A plain and literal translation of the Arabian nights entertainments, now entituled The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 1 (of 17)

506

This is still a popular form of the "Kinchin lay," and as the turbands are often of fine stuff, the petite industrie pays well.

507

Arab. "Wali"=Governor; the term still in use for the Governor-General of a Province as opposed to the "Muháfiz," or district-governor. In Eastern Arabia the Wali is the Civil Governor opposed to the Amir or Military Commandant. Under the Caliphate the Wali acted also as Prefect of Police (the Indian Faujdár), who is now called "Zábit." The older name for the latter was "Sáhib al-Shartah" (=chief of the watch) or "Mutawalli"; and it was his duty to go the rounds in person. The old "Charley," with his lantern and cudgel, still guards the bazars in Damascus.

508

Arab. "Al-Mashá ilí"=the bearer of a cresset (Mash'al) who was also Jack Ketch. In Anglo-India the name is given to a lower body-servant. The "Mash'al" which Lane (M. E., chapt vi.) calls "Mesh'al" and illustrates, must not be confounded with its congener the "Sha'ílah" or link (also lamp, wick, etc.).

509

I need hardly say that the civilised "drop" is unknown to the East where men are strung up as to a yardarm. This greatly prolongs the suffering.

510

Arab. "Lukmah":=a mouthful. It is still the fashion amongst Easterns of primitive manners to take up a handful of rice, etc., ball it and put it into a friend's mouth honoris causâ. When the friend is a European the expression of his face is generally a study.

511

I need hardly note that this is an old Biblical practice. The ass is used for city-work as the horse for fighting and travelling, the mule for burdens and the dromedary for the desert. But the Badawi, like the Indian, despises the monture and sings: —

The back of the steed is a noble place;But the mule's dishonour, the ass disgrace!

The fine white asses, often thirteen hands high, sold by the Banu Salíb and other Badawi tribes, will fetch £100, and more. I rode a little brute from Meccah to Jedda (42 miles) in one night and it came in with me cantering.

512

A dry measure of about five bushels (Cairo). The classical pronunciation is Irdabb and it measured 24 sa'a (gallons) each filling four outstretched hands.

513

"Al-Jawáli" should be Al-Jáwali (Al-Makrizi) and the Bab al-Nasr (Gate of Victory) is that leading to Suez. I lived in that quarter as shown by my Pilgrimage (i. 62).

514

Arab. "Al-'ajalah," referring to a saying in every Moslem mouth, "Patience is from the Protector (Allah): Hurry is from Hell." That and "Inshallah bukra!" (Please God to-morrow!) are the traveller's bêtes noires.

515

Here it is a polite equivalent for "fall to!"

516

The left hand is used throughout the East for purposes of ablution and is considered unclean. To offer the left hand would be most insulting and no man ever strokes his beard with it or eats with it: hence, probably, one never sees a left-handed man throughout the Moslem east. In the Brazil for the same reason old-fashioned people will not take snuff with the right hand. And it is related of the Khataians that they prefer the left hand, "Because the heart, which is the Sultan of the city of the Body, hath his mansion on that side" (Rauzat al-Safá).

517

Two feminine names; as we might say Mary and Martha.

518

It was near the Caliph's two Palaces (Al-Kasrayn); and was famous in the 15th century A.D. The Kazi's Mahkamah (Court-house) now occupies the place of the Two Palaces.

519

A Kaysariah is a superior kind of bazar, a "bezestein." That in the text stood to the east of the principal street in Cairo and was built in A. H. 502 (=1108-9) by a Circassian Emir, known as Fakhr al-Din Jahárkas, a corruption of the Persian "Chehár-kas"=four persons (Lane, i. 422, from Al-Makrizi and Ibn Khallikan). For Jahárkas the Mac. Edit. has Jirjís (George) a common Christian name. I once lodged in a "Wakálah (the modern Khan) Jirjis." Pilgrimage, i. 255.

520

Arab. "Second Day," i. e. after Saturday, the true Sabbath, so marvellously ignored by Christendom.

