Arabian Nights: Volume 14 Footnotes

Arabian Nights, Volume 14

Footnotes

[FN#1] From the Wortley Montague MS. vol. iii. pp. 80-96. J. Scott: vol. vi. pp. 1-7. Histoire du Sulthan d'Yemen et de ses trots fils; Gauttier vol. vi. pp. 158-165.

[FN#2] The worst disease in human life, now recognised as "Annus Domini."

[FN#3] Arab. "Mál wa Ghawál": in Badawi parlance "Mál" would=flocks and herds (pecunia, pecus); and amongst the burghers=ready money, coin. Another favourite jingle of similar import is "Mál wa Nawál."

There is an older form of the Sultan of Al Yaman and his three sons, to be found in M. Zotenberg's "Chronique de Tabari," vol. ii. pp. 357-61.

[FN#4] In the W. M. MS. the sisters are called "Shahrzádeh" (=City born) and "Dinárzádeh" (=ducat born) and the royal brothers Shahrbáz (=City player or City falcon) and Kahramán (vol. i. p. 1) alias Samarbán (ibid.). I shall retain the old spelling.

[FN#5] I have hitherto translated "wa adraka (masc.) Shahrázáda al-Sabáh," as=And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day; but it is more correct as well as more picturesque to render the phrase "was surprised (or overtaken) by the dawn."

[FN#6] Arab. "'Adrán,"=much and heavy rain.

[FN#7] For "Halwá" see vol. ii. pp. 47-212. Scott (vol. vi. 413) explains "Hámiz" as "a species of small grain," probably confounding it with Hummus (or Himmis)=vetches. It is the pop. term for pickles, "sour meat" as opposed to "sweetmeats." The Arabs divide the camel's pasture into "Khullah" which means sweet food called bread and into "Hámiz" termed fruit: the latter is composed mainly of salsolaceae, and as camels feed upon it during the hot season it makes them drink. Hence in Al Hariri (Preface) "I change the pasture," i.e., I pass from grave to gay, from light to dignified style. (Chenery, p. 274).

[FN#8] This is the modern version of the tale which the author of "Zadig" has made familiar to Europe. The hero is brought before the King and Queen of Babylon for stealing a horse and a dog; and, when held by the chief "Destour" (priest) to be a thief, justifies himself. I have given in full the older history from Tabari, the historian (vixit A.D. 839-923). For the tracker ("Paggí") and the art of tracking see Sind Revisited, i. 180-183. I must again express my wonder that the rural police of Europe still disdain the services of trained dogs when these are about to be introduced into the army.

[FN#9] Arab. "Bitá'i"=my own. I have already noticed that this is the Egypt. form and the Nilotes often turn the 'Ayn into an H, e.g. Bitáht for Bitá'at, e.g. Ash Shabakah bitáht as-Sayd, thy net for fishing. (Spitta Bey, Contes Arabes Modernes, p. 43.)

[FN#10] Arab. "Mukabbab;" prop. vaulted, arched, domed in Kubbah (or cupola)-shape.

[FN#11] Arab. "Firásah." "Sciences are of three kinds: one the science of Faith, another the science of Physiognomy (Firásah), and another the science of the Body; but unless there be the science of Physiognomy, other science availeth not." So says "The Forty Vizirs:" Lady's vith story and Vizir's xxxist story. For a note on "Firásah" see vol. viii. 326.

[FN#12] Arab. "In lam tazidd Kayni"=lit. unless thou oppose my forming or composition.

[FN#13] Arab. "Faráfish," a word which I cannot find in the dictionary, and so translate according to the context. Dr. Steingass remarks that the nearest approach to it would be "Faráfík" (plur. of Furfák)=fine, thin or soft bread.

[FN#14] See, in the "Turkish Tales" by Petis de la Croix (Weber, Tales of the East, vol. iii. 196), the History of the Sophi of Baghdad, where everything returns to (or resembles) its origin. Thus the Wazir who proposed to cut up a criminal and hang him in the shambles was the self-convicted son of a butcher; he who advised boiling him down and giving his flesh to the dogs was the issue of a cook, and the third who proposed to pardon him was nobly born. See Night cccxli.

[FN#15] Arab. "Al-Mafyaat," lit.=a shady place; a locality whereupon the sun does not rise.

[FN#16] Arab. "Ja'idiyah," a favourite word in this MS. "Ja'ad"=a curl, a liberal man: Ja'ad al-yad=miserly, and Abú ja'dah=father of curls,=a wolf. Scott (passim) translates the word "Sharper;" Gore Ouseley "Labourer;" and De Sacy (Chrestomathie ii. 369, who derives it from Ju'd=avoir les cheveux crépus): in Egypt, homme de la populace, canaille. He finds it in the Fabrica Linguæ Arab. of Germanus of Silesia (p. 786)=ignavis, hebes, stupidus, esp. a coward. Ibrahim Salamah of Alexandria makes the term signify in Syria, impudent, thieving, wicked. Spitta Bey translates this word musicien ambulant in his Gloss. to Contes Arabes, p. 171. According to Dr. Steingass, who, with the Muhít al-Muhít, reads "Ju'aydíyah," Ju'ayd is said to be the P. N. of an Egyptian clown, who, with bell-hung cap and tambourine in hand, wandered about the streets singing laudatory doggrel and pestering the folk for money. Many vagabonds who adopted this calling were named after him and the word was generalised in that sense.

[FN#17] MS. vol. iii. pp. 96-121. Scott, "Story of the Three Sharpers and the Sultan," pp. 7-17; Gauttier, Histoire des trois filous et d'un Sulthan, vi. 165-176.

[FN#18] Arab. Yasrahú=roaming, especially at early dawn; hence the wolf is called "Sirhán," and Yaklishu (if I read it aright) is from Kulsh, and equivalent to "kicking" (their heels).

[FN#19] Nusf=half a dirham, drachma or franc, see ii. 37; vi. 214, etc.

[FN#20] Bast, a preparation of Bhang (Cannabis Sativa), known in Egypt but not elsewhere: see Lane, M. E., chapt. xv. Here it is made synonymous with "Hashísh"=Bhang in general.

[FN#21] Ghaushah, a Persianism for which "Ghaughá" is a more common form. "Ghaush" is a tree of hard wood whereof musical instruments were made; hence the mod. words "Ghásha" and "Ghawwasha"=he produced a sound, and "Ghaushah"=tumult, quarrel. According to Dr. Steingass, the synon. in the native dicts. are "Khisám," "Lag-hat," "Jalabah," etc.

[FN#22] Said ironicè, the jeweller being held to be one of the dishonest classes, like the washerman, the water-carrier, the gardener, etc. In England we may find his representative in the "silversmith," who will ask a pound sterling for a bit of metal which cost him perhaps five shillings or even less, and who hates to be bought by weight. The Arab. has "Jauhar-ji," a Turkish form for Jauhari; and here "jauhar" apparently means a pearl, the stone once peculiar to royalty in Persia, but the kind of gem is left undetermined.

[FN#23] Arab. "Sáza, yasízu," not a dictionary word. Perhaps it is a clerical error for "Sasa," he groomed or broke in a horse, hence understood all about horses.

[FN#24] In the orig. "Shorbah," Pers.=a mess of pottage: I have altered it for reasons which will presently appear.

[FN#25] Arab. "Ghabasah," from Ghabas=obscure, dust-coloured.

[FN#26] Arab. "Súsah"=a weevil, a moth, a worm. It does not mean simply a flaw, but a live animal (like our toads in the rock); and in the popular version of the tale the lapidary discovers its presence by the stone warming in his hand.

[FN#27] Arab. "Mashá'íli" the cresset-bearer who acted hangman: see vol. i. 259, etc.

[FN#28] Arab. "Ta'kíl," tying up a camel's foreleg above the knee; the primary meaning of Akl, which has so many secondary significations.

[FN#29] Arab. "Suwán," lit.=rock, syenite, hard stone, flint; here a marteau de guerre.

[FN#30] Arab. "Hálik"=intensely black, so as to look blue under a certain angle of light.

[FN#31] Arab. "Rikáb" (=stirrup) + "dár" Pers. (=holder).

[FN#32] I have ransacked dictionaries and vocabularies but the word is a mere blank.

[FN#33] Arab. "Jámúsah." These mules are believed in by the Arabs. Shaw and other travellers mention the Mauritanian "Jumart," the breed between a bull and a mare (or jennyass) or an ass and a cow. Buffon disbelieved in the mongrel, holding it to be a mere bardeau, got by a stallion horse out of an ass. Voltaire writes "Jumarre" after German fashion and Littré derives it from jument + art (finale péjorative), or the Languedoc "Gimere" which according to Diez suggests "Chimæra." Even in London not many years ago a mule was exhibited as the issue of a horse and a stag. No Indian ever allows his colt to drink buffalo's milk, the idea being that a horse so fed will lie down in instead of fording or swimming a stream.

