The Thousand and One Nights Volume I Part 35

NOTE 19. The Egyptian fowls are much smaller than those of our country, and one is not too much for one man's breakfast. The eggs are usually hatched in ovens.

NOTE 20. The appellation of "the Gardener" is here to be understood as a mere surname derived from the occupation of some ancestor of the merchant; it being a common custom of the Arabs to retain an appellation of this kind, however humble.

NOTE 21. El-Ma?reezee[329] mentions a "soo? of the money-changers" as near to the Khan of Mesroor; and it seems to be the place here alluded to: the word "soo?" being often omitted.

NOTE 22. The lady having offered up a prayer that the young merchant might be her husband, I have taken the liberty of inserting here a slight interpolation, which does not detract from the probability or consistency of the story; but rather the contrary.

NOTE 23.--_On one of the Pa.s.sages in this Work indicating a very late Date._ The ?abbaneeyeh is the name now applied to a portion of a main street, a little to the west of the lake called Birket el-Feel, in the southern part of Cairo. It is evidently thus applied in the pa.s.sage to which this note relates; but El-Ma?reezee, writing in the former half of the ninth century of the Flight,[330] says, "In this our time, bordering upon it [the Birket el-Feel] is a _garden_ called by the name of the ?abbaneeyeh, who were a family of Darma the son of 'Amr the son of 'Owf the son of Tha?lebeh the son of Ba?l the son of 'Amr the son of El-Ghoth the son of ?eiyi: so Darma was a minor family of [the tribe of] ?eiyi, and the ?abbaneeyoon [or ?abbaneeyeh--for the terms are synonymous] were a family of Darma; and the people have made a road between the garden of the ?abbaneeyeh and the lake." He proceeds to say, that on the _east_ of the Birket el-Feel there _were_ gardens; but that _houses_ and _streets_ had been built _there_.--Now, in the work before us, the tract which was a _garden_ in the time of El-Ma?reezee is mentioned as occupied by _houses_ and _streets_. Many years must have elapsed since that period before such could have been the case; and surely at least a century before the houses could have presented such an appearance as would lead a writer to imagine them of "ancient times." It may be objected against an argument drawn from this pa.s.sage, that it is perhaps an interpolation of a copyist; but it agrees with many evidences of a late date, and occurs in at least one other copy (that from which the Breslau edition is printed), with only this slight difference--that "?abbaneeyeh," by the erroneous addition of a point beneath the first letter, is converted into "Jebbaneeyeh;" and it should be remarked that the latter copy varies considerably in other points from that of Cairo. It would imply that Cairo was almost as extensive a city at the time when this work was composed or modernized as it is at present; and would account for its being here called Mi?r, or Ma?r; a name which was retained by El-Fus?a?

at least as late as the commencement of the tenth century of the Flight, and probably until the year 1517 of our era or a little later, as I have remarked in a former note.

NOTE 24. "?a'ah" is a term generally signifying "a lofty saloon;" but also often applied to an elegant house.

NOTE 25. "Na?eeb" signifies "a chief," "a leader," &c., and has various applications. In the present instance, the office which it designates is doubtful, but is evidently of high dignity, as Na?eeb of the Shereefs, the Chief, or Syndic, of the Descendants of the Prophet.

NOTE 26. Bab Zuweyleh (the Gate of Zuweyleh, or, more properly, of Zaweeleh, which is the name of a tribe) is a gate that was built at the same period as Bab en-Na?r, before mentioned. It marked the southern limit of Cairo; but is now in the heart of the metropolis. With two round-fronted towers, each surmounted by a lofty and elegant mad'neh, or menaret, pertaining to the adjoining great mosque of El-Mueiyad, it presents a very n.o.ble appearance.

NOTE 27. "Imperial gypsum" is a name given to the best kind of plaster used in Cairo. I have often admired the smoothness of its surface upon the walls of chambers in some of the older houses in that city; but, I need hardly say, never saw any that reflected like a mirror.

NOTE 28. In the Cairo edition, "with pearls and jewels at its corners."

The deficiency I have supplied from the edition of Breslau: but I may here remark, that it would have been more proper to describe the snakes as _gilt_.

