe. He supposes, then,
that firelocks were known in the days of Harun al-Rashid (A.D.
786-809). Al-Bundukani = the cross-bow man, or rather the man of
the pellet-bow was, according to the Rawi, the name by which the
Caliph was known in this disguise. Al-Zahir Baybars al-
Bundukdari, the fourth Baharite Soldan (A.D. 1260-77), was so
entitled because he had been a slave to a Bundukdar, an officer
who may be called the Grand Master of Artillery. In Chavis and
Cazotte the Caliph arms himself with a spear, takes a bow and
arrow (instead of the pellet-bow that named him), disguises his
complexion, dyes beard and eyebrows, dons a large coarse turband,
a buff waistcoat with a broad leathern belt, a short robe of
common stuff and half-boots of strong coarse leather, and thus
"assumes the garb of an Arab from the desert." (!)
[FN#116] See vol. i. 266.
[FN#117] i.e. by the Archangel Gabriel.
[FN#118] Arab. "Habbah" = a grain (of barley, etc.), an obolus, a
mite: it is also used for a gold bead in the shape of a cube
forming part of the Egyptian woman's headdress (Lane M.E.,
Appendix A). As a weight it is the 48th of a dirham, the third of
a kirat (carat) or 127/128 of an English grain, avoir.
[FN#119] In text "Mahma" = as often as = kullu-ma. This is the
eleventh question of the twelve in Al-Hariri, Ass. xxiv., and the
sixth of Ass. xxxvi. The former runs, "What is the noun (kullu-
ma) which gives no sense except by the addition thereto of two
words, or the shortening thereof to two letters (i.e. ma); and in
the first case there is adhesion and in the second compulsion?"
(Chenery, pp. 246-253).
[FN#120] In Chavis and Cazotte he looks through the key-hole
which an Eastern key does not permit, the holes being in the
bolt. See Index, Suppl. vol. v.
[FN#121] In text "Kabal-ki," which I suspect to be a clerical
error for "Katal-ki" = Allah strike thee dead. See vol. iv. 264,
265. [One of the meanings of "Mukabalah," the third form of
"kabila," is "requital," "retaliation." The words in the text
could therefore be translated: "may God requite thee."--ST.]
[FN#122] In Chavis and Cazotte she swears "by the name of God
which is written on our Great
Prophet's forehead."
[FN#123] Arab. "Ya Luss"; for this word = the Gr. {Greek}; see
Suppl. vol. v. index.
[FN#124] "Al-Natur," the keeper, esp. of a vineyard, a word
naturalized in Persian. The Caliph asks, Is this a bon> fide
affair and hast thou the power to settle the matter definitely?
M. Houdas translates as Les raisins sont-ils a toi, ou bien es-tu
seulement la gardienne de la vigne? [The verb zaraba, 3rd form,
followed by the accusative, means "to join one in partnership."
The sense of the passage seems therefore to be: Dost thou own
grapes thyself, or art thou ("tuzaribi," 2 fem. sing.) in
partnership with the vineyard-keeper. The word may be chosen
because it admits of another interpretation, the double entendre
of which might be kept up in English by using the expression
"sleeping" partnership. Perhaps, however, "tuzaribi" means here
simply: "Dost thou play the part of."--ST.]
[FN#125] The innuendo is intelligible and I may draw attention to
the humorous skill with which the mother-in-law's character is
drawn.
[FN#126] In text "Aska-hu 'alakah" = gave him a good sound
drubbing ('alakah), as a robber would apply to a Judge had he the
power.
[FN#127] Lest he happen to meet an unveiled woman on the stairs;
the usual precaution is to cry "Dastur!" by your leave (Persian).
[FN#128] Arab. "Khayr"--a word of good omen.
[FN#129] In Chavis and Cazotte the mother gives her daughter's
name as Zutulbe (?) and her own Lelamain (?).
[FN#130] In text "Waliyah" or "Waliyah" = and why?
[FN#131] The "Wronged" (Al-Mazlum) refers to the Caliph who was
being abused and to his coming career as a son-in-law. Gauttier,
who translates the tale very perfunctorily, has Dieu protege les
malheureux et les orphelins (vii. 133).
[FN#132] This again is intended to show the masterful nature of
the Caliph, and would be as much admired by the average coffee-
house audience as it would stir the bile of the free and
independent Briton.
[FN#133] The "Street of the Copperas-maker": the name, as usual,
does not appear till further on in the tale.
[FN#134] In text "Rukham" = marble or alabaster, here used for
building material: so "Murakhkhim" = a marble-cutter, means
simply a stone-mason. I may here note the rediscovery of the
porphyry quarries in Middle Egypt, and the gypsum a little inland
of Ras Gharib to the West of the Suez Gulf. Both were much used
by the old Egyptians, and we may now fairly expect to rediscover
the lost sites, about Tunis and elsewhere in Northern Africa,
whence Rosso antico and other fine stones were quarried.
[FN#135] Arab. "Al-Hasil" also meaning the taxes, the revenue.
[FN#136] In text "Ka'ah" = a saloon: see vols. i. 85; i. 292; and
vii. 167.
[FN#137] In the sing. "Sikalah."
[FN#138] The Jinn here was Curiosity, said to be a familiar of
the sex feminine, but certainly not less intimate with "the
opposite."
[FN#139] In text "Kinnab" which M. Houdas translates etoupe que
l'on fixe an bout d'un roseau pour blanchir les murs.
[FN#140] Impossible here not to see a sly hit at the Caliph and
the Caliphate.
[FN#141] The writer has omitted this incident which occurs in
Chavis and Cazotte.
[FN#142] In the text, "Samd" = carpets and pots and pans.
[FN#143] The Kata grouse (Tetrao alchata seu arenarius of Linn.)
has often been noticed by me in Pilg. I. 226 (where my indexer
called it "sand goose") and in The Nights (vols. i. 131; iv.
111). De Sacy (Chrestom. Arab. iii pp. 416, 507-509) offers a
good literary account of it: of course he cannot speak from
personal experience. He begins with the Ajaib al-Makhlukat by Al-
Kazwini (ob. A.H. 674 = A.D. 1274) who tells us that the bird
builds in the desert a very small nest (whence the Hadis, "Whoso
shall build to Allah a mosque, be it only the bigness of a Kata's
nest, the Lord shall edify for him a palace in Paradise"); that
it abandons its eggs which are sometimes buried in sand, and
presently returns to them (hence the saying, "A better guide than
the Kata"); that it watches at night (?) and that it frequents
highways to reconnoitre travellers (? ?), an interpretation
confirmed by the Persian translator. Its short and graceful steps
gave rise to the saying, "She hath the gait of a Kata," and makes
De Sacy confound the bird with the Pers. Kahu or Kabk-i-dari
(partridge of the valley), which is simply the francolin, the
Ital. francolino, a perdrix. The latter in Arab. Is "Durraj" (Al-
Mas'udi, vii. 347): see an affecting story connected with it in
the Suppl. Nights (ii. 4O-43). In the xxiiid Ass. of Al-Hariri
the sagacity of the Kata is alluded to, "I crossed rocky places,
to which the Kata would not find its way." See also Ass. viii.
But Mr. Chenery repeats a mistake when he says (p. 339) that the
bird is "never found save where there is good pasturage and
water:" it haunts the wildest parts of Sind and Arabia, although
it seldom strays further than 60 miles from water which it must
drink every evening. I have never shot the Kata since he saved my
party from a death by thirst on a return-ride from Harar (First
Footsteps in E. Africa, p. 388). The bird is very swift, with a
skurrying flight like a frightened Pigeon; and it comes to water
regularly about dusk when it is easily "potted."
[FN#144] In text "Samman" for "Samman": Dozy gives the form
"Summun" (Hondas). The literary name is "Salwa."
[FN#145] For Wali (at one time a Civil Governor and in other ages
a Master of Police) see vol. i. 259.
[FN#146] Prob. a corruption of the Pers. "Nazuk," adj. delicate,
nice.
[FN#147] In text "Jaftawat," which is, I presume, the Arab. plur.
of the Turk. "Chifut" a Jew, a mean fellow. M. Hondas refers to
Dozy s.v. "Jaftah." [The Turkish word referred to by Dozy is
"Chifte" from the Persian "Juft" = a pair, any two things coupled
together. "Masha'iliyah jaftawat wa fanusin" in the text would
therefore be "(cresset-) bearers of double torches and lanterns,"
where the plural fanusin is remarkable as a vulgarism, instead of
the Dictionary form "Fawanis."--ST.]
[FN#148] So in Chavis and Cazotte: Gauttier and Heron prefer
(vol. i. 38) "Chamama." They add, "That daemon incarnate gave out
himself that Satan was his father and the devil Camos (?) his
brother." The Arab word is connected with shamma = he smelt, and
suggests the policeman smoking plots.
[FN#149] i.e. concealing the secret sins of the people. This
sketch of the cad policeman will find many an original in the
London force, if the small householder speak the truth.
[FN#150] Qui n'ait un point de contact aver l'une de ces
categories--(Houdas).
[FN#151] In the old translations "The Hazen" (Khazin =
treasurer?) which wholly abolishes the double entendre.
[FN#152] In text "Darbisi al-bab" from the Persian, "Dar bastan"
= to tie up, to shut.
[FN#153] In text "Ghaush" for "Ghaushah" = noise, row.
[FN#154] "Akkal bula'hu" i.e. commit all manner of abominations.
"To eat skite" is to talk or act foolishly.
[FN#155] In the old translations "Ilamir Youmis."
[FN#156] In text "Dabbus bazdaghani," which I have translated as
if from the Pers. "Bazdagh"
= a file. But it may be a clerical error for "Bardawani," the
well-known city in Hindostan whose iron was famous.
[FN#157] "Nahs" means something more than ill-omened, something
nasty, foul, uncanny: see vol. i. 301.
[FN#158] In Chavis, Heron and Co. there are two ladders to scale
the garden wall and descend upon the house-terrace which
apparently they do not understand to be the roof.
[FN#159] Arab. "Al-Kafi'ah" = garde-fou, rebord d'une terrasse--
(Houdas).
[FN#160] Our vulgar "Houri": see vols. i. 90; iii. 233. There are
many meanings of Hawar; one defines it as intense darkness of the
black of the eye and corresponding whiteness; another that it is
all which appears of the eye (as in the gazelle) meaning that the
blackness is so large as to exclude the whiteness; whilst a third
defines "Haura" as a woman beautiful in the "Mahajir" (parts
below and around the eyes which show when the face is veiled),
and a fourth as one whose whiteness of eye appears in contrast
with the black of the Kohl-Powder. See Chenery's Al-Hariri, pp.
354-55.
[FN#161] Arab. "Zalamah" = tyrants, oppressors (police and
employes): see vols. i. 273, and vi. 214.
[FN#162] In text "Kunna nu'tihu li-ahad" = we should have given
him to someone; which makes very poor sense. [The whole passage
runs: "Haza allazi kasam allah bi-hi fa-lau kana rajul jayyid
ghayr luss kunna nu'ti-hu li-ahad," which I would translate: This
is he concerning whom Allah decreed (that he should be my
portion, swearing:) "and if he were a good man and no thief we
would have bestowed him on someone." In "kasama" the three ideas
of decreeing, giving as a share, and binding one's self by oath
are blended together. If it should appear out of place to
introduce Divinity itself as speaking in this context, we must
not forget that the person spoken of is no less illustrious
individual than Harun al-Rashid, and that a decidedly satirical
and humorous vein runs through the whole tale. Moreover, I doubt
that "li-ahad" could be used as equivalent for "li-ghayri," "to
some other than myself," while it frequently occurs in the
emphatic sense of "one who is somebody, a person of consequence."
