One Thousand and One Nights
Page 1219
90 In text “Kasalah” = a shock of corn, assemblage of sheaves. It may be a clerical error for “Kasabah” = stalk, haulm, straw.
91 Of course the conversation drifts into matters sexual and inter-sexual: in a similar story, “Tawaddud,” the learned slave girl, “hangs down her head for shame and confusion” (vol. v. 225); but the young Sayyid speaks out bravely as becomes a male masculant.
92 [In the text: “Allatí lau nazarat ilŕ ‘l-samá la-a’shab (fourth form of ‘ashab with the affirmative “la”) al-Safá (pl. of Safát), wa lau nazarat ilŕ ‘l-arz la amtar taghru-há (read thaghru-há) Lúluan lam yuskab wa ríku-há min al-Zulál a’zab (for a’zab min al-Zulál),” which I would translate: Who if she look upon the heavens, the very rocks cover themselves with verdure, and an she look upon the earth, her lips rain unpierced pearls (words of virgin eloquence) and the dews of whose mouth are sweeter than the purest water. — ST.]
93 These lines have often occurred before: see index (vol. x. 443) “Wa lau anunahá li ‘l-Mushrikín,” etc. I have therefore borrowed from Mr. Payne, vol. viii. 78, whose version is admirable.
94 For the Jahím-hell, see vol. viii. 111.
95 For the Seven Ages of womankind (on the Irish model) see vol. ix. 175. Some form of these verses is known throughout the Moslem East to prince and peasant. They usually begin: —
From the tenth to the twentieth year * To the gaze a charm doth appear;
and end with: —
From sixty to three score ten * On all befal Allah’s malison.
96 [Here I suppose the word “kál” has been dropped after “bi ‘l-shi’r,” and it should be: He (the youth) replied, that was our common sire, Adam, etc. — ST.]
97 “Hábíl” and “Kábíl” are the Arab. equivalent of Abel and Cain. Neither are named in the Koran (Surah v. “The Table,” vv. 30-35), which borrows dialogue between the brothers derived from the Targum (Jeirus. on Gen. iv. 8) and makes the raven show the mode of burial to Cain, not to Adam, as related by the Jews. Rodwell’s Koran, .
98 Sit venia verbo: I have the less hesitation in making Adam anticipate the widow Malone from a profound conviction that some Hibernian antiquary, like Vallancey who found the Irish tongue in the Punic language of Plautus, shall distinctly prove that our first forefather spoke Keltic.
99 In text “Ríh,” wind, gust (of temper), pride, rage. Amongst the Badawín it is the name given to rheumatism (gout being unknown), and all obscure aching diseases by no means confined to flatulence or distension. [The MS. has: “ilŕ an káta-ka ‘l-’amal al-rabíh,” which gives no sense whatever. Sir Richard reads: “kátala-ka ‘l-’amal al-ríh,” and thus arrives at the above translation. I would simply drop a dot on the first letter of “káta-ka,” reading “fáta-ka,” when the meaning of the line as it stands, would be: until the work that is profitable passed away from thee, i.e., until thou ceasedst to do good. The word “rabíh” is not found in Dictionaries, but it is evidently an intensive of “rábih” (tijárah rábihah = a profitable traffic) and its root occurs in the Koran, ii. 15: “Fa-má rabihat Tijáratuhum” = but their traffic has not been gainful. — ST.]
100 Arab. “Badrah”: see vol. iv. 281. [According to Kámús,
“Badrah” is a purse of one thousand or ten thousand dirhams, or of seven thousand dínárs. As lower down it is called “Badrat Zahab,” a purse of gold, I would take it here in the third sense. — ST.]
101 In text “Zardiyá,” for “Zaradiyyah” = a small mail-coat, a light helmet.
102 Arab. “‘Ind ‘uzzáti ‘s-siníni” = lit. the thorny shrubs of ground bare of pasture.
103 This is another form of “inverted speech,” meaning the clean contrary; see vols. ii. 265; vi. 262; and viii. 179.
104 In text “Lam yakthir Khayrak”; this phrase (pronounced
“Kattir Khayrak”) is the Egyptian (and Moslem) equivalent for our “thank you.” Vols. iv. 6; v. 171. Scott () makes Al-Hajjaj end with, “Cursed is he who doth not requite a sincere adviser, declareth our sacred Koran.”
