Arabian Nights, Volume 13
Footnotes
[FN#1]
M. Zotenberg empowered me to offer his "Aladdin" to an "Oriental" publishing-house
well-known in London, and the result was the "no-public" reply. The mortifying fact is that
Oriental studies are now at their nadir in Great Britain, which is beginning to show so small in the
Eastern World.
[FN#2] P.N. of a Jinni who rules the insect-kingdom and who is invoked by scribes to protect
their labours from the worm.
[FN#3] Both name and number suggest the "Calc. Edit." of 1814. See "Translator's Foreword"
vol. i., x)x.-xx. There is another version of the first two hundred Nights, from the "Calc. Edit."
into Urdu by one Haydar Ali 1 vol. roy. 8vo lithog. Calc. 1263 (1846).-- R.F.B.
[FN#4] "Alf Leilah" in Hindostani 4 vols. in 2, royal 8vo, lithographed, Lakhnau, 1263 (1846).--R. F. B.
[FN#5] This is the "Alif" (!) Leila, Tarjuma-i Alif (!) Laila ba-Zuban-i-Urdu (Do Jild, baharfát-i-Yurop), an Urdu translation of the Arabian Nights, printed entirely in the Roman character, etc.,
etc.--R.F.B.
[FN#6] i.e., The Thousand Tales.
[FN#7] From the MS, in the Bibliochèque Nationale (Supplement Arab. No. 2523) vol. ii., p. 82,
verso to p. 94, verso. The Sisters are called Dínárzád and Shahrázád, a style which I have not
adopted.
[FN#8] THe old versions read "Ornament (Adornment?) of the Statues," Zierde der Pildsäulen
(Weil). I hold the name to be elliptical, Zayn (al-Din = Adornment of The Faith and owner of)
al-Asnám = the Images. The omission of Al-Din in proper names is very common; e.g., Fakhr
(Al-Din) Al-Iftakhári (Iftikhár-al-Din) and many others given by De Sacy (Chrest.i. 30, and in the
Treatise on Coffee by Abdal-Kádir). So Al-Kamál, Al-Imád, Al-Baha are = Kamal al-Dín, etc. in
Jbn Khallikan, iii 493. Sanam properly = an idol is popularly applied to all artificial figures of man
and beast. I may note that we must not call the hero, after Galland's fashion, unhappily adopted by
Weil, tout bonnement "Zayn."
[FN#9] Galland persistently writes "Balsorah," a European corruption common in his day, the
childhood of Orientalism in Europe. The Hindostani versions have "Bansrá," which is worse.
[FN#10] For notes on Geomancy (Zarb Raml) see vol. iii. 269.
[FN#11] THe Hindostani Version enlarges upon this:--"Besides this, kings cannot escape perils
and mishaps which serve as warnings and examples to them when dealing their decrees."
[FN#12] In the XIXth century we should say "All the--ologies."
[FN#13] In the Hindostani Version he begins by "breaking the seal which had been set upon the
royal treasury."
[FN#14] "Three things" (says Sa'di in the Gulistan) "lack permanency, Wealth without trading,
Learning without disputation, Government without justice." (chap. viii. max. 8). The
Bakhtiyár-námeh adds that "Government is a tree whose root is legal punishment (Siyásat); its
root-end is justice; its bough, mercy; its flower, wisdom; its leaf, liberality; and its fruit, kindness
and benevolence. The foliage of every tree whose root waxeth dry (lacketh sap) taketh a yellow
tint and beareth no fruit."
[FN#15] For this word, see vol. ix. 108. It is the origin of the Fr. "Douane" and the Italian
"Dogana" through the Spanish Aduana (Ad-Díwán) and the Provencal "Doana." Ménage derives
it from the Gr. {Greek text} = a place where goods are received, and others from "Doge" (Dux) for
whom a tax on merchandise was levied at Venice. Littré (s.v.) will not decide, but rightly inclines
to the Oriental origin.
[FN#16] A Hadis says, "The dream is the inspiration of the True Believer;" but also here, as the
sequel shows, the Prince believed the Shaykh to be the Prophet, concerning whom a second Hadis
declares, "Whoso seeth me in his sleep seeth me truly, for Satan may not assume my semblance."
See vol. iv. 287. The dream as an inspiration shows early in literature, e.g.
{Greek text}-- (Il. i. 63). and {Greek text}-- (Il. ii 55). in which the Dream is {Greek text}.
[FN#17] In the Hindostani Version he becomes a Pír = saint, spiritual guide.
[FN#18] A favourite sentiment. In Sir Charles Murray's excellent novel, "Hassan: or, the Child
of the Pyramid," it takes the form, "what's past is past and what is written is written and shall
come to pass."
[FN#19] In the H. V. the Prince digs a vat or cistern-shaped hole a yard deep. Under the ringed
slab he also finds a door whose lock he breaks with his pickaxe and seeing a staircase of white
marble lights a candle and reaches a room whose walls are of porcelain and its floor and ceiling
are of crystal.
[FN#20] Arab. Khawábi (plur. of Khábiyah) large jars usually of pottery. In the H. V. four
shelves of mother o' pearl support ten jars of porphyry rangeed in rows and the Prince supposes
(with Galland) that the contents are good old wine.
[FN#21] Arab. "'Atík": the superficial similiarity of the words have produced a new noun in
Arabic, e.g. Abú Antíká = father of antiquities, a vendor of such articles mostly modern,
"brand-new and intensely old."
[FN#22] In the text "Ashkhás" (plural of Shakhs) vulgarly used, throughout India, Persia and
other Moslem realms, in the sense of persons or individuals. For its lit. sig. see vols. iii. 26; and
viii. 159. The H. V. follows Galland in changing to pedestals the Arab thrones, and makes the
silken hanging a "piece of white satin" which covers the unoccupied base.
[FN#23] The blessed or well-omened: in these days it is mostly a servile name, e.g. Sidi Mubárak
Bombay. See vol. ix. 58,330.
[FN#24] In the test "Mín" for "Man," a Syro-Egyptian form common throughout this MS.
[FN#25] "Ay Ni'am," an emphatic and now vulgar expression.
[FN#26] The MS. here has "'Imárah" = a building, probably a clerical error for Maghárah," a
cave, a souterrain.
[FN#27] Arab, "Zahab-ramlí," explained in "Alaeddin." So Al-Mutanabbi sang:--
"I become not of them because homed in their ground: * Sandy earth is the gangue wherein
gold is found."
[FN#28] Walímah prop. = a marriage-feast. For the different kinds of entertainments see vols. vi.
74; viii. 231.
[FN#29] Arab. Mukattaí al-Yadayn, a servile posture: see vols. iii. 218; ix. 320.
[FN#30] Here the Arabic has the advantage of the English; "Shakhs" meaning either a person or
an image. See supra, p. 11.
[FN#31] Arab. "Kawárijí = one who uses the paddle, a paddler, a rower.
[FN#32] In the Third Kalandar's Tale (vol. i. 143) Prince 'Ajíb is forbidden to call upon the name
of Allah, under pain of upsetting the skiff paddled by the man of brass. Here the detail is omitted.
[FN#33] Arab. "Wahsh," which Galland translates "Tiger," and is followed by his Hind.
translator.
[FN#34] Arab. "Laffa 'l-isnayn bi-zulúmati-h," the latter word = Khurtúm, the trunk of an
elephant, from Zalm = the dewlap of sheep or goat.
[FN#35] In the text "Yámin," a copyist's error, which can mean nothing else but "Yasimín."
[FN#36] The H. V. rejects this detail for "a single piece of mother-o'-pearl twelve yards long,"
etc. Galland has une seule ecaille de poisson. In my friend M. Zotenberg's admirable translation
of Tabara (i. 52) we read of a bridge at Baghdad made of the ribs of Og bin 'Unk (= Og of the
Neck), the fabled King of Bashan.
[FN#37] I have noted that this is the primitive attire of Eastern man in all hot climates, and that it
still holds its ground in that grand survival of heathenry, the Meccan Pilgrimage. In Galland the
four strips are of taffetas jaune, the Hind. "Taftí."
[FN#38] The word is Hizám = girdle, sash, waist-belt, which Galland turns into nappes. The
object of the cloths edged with gems and gums was to form a barrier excluding hostile Jinns: the
European magician usually drew a magic circle.
[FN#39] This is our corruption of the Malay Aigla = sandal wood. See vol. ix. 150.
[FN#40] Lit. = the Day of Assembly, "Yaum al-Mahshar." These lines were translated at Cannes
on Feb. 22n, 1886, the day before the earthquake which brought desolation upon the Riviera. It
was a second curious coincidence. On Thursday, July 10th, 1863--the morning when the great
earthquake at Accra laid in ruins the town and the stout old fort built in the days of James II--I
had been reading the Koranic chapter entitled "Earthquakes" (No. XCIX.) to some Moslem
friends who had visited my quarters. Upwards of a decade afterwards I described teh accident in
"Ocean Highways" (New Series, No. II., Vol. I, pp. 448-461), owned by Trubner & Co., and
edited by my friend Clements Markham, and I only regret that this able Magazine has been
extinguished by that dullest of Journals, "Porceedings of the R. S. S. and monthly record of
Geography."
[FN#41] Galland has un tremblement pareil à celui qu'Israfyel (Isráfíl) doit causer le jour du
jugement.
[FN#42] The idea is Lady M. W. Montague's ("The Lady's Resolve.")
In part she is to blame that has been tried:
He comes too near that comes to be denied.
As an unknown correspondent warns me the sentiment was probably suggested by Sir Thomas
Overbury ("A Wife." St. xxxvi):--
--In part to blame is she
Which hath without consent bin only tride:
He comes too near that comes to be denide.
[FN#43] These highly compromising magical articles are of many kinds. The ballad of The Boy
and the Mantle is familiar to all, how in the case of Sir Kay's lady:--
When she had tane the mantle
With purpose for to wear;
It shrunk up to her shoulder
And left her backside bare.
Percy, Vol. I., i and Book III.
Percy derives the ballad from "Le COurt Mantel," an old French piece and Mr. Evans (Specimens
of Welsh Poetry) from an ancient MS, of Tegan Earfron, one of Arthur's mistresses, who
possessed a mantle which would not fit immodest women. See also in Spenser, Queen Florimel's
Girdle (F.Q. iv. 5,3), and the detective is a horn in the Morte d'Arthur, translated from the French,
temp. Edward IV., and first printed in A. D. 1484. The Spectator (No. 579) tells us "There was a
Temple upon Mount Etna which was guarded by dogs of so exquisite a smell, that they could
discover whether the Persons who came thither were chaste or not;" and that they caused, as
might be expected, immense trouble. The test-article becomes in the Tuti-námeh the Tank of Trial
at Agra; also a nosegay which remains fresh or withers; in the Kathá Sarit Ságara, the red lotus of
Shiva; a shirt in Story lxix. Gesta Romanorum; a cup in Ariosto; a rose-garland in "The Wright's
Chaste WIfe," edited by Mr. Furnival for the Early English Text Society; a magic picture in
Bandello, Part I., No. 21; a ring in the Pentamerone, of Basile; and a distaff in "L'Adroite
Princesse," a French imitation of the latter.
[FN#44] Looking glasses in the East are mostly made, like our travelling mirrors, to open and
shut.
[FN#45] In Eastern countries the oarsman stands to his work and lessens his labour by applying
his weight which cannot be done so forcibly when sitting even upon the sliding-seat. In rowing as
in swimming we have forsaken the old custom and have lost instead of gaining.
[FN#46] I have explained this word in vol. iii. 100; viii. 51, etc., and may add the interpretation
of Mr. L. C. Casartelli (p. 17) "La Philosophie Religieuse du Mazdéisme, etc., Paris Maisonneuve,
1884." "A divine name, which has succeeded little (?) is the ancient title Bagh, the O. P. Baga of
the Cuneiforms (Baga vazraka Auramazda, etc.) and the Bagha of the Avesta, whose memory is
preserved in Baghdad--the city created by the Gods (?). The Pahlevi books show the word in the
compound Baghôbakht, lit. = what is granted by the Gods, popularly, Providence."
[FN#47] The H. V. makes the old woman a "finished procuress whose skill was unrivalled in that
profession."
[FN#48] In the text "Al-Sádí w'al-Ghádí:" the latter may mean those who came for the morning
meal.
[FN#49] An antistes, a leader in prayer (vols. ii. 203, and iv. 227); a reverend, against whom the
normal skit is directed. The H. V. makes him a Muezzin, also a Mosque-man; and changes his
name to Murad. Imám is a word with a host of meanings, e.g., model (and master), a Sir-Oracle,
the Caliph, etc., etc.
[FN#50] i.e. being neighbours they would become to a certain extent answerable for the crimes
committed within the quarter.
[FN#51] Arab. "Nakshat" and "Sifrat."
[FN#52] Arab. "Farajíyah," for which see vol. i. 210, 321.
[FN#53] For this aphrodisiac see vol. vi. 60.
[FN#54] In the text "Ay ni'am," still a popular expression.
[FN#55] Arab. "'Ilm al-Híah," gen. translated Astrology, but here meaning scientific
Physiognomy. All these branches of science, including Palmistry, are nearly connected; the
features and the fingers, mounts, lines, etc. being referred to the sun, moon and planets.
[FN#56] Arab. "Mihaffah bi-takhtrawán": see vols. ii. 180; v. 175.
[FN#57] The H. V. is more explicit: "do not so, or the King of the Jann will slay thee even before
thou canst enjoy her and will carry her away."
[FN#58] Arab. "Shahwah" the rawest and most direct term. The Moslem religious has no absurd
shame of this natural passion. I have heard of a Persian Imam, who, suddenly excited as he was
sleeping in a friend's house, awoke the master with, "Shahwah dáram" = "I am lustful" and was at
once gratified by a "Mut'ah," temporary and extempore marriage to one of the slave-girls. These
morganatic marriages are not, I may note, allowed to the Sunnis.
[FN#59] Arab. "Min ba'di an" for "Min ba'di má" = after that, still popular in the latter broad
form.
[FN#60] The word has been used in this tale with a threefold sense Egypt, old Cairo (Fostat) and
new Cairo, in fact to the land and to its capital for the time being.
[FN#61] Arab. "Kabbaltu" = I have accepted, i.e., I accept emphatically. Arabs use this form in
sundry social transactions, such as marriages, sales, contracts, bargains, and so forth, to denote
that the engagement is irrevocable and that no change can be made. De Sacy neglected to note
this in his Grammar, but explains it in his Chrestomathy (i. 44, 53), and rightly adds that the use of
this energetic form peut-être serait susceptible d'applications plus étendues.
[FN#162] La nuit de l'entrée, say the French: see Lane "Leylet ed-dukhlah" (M.E. chapt. vi.).
[FN#63] This MS. uses "Miláh" (pleasant) for "Mubáh" (permitted). I must remark, before
parting with Zayn al-Asnam, that its object is to inculcate that the price of a good wife is "far
above rubies" (Prov. xxxi. 10: see the rest of this fine chapter), a virtuous woman being "a crown
to her husband" (ibid. xxii. 4); and "a prudent wife is from the Lord" (Prov. xix. 4). The whole
tale is told with extreme delicacy and the want of roughness and energy suggests a European
origin.
[FN#64] i.e. the "Height or Glory ('Alá) of the Faith (al-Dín)" pron. Aláaddeen; which is fairly
represented by the old form "Aladdin;" and better by De Sacy's "Ala-eddin." The name has
occurred in The Nights, vol. iv. 29-33; it is a household word in England and who has not heard
of THomas Hood's "A-lad-in?" Easterns write it in five different ways and in the Paris MS. it is
invariably "'Alí al-dín," which is a palpable mistake. The others are (1) 'Alá al-Dín, (2) 'Alá yadín,
(3) 'Alah Dín in the H. V. and (4) 'Aláa al-Dín (with the Hamzah), the last only being grammatical.
In Galland the Histoire de la Lampe merveilleuse is preceded by the Histoire du Dormeur Eveillé
which, being "The Story of Abú al-Hasan the Wag, or the Sleeper awakened," of the Bresl. Edit.
(Nights cclxxi.-ccxc.), is here omitted. The Alaeddin Story exists in germ in Tale ii. of the
"Dravidian Nights Entertainments," (Madana Kamara-Sankádáj), by Pandit S. M. Natisa Shastri
(Madras, 1868, and London, Trübner). We are told by Mr. Coote that it is well represented in
Italy. The Messina version is by Pittè, "La Lanterna Magica," also the Palermitan "Lanterne;" it is
"Il Matrimonio di Cajussi" of Rome (R. H. Busk's Folk-lore); "Il Gallo e il Mago," of Visentini's
"Fiabe Mantovane," and the "Pesciolino," and "Il Contadino che aveva tre Fígli," of Imbriana. In
"La Fanciulla c il Mago," of De Gubernatis ("Novelline di Sante Stefano de Calcenaja," p. 47),
occurs the popular incident of the original. "The Magician was not a magician for nothing. He
feigned to be a hawker and fared through the streets, crying out, 'Donne, donne, chi baratta anelli
di ferro contra anelli di argento?'"