The damsel and her mother, on the other hand, allude repeatedly
to the state of utter helplessness in which they find themselves
in default of their natural protector, and which has reduced them
from an exalted station to the condition of nobodies. I speak, of
course, here as elsewhere, "under correction."--ST.]
[FN#163] In text "Hmsh." The Dicts. give Himmas and Himmis, forms
never heard, and Forsk. (Flora AEgypt.-Arab. p. lxxi.) "Homos,"
also unknown. The vulg. pron. is, "Hummus" or as Lane (M.E.
chapt. v.) has it "Hommus" (chick-peas). The word applies to the
pea, while "Malan" is the plant in pod. It is the cicer arietinum
concerning which a classical tale is told. "Cicero (pron. Kikero)
was a poor scholar in the University of Athens, wherewith his
enemies in Rome used to reproach him, and as he passed through
the streets would call out 'O Cicer, Cicer, O,' a word still used
in Cambridge, and answers to a Servitor in Oxford." Quaint this
approximation between "Cicer" the vetch and "Sizar" which comes
from "size" = rations, the Oxford "battel."
[FN#164] Arab. "Yulakkimu," from "Lukmah" = a mouthful: see vols.
i. 266; vii. 367.
[FN#165] Arab. "Jarazat Kuzban" (plur. or "Kazib," see vol. ii.
66) = long and slender sticks.
[FN#166] i.e. a witch; see vol. viii. 131.
[FN#167] So in the phrase "Otbah hath the colic," first said
concerning Otbah b. Rabi'a by Abu Jahl when the former advised
not marching upon Badr to attack Mohammed. Tabari, vol. ii. 491.
[FN#168] Compare the French "Brr!"
[FN#169] i.e. to whom thou owest a debt of apology or excuse,
"Gharim" = debtor or creditor.
[FN#170] Arab. "Jurab al-'uddah," i.e. the manacles, fetters,
etc.
[FN#171] The following three sentences are taken from the margin
of (MS.) p. 257, and evidently belong to this place.
[FN#172] In text "Bghb" evidently for "Baght" or preferably
"Baghtatan."
[FN#173] This is a twice-told tale whose telling I have lightened
a little without omitting any important detail. Gauttier reduces
the ending of the history to less than five pages.
[FN#174] The normal idiom for "I accept."
[FN#175] In text Khila't dakk al-Matrakah," which I have rendered
literally: it seems to signify an especial kind of brocade.
[FN#176] The Court of Baghdad was, like the Urdu (Horde or Court)
of the "Grand Mogul," organised after the ordinance of an army in
the field, with its centre, the Sovran, and two wings right and
left, each with its own Wazir for Commander, and its vanguard and
rearguard.
[FN#177] Being the only son he had a voice in the disposal of his
sister. The mother was the Kabirah = head of the household, in
Marocco Al-Sidah = Madame mere; but she could not interfere
single-handed in affairs concerning the family. See Pilgrimage,
vol. iii. 198. Throughout Al-Islam in default of a father the
eldest brother gives away the sisters, and if there be no brother
this is done by the nearest male relation on the "sword" side.
The mother has no authority in such matters nor indeed has anyone
on the "spindle" side.
[FN#178] Alluding to the Wali and his men.
[FN#179] Arab. "Kunyah" (the pop. mispronunciation of "Kinyah")
is not used here with strict correctness. It is a fore-name or
bye-name generally taken from the favourite son, Abu (father of)
being prefixed. When names are written in full it begins the
string, e.g., Abu Mohammed (fore-name), Kasim (true name), ibn
Ali (father's name), ibn Mohammed (grandfather's), ibn Osman
(great-grandfather), Al-Hariri (= the Silkman from the craft of
the family), Al-Basri (of Bassorah). There is also the "Lakab"
(sobriquet), e.g. Al-Bundukani or Badi'u'l-Zaman (Rarity of the
Age), which may be placed either before or after the "Kunyah"
when the latter is used alone. Chenery (Al-Hariri, p.315)
confines the "Kunyah" to fore-names beginning with Abu; but it
also applies to those formed with Umm (mother), Ibn (son), Bint
(daughter), Akh (brother) and Ukht (sister). See vol. iv. 287. It
is considered friendly and graceful to address a Moslem by this
bye-name.
-Gaudent praenomine molles Auriculae.
[FN#180] In text "Ya Kawaki," which M. Houdas translates "O
piailleur," remarking that here it would be = poule mouillee.
[FN#181] "'Alakah kharijah" = an extraordinary drubbing.
[FN#182] In text "Ij'alni fi kll," the latter word being
probably, as M. Houdas suggests, a clerical error for "Kal-a" or
"Kilaa" = safety, protection.
[FN#183] I am surprised that so learned and practical an Arabist
as the Baron de Slane in his Fr. translation of Ibn Khaldun
should render le surnom d'Er-Rechid (le prudent), for "The
Rightly Directed," the Orthodox (vol. ii. 237), when (ibid. p.
259) he properly translates "Al-Khulafa al-rashidin" by Les
Califes qui marchent dans la voie droite.
[FN#184] MSS. pp. 476-504. This tale is laid down on the same
lines as "Abu al-Husn and his Slave-girl Tawaddud," vol. vi. 189.
It is carefully avoided by Scott, C. de Perceval, Gauttier, etc.
[FN#185] Lit. an interpreter woman; the word is the fem. of
Tarjuman, a dragoman whom Mr. Curtis calls a Drag o' men; see
vol. i. 100. It has changed wonderfully on its way from its
"Semitic" home to Europe which has naturalised it as Drogman,
Truchman and Dolmetsch.
[FN#186] For this word of many senses, see vols. i. 231; ix.
221. M. Caussin de Perceval (viii. 16), quoting d'Herbelot
(s.v.), notes that the Abbasides thus entitled the chief guardian
of the Harem.
[FN#187] See vols. iv. 100; viii. 268. In his Introduction (p.
22) to the Assemblies of Al-Hariri Chenery says, "This prosperity
had now passed away, for God had brought the people of Rum (so
the Arabs call the Byzantines, whom Abu Zayd here confounds with
the Franks) on the land," etc. The confusion is not Abu Zayd's:
"Rumi" in Marocco and other archaic parts of the Moslem world is
still synonymous with our "European."
[FN#188] This obedience to children is common in Eastern
folk-lore: see Suppl. vol. i. 143, in which the royal father
orders his son to sell him. The underlying idea is that the
parents find their offspring too clever for them; not, as in the
"New World," that Youth is entitled to take precedence and
command of Age.
[FN#189] In text "Fa min tumma" for "thumma"--then, alors.
[FN#190] Such as the headstall and hobbles the cords and chains
for binding captives, and the mace and sword hanging to the
saddle-bow.
[FN#191] i.e. not a well-known or distinguished horseman, but a
chance rider.
[FN#192] These "letters of Mutalammis," as Arabs term our
Litterae Bellerophonteae, or "Uriah's letters," are a lieu commun
in the East and the Prince was in luck when he opened and read
the epistle here given by mistake to the wrong man. Mutalammis,
a poet of The Ignorance, had this sobriquet (the "frequent
asker," or, as we should say, the Solicitor-General), his name
being Jarir bin 'Abd al-Masih. He was uncle to Tarafah of the
Mu'-allakah or prize poem, a type of the witty dissolute bard of
the jovial period before Al-Islam arose to cloud and dull man's
life. One day as he was playing with other children Mutalammis
was reciting a panegyric upon his favourite camel, which ran:--
I mount a he-camel, dark-red and firm-fleshed; or a she-camel of
Himyar, fleet of foot and driving the pebbles with her crushing
hooves.
"See the he-camel turned to a she," cried the boy, and the phrase
became proverbial to express inelegant transition (Arab. Prov.
ii. 246). The uncle bade his nephew put out his tongue and
seeing it dark-coloured said, "That black tongue will be thy
ruin!" Tarafah, who was presently entitled Ibn al-'Ishrin (the
son of twenty years), grew up a model reprobate who cared nothing
save for three things, "to drink the dark-red wine foaming as the
water mixeth with it, to urge into the fight a broad-backed
steed, and to while away the dull day with a young beauty." His
apology for wilful waste is highly poetic:--
I see that the grave of the careful, the hoarder, differeth not
from the grave of the debauched, the spendthrift:
A hillock of earth covers this and that, with a few flat stones
laid together thereon.
See the whole piece in Chenery's Al-Hariri (p. 360), from which
this note is borrowed. At last uncle and nephew fled from ruin
to the Court of 'Amru bin Munzir III., King of Hira, who in the
tale of Al-Mutalammis and his wife Umaymah (The Nights, vol. v.
74) is called Al-Nu'uman bin Munzir but is better known as 'Amru
bin Hind (his mother). The King, who was a derocious personage
nicknamed Al-Muharrik or the Burner, because he had thrown into
the fire ninety-nine men and one woman of the Tamim tribe in
accordance with a vow of vengeance he had taken to slaughter a
full century, made the two strangers boon-companions to his
boorish brother Kabus. Tarafah, offended because kept at the
tent-door whilst the master drank wine within, bitterly lampooned
him together with 'Abd Amru a friend of the King; and when this
was reported his death was determined upon. Amru, the King,
seeing the anxiety of the two poets to quit his Court, offered
them letters of introduction to Abu Karib, Governor of Al-Hajar
(Bahrayn) under the Persian King and they were accepted. The
uncle caused his letter to be read by a youth, and finding that
it was an order for his execution destroyed it and fled to Syria;
but the nephew was buried alive. Amru, the King, was afterwards
slain by the poet-warrior, Amru bin Kulthum, also of the
"Mu'allakat," for an insult offered to his mother by Hind: hence
the proverb, "Quicker to slay than 'Amru bin Kulsum" (A.P. ii.
233).
[FN#193] See vols. i. 192; iii. 14; these correspond with the
"Stathmoi," Stationes, Mansiones or Castra of Herodotus, Terps.
cap. 53, and Xenophon. An. i. 2, 10.
[FN#194] In text "Ittika" viiith of waka: the form "Takwa" is
generally used = fearing God, whereby one guards oneself from sin
in this life and from retribution in the world to come.
[FN#195] This series of puzzling questions and clever replies is
still as favourite a mental exercise in the East as it was in
middle-aged Europe. The riddle or conundrum began, as far as we
know, with the Sphinx, through whose mouth the Greeks spoke:
nothing less likely than that the grave and mysterious Scribes of
Egypt should ascribe aught so puerile to the awful emblem of
royal majesty--Abu Haul, the Father of Affright. Josephus
relates how Solomon propounded enigmas to Hiram of Tyre which
none but Abdimus, son of the captive Abdaemon, could answer. The
Tale of Tawaddud offers fair specimens of such exercises, which
were not disdained by the most learned of Arabian writers. See
Al-Hariri's Ass. xxiv, which proposes twelve enigmas involving
abstruse and technical points of Arabic, such as: "What be the
word, which as ye will is a particle beloved, or the name of that
which compriseth the slender-waisted milch camel!" Na'am = "Yes"
or "cattle," the latter word containing the Harf, or slender
camel. Chenery, p. 246.