[FN#34] See Sindbad the Seaman, vol. vi. 9.

[FN#35] Arab. "Mubattat" from batt=a duck: in Persia the Batt-i-May is a wine-glass shaped like the duck. Scott (vi. 12) translates "thick and longish."

[FN#36] Arab. "his Harím"; see vol. i. 165; iv. 126. VOL. XIV.

[FN#37] Again "he" for she. See vol. ii. 179.

[FN#38] Arab. "Gháziyah": for the plur. "Ghawázi" see vol. i. 214; also Lane (M.E.) index under "Ghazeeyehs."

[FN#39] The figure prothesis without apodosis. Understand "will slay thee": see vol. vi. 203.

[FN#40] Because the girl had not been a professional dancer, i.e a public prostitute.

[FN#41] Arab. "Amán"=quarter, mercy: see vol. i. 342.

[FN#42] For the "Mandíl" of mercy see vol. i. 343; for that of dismissal x. 47 and Ibn Khall. iv. 211. In Spitta Bey's "Contes Arabes" (p. 223), I find throwing the kerchief (tarammá al mahramah) used in the old form of choosing a mate. In the Tale of the Sultan of AlYaman and his three Sons (Supplem. Nights, vol. iv.) the Princesses drop their kerchiefs upon the head of the Prince who had saved them, by way of pointing him out.

[FN#43] Arab. "Sattár:" see vols. i. 258 and iii. 41.

[FN#44] In the text "Arghá" for "Arkhá"=he "brayed" (like an ostrich, etc.) for "his limbs relaxed." It reminds one of the German missionary's fond address to his flock, "My prethren, let us bray!"

[FN#45] Arab. "Azbad," from Zbd (Zabd)=foaming, frothing, etc., whence "Zubaydah," etc.

[FN#46] Arab. "Zabh" (Zbh)=the ceremonial killing of animals for food: see vols. v. 391; viii. 44. I may note, as a proof of how modern is the civilisation of Europe that the domestic fowl was unknown to Europe till about the time of Pericles (ob. B.C. 429).

[FN#47] See in "The Forty Vizirs" (Lady's ivth Tale) how Khizr tells the King the origin of his Ministers from the several punishments which they propose for the poor man. I have noticed this before in Night cccxxxiii. Boethius, translated by Chaucer, explains the underlying idea, "All thynges seken ayen to hir propre course and all thynges rejoysen in hir returninge agayne to hir nature."

[FN#48] For the Taylasán hood see vol. iv. 286.

[FN#49] The "Kalansuwah"-cap is noted by Lane (A. N. chapt. iii. 22) as "Kalensuweh." In M. E. (Supplement i. "The Copts") he alters the word to Kalás'weh and describes it as a strip of woollen stuff, of a deep blue or black colour, about four inches wide, attached beneath the turban and hanging down the back to the length of about a foot. It is the distinguishing mark of the Coptic regular clergy.

[FN#50] W. M. MS. vol. iii. pp. 121-141. Scott, "The Adventures of the abdicated Sultan," pp. 18-19; including the "History of Mahummud, Sultan of Cairo," pp. 20-30.

[FN#51] "Káhirah." I repeat my belief (Pilgrimage i. 171) that "Káhirah," whence our "Cairo" through the Italian corruption, means not la victorieuse (Mediant al-Káhirah) as D'Herbelot has it; but City of Kahir or Mars the planet. It was so called because as Richardson informed the world (sub voce) it was founded in A.H. 358 (=A.D. 968) when the warlike planet was in the ascendant by the famous General Jauhar a Dalmatian renegade (not a "Greek slave") for the first of the Fatimite dynasty Al-Mu'izz li 'l-dini 'lláh.

[FN#52] According to Caussin de Perceval (père) in his translation of the "Contes Arabes," there are four wonders in the Moslem world: (1) the Pharos of Alexandria; (2) the Bridge of Sanjia in Northern Syria; (3) The Church of Rohab (Edessa); and (4) the Amawi Mosque of Damascus.

[FN#53] Arab. "Faddah," lit.=silver, because made of copper alloyed with nobler metal; the smallest Egyptian coin=Nuss (i.e. Nusf, or half a dirham) and the Turk. paráh. It is the fortieth of the piastre and may be assumed at the value of a quarter-farthing.

[FN#54] This word, in Egypt. "Harág," is the cry with which the Dallál (broker) announces each sum bidden at an auction.

[FN#55] The Portuguese Xerafim: Supplemental Nights, vol. iii. 166.

[FN#56] A Khan or caravanserai: see vol. i. 266 and Pilgrimage i. 60.

[FN#57] Arab. "Hilm" (vision) "au 'Ilm" (knowledge) a phrase peculiar to this MS.

[FN#58] The careless scribe forgets that the Sultan is speaking and here drops into the third person. This "Enallage of persons" is, however, Koranic and therefore classical: Arab critics aver that in such cases the "Hikáyah" (=literal reproduction of a discourse, etc.) passes into an "Ikhbár"=mere account of the same discourse). See Al Mas'údi iii. 216. I dare not reproduce this figure in English.

[FN#50] Arab. "Auzah," the Pers. Oták and the Turk. Otah (vulg. "Oda" whence "Odalisque"), a popular word in Egypt and Syria.

[FN#60] Arab. "Al Afandiyah" showing the late date or reduction of the tale. The Turkish word derives from the Romaic Afentis ({Greek letters}) the corrupted O.G.{Greek letters}=an absolute commander, and "authentie." The word should not be written as usual "Effendi," but "Efendi," as Prof. Galland has been careful to do.

[FN#61] Arab. "Al-dakhlah"; repeatedly referred to in The Nights. The adventure is a replica of that in "Abu Mohammed highs Lazybones," vol. iv., pp. 171-174.

[FN#62] Usual in the East, not in England, where some mothers are idiots enough not to tell their daughters what to expect on the wedding night. Hence too often unpleasant surprises, disgust and dislike. The most modern form is that of the chloroform'd bride upon whose pillow the bridegroom found a paper pinned and containing the words, "Mamma says you're to do what you like."

[FN#63] Arab. "Akhaztu dam wajhhi há."

[FN#64] Arab. "Dilk" more commonly "Khirkah," the tattered and pieced robe of a religious mendicant.

[FN#65] Arab. "Darbálah." Scott (p. 24) must have read "Gharbálah" when he translated "A turban full of holes as a sieve." In classical Arabic the word is written "Darbalah," and seems to correspond with the Egyptian "Darábukkah," a tabor of wood or earthenware figured by Lane (M.E. chapt. xviii.). It is, like the bowl, part of the regular Darwaysh's begging gear.

[FN#66] Vulg. Maghribi. For this word see the story of Alaeddin, Supplem., vol. iii. 31. According to Heron, "History of Maugraby," the people of Provence, Languedoc and Gascony use Maugraby as a term of cursing: Maugrebleu being used in other parts of France.

[FN#67] In text "Fanárát"; the Arab. plur. of the Pers. "Fanár"=a light-house, and here equiv. to the Mod. Gr. {Greek letters}, a lantern, the Egypt. "Fánús."

[FN#68] This Sultan of the Jann preceded by sweepers, flag-bearers and tent-pitchers always appears in the form of second-sight called by Egyptians "Darb al Mandal"=striking the magic circle in which the enchanter sits when he conjures up spirits. Lane (M. E. chapt. xii.) first made the "Cairo Magician" famous in Europe, but Herklots and others had described a cognate practice in India many years before him.

[FN#69] Arab, "Jáwúsh" for Cháwush (vulg. Chiaush) Turk.=an army serjeant, a herald or serjeant at arms; an apparitor or officer of the Court of Chancery (not a "Mace-bearer or Messenger," Scott). See vol. vii. 327.

[FN#70] Arab. from Persian "Bímáristán," a "sick-house," hospital, a mad-house: see vol. i. 288.

[FN#71] The text says only that "he was reading:" sub. the Holy Volume.

[FN#72] MS. vol. iii., pp. 142-168. Scott, "Story of the First Lunatic," pp. 31 44. Gauttier, Histoire du Premier Fou, vol. vi. 187. It is identical with No. ii. of Chavis and Cazotte, translated by C. de Perceval, Le Bimaristan (i.e. the Hospital), ou Histoire du jeune Marchand de Bagdad et de la Dame inconnue (vol. viii. pp. 179-180). Heron terms it the "Story of Halechalbe (Ali Chelebi?) and the Unknown Lady," and the narrative is provided with a host of insipid and incorrect details, such as "A gentleman enjoying his pipe." The motif of this tale is common in Arab. folk lore, and it first appears in the "Tale of Azíz and Azízah," ii. 328. A third variant will occur further on.

[FN#73] Spelt in vol. iii. 143 and elsewhere, "Khwájá" for "Khwájah."