Alaeddin has ever been a favourite with the stage. Early in the present century it was introduced
to the Parisian opera by M. Etienne, to the Feydeau by Théaulon's La Clochette: to the Gymnase
by La Petite-Lampe of M. Scribe and Melesville, and to teh Panorama Dramatique by MM.
Merle, Cartouche and Saintine (Gauttier, vii. 380).
[FN#65] This MS. always uses Dínárzád like Galland.
[FN#66] Arab. "'Abadan," a term much used in this MS. and used correctly. It refers always and
only to future time, past being denoted by "Kattu" from Katta = he cut (in breadth, as opposed to
Kadda=he cut lengthwise). See De Sacy, Chrestom. ii. 443.
[FN#67] In the text "Ibn mín," a vulgarism for "man." Galland adds that the tailor's name was
Mustapha--i y avait un tailleur nommé Mustafa.
[FN#68] In classical Arabic the word is "Maghribi," the local form of the root Gharaba= he went
far away (the sun), set, etc., whence "Maghribi"=a dweller in the Sunset-land. The vulgar,
however, prefer "Maghrab" and "Maghrabi," of which foreigners made "Mogrebin." For other
information see vols. vi. 220; ix. 50. The "Moormen" are famed as magicians; so we find a
Maghrabi Sahhár=wizard, who by the by takes part in a transformation scene like that of the
Second Kalandar (vol. i. p. 134, The Nights), in p. 10 of Spitta Bey's "Contes Arabes Modernes,"
etc. I may note that "Sihr," according to Jauhari and Firozábádi=anything one can hold by a thin
or subtle place, i.e., easy to handle. Hence it was applied to all sciences, "Sahhár" being=to 'Alim
(or sage) . and the older Arabs called poetry "Sihar al-halál"--lawful magic.
[FN#69] i.e. blood is thicker than water, as the Highlanders say.
[FN#70] A popular saying amongst Moslems which has repeatedly occurred in The Nights. The
son is the "lamp of a dark house." Vol. ii 280.
[FN#71] Out of respect to his brother, who was probably the senior: the H. V. expressly says so.
[FN#72] Al-Marhúm = my late brother. See vol. ii. 129, 196.
[FN#73] This must refer to Cairo not to Al-Medinah whose title is "Al-Munawwarah" = the
Illumined.
[FN#74] A picturesque term for birth-place.
[FN#75] In text "Yá Rájul" (for Rajul) = O man, an Egypto-Syrian form, broad as any Doric.
[FN#76] Arab. Shúf-hu, the colloquial form of Shuf-hu
[FN#77] For the same sentiment see "Julnár" the "Sea born," Nights dccxliii.-xliv.
[FN#78] "I will hire thee a shop in the Chauk"--Carfax or market-street says the H. V.
[FN#79] The MS. writes the word Khwájá (for Khwájah see vol. vi. 46). Here we are at once
interested in the scapegrace who looked Excelsior. In fact the tale begins with a strong
inducement to boyish vagabondage and scampish indolence; but the Moslem would see in it the
hand of Destiny bringing good out of evil. Amongst other meanings of "Khwájah " it is a honorific
title given by Khorásánis to their notables. In Arab. the similarity of the word to
"Khuwáj"=hunger, has given rise to a host of conceits, more or less frigid (Ibn Khallikán, iii. 45).
[FN#80] Arab. "Wáhid min al-Tujjár," the very vulgar style.
[FN#81] i.e., the Saturday (see vol. ii. 305) established as a God's rest by the so-called "Mosaic"
commandment No. iv. How it gradually passed out of observance, after so many centuries of most
stringent application, I cannot discover: certainly the text in Cor. ii. 16-17 is insufficient to abolish
or supersede an order given with such singular majesty and impressiveness by God and so strictly
obeyed by man. The popular idea is that the Jewish Sabbath was done away with in Christ, and
that sundry of the 1604 councils, e.g., Laodicea, anathematized those who kept it holy after such
fashion. With the day the aim and object changed; and the early Fathers made it the "Feast of the
Resurrection" which could not be kept too joyously. The "Sabbatismus" of our Sabbatarians, who
return to the Israelitic practice and yet honour the wrong day, is heretical and vastly illogical; and
the Sunday is better kept in France, Italy and other "Catholic" countries than in England and
Scotland.
[FN#82] For "Mushayyadát" see vol. viii. 23.
[FN#83] All these words sárú, dakhalú, jalasú, &c. are in the plur. for the dual--popular and
vulgar speech. It is so throughout the MS.
[FN#84] The Persians apply the Arab word "Sahrá"=desert, to the waste grounds about a town.
[FN#85] Arab. Kashákísh from the quadril, kashkasha = he gathered fuel.
[FN#86] In text "Shayy bi-lásh" which would mean lit. a thing gratis or in vain.
[FN#87] In the text "Sabba raml" = cast in sand. It may be a clerical error for "Zaraba Raml" =
he struck sand, i.e., made geomantic figures.
[FN#88] Arab. Mauza'= a place, an apartment, a saloon.
[FN#89] Galland makes each contain quatre vases de bronze, grands comme des cuves.
[FN#90] The Arab. is "Líwán," for which see vols. iv. 71 and vii. 347. Galland translates it by a
"terrace" and "niche."
[FN#91] The idea is borrowed from the lume eterno of the Rosicrucians. It is still prevalent
throughout Syria where the little sepulchral lamps buried by the Hebrews, Greeks and Romans are
so called. Many tales are told of their being found burning after the lapse of centuries; but the
traveller will never see the marvel.
[FN#92] The first notice of the signet-ring and its adventures is by Herodotus in the Legend of
the Samian Polycrates; and here it may be observed that the accident is probably founded on fact;
every fisherman knows that fish will seize and swallow spoon-bait and other objects that glitter.
The text is the Talmudic version of Solomon's seal-ring. The king of the demons after becoming a
"Bottle-imp," prayed to be set free upon condition of teaching a priceless secret, and after cajoling
the Wise One flung his signet into the sea and cast the owner into a land four hundred miles
distant. Here David's son begged his bread till he was made head cook to the King of Ammon at
Mash Kernín. After a while, he eloped with Na'úzah, the daughter of his master, and presently
when broiling a fish found therein his missing property. In the Moslem version, Solomon had
taken prisoner Amínah, the daughter of a pagan prince, and had homed her in his Harem, where
she taught him idolatry. One day before going to the Hammam he entrusted to her his signet- ring
presented to him by the four angelic Guardians of sky, air, water and earth when the mighty Jinni
Al-Sakhr (see vol. i. 41; v. 36), who was hovering about unseen, snatching away the ring,
assumed the king's shape, whereby Solomon's form became so changed that his courtiers drove
him from his own doors. Thereupon Al-Sakhr, taking seat upon the throne, began to work all
manner of iniquity, till one of the Wazirs, suspecting the transformation, read aloud from a scroll
of the law: this caused the demon to fly shrieking and to drop the signet into the sea. Presently
Solomon, who had taken service with a fisherman, and received for wages two fishes a day, found
his ring and made Al-Sakhr a "Bottle-imp." The legend of St. Kentigern or Mungo of Glasgow,
who recovered the Queen's ring from the stomach of a salmon, is a palpable imitation of the
Biblical incident which paid tribute to Cæsar.
[FN#93] The Magician evidently had mistaken the powers of the Ring. This is against all
probability and possibility, but on such abnormal traits are tales and novels founded.
[FN#94] These are the Gardens of the Hesperides and of King Isope (Tale of Beryn, Supplem.
Canterbury Tales, Chaucer Soc. p. 84):--
In mydward of this gardyn stant a feiré tre
Of alle manner levis that under sky be
I-forgit and i- fourmyd, eche in his degre
Of sylver, and of golde fyne, that lusty been to see.
So in the Kathá (S. S.) there are trees with trunks of gold, branches of pearls, and buds and
flowers of clear white pearls.
[FN#95] The text causes some confusion by applying "Sullam" to staircase and ladder, hence
probably the latter is not mentioned by Galland and Co., who speak only of an escalier de
cinquante marches. "Sullam" (plur. "Salálim") in modern Egyptian is popularly used for a flight of
steps: see Spitta-Bey's "Contes Arabes Modernes," p. 70. The H. V. places under the slab a
hollow space measuring four paces (kadam = 2.5 feet), and at one corner a wicket with a ladder.
This leads to a vault of three rooms, one with the jars of gold; the second not to be swept by the
skirts, and the third opening upon the garden of gems. "There thou shalt see a path, whereby do
thou fare straight forwards to a lofty palace with a flight of fifty steps leading to a flat terrace: and
here shalt thou find a niche wherein a lamp burneth."
[FN#96] In the H.V. he had thrust the lamp into the bosom of his dress, which, together with his
sleeves, he had filled full of fruit, and had wound his girdle tightly around him lest any fall out.
[FN#97] Africa (Arab. Afrikíyah) here is used in its old and classical sense for the limited tract
about Carthage (Tunis) net, Africa Propria. But the scribe imagines it to be the P. N. of a city: so
m Júdar (vol. vi. 222) we find Fás and Miknás (Fez and Mequinez) converted into one settlement.
The Maghribi, Mauritanian or Maroccan is famed for sorcery throughout the Moslem world: see
vol. vi. 220. The Moslem "Kingdom of Afrikiyah" was composed of four provinces, Tunis,
Tripoli, Constantina, and Bugia: and a considerable part of it was held by the Berber tribe of
Sanhája or Sinhága, also called the Zenag whence our modern "Senegal." Another noted tribe
which held Bajaiyah (Bugia) in Afrikiyah proper was the "Zawáwah," the European "Zouaves,"
(Ibn Khall. iv. 84).
[FN#98] Galland omits the name, which is outlandish enough.
[FN#99] Meaning that he had incurred no blood-guiltiness, as he had not killed the lad and only
left him to die.
[FN#100] The H. V. explains away the improbability of the Magician forgetting his gift. "In this
sore disquietude he bethought him not of the ring which, by the decree of Allah, was the means of
Alaeddin's escape; and indeed not only he but oft times those who practice the Black Art are
baulked of their designs by Divine Providence."
[FN#101] See vol. vii. 60. The word is mostly derived from " 'afar" = dust, and denotes,
according to some, a man coloured like the ground or one who "dusts" all his rivals. " 'Ifr" (fem.
'Ifrah) is a wicked and dangerous man. Al-Jannabi, I may here notice, is the chief authority for
Afrikus son of Abraha and xviiith Tobba being the eponymus of "Africa."
[FN#102] Arab. "Ghayr an" = otherwise that, except that, a favourite form in this MS. The first
word is the Syriac "Gheir" = for, a conjunction which is most unneccessarily derived by some
from the Gr. {Greek text}.
[FN#103] Galland and the H.V. make the mother deliver a little hygienic lecture about not
feeding too fast after famine: exactly what an Eastern parent would not dream of doing.
[FN#104] The lad now turns the tables upon his mother and becomes her master, having "a crow
to pick" with her.
[FN#105] Arab. "Munáfik" for whose true sense, "an infidel who pretendeth to believe in Al-Islam," see vol. vi. p. 207. Here the epithet comes last being the climax of abuse, because the
lowest of the seven hells (vol. viii. 111) was created for "hypocrites," i.e., those who feign to be
Moslems when they are Miscreants.
[FN#106] Here a little abbreviation has been found necessary to avoid the whole of a twice-told
tale; but nothing material has been omitted.
[FN#107] Arab. "Taffaytu-hu." This is the correct term = to extinguish. They relate of the great
scholar Firozábádí, author of the "Kámús" (ob. A. H. 817 = A. D. 1414), that he married a
Badawi wife in order to study the purest Arabic and once when going to bed said to her,
"Uktuli's-siráj," the Persian "Chirágh-rá bi-kush" = Kill the lamp. "What," she cried, "Thou an
'Álim and talk of killing the lamp instead of putting it out!"
[FN#108] In the H. V. the mother takes the "fruits" and places them upon the ground, "but when
darkness set in, a light shone from them like the rays of a lamp or the sheen of the sun."
[FN#109] For these fabled Giant rulers of Syria, Og King of Bashan, etc., see vols. vii. 84; ix.
109, 323. D'Herbelot (s. v. Giabbar= Giant) connects "Jabábirah" with the Heb. Ghibbor
Ghibborim and the Pers. Dív, Diván: of these were 'Ád and Shaddád, Kings of Syria: the Falast"in
(Philistines) 'Auj, Amálik and Banú Shayth or Seth's descendants, the sons of God (Benu-Elohim)
of the Book of Genesis (vi. 2) who inhabited Mount Hermon and lived in purity and chastity.
[FN#110] The H. V. explains that the Jinni had appeared to the mother in hideous aspect, with
noise and clamour, because she had scoured the Lamp roughly; but was more gentle with
Alaeddin because he had rubbed it lightly. This is from Galland.
[FN#111] Arab. Musawwadatayn = lit. two black things, rough copies, etc.
[FN#112] Arab. Banú Adam, as opposed to Banú Elohim (Sons of the Gods), B. al-Jánn etc The
Banú al-Asfar = sons of the yellow, are Esau's posterity in Edom, also a term applied by Arab
historians to the Greeks and Romans whom Jewish fable derived from Idumæa: in my vol. ii. 220,
they are the people of the yellow or tawny faces. For the legend see Ibn Khall. iii. 8, where the
translator suggests that the by-name may be = the "sees of the Emperor" Flavius, confounded
with "flavus," a title left by Vespasian to his successors The Banú al Khashkhash = sons of the
(black) poppy are the Ethiopians.
[FN#113] Arab, Há! há! so Háka (fem. Haki) = Here for thee!
[FN#114] So in Medieval Europe Papal bulls and Kings' letters were placed for respect on the
head. See Duffield's "Don Quixote," Part i. xxxi.
[FN#115] Galland makes the Juif only rusé et adroit.
[FN#116] Arab. "Ghashím" = a "Johnny Raw" from the root "Ghashm" = iniquity: Builders
apply the word to an unhewn stone; addressed to a person it is considered slighting, if not
insulting. See vol. ii. 330.
[FN#117] The carat (Kírát) being most often, but not always, one twenty-fourth of the diner. See
vols. iii. 239; vii. 289.
[FN#118] Kanání, plur. of Kinnínah.
[FN#119] Here and below silver is specified, whenas the platters in Night dxxxv. were of gold
This is one of the many changes' contradictions and confusions which are inherent in Arab stones.
See Spitta-Bey's "Contes Arabes," Preface.
[FN#120] i.e., the Slave of the Lamp.
[FN#121] This may be true, but my experience has taught me to prefer dealing with a Jew than
with a Christian. The former will "jew" me perhaps, but his commercial cleverness will induce him
to allow me some gain in order that I may not be quite disheartened: the latter will strip me of my
skin and will grumble because he cannot gain more.
[FN#122] Arab. "Hálah mutawassitah," a phrase which has a European Touch.
[FN#123] In the text "Jauharjíyyah," common enough in Egypt and Syria, an Arab. plur. of an
Arabised Turkish sing.--ji for--chí = (crafts-) man.
[FN#124] We may suppose some years may have passed in this process and that Alaeddin from a
lad of fifteen had reached the age of manhood. The H. V. declares that for many a twelve month
the mother and son lived by cotton spinning and the sale of the plate
[FN#125] i.e. Full moon of full moons: See vol. iii. 228. It is pronounced "Badroo'l- Budoor,"
hence Galland's " Badr-oul-boudour. "
[FN#126] In the H. V. Alaeddin "bethought him of a room adjacent to the Baths where he might
sit and see the Princess through the door-chinks, when she raised her veil before the handmaids
and eunuchs."
[FN#127] This is the common conceit of the brow being white as day and the hair black as night.
[FN#128] Such a statement may read absurdly to the West but it is true in the East. "Selim" had
seen no woman's face unveiled, save that of his sable mother Rosebud in Morier's Tale of
Yeldoz, the wicked woman ("The Mirza," vol. iii. 135). The H. V. adds that Alaeddin's mother
was old and verily had little beauty even in her youth. So at the sight of the Princess he learnt that
Allah had created women exquisite in loveliness and heart-ensnaring; and at first glance the shaft
of love pierced his heart and he fell to the ground afaint He loved her with a thousand lives and,
when his mother questioned him, "his lips formed no friendship with his speech."