[FN#196] For the sundry meanings and significance of "Salam,"
here=Heaven's blessing, see vols. ii. 24, vi. 232.
[FN#197] This is the nursery version of the Exodus, old as
Josephus and St. Jerome, and completely changed by the light of
modern learning. The Children of Israel quitted their homes
about Memphis (as if a large horde of half-nomadic shepherds
would be suffered in the richest and most crowded home of Egypt).
They marched by the Wady Musa that debouches upon the Gulf of
Suez a short way below the port now temporarily ruined by its own
folly and the ill-will of M. de Lesseps; and they made the "Sea
of Sedge" (Suez Gulf) through the valley bounded by what is still
called Jabal 'Atakah, the Mountain of Deliverance, and its
parallel range, Abu Durayj (of small steps). Here the waters
were opened and the host passed over to the "Wells of Moses,"
erstwhile a popular picnic place on the Arabian side; but
according to one local legend (for which see my Pilgrimage, i.
294-97) they crossed the sea north of Tur, the spot being still
called "Birkat Far'aun"=Pharoah's Pool. Such also is the modern
legend amongst the Arabs, who learned their lesson from the
Christians (not the Jews) in the days when the Copts and the
Greeks (ivth century) invented "Mount Sinai." And the reader
will do well to remember that the native annalists of Ancient
Egypt, which conscientiously relate all her defeats and
subjugations by the Ethiopians, Persians, etc., utterly ignore
the very name of Hebrew, Sons of Israel, etc.
I cannot conceal my astonishment at finding a specialist journal
like the "Quarterly Statement of the Palestine Exploration Fund"
(Oct., 1887) admitting such a paper as that entitled "The Exode,"
by R. F. Hutchinson, M.D. For this writer the labours of the
last half-century are non-existing. Job is still the "oldest
book" in the world. The Rev. Charles Forster's absurdity,
"Israel in the wilderness," gives valuable assistance. Goshen is
Mr. Chester's Tell Fakus (not, however, far wrong in this)
instead of the long depression by the Copts still called "Gesem"
or "Gesemeh," the frontier-land through which the middle course
of the Suez Canal runs. "Succoth," tabernacles, is confounded
with the Arab. "Sakf" = a roof. Letopolis, the "key of the
Exode," and identified with the site where Babylon (Old Cairo)
was afterwards built, is placed on the right instead of the left
bank of the Nile. "Bahr Kulzum" is the "Sea of the
Swallowing-up," in lieu of The Closing. El-Tih, "the wandering,"
is identified with Wady Musa to the west of the Suez Gulf. And
so forth. What could the able Editor have been doing?
Students of this still disputed question will consult "The Shrine
of Saft el-Henneh and the Land of Goschen," by Edouard Naville,
fifth Memoir of the Egypt Exploration Fund. Published by order
of the Committee. London, Trubner, 1837.
[FN#198] Eastern fable runs wild upon this subject, and indeed a
larger volume could be written upon the birth, life and death of
Moses' and Aaron's rods. There is a host of legends concerning
the place where the former was cut and whence it descended to the
Prophet whose shepherd's staff was the glorification of his
pastoral life (the rod being its symbol) and of his future career
as a ruler (and flogger) of men. In Exodus (viii. 3-10), when a
miracle was required of the brothers, Aaron's rod became a
"serpent" (A.V.) or, as some prefer, a "crocodile," an animal
worshipped by certain of the Egyptians; and when the King's
magicians followed suit it swallowed up all others. Its next
exploit was to turn the Nile and other waters of Egypt into blood
(Exod. vii. 17). The third wonder was worked by Moses' staff,
the dividing of the Red Sea (read the Sea of Sedge or papyrus,
which could never have grown in the brine of the Suez Gulf)
according to the command, "Lift thou up thy rod and stretch out
thine hand over the sea," etc. (Exod. xiv. 15). The fourth
adventure was when the rod, wherewith Moses smote the river,
struck two blows on the rock in Horeb and caused water to come
out of it (Numb. xxi. 8). Lastly the rod (this time again
Aaron's) "budded and brought forth buds and bloomed blossoms and
yielded almonds" (Numb. xvii. 7); thus becoming a testimony
against the rebels: hence it was set in the Holiest of the
Tabernacles (Heb. ix. 14) as a lasting memorial. I have
described (Pilgrim. i. 301) the mark of Moses' rod at the little
Hammam behind the old Phoenician colony of Tur, in the miscalled
"Sinaitic" Peninsula: it is large enough to act mainmast for a
ship. The end of the rod or rods is unknown: it died when its
work was done, and like many other things, holy and unholy, which
would be priceless, e.g., the true Cross or Pilate's sword, it
remains only as a memory around which a host of grotesque
superstitions have grouped themselves.
[FN#199] In this word "Hayy" the Arab. and Heb. have the
advantage of our English: it means either serpent or living,
alive.
[FN#200] It is nowhere said in Hebrew Holy Writ that "Pharaoh,"
whoever he may have been, was drowned in the "Red Sea."
[FN#201] Arab. "Kaml." The Koranic legend of the Ant has, I
repeat, been charmingly commented upon by Edwin Arnold in
"Solomon and the Ant" (p.i., Pearls of the Faith). It seems to
be a Talmudic exaggeration of the implied praise in Prov. vi. 6
and xxx. 25, "The ants are a people nto strong, yet they prepare
their meat in the summer" which, by the by, proves that the Wise
King could be caught tripping in his natural history, and that
they did not know everything down in Judee.
[FN#202] Isa, according to the Moslems, was so far like Adam
(Koran iii. 52) that he was not begotten in the normal way: in
fact his was a miraculous conception. See vol. v. 238.
[FN#203] For Elias, Elijah, or Khizr, a marvellous legendary
figure, see vols. iv. 175; v. 334. The worship of Helios
(Apollo) is not extinct in mod. Greece where it survives under
the name of Elias. So Dionysus has become St. Dionysius; Bacchus
the Drunken, St. George; and Artemis, St. Artemides the healer of
childhood.
[FN#204] Gesenius interprets it "Soldier of God"; the bye-name
given to Jacob presently became the national name of the Twelve
Tribes collectively; then it narrowed to the tribe of Judah;
afterwards it became = laymen as opposed to Levites, etc., and in
these days it is a polite synonym for Jew. When you want
anything from any of the (self-) Chosen People you speak of him
as an Israelite; when he wants anything of you, you call him a
Jew, or a damned Jew, as the case may be.
[FN#205] I am not aware that there is any general history of the
bell, beginning with the rattle, the gong and other primitive
forms of the article; but the subject seems worthy of a
monograph. In Hebrew Writ the bell first appears in Exod.
xxviii. 33 as a fringe to the Ephod of the High Priest that its
tinkling might save him from intruding unwarned into the bodily
presence of the tribal God, Jehovah.
[FN#206] Gennesaret (Chinnereth, Cinneroth), where, according to
some Moslems, the Solomon was buried.
[FN#207] I cannot explain this legend.
[FN#208] So the old English rhyme, produced for quite another
purpose by Sir John Bull in "Wat Tyler's Rebellion" (Hume, Hist.
of Eng., vol. i. chapt. 17):--
"When Adam dolve and Eve span,
Who was then the gentleman?"
A variant occurs in a MS. of the xvth century, Brit. Museum:--
"Now bethink the gentleman,
How Adam dalf and Eve span."
And the German form is:--
"So Adam reutte (reute) and Eva span
Wwer was da ein Eddelman (Edelman)?"
[FN#209] Plur. of "'Usfur" = a bird, a sparrow. The etymology
is characteristically Oriental and Mediaeval, reminding us of Dan
Chaucer's meaning of Cecilia "Heaven's lily" (Susan) or "Way for
the blind" (Caecus) or "Thoughts of Holiness" and lia=lasting
industry; or, "Heaven and Leos" (people), so that she might be
named the people's heaven (The SEcond Nonne's Tale).
[FN#210] i.e. "Fir is rebellious."
[FN#211] Both of which, I may note, are not things but states,
modes or conditions of things. See. vol. ix. 78.
[FN#212] "Salat" = the formal ceremonious prayer. I have
noticed (vol. iv. 60) the sundry technical meanings of the term
Salat, from Allah=Mercy; from Angel-kind=intercession and pardon,
and from mankind=a blessing.
[FN#213] Possibly "A prayer of Moses, the man of God," the title
of the highly apocryphal Psalm xc.
[FN#214] Arab. "Libas" = clothes in general.
[FN#215] In text "Zafar" = victory. It may also be
"Zifr"=alluding to the horny matter which, according to Moslem
tradition, covered the bodies of "our first parents" and of which
after the "original sin" nothing remained but the nails of their
fingers and toes. It was only when this disappeared that they
became conscious of their nudity. So says M. Houdas; but I
prefer to consider the word as Zafar=plaited hair.
[FN#216] According to Al-Mas'udi (i. 86, quoting Koran xxi. 52),
Abraham had already received of Allah spiritual direction or
divine grace ("Rushdu 'llah" or "Al-Huda") which made him
sinless. In this opinoin of the Imamship, says my friend Prof.
A. Sprenger, the historian is more fatalistic than most Sunnis.
[FN#217] Modern Moslems are all agreed in making Ishmael and not
Issac the hero of this history: see my Pilgrimage (vol. iii.
306). But it was not always so. Al-Mas'udi (vol. ii. 146)
quotes the lines of a Persian poet in A.H. 290 (=A.D. 902) which
expressly say "Is'haku kana'l-Zabih" = Isaac was the victim, and
the historian refers to this in sundry places. Yet the general
idea is that Ishmael succeeded his father (as eldest son) and was
succeeded by Isaac; and hence the bitter family feud between the
Eastern Jews and the ARab Gentiles.
[FN#218] In text "Tajui"=lit. thou pluckest (the fruit of good
deeds). M. Houdas translates Tu recueilles, mot a mot tu
citeilles.
[FN#219] See note at the end of this tale.
[FN#220] Amongst the Jews the Temple of Jerusalem was a
facsimile of the original built by Jehovah in the lowest heaven
or that of the Moon. For the same idea (doubtless a derivation
from the Talmud) amongst the Moslems concerning the heavenly
Ka'abah called Bayt al-Ma'mur (the Populated House) see my
Pilgrimage iii. 186, et seq.
[FN#221] i.e. there is an end of the matter.
[FN#222] In text "Massa-hu'l Fakr"=poverty touched him.
[FN#223] He had sold his father for a horse, etc., and his
mother for a fine dress.
[FN#224] This enigma is in the style of Samson's (Judges xiv.
12) of which we complain that the unfortuante Philistines did not
possess the sole clue which could lead to the solution; and here
anyone with a modicum of common sense would have answered, "Thou
art the man!" The riddles with which the Queen of Sheba visited
Solomon must have been simply hard questions somewhat like those
in the text; and the relator wisely refuses to record them.
[FN#225] We should say "To eclipse the sun."
[FN#226] A very intelligible offer.
[FN#227] Arab. "Bi Asri-hi," lit. "rope and all;"
metaphorically used=altogether, entirely: the idea is borrowed
from the giving or selling of a beast with its thong, halter,
chain, etc.