521

Readers who wish to know how a traveller is lodged in a Wakálah, Khan, or Caravanserai, will consult my Pilgrimage, i. 60.

522

The original occupation of the family had given it a name, as amongst us.

523

The usual "chaff" or banter allowed even to modest women when shopping, and – many a true word is spoken in jest.

524

"La adamnák"=Heaven deprive us not of thee, i. e. grant I see thee often!

525

This is a somewhat cavalier style of advance; but Easterns under such circumstances go straight to the point, hating to filer the parfait amour.

526

The peremptory formula of a slave delivering such a message.

527

This would be our Thursday night, preceding the day of public prayers which can be performed only when in a state of ceremonial purity. Hence many Moslems go to the Hammam on Thursday and have no connection with their wives till Friday night.

528

Lane (i. 423) gives ample details concerning the Habbániyah, or grain-sellers' quarter in the southern part of Cairo; and shows that when this tale was written (or transcribed?) the city was almost as extensive as it is now.

529

Nakíb is a caravan-leader, a chief, a syndic; and "Abú Shámah"=Father of a cheek mole, while "Abú Shámmah"=Father of a smeller, a nose, a snout. The "Kuniyah," bye-name, patronymic or matronymic, is necessary amongst Moslems whose list of names, all connected more or less with religion, is so scanty. Hence Buckingham the traveller was known as Abu Kidr, the Father of a Cooking-pot and Hajj Abdullah as Abu Shawárib, Father of Mustachios (Pilgrimage, iii., 263).

530

More correctly Bab Zawilah from the name of a tribe in Northern Africa. This gate dates from the same age as the Eastern or Desert gate, Bab al-Nasr (A.D. 1087) and is still much admired. M. Jomard describes it (Description, etc., ii. 670) and lately my good friend Yacoub Artin Pasha has drawn attention to it in the Bulletin de l'Inst. Egypt., Deuxième Série, No. 4, 1883.

531

This ornament is still seen in the older saloons of Damascus: the inscriptions are usually religious sentences, extracts from the Koran, etc., in uncial characters. They take the place of our frescos; and, as a work of art, are generally far superior.

532

Arab. "Bayáz al-Sultání," the best kind of gypsum which shines like polished marble. The stucco on the walls of Alexandria, built by Alexander of the two Horns, was so exquisitely tempered and beautifully polished that men had to wear masks for fear of blindness.

533

This Iklíl, a complicated affair, is now obsolete, its place having been taken by the "Kurs," a gold plate, some five inches in diameter, set with jewels, etc. Lane (M. E. Appendix A) figures it.

534

The woman-artist who applies the dye is called "Munakkishah."

535

"Kissing with th' inner lip," as Shakespeare calls it; the French langue fourrée; and Sankrit "Samputa." The subject of kissing is extensive in the East. Ten different varieties are duly enumerated in the "Ananga-Ranga;" or, The Hindu Art of Love (Ars Amoris Indica) translated from the Sanscrit, and annotated by A. F. F. and B. F. R. It is also connected with unguiculation, or impressing the nails, of which there are seven kinds; morsication (seven kinds); handling the hair and tappings or pattings with the fingers and palm (eight kinds).

536

Arab. "asal-nahl," to distinguish it from "honey" i. e. syrup of sugar-cane and fruits.

537

The lines have occurred in Night xii. By way of variety I give Torrens' version p. 273.

538

The way of carrying money in the corner of a pocket-handkerchief is still common.

539

He sent the provisions not to be under an obligation to her in this matter. And she received them to judge thereby of his liberality.

540

Those who have seen the process of wine-making in the Libanus will readily understand why it is always strained.

541

Arab. "Kulkasá," a kind of arum or yam, eaten boiled like our potatoes.

542

At first he slipped the money into the bed-clothes: now he gives it openly and she accepts it for a reason.

543

Arab. Al-Zalamah: lit.=tyrants, oppressors, applied to the police and generally to the employés of Government. It is a word which tells a history.