[FN#129] "There is not a present (Teshurah) to bring to the Man of God" (1 Sam. ix. 7), and
Menachem explains Teshurah as a gift offered with the object of being admitted to the presence.
See also the offering of oil to the King in Isaiah lvii. 9. Even in Maundriell's Day Travels (p. 26) it
was counted uncivil to visit a dignitary without an offering in hand.
[FN#130] As we shall see further on, the magical effect of the Ring and the Lamp extend far and
wide over the physique and morale of the owner: they turn a "raw laddie" into a finished courtier,
warrior, statesman, etc.
[FN#131] In Eastern states the mere suspicion of having such an article would expose the
suspected at least to torture. Their practical system of treating "treasure trove," as I saw when
serving with my regiment in Gujarát (Guzerat), is at once to imprison and "molest" the finder, in
order to make sure that he has not hidden any part of his find.
[FN#132] Here the MS. text is defective, the allusion is, I suppose, to the Slave of the Lamp.
[FN#133] In the H. V. the King retired into his private apartment; and, dismissing all save the
Grand Wazir, "took cognisance of special matters" before withdrawing to the Harem.
[FN#134] The levée, Divan or Darbár being also a lit de justice and a Court of Cassation: See
vol. i. 29.
[FN#135] All this is expressed by the Arabic in one word "Tamanná." Galland adds pour
marquer qu'il etait prêt á perdre s'il y manquait; and thus he conveys a wrong idea.
[FN#136] This would be still the popular address, nor is it considered rude or slighting. In John
(ii. 4) "Atto," the Heb. Eshah, is similarly used, not complimentarily, but in popular speech.
[FN#137] This sounds ridiculous enough in English, but not in German, e.g. Deine Königliche
Hoheit is the formula de rigueur when an Austrian officer, who always addresses brother-soldiers
in the familiar second person, is speaking to a camarade who is also a royalty.
[FN#1138] "Suráyyát (lit. = the Pleiades) and "Sham'ádín" a would-be Arabic plur. of the Persian
"Sham'adán"=candlestick, chandelier, for which more correctly Sham'adánát is used.
[FN#139] i.e., betrothed to her--j'agrée la proposition, says Galland.
[FN#140] Here meaning Eunuch-officers and officials. In the cdlxxvith Night of this volume the
word is incorrectly written Ághát in the singular.
[FN#141] In the H. V. Alaeddin on hearing this became as if a thunderbolt had stricken him, and
losing consciousness, swooned away.
[FN#142] These calls for food at critical times, and oft-recurring allusions to eating are not yet
wholly obsolete amongst the civilised of the xixth century. The ingenious M. Jules Verne often
enlivens a tedious scene by Dejeunons! And French travellers, like English, are not unready to talk
of food and drink, knowing that the subject is never displeasing to their readers.
[FN#143] The H. V. gives a sketch of the wedding. "And when the ceremonies ended at the
palace with pomp and parade and pageant, and the night was far spent, the eunuchs led the
Wazir's son into the bridal chamber. He was the first to seek his couch; then the Queen his
mother-in-law, came into him leading the bride, and followed by her suite. She did with her virgin
daughter as parents are wont to do, removed her wedding-raiment, and donning a night-dress,
placed her in her bridegroom's arms. Then, wishing her all joy, she with her ladies went away and
shut the door. At that instant came the Jinni," etc.
[FN#144] The happy idea of the wedding night in the water-closet is repeated from the tale of
Nur-al-Dín Ali Hasan (vol. i. 221), and the mishap of the Hunchback bridegroom.
[FN#145] For the old knightly practice of sleeping with a drawn sword separating man and maid
see vol. vii. 353 and Mr. Clouston's "Popular Tales and Fictions," vol. i. 316. In Poland the
intermediary who married by procuration slept alongside the bride in all his armour. The H. V.
explains, "He (Alaeddin) also lay a naked sword between him and the Princess so she might
perceive that he was ready to die by that blade should he attempt to do aught of villainy by the
bride."
[FN#146] Galland says: Ils ne s'aperçurent que de l'ébranlement du lit et que de leur transport
d'un lieu á l'autre: c'était bien assez pour leur donner une frayeur qu'il est aisé d'imaginer.
[FN#147] Galland very unnecessarily makes the Wazir's son pass into the wardrobe (garderobe)
to dress himself.
[FN#148] Professional singing and dancing girls: Properly the word is the fem. Of 'Álim = a
learned man; but it has been anglicised by Byron's
"The long chibouque's dissolving cloud supply
Where dance the Almahs to wild minstrelsy."--(The Corsair, ii. 2.)
They go about the streets with unveiled faces and are seldom admitted into respectable Harems,
although on festal occasions they perform in the court or in front of the house, but even this is
objected to by the Mrs. Grundy of Egypt. Lane (M.E. chap. xviii.) derives with Saint Jerome the
word from the Heb. or Phoenician Almah = a virgin, a girl, a singing- girl; and thus explains
"Alámoth" in Psalms xlvi. and I Chron. xv. 20. Parkhurst (s.v. 'Alamah = an undeflowered virgin)
renders Job xxxix. 30, "the way of a man with a maid" (bi-álmah). The way of a man in his virgin
state, shunning youthful lust and keeping himself "pure and unspotted."
[FN#149] The text reads "Rafa' " (he raised) "al-Bashkhánah" which in Suppl. Nights (ii. 119) is
a hanging, a curtain. Apparently it is a corruption of the Pers. "Paskhkhánah," a mosquito-curtain.
[FN#150] The father suspected that she had not gone to bed a clean maid.
[FN#151] Arab. Aysh = Ayyu Shayyin and Laysh = li ayyi Shayyin. This vulgarism, or rather
popular corruption, is of olden date and was used by such a purist as Al-Mutanabbi in such a
phrase as "Aysh Khabara-k?" = how art thou? See Ibn Khallikan, iii. 79.
[FN#152] In the H. V. the Minister sends the Chob-dár= = rod-bearer, mace-bearer, usher, etc.
[FN#153] In the text Sáhal for Sahal, again the broad "Doric" of Syria.
[FN#154] Arab. Dahab ramli = gold dust washed out of the sand, placer-gold. I must excuse
myself for using this Americanism, properly a diluvium or deposit of sand, and improperly
(Bartlett) a find of drift gold. The word, like many mining terms in the Far West, is borrowed
from the Spaniards; it is not therefore one of the many American vulgarisms which threaten
hopelessly to defile the pure well of English speech.
[FN#155] Abra. "Ratl," by Europeans usually pronounced "Rotl" (Rotolo).
[FN#156] In the H. V. she returns from the bazar; and, "seeing the house filled with so many
persons in goodliest attire, marvelled greatly. Then setting down the meat lately bought she would
have taken off her veil, but Alaeddin prevented her and said," etc.
[FN#157] The word is popularly derived from Serai in Persian = a palace; but it comes from the
Span. and Port. Cerrar = to shut up, and should be written with the reduplicated liquid.
[FN#158] In the H. V. the dresses and ornaments of the slaves were priced at ten millions (Karúr
a crore) of gold coins. I have noticed that Messer Marco "Milione" did not learn his high
numerals in Arabia, but that India might easily have taught them to him.
[FN#159] Arab. "Ráih yasír," peasant's language.
[FN#160] Arab. Ká'ah, the apodyterium or undressing room upon which the vestibule of the
Hammam opens. See the plan in Lane's M. E. chaps. xvi. The Kár'ah is now usually called
"Maslakh" = stripping-room.
[FN#161] Arab. "Hammam-hu" = went through all the operations of the Hammam, scraping,
kneading, soaping, wiping and so forth.
[FN#162] For this aphrodisiac see vol. vi. 60. The subject of aphrodisiacs in the East would fill a
small library: almost every medical treatise ends in a long disquisition upon fortifiers,
provocatives' etc. We may briefly divide them into three great classes. The first is the medicinal,
which may be either external or internal. The second is the mechanical, such as scarification'
flagellation, and the application of insects as practiced by certain savage races. There is a
venerable Joe Miller of an old Brahmin whose young wife always insisted, each time before he
possessed her, upon his being stung by a bee in certain parts. The third is magical superstitious
and so forth
[FN#163] This may sound exaggerated to English ears, but a petty Indian Prince, such as the
Gáikwár, or Rajah of Baroda, would be preceded in state processions by several led horses all
whose housings and saddles were gold studded with diamonds. The sight made one's mouth
water.
[FN#164] i.e. the 'Arab al-'Arbá; for which see vols. i. 112; v. 101.
[FN#165] Arab. "Al-Kandíl al-'ajíb:" here its magical virtues are specified and remove many
apparent improbabilities from the tale.
[FN#166] This was the highest of honours. At Abyssinian Harar even the Grandees were
compelled to dismount at the door of the royal "compound." See my "First Footsteps in East
Africa," p. 296.
[FN#167] "The right hand" seems to me a European touch in Galland's translation, leur chef mit
Aladdin a sa droite. Amongst Moslems the great man sits in the sinistral corner of the Divan as
seen from the door, so the place of honour is to his left.
[FN#168] Arab. "Músiká," classically "Musikí" = {Greek text} : the Pers. form is Músikár; and the
Arab. equivalent is Al-Lahn. In the H. V. the King made a signal and straightway drums (dhol)
and trumpets (trafír) and all manner wedding instruments struck up on every side.
[FN#169] Arab. Marmar Sumáki=porphyry of which ancient Egypt supplied the finest
specimens. I found a vein of it in the Anti-Libanus. Strange to say, the quarries which produced
the far-famed giallo antico, verd' antico (serpentine limestone) and rosso antico (mostly a
porphyry) worked by the old Nilotes, are now unknown to us.
[FN#170] i.e. velvets with gold embroidery: see vol. viii. 201.
[FN#171] The Arabic says, "There was a kiosque with four-and-twenty alcoves (Líwán, for
which see vols. iv. 71, vi. 347) all builded of emerald, etc., and one remained with the kiosque
(kushk) unfinished." I adopt Galland's reading salon á vingt-quatre croisées which are mentioned
in the Arab. text towards the end of the tale, and thus avoid the confusion between kiosque and
window. In the H. V. there is a domed belvedere (bárah-dari-i- gumbaz-dár), four-sided, with six
doors on each front (i. e. twenty-four), and all studded with diamonds, etc.
[FN#172] In Persia this is called "Pá-andáz," and must be prepared for the Shah when he deigns
to visit a subject. It is always of costly stuffs, and becomes the perquisite of the royal attendants.
[FN#173] Here the European hand again appears to me: the Sultan as a good Moslem should
have made the Wuzú-ablution and prayed the dawn-prayers before doing anything worldly.
[FN#174] Arab. Fí ghuzúni zálika," a peculiar phrase, Ghazn=a crease, a wrinkle.
[FN#175] In the H. V. the King "marvelled to see Alaeddin's mother without her veil and
magnificently adorned with costly jewels and said in his mind, 'Methought she was a grey-haired
crone, but I find her still in the prime of life and comely to look upon, somewhat after the fashion
of Badr al-Budúr.' " This also was one of the miracles of the Lamp.
[FN#176] For this word see vols. i. 46, vii. 326. A Joe Miller is told in Western India of an old
General Officer boasting his knowledge of Hindostani. "How do you say, Tell a plain story,
General?" asked one of the hearers, and the answer was, "Maydán kí bát bolo!" = "speak a word
about the plain" (or level space).
[FN#177] The prehistoric Arabs: see supra p. 98.
[FN#178] Popularly, Jeríd, the palm-frond used as javelin: see vol. vi. 263.
[FN#179] In order to keep off the evil eye, one of the functions of iron and steel: see vol. ii. 316.
[FN#180] The H. V. adds, "Little did the Princess know that the singers were fairies whom the
Slave of the Lamp had brought together."
[FN#181] Alexander the Great: see v. 252, x. 57. The H. V. adds, "Then only one man and one
woman danced together, one with other, till midnight, when Alaeddin and the Princess stood up,
for it was the wont of China in those days that bride and bridegroom perform together in presence
of the wedding company."
[FN#182] The exceptional reserve of this and other descriptions makes M. H. Zotenberg suspect
that the tale was written for one of the Mameluke Princesses: I own to its modesty but I doubt
that such virtue would have recommended it to the dames in question. The H. V. adds a few
details:--"Then, when the bride and bridegroom had glanced and gazed each at other's face, the
Princess rejoiced with excessive joy to behold his comeliness, and he exclaimed, in the courtesy of
his gladness, 'O happy me, whom thou deignest, O Queen of the Fair, to honour despite mine
unworth, seeing that in thee all charms and graces are perfected.' "
[FN#183] The term has not escaped ridicule amongst Moslems. A common fellow having stood
in his way the famous wit Abú al-'Ayná asked "What is that?" "A man of the Sons of Adam" was
the reply. "Welcome, welcome," cried the other, "Allah grant thee length of days. I deemed that
all his sons were dead." See Ibn Khallikan iii. 57.
[FN#184] This address to an inanimate object (here a window) is highly idiomatic and must be
cultivated by the practical Arabist. In the H. V. the unfinished part is the four-and-twentieth door
of the fictitious (ja'alí) palace.
[FN#185] This is true Orientalism, a personification or incarnation which Galland did not think
proper to translate.
[FN#186] Arab. "La'ab al-Andáb;" the latter word is from "Nadb" = brandishing or throwing the
javelin.
[FN#187] The "mothers" are the prime figures, the daughters being the secondary. For the " 'Ilm
al-Ram!" = (Science of the sand) our geomancy, see vol. iii. 269, and D'Herbelot's sub. v. Raml
or Reml.
[FN#188] This is from Galland, whose certaine boisson chaude evidently means tea. It is
preserved in the H.V.
[FN#189] i.e. his astrolabe, his "Zíj" or table of the stars, his almanack, etc. For a highly fanciful
derivation of the "Arstable" see Ibn Khallikan (iii. 580). He makes it signify "balance or lines
(Pers. 'Astur') of the sun," which is called "Láb" as in the case of wicked Queen Láb (The Nights,
vol. vii. 296). According to him the Astrolabe was suggested to Ptolemy by an armillary sphere
which had accidentally been flattened by the hoof of his beast: this is beginning late in the day, the
instrument was known to the ancient Assyrians. Chardin (Voyages ii. 149) carefully describes the
Persian variety of--
"The cunning man highs Sidrophil
{as Will. Lilly was called). Amongst other things he wore at his girdle an astrolabe not bigger than
the hollow of a man's hand, often two to three inches in diameter and looking at a distance like a
medal." These men practiced both natural astrology = astronomy, as well as judicial astrology
which foretells events and of which Kepler said that "she, albeit a fool, was the daughter of a wise
mother, to whose support and life the silly maid was indispensable." Isidore of Seville (A. D. 600-636) was the first to distinguish between the two branches, and they flourished side by side till
Newton's day. Hence the many astrological terms in our tongue, e.g. consider, contemplate,
disaster, jovial, mercurial, saturnine, etc.
[FN#190] In the H. V. "New brass lamps for old ones! who will exchange ?" So in the story of
the Fisherman's son, a Jew who had been tricked of a cock, offers to give new rings for old rings.
See Jonathan Scott's excerpts from the Wortley-Montague MSS. vol. vi. pp. 210 12 This is one
of the tales which I have translated for vol. iv.
[FN#191] The H. V. adds that Alaeddin loved to ride out a-hunting and had left the city for eight
days whereof three had passed by.
[FN#192] Galland makes her say, Hé bien folle, veux-tu me dire pourqoui tu ris? The H. V.
renders "Cease, giddy head, why laughest thou?" and the vulgate "Well, giggler," said the
Princess, etc.
[FN#193] Nothing can be more improbable than this detail, but upon such abnormal situations
almost all stones, even in our most modern "Society-novels," depend and the cause is clear--without them there would be no story. And the modern will, perhaps, suggest that "the truth was
withheld for a higher purpose, for the working out of certain ends." In the H. V Alaeddin, when
about to go a-hunting, always placed the Lamp high up on the cornice with all care lest any touch
it.
[FN#194] The H. V. adds, "The Magician, when he saw the Lamp, at once knew that it must be
the one he sought; for he knew that all things, great and small, appertaining to the palace
[FN#195] In truly Oriental countries the Wazir is expected to know everything, and if he fail in
this easy duty he may find himself in sore trouble.
[FN#196] i.e. must he obeyed.
[FN#197] We see that "China" was in those days the normal Oriental "despotism tempered by
assassination."
[FN#198] In the H. V. Alaeddin promises, "if I fail to find and fetch the Princess, I will myself
cut off my head and cast it before the throne." Hindus are adepts in suicide and this self-decapitation, which sounds absurd further West, is quite possible to them.