[FN#228] In the text, "Kahin," a Cohen, a Jewish Priest, a
soothsayer: see Al-Kahanah, vol. i. 28. In Heb. Kahana=he
ministered (priests' offices or other business) and Cohen=a
priest either of the true God or of false gods.
[FN#229] This ending with its resume of contents is somewhat
hors ligne, yet despite its vain repetition I think it advisable
to translate it.
[FN#230] "And she called his name Moses, and she said because
from the water I drew him" (Exod. ii. 10).
[FN#231] The Pharoah of the Exodus is popularly supposed by
Moslems to have treated his leprosy with baths of babes' blood,
the babes being of the Banu Israil. The word "Pharoah" is not
without its etymological difficulties.
[FN#232] Graetz (Geschichte i. note 7) proves that "Aram," in
the Hebrew text (Judges iii. 8), should be "Edom."
[FN#233] I give a quadruple increase, at least 25 per centum
more than the genealogies warrant.
[FN#234] MS. pp. 505-537. This story is found in the "Turkish
Tales" by Petis de la Croix who translated one fourth of the
"Forty Wazirs" by an author self-termed "Shaykh Zadeh." It is
called the "History of Chec Chahabeddin" (Shaykh Shihab al-Din),
and it has a religious significance proving that the Apostle did
really and personally make the "Mi'raj" (ascent to Heaven) and
returned whilst his couch was still warm and his upset gugglet
had not run dry. The tale is probably borrowed from Saint Paul,
who (2 Cor. xii. 4) was "caught up into Paradise," which in those
days was a kind of region that roofed the earth. The Shaykh in
question began by showing the Voltairean Sultan of Egypt certain
specious miracles, such as a phantom army (in our tale two
lions), Cairo reduced to ashes, the Nile in flood and a Garden of
Irem, where before lay a desert. He then called for a tub,
stripped the King to a zone girding his loins and made him dip
his head into the water. Then came the adventures as in the
following tale. When after a moment's space these ended, the
infuriated Sultan gave orders to behead the Shaykh, who also
plunged his head into the tub; but the Wizard divined the
ill-intent by "Mukashafah" (thought-reading); and by "Al-Ghayb
'an al-Absar" (invisibility) levanted to Damascus. The reader
will do well to compare the older account with the "First Vizir's
Story" (p. 17) in Mr. Gibb's "History of the Forty Vizirs," etc.
As this scholar remarks, the Mi'raj, with all its wealth of wild
fable, is simply alluded to in a detached verses of the Koran
(xvii. 1) which runs: [I declare] "The glory of Him who
transported His servant by night from the Sacred Temple (of
Meccah) to the Remote Temple (of Jerusalem), whose precincts we
have blessed, that we might show him of our signs." After this
comes an allusion to Moses (v. 2); Mr. Gibb observes (p. 22) that
this lengthening out of the seconds was a favourite with
"Dervishes," as he has shown in "The Story of Jewad ," and
suggests that the effect might have been produced by some drug
like Hashish. I object to Mr. Gibb's use of the word "Hour)"
(ibid. p. 24) without warning the reader that it is an irregular
formation, masculine withal for "Huriyah," and that the Pers.
"Huri," from which the Turks borrowed their blunder, properly
means "One Hur."
[FN#235] For the Dajlah (Tigris) and Furat (Euphrates) see vols.
viii. 150- ix. 17. The topothesia is worse than Shakespearean. In
Weber's Edit. of the "New Arabian Nights" (Adventures of
Simoustapha, etc.), the rivers are called "Ilfara" and "Aggiala."
[FN#236] In text "Alwan," for which see vol. vii. 135.
[FN#237] [The word which is here translated with: "and one had
said that he had laboured hard thereat (walawa'yh?) seems
scarcely to bear out this meaning. I would read it "wa'l-Aw'iyah"
(plur. of wi'a), rendering accordingly: "and the vessels (in
which the aforesaid meats were set out) shimmered like unto
silver for their cleanliness."--ST.]
[FN#238] In text "Al-Wahwah."
[FN#239] In text, "Mutasa'lik" for "Moutasa'lik" = like a
"sa'luk."
[FN#240] For this "high-spirited Prince and noble-minded lord"
see vol. ix. 229.
[FN#241] In text "Bisata-hum" = their carpets.
[FN#242] In text "Hawanit," plur. of "Hanut" = the shop or vault
of a vintner, pop. derived from the Persian Khaneh. In Jer.
xxvii. 16, where the A. V. has "When Jeremiah was entered into
the dungeon and into the cabins," read "underground vaults,"
cells or cellars where wine was sold. "Hanut" also means either
the vintner or the vintner's shop. The derivation because it
ruins man's property and wounds his honour is the jeu d'esprit of
a moralising grammarian. Chenery's Al-Hariri, p. 377.
[FN#243] In the Arab. "Jawakin," plur. of Arab. Jaukan for Pers.
Chaugan, a crooked stick a club, a bat used for the Persian form
of golf played on horseback--Polo.
[FN#244] [The text reads "Liyah," and lower down twice with the
article "Al-Liyah" (double Lam). I therefore suspect that
"Liyyah," equivalent with "Luwwah," is intended which both mean
Aloes-wood as used for fumigation (yutabakhkharu bi-hi). For the
next ingredient I would read "Kit'ah humrah," a small quantity of
red brickdust, a commodity to which, I do not know with what
foundation, wonderful medicinal powers are or were ascribed. This
interpretation seems to me the more preferable, as it presently
appears that the last-named articles had to go into the phial,
the mention of which would otherwise be to no purpose and which I
take to have been finally sealed up with the sealing clay. The
whole description is exceedingly loose, and evidently sorely
corrupted, so I think every attempt at elucidation may be
acceptable.--ST.]
[FN#245] "Wa Kita'h hamrah," which M. Houdas renders un morceau
de viande cuite.
[FN#246] This is a specimen of the Islamised Mantra called in
Sanskrit Stambhana and intended to procure illicit intercourse.
Herklots has printed a variety of formulae which are popular
throughout southern India: even in the Maldive Islands we find
such "Fandita" (i.e. Panditya, the learned Science) and Mr. Bell
(Journ., Ceylon Br. R. A. S. vii. 109) gives the following
specimen, "Write the name of the beloved; pluck a bud of the
screw-pine (here a palette de mouton), sharpen a new knife, on
one side of the bud write the Surat al-Badr (chapter of Power,
No. xxi., thus using the word of Allah for Satan's purpose); on
the other side write Vajahata; make an image out of the bud;
indite particulars of the horoscope copy from beginning to end
the Surat al-Rahman (the Compassionating, No. xlviii.);, tie the
image in five places with coir left-hand-twisted (i.e.
widdershins or 'against the sun'); cut the throat of a
blood-sucker (lizard); smear its blood on the image; place it in
a loft, dry it for three days, then take it and enter the sea. If
you go in knee deep the woman will send you a message; if you go
in to the waist she will visit you." (The Voyage of Francois
Pyrard, etc., p. 179.) I hold all these charms to be mere
instruments for concentrating and intensifying the brain action
called Will, which is and which presently will be recognised as
the chief motor-power. See Suppl. vol. iii.
[FN#247] Probably the name of some Prince of the Jinns.
[FN#248] In text "Kama zukira fi Dayli-h" = arrange-toi de facon
a l'atteindre (Houdas).
[FN#249] Proverbial for its depth: Kashan is the name of sundry
cities; here one in the Jibal or Irak 'Ajami--Persian
Mesopotamia.
[FN#250] Doubtless meaning Christians.
[FN#251] The Sage had summoned her by the preceding spell which
the Princess obeyed involuntarily.
[FN#252] i.e., last night, see vol. iii. 249.
[FN#253] In text "Wuldan" = "Ghilman": the boys of Paradise; for
whom and their feminine counterparts the Hur (Al-Ayn) see vols.
i. 90, 211; iii. 233.
[FN#254] Arab. "Dukhn" = Holcus dochna, a well-known grain, a
congener of the Zurrah or Durrah = Holcus Sativus, Forsk. cxxiii.
The incident is not new. In "Des blaue Licht," a Mecklenburg tale
given by Grimm, the King's daughter who is borne through the air
to the soldier's room is told by her father to fill her pocket
with peas and make a hole therein; but the sole result was that
the pigeons had a rare feast. See Suppl. vol. iii. 375.
[FN#255] i.e., a martyr of love. See vols. iii. 211; i-iv. 205.
[FN#256] In the text "Ka'ka'"; hence the higher parts of Meccah,
inhabited by the Jurham tribe, was called "Jabal Ka'ka'an," from
their clashing arms (Pilgrimage iii. 191).
[FN#257] This was the work of the form of magic popularly known
as Simiya = fascination, for which see vol. i. 305, 332. It is
supposed to pass away after a period of three days, and
mesmerists will find no difficulty in recognising a common effect
upon "Odylic sensitives."
[FN#258] Here supply the MS. with "illa."
[FN#259] In text "tatadakhkhal'alay-h:" see "Dakhil-ak," vol. i.
61.
[FN#260] Or "he": the verb may also refer to the Sage.
[FN#261] Arab. "Kazafa" = threw up, etc.
[FN#262] This, in the case of the Wazir, was a transformation for
the worse: see vol. vii. 294, for the different kinds of
metamorphosis.
[FN#263] i.e. my high fortune ending in the lowest.
[FN#264] In text "Bakar" = black cattle, whether bull, ox or cow.
For ploughing with bulls.
[FN#265] In text "Mukrif" = lit. born of a slave father and free
mother.
[FN#266] In text "Antum fi khashin wa bash," an error for
"khash-mash" = a miserable condition.
[FN#267] In text "yatbashsh" for "yanbashsha." [Or it may stand
for yabtashsh, with transpositions of the "t" of the eighth form,
as usual in Egypt. See Spitta-Bey's Grammar, p. 198.-- ST.]
[FN#268] "Jananan," which, says M. Houdas, is the vulgar form of
"Jannatan" = the garden (of Paradise). The Wazir thus played a
trick upon his hearers. [The word in the text may read "Jinanan,"
accusative of "Jinan," which is the broken plural of "Jannah,"
along with the regular plural "Jannat," and, like the latter,
used for the gardens of Paradise.--ST.]
[FN#269] For this name of the capital of Eastern Arabia see vols.
i. 33, vii. 24.
[FN#270] "To be" is the Anglo-Oriental form of "Thaub" = in
Arabia a loose robe like a nightgown. See ii. 206.
[FN#271] The good old Mosaic theory of retribution confined to
this life, and the belief that Fate is the fruit of man's action.
[FN#272] Arab. "Sandarusah" = red juniper gum (Thuja articulata
of Barbary), red arsenic realgar, from the Pers. Sandar = amber.
[FN#273] MSS. pp. 718-724. This fable, whose moral is that the
biter is often bit, seems unknown to AEsop and the compilation
which bore his name during the so-called Dark Ages. It first
occurs in the old French metrical Roman de Renart entitled, Si
comme Renart prist Chanticler le Coq (ea. Meon, tom. i. 49). It
is then found in the collection of fables by Marie, a French
poetess whose Lais are still extant; and she declares to have
rendered it de l'Anglois en Roman; the original being an Anglo-
Saxon version of AEsop by a King whose name is variously written
Li reis Alured (Alfred ?), or Aunert (Albert ?), or Henris, or
Mires. Although Alfred left no version of AEsop there is in MS. a
Latin AEsop containing the same story of an English version by
Rex Angliae Affrus. Marie's fable is printed in extenso in the
Chaucer of Dr. Morris (i. 247); London, Bell and Sons, 1880; and
sundry lines remind us of the Arabic, e.g.:--
Li gupil volt parler en haut,
Et li cocs de sa buche saut,
Sur un haut fust s'est muntez.