544

Moslem law is never completely satisfied till the criminal confess. It also utterly ignores circumstantial evidence and for the best of reasons: amongst so sharp-witted a people the admission would lead to endless abuses. I greatly surprised a certain Governor-General of India by giving him this simple information.

545

Cutting off the right hand is the Koranic punishment (chapt. v.) for one who robs an article worth four dinars, about forty francs to shillings. The left foot is to be cut off at the ankle for a second offence and so on; but death is reserved for a hardened criminal. The practice is now obsolete and theft is punished by the bastinado, fine or imprisonment. The old Guebres were as severe. For stealing one dirham's worth they took a fine of two, cut off the ear-lobes, gave ten stick-blows and dismissed the criminal who had been subjected to an hour's imprisonment. A second theft caused the penalties to be doubled; and after that the right hand was cut off or death was inflicted according to the proportion stolen.

546

Koran viii. 17.

547

A universal custom in the East, the object being originally to show that the draught was not poisoned.

548

Out of paste or pudding.

549

Boils and pimples are supposed to be caused by broken hair-roots and in Hindostani are called Bál-tor.

550

He intended to bury it decently, a respect which Moslems always show even to the exuviæ of the body, as hair and nail parings. Amongst Guebres the latter were collected and carried to some mountain. The practice was intensified by fear of demons or wizards getting possession of the spoils.

551

Without which the marriage was not valid. The minimum is ten dirhams (drachmas) now valued at about five francs to shillings; and if a man marry without naming the sum, the woman, after consummation, can compel him to pay this minimum.

552

Arab. "Khatmah"=reading or reciting the whole Koran, by one or more persons, usually in the house, not over the tomb. Like the "Zikr," Litany or Rogation, it is a pious act confined to certain occasions.

553

Arab. "Zírbájah"=meat dressed with vinegar, cumin-seed (Pers. Zír) and hot spices. More of it in the sequel of the tale.

554

A saying not uncommon meaning, let each man do as he seems fit; also="age quod agis": and at times corresponding with our saw about the cap-fitting.

555

Arab. "Su'úd," an Alpinia with pungent rhizome like ginger; here used as a counter-odour.

556

Arab. "Tá'ih"=lost in the "Tíh," a desert wherein man may lose himself, translated in our maps "The Desert of the Wanderings," scil. of the children of Israel. "Credat Judæus."

557

i. e., £125 and £500.

558

A large sum was weighed by a professional instead of being counted, the reason being that the coin is mostly old and worn: hence our words "pound" and "pension" (or what is weighed out).

559

The eunuch is the best possible go-between on account of his almost unlimited power over the Harem.

560

i. e. a slave-girl brought up in the house and never sold except for some especial reason, as habitual drunkenness, etc.

561

Smuggling men into the Harem is a stock "topic" of eastern tales. "By means of their female attendants, the ladies of the royal harem generally get men into their apartments in the disguise of women." Says Vatsyayana in The Kama Sutra, Part V., London: Printed for the Hindoo Kamashastra Society, 1883. For private circulation only.

562

These tears are shed over past separation. So the "Indians" of the New World never meet after long parting without beweeping mutual friends they have lost.

563

A most important Jack in office whom one can see with his smooth chin and blubber lips, starting up from his lazy snooze in the shade and delivering his orders more peremptorily than any Dogberry. These epicenes are as curious and exceptional in character as in external conformation. Disconnected, after a fashion, with humanity, they are brave, fierce and capable of any villany or barbarity (as Agha Mohammed Khan in Persia 1795-98). The frame is unnaturally long and lean, especially the arms and legs; with high, flat, thin shoulders; big protruding joints and a face by contrast extraordinarily large, a veritable mask; the Castrato is expert in the use of weapons and sits his horse admirably, riding well "home" in the saddle for the best of reasons; and his hoarse thick voice, which apparently does not break, as in the European "Cáppone," invests him with all the circumstance of command.

564

From the Meccan well used by Moslems much like Eau de Lourdes by Christians: the water is saltish, hence the touch of Arab humour (Pilgrimage III., 201-202.)