[FN#199] In Galland Alaeddin unconsciously rubbed the ring against un petit roc, to which he
clung in order to prevent falling into the stream. In the H. V. "The bank was high and difficult of
descent and the youth would have rolled down headlong had he not struck upon a rock two paces
from the bottom and remained hanging over the water. This mishap was of the happiest for during
his fall he struck the stone and rubbed his ring against it," etc.
[FN#200] In the H. V. he said, "First save me that I fall not into the stream and then tell me
where is the pavilion thou builtest for her and who hath removed it."
[FN#201] Alluding to the preparatory washing, a mere matter of cleanliness which precedes the
formal Wuzú-ablution.
[FN#202] In the H. V. the Princess ends with, "I had made this resolve that should he approach
me with the design to win his wish perforce, I would destroy my life. By day and by night I abode
in fear of him; but now at the sight of thee my heart is heartened."
[FN#203] The Fellah had a natural fear of being seen in fine gear, which all would have supposed
to be stolen goods; and Alaeddin was justified in taking it perforce, because necessitas non habet
legem. See a similar exchange of dress in Spitta-Bey's "Contes Arabes Modernes," p. 91. In
Galland the peasant when pressed consents; and in the H. V. Alaeddin persuades him by a gift of
money.
[FN#204] i.e. which would take effect in the shortest time.
[FN#205] Her modesty was startled by the idea of sitting: at meat with a strange man and
allowing him to make love to her.
[FN#206] In the text Kidí, pop. for Ka-zálika. In the H. V. the Magician replies to the honeyed
speech of the Princess, "O my lady, we in Africa have not so gracious customs as the men of
China. This day I have learned of thee a new courtesy which I shall ever keep in mind."
[FN#207] Galland makes the Princess poison the Maghrabi, which is not gallant. The H. V.
follows suit and describes the powder as a mortal poison.
[FN#208] Contrast this modesty with the usual scene of reunion after severance, as in the case of
Kamar al-Zamán and immodest Queen Budúr, vol. iii. pp. 302-304.
[FN#209] His dignity forbade him to walk even the length of a carpet: see vol. vii. for this habit
of the Mameluke Beys. When Harun al-Rashid made his famous pilgrimage afoot from Baghdad
to Meccah (and he was the last of the Caliphs who performed this rite), the whole way was spread
with a "Pá-andáz" of carpets and costly cloths.
[FN#210] The proverb suggests our "par nobile fratrum," a pair resembling each other as two
halves of a split bean.
[FN#211] In the H. V. "If the elder Magician was in the East, the other was in the West; but
once a year, by their skill in geomancy, they had tidings of each other."
[FN#212] The act was religiously laudable, but to the Eastern, as to the South European mind,
fair play is not a jewel; moreover the story-teller may insinuate that vengeance would be taken
only by foul and unlawful means--the Black Art, perjury, murder and so forth
[FN#213] For this game, a prime favourite in Egypt, see vol. vi. 145, De Sacy (Chrestomathie i.
477) and his authorities Hyde, Syntagma Dissert. ii. 374, P. Labat, "Memoires du Chev
d'Arvieux," iii. 321; Thevenot, "Voyage du Levant," p. 107, and Niebuhr, "Voyages," i. 139,
Plate 25, fig. H.
[FN#214] Evidently="(jeu de) dames" (supposed to have been invented in Paris during the days
of the Regency: see Littré); and, although in certain Eastern places now popular, a term of
European origin. It is not in Galland. According to Ibn Khallikan (iii. 69) "Nard" = tables, arose
with King Ardashír son of Babuk, and was therefore called Nardashír (Nard Ardashír? ). He
designed it as an image of the world and its people, so the board had twelve squares to represent
the months; the thirty pieces or men represented the days, and the dice were the emblems of Fate
and Lot.
[FN#215] i.e. a weaner, a name of good omen for a girl-child: see vol. vi. 145. The Hindi
translator, Totárám Shayyán, calls her Hamídah = the Praiseworthy.
[FN#216] Arab. Kirámát: see vols. ii. 237; iv. 45. The Necromancer clearly smells a rat holding
with Diderot:
De par le Roi! Defense á Dieu
De faire miracle en ce lieu;
and the stage properties afterwards found with the holy woman, such as the gallipot of colouring
ointment, justify his suspicion.
[FN#217] " 'Ajáib" plur. of " 'Ajíb," a common exclamation amongst the populace. It is used in
Persian as well as in Arabic.
[FN#218] Evidently la force de l'imagination, of which a curious illustration was given in Paris
during the debauched days of the Second Empire. Before a highly "fashionable" assembly of men
appeared a youth in fleshings who sat down upon a stool, bared his pudenda and closed his eyes
when, by "force of fancy," erection and emission took place. But presently it was suspected and
proved that the stool was hollow and admitted from below a hand whose titillating fingers
explained the phenomenon.
[FN#219] a Moslems are curious about sleeping postures and the popular saying is:--Lying upon
the right side is proper to Kings; upon the left to Sages, to sleep supine is the position of Allah's
Saints and prone upon the belly is peculiar to the Devils.
[FN#220] This " 'Asá," a staff five to six feet long, is one of the properties of Moslem Saints and
reverends who, imitating that furious old Puritan, Caliph Omar, make and are allowed to make a
pretty liberal distribution of its caresses.
[FN#221] i.e. as she was in her own home.
[FN#222] Arab. "Sulúk" a Sufistical expression, the road to salvation, &c.
[FN#223] In the H. V. her diet consisted of dry bread and fruits.
[FN#224] This is the first mention of the windows in the Arabic MS.
[FN#225] For this "Roc" of the older writers see vols. v. 122; vi. 16-49. I may remind the reader
that the O. Egyptian "Rokh," or "Rukh," by some written "Rekhit," whose ideograph is a
monstrous bird with one claw raised, also denotes pure wise Spirits, the Magi, &c. I know a man
who derives from it our "rook" = beak and parson.
[FN#226] In the H. V he takes the Lamp from his bosom, where he had ever kept it since his
misadventure with the African Magician
[FN#227] Here the mythical Rukh is mixed up with the mysterious bird Símurgh, for which see
vol. x. 117.
[FN#228] The H. V. adds, "hoping thereby that thou and she and all the household should fall
into perdition."
[FN#229] Rank mesmerism, which has been practiced in the East from ages immemorial. In
Christendom Santa Guglielma worshipped at Brunate, "works many miracles, chiefly healing
aches of head." In the H. V. Alaeddin feigns that he is ill and fares to the Princess with his head
tied up.
[FN#230] Mr. Morier in "The Mirza" (vol. i. 87) says, "Had the Arabian Nights' Entertainments,
with all their singular fertility of invention and never-ending variety, appeared as a new book in
the present day, translated literally and not adapted to European taste in the manner attempted in
M. Galland's translation, I doubt whether they would have been tolerated, certainly not read with
the avidity they are, even in the dress with which he has clothed them, however imperfect that
dress maybe." But in Morier's day the literal translation was so despised that an Eastern book was
robbed of half its charms, both of style and idea.
[FN#231] In the MS. Of the Bibliothèque National, Supplement Arabe (No. 2523, vol. ii. fol.
147), the story which follows "Aladdin" is that of the Ten Wazirs, for which see Supp. Nights ii.
In Galland the Histoire de Codadad et des ses Frères comes next to the tale of Zayn al-Asnam: I
have changed the sequence in order that the two stories directly translated from the Arabic may be
together.
[FN#232] M. Hermann Zotenberg lately informed me that "Khudadad and his Brothers" is to be
found in a Turkish MS., "Al-Faraj ba'd al-Shiddah"--Joy after Annoy--in the Bibliothèque
Nationale of Paris. But that work is a mere derivation from the Persian "Hazár o yek Roz" for
which see my vol. x. p.441. The name Khudadad is common to most Eastern peoples, the Sansk.
Devadatta, the Gr. {Greek text}, and Dorotheus; the Lat. Deodatus, the
Ital. Diodato, and Span. Diosdado, the French Dieu-donné, and the Arab.-Persic Alladád, Dívdád
and Khudábaksh. Khudá is the mod. Pers. form of the old Khudáí=sovereign, king, as in
Máh-i-Khudáí=the sovereign moon, Kám-Khudáí=master of his passions, etc.
[FN#233] Lit. Homes (or habitations) of Bakr (see vol. v. 66), by the Turks pronounced
"Diyár-i-Bekír." It is the most famous of the four provinces into which Mesopotamia (Heb.
Naharaym, Arab. Al-Jazírah) is divided by the Arabs; viz: Diyár Bakr (capital Amídah); Diyár
Modhar (cap. Rakkah or Aracta); Diyár Rabí'ah (cap. Nisibis) and Diyár al-Jazírah or Al-Jazírah
(cap. Mosul). As regards the "King of Harrán," all these ancient cities were at some time the
capitals of independent chiefs who styled themselves royalties.
[FN#234] The Heb. Charran, the Carrhæ of the classics where, according to the Moslems,
Abraham was born, while the Jews and Christians make him emigrate thither from "Ur (hod.
Mughayr) of the Chaldees." Hence his Arab. title "Ibrahim al-Harráni." My late friend Dr. Beke
had a marvellous theory that this venerable historic Harrán was identical with a miserable village
to the east of Damascus because the Fellahs call it Harrán al-'Awámíd--of the Columns--from
some Græco-Roman remnants of a paltry provincial temple. See "Jacob's Flight," etc., London,
Longmans, 1865.
[FN#235] Pírozah=turquoise, is the Persian, Firúzah and Firuzakh (De Sacy, Chrest. ii. 84) the
Arab. forms. The stone is a favourite in the East where, as amongst the Russians (who affect to
despise the Eastern origin of their blood to which they owe so much of its peculiar merit), it is
supposed to act talisman against wounds and death in battle; and the Persians, who hold it to be a
guard against the Evil Eye, are fond of inscribing "turquoise of the old rock" with one or more of
the "Holy Names." Of these talismans a modern Spiritualist asks, "Are rings and charms and
amulets magnetic, to use an analogue for what we cannot understand, and has the immemorial
belief in the power of relics a natural not to say a scientific basis?"
[FN#236] Samaria is a well-known name amongst Moslems, who call the city Shamrín and
Shamrún. It was built, according to Ibn Batrik, upon Mount Samir by Amri who gave it the first
name; and the Taríkh Samírí, by Aba al-Fath Abú al-Hasan, is a detailed account of its garbled
annals. As Nablús (Neapolis of Herod., also called by him Sebaste) it is now familiar to the
Cookite.
[FN#237] In the text Zangi-i-Adam-kh'wár afterwards called Habashi=an Abyssinian. Galland
simply says un negre. In India the "Habshí" (chief) of Jinjirah (=Al-Jazirah, the Island) was
admiral of the Grand Moghul's fleets. These negroids are still dreaded by Hindús and Hindís and,
when we have another "Sepoy Mutiny," a few thousands of them bought upon the Zanzibar coast,
dressed, drilled and officered by Englishmen, will do us yeomans' service.
[FN#238] This seems to be a fancy name for a country: the term is Persian=the Oceanland or a
seaport town: from "Daryá" the sea and bár=a region, tract, as in Zanzibár=Black-land. The
learned Weil explains it (in loco) by Gegend der Brunnen, brunnengleicher ort, but I cannot
accept Scott's note (iv. 400), "Signifying the seacoast of every country; and hence the term is
applied by Oriental geographers to the coast of Malabar."
[FN#239] The onager, confounded by our older travellers with the zebra, is the Gúr-i-khár of
Persia, where it is the noblest game from which kings did not disdain to take a cognomen, e.g.,
Bahrám-i-Gúr. It is the "wild ass" of Jeremiah (ii. 24: xiv. 6). The meat is famous in poetry for
combining the flavours peculiar to all kinds of flesh (Ibn Khallikan iii. 117; iii. 239, etc.) and is
noticed by Herodotus (Clio. cxxxiii.) and by Xenophon (Cyro. lib. 1) in sundry passages: the latter
describes the relays of horses and hounds which were used in chasing it then as now. The traveller
Olearius (A. D. 1637) found it more common than in our present day: Shah Abbas turned
thirty-two wild asses into an enclosure where they were shot as an item of entertainment to the
ambassadors at his court. The skin of the wild ass's back produces the famous shagreen, a word
seemingly derived from the Pers. "Saghrí," e.g. "Kyafash-i-Saghri"=slippers of shagreen, fine wear
fit for a "young Duke". See in Ibn Khallikan (iv. 245) an account of a "Júr" (the Arabised "Gúr")
eight hundred years old.
[FN#240] "Dasht-i-lá-siwá-Hú"=a desert wherein is none save He (Allah), a howling wilderness.
[FN#241] Per. "Náz o andáz"=coquetry, in a half-honest sense. The Persian "Káká Siyáh," i.e.
"black brother" (a domestic negro) pronounces Nází-núzí.
[FN#242] In the text Nimak-harám: on this subject see vol. viii. 12.
[FN#243] i.e., an Arab of noble strain: see vol. iii. 72.
[FN#244] In the text "Kazzák"=Cossacks, bandits, mounted highwaymen; the word is well known
in India, where it is written in two different ways, and the late Mr. John Shakespear in his
excellent Dictionary need hardly have marked the origin "U" (unknown).
[FN#245] Here and below the Hindostani version mounts the lady upon a camel ("Ushtur" or
"Unth") which is not customary in India except when criminals are led about the bazar. An
elephant would have been in better form.
[FN#246] The Ashrafí (Port. Xerafim) is a gold coin whose value has greatly varied with its date
from four shillings upwards. In The (true) Nights we find (passim) that, according to the minting
of the VIth Ommiade, 'Abd al-Malik bin Marwán (A.H. 65-86=A.D. 685-703), the coinage of
Baghdad consisted of three metals. "Ita quoque peregrina suis nummis nomina posuit, aureum
Dinar denarium, argentem Dirhen (lege dirham), Drachma, æreum fols (fuls), follem appellans. * *
* Nam Vera moneta aurea nomine follis lignabatur, ut æreorum sub Aarone Raschido cussorum
qui hoc nomen servavit." (O. G. Tychsen p. 8. Introduct. in Rem numariam Muhammedanorum.)
For the dinar, daric or miskál see The Nights, vol i. 32; ix. 294; for the dirham, i. 33, ii. 316, etc.;
and for the Fals or Fils=a fish scale, a spangle of metal, vol. i. 321. In the debased currency of the
Maroccan Empire the Fals of copper or iron, a substantial coin, is worth 2,160 to the French
five-franc piece.
[FN#247] In the Hindi, as in Galland's version, the horse is naturally enough of Turcoman blood. I
cannot but think that in India we have unwisely limited ourselves for cavalry remounts to the
Western market that exports chiefly the mongrel "Gulf Arab" and have neglected the far hardier
animal, especially the Gútdán blood of the Tartar plains, which supply "excellent horses whose
speed and bottom are" say travellers in general, "so justly celebrated throughout Asia." Our
predecessors were too wise to "put all the eggs in one basket."
[FN#248] An act of worship, see my Pilgrimage in which "Tawáf"=circuiting, is described in
detail, ii. 38; iii. 2O1 et seqq. A counterpart of this scene is found in the Histoire du Sultan
Aqchid (Ikhshid) who determined to witness his own funeral. Gauttier vol. i. pp. 134-139.
Another and similar incident occurs in the "Nineteenth Vezir's Story" (pp. 213-18 of the History
of the Forty Vezirs, before alluded to): here Hasan of Basrah, an 'Alim who died in A.H. 110
(=A.D. 728) saw in vision (the "drivel of dreams?") folk of all conditions, sages, warriors and
moon-faced maids seeking, but in vain, to release the sweet soul of the Prince who had perished.
[FN#249] Here, after Moslem fashion, the mother ranks before the wife: "A man can have many
wives but only one mother." The idea is old amongst Easterns: see Herodotus and his Christian
commentators on the history of Intaphernes' wife (Thalia, cap. cxix). "O King," said that lady of
mind logical, "I may get me another mate if God will and other children an I lose these; but as my
father and my mother are no longer alive, I may not by any means have another brother," etc., etc.
[FN#250] In Galland the Histoire de Ganem, fils d'Abu Aïoub, surnommé l'esclave d'Amour,
precedes Zayn al-Asnám. In the Arab texts Ghanim bin Ayyúb, the Thrall o' Love, occurs much
earlier: see The Nights vol. ii. 45.
It is curious to compare the conclusions of these tales with the formula of the latest specimens,
the Contes Arabes Modernes of Spitta-Bey, e.g. "And the twain lived together (p. iii.) and had
sons and daughters (p. ii.), cohabiting with perfect harmony (fí al-Kamál pp.42, 79); and at last
they died and were buried and so endeth the story" (wa khalás p.161).