And it ends with the excellent moral:--
Ceo funt li fol tut le plusur,
Parolent quant deivent taiser,
Teisent quant il deivent parler.
Lastly the Gentil Cok hight Chanticlere and the Fox, Dan Russel,
a more accidented tale, appears in "The Nonne Preestes Tale," by
the Grand Traducteur.
[FN#274] "Dura" in MS. (p. 718) for "Zura," the classical term,
or for "Zurrah," pop. pronounced "Durrah"=the Holcus Sativus
before noticed, an African as well as Asiatic growth, now being
supplanted by maize and rice.
[FN#275] "Sa'alab" or "Tha'lab": vol. iii. 132.
[FN#276] In text "Kikan," plur. of "Kiik" =des corneilles
(Houdas).
[FN#277] "Samman" or "Summan," classically "Salwa."
[FN#278] In text "Al-Kawani"=the spears, plur. of "Kanat." ["Al-
Kawani" as plural of a singular "Kanat"=spear would be, I think,
without analogy amongst the plural formations, and its
translation by "punishment" appears somewhat strained. I propose
to read "al-Ghawani" and to translate "and whoever lags behind of
the singing birds will not be safe" ("la yaslimu," it will not go
well with him). In the mouth of the fox this implies a delicate
compliment for the cock, who might feel flattered to be numbered
amongst the same tribe with the nightingale and the thrush.--ST.]
[FN#279] In text "ya zayn" =Oh, the beautiful beast!
[FN#280] In text "Abu Sahih"=(flight to) a sure and safe place.
[FN#281] MS. pp. 725-739.
[FN#282] Arab. "Zabit," from "Zabt"=keeping in subjection,
holding tight, tying. Hence "Zabtiyah" = a constable and "Zabit"
= a Prefect of Police. See vol. i. 259. The rhyming words are
"Rabit" and "Habit."
[FN#283] In text "Rahib" = monk or lion.
[FN#284] The lines are wholly corrupt.
[FN#285] The "Bahalul" of D'Herbelot. This worthy was a
half-witted Sage (like the Iourodivi of Russia and the Irish
Omadhaun), who occupies his own place in contemporary histories
flourished under Harun al-Rashid and still is famous in Persian
Story. When the Caliph married him perforce and all the
ceremonies were duly performed and he was bedded with the bride,
he applied his ear to her privities and forthwith ran away with
the utmost speed and alarm. They brought him back and questioned
him concerning his conduct when he made answer, " If you had only
heard what it said to me you would have done likewise." In the
text his conduct is selfish and ignoble as that of Honorius
"Who strove to merit heaven by making earth a hell."
And he shows himself heartless and unhuman as the wretched St.
Alexius of the Gesta Romanorum (Tale xv.), a warning of the
intense selfishness solemnly and logically inculcated by
Christianity. See vol. v. 150.
[FN#286] Koran, ch. li. v. 17.
[FN#287] Koran xx. 57: it is the famous "Ta-Ha" whose first 14-16
verses are said to have converted the hard-headed Omar. In the
text the citation is garbled and imperfect.
[FN#288] In text "Mas'h."
[FN#289] "Hisaban tawil" = a long punishment.
[FN#290] The rod of Moses (see pp. 76-77) is the great prototype
in Al-Islam of the staff or walking stick, hence it became a
common symbol of dignity and it also served to administer ready
chastisement, e.g. in the hands of austere Caliph Omar.
[FN#291] An onomatopy like "Couic, Couic." For "Maksah," read
"Fa-saha" = and cried out.
[FN#292] "Zindik" = Atheist, Agnostic: see vols. v. 230; viii.
27.
[FN#293] "Harisah" = meat-pudding. In Al-Hariri (Ass. xix.) where
he enumerates the several kinds of dishes with their metonomies
it is called the "Mother of Strengthening" (or Restoration)
because it contains wheat--"the Strengthener" (as opposed to
barley and holcus). So the "Mother of Hospitality" is the Sikbaj,
the Persian Sikba, so entitled because it is the principal dish
set before guests and was held to be royal food. (Chenery pp.
218, 457.) For the latter see infra.
[FN#294] This passage in the MS. (p. 733) is apparently corrupt.
I have done my best to make sense of it.
[FN#295] In text " Kamburisiyah."
[FN#296] In the Dicts. a plant with acid flavour, dried, pounded
and peppered over meat.
[FN#297] In text "Najas" = a pear.
[FN#298] "Tutmajiyah" for "Tutmaj."
[FN#299] "Sikbaj," a marinated stew like "Zirbajah" (vol. iii.
278): Khusrau Parwez, according to the historians, was the first
for whom it was cooked and none ate of it without his permission.
See retro.
[FN#300] Kishk=ground wheat, oatmeal or barley-flour eaten with
soured sheep's milk and often with meat.
[FN#301] So in text: I suspect for "'Ajinniyah" = a dish of
dough.
[FN#302] The Golden Calf is alluded to in many Koranic passages,
e.g. Surah ii. (the Cow) 48; vii. (Al-Aaraf) 146; S. Iiv. (Woman)
152; but especially in S. xx. (Ta Ha) 90, where Samiri is
expressly mentioned. Most Christian commentators translate this
by "Samaritan" and unjustly note it as " a grievous ignorance of
history on the part of Mohammed." But the word is mysterious and
not explained. R. Jehuda (followed by Geiger) says upon the text
(Exod. xxxii. 24), "The calf came forth lowing and the Israelites
beheld it"; also that "Samael entered into it and lowed in order
to mislead Israel" (Pirke R. Eliezer, 45). Many Moslems identify
Samiri with Micha (Judges xvii.), who is said to have assisted in
making the calf (Raschi, Sanhedr. cii. 2; Hottinger, Hist.
Orient. p. 84). Selden (de Diis Syr. Syn. 1. cap.4) supposes that
Samiri is Aaron himself, the Shomeer or keeper of Israel during
the absence of Moses. Mr. Rodwell (Koran, 2nd Edit. p. 90) who
cleaves to the " Samaritan" theory, writes, " It is probable (?)
that the name and its application, in the present instance, is to
be traced to the old national feud between the Jews and the
Samaritans"--of which Mohammed, living amongst the Jews, would be
at least as well informed as any modern European. He quotes De
Sacy (Chrest. i. 189) who states that Abu Rayhan Mohammed Biruni
represents the Samaritans as being nicknamed (not Al-limsahsit as
Mr. Rodwell has it, but) "La Mesas" or "La Mesasiyah" = the
people who say "no touch" (i.e. touch me not, from Surah xx. 97),
and Juynboll, Chron. Sam. p. 113 (Leid. 1848). Josephus (Ant.
xii. cap. 1) also mentions a colony of Samaritans settled in
Egypt by Ptolemy Lagus, some of whose descendants inhabited Cairo
as late as temp. Scaliger (De Emend. Temp. vii. 622). Sale
notices a similar survival on one of the islands of the Red Sea.
In these days the Samaritans or, as their enemies call them the
Cuthim ("men from Cutha," Cushites), in physical semblance
typical Jews, are found only at Nablus where the colony has been
reduced by intermarriage of cousins and the consequent greater
number of male births to about 120 souls. They are, like the
Shi'ah Moslems, careful to guard against ceremonial pollution:
hence the epithet "Noli me tangere."
[FN#303] Alluding to the "Sayyad," lit. = a fisherman.
[FN#304] In text "Al-Zahr."
[FN#305] "Ajdar."
[FN#306] In text "Al-Malaya."
[FN#307] In text "Sinaubar," which may also mean pistachio-tree.
[FN#308] i.e. 475 to 478 Eng. grains avoir., less than the
Ukiyyah or Wukiyyah=ounce = 571.5 to 576 grains. Vol. ix. 216.
[FN#309] Not more absurd than an operatic hero singing while he
dies.
[FN#310] MS. pp. 588-627. In Gauttier's edit. vii. (234-256),
it appears as Histoire de l'Habitant de Damas. His advertisement
in the beginning of vol. vii. tells us that it has been printed
in previous edits., but greatly improved in his; however that may
be, the performance is below contempt. In Heron it becomes The
POWER OF DESTINY, or Story of the Journey of Giafar to Damascus,
comprehending the adventures of Chebib and his Family (Vol. i.
Pp. 69-175).
[FN#311] Damascus-city (for which see the tale of Nur al-Din
Ali and his Son, The Nights, vol. i. 239-240) derives its name
from Dimishk who was son of Batir, i. Malik, i. Arphaxed, i.
Sham, i. Nuh (Noah); or son of Nimrod, son of Canaan. Sham =
Syria (and its capital) the land on the left, as opposed to
Al-Yaman the land on the right of one looking East, is noticed in
vol. i. 55. In Mr. Cotheal's MS. Damascus is entitled "Sham"
because it is the "Shamat" cheek-mole (beauty-spot) of Allah upon
earth. "Jalak" the older name of the "Smile of the Prophet," is
also noted: see vol. ii. 109.
[FN#312] Hatim of the Tayy-tribe, proverbial for liberality.
See vols. iv. 95, and vii. 350.
[FN#313] In Mr. Cotheal's MS. the Caliph first laughs until he
falls backwards, and then after reading further, weeps until his
beard in bathed.
[FN#314] Heron inserts into his text, "It proved to be a
Giaffer, famous throughout all Arabia," and informs us (?) in a
foot-note that it is "Ascribed to a prince of the Barmecide race,
an ancestor of the Gran Vizier Giafar." The word "Jafr" is
supposed to mean a skin (camel's or dog's), prepared as parchment
for writing; and Al-Jafr, the book here in question, is described
as a cabalistic prognostication of all that will ever happen to
the Moslems. The authorship is attributed to Ali, son-in-law of
the Prophet. There are many legendary tales concerning its
contents; however, all are mere inventions as the book is
supposed to be kept in the Prophet's family, nor will it be fully
explained until the Mahdi or Forerunner of Doomsday shall
interpret its difficulties. The vulgar Moslems of India are apt
to confuse Al-Jafr with Ja'afar bin Tayyar, the Jinni who is
often quoted in talismans (see Herklots, pp. 109-257).
D'Herbelot gives the sum of what is generally known about the
"Jafr" (wa Jami'a) under the articles "Ali" and "Gefru Giame."
[FN#315] The father (whom Heron calls "Hichia Barmaki") spoke
not at random, but guessed that the Caliph had been reading the
book Al-Jafr.
[FN#316] Heron calls Ja'afar's wife "Fatme" from the French.
[FN#317] This is the open grassy space on the left bank of the
Baradah River, first sighted by travellers coming from Bayrut.
See vol. i. 234, where it is called Al-Hasa = the Plain of
Pebbles.
[FN#318] Heron names him Chebib (Habib) also "Xakem Tai-Chebib"
= Hatim Tayy Habib.
[FN#319] The scene is described at full length in the Cotheal
MS. with much poetry sung by a fair slave-girl and others.
[FN#320] Again showing the date of the tale to be modern. See
my Terminal Essay, p. 85.