105 In the W.M. MS. this tale is followed by the “History of Uns al-Wujúd and the Wazir’s daughter Rose-in-hood,” for which see vol. v. 32 et seq. Then comes the long romance “Mázin of Khorásán,” which is a replica of “Hasan of Bassorah and the
King’s daughter of the Jinn” (vol. viii. 7). I have noted (vol. x. 78) that this story shows us the process of transition from the Persian original to the Arabic copy. “Mázin” is also the P.N. of an Arab tribe: De Sacy, Chrest. i. 406.
106 MS. vol. v. p-94: Scott, vol. vi. 343: Gauttier, vi. 376. The story is a replica of the Mock Caliph (vol. iv. 130) and the Tale of the First Lunatic (Suppl. vol. iv.); but I have retained it on account of the peculiar freshness and naďveté of treatment which distinguishes it, also as a specimen of how extensively editors and scriveners can vary the same subject.
107 In text “Natar” (watching) for “Nataf” (indigestion, disgust).
108 Here again we have the formula “Kála ‘l-Ráwí” = the reciter saith, showing the purpose of the MS. See Terminal Essay, .
109 It were well to remind the reader that “Khalífah” (never written “Khalíf”) is = a viceregent or vicar, i.e. of the Prophet of Allah, not of Allah himself, a sense which was especially deprecated by the Caliph Abubakr as “vicar” supposes l’absence du chef; or Dieu est présent partout et ŕ tout instant. Ibn Khal. ii. 496.
110 This tale, founded on popular belief in tribadism, has already been told in vol. vii. 130: in the W.M. MS. it occupies 23 pages (p- 118). Scott (vi. 343) has “Mesroor retired and brought in Ali Ibn Munsoor Damuskkee, who related to the Caliph a foolish narrative (!) of two lovers of Bussorah, each of whom was coy when the other wished to be kind.” The respectable Britisher evidently cared not to “read between the lines.”
111 In pop. parlance “Let us be off.”
112 Arab. “Al-Áfák” plur. of Ufk, “elegant” (as the grammarians say) for the world, the universe.
113 [In MS. “Rankah” or “Ranakah,” probably for “Raunakah,” which usually means “troubled,”; speaking of water, but which, according to Schiaparelli’s Vocabulista, has also the meaning of “Raunak” = amenitas. As however “Ranakah” taken as fem. of “Ranak” shares with Raunakah the signification of “troubled,” it may perhaps also be a parallel form to the latter in the second sense. — ST.]
114 The text has “Martabat Saltanah” (for Sultániyah) which may mean a royal Divan. The “Martabah” is a mattress varying in size and thickness, stuffed with cotton and covered with cloths of various colours and the latter mostly original and admirable of figuration but now supplanted by the wretched printed calicoes of civilisation. It is placed upon the ground and garnished with cushions which are usually of length equally the width of the mattress and of a height measuring about half of that breadth. When the “Martabah” is placed upon its “Mastabah” (bench of masonry or timber) or upon its “Sarír” (a framework of “jaríd” or midribs of the palm), it becomes the Díwan = divan.
115 In text “Bi-izá-humá;” lit. vis-ŕ-vis to the twain.
116 These have occurred vol. i. 176: I quote Mr. Payne (i. 156).
117 In text “Hanná-kumú ‘llah:” see “Hanian,” vol. ii. 5.
118 This is usually a sign of grief, a symbolic act which dates from the days of the Heb. patriarchs (Gen. xxxvii. 29-34); but here it is the mark of strong excitement. The hand is placed within the collar and a strong pull tears the light stuff all down the breast. Economical men do this in a way which makes darning easy.
119 [The MS. is very indistinct in this place, but by supplying “‘an” after “ghibta” and reading “‘ayní” for “‘anní,” I have no doubt the words are: Wa in ghibta ‘an ‘ayni fa-má ghibta ‘an kalbi = and if thou art absent from my eyes, yet thou are not absent from my heart. The metre is Tawíl and the line has occurred elsewhere in The Nights. — ST.]
120 I have already noted that “Hilál” is the crescent (waxing or
waning) for the first and last two or three nights: during the rest of the lunar month the lesser light is called “Kamar.”
121 The sense is that of Coleridge. —
To be beloved is all I need;
And whom I love I love indeed.