[FN#251] In Galland and his translators the Adventures of Khudadad and his Brothers is followed
by the Histoire du Dormeur Eveillé which, as "The Sleeper and the Waker," is to be found in the
first of my Supplemental Volumes, pp. 1-29. After this the learned Frenchman introduced, as has
been said, the Histoire de la Lampe merveilleuse or "Alaeddin" to which I have assigned, for
reasons given in loco, a place before Khudadad.
[FN#252] i.e. Daddy Abdullah, the former is used in Pers., Turk. and Hindostani for dad! dear!
child! and for the latter, see vol. v. 141.
[FN#253] Here the Arab. syn. of the Pers. "Darwaysh," which Egyptians pronounce "Darwísh."
In the Nile-valley the once revered title has been debased to an insult = "poor devil" (see
Pigrimage i., pp. 20-22); "Fakír" also has come to signify a Koran-chaunter.
[FN#254] To "Nakh" is to make the camel kneel. See vo!. ii. 139, and its references.
[FN#255] As a sign that he parted willingly with all his possessions.
[FN#256] Arab. "'Ubb" prop.=the bulge between the breast and the outer robe which is girdled
round the waist to make a pouch. See vol. viii. 205.
[FN#257] Thirst very justly takes precedence of hunger: a man may fast for forty days, but with
out water in a tropical country he would die within a week. For a description of the horrors of
thirst see my "First Footsteps in East Africa," pp. 387-8.
[FN#258] In Galland it is Sidi Nouman; in many English translations, as in the "Lucknow" (Newul
Kishore Press, 1880), it has become "Sidi Nonman." The word has occurred in King Omar bin
al-Nu'uman, vol. ii. 77 and 325, and vol. v. 74. For Sídí = my lord, see vol. v. 283; Byron, in The
Corsair, ii. 2, seems to mistake it for "Sayyid."
High in his hall reclines the turban'd Seyd,
Around--the bearded chiefs he came to lead.
[FN#259] The Turco-English form of the Persian "Puláo."
[FN#260] i.e. the secure (fem.). It was the name of the famous concubine of Solomon to whom
he entrusted his ring (vol. vi. 84), also of the mother of Mohammed who having taken her son to
Al-Medinah (Yathrib) died on the return journey. I cannot understand why the Apostle of
Al-Islam, according to his biographers and commentators, refused to pray for his parent's soul,
she having been born in Al-Fitrah (the interval between the fall of Christianity and the birth of
Al-Islam), when he had not begun to preach his "dispensation."
[FN#261] The cane-play: see vol. vi. 263.
[FN#262] Galland has une Goule, i.e., a Ghúlah, a she-Ghúl, an ogress. But the lady was supping
with a male of that species, for which see vols. i. 55; vi. 36.
[FN#263] In the text "Wazífah" prop. = a task, a stipend, a salary, but here = the "Farz" devotions
which he considered to be his duty. In Spitta-Bey (loc. cit. p. 218) it is = duty,
[FN#264] For this scene which is one of every day in the East; see Pilgrimage ii. pp. 52-54.
[FN#265] This hate of the friend of man is inherited from Jewish ancestors; and, wherever the
Hebrew element prevails, the muzzle, which has lately made its appearance in London, is strictly
enforced, as at Trieste. Amongst the many boons which civilisation has conferred upon Cairo I
may note hydrophobia; formerly unknown in Egypt the dreadful disease has lately caused more
than one death. In India sporadic cases have at rare times occurred in my own knowledge since
1845.
[FN#266] In Galland "Rougeau" = (for Rougeaud?) a red-faced (man), etc., and in the English
version "Chance": "Bakht" = luck, good fortune.
[FN#267] In the text "Sarráf" = a money-changer. See vols. i. 210; iv. 270.
[FN#268] Galland has forgotten this necessary detail: see vol. i. 30 and elsewhere. In Lane's story
of the man metamorphosed to an ass, the old woman, "quickly covering her face, declared the
fact."
[FN#269] In the normal forms of this story, which Galland has told very badly, the maiden would
have married the man she saved.
[FN#270] In other similar tales the injured one inflicts such penalty by the express command of his
preserver who takes strong measures to ensure obedience.
[FN#271] In the more finished tales of the true "Nights" the mare would have been restored to
human shape after giving the best security for good conduct in time to come.
[FN#272] i.e. Master Hasan the Rope-maker. Galland writes, after European fashion, "Hassan,"
for which see vol. i. 251; and for "Khwájah" vol. vi. 146. "Al-Habbál" was the cognomen of a
learned "Háfiz" (= traditionist and Koran reader), Abú Ishák Ibrahim, in Ibn Khall. ii. 262; for
another see iv. 410.
[FN#273] "Sa'd" = prosperity and "Sa'dí' '= prosperous, the surname of the "Persian moralist," for
whom see my friend F. F. Arbuthnot's pleasant booklet, "Persian Portraits" (London Quaritch,
1887).
[FN#274] This is true to nature as may be seen any day at Bombay The crows are equally
audacious, and are dangerous to men Iying wounded in solitary places.
[FN#275] The Pers. "Gil-i-sar-shúí" (=head-washing clay), the Sindi "Met," and the Arab "Tafl," a
kind of clay much used in Persian, Afghanistan, Sind, etc. Galland turns it into terre à decrasser
and his English translators into "scouring sand which women use in baths." This argillaceous earth
mixed with mustard oil is locally used for clay and when rose-leaves and perfumes are used, it
makes a tolerable wash-ball. See "Scinde or The Unhappy Valley," i. 31.
[FN#276] For the "Cowrie" (Cyprœa moneta) see vol. iv. 77. The Bádám or Bídám (almond)
used by way of small change in India, I have noted elsewhere.
[FN#277] Galland has "un morceau de plomb," which in the Hindí text becomes
"Shíshahkápaysá" = a (pice) small coin of glass: the translator also terms it a "Faddah," for which
see Nusf (alias "Nuss"), vols. ii. 37, vi. 214 and ix. 139, 167. Glass tokens, by way of coins, were
until late years made at Hebron, in Southern Syria.
[FN#278] For the "Ták" or "Tákah" = the little wall-niche, see vol. vii. 361.
[FN#279] In the French and English versions the coin is a bit of lead for weighting the net. For
the "Paysá" (pice) = two farthings, and in weight = half an ounce, see Herklot's Glossary, p. xcviii.
[FN#280] In the text "bilisht" = the long span between thumb-tip and minimus-tip. Galland says
long plus d'une coudée et gros à proportion.
[FN#281] For the diamond (Arab. "Almás" from {Greek text}, and in Hind. "Híra" and "Panná") see
vols. vi. 15, i. ix. 325, and in latter correct, "Euritic," a misprint for "dioritic." I still cannot believe
diamond-cutting to be an Indian art, and I must hold that it was known to the ancients. It could
not have been an unpolished stone, that "Adamas notissimus" which according to Juvenal (vi.
156) Agrippa gave to his sister. Maundeville (A.D. 1322) has a long account of the mineral, "so
hard that no man can polish it," and called Hamese ("Almás?"). For Mr. Petrie and his theory, see
vol. ix. 325. In most places where the diamond has been discovered of late years it had been used
as a magic stone, e.g., by the Pagés or medicine-men of the Brazil, or for children's playthings,
which was the case with the South-African "Caffres."
[FN#282] These stones, especially the carbuncle, which give out dight in darkness are a
commonplace of Eastern folk-lore. For luminous jewels in folk-lore, see Mr. Clouston (i. 412):
the belief is not wholly extinct in England, and I have often heard of it in the Brazil and upon the
African Gaboon. It appears to me that there may be a basis of fact to tints fancy, the abnormal
effect of precious stones upon mesmeric "sensitives."
[FN#283] The chimney and chimney-piece of Galland are not Eastern: the H. V. uses "Bukhárí" =
a place for steaming.
[FN#284] i.e. "Rachel."
[FN#285] In the text "lakh," the Anglicised "lac" = 100,000.
[FN#286] This use of camphor is noted by Gibbon (D. and F. iii. 195).
[FN#287] "Áb o hawá" = climate: see vol. ii. 4.
[FN#288] Galland makes this article a linen cloth wrapped about the skull-cap or core of the
turban.
[FN#289] Mr. Coote ( loc. cit. p. 185) is unable to produce a puramythe containing all of "Ali
Bába;" but, for the two leading incidents he quotes from Prof. Sakellarios two tales collected in
Cyprus One is Morgiana marking the village doors (p. 187), which has occurred doubtless a
hundred times. The other, in the "Story of Drakos," is an ogre, hight "Three Eyes," who attempts
the rescue of his wife with a party of blackamoors packed in bales and these are all discovered and
slain.
[FN#290] Dans la forêt, says Galland.
[FN#291] Or "Samsam," The grain = Sesamum Orientale: hence the French, Sesame, ouvre-toi!
The term is cabalistical, like Súlem, Súlam or Shúlam in the Directorium Vitæ Humanæ of
Johannes di Capuâ: Inquit vir: Ibam in nocte plenilunii et ascendebam super domum ubi furari
intendebam, et accedens ad fenestram ubi radii lune ingrediebantur, et dicebam hanc
coniurationem, scilicet sulem sulem, septies, deinde amplectebar lumen lune et sine lesione
descendebam ad domum, etc. (pp. 24-25) par Joseph Derenbourg, Membre de l'Institut 1re
Fascicule, Paris, F. Vieweg, 67, Rue de Richelieu, 1887.
[FN#292] In the text "Jatháni" = the wife of an elder brother. Hindostani, like other Eastern
languages, is rich in terms for kinship whereof English is so exceptionally poor. Mr. Francis
Galtson, in his well-known work, "Hereditary Genius," a misnomer by the by for "HeredTalent,"
felt this want severely and was at pains to supply it.
[FN#293]In the text "Thag," our English "Thug," often pronounced moreover by the Briton with
the sibilant "th." It means simply a cheat: you say to your servant "Tú bará Thag hai" = thou art a
precious rascal; but it has also the secondary meaning of robber, assassin, and the tertiary of
Bhawáni-worshippers who offer indiscriminate human sacrifices to the Deëss of Destruction. The
word and the thing have been made popular in England through the "Confessions of a Thug" by
my late friend Meadows Taylor; and I may record my conviction that were the English driven out
of India, "Thuggee," like piracy in Cutch and in the Persian Gulf, would revive at the shortest
possible time.
[FN#294] i.e. the Civil Governor, who would want nothing better.
[FN#295]This is in Galland and it is followed by the H. V.; but it would be more natural to
suppose that of the quarters two were hung up outside the door and the others within. VOL. XIII
[FN#296] I am unwilling to alter the time honoured corruption: properly it is written Marjánah =
the "Coralline," from Marján = red coral, for which see vols. ii. 100; vii. 373.
[FN#297] i.e. the " 'Iddah." during which she could not marry. See vol. iii. 292.
[FN#298] In Galland he is a savetier * * * naturellement gai, et qui avait toujours le mot pour
rire: the H. V. naturally changed him to a tailor as the Chámár or leather-worker would be
inadmissible to polite conversation.
[FN#299] i.e. a leader of prayer; the Pers. "Písh-namáz" = fore-prayer, see vols. ii. 203; iv. 111
and 227. Galland has "ímán," which can mean only faith, belief, and in this blunder he is
conscientiously followed by his translators--servum pecus
[FN#300] Galland nails down the corpse in the bier--a Christian practice--and he certainly knew
better. Moreover, prayers for the dead are mostly recited over the bier when placed upon the
brink of the grave; nor is it usual for a woman to play so prominent a part in the ceremony.
[FN#301] See vols. v. 111; ix. 163 and x. 47.
[FN#302] Galland is less merciful, "Aussitôt le conducteur fut déclaré digne de mort tout d'une
voix, et il s'y condamna lui-même," etc. The criminal, indeed, condemns himself and firmly offers
his neck to be stricken.
[FN#303] In the text "Lauh," for which see vol. v. 73.
[FN#304] In Arab. "Kama" = he rose, which, in vulgar speech especially in Egypt, = he began. So
in Spitta-Bey's "Contes Arabes Modernes" (p. 124) "Kámat al-Sibhah dhákat fi yad akhí-h" = the
chaplet began (lit. arose) to wax tight in his brother's hand. This sense is shadowed forth in
classical Arabic.
[FN#305] So in old Arabian history "Kasír" (the Little One), the Arab Zopyrus, stows away in
huge camel-bags the 2,000 warriors intended to surprise masterful Queen Zebba. Chronique de
Tabarí, vol. ii., 26. Also the armed men in boxes by which Shamar, King of Al-Yaman, took
Shamar-kand = Shamar's-town, now Samarkand. (Ibid. ii. 158.)
[FN#306] i.e. for a walk, a "constitutional": the phrase is very common in Egypt, and has
occurred before.
[FN#307] These visions are frequent in Al-Islam; see Pilgrimage iii. 254-55. Of course Christians
are not subject to them, as Moslems also are never favoured with glimpses of the Blessed Virgin
and the Saints; the best proof of their "Subjectivity."
[FN#308] For this word see De Sacy, Chrest. ii. 421. It has already occurred in The Nights, vol.
iii. 295.
[FN#309] Not a few pilgrims settle for a time or for life in the two Holy Places, which are thus
kept supplied with fresh blood. See Pilgrimage ii. 260.
[FN#310] i.e. Bayt al-Mukaddas, for which see vol. ii. 132.
[FN#311] An affidavit amongst Moslems is "litis decisio," as in the jurisprudence of mediæval
Europe.
[FN#312] In Arab folk-lore there are many instances of such precocious boys--enfants terribles
they must be in real life. In Ibn Khall. (iii. 104) we find notices of a book "Kitáb Nujabá al-Abná"
= Treatise on Distinguished Children, by Ibn Zakar al-Sakalli (the Sicilian), ob. A. D. 1169-70.
And the boy-Kazi is a favourite role in the plays of peasant-lads who enjoy the irreverent "chaff"
almost as much as when "making a Pasha." This reminds us of the boys electing Cyrus as their
King in sport (Herodotus, i. 114). For the cycle of "Precocious Children" and their adventures,
see Mr. Clouston (Popular Tales, etc., ii. 1-14), who enters into the pedigree and affiliation. I
must, however, differ with that able writer when he remarks at the end, "And now we may regard
the story of Valerius Maximus with suspicion, and that of Lloyd as absolutely untrue, so far as
William Noy's alleged share in the 'case.' " The jest or the event happening again and again is no
valid proof of its untruth; and it is often harder to believe in derivation than in spontaneous
growth.
[FN#313] In Galland Ali Cogia, Marchand de Bagdad, is directly followed by the Histoire du
Cheval Enchanté. For this "Ebony Horse," as I have called it, see vol. v. p. 32.
[FN#314] "Bánú" = a lady, a dame of high degree generally, e.g. the (Shah's) Banu-i-Harem in
James Morier ("The Mirza," iii. 50), who rightly renders Pari Banu = Pari of the first quality.
"Peri" (Parí) in its modern form has a superficial resemblance to "Fairy;" but this disappears in the
"Pairika" of the Avesta and the "Pairik" of the modern Parsee. In one language only, the Multání,
there is a masculine form for the word "Pará" = a he-fairy (Scinde, ii. 203). In Al-Islam these Peris
are beautiful feminine spirits who, created after the "Dívs" (Tabari, i. 7), mostly believe in Allah
and the Koran and desire the good of mankind: they are often attacked by the said Dívs, giants or
demons, who imprison them in cages hung to the highest trees, and here the captives are visited
by their friends who feed them with the sweetest of scents. I have already contrasted them with
the green-coated pygmies to which the grotesque fancy of Northern Europe has reduced them.
Bánú in Pers. = a princess, a lady, and is still much used, e.g. Bánú-í-Harim, the Dame of the
Serraglio, whom foreigners call "Queen of Persia," and Árám-Banu="the calm Princess," a
nickname. A Greek story equivalent of Prince Ahmad is told by Pio in Contes Populaires Grecs
(No. ii. p. 98) and called , the Golden box. Three youths () love
the same girl and agree that whoever shall learn the best craft (
X) shall marry her; one becomes an astrologer, the second can raise the dead, and
the third can run faster than air. They find her at death's door, and her soul, which was at her teeth
ready to start, goes down ( , ).
[FN#315] Light of the Day.