565

Such articles would be sacred from Moslem eyes.

566

Physiologically true, but not generally mentioned in describing the emotions.

567

Properly "Uta," the different rooms, each "Odalisque," or concubine, having her own.

568

Showing that her monthly ailment was over.

569

Arab. "Muhammarah"=either browned before the fire or artificially reddened.

570

The insolence and licence of these palace-girls was (and is) unlimited; especially when, as in the present case, they have to deal with a "softy." On this subject numberless stories are current throughout the East.

571

i. e. blackened by the fires of Jehannam.

572

Arab. "Bi'l-Salámah"=in safety (to avert the evil eye). When visiting the sick it is usual to say something civil; "The Lord heal thee! No evil befal thee!" etc.

573

Washing during sickness is held dangerous by Arabs; and "going to the Hammam" is, I have said, equivalent to convalescence.

574

Arab. "Máristán" (pronounced Múristan) a corruption of the Pers. "Bímáristán"=place of sickness, a hospital much affected by the old Guebres (Dabistan, i., 165, 166). That of Damascus was the first Moslem hospital, founded by Al-Walid Son of Abd al-Malik the Ommiade in A.H. 88=706-7. Benjamin of Tudela (A.D. 1164) calls it "Dar-al-Maraphtan" which his latest Editor explains by "Dar-al-Mora-bittan" (abode of those who require being chained). Al-Makrizi (Khitat) ascribes the invention of "Spitals" to Hippocrates; another historian to an early Pharaoh "Manákiyush;" thus ignoring the Persian Kings, Saint Ephrem (or Ephraim) Syru etc. In modern parlance "Maristan" is a madhouse where the maniacs are treated with all the horrors which were universal in Europe till within a few years and of which occasional traces occur to this day. In A.D. 1399 Katherine de la Court held a "hospital in the Court called Robert de Paris;" but the first madhouse in Christendom was built by the legate Ortiz in Toledo A.D. 1483, and was therefore called Casa del Nuncio. The Damascus "Maristan" was described by every traveller of the last century: and it showed a curious contrast between the treatment of the maniac and the idiot or omadhaun, who is humanely allowed to wander about unharmed, if not held a Saint. When I saw it last (1870) it was all but empty and mostly in ruins. As far as my experience goes, the United States is the only country where the insane are rationally treated by the sane.

575

Hence the trite saying "Whoso drinks the water of the Nile will ever long to drink it again." "Light" means easily digested water; and the great test is being able to drink it at night between the sleeps, without indigestion.

576

"Níl" in popular parlance is the Nile in flood, although also used for the River as a proper name. Egyptians (modern as well as ancient), have three seasons Al-Shitá (winter), Al-Sayf (summer) and Al-Níl (the Nile i. e. flood season, our mid-summer); corresponding with the Growth-months; Housing (or granary) months and Flood-months of the older race.

577

These lines are in the Mac. Edit.

578

Arab. "Birkat al-Habash," a tank formerly existing in Southern Cairo: Galland (Night 128) says "en remontant vers l'Éthiopie."

579

The Bres. Edit. (ii., 190) from which I borrow this description, here alludes to the well-known Island, Al-Rauzah (Rodah)=The Garden.

580

Arab. "Laylat al-Wafá," the night of the completion or abundance of the Nile (flood), usually between August 6th and 16th, when the government proclaims that the Nilometer shows a rise of 16 cubits. Of course it is a great festival and a high ceremony, for Egypt is still the gift of the Nile (Lane M. E. chapt. xxvi – a work which would be much improved by a better index).

581

i. e. admiration will be complete.

582

Arab. "Sáhil Masr" (Misr): hence I suppose Galland's villes maritimes.

583

A favourite simile, suggested by the broken glitter and shimmer of the stream under the level rays and the breeze of eventide.

584

Arab. "Halab," derived by Moslems from "He (Abraham) milked (halaba) the white and dun cow." But the name of the city occurs in the Cuneiforms as Halbun or Khalbun, and the classics knew it as Βέροια, Beroea, written with variants.