[FN#74] Arab. "Hubban li-raasik,"=out of love for thy head, i.e. from affection for thee. Dr. Steingass finds it analogous with the Koranic "Hubban li 'llahi" (ii. 160), where it is joined with "Ashaddu"=stronger, as regards love to or for Allah, more Allah loving. But it can stand adverbially by itself=out of love for Allah, for Allah's sake.

[FN#75] Arab. "Zahr," lit. and generically a blossom; but often used in a specific sense throughout The Nights.

[FN#76] Arab. "Kursi" here=a square wooden seat without back and used for sitting cross-legged. See Suppl. vol. i. 9.

[FN#77] Arab. "Sujjádah"=lit. a praying carpet, which Lane calls "Seggádeh."

[FN#78] Arab. "Wakíl," lit.=agent: here the woman's representative, corresponding roughly with the man who gives away the bride amongst ourselves.

[FN#79] The mention of coffee and sherbet, here and in the next page, makes the tale synchronous with that of Ma'arúf or the xviith. century.

[FN#80] The MS. writes "Zardakát" for "Zardakhán": see below.

[FN#81] Scott (p. 36) has "mahazzim (for maházim), al Zerdukkaut (for al-Zardakhán)" and "munnaskif (for manáshif) al fillfillee." Of the former he notes (p. 414) "What this composition is I cannot define: it may be translated compound of saffron, yoke of egg or of yellowish drugs." He evidently confounds it with the Pers. Zard-i-Kháyah=yoke of egg. Of the second he says "compound of peppers, red, white and black." Lane (The Nights, vol. i. p. 8) is somewhat scandalised at such misrepresentation, translating the first "apron-napkins of thick silk," and the second "drying towels of Líf or palm-fibre," further suggesting that the text may have dropped a conjunction=drying towels and fibre.

[FN#82] Arab. "Líwàn al-barrání," lit.=the outer bench in the "Maslahk" or apodyterium.

[FN#83] Arab. "Ma'jún," pop. applied to an electuary of Bhang (Cannabis sativa): it is the "Maagoon" sold by the "Maagungee" of Lane (M.E. chapt. xv.). Here, however, the term may be used in the sense of "confections" generally, the sweetmeats eaten by way of restoratives in the Bath.

[FN#84] He speaks of taking her maidenhead as if it were porter's work and so defloration was regarded by many ancient peoples. The old Nilotes incised the hymen before congress; the Phœnicians, according to Saint Athanasius, made a slave of the husband's abate it. The American Chibchas and Caribs looked upon virginity as a reproach, proving that the maiden had never inspired love. For these and other examples see p. 72, chap. iii. "L'Amour dans l'Humanité," by P. Mantegazza, a civilised and unprejudiced traveller.

[FN#85] Arab. "Zill," lit. "shadow me."

[FN#86] Arab. "Istinshák," one of the items of the "Wuzú" or lesser ablution: see vol. v. 198.

[FN#87] In Chavis her name is "Zaliza" and she had "conceived an unhappy passion" for her master, to whom she "declared her sentiments without reserve."

[FN#88] Arab. "Armaghánát," the Arab. plur. of "Armaghán," Pers.=a present.

[FN#89] In the text, "jumlatun min al-mál," which Scott apparently reads "Hamlat al-jamal" and translates (p. 38) "a camel's load of treasure."

[FN#90] The learned man was to exorcise some possible "evil spirit" or "the eye," a superstition which seems to have begun, like all others, with the ancient Egyptians.

[FN#91] The MS., I have said, always writes "Khwájá" instead of "Khwájah" (plur. "Khwájat"): for this word, the modern Egyptian "Howájah," see vol. vi. 46. Here it corresponds with our "goodman."

[FN#92] Arab. "Yatazáwadú"=increasing.

[FN#93] By which she accepted the offer.

[FN#94] This incident has already occurred in the tale of the Portress (Second Lady of Baghdad, vol. i. 179), but here the consequences are not so tragical. In Chavis the vulgar cock becomes "a golden Censer ornamented with diamonds, to be sold for two thousand sequins" (each=9 shill.).

[FN#95] A royal sign of wrath generally denoting torture and death. See vols. iv. 72; vi. 250.

[FN#96] Arab. "Yá Sallám," addressed to Allah.

[FN#97] Here more is meant than meets the eye. When a Moslem's head was struck off, in the days of the Caliphate, it was placed under his armpit, whereas that of a Jew or a Christian was set between his legs, close to the seat of dishonour.

[FN#98] In Chavis and Cazotte the lady calls to "Morigen, her first eunuch, and says, Cut off his head!" Then she takes a theorbo and "composed the following couplets"--of which the first may suffice:

         Since my swain unfaithful proves,
         Let him go to her he loves, etc., etc.

[FN#99] The device has already occurred in "Ali Baba."

[FN#100] Arab. “Al-ma’húd min ghayr wa’d.”

[FN#101] In Chavis and Cazotte the king is Harun al-Rashid and the masterfl young person proves to be Zeraida, the favourite daughter of Ja’afar Bermaki; whilst the go-between is not the young lady’s mother but Nemana, an old governess. The over-jealous husband in the Second Lady of Baghdad (vol. i. 179) is Al-Amín, son and heir of the Caliph Marun al-Rashid.

[FN#102] Vol. iii. pp. 168-179: and Scott's "Story of the Second Lunatic," pp. 45-51. The name is absurdly given as the youth was anything but a lunatic; but this is Arab symmetromania. The tale is virtually the same as "Women's Wiles," in Supplemental Nights, vol. ii. 99-107.

[FN#103] This forward movement on the part of the fair one is held to be very insulting by the modest Moslem. This incident is wanting in "Women's Wiles."

[FN#104] Arab. "Labbah," usually the part of the throat where ornaments are hung or camels are stabbed.

[FN#105] The chief of the Moslem Church. For the origin of the office and its date (A.D. 1453) see vols. ix. 289, and x. 81.

[FN#106] Arab. "Satíhah"=a she-Satih: this seer was a headless and neckless body, with face in breast, lacking members and lying prostrate on the ground. His fellow, "Shikk," was a half-man, and both foretold the divine mission of Mohammed. (Ibn Khall. i. 487.)

[FN#107] Arab. "Wakt al-Zuhà;" the division of time between sunrise and midday.

[FN#108] In the text "Sufrah"=the cloth: see vol. i. 178, etc.

[FN#109] Arab. "Ya Tinjír," lit.=O Kettle.

[FN#110] Arab. "Tari," lit.=wet, with its concomitant suggestion, soft and pleasant like desert-rain.

[FN#111] Here meaning "Haste, haste!" See vol. i. 46.

[FN#112] The chief man (Aghá) of the Gypsies, the Jink of Egypt whom Turkish soldiers call Ghiovendé, a race of singers and dancers; in fact professional Nautch-girls. See p. 222, "Account of the Gypsies of India," by David MacRitchie (London, K. Paul, 1886), a most useful manual.

[FN#113] Arab. "Kurúsh," plur of. "Kirsh" (pron. "Girsh"), the Egyptian piastre=one-fifth of a shilling. The word may derive from Karsh=collecting money; but it is more probably a corruption of Groschen, primarily a great or thick piece of money and secondarily a small silver coin=3 kreuzers=1 penny.

[FN#114] The purse ("Kís") is=500 piastres (kurúsh)=£5; and a thousand purses compose the Treasury ("Khaznah")=£5,000.

[FN#115] MS. vol. iii. pp. 179-303. It is Scott's "Story of the Retired Sage and his Pupil, related to the Sultan by the Second Lunatic," vi. pp. 52-67; and Gauttier's Histoire du Sage, vi. 199-2l4. The scene is laid in Cairo.

[FN#116] Meaning that he was an orphan and had, like the well-known widow, "seen better days."

[FN#117] The phrase, I have noted, is not merely pleonastic: it emphasises the assertion that it was a chance day.

[FN#118] An old Plinian fable long current throughout the East. It is the Pers. Ním-chihreh, and the Arab Shikk and possibly Nasnás=nisf al-Nás (?) See vol. v. 333. Shikk had received from Allah only half the form of a man, and his rival diviner Satíh was a shapeless man of flesh without limbs. They lived in the days of a woman named Tarífah, daughter of Al-Khayr al-Himyarí and wife of Amrú bin 'Amir who was famous for having intercourse with the Jann. When about to die she sent for the two, on account of their deformity and the influence exercised upon them by the demons; and, having spat into their mouths, bequeathed to them her Jinni, after which she departed life and was buried at Al-Johfah. Presently they became noted soothsayers; Shikk had issue but Satih none; they lived 300 (some say 600) years, and both died shortly before the birth of the Prophet concerning whom they prophesied. When the Tobba of Al-Yaman dreamed that a dove flew from a holy place and settled in the Tihámah (lowland-seaboard) of Meccah, Satih interpreted it to signify that a Prophet would arise to destroy idols and to teach the best of faiths. The two also predicted (according to Tabari) to Al-Rabí'ah, son of Nasr, a Jewish king of Al-yaman, that the Habash (Abyssinians) should conquer the country, govern it, and be expelled, and after this a Prophet should arise amongst the Arabs and bring a new religion which all should embrace and which should endure until Doomsday. Compare this with the divining damsel in Acts xvi. 16-18.