[FN#316] Galland has "Bisnagar," which the H. V. corrupts to Bishan-Garh = Vishnu's Fort, an
utter misnomer. Bisnagar, like Bijnagar, Beejanuggur, Vizianuggur, etc., is a Prakrit corruption of
the Sanskrit Vijáyanagara = City of Victory, the far-famed Hindu city and capital of the
Narasingha or Lord of Southern India, mentioned in The Nights, vols. vi. 18; ix. 84. Nicolo de'
Conti in the xvth century found it a magnificent seat of Empire some fifteen marches south of the
pestilential mountains which contained the diamond mines. Accounts of its renown and condition
in the last generation have been given by James Grant ("Remarks on the Dekkan") and by Captain
Moore ("Operations of Little's Detachment against Tippoo Sultan"). The latest description of it is
in "The Indian Empire," by Sir William W. Hunter. Vijáyanagar, village in Bellary district,
Madras, lat. 15 degrees 18' N., long. 76 degrees 30' E., pop. (1871), 437, inhabiting 172 houses.
The proper name of this village is Hampi, but Vijáyanagar was the name of the dynasty (?) and of
the kingdom which had its capital here and was the last great Hindu power of the South. Founded
by two adventurers in the middle of the xivth century, it lasted for two centuries till its star went
down at Tálikot in A. D. 1565. For a description of the ruins of the old city of Vijáyanagar, which
covers a total area of nine square miles, see "Murray's Handbook for Madras," by E. B. Eastwick
(1879), vol. ix. p. 235. Authentic history in Southern India begins with the Hindu kingdom of
Vijáyanagar, or Narsinha, from A. D. 1118 to 1565. The capital can still be traced within the
Madras district of Bellary, on the right bank of the Tungabhadra river--vast ruins of temples,
fortifications, tanks and bridges, haunted by hyænas and snakes. For at least three centuries
Vijáyanagar ruled over the southern part of the Indian triangle. Its Rajas waged war and made
peace on equal terms with the Mohamadan sultans of the Deccan. See vol. iv. p. 335, Sir W. W.
Hunter's "Imperial Gazetteer of India," Edit. 1881.
[FN#317] The writer means the great Bazar, the Indian "Chauk," which = our English Carfax or
Carfex (Carrefour) and forms the core of ancient cities in the East. It is in some places, as
Damascus, large as one of the quarters, and the narrow streets or lanes, vaulted over or thatched,
are all closed at night by heavy doors well guarded by men and dogs. Trades are still localised,
each owning its own street, after the fashion of older England, where we read of Drapers' Lane
and Butchers' Row; Lombard Street, Cheapside and Old Jewry.
[FN#318] The local name of the Patna ganzes. The term was originally applied to the produce of
the Coan looms, which, however, was anticipated in ancient Egypt. See p. 287 of "L'Archéologie
Égyptienne" (Paris, A. Quantin) of the learned Professor G. Maspero, a most able popular work
by a savant who has left many regrets on the banks of Nilus.
[FN#319] The great prototype of the Flying Carpet is that of Sulayman bin Dáúd, a fable which
the Koran (chap. xxi. 81) borrowed from the Talmud, not from "Indian fictions." It was of green
sendal embroidered with gold and silver and studded with precious stones, and its length and
breadth were such that all the Wise King's host could stand upon it, the men to the left and the
Jinns to the right of the throne; and when all were ordered, the Wind, at royal command, raised it
and wafted it whither the Prophet would, while an army of birds flying overhead canopied the
host from the sun. In the Middle Ages the legend assumed another form. "Duke Richard,
surnamed 'Richard sans peur,' walking with his courtiers one evening in the forest of Moulineaux,
near one of his castles on the banks of the Seine, hearing a prodigious noise coming towards him,
sent one of his esquires to know what was the matter, who brought him word that it was a
company of people under a leader or King. Richard, with five hundred of his bravest Normans,
went out to see a sight which the peasants were so accustomed to that they viewed it two or three
times a week without fear. The sight of the troop, preceded by two men, who spread a cloth on
the ground, made all the Normans run away, and leave the Duke alone. He saw the strangers form
themselves into a circle on the cloth, and on asking who they were, was told that they were the
spirits of Charles V., King of France, and his servants, condemned to expiate their sins by fighting
all night against the wicked and the damned. Richard desired to be of their party, and receiving a
strict charge not to quit the cloth, was conveyed with them to Mount Sinai, where, leaving them
without quitting the cloth, he said his prayers in the Church of St. Catherine's Abbey there, while
they were fighting, and returned with them. In proof of the truth of this story, he brought back
half the wedding-ring of a knight in that convent, whose wife, after six years, concluded him dead,
and was going to take a second husband." (Note in the Lucknow Edition of The Nights.)
[FN#320] Amongst Eastern peoples, and especially adepts, the will of man is not a mere term for
a mental or cerebral operation, it takes the rank of a substance; it becomes a mighty motive
power, like table-turning and other such phenomena which, now looked upon as child's play, will
perform a prime part in the Kinetics of the century to come. If a few pair of hands imposed upon a
heavy dinner-table can raise it in the air, as I have often seen, what must we expect to result when
the new motive force shall find its Franklin and be shown to the world as real "Vril"? The
experiment of silently willing a subject to act in a manner not suggested by speech or sign has
been repeatedly tried and succeeded in London drawing-rooms; and it has lately been suggested
that atrocious crimes have resulted from overpowering volition. In cases of paralysis the Faculty is
agreed upon the fact that local symptoms disappear when the will-power returns to the brain. And
here I will boldly and baldly state my theory that, in sundry cases, spectral appearances (ghosts)
and abnormal smells and sounds are simply the effect of a Will which has, so to speak, created
them.
[FN#321] The text has "But-Khanah" = idol-house (or room) syn. with "But-Kadah" =
image-cuddy, which has been proposed as the derivation of the disputed "Pagoda." The word
"Khánah" also appears in our balcony, origin. "balcony," through the South-European tongues,
the Persian being "Bálá-khánah" = high room. From "Kadah" also we derive "cuddy," now
confined to nautical language.
[FN#322] Europe contains sundry pictures which have, or are supposed to have, this property;
witness the famous Sundarium bearing the head of Jesus. The trick, for it is not Art, is highly
admired by the credulous.
[FN#323] i.e. the Hindu Scripture or Holy Writ, e.g. "Káma-Shastra" = the Cupid-gospel.
[FN#324] This shifting theatre is evidently borrowed by Galland from Pliny (N. H. xxxvi., 24)
who tells that in B. C. 50, C. Curio built two large wooden theatres which could be wheeled
round and formed into an amphitheatre. The simple device seems to stir the bile of the
unmechanical old Roman, so unlike the Greek in powers of invention.
[FN#325] This trick is now common in the circuses and hippodromes of Europe, horses and bulls
being easily taught to perform it: but India has as yet not produced anything equal to the "Cyclist
elephant" of Paris.
[FN#326] This Arab.-Pers. compound, which we have corrupted to "Bezestein" or "Bezettein"
and "Bezesten," properly means a market-place for Baz or Bazz = cloth, fine linen; but is used by
many writers as = Bazar, see "Kaysariah," vol. i. 266.
[FN#327] The origin of the lens and its applied use to the telescope and the microscope are "lost"
(as the Castle-guides of Edinburgh say) "in the glooms of antiquity." Well ground glasses have
been discovered amongst the finds of Egypt and Assyria: indeed much of the finer work of the
primeval artists could not have been done without such aid. In Europe the "spy-glass" appears
first in the Opus Majus of the learned Roger Bacon (circa A. D. 1270); and his "optic tube"
(whence his saying "all things are known by perspective"), chiefly contributed to make his
wide-spread fame as a wizard. The telescope was popularised by Galileo who (as mostly happens)
carried off and still keeps, amongst the vulgar, all the honours of invention. Some "Illustrators" of
The Nights confound this "Nazzárah," the Pers. "Dúr-bín," or far-seer, with the "Magic Mirror," a
speculum which according to Gower was set up in Rome by Virgilius the Magician hence the
Mirror of Glass in the Squire's tale; Merlin's glassie Mirror of Spenser (F. Q. ii. 24); the mirror in
the head of the monstrous fowl which forecast the Spanish invasion to the Mexicans; the glass
which in the hands of Cornelius Agrippa (A. D. 1520) showed to the Earl of Surrey fair Geraldine
"sick in her bed;" to the globe of glass in The Lusiads; Dr. Dee's show-stone, a bit of cannel-coal;
and lastly the zinc and copper disk of the absurdly called "electro-biologist." I have noticed this
matter at some length in various places.
[FN#328] D'Herbelot renders Soghd Samarkand = plain of Samarkand. Hence the old
"Sogdiana," the famed and classical capital of Máwaránnahr, our modern Transoxiana, now
known as Samarkand. The Hindi translator has turned "Soghd" into "Sadá" and gravely notes that
"the village appertained to Arabia." He possibly had a dim remembrance of the popular legend
which derives "Samarkand" from Shamir or Samar bin Afrikús, the Tobba King of Al-Yaman,
who lay waste Soghd-city ("Shamir kand" = Shamir destroyed); and when rebuilt the place was
called by the Arab. corruption Samarkand. See Ibn Khallikan ii. 480. Ibn Haukal (Kitáb al
Mamálik wa al-Masálik = Book of Realms and Routes), whose Oriental Geography (xth century)
was translated by Sir W. Ouseley (London, Oriental Press, 1800), followed by Abú 'l-Fidá,
mentions the Himyaritic inscription upon an iron plate over the Kash portal of Samarkand
(Appendix No. iii.).
[FN#329] The wish might have been highly indiscreet and have exposed the wisher to the
resentment of the two other brothers. In parts of Europe it is still the belief of the vulgar that men
who use telescopes can see even with the naked eye objects which are better kept hidden; and I
have heard of troubles in the South of France because the villagers would not suffer the secret
charms of their women to become as it were the public property of the lighthouse employés.
[FN#330] "Jám-i-Jamshíd" is a well worn commonplace in Moslem folk-lore; but commentators
cannnot agree whether "Jám" be = a mirror or a cup. In the latter sense it would represent the
Cyathomantic cup of the Patriarch Joseph and the symbolic bowl of Nestor. Jamshíd may be
translated either Jam the Bright or the Cup of the Sun: this ancient King is Solomon of the grand
old Guebres.
[FN#331] This passage may have suggested to Walter Scott one of his descriptions in "The
Monastery."
[FN#332] In the text "Lájawardí," for which see vols. iii. 33, and ix. 190.
[FN#333] In Galland and the H. V. "Prince Husayn's."
[FN#334] This is the "Gandharba-lagana" (fairy wedding) of the Hindus; a marriage which lacked
only the normal ceremonies. For the Gandharbas = heavenly choristers see Moor's "Hindú
Pantheon," p. 237, etc.
[FN#335] "Perfumed with amber" (-gris?) says Galland.
[FN#336] The Hind term for the royal levée, as "Selám" is the Persian.
[FN#337] Arab. "'Ilm al-Ghayb" = the Science of Hidden Things which, says the Hadis, belongeth
only to the Lord. Yet amongst Moslems, as with other faiths, the instinctive longing to pry into
the Future has produced a host of pseudo-sciences, Geomancy, Astrology, Prophecy and others
which serve only to prove that such knowledge, in the present condition of human nature, is
absolutely unattainable.
[FN#338] In folk-lore and fairy tales the youngest son of mostly three brothers is generally
Fortune's favourite: at times also he is the fool or the unlucky one of the family, Cinderella being
his counterpart (Mr. Clouston, i. 321).
[FN#339] The parasang (Gr. {Greek text}), which Ibn Khall. (iii. 315) reduces to three miles, has
been derived wildly enough from Fars or Pars (Persia proper) sang = (mile) stone. Chardin
supports the etymology, "because leagues are marked out with great tall stones in the East as well
as the West, e.g., ad primam (vel secundam) lapidem."
[FN#340] A huge marquee or pavilion-tent in India.
[FN#341] The Jinn feminine; see vol. i. 10. The word hardly corresponds with the Pers. "Peri"
and Engl. "Fairy," a creation, like the "Dív," of the so-called "Aryan," not "Semitic," race.
[FN#342] Galland makes the Fairy most unjustifiably fear that her husband is meditating the
murder of his father; and the Hindí in this point has much the advantage of the Frenchman.
[FN#343] Pers. = "Light of the World"; familiar to Europe as the name of the Grand Moghul
Jehángír's principal wife.
[FN#344] The Arab stirrup, like that of the Argentine Gaucho, was originally made of wood,
liable to break, and forming a frail support for lancer and sworder. A famous chief and warrior,
Abú Sa'íd al-Muhallab (ob. A. H. 83 = 702) first gave orders to forge foot-rests of iron.
[FN#345] For this Egyptian and Syrian weapon see vol. i. 234.
[FN#346] See vol. vii. 93, where an error of punctuation confounds it with Kerbela,--a desert
with a place of pilgrimage. "Samáwah" in Ibn Khall. (vol. i. 108) is also the name of a town on the
Euphrates.
[FN#347] Nazaránah prop. = the gift (or gifts) offered at visits by a Moslem noble or feoffee in
India to his feudal superior; and the Kalichah of Hindú, Malabar, Goa and the Blue Mountains (p.
197). Hence the periodical tributes and especially the presents which represent our "legacy-duty"
and the "succession-duty" for Rajahs and Nabobs, the latter so highly lauded by "The Times," as
the logical converse of the Corn-laws which ruined our corn. The Nazaránah can always be made
a permanent and a considerable source of revenue, far more important than such unpopular and
un-Oriental device as an income-tax. But our financiers have yet to learn the A. B. C. of political
economy in matters of assessment, which is to work upon familiar lines; and they especially who,
like Mr. Wilson "mad as a hatter," hold and hold forth that "what is good for England is good for
the world." These myopics decide on theoretical and sentimental grounds that a poll-tax is bad in
principle, which it may be, still public opinion sanctions it and it can be increased without exciting
discontent. The same with the "Nazaránah;" it has been the custom of ages immemorial, and a
little more or a little less does not affect its popularity.
[FN#348] Pers. = City-queen.
[FN#349] Compare with this tale its modern and popular version Histoire du Rossignol Chanteur
(Spitta-Bey, No. x, p. 123): it contains the rosary (and the ring) that shrinks, the ball that rolls and
the water that heals; etc. etc. Mr. Clouston somewhere asserts that the History of the Envious
Sisters, like that of Prince Ahmad and the Perí-Banu, are taken from a MS. still preserved in the
"King's Library," Paris; but he cannot quote his authority, De Sacy or Langlès. Mr. H. C. Coote
(loc. Cit. P. 189) declares it to be, and to have been, "an enormous favourite in Italy and Sicily: no
folk-tale exists in those countries at all comparable to it in the number of its versions and in the
extent of its distribution." He begins two centuries before Galland, sith Straparola (Notti
Piacevoli), proceeds to Imbriani (Novajella Fiorentina), Nerucci (Novelle Montalesi),
Comparetti (Nivelline Italiane) and Pitre (Fiabe Novelle e Racconti popolari Italiani, vol. I.);
and informs us that "the adventures of the young girl, independently of the joint history of herself
and her brother, are also told in a separate "Fiaba" in Italy. A tale called La Favenilla Coraggiosa
is given by Visentini in his Fiabe Mantovane and it is as far as it is a counterpart of the second
portion of Galland's tale." Mr. Coote also finds this story in Hahn's "Griechische Märchen"
entitled "Sun, Moon and Morning Star"--the names of the royal children. The King overhears the
talk of three girls and marries the youngest despite his stepmother, who substitutes for her issue a
puppy, a kitten and a mouse. The castaways are adopted by a herdsman whilst the mother is
confined in a henhouse; and the King sees his offspring and exclaims, "These children are like
those my wife promised me." His stepmother, hearing this, threatens the nurse, who goes next
morning disguised as a beggar-woman to the girl and induces her to long for the Bough that
makes music, the Magic Mirror, and the bird Dickierette. The brothers set out to fetch them
leaving their shirts which become black when the mishap befalls them. The sister, directed by a
monk, catches the bird and revives the stones by the River of Life and the denouement is brought
about by a sausage stuffed with diamonds. In Miss Stokes' Collection of Hindu Stories (No. xx.)
"The Boy who had a moon on his brow and a star on his chin" also suggests the "Envious
Sisters."
[FN#350] Pop. "Ghaut" = The steps (or path) which lead down to a watering-place. Hence the
Hindí saying concerning the "rolling stone"--Dhobi-ka kuttá; na Gharká na Ghát-ká, = a
washerwoman's tyke, nor of the house nor of the Ghát-dyke.
[FN#351] Text "Khatíbah" more usually "Khutbah" = the Friday sermon preached by the Khatíb:
in this the reigning sovereign is prayed for by name and his mention together with the change of
coinage is the proof of his lawful rule. See Lane, M. F., chap. iii.
[FN#352] This form of eaves-dropping, in which also the listener rarely hears any good of himself
is, I need hardly now say, a favourite incident of Eastern Storiology and even of history, e.g.
