[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 prmditation, 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 Ftimah, 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 , formative of the singular of many verbal nouns, such as bin, saf, jal; with the masculine plurals ending in the same letters, such as hukam, ghniy, k£far; 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.