NOTE 29.--_On the Crowns worn by Arab Ladies._ From Eastern drawings and descriptions, it appears that the kind of crown here mentioned was generally a circle of jewelled gold (the lower edge of which was straight; and the upper, fancifully heightened to four or more points) surrounding the lower part of a dome-shaped cap with a jewel or some other ornament at the summit. This crown was worn by many Arab ladies of high rank or great wealth, probably until about two centuries ago.

Another kind of crown is now more generally worn, called a "?ur?." This is a round, convex ornament, generally about five inches in diameter, composed of gold set with a profusion of diamonds, of open work, representing roses, leaves, &c. It is sewed upon the top of the ?arboosh; and is worn by most of the ladies of Cairo, at least in full dress. An engraving of a crown of this description, and another of one of a more common kind, may be seen in my work on the Modern Egyptians, vol. ii. Appendix A.

NOTE 30. It is a common custom of the Arabs to give a present of money tied up in a corner of an embroidered handkerchief.

NOTE 31. The mace is a weapon still used in the East; but not so commonly as it was in former times. There was a petty governor in Upper Egypt during my first visit to that country, who, in his daily rides, indulged a frequent habit of striking persons with a weapon of this kind, a tolerably-heavy steel mace; but he did it with a happy knack, so as never, I believe, to inflict a dangerous wound, unless intentionally.

Maces, like other arms of steel, are often tastefully inlaid with arabesque ornaments and inscriptions in gold.

NOTE 32.--_On the Punishment of Theft._ The Mohammadan law ordains that a person who is adult and of sound mind, if he steals an article of the value of a quarter of a deenar (or piece of gold) from a place to which he has not ordinary or free access, shall lose his right hand; but this punishment is not to be inflicted for stealing a free child, or anything which, in the eye of the law, is of no pecuniary value; as wine, or a musical instrument; and there are some other cases in which the thief is not to be so punished. For the second offence, the left foot is to be cut off; and for the third and subsequent offences, according to the ?anafee code, the culprit is to be punished by a long imprisonment; or, by the Shafe'ee law, for the third offence, he is to lose his left hand; for the fourth, his right foot; and for further offences, he is to be flogged or beaten. The punishment is the same for a woman as for a man.--This law induced a freethinking Muslim to ask, "If the hand is worth five hundred deenars, [this being the fine for depriving a man of that member,] why should it be cut off for a quarter of a deenar?" He was answered, "An honest hand is of great value; but not so is the hand that hath stolen."--Amputation for theft is now seldom practised: beating, or some other punishment, is usually inflicted in its stead for the first, second, and third offence; and, frequently, death for the fourth.

NOTE 33. Capital punishment in this case would be contrary to the law; but it is often inflicted upon highway-robbers.

NOTE 34. The meaning is, that the doer is G.o.d. An allusion is here conveyed to a verse (the 17th) in the Soorat el-Anfal (the eighth chapter of the ?ur-an)--"Thou didst not cast [the gravel into their eyes] when thou didst [seem to] cast [it]; but G.o.d cast [it]."[331]

NOTE 35. The honour that is due to the human body requires that any portion disunited from it be decently deposited in the earth.

NOTE 36. As a hair, for instance, is drawn from paste.[332]

NOTE 37. These verses are founded on a tradition of the Prophet.[333]

NOTE 38. _On_ Khatmehs, _or Recitations of the whole of the_ ?ur-an _at Private Festivities._ The most approved and common mode of entertaining guests at modern private festivities among the Arabs is by a Khatmeh, which is the recitation of the whole of the ?ur-an. Three or more persons of the inferior cla.s.s of the professors of religion and law, who are called fa?eehs (vulgarly, fi?ees), are usually hired for this purpose. Schoolmasters, and students of the collegiate mosques who devote themselves to religion and law, are the persons most commonly thus employed. Their mode of recitation is a peculiar kind of chanting,[334] which, when well executed, I found very agreeable, at least for an hour or so: but the guests seldom have to listen to the chanting of the whole of the ?ur-an: the reciters usually accomplish the greater portion of their task, in a somewhat hurried manner, before the guests have a.s.sembled, each of them chanting, in turn, a certain portion, as a thirtieth part of the whole (called a "juz"), or half of one of these sections (a "?ezb"), or, more commonly, a quarter (rub?).

Afterwards they chant more leisurely, and in a more musical manner; but still by turns.--These recitations of the whole of the ?ur-an are performed on various festive occasions, but are most usual after a death; the merit of the performance being transferred to the soul of the deceased.

