One Thousand and One Nights

by Richard Burton

  167 Arab. “Madáfi al-Salámah,” a custom showing the date of the tale to be more modern than any in the ten vols. of The Nights proper.

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

  169 Zahr al-Bahr = the surface which affords a passage to man.

  170 Arab. “Batiyah,” gen. = a black jack, a leathern flagon.

  171 “Kunáfah” = a vermicelli cake often eaten at breakfast: see vol. x. 1: “Kunafáni” is the baker or confectioner. Scott () converts the latter into a “maker of cotton wallets for travelling.”

  172 In the text (iii. 260) “Mídí,” a clerical error for “Mayyidí,” an abbreviation of “Muayyadí,” the Faddah, Nuss or half-dirham coined under Sultan al-Muayyad, A.H. ixth cent. = A.D. xvth.

  173 Arab. “Rub’” (plur. “Arbá’”) = the fourth of a “Waybah,” the latter being the sixth of an Ardabb (Irdabb) = 5 bushels. See vol. i. 263.

  174 A royal pavilion; according to Shakespear (Hind. Dict. sub voce) it is a corruption of the Pers. “Sayabán.”=canopy.

  175 Arab. “Musajja’” = rhymed prose: for the Saj’a, see vol. i. 116, and Terminal Essay, vol. x. . So Chaucer:?

  In rhyme or ellčs in cadence.

  176 Arab. “Huwa inná na’rifu-h” lit. = He, verily we wot him not: the juxtaposition of the two first pronouns is intended to suggest “I am he.”

  177 In Moslem tales decency compels the maiden, however much she may be in love, to show extreme unwillingness in parting with her maidenhead especially by marriage; and this farce is enacted in real life (see vol. viii. 40). The French tell the indecent truth,

  Désir de fille est un feu qui dévore:

  Désir de femme est plus fort encore.

  178 The Arab. form (our old “bashaw”) of the Turk. “Pasha,” which the French and many English write Pacha, thus confusing the vulgar who called Ibrahim Pacha “Abraham Parker.” The origin of the word is much debated and the most fanciful derivations have been proposed. Some have taken it from the Sansk. “Paksha” = a wing: Fuerst from Pers. Páigáh = rank, dignity; Von Hammer (History) from Pái-Sháh = foot of the king; many from “Pádisháh” = the Sovran, and Mr. E. T. W. Gibb suspects a connection with the Turk. “Básh” = a head. He writes to me that the oldest forms are “Bashah” and “Báshah”; and takes the following quotation from Colonel Jevád Bey, author of an excellent work on the Janissaries published a few years ago. “As it was the custom of the (ancient) Turks to call the eldest son ‘Páshá,’ the same style was given to his son Alŕ al-Din (Aladdín) by Osmán Gházi, the founder of the Empire; and he kept this heir at home and beside him, whilst he employed the cadet Orkhan Bey as his commander-in-chief. When Orkhán Gházi ascended the throne he conferred the title of Páshá upon his son Sulayman. Presently reigned Murád (Amurath), who spying signs of disaffection in his first-born Sáwújí Bey about the middle of his reign created Kárá Khalíl (his Kází-Askar or High Chancellor) Wazir with the title Kazyr al-Dín Pasha; thus making him, as it were, an adopted son. After this the word passed into the category of official titles and came to be conferred upon those who received high office.” Colonel Jevád Bey then quotes in support of his opinion the “History of Munajjim Pasha” and the “Fatáyah al-Wukú’at” = Victories of Events. I may note that the old title has been sadly prostituted in Egypt as well as in Turkey: in 1851 Páshás could be numbered on a man’s fingers; now they are innumerable and of no account.

  179 Arab. “‘Alŕ bábi ‘lláh” = for the love of the Lord, gratis, etc., a most popular phrase.

  180 Arab. “Bahár,” often used for hot spices generally.

  181 In the text Shajarat Ríh.

  182 Arab. “Ma’ádin” = minerals, here mentioned for the first time.

  183 For the ear conceiving love before the eye (the basis of half these love-stories), see vol. iii. 9.

  184 According to Dr. Steingass “Mirwad” = the iron axle of a pulley or a wheel for drawing water or lifting loads, hence possibly a bar of metal, an ingot. But he is more inclined to take it in its usual sense of “Kohl-pencil.” Here “Mirwád” is the broader form like “Miftáh” for “Miftah,” much used in Syria.

  185 For the Ashrafi, a gold coin of variable value, see vol. iii. 294. It is still coined; the Calcutta Ashrafi worth Ł1 11s. 8d. is 1/16th (about 5s. to the oz.) better than the English standard, and the Regulations of May, 1793, made it weigh 190.894 grs. Troy.

  186 In text “Anjar” = a flat platter; Pers.

  187 By what physical process the author modestly leaves to the reader’s imagination. Easterns do not often notice this feminine venereal paroxysm which takes the place of seminal emission in the male. I have seen it happen to a girl when hanging by the arms a trifle too long from a gymnastic cross-bar; and I need hardly say that at such moments (if men only knew them) every woman, even the most modest, is an easy conquest. She will repent it when too late, but the flesh has been too strong for her.

  188 A neat and suggestive touch of Eastern manners and morals.

  189 In text “Ghayr Wa’d,” or “Min ghayr Wa’d.” Lit. without previous agreement: much used in this text for suddenly, unexpectedly, without design.

  190 The reader will have remarked the use of the Arabic

  “‘Alaka” = he hung, which with its branches greatly resembles the

  Lat. pendere.

  191 Arab. “Min al-Malábis,” plur. of “Malbas” = anything pleasant or enjoyable; as the plural of “Milbas” = dress, garment, it cannot here apply.