Three men met together; one of them expressed the wish to obtain a thousand pieces of gold, so
that he might trade with them; the other wished for an appointment under the Emir of the
Moslems; the third wished to possess Yusuf's wife, who was the handsomest of women and had
reat political influence. Yusuf, being informed of what they said, sent for the men, bestowed one
thousand dinars on him who wished for that sum, gave an appointment to the other and said to
him who wished to possess the lady: "Foolish man! What induced you to wish for that which you
can never obtain?" He then sent him to her and she placed him in a tent where he remained three
days, receiving, each day, one and the same kind of food. She had him brought to her and said,
"What did you eat these days past?" He replied: "Always the same thing!"--"Well," said she, "all
women are the same thing." She then ordered some money and a dress to be given him, after
which, she dismissed him. (Ibn Khallikan iii. 463-64.)
[FN#353] This ruthless attempt at infanticide was in accordance with the manners of the age nor
has it yet disappeared from Rajput-land, China and sundry over-populous countries. Indeed it is a
question if civilisation may not be compelled to revive the law of Lycurgus which forbade a child,
male or female, to be brought up without the approbation of public officers appointed ad hoc.
One of the curses of the XIXth century is the increased skill of the midwife and physician, who
are now able to preserve worthless lives and to bring up semi-abortions whose only effect upon
the breed is increased degeneracy. Amongst the Greeks and ancient Arabs the Malthusian practice
was carried to excess. Poseidippus declares that in his day--
A man, although poor, will not expose his son;
But however rich, will not preserve his daughter.
See the commentators' descriptions of the Wa'd al-Banát or burial of Mauúdát (living daughters),
the barbarous custom of the pagan Arabs (Koran, chaps. Xvi. And lxxxi.) one of the many
abominations, like the murderous vow of Jephtha, to which Al-Islam put a summary stop. (Ibn
Khallikan, iii. 609-606) For such outcast children reported to be monsters, see pp. 402-412 of Mr.
Clouston's "Asiatic and European versions of four of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales," printed by the
Chaucer Society.
[FN#354] Hind. Chhuchhundar (Sorex cœrulescens) which occurs repeatedly in verse; e.g., when
speaking of low men advanced to high degree, the people say:--
Chhuchhúndar-ke sir-par Chambelí-ka tel.
The Jasmine-oil on the musk-rat's head.
In Galland the Sultánah is brought to bed of un morceau de bois; and his Indian translator is
more consequent, Hahn, as has been seen, also has the mouse but Hahn could hardly have reached
Hindostan.
[FN#355] This title of Sháhinshah was first assumed by Ardashír, the great Persian conqueror,
after slaying the King of Ispahán, Ardawán. (Tabari ii. 73.)
[FN#356] This imprisonment of the good Queen reminds home readers of the "Cage of Clapham"
wherein a woman with child was imprisoned in A.D. 1700, and which was noted by Sir George
Grove as still in existence about 1830.
[FN#357] Arab. Ayyám al-Nifás = the period of forty days after labour during which, according
to Moslem law, a woman may not cohabit with her husband.
[FN#358] A clarum et venerabile nomen in Persia; meaning one of the Spirits that preside over
beasts of burden; also a king in general, the P.N. of an ancient sovereign, etc.
[FN#359] This is the older pronunciation of the mod. (Khusrau) "Parvíz"; and I owe an apology
to Mr. C.J. Lyall (Ancient Arabian Poetry) for terming his "Khusrau Parvêz" an "ugly Indianism"
(The Academy, No. 100). As he says (Ibid. vol. x. 85), "the Indians did not invent for Persian
words the sounds ê and ô, called majhúl (i.e. 'not known in Arabic') by the Arabs, but received
them at a time when these wounds were universally used in Persia. The substitution by Persians of
î and û for ê and ô is quite modern."
[FN#360] i.e. Fairy-born, the (Parysatis) of the Greeks which some miswrite {Greek text}.
[FN#361] In Arab. Usually shortened to "Hazár" (bird of a thousand tales = the Thousand),
generally called "'Andalíb:" Galland has Bulbulhezer and some of his translators debase it to
Bulbulkezer. See vol. v. 148, and the Hazár-dastán of Kazwíní (De Sacy, Chrest. iii. 413). These
rarities represent the Rukh's egg in "Alaeddin."
[FN#362] These disembodied "voices" speaking either naturally or through instruments are a
recognized phenomenon of the so-called "Spiritualism," See p. 115 of "Supra-mundane Facts,"
&c., edited by T.J. Nichols, M.D., &c., London, Pitman, 1865. I venture to remark that the
medical treatment by Mesmerism, Braidism and hypnotics, which was violently denounced and
derided in 1850, is in 1887 becoming a part of the regular professional practice and forms another
item in the long list of the Fallacies of the Faculty and the Myopism of the "Scientist."
[FN#363] I may also note that the "Hátif," or invisible Speaker, which must be subjective more
often than objective, is a common-place of Moslem thaumaturgy.
[FN#364] It may have been borrowed from Ulysses and the Sirens.
[FN#365] Two heroes of the Shahnámeh and both the types of reckless daring. The monomachy
or duel between these braves lasted through two days.
[FN#366] The "Bágh" or royal tiger, is still found in the jungles of Mázenderán and other regions
of Northern Persia.
[FN#367] In addressing the Shah every Persian begins with the formula "Kurbán-at básham" =
may I become thy Corban or sacrifice. For this word (Kurbán) see vol. viii. 16.
[FN#368] The King in Persia always speaks of himself in the third person and swears by his own
blood and head, soul, life and death. The form of oath is ancient: Joseph, the first (but not the last)
Jew-financier of Egypt, emphasises his speech "by the life of Pharaoh." (Gen. xiii. 15, 16.)
[FN#369] Another title of the Shah, making him quasi-divine, at any rate the nearest to the
Almighty, like the Czar and the Emperor of China. Hence the subjects bow to him with the body
at right angles as David did to Saul (I Sam. xxiv, 8) or fall upon the face like Joshua (v. 14).
[FN#370] A most improbable and absurd detail: its sole excuse is the popular superstition of
"blood speaking to blood." The youths being of the royal race felt that they could take
unwarrantable liberties.
[FN#371] This is still a Persian custom because all the subjects, women as well as men, are
virtually the King's slaves.
[FN#372] i.e. King of kings, the {Greek text}.
[FN#373] Majlis garm karna, i.e. to give some life to the company.
[FN#374] In Arabic "'Ilm al-Mukáshafah" = the science by which Eastern adepts discover man's
secret thoughts. Of late years it has appeared in England but with the same quackery and
imposture which have ruined "Spiritualism" as the Faith of the Future.
[FN#375] Nor are those which do occur all in the same order: The first in the Turkish book "Of
'Ebú-'l-Kásim of Basra, of the 'Emír of Basra, and of 'Ebú-'l-Faskh of Wásit," is probably similar
to the first of Petis, "History of Aboulcasem of Basra." The second "Of Fadzlu- 'llah of Mawsil
(Moser), of 'Ebú-'l-Hasan, and of Máhyár of Wásit," is evidently the seventh in Petis, "History of
Fadlallah, Son of Bin Ortoc, King of Moussel." The fourth, "Of Ridzwán-Shah of China and the
Shahristáni Lady," is the second in Petis, "History of King Razvanschad and of the Princess
Cheheristany." The eleventh, "Of the Sovereign without a care and of the Vazír full of care," is
the eighth in Petis History of King Bedreddin Lolo and of his Vizier Altalmulc." The third, "Of the
Builder of Bemm with the two Vazírs of the king of Kawáshar," the seventh, "Of the Rogue Nasr
and the son of the king of Khurásán," and the tenth, "The Three Youths, the Old Man, and the
Daughter of the King," I cannot, from these titles, recognise in Petis; while the fifth,
"Farrukh-Shád, Farrukh-Rúz, and Farrukh-Náz," may be the same as the frame story of the
"Hazár ú Yek Rúz," where the king is called Togrul-bey, his son Farrukrouz, and his daughter
Farruknaz, and if this be the case, the Turkish book must differ considerably from the Persian in
its plan.--Although "The Thousand and One Nights" has not been found in Persian, there exists a
work in that language of which the plan is somewhat similar--but adapted from an Indian source.
It is thus described by Dr. Rieu, in his Catalogue of Persian MSS. in the British Museum, vol. ii.
p. 773: Tale of Shírzád, son of Gurgahan, emperor of China, and Gulshád, daughter of the vazír
Farrukhzád (called the Story of the Nine Belvideres). Nine tales told by Gulshad to Shírzád, each
in one of the nine belvideres of the royal palace, in order to save the forfeited life of her father.
[FN#376] A translation of this version, omitting the moral reflections interspersed, is given by
Professor E. B. Cowell in the "Journal of Philology," 1876, vol. vi. p. 193. The great Persian
mystic tells another story of a Dream of Riches, which, though only remotely allied to our tale, is
very curious:
The Fakir and the Hidden Treasure.
Notwithstanding the clear evidence of God's bounty, engendering those spiritual tastes in men,
philosophers and learned men, wise in their own conceit, obstinately shut their eyes to it, and look
afar off for what is really close to them, so that they incur the penalty of being "branded on the
nostrils" [Kurán, lxviii. 16], adjudged against unbelievers. This is illustrated by the story of the
poor Fakír who prayed to God that he might be fed without being obliged to work for his food. A
divine voice came to him in his sleep and directed him to go to the house of a certain scribe and
take a certain writing he should find there. He did so, and on reading the writing found that it
contained directions for discovering a hidden treasure. The directions were as follows: "Go
outside the city to the dome which covers the tomb of the martyr, turn your back to the tomb and
face towards Mecca, place an arrow in your bow, and where the arrow falls dig for the treasure."
But before the Fakír had time to commence the search the rumour of the writing and its purport
had reached the King, who at once sent and took it away from the Fakír, and began to search for
the treasure on his own account. After shooting many arrows and digging in all directions the
King failed to find the treasure, and got weary of searching, and returned the writing to the Fakír.
Then the Fakír tried what he could do, but failed to hit the spot where the treasure was buried. At
last despairing of success by his own unaided efforts, he cast his care upon God, and implored the
divine assistance. Then a voice from heaven came to him saying, "You were directed to fix an
arrow in your bow, but not to draw your bow with all your might, as you have been doing. Shoot
as gently as possible, that the arrow may fall close to you, for hidden treasure is indeed 'nearer to
you than your neck-vein'" [Kurán, l. 15]. Men overlook the spiritual treasures close to them, and
for this reason it is that prophets have no honour in their own countries.--Mr. F: H. Whinfield's
Abridgment of "The Masnavi-i Ma'navi." (London, 1887.)
[FN#377] See Mr. Gibb's translation (London: Redway), p. 278
[FN#378] "Rem quæ contigit patrum memoriâ ut veram ita dignam relatu et sæpenumero mihi
assertam ab hominibus fide dignis apponam."
[FN#379] Thorpe says that a nearly similar legend is current at Tanslet, on the island of Alsen.
[FN#380] The common tradition is, it was in English rhyme, viz.
"Where this stood
Is another as good;"
as some will have it:
"Under me doth lie
Another much richer than I."
[FN#381] Apropos to dreams, there is a very amusing story, entitled "Which was the Dream ?" in
Mr. F. H. Balfour's "Leaves from my Chinese Scrap Book," p. 106-7 (London: Trübner, 1887).
[FN#382] The story in the Turkish collection, "Al-Faraj ba'd al-Shiddah," where it forms the 8th
recital, is doubtless identical with our Arabian version, since in both the King of the Genie figures,
which is not the case in Mr. Gibb's story.
[FN#383] Although this version is not preceded, as in the Arabian, by the Dream of Riches, yet
that incident occurs, I understand, in separate form in the work of 'Alí Azíz.
[FN#384] Sir Richard has referred, in note 1, p. 18, to numerous different magical tests of
chastity, etc., and I may here add one more, to wit, the cup which Oberon, King of the Fairies,
gave to Duke Huon of Bordeaux (according to the romance which recounts the marvellous
adventures of that renowned Knight), which filled with wine in the hand of any man who was out
of "deadly sin" and attempted to drink out of it, but was always empty in the hands of a sinful
man. Charlemagne was shown to be sinful by this test, while Duke Huon, his wife, and a
companion were proved to be free from sin.--In my "Popular Tales and Fictions" the subject of
inexhaustible purses etc. is treated pretty fully--they frequently figure in folk-tales, from Iceland to
Ceylon, from Japan to the Hebrides.
[FN#385] "The Athenaeum," April 23,1887, p. 542.
[FN#386] See M. Eugene Lévêque's "Les Mythes et les Légendes de l'Inde et la Perse" (Paris,
1880), p. 543, where the two are printed side by side. This was pointed out more than seventy
years ago by Henry Weber in his Introduction to "Tales of the East," edited by him.
[FN#387] Also in the romance of Duke Huon of Bordeaux and the old French romance of the
Chevalier Berinus. The myth was widely spread in the Middle Ages.
[FN#388] Cf. the magic horn that Duke Huon of Bordeaux received from Oberon, King of the
Fairies, which caused even the Soudan of Babylon to caper about in spite of himself, and similar
musical instruments in a hundred different tales, such as the old English poem of "The Friar and
the Boy," the German tale (in Grimm) of "The Jew among Thorns," the "Pied Piper of Hamelin,"
&c.
[FN#389] Not distantly related to stories of this class are those in which the hero becomes
possessed of some all-bestowing object--a purse, a box, a table-cloth, a sheep, a donkey, etc.--which being stolen from him he recovers by means of a magic club that on being commended
rattles on the pate and ribs of the thief and compels him to restore the treasure.
[FN#390] The Dwarf had told the soldier, on leaving him after killing the old witch, that should
his services be at any other time required, he had only to light his pipe at the Blue Light and he
should instantly appear before him. The tobacco-pipe must be considered as a recent and quite
unnecessary addition to the legend: evidently all the power of summoning the Dwarf was in the
Blue Light, since he tells the soldier when he first appears before him in the well that he must obey
its lord and master.
[FN#391] Belli signifies famous, or notorious.
[FN#392] This young lady's notion of the "function" of Prayer was, to say the least peculiar, in
thus addressing her petition to the earth instead of to Heaven.
[FN#393] The gentle, amiable creature!
[FN#394] Chamley-bill was, says Dr. Chodzko, a fort built by Kurroglú, the ruins of which are
still to be seen in the valley of Salmas, a district in the province of Aderbaijan.
[FN#395] i.e. Kuvera, the god of wealth.
[FN#396] The attendants of Kuvera. a Buddhistic idea.
[FN#397] That every man has his "genius" of good or evil fortune is, I think, essentially idea.
[FN#398] Such being the case, what need was there for the apparition presenting itself every
morning?--but no matter!
[FN#399] Pandit S. M. Natésa Sástrí, in "Indian Notes and Queries," for March, 1887, says that
women swallow large numbers of an insect called pillai-puchchi (son-insect: gryllas) in the hope
of bearing sons, they will also drink the water squeezed from the loin-cloth of a sanyásí [devotee]
after washing it for him!--Another correspondent in the same periodical. Pandit Putlíbái K.
Raghunathjé, writes that Hindu women, for the purpose of having children, especially a son,
observe the fourth lunar day of every dark fortnight as a fast and break their fast only after seeing
the moon, generally before 9 or 10 p.m. A dish of twenty-one small, marble-like balls of rice is
prepared, in one of which is put some salt. The whole dish is then served up to the woman, and
while eating it she should first lay her hands on the ball containing salt, as it is believed to be a
positive sign that she will be blessed with a son. In that case she should give up eating the rest, but
otherwise she should go on eating till she lays her hands on the salted ball. The Pandit adds, that
the observance of this ball depends on the wish of the woman. She may observe it on only one,
five, seven, eleven, or twenty-one lunar fourth days, or chaturthí. Should she altogether fail in
picking out the salted ball first, she may be sure of remaining barren all her life long.
[FN#400] I am glad to see among Messrs. Trübner & Co.'s announcements of forthcoming
publications Mr. Knowles' collection of "Folk-Tales of Kashmír" in popular handy volume form.
[FN#401] A holy man whose austerities have obtained for him supernatural powers.
[FN#402] Also called "Story of the King and his Four Ministers." There is another but wholly
different Tamil romance entitled the "Alakésa Kathá," in which a king's daughter becomes a
disembodied evil spirit, haunting during the night a particular choultry (or serai) for travellers, and
if they do not answer aright to her cries she strangles them and vampyre-like sucks their blood.
[FN#403] The Pandit informs me that his "Folk-Lore in Southern India" will be completed at
press and issued shortly at Bombay. (London agents, Messrs. Trübner & Co.)