122 There is something wrong in the text. I cannot help again drawing the reader’s attention to the skilful portraiture of the model Moslem Minister, the unfortunate Ja’afar. He is never described in the third person; but the simple dialogue always sets him off as a wise, conciliatory, benevolent, loveable and man-loving character, whose constant object is to temper the harshness and headstrong errors of a despotic master as the Caliph is represented to be by way of showing his kingliness. See vol. i., 102. [The MS. is certainly wrong here, but perhaps it can be righted a little. It has: “Kad yakún Z R H ahad fí Mál jazíl wa harab al-Maz’ún,” etc., where Sir Richard reads “zarra-hu” = he harmed, and Mazghún = the hated one, i.e. enemy. I have a strong suspicion that in the original from which our scribe copied, the two words were “zamin” and “al-Mazmún.” Zamin in the Arabic character would be {Arabic characters} The loop for the “m,” if made small, is easily overlooked; the curve of the “n,” if badly traced, can as easily be mistaken for “r” and a big dot inside the “n” might appear like a blotted “h”. Mazmún would become “Maz’ún” by simply turning the “m” loop upwards instead of downwards, an error the converse of which is so frequently committed in printed texts. Curiously enough the same error occurs of the MS., where we shall find “na’ ‘al” with two ‘Ayns instead of “na’mal” with ‘Ayn and Mim. If this conjecture is correct the sense would be: Haply he may have stood security for someone for much money, and the person for whom security was given, took to flight, etc. For “zamin” with the acc. see Ibn Jubair ed. by Wright, 77, 2. I may say on this occasion, that my impression of the Montague MS. is, that it is a blundering copy of a valuable though perhaps indistinctly written original. — ST.]
123 In text “‘Aurat” = nakedness: see vol. vi. 30.
124 In Arab. “‘Urrah”: see Fatimah the Dung in vol. x. 1.
125 [In the MS. “bi-Wujúh al Fániját al-Miláh.” The
translator conjectures “al-fátihát,” which he refers to “Wujúh.”
I read it “al-Ghániját,” in apposition with al-Miláh, and render: the faces of the coquettish, the fair. See index under
“Ghunj.” — ST.]
126 In text “Ballát,” the name still given to the limestone slabs cut in the Torah quarries South of Cairo. The word is classical, we find in Ibn Khaldún (vol. i. , Fr. Trans.) a chief surnommé el-Balt (le pavé), ŕ cause de sa fermeté et de sa force de caractčre.
127 In text “Usburú” = be ye patient, the cry addressed to passengers by the Grandee’s body-guard.
128 The “young person” here begins a tissue of impertinences which are supposed to show her high degree and her condescension in mating with the jeweller. This is still “pretty Fanny’s way” amongst Moslems.
129 A “swear” peculiarly feminine, and never to be used by men.
130 In text “‘Alŕ-Aklí:” the whole passage is doubtful.
[I would read, and translate the passage as follows: “Má tastahlí ‘alŕ hazá illá shay lá tazann-hu allazí (for “allatí,” see Suppl. iv. 253) kayyamtíní (2nd fem. sing.) min ‘alŕ aklí wa aná zanantu innahu man yújab la-hu al-kiyám; thumma iltifatat illayya wa kálat hakazá sirtu aná la-ghazárat al-thiyáb al-wasikhat min al-fakr fa-hal má ghasalta wajhak?” = Thou deservest not for this but a thing thou doest not fancy, thou who madest me rise from before my food, while I thought he was one to whom rising up is due. Then she turned towards me, saying, “Am I then in this manner (i.e. like thyself) a bundle of clothes all dirty from poverty, and hast thou therefore (“fa” indicating the effect of a cause) not washed thy face?” Or to put it in more intelligible English: “Am I then like thyself a heap of rags that thou shouldst come to me with unwashed face?” — ST.]
131 Of the respect due to food Lane (M. E. chapt. xiii.) tells the following tale: “Two servants were sitting at the door of their master’s house, eating their dinner, when they observed a Mameluke Bey with several of his officers, riding along the streets towards them. One of these servants rose, from respect to the Grandee, who regarding him with indignation, exclaimed, Which is the more worthy of respect, the bread which is before thee or myself? Without awaiting a reply, he made, it is said, a well-understood signal with his hand; and the unintending offender was beheaded on the spot.” I may add that the hero of the story is said to have been the celebrated “Daftardar” whose facetious cruelties have still a wide fame in the Nile Valley.
132 I would read (for “Sirtu ana” = I have become) “Sirt’ anta” = thou hast become.
133 In text “Mukh;” lit. = brain, marrow.
134 [In Ar. “Wa zand mujauhar fí-hi Asáwir min al-Zahab al-ahmar,” which may mean: and a fore-arm (became manifest), ornamented with jewels, on which were bracelets of red gold. — ST.]