[FN#119] Arab. "Kahramánah;" the word has before been explained as a nurse, a duenna, an Amazon guarding the Harem. According to C. de Perceval (pè MultinationalA Roman">Pre) it was also the title given by the Abbasides to the Governess of the Serraglio.

[FN#120] So in the Apocrypha ("Tobias" vi. 8). Tobit is taught by the Archangel Raphael to drive away evil spirits (or devils) by the smoke of a bit of fish's heart. The practice may date from the earliest days when "Evil Spirits" were created by man. In India, when Europeans deride the existence of Jinns and Rakshasas, and declare that they never saw one, the people receive this information with a smile which means only, "I should think not! you and yours are worse than any of our devils."

[FN#121] An Inquisitorial costume called in the text "Shámiyát bi al-Nár."

[FN#122] A tribe of the Jinn sometimes made synonymous with "Márid" and at other times contrasted with these rebels, as in the Story of Ma'aruf and J. Scott's "History of the Sultan of Hind" (vol. vi. 195). For another note see The Nights, iv. 88.

[FN#123] Arab. "'Ilm al-Hurúf," not to be confounded with the "'Ilm al-Jumal," or "Hisáb Al-Jumal," a notation by numerical values of the alphabet. See Lumsden's Grammar of the Persian Language, i. 37.

[FN#124] Like our "Cut your mutton," or manger la soupe or die suppe einzunehmen. For this formula meaning like the Brazilian "cup of water," a grand feast, see vol. vii. 168.

[FN#125] Arab. "Tafazzal," a most useful word employed upon almost all occasions of invitation and mostly equivalent to "Have the kindness," etc. See vol. ii. 103.

[FN#126] The Shaykh for humility sits at the side, not at the "Sadr," or top of the room; but he does not rise before the temporal power. The Sultan is equally courteous and the Shaykh honours him by not keeping silence.

[FN#127] Arab. "Miat Mamlúk kitábí," the latter word meaning "one of the Book, a Jew" (especially), or a Christian.

[FN#128] This MS. prefers the rare form "Al-Jánn" for the singular.

[FN#129] These flags, I have noticed, are an unfailing accompaniment of a Jinn army.

[FN#130] MS. vol. iii. pp. 203-210; Scott, "Night Adventure of the Sultan," pp. 68-71. Gauttier, Aventure nocturne du Sulthan, vi. 214.

[FN#131] Arab. "Mashrút shadak." Ashdak is usually applied to a wide-chapped face, like that of Margaret Maultasch or Mickle-mouthed Meg. Here, however, it alludes to an accidental deformity which will presently be described.

[FN#132] Arab. "Amsik lisána-k": the former word is a standing "chaff" with the Turks, as in their tongue it means cunnus-penis and nothing else. I ever found it advisable when speaking Arabic before Osmanlis, to use some such equivalent as Khuz=take thou.

[FN#133] This is the familiar incident in "Ali Baba": Supplem. vol iii. 231, etc.

[FN#134] MS. iii. 210-214. Scott's "Story of the broken-backed Schoolmaster," vi. pp. 72-75, and Gauttier's "Histoire du Maitre d'école éreinté," vi. 217. The Arabic is "Muaddib al-Atfál"=one who teacheth children. I have before noted that amongst Moslems the Schoolmaster is always a fool. So in Europe of the 16th century probably no less than one-third of the current jests turned upon the Romish clergy and its phenomenal ignorance compared with that of the pagan augur. The Story of the First Schoolmaster is one of the most humorous in this MS.

[FN#135] For the usual ceremony when a Moslem sneezes, see vol. ix. 220.

[FN#136] The "day in the country," lately become such a favourite with English schools, is an old Eastern custom.

[FN#137] MS. iii. 214-219. Scott's "Story of the wry-mouthed Schoolmaster," vi. pp. 74-75: Gauttier's Histoire du Second Estropié, vi. p. 220.

[FN#138] In these days the whole would be about 10d.

[FN#139] Pay-day for the boys in Egypt. The Moslem school has often been described but it always attracts the curiosity of strangers. The Moorish or Maroccan variety is a simple affair; "no forms, no desks, few books. A number of boards about the size of foolscap, whitewashed on either side, whereon the lessons--from the alphabet to sentences of the Koran--are plainly written in large black letters; a pen and ink, a book and a switch or two, complete the paraphernalia. The dominie, squatting on the ground, tailor-fashion, like his pupils, who may number from ten to thirty, repeats the lesson in a sonorous singsong voice, and is imitated by the urchins, who accompany their voices by a rocking to and fro which sometimes enables them to keep time. A sharp application of the cane is wonderfully effectual in recalling wandering attention; and lazy boys are speedily expelled. On the admission of a pupil, the parents pay some small sum, varying according to their means, and every Wednesday, which is a half-holiday, a payment is made from 1/4d. to 2d. New moons and feasts are made occasions for larger payments, and are also holidays, which last ten days during the two greater festivals. Thursdays are whole holidays, and no work is done on Friday mornings, that day being the Mohammedan 'Sabbath,' or at least 'meeting day,' as it is called. When the pupils have mastered the first short chapter of the Koran, it is customary for them to be paraded round the town on horseback, with ear-splitting music, and sometimes charitably disposed persons make small presents to the youngster by way of encouragement. After the first, the last is learned, then the last but one, and so on, backwards, as, with the exception of the first, the longest chapters are at the beginning. Though reading and a little writing are taught, at the same time, all the scholars do not arrive at the pitch of perfection necessary to indite a polite letter, so that consequently there is plenty of employment for the numerous scribes or Tálibs who make a profession of writing. These may frequently be seen in small rooms opening on to the street, usually very respectably dressed in a white flowing haik and large turban, and in most cases of venerable appearance, their noses being adorned with huge goggles. Before them are their appliances,--pens made of reeds, ink, paper, and sand in lieu of blotting paper. They usually possess also a knife and scissors, with a case to hold them all. In writing, they place the paper on the knee, or upon a pad of paper in the left hand." The main merit of the village school in Eastern lands is its noises which teach the boy to concentrate his attention. As Dr. Wilson of Bombay said, the young idea is taught to shout as well as to shoot, and this vivâ voce process is a far better mnemonic than silent reading. Moreover it is fine practice in the art of concentrating attention.

[FN#140] Arab. "Mikshat," whose root would be "Kasht"=skinning (a camel).

[FN#141] Evidently said ironicè as of innocents. In "The Forty Vezirs" we read, "At length they perceived that all this tumult arose from their trusting on this wise the words of children." (Lady's XXth Tale.)

[FN#142] MS. iii. 219-220. For some unaccountable reason it is omitted by Scott (vi. 76), who has written English words in the margin of the W. M. Codex.

[FN#143] In text "Kádúm," for "Kudúm," a Syrian form.

[FN#144] Arab. "Hidyah," which in Egypt means a falcon; see vol. iii. 138.

[FN#145] Arab. "Sifah,"=lit. a quality.

[FN#146] Arab. "Istiláh"=specific dialect, idiom. See De Sacy, Chrestomathie, i. 443, where the learned Frenchman shows abundant learning, but does very little for the learner.

[FN#147] In the text "Kattán"=linen, flax.

[FN#148] Arab. "Fí Jífán ka'l-Jawábí!" which, I suppose, means small things (or men) and great.

[FN#149] This form of cleverness is a favourite topic in Arabian folk-lore. The model man was Iyás al-Muzani, al-Kazi (of Bassorah), in the 2nd century A.H., mentioned by Al-Harírí in his 7th Ass. and noted in Arab. Prov. (i. 593) as "more intelligent than Iyás." Ibn Khallikan (i. 233) tells sundry curious tales of him. Hearing a Jew ridicule the Moslem Paradise where the blessed ate and drank ad libitum but passed nothing away, he asked if all his food were voided: the Jew replied that God converted a part of it into nourishment and he rejoined, "Then why not the whole?" Being once in a courtyard he said that there was an animal under the bricks and a serpent was found: he had noted that only two of the tiles showed signs of dampness and this proved that there was something underneath that breathed. Al-Maydáni relates of him that hearing a dog bark, he declared that the beast was tied to the brink of a well; and he judged so because the bark was followed by an echo. Two men came before him, the complainant claimed money received by the defendant who denied the debt. Iyás asked the plaintiff where he had given it, and was answered, "Under a certain tree." The judge told him to go there by way of refreshing his memory and in his absence asked the defendant if his adversary could have reached it. "Not yet," said the rogue, forgetting himself; "'tis a long way off"--which answer convicted him. Seeing three women act upon a sudden alarm, he said, "One of them is pregnant, another is nursing, and the third is a virgin." He explained his diagnosis as follows: "In time of danger persons lay their hands on what they most prize. Now I saw the pregnant woman in her flight place her hand on her belly, which showed me she was with child; the nurse placed her hand on her bosom, whereby I knew that she was suckling, and the third covered her parts with her hand proving to me that she was a maid." (Chenery's Al Hariri, p. 334.)

