The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, vol 14 - Sir Richard Francis Burton (recommended books to read .TXT) 📗

the Persian Language, i. 37.

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

[FN#127] Arab. “Miat Maml�k kit�b�,” the latter word meaning “one of the Book, a Jew” (especially), or a Christian.

 

[FN#128] This MS. prefers the rare form “Al-J�nn” for the singular.

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

[FN#133] This is the familiar incident in “Ali Baba”: Supplem.

vol iii. 231, etc.

 

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

 

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

ix. 220.

 

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

 

[FN#137] MS. iii. 214-219. Scott’s “Story of the wry-mouthed Schoolmaster,” vi. pp. 74-75: Gauttier’s Histoire du Second Estropi�, vi. p. 220.

 

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

 

[FN#139] Pay-day for the boys in Egypt. The Moslem school has often been described but it always attracts the curiosity of strangers. The Moorish or Maroccan variety is a simple affair; “no forms, no desks, few books. A number of boards about the size of foolscap, whitewashed on either side, whereon the lessons—from the alphabet to sentences of the Koran—are plainly written in large black letters; a pen and ink, a book and a switch or two, complete the paraphernalia. The dominie, squatting on the ground, tailor-fashion, like his pupils, who may number from ten to thirty, repeats the lesson in a sonorous singsong voice, and is imitated by the urchins, who accompany their voices by a rocking to and fro which sometimes enables them to keep time. A sharp application of the cane is wonderfully effectual in recalling wandering attention; and lazy boys are speedily expelled. On the admission of a pupil, the parents pay some small sum, varying according to their means, and every Wednesday, which is a half-holiday, a payment is made from 1/4d. to 2d. New moons and feasts are made occasions for larger payments, and are also holidays, which last ten days during the two greater festivals.

Thursdays are whole holidays, and no work is done on Friday mornings, that day being the Mohammedan ‘Sabbath,’ or at least ‘meeting day,’ as it is called. When the pupils have mastered the first short chapter of the Koran, it is customary for them to be paraded round the town on horseback, with ear-splitting music, and sometimes charitably disposed persons make small presents to the youngster by way of encouragement. After the first, the last is learned, then the last but one, and so on, backwards, as, with the exception of the first, the longest chapters are at the beginning. Though reading and a little writing are taught, at the same time, all the scholars do not arrive at the pitch of perfection necessary to indite a polite letter, so that consequently there is plenty of employment for the numerous scribes or T�libs who make a profession of writing. These may frequently be seen in small rooms opening on to the street, usually very respectably dressed in a white flowing haik and large turban, and in most cases of venerable appearance, their noses being adorned with huge goggles. Before them are their appliances,—pens made of reeds, ink, paper, and sand in lieu of blotting paper. They usually possess also a knife and scissors, with a case to hold them all. In writing, they place the paper on the knee, or upon a pad of paper in the left hand.” The main merit of the village school in Eastern lands is its noises which teach the boy to concentrate his attention. As Dr. Wilson of Bombay said, the young idea is taught to shout as well as to shoot, and this viv� voce process is a far better mnemonic than silent reading. Moreover it is fine practice in the art of concentrating attention.

 

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

 

[FN#141] Evidently said ironic� as of innocents. In “The Forty Vezirs” we read, “At length they perceived that all this tumult arose from their trusting on this wise the words of children.”

(Lady’s XXth Tale.)

 

[FN#142] MS. iii. 219-220. For some unaccountable reason it is omitted by Scott (vi. 76), who

has written English words in the margin of the W. M. Codex.

 

[FN#143] In text “K�d�m,” for “Kud�m,” a Syrian form.

 

[FN#144] Arab. “Hidyah,” which in Egypt means a falcon; see vol.

iii. 138.

 

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

 

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

 

[FN#147] In the text “Katt�n”=linen, flax.

 

[FN#148] Arab. “F� J�f�n ka’l-Jaw�b�!” which, I suppose, means small things (or men) and great.

 

[FN#149] This form of cleverness is a favourite topic in Arabian folk-lore. The model man was Iy�s al-Muzani, al-Kazi (of Bassorah), in the 2nd century A.H., mentioned by Al-Har�r� in his 7th Ass. and noted in Arab. Prov. (i. 593) as “more intelligent than Iy�s.” Ibn Khallikan (i. 233) tells sundry curious tales of him. Hearing a Jew ridicule the Moslem Paradise where the blessed ate and drank ad libitum but passed nothing away, he asked if all his food were voided: the Jew replied that God converted a part of it into nourishment and he rejoined, “Then why not the whole?”

Being once in a courtyard he said that there was an animal under the bricks and a serpent was found: he had noted that only two of the tiles showed signs of dampness and this proved that there was something underneath that breathed. Al-Mayd�ni relates of him that hearing a dog bark, he declared that the beast was tied to the brink of a well; and he judged so because the bark was followed by an echo. Two men came before him, the complainant claimed money received by the defendant who denied the debt. Iy�s asked the plaintiff where he had given it, and was answered, “Under a certain tree.” The judge told him to go there by way of refreshing his memory and in his absence asked the defendant if his adversary could have reached it. “Not yet,” said the rogue, forgetting himself; “‘tis a long way off”—which answer convicted him. Seeing three women act upon a sudden alarm, he said, “One of them is pregnant, another is nursing, and the third is a virgin.”

He explained his diagnosis as follows: “In time of danger persons lay their hands on what they most prize. Now I saw the pregnant woman in her flight place her hand on her belly, which showed me she was with child; the nurse placed her hand on her bosom, whereby I knew that she was suckling, and the third covered her parts with her hand proving to me that she was a maid.”

(Chenery’s Al Hariri, p. 334.)

 

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

 

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

 

[FN#152] Arab, “Darajat�ni”=lit. two astronomical degrees: the word is often used in this MS.

 

[FN#153] Arab. “S�wan;” plur. “S�w�w�n.”

 

[FN#154] Arab. “‘Al� hud�d (or Al� hadd) al-Shauk,” repeated in MS. iii. 239.

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

[FN#166] For this Anglo-Indian term,=a running courier, see vol.

vii. 340. It is the gist of the venerable Joe Miller in which the father asks a friend to name his seven-months child. “Call him ‘Cossid’ for verily he hath accomplished a march of nine months in seven months.”

 

[FN#167] Arab. “Mad�fi al-Sal�mah,” a custom showing the date of the tale to be more modern than any in the ten vols. of The Nights proper.

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

[FN#171] “Kunaf�h”=a vermicelli cake often eaten at breakfast: see vol. x. 1: “Kunaf�ni” is the baker or confectioner. Scott (p.

101) converts the latter into a “maker of cotton wallets for travelling.”

 

[FN#172] In the text (iii. 260) “M�di,” a clerical error for “Mayyid�,” an abbreviation