[FN#321] This might serve even in these days to ask a worshipful
guest why he came, and what was his business--it is the address
of a well-bred man to a stranger of whose rank and station he is
ignorant. The vulgar would simply say, "Who art thou, and what
is thy native country?"
[FN#322] In Heron the host learns everything by the book
Al-Jafr.
[FN#323] In text "Muzawwa" which the Egyptian pronounces
"Mugawwaz."
[FN#324] Which would be necessary after car. cop. with his
women.
[FN#325] In text "Kabr al-Sitt," wherein the Sitt Zaynab, aunt
to Mohammed, is supposed to lie buried. Here the cultivation
begins about half a mile's ride from the Bab-al-Shaghur or S.
Western gate of the city. It is mentioned by Baedeker (p. 439),
and ignored by Murray, whose editor, Mr. Missionary Porter,
prefers to administer the usual dainty dish of "hashed Bible."
[FN#326] Arab. "Jami' al-Amawi": for this Mosque, one of the
Wonders of the Moslem World, consult any Guide Book to Damascus.
See Suppl. vol. iv. Night cccxlii. In Heron it becomes the
"Giamah Illamoue," one of the three most famous mosques in the
world.
[FN#327] M. houdas trasnlates "Tarz," "Markaz" or "Mirkaz" by Un
pierrre en forme de dame, instrument qui sert a enfoncer les
paves (= our "beetle"); c'est-a-dire en form de borne.
[FN#328] For this "window-gardening," an ancient practice in the
East, see vol. i. 301.
[FN#329] Heron calls her "Negemet-il-Souper" = Najmat al-Sabah =
Constellation of Morn. In the Cotheal MS. she uses very harsh
language to the stranger, "O Bull (i.e. O stupid), this be not
thy house nor yet the house of thy sire," etc.; "go forth to the
curse of God and get thee to Hell," etc.
[FN#330] For "Kayf" = joy, the pleasure of living, see my
Pligrimage i. 12-13.
[FN#331] In text, "'Ayyik," or "'Ayyuk" = a hinderer (of
disease) from 'Ayk or 'Auk, whence also 'Ayyuk = Capella, a
bright star proverbial for its altitude, as in the Turk, saw "to
give praise to the 'Ayyuk" = skies.
[FN#332] Auspicious formulae. The Cotheal MS. calls the
physician "Dubdihkan."
[FN#333] In text "Kullu Shayyin li mu'as'as"; the latter from
"'As'as" = to complicate a matter.
[FN#334] A sign that he diagnosed a moral not a bodily disorder.
We often find in The Nights, the doctor or the old woman
distinguishing a love-fit by the pulse or similar obscure
symptoms, as in the case of Seleucus, Stratonice and her step-son
Antiochus--which seems to be the arch-type of these anecdotes.
[FN#335] Arab. "Kirsh," before explained; in Harun's day = 3
francs.
[FN#336] In the Cotheal MS. the recipe occupies a whole page of
ludicrous items, e.g. Let him take three Miskals of pure
"Union-with-the-lover," etc.
[FN#337] In the Cotheal MS. Attaf seeks his paternal uncle and
father-in-law with the information that he is going to the
Pilgrimage and Visitation.
[FN#338] Called in the old translation or rather adaptation
"Scheffander-Hassan" or simply "Scheffander" = Shahbandar Hasan,
for which see vol. iv. 29. In the Cotheal MS. (p. 33) he becomes
the "Emir Omar, and the Basha of Damascus" (p. 39).
[FN#339] The passage is exceedingly misspelt. "Amma min Mayli
Binti-ka shashi Ana Aswadu (for Shashi M. Houdas reads "Jashi" =
my heart) Wa Tana (read "Thana," reputation) Binti-ka abyazu min
Shashi."
[FN#340] One of the formulae of divorce.
[FN#341] In text "Muabalar min Shaani-ka." M. Houdas reads the
first word "Muzabal" = zublan, wearied, flaccid, weak.
[FN#342] For "Al-'iddah," in the case of a divorcee three lunar
months, for a widow four months and ten days and for a pregnant
woman, the interval until her delivery, see vols. iii. 292; vi.
256; and x. 43: also Lane (M.E.) chap. iii.
[FN#343] In text "Alfi (4th form of 'Lafw') Hajatan," the
reading is that of M. Houdas; and the meaning would be "what dost
thou want (in the way of amusement)? I am at thy disposal."
[FN#344] Heron has here interpolated an adventure with a
Bazar-cook and another with a Confectioner: both discover Ja'afar
also by a copy of the "Giaffer" (Al-Jafr). These again are
followed by an episode with a fisherman who draws in a miraculous
draught by pronouncing the letters "Gim. Bi. Ouaow" (waw = J. B.
W.), i.e. Ja'afar, Barmecide, Wazir; and discovers the Minister
by a geomantic table. Then three Darvishes meet and discourse
anent the virtues of "Chebib" (i.e. Attaf); and lastly come two
blind men, the elder named Benphises, whose wife having studied
occultism and the Dom-Daniel of Tunis, discovers Ja'afar. All
this is to marshal the series of marvels and wonders upon wonders
predicted to Ja'afar by his father when commanding him to visit
Damascus; and I have neither space nor inclination to notice
their enormous absurdities.
[FN#345] This Governor must not be confounded with the virtuous
and parsimonious Caliph of the same name the tenth of the series
(reign A.D. 692-705) who before ruling studied theology at
Al-Medinah and won the sobriquet of "Mosque-pigeon." After his
accession he closed the Koran saying, "Here you and I part," and
busied himself wholly with mundane matters. The Cotheal MS.
mentions only the "Nabob" (Naib = lieutenant) of Syria.
[FN#346] "Kapu" (written and pronounced Kapi in Turk.) is a
door, a house or a government office and Kapuji = a porter;
Kapuji-bashi = head porter; also a chamberlain in Arab. "Hajib";
and Kapu Katkhudasi (pron. Kapi-Kyayasi) = the agent which every
Governor is obliged to keep at Constantinople.
[FN#347] In text "Al-buyurdi," clerical error for "Buyuruldi"
(pron. Buyuruldu) = the written order of a Governor.
[FN#348] "Al-Yamaklak" = vivers, provaunt; from the T. "Yamak" =
food, a meal.
[FN#349] Meaning that he waived his right to it.
[FN#350] In text "Zawadah" (gen. "Azwad" or "Azwi'dah") =
provisions, viaticum.
[FN#351] In text "Takhtrawun"; see vols. ii. 180; v. 175. In
the Cotheal MS. it is a "Haudaj" = camel-litter (vol. viii. 235).
[FN#352] "Kubbat al-'Asafir," now represented by the "Khan
al-Asafir," on the road from Damascus to Palmyra, about four
hours' ride from and to the N. East of the Bab Tuma or N. Eastern
gate. The name is found in Baedeker (p. 541). IN the C. MS. it
becomes the "Thaniyyat al-'Ukab" = the Vulture's Pass.
[FN#353] Meaning that Attaf had not the heart to see his
cousin-wife leave her home.
[FN#354] Written in Turkish fashion with the Jim (j) and three
dots instead of one. This Persian letter is still preserved in
the Arabic alphabets of Marocco, Algiers, etc.
[FN#355] In Arab. "Jinn" = spirit or energy of a man, which
here corresponds with the Heb. "Aub"; so in the Hamasah the poet
says, "My Jinn have not fled; my life is not blunted; my birds
never drooped for fear," where, say commentators, the Arabs
compare an energetic man with a Jinni or Shaytan. So the Prophet
declared of Omar, "I never saw such an 'Abkari amongst men,"
'Abkar, in Yamamah, like Yabrin and Wabar near Al-Yaman, being a
desolate region, the home of wicked races destroyed by Allah and
now haunted by gruesome hosts of non-human nature. Chenery, pp.
478-9.
[FN#356] In the C. MS. it is an Emir of the Emirs.
[FN#357] Arab. "Tabah."
[FN#358] This excellent episode is omitted in the C. MS. where
Attaf simply breaks gaol and reaching Aleppo joins a caravan to
Baghdad.
[FN#359] In text "Katalu-ni": see vols. v. 5; vi. 171.
[FN#360] In the C. MS. he enters a mosque and finds a Ja'idi
(vagabond) who opens his bag and draws out a loaf, a roast food,
lemons, olives, cucumbers and date-cake, which suggest to Attaf,
who had not eaten such things for a month, "the table of Isa bin
Maryam." For the rest see Mr. Cotheal's version.
[FN#361] The C. MS. gives the short note in full.
[FN#362] In text "al-Towab," Arab. plur. of the Persian and
Turk. "Top." We hardly expected to find ordinance in the age of
Harun al-Rashid, although according to Milton they date before
the days of Adam.
[FN#363] M. Houdas would read for "Alhy Tys" in the text "Tuha
Tays" a general feast; "Tuha" = cooked meat and "Tays" = myriads
of.
[FN#364] M. Houdas translates les injures devancerent les
compliments, an idiom = he did not succeed in his design.
[FN#365] "Cousin" being more polite than "wife": see vols. vi.
145; ix. 225.
[FN#366] Les vertebres ont fait bourrelet, says M. Houdas who
adds that "Shakban" is the end of a cloth, gown, or cloak, which
is thrown over the shoulders and serves, like the "Jayb" in
front, to carry small parcels, herbs, etc.
[FN#367] In the local Min jargon, the language of Fellahs,
"Addiki" = I will give thee.
[FN#368] In text "Min al-'An wa sa'idan;" lit. = from this
moment upwards.
[FN#369] "Tarajjum" taking refuge from Satan the Stone (Rajim).
See vol. iv. 242.
[FN#370] i.e. a descenant of Al-Hashim, great-grandfather of the
Prophet. See ix. 24.
[FN#371] In text "Shobasi," for "Sobashi" which M. Houdas
translates prevot du Palais.
[FN#372] In the C. MS. Attaf's head was to be cut off.
[FN#373] In the C. MS. the anagnorisis is much more detailed.
Ja'afar asks Attaf if he knew a Damascus-man Attaf hight and so
forth; and lastly an old man comes forward and confesses to have
slain the Sharif or Hashimi.
[FN#374] The drink before the meal, as is still the custom in
Syria and Egypt. See vol. vii. 132.
[FN#375] Gauttier (vii. 256), illustrating the sudden rise of
low-caste and uneducated men to high degree, quotes a
contemporary celebrity, the famous Mirza Mohammed Husayn Khan
who, originally a Bakkal or greengrocer, was made premier of Fath
Ali Shah's brilliant court, the last bright flash of Iranian
splendour and autocracy. But Iran is a land upon which Nature
has inscribed "Resurgam"; and despite her present abnormal
position between two vast overshadowing empires--British India
and Russia in Asia--she has still a part to play in history. And
I may again note that Al-Islam is based upon the fundamental idea
of a Republic which is, all (free) men are equal, and the lowest
may aspire to the highest dignity.
[FN#376] In text "'Aramrami."
[FN#377] "Wa'llaha 'l-Muwaffiku 'l-Mu'in" = God prospereth and
directeth, a formula often prefixed or suffixed to a book.
[FN#378] MS. pp. 628-685. Gauttier, vii. 64-90; Histoire du
Prince Habib et de la Princesse Dorrat-el-Gawas. The English
translation dubs it "Story of Habib and Dorathil-goase, or the
Arabian Knight" (vol. iii. 219-89); and thus degrades the high
sounding name to a fair echo of Dorothy Goose. The name = Pearl
of the Diver: it is also the P.N. of a treatise on desinental
syntax by the grammarian-poet Al-Hariri (Chenery, p. 539).