[FN#150] Such an address would be suited only to a King or a ruler.

[FN#151] MS. iii. 231-240; Scott's "Story of the Sisters and the Sultana their mother," vi. 82; Gauttier's Histoire de la Sulthane et de ses trois Filles, vi. 228.

[FN#152] Arab, "Darajatáni"=lit. two astronomical degrees: the word is often used in this MS.

[FN#153] Arab. "Síwan;" plur. "Síwáwín."

[FN#154] Arab. "'Alá hudúd (or Alá hadd) al-Shauk," repeated in MS. iii. 239.

[FN#155] Here the writer, forgetting that the youngest sister is speaking, breaks out into the third person--"their case"--"their mother," etc.

[FN#156] The idea is that of the French anonyma's "Mais, Monsieur, vous me suivez comme un lavement."

[FN#157] The text (p. 243) speaks of two eunuchs, but only one has been noticed.

[FN#158] Arab. "Manjaník;" there are two forms of this word from the Gr. ÌÜããáíïí, or Ìç÷áíÞ, and it survives in our mangonel, a battering engine. The idea in the text is borrowed from the life of Abraham whom Nimrod cast by means of a catapult (which is a bow worked by machinery) into a fire too hot for man to approach.

[FN#159] Showing that he was older; otherwise she would have addressed him, "O my cousin." A man is "young," in Arab speech, till forty and some say fifty.

[FN#160] The little precatory formula would keep off the Evil Eye.

[FN#161] Supper comes first because the day begins at sundown.

[FN#162] Calotte or skull-cap; vol. i. 224; viii. 120.

[FN#163] This is a new "fact" in physics and certainly to be counted amongst "things not generally known." But Easterns have a host of "dodges" to detect physiological differences such as between man and maid, virgin and matron, imperfect castratos and perfect eunuchs and so forth. Very Eastern, mutatis mutandis, is the tale of the thief-catcher, who discovered a fellow in feminine attire by throwing an object for him to catch in his lap and by his closing his legs instead of opening them wide as the petticoated ones would do.

[FN#164] She did not wish to part with her maidenhead at so cheap a price.

[FN#165] Arab. "Subú'" (for "Yaum al-Subú'") a festival prepared on the seventh day after a birth or a marriage or return from pilgrimage. See Lane (M. E. passim) under "Subooa."

[FN#166] For this Anglo-Indian term,=a running courier, see vol. vii. 340. It is the gist of the venerable Joe Miller in which the father asks a friend to name his seven-months child. "Call him 'Cossid' for verily he hath accomplished a march of nine months in seven months."

[FN#167] Arab. "Madáfi al-Salámah," a custom showing the date of the tale to be more modern than any in the ten vols. of The Nights proper.

[FN#168] Master, captain, skipper (not owner): see vols. i. 127; vi. 112.

[FN#169] Zahr al-Bahr=the surface which affords a passage to man.

[FN#170] Arab. "Batiyah," gen.=a black jack, a leathern flagon.

[FN#171] "Kunafáh"=a vermicelli cake often eaten at breakfast: see vol. x. 1: "Kunafáni" is the baker or confectioner. Scott (p. 101) converts the latter into a "maker of cotton wallets for travelling."

[FN#172] In the text (iii. 260) "Mídi," a clerical error for "Mayyidí," an abbreviation of "Muayyadí," the Faddah, Nuss or half-dirham coined under Sultan al-Muayyad, A.H. ixth cent.=A.D. xvth.

[FN#173] Arab. "Rub'" (plur. "Arbá'")=the fourth of a "Waybah," the latter being the sixth of an Ardabb (Irdabb)=5 bushels. See vol. i. 263.

[FN#174] A royal pavilion; according to Shakespear (Hind. Dict. sub voce) it is a corruption of the Pers. "Sayabán."=canopy.

[FN#175] Arab. "Musajja'"=rhymed prose: for the Saj'a, see vol. i. 116, and Terminal Essay, vol. x. p. 220. So Chaucer:--

    In rhyme or ellès in cadence.

[FN#176] Arab. "Huwa inná na'rifu-h" lit.=He, verily we wot him not: the juxtaposition of the two first pronouns is intended to suggest "I am he."

[FN#177] In Moslem tales decency compels the maiden, however much she may be in love, to show extreme unwillingness in parting with her maidenhead especially by marriage; and this farce is enacted in real life (see vol. viii. 40). The French tell the indecent truth,

    Désir de fille est un feu qui dévore:
    Désir de femme est plus fort encore.

[FN#178] The Arab. form (our old "bashaw") of the Turk. "Pasha," which the French and many English write Pacha, thus confusing the vulgar who called Ibrahim Pacha "Abraham Parker." The origin of the word is much debated and the most fanciful derivations have been proposed. Some have taken it from the Sansk. "Paksha"=a wing: Fuerst from Pers. Páigáh=rank, dignity; Von Hammer (History) from Pái-Sháh=foot of the king; many from "Pádisháh"=the Sovran, and Mr. E. T. W. Gibb suspects a connection with the Turk. "Básh"=a head. He writes to me that the oldest forms are "Bashah" and "Báshah"; and takes the following quotation from Colonel Jevád Bey, author of an excellent work on the Janissaries published a few years ago. "As it was the custom of the (ancient) Turks to call the eldest son 'Páshá,' the same style was given to his son Alá al-Din (Aladdín) by Osmán Gházi, the founder of the Empire; and he kept this heir at home and beside him, whilst he employed the cadet Orkhan Bey as his commander-in-chief. When Orkhán Gházi ascended the throne he conferred the title of Páshá upon his son Sulayman. Presently reigned Murád (Amurath), who spying signs of disaffection in his first-born Sáwújí Bey about the middle of his reign created Kárá Khalíl (his Kází-Askar or High Chancellor) Wazir with the title Kazyr al-Dín Pasha; thus making him, as it were, an adopted son. After this the word passed into the category of official titles and came to be conferred upon those who received high office." Colonel Jevád Bey then quotes in support of his opinion the "History of Munajjim Pasha" and the "Fatáyah al-Wakú'at"=Victories of Events. I may note that the old title has been sadly prostituted in Egypt as well as in Turkey: in 1851 Páshás could be numbered on a man's fingers; now they are innumerable and of no account.

[FN#179] Arab. "'Alà bábi 'lláh"=for the love of the Lord, gratis, etc., a most popular phrase.

[FN#180] Arab. "Bahár," often used for hot spices generally.

[FN#181] In the text Shajarat Ríh.

[FN#182] Arab. "Ma'ádin"=minerals, here mentioned for the first time.

[FN#183] For the ear conceiving love before the eye (the basis of half these love-stories), see vol. iii. 9.

[FN#184] According to Dr. Steingass "Mirwad"=the iron axle of a pulley or a wheel for drawing water or lifting loads, hence possibly a bar of metal, an ingot. But he is more inclined to take it in its usual sense of "Kohl-pencil." Here "Mirwád" is the broader form like "Miftáh" for "Miftah," much used in Syria.

[FN#185] For the Ashrafi, a gold coin of variable value, see vol. iii. 294. It is still coined; the Calcutta Ashrafi worth £1 11s. 8d. is 1/16th (about 5s. to the oz.) better than the English standard, and the Regulations of May, 1793, made it weigh 190.894 grs. Troy.

[FN#186] In text "Anjar"=a flat platter; Pers.

[FN#187] By what physical process the author modestly leaves to the reader's imagination. Easterns do not often notice this feminine venereal paroxysm which takes the place of seminal emission in the male. I have seen it happen to a girl when hanging by the arms a trifle too long from a gymnastic cross-bar; and I need hardly say that at such moments (if men only knew them) every woman, even the most modest, is an easy conquest. She will repent it when too late, but the flesh has been too strong for her.

[FN#188] A neat and suggestive touch of Eastern manners and morals.

[FN#189] In text "Ghayr Wa'd," or "Min ghayr Wa'd." Lit. without previous agreement: much used in this text for suddenly, unexpectedly, without design.

[FN#190] The reader will have remarked the use of the Arabic "'Alaka"=he hung, which with its branches greatly resembles the Lat. pendere.

[FN#191] Arab. "Min al-Malábis," plur. of "Malbas"=anything pleasant or enjoyable; as the plural of "Milbas"=dress, garment, it cannot here apply.

[FN#192] i.e. "The Tigris" (Hid-dekel), with which the Egyptian writer seems to be imperfectly acquainted. See vols. i. 180; viii. 150.