NOTE 39. The mess termed "zirbajeh," by some called "zurbajeh," from the Persian "zeerbaj," is a kind of spoon-meat. Some of its ingredients are described in the sequel of the present story.

NOTE 40.--_On Atonements and other Services for the Dead._ As filial piety is a general characteristic of the Arabs, and various services are believed by them to atone for the minor sins of the deceased, and thus to diminish his misery, or to increase his happiness, it is natural, and not uncommon, for a son to act in the manner here related. Recitations of the ?ur-an are performed for the dead, to whom the merit of these works is transferred, and a sacrifice is often offered at the tomb after the burial; the flesh of the victim being distributed to the poor. But a more important service for the deceased is the payment of his debts; for it is affirmed by the Prophet, that even martyrdom will not atone for a debt unpaid.

NOTE 41. A money-changer is very frequently employed to examine the money which a purchaser offers; and if it be old, to weigh it. The money-changers are mostly Jews and Christians.

NOTE 42. Some mosques (as the Azhar, for instance, the princ.i.p.al mosque of Cairo) remain open all night; and many houseless persons sleep in them, upon the matting which covers the paved floor. Men are also often seen, at other times, but not at the hours of prayer, lounging, eating, or working, in the mosques; such practices not being deemed inconsistent with the high respect which the Muslims pay to these buildings.

NOTE 43. The remainder of this paragraph, and the whole of the next two paragraphs, being omitted in the edition of Cairo, I translate from the Calcutta edition of the first two hundred nights, and the edition of Breslau; but almost entirely from the former.

NOTE 44. The water of the well of Zemzem, in the temple of Mekkeh, is believed to possess miraculous virtues, and is therefore brought away in bottles or flasks by many of the pilgrims, to be used when occasion may require as medicine, or to be sprinkled on grave-linen. A bottle of it is a common and acceptable present from a pilgrim, and a guest is sometimes treated with a sip of this holy water.

NOTE 45. A whip is sometimes used in the ?areem of a great man; and its being attached to the waist of the damsel here mentioned marks her authority. It is generally formed of a strip of hippopotamus' hide, hammered into a round shape; and this kind is called a "kurbaj." I believe it is seldom used in the ?areem with severity; but usually for intimidation. [I once saw some of the ladies of Nazlee Khanim (thus vulgarly p.r.o.nounced for Nazloo Khanum) struck with a kurbaj, for too curiously looking in at the window of an apartment in that lady's palace, in which I and some friends happened to be, and which overlooked the private garden. They were speedily driven away by two or three black eunuchs, who appeared to use their heavy whips indiscriminately and severely; their excuse for this conduct undoubtedly being, that these ladies were guilty of a great impropriety in thus shewing themselves to men; for when riding abroad, it is usual for pa.s.sengers in the streets to turn their faces to the wall on the approach of the women of a great man's household. Moreover, the ?areem of Nazlee Khanim was well known to be ruled with an iron hand, and its mistress herself to have acquired the character of her brutal husband, Mo?ammad Bey, the Defterdar, whose cruelties are mentioned in the "Modern Egyptians."--ED.]

NOTE 46. It is a universal custom of the Arabs, on visiting the sick, to say, "May our Lord restore thee!" or, "No evil befall thee!" &c.

NOTE 47. The first hospital built by a Muslim was that of Damascus, founded by El-Weleed the son of 'Abd-El-Melik, in the eighty-eighth year of the Flight (A. D. 706-7). The Arabs would deprive St. Ephrem Syrus of the honour of having been the author of the first inst.i.tution of this kind; one of their historians ascribing it to an early Pharaoh, named Mena?iyoosh; another, to Hippocrates.[335]

NOTE 48. The remainder of the paragraph is translated from the Calcutta edition of the first two hundred nights.

Note 49. "The metropolis of the world," or literally, "the mother of the world" ("umm ed-dunya"), is a t.i.tle given to several cities, as well as to Cairo, by their respective inhabitants. This pa.s.sage, therefore, and others of a similar kind, in which even _foreigners_ are made to rank Egypt and Cairo as superior to every other country and city, strongly favour the opinion that some of its tales were written, or altered, by an Egyptian.

NOTE 50. A more ample eulogium upon Egypt and the Nile, but abounding with such gross errors that I could not confidently offer a translation, is found in the Breslau edition. It agrees better with the old translation; which, however, in this place, presents considerable unauthorized amplifications, and some misconceptions: "Birket el-?abash"

(for instance), the name of a lake on the south of Cairo, being mistaken for Ethiopia.