135 For this famous type of madman see Suppl. Vol. vi. 155.
136 [Ar. “Ghurrát,” which may be bright looks, charms, in general, or according to Bocthor, fore-locks. The more usual plural of “Ghurrah” is “Ghurar.” — ST.]
137 In the text “Darajah” = an instant; also a degree (of the Zodiac). We still find this division of time in China and Japan, where they divide the twenty-four hours into twelve periods, each of which is marked by a quasi-Zodiacal sign: e.g. —
Midnight until 2 a.m. is represented by the Rat. 2 a.m. until 4 a.m. is represented by the Ox. 4 a.m. until 6 a.m. is represented by the Tiger. 6 a.m. until 8 a.m. is represented by the Hare. 8 a.m. until 10 a.m. is represented by the Dragon. 10 a.m. until noon is represented by the Serpent. Noon until 2 p.m. is represented by the Horse. 2 p.m. until 4 p.m. is represented by the Ram. 4 p.m. until 6 p.m. is represented by the Ape. 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. is represented by the Cock. 8 p.m. until 10 p.m. is represented by the Hog. 10 p.m. until midnight is represented by the Fox.
See Edit. ii. of C. B. Mitford’s Tales of Old Japan, a most important contribution to Eastern folklore.
[“Darajah” is, however, also used for any short space of time; according to Lane it is = 4 minutes (i.e. the 24 hours or 1,440 minutes of the astronomical day divided into 360 degrees of 4 minutes each), and Bocthor gives it as an equivalent for our instant or moment. — ST.]
138 The young fool vaunts his intersexual powers, apparently unknowing that nothing can be more fatal to love than fulfilling the desires of a woman who, once accustomed to this high diet, revolts against any reduction of it. He appears to have been a polisson by his own tale told to the Caliph and this alone would secure the contempt of a high-bred and high-spirited girl.
139 The “nosebag”; vol. ii. 52, etc. The Badawíyah (Badawí woman) generally prefers a red colour, in opposition to the white and black of civilisation; and she of the Arabian Desert generally disdains to use anything of the kind.
140 This ablution of the whole body he was bound to perform after having had carnal knowledge of a woman, and before washing he was in a state of ceremonial impurity. For “Ghusl,” or complete ablution, see vol. v. 80.
141 “The Heart of the Koran,” chap. xxxvi. see vol. iv. 50.
142 The Mandíl apparently had been left in the shop by the black slave-girl. Women usually carry such articles with them when “on the loose,” and in default of water and washing they are used to wipe away the results of car. cop.
143 In Arab. “Shakk.” The criminal was hung up by the heels, and the executioner, armed with a huge chopper, began to hew him down from the fork till he reached the neck, when, by a dextrous turn of the blade, he left the head attached to one half of the body. This punishment was long used in Persia and abolished, they say, by Fath Ali Shah, on the occasion when an offender so treated abused the royal mother and women relatives until the knife had reached his vitals. “Kata’ al-’Arba’,” or cutting off
the four members, equivalent to our “quartering,” was also a popular penalty.
144 In text “Ghibtu ‘an al-Dunyá,” a popular phrase, meaning simply I fainted.
145 This was done to staunch the blood: see the salt-wench in vol. i. 341.
146 This couplet has repeatedly occurred: in the preceding volume, Night cdv. (Suppl. iv. 222); and in The Nights (proper), vol. vi. 246. Here I have quoted Lane (A.N. iii. 220), who has not offered a word of comment or of explanation concerning a somewhat difficult couplet.
147 The plur. masc. for the sing. fem.: see vol. vii. 140.
148 He speaks after the recognised conventional fashion, as if reporting the camp-shift of a Badawí tribe.
149 See vol. i. 25 for the parallel of these lines.
150 The text inserts here, “Saith the Reciter of this adventure and right joyous history strange as rare,” etc.
151 Scott, in the “Story of the Sultan, the Dirveshe, and the Barber’s son” (vi. 348), calls the King “Rammaud.” The tale is magical and Rosicrucian, laid somewhat upon the lines of “The Physician Dúbán”; i.45.
152 This is the custom among Eastern Moslems: the barber, after his operations are over, presents his hand-mirror for the patient to see whether all be satisfactory, saying at the same time “Na’íman” = may it be pleasurable to thee! The customer answers “Allah bring thee pleasure,” places the fee upon the looking-glass and returns it to the shaver. For “Na’íman” see vol. ii. 5.
153 The least that honest Figaro expected to witness was an attempt upon the boy’s chastity.