[FN#193] The word, as usual misapplied in the West, is to be traced through the Turk. Kúshk (pron. Kyúshk) to the Pers. "Kushk"=an upper chamber.

[FN#194] Four including the doorkeeper. The Darwayshes were suspected of kidnapping, a practice common in the East, especially with holy men. I have noticed in my Pilgrimage (vols. ii. 273; iii. 327), that both at Meccah and at Al-Medinah the cheeks of babes are decorated with the locally called "Masháli"=three parallel gashes drawn by the barber with the razor down the fleshy portion of each cheek, from the exterior angles of the eyes almost to the corners of the mouth. According to the citizens this "Tashrít" is a modern practice distinctly opposed to the doctrine of Al-Islam; but, like the tattooing of girls, it is intended to save the children from being carried off, for good luck, by kidnapping pilgrims, especially Persians.

[FN#195] The hair being shaven or plucked and showing the darker skin. In the case of the axilla-pile, vellication is the popular process: see vol. ix. 139. Europeans who do not adopt this essential part of cleanliness in hot countries are looked upon as impure by Moslems.

[FN#196] Here a little abbreviation has been found necessary: "of no avail is a twice-told tale."

[FN#197] The nearest approach in Eastern tales to Western hysterics.

[FN#198] A tent-pitcher, body servant, etc. See vol. vii. 4. The word is still popular in Persia.

[FN#199] The amount of eating and drinking in this tale is phenomenal; but, I repeat, Arabs enjoy reading of "meat and drink" almost as much as Englishmen.

[FN#200] Arab writers always insist upon the symptom of rage which distinguishes the felines from the canines; but they do not believe that the end of the tail has a sting.

[FN#201] The circular leather which acts alternately provision bag and table-cloth. See vols. i. 178; v. 8; viii. 269, and ix. 141.

[FN#202] He refused because he suspected some trick and would not be on terms of bread and salt with the stranger.

[FN#203] The story contains excellent material, but the writer or the copier has "scamped" it in two crucial points, the meeting of the bereaved Sultan and his wife (Night ccclxxvii.) and the finale where we miss the pathetic conclusions of the Mac. and Bresl. Edits. Also a comparison of this hurried dénouement with the artistic tableau of "King Omar bin al-Nu'uman," where all the actors are mustered upon the stage before the curtain falls, measures the difference between this MS. and the printed texts, showing the superior polish and finish of the latter.

[FN#204] Vol. iii. pp. 386-97, where it follows immediately the last story. Scott (Story of the Avaricious Cauzee and his Wife, vi. 112) has translated it after his own fashion, excising half and supplying it out of his own invention; and Gauttier has followed suit in the Histoire du Cadi avare et de sa Femme, vi. 254.

[FN#205] Tarábulus and Atrábulus are Arabisations of Tripolis (hod. Tripoli) the well-known port-town north of Bayrút; founded by the Phoenicians, rose to fame under the Seleucidæ, and was made splendid by the Romans. See Socin's "Bædeker," p. 509.

[FN#206] i.e. the Kazi's court-house

[FN#207] Arab. "Buksumah" = "hard bread" (Americanicè).

[FN#208] Arab. "Sufrah umm jalájil." Lit. an eating-cloth with little bells, like those hung to a camel, or metal plates as on the rim of a tambourine.

[FN#209] The Kursi here = the stool upon which the "Síníyah" or tray of tinned copper is placed, the former serving as a table. These stools, some 15 inches high and of wood inlaid with bone, tortoise-shell or mother-of-pearl, are now common in England, where one often sees children using them as seats. The two (Kursi and Síníyah) compose the Sufrah, when the word is used in the sense of our "dinner-table." Lane (M.E. chapt. v.) gives an illustration of both articles.

[FN#210] Arab. "Jarídah," a palm-frond stripped of its leaves (Supplemental vol. i. 203), hence the "Jaríd" used as a javelin; see vol. vi. 263.

[FN#211] An Egyptian or a Syrian housewife will make twenty dishes out of roast lamb, wholly unlike the "good plain cook" of Great or Greater Britain, who leaves the stomach to do all the work of digestion in which she ought to but does not assist.

[FN#212] A plate of "Baysár" or "Faysár," a dish peculiar to Egypt; beans seasoned with milk and honey and generally eaten with meat. See Mr. Guy Lestrange's "Al-Mukaddasi," Description of Syria, p. 80; an author who wrote cir. A.H. 986. Scott (vi. 119) has "A savoury dish called byssarut, which is composed of parched beans and pounded salt meat, mixed up with various seeds, onions and garlic." Gauttier (vi. 261) carefully avoids giving the Arabic name, which occurs in a subsequent tale (Nights cdxliv.) when a laxative is required.

[FN#213] Arab. "Mulúkhíyah náshiyah," lit. = flowing; i.e. soft like épinards au jus. Mulúkhíya that favourite vegetable, the malva esculenta is derived from the Gr. {Greek letters} (also written {Greek letters} = to soften, because somewhat relaxing. In ancient Athens it was the food of the poorer classes and in Egypt it is eaten by all, taking the place of our spinach and sorrel.

[FN#214] Arab. "Kalak" = lit. "agitation," "disquietude" and here used as syn. with "Kúlanj," a true colic.

[FN#215] Arab. "Mazarát," from "Mazr," = being addled (an egg).

[FN#216] Here is an allusion to the "Massage," which in these days has assumed throughout Europe all the pretensions of scientific medical treatment. The word has been needlessly derived from the Arab. "Mas'h" = rubbing, kneading; but we have the Gr. synonym ìÜóóù and the Lat. Massare. The text describes child-bed customs amongst Moslem women, and the delivery of the Kazi has all the realism of M. Zola's accouchement in La Joie de Vivre.

[FN#217] Arab. "Fa'álah" = the building craft, builders' trade.

[FN#218] In text "Kawwárah," which is not found in the dictionaries. "Kuwáray"= that which is cut off from the side of a thing, etc. My translation is wholly tentative: perhaps Kawwára may be a copyist's error for "Kazázah" = vulg. a (flask of) glass.

[FN#219] The "Khaznah," = treasury, is a thousand "Kís" = 500 piastres, or £5 at par; and thus represents £5,000, a large sum for Tripoli in those days.

[FN#220] The same incident occurs in that pathetic tale with an ill name = "How Abu al-Hasan brake Wind." vol. v. 135.

[FN#221] Arab. "Karkabah," clerical error (?) for "Karkarah" = driving (as wind the clouds); rumbling of wind in bowels. Dr. Steingass holds that it is formed by addition of a second "K," from the root "Karb," one of whose meanings is: "to inflate the stomach."

[FN#222] For Ummu 'Amrin = mother of 'Amru, so written and pronounced " 'Amr," a fancy name, see vol. v. 118, for the Tale of the Schoolmaster, a well-known "Joe Miller." [Ummu 'Amrin, like Ummu 'Ámirin, is a slang term for "hyena." Hence, if Ass and Umm Amr went off together, it is more than likely that neither came back.--St.]

[FN#223] A slang name for Death. "Kash'am" has various sigs. esp. the lion, hence Rabí'at al-Faras (of the horses), one of the four sons of Nizár was surnamed Al-Kash'am from his cœur de lion (Al-Mas'udi iii. 238). Another pleasant term for departing life is Abú Yáhyá = Father of John, which also means "The Living" from Hayy--Death being the lord of all: hence "Yamút" lit.= he dies, is an ill-omened name amongst Arabs. Kash'am is also a hyena, and Umm Kash'am is syn. with Umm 'Ámir (vol. i. 43). It was considered a point of good breeding to use these "Kunyah" for the purpose of varying speech (see al-Hariri Ass. xix.). The phrase in the text = meaning went to hell, as a proverb was first used by Zuhayr, one of the "Suspended Poets." Umm Kash'am was the P.N. of a runaway camel which, passing by a large fire, shied and flung its riding saddle into the flames. So in Al-Siyúti's "History of the Caliphs" (p. 447), the text has "And Malak Shah went to where her saddle was thrown by Umm Kash'am," which Major Jarrett renders "departed to hell-fire."

[FN#224] Scott's "Story of the Bhang-eater and Cauzee," vi. 126: Gauttier, Histoire du Preneur d'Opium et du Cadi, vi. 268.

[FN#225] Arab. "Lawwaha" = lit. pointing out, making clear.

[FN#226] Text "in his belly," but afterwards in his "Halkah" = throat, throttle, which gives better sense.

[FN#227] In text "Háyishah" from "Haysh" = spoiling, etc.

[FN#228] Arab. "Yauh!" See vols. ii. 321; vi. 235.

[FN#229] Arab. "Yá Jad'án" (pron. "Gád'án") more gen. "Yá Jad'a" = mon brave!

[FN#230] In text "Yá 'Arzád": prob. a clerical slip for "'Urzát," plur. of "'Urzah" = a companion, a (low) fellow, a man evil spoken of.