NOTE 51. For this monthly rent (or about a guinea of our money), a large and handsome house may be hired at the present day in Cairo.

NOTE 52. After the amputation of the hand for theft, the stump is usually plunged in boiling pitch or tar, or oil, to stanch the blood.

NOTE 53.--_On Retaliation and Fines for Wounds and Mutilations._ Retaliation for intentional wounds and mutilations is allowed by the Mohammadan law, like as for murder; "eye for eye," &c.:[336] but a fine may be accepted instead, which the law allows also for unintentional injuries. The fine for a member that is single (as the nose) is the whole price of blood, as for homicide; namely a thousand deenars (about 500_l._) from him who possesses gold; or, from him who possesses silver, twelve thousand dirhems (about 300_l._); for a member of which there are two, and not more (as a hand), half the price of blood; for one of which there are ten (a finger or toe), a tenth of the price of blood: but the fine of a man for maiming or wounding a woman is half of that for the same injury to a man; and that of a free person for injuring a slave varies according to the value of the slave. The fine for depriving a man of any of his five senses, or dangerously wounding him, or grievously disfiguring him for life, is the whole price of blood.

NOTE 54. See No. 20 of the notes to Chapter ii.--"The women of Egypt have the character of being the most licentious in their feelings of all females who lay any claim to be considered as members of a civilized nation; and this character is freely bestowed upon them by their _countrymen_, even in conversation with foreigners."[337]--In the work from which the above pa.s.sage is quoted, I have expatiated upon this subject more than I need do in the present case.

NOTE 55. The Arabs are generally of opinion that the innate dispositions of a child are inherited more from the mother than from the father. They believe that a daughter commonly resembles, in good or evil qualities, her mother; and a son, his maternal uncle. Hence they often address a man, "Ya ?eiyib el-khal!"--"O thou who hast a good maternal uncle!"

NOTE 56. 'Abd-Allah Ibn-'Abbas was one of the most learned of the companions of his cousin Mo?ammad, and one of the most celebrated of the relaters of his sayings and actions. He has received the t.i.tles of "Interpreter of the ?ur-an" and "Sul?an of Commentators." He died in the year of the Flight 68. His father, 'Abbas, the son of 'Abd-El-Mu??alib, was paternal uncle of Mo?ammad, and ancestor of the 'Abbasee Khaleefehs.

NOTE 57.--_On the Astrolabe._ The astrolabe is more commonly used by the Arabs than any other instrument for astronomical observations. It is generally between four and six inches in diameter. It consists of a circular plate with a graduated rim, within which fit several thinner plates, and of a limb, moving on a pivot in the centre, with two sights.

The plates are engraved with complicated diagrams, &c., for various calculations. The instrument is held by a ring, or by a loop of cord attached to the ring, during an observation; and thus its own weight answers the same purpose as the plumb-line of the quadrant (which the Arabs sometimes use in its stead); the position of the moveable limb with the sights marking the required alt.i.tude.

NOTE 58. ?afar is the second mouth of the Mohammadan year.

NOTE 59. As different copies vary here as to the date, I have taken the liberty of putting 263 instead of 763 or 653, in order to avoid a glaring anachronism. It is probable, however, that the last of these is the author's date, as it is found both in the old translation, and in the Breslau edition. The date in the Cairo edition is 763.

NOTE 60. A degree is four minutes; it would have been more proper, therefore, to have said, eight degrees and two minutes, than seven degrees and six minutes.

NOTE 61. "E?-?amit" signifies "the Silent."

NOTE 62. This and the two following names, or rather, surnames, convey the same meaning. Ba?boo?, Heddar, and Ba?ba? (here, in my original, erroneously written Ya?ya?), signify "Chatterer." "El-Kooz el-A?wanee"

(not to be mistaken for "---- ---- Aswanee," with a _soft_ s) seems to imply that the person thus named was always like a mug, with open mouth, and insensible as flint to rebuke. The two remaining names are different in different copies: "Sha?ali?" is perhaps put erroneously for some other word, as "s.h.i.+?a?," "Discord."

NOTE 63. ?ur-an, ch. iii. v. 128.

NOTE 64. The Arabs generally carry their young children in this manner, seated astride upon the shoulder.