[FN#404] In the "Kathá Sarit Ságara," Book ii., ch. 14, when the King of Vatsa receives the hand
of Vasavadatta, "like a beautiful shoot lately budded on the creeper of love," she walks round the
fire, keeping it to the right, on which Prof. Tawney remarks that "the practice of walking round an
object of reverence, with the right hand towards it, has been exhaustively discussed by Dr. Samuel
Fergusson in his paper 'On the ceremonial turn called Desiul,' published in the Proceedings of the
Royal Irish Academy, for March 1877 (vol. i., series ii., No. 12). He shows it to have existed
among the ancient Romans as well as the Celts.... Dr. Fergusson is of opinion that this movement
was a symbol of the cosmical rotation, an imitation of the apparent course of the sun in the
heavens."
[FN#405] The affection of parents for their children is often a blind instinct, and sometimes
selfish, though, after all, there is doubtless truth in these lines:
"A mother's love!
If there be one thing pure,
Where all beside is sullied,
That can endure
When all else pass away:
If there be aught
Surpassing human deed, or word, or thought,
It is a mother's love!"
[FN#406] Surma is a collyrium applied to the edges of the eyelids to increase the lustre of the
eyes. A Persian poet, addressing the damsel of whom he is enamoured, says, "For eyes so
intoxicated with love's nectar what need is there of surma?"--This part of the story seems to be
garbled; in another text of the romance of Hatim Ta'í it is only after the surma has been applied to
the covetous man's eyes that he beholds the hidden treasures.
[FN#407] The first part of the story of the Young King of the Black Isles, in The Nights, bears
some analogy to this, but there the paramour is only "half-killed" and the vindictive queen
transforms her husband from the waist downwards into marble.
[FN#408] On the Sources of some of Galland's Tales. By Henry Charles Coote, F.S.A. "Folklore
Record," 1881, vol. iii. Part 2, p. 186.
[FN#409] See Thorpe's "Yule Tide Stories," Bohn's ed., pp. 481-486.-Thorpe says that "for
many years the Dummburg was the abode of robbers, who slew the passing travellers and
merchants whom they perceived on the road from Leipsig to Brunswick, and heaped together the
treasures of the plundered churches and the surrounding country, which they concealed in
subterranean caverns." The peasantry would therefore regard the spot with superstitious awe,
and once such a tale as that of Ali Baba got amongst them, the robbers' haunt in their
neighbourhood would soon become the scene of the poor woodcutter's adventure.
[FN#410] A Persian poet says:
"He who violates the rights of the bread and salt
Breaks, for his wretched self, head and neck."
[FN#411] Miss Busk reproduces the proper names as they are transliterated in Jülg's German
version of those Kalmuk and Mongolian Tales--from which a considerable portion of her book
was rendered--thus: Ardschi Bordschi, Rakschasas, etc., but drollest of all is "Ramajana"
(Ramayana), which is right in German but not in English.
[FN#412] The apocryphal gospels and the Christian hagiology are largely indebted to Buddhism,
e.g., the Descent into Hell, of which there is such a graphic account in the Gospel of Nicodemus,
seems to have been adapted from ancient Buddhist legends, now embodied in the opening
chapters of a work entitled, "Káranda-vyúha," which contain a description of the Boddhisattva
Avalokiteswara's descent into the hell Avíchi, to deliver the souls there held captive by Yama, the
lord of the lower world. (See a paper by Professor E. R. Cowell, LL.D., in the "Journal of
Philology," 1876, vol. vi. pp. 222-231.) This legend also exists in Telugu, under the title of
"Sánanda Charitra," of which the outline is given in Taylor's "Catalogue Raisonné of Oriental
MSS. in the Government Library, Madras," vol. ii. p. 643: Sánanda, the son of Purna Vitta and
Bhadra Datta, heard from munis accounts of the pains of the wicked, and wishing to see for
himself, went to Yama-puri. His coming had been announced by Nárada. Yama showed the
stranger the different lots of mankind in a future state, in details. Sánanda was touched with
compassion for the miseries that he witnessed, and by the use of the five and six lettered spells he
delivered those imprisoned souls and took them with him to Kailasa. Yama went to Siva and
complained, but Siva civilly dismissed the appeal.--Under the title of "The Harrowing of Hell," the
apocryphal Christian legend was the theme of a Miracle Play in England during the Middle Ages,
and indeed it seems to have been, in different forms, a popular favourite throughout Europe. Thus
in a German tale Strong Hans goes to the Devil in hell and wants to serve him, and sees the pains
in which souls are imprisoned standing beside the fire. Full of pity, he lifts up the lids and sets the
souls free, on which the Devil at once drives him away. A somewhat similar notion occurs in an
Icelandic tale of the Sin Sacks, in Powell and Magnússon's collection (second series, p. 48). And
in T. Crofton Croker's "Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland," ed. 1828, Part. ii.
p. 30 ff., we read of Soul Cages at the bottom of the sea, containing the spirits of drowned sailors,
which the bold hero Jack Docherty set free.
[FN#413] The Rabbins relate that among the Queen of Sheba's tests of Solomon's sagacity she
brought before him a number of boys and girls apparelled all alike, and desired him to distinguish
those of one sex from those of the other, as they stood in his presence. Solomon caused a large
basin of water to be fetched in, and ordered them all to wash their hands. By this expedient he
discovered the boys from the girls, since the former washed merely their hands, while the latter
washed also their arms.
[FN#414] Dr. W. Grimm, in the notes to his "Kinder und Hausmärchen," referring to the German
form of the story (which we shall come to by and-by), says, "The Parrot, which is the fourth story
in the Persian Touti Nameh, bears some resemblance to this"--the Parrot is the reciter of all the
stories in the collection, not the title of this particular tale.
[FN#415] To Sir Richard Burton's interesting note on the antiquity of the lens and its applied use
to the telescope and microscope may be added a passage or two from Sir William Drummond's
"Origines; or, Remarks on the Origin of several Empires, States, and Cities," 1825, vol. ii. pp.
246-250. This writer appears to think that telescopes were not unknown to the ancients and
adduces plausible evidence in support of his opinion. "Moschopalus," he says, "an ancient
grammarian, mentions four instruments with which the astronomers of antiquity were accustomed
to observe the stars--the catoptron, the dioptron, the eisoptron and the enoptron." He supposes
the catoptron to have been the same with the astrolabe. "The dioptron seems to have been so
named from a tube through which the observer looked. Were the other two instruments named
from objects being reflected in a mirror placed within them? Aristotle says that the Greeks
employed mirrors when they surveyed the celestial appearances. May we not conclude from this
circumstance that astronomers were not always satisfied with looking through empty tubes?" He
thinks the ancients were acquainted with lenses and has collected passages from various writers
which corroborate his opinion, besides referring to the numerous uses to which glass was applied
in the most remote ages. He goes on to say:
"Some of the observations of the ancients must appear very extraordinary, if magnifying glasses
had never been known among them. The boldness with which the Pythagoreans asserted that the
surface of the moon was diversified by mountains and valleys can hardly be accounted for, unless
Pythagoras had been convinced of the fact by the help of telescopes, which might have existed in
the observatories of Egypt and Chaldea before those countries were conquered and laid waste by
the Persians. Pliny (L. 11) says that 1600 stars had been counted in the 72 constellations, and by
this expression I can only understand him to mean the 72 dodecans into which the Egyptians and
Chaldeans divided the zodiac. Now this number of stars could never have been counted in the
zodiac without the assistance of glasses. Ptolemy reckoned a much less number for the whole
heavens The missionaries found many more stars marked in the Chinese charts of the heavens than
formerly existed in those which were in use in Europe. Suidas, at the word (glass),
indicates, in explaining a passage in Aristophanes, that burning mirrors were occasionally made of
glass. Now how can we suppose burning mirrors to have been made of glass without supposing
the magnifying powers of glass to have been known? The Greeks, as Plutarch affirms, employed
metallic mirrors, either plane, or convex, or concave, according to the use for which they were
intended. If they could make burning mirrors of glass, they could have given any of these forms to
glass. How then could they have avoided observing that two glasses, one convex and the other
concave, placed at a certain distance from each other, magnified objects seen through them?
Numerous experiments must have been made with concave and convex glasses before burning
mirrors made of glass could have been employed. If astronomers never knew the magnifying
powers of glass, and never placed lenses in the tubes of the dioptrons, what does Strabo (L. 3, c.
138) mean when he says: 'Vapours produce the same effects as the tubes in magnifying objects of
vision by refraction?'"
Mr. W. F. Thompson, in his translation of the "Ahlak-i-Jalaly," from the Persian of Fakír Jání
Muhammad (15th century), has the following note on the Jám-i-Jámshid and other magical
mirrors: "Jámshíd, the fourth of the Kaianian dynasty, the Soloman of the Persians. His cup was
said to mirror the world, so that he could observe all that was passing elsewhere--a fiction of his
own for state purposes, apparently, backed by the use of artificial mirrors. Nizámí tells that
Alexander invented the steel mirror, by which he means, of course, that improved reflectors were
used for telescopy in the days of Archimedes, but not early enough to have assisted Jámshíd, who
belongs to the fabulous and unchronicled age. In the romance of Beyjan and Manija, in the "Shah
Náma," this mirror is used by the great Khosrú for the purpose of discovering the place of the
hero's imprisonment:
"The mirror in his hand revolving shook,
And earth's whole surface glimmered in his look;
Nor less the secrets of the starry sphere,
The what, the when, the bow depicted clear,
From orbs celestial to the blade of grass,
All nature floated in the magic glass."
[FN#416] We have been told this king had three daughters.
[FN#417] See in "Blackwood's Magazine," vol. iv., 1818, 1819, a translation, from the Danish of
J. L. Rasmussen, of "An Historical and Geographical Essay on the trade and commerce of the
Arabians and Persians with Russia and Scandinavia during the Middle Ages.--But learned
Icelanders, while England was still semi-civilized, frequently made very long journeys into foreign
lands: after performing the pilgrimage to Rome, they went to Syria, and some penetrated into
Central Asia.
[FN#418] This, of course, is absurd, as each was equally interested in the business; but it seems to
indicate a vague reminiscence of the adventures of the Princes in the story of The Envious Sisters.
[FN#419] There is a naivete about this that is particularly refreshing.
[FN#420] This recalls the fairy Meliora, in the romance of Partenopex de Blois. who "knew of
ancient tales a countless store."
[FN#421] In a Norwegian folk-tale the hero receives from a dwarf a magic ship that could enlarge
itself so as to contain any number of men, yet could be earned m the pocket.
[FN#422] The Water of Life, the Water of Immortality, the Fountain of Youth--a favourite and
wide-spread myth during the Middle Ages. In the romance of Sir Huon of Bordeaux the hero
boldly encounters a griffin, and after a desperate fight, in which he is sorely wounded, slays the
monster. Close at hand he discovers a clear fountain, at the bottom of which is a gravel of
precious stones. "Then he dyde of his helme and dranke of the water his fyll, and he had no sooner
dranke therof but incontynent he was hole of all his woundys." Nothing more frequently occurs in
folk tales than for the hero to be required to perform three difficult and dangerous tasks--sometimes impossible, without supernatural assistance.
[FN#423] "Say, will a courser of the Sun
All gently with a dray-horse run?"
[FN#424] Ting: assembly of notables--of udallers, &c. The term survives in our word hustings;
and in Ding-wall--Ting-val; where tings were held.
[FN#425] The last of the old Dublin ballad-singers, who assumed the respectable name of
Zozimus, and is said to have been the author of the ditties wherewith he charmed his street
auditors, was wont to chant the legend of the Finding of Moses in a version which has at least the
merit of originality:
"In Egypt's land, upon the banks of Nile,
King Pharaoh's daughter went to bathe in style;
She took her dip, then went unto the land,
And, to dry her royal pelt, she ran along the strand.
A bulrush tripped her, whereupon she saw
A smiling baby in a wad of straw;
She took it up, and said, in accents mild--
Tare an' agurs, girls! which av yez owns this child?"
The Babylonian analogue, as translated by the Rev. Prof. A. H. Sayce, in the first vol. of the
"Folk-Lore Journal" (1883), is as follows:
"Sargon, the mighty monarch, the King of Aganè, am I. My mother was a princess; my father I
knew not, my father's brother loved the mountain-land. In the city of Azipiranu, which on the
bank of the Euphrates lies, my mother, the princess, conceived me, in an inaccessible spot she
brought me forth. She placed me in a basket of rushes, with bitumen the door of my ark she
closed. She launched me on the river, which drowned me not. The river bore me along, to Akki,
the irrigator, it brought me. Akki, the irrigator, in the tenderness of his heart, lifted me up. Akki,
the irrigator, as his own child brought me up. Akki, the irrigator, as his gardener appointed me,
and in my gardenership the goddess Istar loved me. For 45 years the kingdom I have ruled, and
the black headed (Accadian) race have governed."
[FN#426] This strange notion may have been derived from some Eastern source, since it occurs in
Indian fictions; for example, in Dr. Rájendralála Mitra's "Sanskrit Buddhist Literature of Nepál,"
p. 304, we read that "there lived in the village of Vásava a rich householder who had born unto
him a son with a jewelled ring in his ear." And in the "Mahábhárata" we are told of a king who
had a son from whose body issued nothing but gold--the prototype of the gold-laying goose.
[FN#427] Connected with this romance is the tale of "The Six Swans," in Grimm's collection--
see Mrs. Hunt's English translation, vol. i. p. 192.
[FN#428] Mahbúb. a piece of gold, value about 10 francs, replaces the dinár of old tales. Those
in Egypt are all since the time of the Turks: 9, 7, or 6 1/2 frs. according to issue.--Note by Spitta
Bey.
[FN#429] Here again we have the old superstition of "blood speaking to blood," referred to by Sir
Richard, ante, p. 347, note 1. It often occurs in Asiatic stories. Thus in the Persian "Bakhtyár
Náma," when the adopted son of the robber chief is brought with other captives, before the king
(he is really the king's own son, whom he and the queen abandoned in their flight through the
desert), his majesty's bowels strangely yearned towards the youth, and in the conclusion this is
carried to absurdity: when Bakhtyár is found to be the son of the royal pair, "the milk sprang from
the breasts of the queen," as she looked on him--albeit she must then have been long past
child-bearing!
[FN#430] The enchanted pitcher does duty here for the witches' broomstick and the fairies' rush
of European tales, but a similar conveyance is, I think, not unknown to Western folk-lore.
[FN#431] In a Norse story the hero on entering a forbidden room in a troll's house finds a horse
with a pan of burning coals under his nose and a measure of corn at his tail, and when he removes
the coals and substitutes the corn, the horse becomes his friend and adviser.
[FN#432] M. Dozon does not think that Muslim customs allow of a man's marrying three sisters
at once; but we find the king does the same in the modern Arab version.
[FN#433] London: Macmillan and Co., p. 236 ff.
[FN#434] This recalls the biblical legend of the widow's cruse, which has its exact counterpart in
Singhalese folk-lore.
[FN#435] This recalls the story of the herd-boy who cried "Wolf! wolf!"
[FN#436] Again the old notion of maternal and paternal instincts; but the children don't often
seem in folk-tales, to have a similar impulsive affection for their unknown parents.
[FN#437] Colotropis gigantea.
[FN#438] Rákshashas and rákshasís are male and female demons or ogres, in the Hindú
mythology.
[FN#439] Literally, the king of birds, a fabulous species of horse remarkable for swiftness, which
plays an important part in Tamil stories and romances.
[FN#440] Here we have a parallel to the biblical legend of the passage of the Israelites dryshod
[FN#441] Demons, ogres, trolls, giants, et hoc genus omne, never fail to discover the presence of
human beings by their keen sense of smelling. "Fee, faw, fum! I smell the blood of a British man,"
cries a giant when the renowned hero Jack is concealed in his castle. "Fum! fum! sento odor
christianum," exclaims an ogre in Italian folk tales. "Femme, je sens la viande fraîche, la chair de
chrétien!" says a giant to his wife in French stories.
[FN#442] In my popular "Tales and Fictions" a number of examples are cited of life depending on
some extraneous object--vol. i. pp. 347-351.
[FN#443] In the Tamil story-book, the English translation of which is called "The Dravidian
Nights' Entertainments," a wandering princess, finding the labour-pains coming upon her, takes
shelter in the house of a dancing-woman, who says to the nurses, "If she gives birth to a daughter,
it is well [because the woman could train her to follow her own profession'], but if a son, I do not
want him;--close her eyes, remove him to a place where you can kill him, and throwing a bit of
wood on the ground tell her she has given birth to it."--I daresay that a story similar to the Bengali
version exists among the Tamils.
[FN#444] It is to be hoped we shall soon have Sir Richard Burton's promised complete English
translation of this work, since one half is, I understand, already done.