[FN#231] Easterns love drinking in a bright light: see vol. ii. 59.

[FN#232] Arab. "'Akl" (= comprehension, understanding) and "Nakl" (= copying, describing, transcribing), a favourite phrase in this MS.

[FN#233] Arab. "Ummáli"; gen. Ummál, an affirmation; Certes, I believe you!

[FN#234] For the many preparations of this drug, see Herklots, Appendix, pp. lxviii. ciii. It is impossible to say how "Indian hemp," like opium, datura, ether and chloroform, will affect the nervous system of an untried man. I have read a dozen descriptions of the results, from the highly imaginative Monte Cristo to the prose of prosaic travellers; and do not recognise that they are speaking of the same thing.

[FN#235] This tranquil enjoyment is popularly called "Kayf." See my Pilgraimage i. 13. In a coarser sense it is applied to all manners of intoxication; and the French traveller Sonnini says, "The Arabs (by which he means the Egyptians) give the name of Kayf to the voluptuous relaxation, the delicious stupor, produced by the smoking of hemp." I have smoked it and eaten it for months without other effect than a greatly increased appetite and a little drowsiness.

[FN#236] These childish indecencies are often attributed to Bhang-eaters. See "Bákún's Tale of the Hashísh-eater," vol. ii. 91. Modest Scott (vi. 129) turns the joke into "tweaking the nose." Respectable Moslems dislike the subject, but the vulgar relish it as much as the sober Italian enjoys the description of a drinking bout--in novels.

[FN#237] In the text "Finjál," a vulgarism for "Finján": so the converse "Isma'ín" for "Ism'aíl" = Ishmael. Mr. J. W. Redhouse (The Academy No. 764) proposes a new date for coffee in Al-Yaman. Colonel Playfair (History of Yemen, Bombay 1859) had carelessly noted that its "first use at Aden was by a judge of the place who had seen it drunk at Zayla', on the African coast opposite Aden," and he made the judge die in A.H. 875 = A.D. 1470. This is about the date of the Shaykh al-Sházalí's tomb at Mocha, and he was the first who brought the plant form about African Harar to the Arabian seaboard. But Mr. Redhouse finds in a Turkish work written only two centuries ago, and printed at Constantinople, in A.D. 1732, that the "ripe fruit was discovered growing wild in the mountains of Yemen (?) by a company of dervishes banished thither." Finding the berry relieve their hunger and support their vigils the prior, "Shaykh 'Umar advised their stewing it (?) and the use became established. They dried a store of the fruit; and its use spread to other dervish communities, who perhaps (?) sowed the seed wherever it would thrive throughout Africa (N.B. where it is indigenous) and India (N.B. where both use and growth are quite modern). From Africa, two centuries later, its use was reimported to Arabia at Aden (?) by the judge above mentioned, who in a season of scarcity of the dried fruit (?) tried the seed" (N.B. which is the fruit). This is passing strange and utterly unknown to the learned De Sacy (Chrest. Arab. i. 412-481).

[FN#238] Koran iii. 128. D'Herbelot and Sale (Koran, chap. iii. note) relate on this text a noble story of Hasan Ali-son and his erring slave which The Forty Vezirs (Lady's eighth story, p. 113) ignorantly attributes to Harun al-Rashid:--Forthwith the Caliph rose in wrath and was about to hew the girl to pieces, when she said, "O Caliph, Almighty Allah saith in His glorious Word (the Koran), 'And the stiflers of Wrath'" (iii. 128). Straightway the Caliph's wrath was calmed. Again said the girl, "'And the pardoners of men.'" (ibid.) Quoth the Caliph, "I have forgiven the crimes of all the criminals who may be in prison." Again said the slave-girl, "'And Allah loveth the beneficent.'" (ibid.) Quoth the Caliph, "God be witness that I have with my own wealth freed thee and us many male and female slaves as I have, and that this day I have for the love of Allah given the half of all my good in alms to the poor." This is no improvement upon the simple and unexaggerated story in Sale. "It is related of Hasan, the son of Ali, that a slave having once thrown a dish on him boiling hot, as he sat at table, and fearing his master's resentment, fell on his knees and repeated these words, Paradise is for those who bridle their anger. Hasan answered, I am not angry. The slave proceeded, And for those who forgive men. I forgive you, said Hasan. The slave, however, finished the verse, For Allah loveth the beneficent. Since it is so, replied Hasan, I give you your liberty and four hundred pieces of silver."

[FN#239] The old name of the parish bull in rural England.

[FN#240] Arab. "Kawík:" see The Nights, vol. vi. 182, where the bird is called "Ak'ak." Our dicts. do not give the word, but there is a "Kauk" (Káka, yakúku) to cluck, and "Kauk" = an aquatic bird with a long neck. I assume "Kawík" to be an intensive form of the same root. The "Mother of Solomon" is a fanciful "Kunyah," or bye name given to the bird by the Bhang-eater, suggesting his high opinion of her wisdom.

[FN#241] Arab. "Nátúr," prop. a watchman: also a land-mark, a bench-mark of tamped clay.

[FN#242] In text "Bartamán" for "Martaban" = a pot, jar, or barrel-shaped vessel: others apply the term to fine porcelain which poison cannot affect. See Col. Yule's Glossary, s. v. Martabán, where the quotation from Ibn Batutah shows that the term was current in the xivth century. Linschoten (i. 101) writes, "In this town (Martaban of Pegu) many of the great earthen pots are made, which in India are called Martananas, and many of them are carried throughout all India of all sorts both small and great: and some are so great that they will fill two pipes of water." Pyrard (i. 259) applies the name to "certain handsome jars, of finer shape and larger than I have seen elsewhere" (Transl. by ALBERT Gray for the Hakluyt Soc. 1887). Mr. Hill adds that at Málé the larger barrel-shaped jars of earthenware are still called "Mátabán," and Mr. P. Brown (Zillah Dictionary, 1852) finds the word preserved upon the Madras coast = a black jar in which rice is imported from Pegu.

[FN#243] The Arabic here changes person, "he repeated" after Eastern Fashion, and confuses the tale to European readers.

[FN#244] Such treasure trove belonging to the State, i.e. the King.

[FN#245] Arab. "Húrí" for "Hír" = a pool, marsh, or quagmire, in fact corresponding with our vulgar "bogshop." Dr. Steingass would read "Haurí," a "mansúb" of "Haur" = pond, quagmire, which, in connection with a Hammam, may = sink, sewer, etc.

[FN#246] The Bedlam: see vol. i. 288.

[FN#247] Arab. "Tamtar aysh?" (i.e. Ayyu shayyin, see vol. i. 79). I may note that the vulgar abbreviation is of ancient date. Also the Egyptian dialect has borrowed, from its ancestor the Coptic, the practice of putting the interrogatory pronoun or adverb after (not before the verb, e.g. "Rá'ih fayn?" = Wending (art thou) whither? It is regretable that Egyptian scholars do not see the absolute necessity of studying Coptic, and this default is the sole imperfection of the late Dr. Spitta Bey's admirable Grammar of Egyptian.

[FN#248] Arab. "'Arsah," akin to "Mu'arris" (masc.) = a pimp, a pander. See vol. i. 338; and Supp. vol. i. 138; and for its use Pilgrimage i. 276.

[FN#249] i.e. Abú Kásim the Drummer. The word "Tambúr" is probably derived from "Tabl" = a drum, which became by the common change of liquids "Tabur" in O. French and "Tabour" in English. Hence the mod. form "Tambour," which has been adopted by Turkey, e.g. Tambúrji = a drummer. In Egypt, however, "Tambúr" is applied to a manner of mandoline or guitar, mostly used by Greeks and other foreigners. See Lane, M.E. chap. xviii.

[FN#250] Arab. "Bál" (sing. Bálah) = a bale, from the Span. Bala and Italian Balla, a small parcel made up in the shape of a bale, Lat. Palla.

[FN#251] Arab. "Walásh," i.e. "Was lá shayya" = "And nihil" (nil, non ens, naught).

[FN#252] Arab. "Kurbáj" = cravache: vol. viii. 17. The best are made of hippopotamus-hide (imported from East Africa), boiled and hammered into a round form and tapering to the point. Plied by a strong arm they cut like a knout.

[FN#253] The text "Yá Sultán-am," a Persian or Turkish form for the Arab. "Yá Sultán-i."

[FN#254] In text "Kalb" for "Kulbat" = a cave, a cavern.

[FN#255] The houses were of unbaked brick or cob, which readily melts away in rain and requires annual repairing at the base of the walls where affected by rain and dew. In Sind the damp of the earth with its nitrous humour eats away the foundations and soon crumbles them to dust.

[FN#256] Here meaning the under-Governor or head Clerk.

[FN#257] "Níl" (= the Nile), in vulgar Egyptian parlance the word is = "high Nile," or the Nile in flood.