[FN#379] The "Banu Hilal," a famous tribe which formed part of a
confederation against the Prophet on his expedition to Honayn.
See Tabari, vol. iii. chapt. 32, and Doughty, Arabia Deserta
(Index, B. Helal). In the text we have the vulgarism "Bani" for
"Banu".
[FN#380] Gauttier (vii. 64) clean omits the former Emir because
he has nothing to do with the tale. In Heron it is the same, and
the second chief is named "Emir-Ben-Hilac-Salamis"; or for
shortness tout bonnement "Salamis"; and his wife becoming Amirala
which, if it mean anything, is = Colonel, or Captain R. N.
[FN#381] ie. Moon of the Nobles.
[FN#382] = the Beloved, le bien-aime.
[FN#383] As has been seen Gauttier reduces the title to "Prince."
Amongst Arabs, however, it is not only a name proper but may
denote any dignity from a Shaykh to a Sultan rightly so termed.
[FN#384] For the seven handwritings see vol. iv. 196. The old
English version says, "He learned the art of writing with pens
cut in seven different ways." To give an idea of the style it
renders the quatrain:--"Father," said the youth, "you must apply
to my master, to give you the information you desire. As for me,
I must long be all eye and all ear. I must learn to use my hand,
before I begin to exercise my tongue, and to write my letters as
pure as pearls from the water." And this is translation!
[FN#385] I need hardly note that "Voices from the other world"
are a lieu commun of so-called Spiritualism. See also vol. i. 142
and Suppl. Vol. iii.
[FN#386] This tale and most of those in the MS. affect the Ka1a
'l-Rawi (= quoth the reciter) showing the true use of them. See
Terminal Essay, vol. x. 144.
[FN#387] The missing apodosis would be, "You would understand the
cause of my weeping."
[FN#388] In the text there are only five lines. I have borrowed
the sixth from the prose.
[FN#389] "Daud" = David: see vols. ii. 286; vi. 113.
[FN#390] For "Samhari" see vol. iv. 258.
[FN#391] From "Rudaynah," either a woman or a place: see vols.
ii. 1; vii. 265; and for "Khatt Hajar" vol. ii. 1.
[FN#392] This is the idiomatic meaning of the Arab word "Nizal" =
dismounting to fight on foot.
[FN#393] In the text "Akyal," plur. of "Kayl" = Kings of the
Himyarite peoples. See vol. vii. 60; here it is = the hero, the
heroes.
[FN#394] An intensive word, "on the weight," as the Arabs say of
'Abbas (stern-faced) and meaning "Very stern-faced, austere,
grim." In the older translations it becomes "Il Haboul"--utterly
meaningless.
[FN#395] The Arab. "Moon of the Time" becomes in the olden
versions "Camaulzaman," which means, if anything, "Complete
Time," and she is the daughter of a Jinn-King "Illabousatrous
(Al-'Atrus?)." He married her to a potent monarch named
"Shah-Goase" (Shah Ghawwas=King Diver), in this version "Sabur"
(Shahpur), and by him Kamar Al-Zaman became the mother of Durrat
al-Ghawwas.
[FN#396] In text "Sadat wa Ashraf:" for the technical meaning of
"Sayyid" and "Sharif" see vols. iv. 170; v. 259.
[FN#397] Gauttier, vii. 71. Les Isles Bellour. see vol. iii. 194.
[FN#398] Heron's "Illabousatrous"(?).
[FN#399] In text "Zayjah," from Pers. "Zaycheh" = lit. a
horoscope, a table for calculating nativities and so forth. In
page 682 of the MS. the word is used = marriage-lines.
[FN#400] In text "Snsal," for "Salsal " = lit. chain.
[FN#401] In Sindbad the Seaman I have shown that riding men as
asses is a facetious exaggeration of an African practice, the
Minister being generally the beast of burden for the King. It was
the same in the Maldive Islands. "As soon as the lord desires to
land, one of the rhief Catibes (Arab. Khatib = a preacher, not
Katib = a writer) comes forward to offer his shoulder (a function
much esteemed) and the other gets upon his shoulders; and so,
with a leg on each side, he rides him horse fashion to land, and
is there set down." See p. 71, "The Voyage of Francois Pyrard,"
etc. The volume is unusually well edited by Mr. Albert Gray,
formerly of the Ceylon Civil Service, for the Hakluyt Society,
MDCCCLXXXVII: it is, however, regretable that he and Mr. Bell,
his collaborateur, did not trace out the Maldive words to their
"Aryan" origin showing their relationship to vulgar Hindostani as
Mas to Machhi (fish) from the Sanskrit Matsya.
[FN#402] In text "Ghayth al-Hatil = incessant rain of small drops
and widely dispread. In Arab. the names for clouds, rain and all
such matters important to a pastoral race are well nigh
innumerable. Poetry has seized upon the material terms and has
converted them into a host of metaphors; for "the genius of the
Arabic language, like that of the Hebrew, is to form new ideas by
giving a metaphorical signification to material objects (e.g.
'Azud, lit. the upper arm; met. a helper)." Chenery, p. 380.
[FN#403] In the text "To the palace:" the scribe, apparently
forgetting that he is describing Badawi life, lapses at times
into "decorating the capital" and "adorning the mansion," as if
treating of the normal city-life. I have not followed his
example.
[FN#404] Heron translates "A massy cuirass of Haoudi."
[FN#405] In text, "Inbasata 'l-Layl al-Asa," which M. Houdas
renders et s'etendit la nuit (mere) de la tristesse.
[FN#406] "Rauzah" in Algiers is a royal park; also a prairie, as
"Rauz al-Sanajirah," plain of the Sinjars: Ibn Khaldun, ii. 448.
[FN#407] The "Miskal" (for which see vols. i. 126; ix. 262) is
the weight of a dinar = 1« dirham = 71-72 grains avoir. A dose of
142 grains would kill a camel. In 1848, when we were marching up
the Indus Valley under Sir Charles Napier to attack Nao Mall of
Multan, the Sind Camel Corps was expected to march at the rate of
some 50 miles a day, and this was done by making the animals more
than half drunk with Bhang or Indian hemp.
[FN#408] In text, "Yakhat," probably clerical error for
"Yakhbut," lit. = he was panting in a state of unconsciousness:
see Dozy, Suppl. s. v.
[FN#409] In text "Al-Dan, which is I presume a clerical error for
"Al-Uzn" = ear. ["Dan," with the dual "Danayn," and "Wudn," with
the plural "Audan," are popular forms for the literary "Uzn."-
-ST.]
[FN#410] This name has occurred in MS. p. 655, but it is a mere
nonentity until p. 657--the normal incuriousness. Heron dubs him
"Rabir."
[FN#411] In the text "Zimmat" = obligation, protection,
clientship.
[FN#412] "Sahha 'alakah" (=a something) "fi haza 'l-Amri." The
first word appears de trop being enclosed in brackets in the MS.
[FN#413] "Wa yabki 'alaykum Mabalu-h." [For "Mabal" I would read
"Wabal," in the sense of crime or punishment, and translate:
"lest the guilt of it rest upon you."--ST.)
[FN#414] In the text "Suwayda" literally "a small and blackish
woman"; and "Suwayda al-Kalb" (the black one of the heart) =
original sin, as we should say. [The diminutive of "Sayyid" would
be "Suwayyid," as "Kuwayyis" from "Kayyis," and "Juwayyid" from
"Jayyid" (comp. supra p. 3). "Suwayd" and "Suwayda" are
diminutives of "Aswad," black, and its fem. "Sauda" respectively,
meaning blackish. The former occurs in "Umm al-Suwayd" = anus.
"Suwayda al-Kalb" = the blackish drop of clotted blood in the
heart, is synonymous with "Habbat al-Kalb" = the grain in the
heart, and corresponds to our core of the heart. Metaphorically
both are used for "original sin."--ST.]
[FN#415] "Yakah Thiyabish;" the former word being Turkish (M.
Houdas).
[FN#416] Arab. "Kaunayn" = the two entities, this world and the
other world, the past and the future, etc. Here it is opposed to
"'A'lamina," here 'Awalim = the (three) worlds, for which see
vol. ii. 236.
[FN#417] In text "Changul," again written with a three-dotted
Chim.
[FN#418] In text "Al-Mazrab" which M. Houdas translates cet
endroit.
[FN#419] In text "Yabahh" = saying "Bah, Bah!"
[FN#420] In text "Bahr al-Azrak" = the Blue Sea, commonly applied
to the Mediterranean: the origin of the epithet is readily
understood by one who has seen the Atlantic or the Black Sea.
[FN#421] i.e. "The Stubborn," "The Obstinate."
[FN#422] In text "Al-Jawadit," where M. Houdas would read
"Al-Hawadith" which he renders by animaux fraichement tues.
[FN#423] In the text "Kabad" = the liver, the sky-vault, the
handle or grasp of a bow.
[FN#424] In the text "Mina" = a port both in old Egyptian and
mod. Persian: see "Mitrahinna," vol. ii. 257.
[FN#425] "Al-Nakair," plur. of "Nakir" = a dinghy, a dug-out.
[FN#426] For this "Pa-andaz," as the Persians call it, see vol.
iii. 141.
[FN#427] In text "Kataba Zayjata-ha," the word has before been
noticed.
[FN#428] Again "Hiza bi-Zayjati-ha" = le bonheur de ses
aventures.
[FN#429] This impalement ("Salb," which elsewhere means
crucifying, vol. iii. 25) may be a barbarous punishment but it is
highly cffective, which after all is its principal object. Old
Mohammed Ali of Egypt never could have subjugated and disciplined
the ferocious Badawi of Al-Asir, the Ophir region South of
Al-Hijaz, without the free use of the stake. The banditti dared
to die but they could not endure the idea of their bodies being
torn to pieces and devoured by birds and beasts. The stake
commonly called "Khazuk", is a stout pole pointed at one end, and
the criminal being thrown upon his belly is held firm whilst the
end is passed up his fundament. His legs and body are then lashed
to it and it is raised by degrees and planted in a hole already
dug, an agonising part of the process. If the operation be
performed by an expert who avoids injuring any mortal part, the
wretch may live for three days suffering the pangs of thirst; but
a drink of water causes hemorrhage and instant death. This was
the case with the young Moslem student who murdered the excellent
Marshal Kleber in the garden attached to Shepherd's Hotel, Cairo,
wherein, by the by, he suffered for his patriotic crime. Death as
in crucifixion is brought on by cramps and nervous exhaustion,
for which see Canon Farrar (Life of Christ, ii. 392 et seqq.).
[FN#430] Archaeological Review, July, 1888, pp. 331-342.
[FN#431] The proper names are overrun with accents and
diaeretical points, of which I have here retained but few.
[FN#432] Particularly mentioning Syntipas, the Forty Vizirs, a
Turkish romance relating to Alexander, in 120 volumes; and
Mohammed al-'Aufi.
[FN#433] Probably similar to those described in the story of the
Warlock and the Cook (antea, pp. 106-112)
[FN#434] The last clause is very short and obscure in the French
"qu'il n'a pas son satire," but what follows shows the real
meaning to be that given above. (W. F. K.)
[FN#435] This I take to be the meaning of the words, "une autre
monde sous la terre par sept fois." (W.F.K.)