585

Arab. "Ká'ah," usually a saloon; but also applied to a fine house here and elsewhere in The Nights.

586

Arab. "Ghamz"=winking, signing with the eye which, amongst Moslems, is not held "vulgar."

587

Arab. "Kamís" from low Lat. "Camicia," first found in St. Jerome: – "Solent militantes habere lineas, quas Camicias vocant." Our shirt, chemise, chemisette, etc. was unknown to the Ancients of Europe.

588

Arab. "Narjís." The Arabs borrowed nothing, but the Persians much, from Greek Mythology. Hence the eye of Narcissus, an idea hardly suggested by the look of the daffodil (or asphodel) flower, is at times the glance of a spy and at times the die-away look of a mistress. Some scholars explain it by the form of the flower, the internal calyx resembling the iris, and the stalk being bent just below the petals suggesting drooping eyelids and languid eyes. Hence a poet addresses the Narcissus: —

O Narjis, look away! Before those eyes ✿ I may not kiss her as a-breast she lies.What! Shall the lover close his eyes in sleep ✿ While thine watch all things between earth and skies?

The fashionable lover in the East must affect a frantic jealousy if he does not feel it.

589

In Egypt there are neither bedsteads nor bed-rooms: the carpets and mattresses, pillows and cushions (sheets being unknown) are spread out when wanted, and during the day are put into chests or cupboards, or only rolled up in a corner of the room (Pilgrimage i., 53).

590

The women of Damascus have always been famed for the sanguinary jealousy with which European story-books and novels credit the "Spanish lady." The men were as celebrated for intolerance and fanaticism, which we first read of in the days of Bertrandon de la Brocquière and which culminated in the massacre of 1860. Yet they are a notoriously timid race and make, physically and morally, the worst of soldiers: we proved that under my late friend Fred. Walpole in the Bashi-Buzuks during the old Crimean war. The men looked very fine fellows and after a month in camp fell off to the condition of old women.

591

Arab. "Rukhám," properly=alabaster and "Marmar"=marble; but the two are often confounded.

592

He was ceremonially impure after touching a corpse.

593

The phrase is perfectly appropriate: Cairo without "her Nile" would be nothing.

594

"The market was hot" say the Hindustanis. This would begin between 7 and 8 a. m.

595

Arab. Al-Faranj, Europeans generally. It is derived from "Gens Francorum," and dates from Crusading days when the French played the leading part. Hence the Lingua Franca, the Levantine jargon, of which Molière has left such a witty specimen.

596

A process familiar to European surgery of the same date.

597

In sign of disappointment, regret, vexation; a gesture still common amongst Moslems and corresponding in significance to a certain extent with our stamping, wringing the hands and so forth. It is not mentioned in the Koran where, however, we find "biting fingers' ends out of wrath" against a man (chapt. iii).

598

This is no unmerited scandal. The Cairenes, especially the feminine half (for reasons elsewhere given), have always been held exceedingly debauched. Even the modest Lane gives a "shocking" story of a woman enjoying her lover under the nose of her husband and confining the latter in a madhouse (chapt. xiii.) With civilisation, which objects to the good old remedy, the sword, they become worse: and the Kazi's court is crowded with would-be divorcees. Under English rule the evil has reached its acme because it goes unpunished: in the avenues of the new Isma'iliyah Quarter, inhabited by Europeans, women, even young women, will threaten to expose their persons unless they receive "bakhshísh." It was the same in Sind when husbands were assured that they would be hanged for cutting down adulterous wives: at once after its conquest the women broke loose; and in 1843-50, if a young officer sent to the bazar for a girl, half-a-dozen would troop to his quarters. Indeed more than once the professional prostitutes threatened to memorialise Sir Charles Napier because the "modest women," the "ladies" were taking the bread out of their mouths. The same was the case at Kabul (Caboul) of Afghanistan in the old war of 1840; and here the women had more excuse, the husbands being notable sodomites as the song has it: —