[FN#258] Arab. "Darwayshsah" = a she-Fakír, which in Europe would be represented by that prime pest a begging nun.

[FN#259] Arab. "Allah háfiz-ik" = the popular Persian expression, "Khudá Háfiz!"

[FN#260] Arab. "Sálihin" = the Saints, the Holy Ones.

[FN#261] Arab. "Sharkh" = in dicts. the unpolished blade of a hiltless sword.

[FN#262] In the text "Miláyah," a cotton stuff some 6 feet long, woven in small chequers of white and indigo-blue with an ending of red at either extremity. Men wrap it round the body or throw it over the shoulder like our plaid, whose colours I believe are a survival of the old body-paintings, Pictish and others. The woman's "Miláyah" worn only out of doors may be of silk or cotton: it is made of two pieces which are sewed together lengthwise and these cover head and body like a hooded cloak. Lane figures it in M.E. chapt. i. When a woman is too poor to own a "Miláyah" or a "Habarah" (a similar article) she will use a bed-sheet for out-of-doors work.

[FN#263] The pun here is "Khalíyát" = bee-hive and empty: See vols. vi. 246 ix. 291. It will occur again in Supplementary vol. v. Night DCXLVI.

[FN#264] i.e. Caravan, the common Eastern term. In India it was used for a fleet of merchantmen under convoy: see Col. Yule, Glossary, s. v.

[FN#265] Again "Bartamán" for "Martabán."

[FN#266] The "Sáhib" = owner, and the "Dallál" = broker, are evidently the same person.

[FN#267] "Alà kám" for "kam" (how much?)--peasants' speech.

[FN#268] She has appeared already twice in The Nights, esp. in The Tale of Ghánim bin 'Ayyúb (vol. ii. 45) and in Khalifah the Fisherman of Baghdad (vol. viii. 145). I must again warn my readers nto to confound "Kút" = food with "Kuwwat" = force, as in Scott's "Koout al Koolloob" (vi. 146). See Terminal Essay p. 101.

[FN#269] In text "Mu'ammarjiyah" (master-masons), a vulgar Egyptianism for "Mu'ammarin." See "Jáwashiyah," vols. ii. 49; viii. 330. In the third line below we find "Muhandizín" = gemoetricians, architects, for "Muhandísm." [Perhaps a reminiscence of the Persian origin of the word "Handasah" = geometry, which is derived from "Andázah" = measurement, etc.-St.]

[FN#270] The text ends this line in Arabic.

[FN#271] Alluding to the curious phenomenon pithily expressed in the Latin proverb, "Suus cuique crepitus benè olet," I know of no exception to the rule, except amongst travellers in Tibet, where the wild onion, the only procurable green-stuff, produces an odour so rank and fetid that men run away from their own crepitations. The subject is not savoury, yet it has been copiously illustrated: I once dined at a London house whose nameless owner, a noted bibliophile, especially of "facetiæ," had placed upon the drawing-room table a dozen books treating of the "Crepitus ventris." When the guests came up and drew near the table, and opened the volumes, their faces were a study. For the Arab. "Faswah" = a silent break wind, see vol. ix. 11 and 291. It is opposed to "Zirt" = a loud fart and the vulgar term, see vol. ii. 88.

[FN#272] Arab. "Yá Házá," see vol. i. 290.

[FN#273] In text "Yumkinshayy," written in a single word, a favourite expression, Fellah-like withal, throughout this MS.

[FN#274] In text "Tafazzalú;" see vol. ii. 103.

[FN#275] The word (Saráy) is Pers. But naturalised throughout Egypt and Syria; in places like Damascus where there is no king it is applied to the official head-quarters of the Walí (provincial governor), and contains the prison like the Maroccan "Kasbah." It must not be confounded with "Serraglio" = the Harem, Gynecium or women's rooms, which appears to be a bastard neo-Latin word "Serrare," through the French Serrer. I therefore always write it with the double "canine letter."

[FN#276] I have noted (vol. i. 95) that the "Khil'ah" = robe of honour, consists of many articles, such as a horse, a gold-hilted sword, a fine turban, etc., etc.

[FN#277] This again shows the "Nakkál" or coffee-house tale-teller. See vol. x. 144.

[FN#278] This is the Moslem version of "Solomon's Judgment" (1 Kings iii. 16-20). The Hebrew legend is more detailed but I prefer its rival for sundry reasons. Here the women are not "harlots" but the co-wives of one man and therefore hostile; moreover poetical justice is done to the constructive murderess.

[FN#279] I am not aware that the specific gravity of the milks has ever been determined by modern science; and perhaps the experiment is worthy a trial.

[FN#280] Arab. "Dúna-k." See vol. iv. p. 20.

[FN#281] "Al-Wazíru'l-Arif bi-lláhi Ta'álà," a title intended to mimic those of the Abbaside Caliphs; such as "Mu'tasim bi'llah" (servant of Allah), the first of the long line whose names begin with an epithet (the Truster, the Implorer, etc.), and ed with "bi'llah."

[FN#282] [Tarajjama, which is too frequently used in this MS. to be merely considered as a clerical error, I suppose to mean: he pronounced for him the formula: "A'uzzu bi lláhi mina 'l-Shaytáni 'l-Rajimi" = I take refuge with Allah against Satan the Stoned. See Koran xvi. 100. It would be thus equivalent with the usual taßwwaza.-St.]

[FN#283] The MS. here ends Night cdxii. and begins the next. Up to this point I have followed the numeration but from this forwards as the Nights become unconscionably short compared with the intervening dialogues, I have thrown two and sometimes three into one. The Arabic numbers are, however, preserved for easier reference.

[FN#284] This is a poor and scamped version of "Ali the Persian and the Kurd Sharper," in vol. v. 149. It is therefore omitted.

[FN#285] The dish-cover, usually made of neatly plaited straw variously coloured, is always used, not only for cleanliness but to prevent the Evil Eye falling upon and infecting the food.

[FN#286] The "Bámiyah," which = the Gumbo, Occra (Okrá) or Bhendi of Brit. India which names the celebrated bazar of Bombay, is the esculent hibiscus, the polygonal pod (some three inches long and thick as a man's finger) full of seeds and mucilage making it an excellent material for soups and stews. It is a favourite dish in Egypt and usually eaten with a squeeze of lime-juice. See Lane, Mod. Egypt. chapt. v., and Herklots (App. p. xlii.) who notices the curry of "Bandakí" or Hibiscus esculentus.

[FN#287] Written "Bakshísh," after Fellah-fashion.

[FN#288] [In the MS.: Wa'l-Sultánu karaa Wirduh (Wirda-hu) wa jalasa li Munádamah = And the Sovran recited his appointed portion of the Koran, and then sat down to convivial converse. This reminds of the various passages of the present Shah of Persia's Diary, in which he mentions the performance of his evening devotions, before setting out for some social gathering, say a supper in the Guildhall, which he neatly explains as a dinner after midnight (Shám ba'd az nisf-i-shab).--St.]

[FN#289] This is Scott's "Story of the Three Princes and Enchanting Bird," vol. vi. 160. On the margin of the W. M. MS. he has written, "Story of the King and his Three Sons and the Enchanting Bird" (vol. i. Night cdxvii.). Gauttier, vi. 292, names it Histoire des Trois Princes et de l'Oiseau Magicien. Galland may have used parts of it in the "Two Sisters who envied their Cadette": see Supp. vol. iii. pp. 313-361.

[FN#290] In text "Al-Bulaybul" (the little Nightingale, Philomelet) "Al Sayyáh" (the Shrieker). The latter epithet suggests to me the German novel which begins, "We are in Italy where roses bestink the day and Nightingales howl through the live-long night," &c.

[FN#291] "Sanjak," Turk. = flag, banner, and here used (as in vulg. Arab.) for Sanják-dár, the banner-bearer, ensign. In mod. parlance, Sanják = minor province, of which sundry are included in an "Iyálah" = government-general, under the rule of a Wáli (Wiláyah).

[FN#292] In the MS. "Zifr" = nail, claw, talon.

[FN#293] "Al-Rizk maksúm," an old and sage byword pregnant with significance: compare "Al-Khauf (fear) maksúm" = cowardice is equally divided. Vol. iii. 173. [I read: "Yas'à 'l-Kadamu li-'Umrin dana au li-Rizkin qusima," taking "Rizk" as an equivalent for "al-Rizku 'l-hasanu" = any good thing which a man obtains without exerting himself in seeking for it, and the passive "qusima" in the sense of Kismah, vulgo "Kismet." Hence I would translate: The foot speeds to a life that is mean, or to a boon that is pre-ordained.-St.]

[FN#294] In the text "Bát" (for Bit), in Fellah-speech "Pass the night here!" The Bird thus makes appeal to the honour and hospitality of his would-be captor, and punishes him if he consent. I have translated after Scott (v. 161). [I cannot persuade myself to take "bát" for an imperative, which would rather be "bít" for "bit," as we shall find "k