[FN#436] Galland writes "on fait un jeu de Giret (tournoi), etc."
(W. F. K.)
[FN#437] Perhaps an error of Galland's. (W. F. K.)
[FN#438] I do not know the German edition referred to.
[FN#439] This great class of tales is quite as widely extended in
the north of Europe and Asia, as in the south. We meet with them
in Siberia, and they are particularly common in Lapland I
believe, too, that the Indian story of the Red Swan (referred to
by Longfellow, Hiawatha xii.) is only a Swan Maiden legend in a
rather modified form. As usual, we find a bizarre form of the
Swan Maiden story among the Samoghitians of Lithuania. The Zemyne
is a one eyed venomous snake, with black blood which cures all
diseases and neutralises all magic. It is an enchanted maiden;
and sometimes the skin has been stolen, and she has reamed a man.
But if she recovers her skin, she resumes her snake-form, and
bites and kills her husband and children. Many other strange
things are related of the Zemyne (Veckenstedt, Mythen, Sagen, und
Legenden der Zamaiten, ii., pp. 149-152).]
[FN#440] About twenty pounds.
[FN#441] Spitta Bey (p. 27 note) suggests that this is a
reminiscence of the ancient Egyptian idea of the Scarabaeus which
typifies life.
[FN#442] Southey, in his story of the Young Dragon, relates how
Satan, disapproving of the rapid conversion of the inhabitants of
Antioch to Christianity, laid an egg, and hatched out a dragon,
which he sent to destroy the inhabitants. But a Pagan whose
Christian daughter was devoted to the dragon by lot, stole the
thumb from a relic (the hand of John the Baptist), as he
pretended to kiss it, and cast it into the mouth of the dragon,
and blew him up.
[FN#443] This is a variant of the Nose-Tree; I do not remember
another in genuine Oriental literature (cf. Nights, x., app., p.
449).]
[FN#444] How small the world becomes in this story!
[FN#445] It is evident that a young she-bear is all that is
meant.
[FN#446]These Vigilants and Purifiers, with that hypocritical
severity which ever makes the worst sinner in private the most
rigorous judge in public, lately had the imprudent impudence to
summons a publisher who had reprinted the Decameron with the
"objectionable passages" in French. Mr. Alderman Faudell Phillips
had the good sense contemptuously to dismiss the summons.
Englishmen are no longer what they were if they continue to
tolerate this Ignoble espionnage of Vicious and prurient virtuous
"Associations." If they mean real work why do they commence by
condemning scholar-like works, instead of cleansing the many foul
cesspools of active vice which are a public disgrace to London.
[FN#447] It may serve the home-artist and the home-reader to
point out a few of the most erroneous The harp (i. 143) is the
Irish and not the Eastern, yet the latter has been shown In i.
228; and the "Kanun " (ii. 77) is a reproduction from Lane's
Modern Egyptians. The various Jinnis are fanciful, not
traditional, as they should be (see inter alia Doughty's Arabia
Deserta, ii. 3, etc.). In i. 81 and ii. 622 appears a specimen
bogie with shaven chin and "droopers" by way of beard and
mustachios: mostly they have bestial or simiad countenances with
rabbits' ears, goats' horns and so forth (i. 166, 169; ii. 97,
100), instead of faces more or less human and eyes disposed
perpendicularly. The spreading yew-tree (i. 209) is utterly
misplaced. In many the action is excessive, after the fashion of
the Illustrateds (i. 281, 356, 410 and 565; ii. 366, 374). The
scymitar and the knife, held in the left hand or slung by the
left flank, are wholly out of order (i. 407 ii.281,374; iii.460)
and in iii. 355, the blade is wider than the wielder's waist. In
i. 374 the astrolabe is also held in the left hand. The features
are classical as those of Arsinoe, certainly not Egyptian, in i.
15; i. 479 and passim. The beggar-women must not wander with
faces bare and lacking "nose-bags" as in i. 512. The Shah (i.
523) wears modern overalls strapped down over dress-bottines:
Moreover he holds a straight-bladed European court-sword, which
is correct in i. 527. The spears (i. 531) are European not
Asiatic, much less Arabian, whose beams are often 12-15 feet
long. Aziz (i. 537) has no right to tricot drawers and shoes
tightened over the instep like the chaussure of European
moutards: his foot (i. 540) is wholly out of drawing, like his
hand, and the toes are European distortions. The lady writing (i.
581) lacks all local colour; she should sit at squat, support the
paper in the hollow of her left instead of using a portfolio, and
with her right ply the reed or "pen of brass." In vol. ii. 57 the
lion is an absurdum, big as a cow or a camel, and the same
caricature of the King of Beasts occurs elsewhere (i. 531; ii.
557 and iii. 250). The Wazir (ii. 105) wears the striped caftan
of a Cairene scribe or shopkeeper. The two birds (ii. 140) which
are intended for hawks (see ii. 130) have the compact tails and
the rounded-off wings of pigeons. I should pity Amjad and As'ad
if packed into a "bullock trunk" like that borne by the mule in
ii. 156. The Jew's daughter (ii. 185) and the Wali of Bulak (ii.
504) carry European candlesticks much improved in ii. 624. The
Persian leach (ii. 195) is habited most unlike an 'Ajami, while
the costume is correct in ii. 275. The Badawi mounts (ii. 263) an
impossible Arab with mane and tail like the barb's in pictures.
The street-dogs (ii. 265), a notable race, become European curs
of low degree. The massage of the galleys (ii. 305) would suit a
modern racing-yacht. Utterly out of place are the women's
costumes such as the Badawi maidens (ii. 335), Rose-in Hood (ii.
565), and the girl of the Banu Odhrah (iii.250), while the Lady
Zubaydah (ii. 369) is coiffee with a European coronet. The
sea-going ship (ii. 615) is a Dahabiyah fit only for the Nile.
The banana-trees (ii. 621) tower at least 80 feet tall and the
palms and cocoa-nut trees (ii. 334; iii. 60) are indicated only
by their foliage, not by their characteristic boles. The box (ii.
624) is European and modern: in the Eastern "Sakhkharah" the lid
fits into the top, thus saving it from the "baggage-smasher." In
iii. 76, the elephant, single-handed, uproots a tree rivalling a
century-old English oak. The camel-saddle (iii. 247) is neither
Eastern nor possible for the rider, but it presently improves
(iii. 424 and elsewhere). The emerging of the Merfolk (iii. 262)
is a "tableau," a transformation-scene of the transpontine
pantomime, and equally theatrical is the attitude of wicked Queen
Lab (iii. 298), while the Jinni, snatching away Daulat Khatun
(iii.341), seems to be waltzing with her in horizontal position.
A sun-parasol, not a huge Oriental umbrella, is held over the
King's head (iii. 377). The tail-piece, the characteristic Sphinx
(iii. 383), is as badly drawn as it well can be, a vile
caricature. Khalifah the Fisherman wears an English night-gown
(iii. 558) with the side-locks of a Polish Jew (iii. 564). The
dancing- girl (iii. 660) is equally reprehensible in form,
costume and attitude, and lastly, the Fellah ploughing (iii. 700)
should wear a felt skull-cap instead of a turband, be stripped to
the waist and retain nothing but a rag around the middle.
I have carefully noted these lapses and incongruities: not the
less, however, I thoroughly appreciate the general excellence of
the workmanship, and especially the imaginative scenery and the
architectural designs of Mr. W. Harvey. He has shown the world
how a work of the kind should be illustrated, and those who would
surpass him have only to avoid the minor details here noticed.
[FN#448] See in M. Zotenberg's "Ala al-Din" the text generally;
also p. 14.
[FN#449] Mr. Payne, in his Essay, vol. ix., 281, computes less
than two hundred tales in all omitting the numerous incidentals;
and he notices that the number corresponds with the sum of the
"Night-stories" attributed to the Hazar Afsan by the learned
author of the "Fihrist" (see Terminal Essay, vol. x. pp. 70). In
p. 367 (ibid.) he assumes the total at 264.
[FN#450] This parlous personage thought proper to fall foul of me
(wholly unprovoked) in the Athenaeum of August 25, '88. I give
his production in full:--
Lord Stratford De Redcliffe.
August 18, 1888.
In the notice of Sir R. Burton's "Life" in to-day's Athenaeum it
is mentioned that his biographer says that Capt. Burton proposed
to march with his Bashi-bazuks to the relief of Kars, but was
frustrated by Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, who, according to Sir
Richard, "gained a prodigious reputation in Europe, chiefly by
living out of it."
This is a strange inversion of facts. The proposal to relieve
Kars by way of Redoutkale and Kutais originated, not with Capt.
Burton, but with the Turkish Seraskier, who recommended for this
purpose the employment of Vivian's Turkish Contingent and part of
Beatson's Horse ("his Bashi-bazuks"), in which Capt. Burton held
a staff appointment. In the last days of June, 1855, General
Mansfield, Lord Stratford's military adviser, was in constant
communication on this subject with the Turkish Ministers, and the
details of the expedition were completely arranged to the
satisfaction of military opinion, both British and Turkish, at
Constantinople. Lord Stratford officially recommended the plan to
his Government, and in his private letters to the Foreign
Secretary strongly urged it upon him and expressed a sanguine
hope of its success. But on July 14th, Lord Clarendon
telegraphed: "The plan for reinforcing the army at Kars contained
in your despatches of 30th June and 1st inst. is disapproved."
Lord Panmure really "frustrated" the Turkish plan; Lord Stratford
never "frustrated" any attempt to succour the Army of Asia, but,
contrariwise, did all in his power to forward the object.
As to the amiable reference to the Great Elchi's reputation, no
one knows better than Sir R. Burton by what queer methods
reputations may be annexed, but it is strange that anyone with
the reputation of a traveller should consider Constantinople to
be "out of Europe."
S. Lane-Poole.
The following was my reply:--
Lord Stratford De Redcliffe and Mr. S. Lane-Poole.
London, Aug. 26, 1888.
Will you kindly spare me space for a few lines touching matters
personal?
I am again the victim (Athenaeum, August 25) of that everlasting
reclame. Mr. S. Lane-Poole has contracted to "do" a life of Lord
Stratford, and, ergo, he condemns me in magistral tone and a
style of uncalled-for impertinence, to act as his "advt." In
relating how, by order of the late General Beatson, then
commanding Bash-buzuk (Bashi-bazuk is the advertiser's own
property), I volunteered to relieve Cars, how I laid the project
before the "Great Eltchee," how it was received with the roughest
language and how my first plan was thoroughly "frustrated." I
have told a true tale, and no more. "A strange perversion of
facts," cries the sapient criticaster, with that normal amenity
which has won for him such honour and troops of unfriends: when
his name was proposed as secretary to the R. A. S., all
prophesied the speediest dissolution of that infirm body.
I am aware that Constantinople is not geographically "out of
Europe." But when Mr. S. Lane-Poole shall have travelled a trifle
more he may learn that ethnologically it is. In fact, most of
South-Eastern Europe holds itself more or less non-European, and
when a Montenegrin marries a Frenchwoman or a German, his family
will tell you that he has wedded a "European."
"No one knows better than Sir R. Burton by what queer methods
reputation may be annexed." Heavens, what English! And what may
the man mean? But perhaps he alludes in his own silly, saltless,
sneering way to my Thousand Nights and a Night, which has shown
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