  192 i.e. “The Tigris” (Hid-dekel), with which the Egyptian writer seems to be imperfectly acquainted. See vols. i. 180; viii. 150.

  193 The word, as usual misapplied in the West, is to be traced through the Turk. Kúshk (pron. Kyúshk) to the Pers. “Kushk” = an upper chamber.

  194 Four including the doorkeeper. The Darwayshes were suspected of kidnapping, a practice common in the East, especially with holy men. I have noticed in my Pilgrimage (vols. ii. 273; iii. 327), that both at Meccah and at Al-Medinah the cheeks of babes are decorated with the locally called “Masháli” = three parallel gashes drawn by the barber with the razor down the fleshy portion of each cheek, from the exterior angles of the eyes almost to the corners of the mouth. According to the citizens this “Tashrít” is a modern practice distinctly opposed to the doctrine of Al-Islam; but, like the tattooing of girls, it is intended to save the children from being carried off, for good luck, by kidnapping pilgrims, especially Persians.

  195 The hair being shaven or plucked and showing the darker skin. In the case of the axilla-pile, vellication is the popular process: see vol. ix. 139. Europeans who do not adopt this essential part of cleanliness in hot countries are looked upon as impure by Moslems.

  196 Here a little abbreviation has been found necessary: “of no avail is a twice-told tale.”

  197 The nearest approach in Eastern tales to Western hysterics.

  198 A tent-pitcher, body servant, etc. See vol. vii. 4. The word is still popular in Persia.

  199 The amount of eating and drinking in this tale is phenomenal; but, I repeat, Arabs enjoy reading of “meat and drink” almost as much as Englishmen.

  200 Arab writers always insist upon the symptom of rage which distinguishes the felines from the canines; but they do not believe that the end of the tail has a sting.

  201 The circular leather which acts alternately provision bag and table-cloth. See vols. i. 178; v. 8; viii. 269, and ix. 141.

  202 He refused because he suspected some trick and would not be on terms of bread and salt with the stranger.

  203 The story contains excellent material, but the writer or the copier has “scamped” it in two crucial points, the meeting of the bereaved Sultan and his wife (Night ccclxxvii.) and the finale where we miss the pathetic conclusions of the Mac. and Bresl. Edits. Also a comparison of this hurried dénouement with the artistic tableau of “King Omar bin al-Nu’uman,” where all the actors are mustered upon the stage before the curt
ain falls, measures the difference between this MS. and the printed texts, showing the superior polish and finish of the latter.

  204 Vol. iii. p-97, where it follows immediately the last story. Scott (Story of the Avaricious Cauzee and his Wife, vi. 112) has translated it after his own fashion, excising half and supplying it out of his own invention; and Gauttier has followed suit in the Histoire du Cadi avare et de sa Femme, vi. 254.

  205 Tarábulus and Atrábulus are Arabisations of Tripolis (hod. Tripoli) the well-known port-town north of Bayrút; founded by the Phnicians, rose to fame under the Seleucidć, and was made splendid by the Romans. See Socin’s “Bćdeker,” .

  206 i.e. the Kazi’s court-house

  207 Arab. “Buksumah” = “hard bread” (Americanicč).

  208 Arab. “Sufrah umm jalájil.” Lit. an eating-cloth with little bells, like those hung to a camel, or metal plates as on the rim of a tambourine.

  209 The Kursi here = the stool upon which the “Síníyah” or tray of tinned copper is placed, the former serving as a table. These stools, some 15 inches high and of wood inlaid with bone, tortoise-shell or mother-of-pearl, are now common in England, where one often sees children using them as seats. The two (Kursi and Síníyah) compose the Sufrah, when the word is used in the sense of our “dinner-table.” Lane (M.E. chapt. v.) gives an illustration of both articles.

  210 Arab. “Jarídah,” a palm-frond stripped of its leaves

  (Supplemental, vol. i. 264); hence the “Jaríd” used as a javelin; see vol. vi. 263.

  211 An Egyptian or a Syrian housewife will make twenty dishes out of roast lamb, wholly unlike the “good plain cook” of Great or Greater Britain, who leaves the stomach to do all the work of digestion in which she ought to but does not assist.

  212 A plate of “Baysár” or “Faysár,” a dish peculiar to Egypt; beans seasoned with milk and honey and generally eaten with meat. See Mr. Guy Lestrange’s “Al-Mukaddasi,” Description of Syria, ; an author who wrote cir. A.H. 986. Scott (vi. 119) has “A savoury dish called byssarut, which is composed of parched beans and pounded salt meat, mixed up with various seeds, onions and garlic.” Gauttier (vi. 261) carefully avoids giving the Arabic name, which occurs in a subsequent tale (Nights cdxliv.) when a laxative is required.

  213 Arab. “Mulúkhíyah náshiyah,” lit. = flowing; i.e. soft like épinards au jus. Mulúkhíya that favourite vegetable, the malva esculenta is derived from the Gr. ľa???? (also written ľ?????) from ľa??ss? = to soften, because somewhat relaxing. In ancient Athens it was the food of the poorer classes and in Egypt it is eaten by all, taking the place of our spinach and sorrel.

  214 Arab. “Kalak” = lit. “agitation,” “disquietude” and here used as syn. with “Kúlanj,” a true colic.

  215 Arab. “Mazarát,” from “Mazr,” = being addled (an egg).

  216 Here is an allusion to the “Massage,” which in these days has assumed throughout Europe all the pretensions of scientific medical treatment. The word has been needlessly derived from the Arab. “Mas’h” = rubbing, kneading; but we have the Gr. synonym ľ?ss? and the Lat. Massare. The text describes child-bed customs amongst Moslem women, and the delivery of the Kazi has all the realism of M. Zola’s accouchement in La Joie de Vivre.

  217 Arab. “Fa’álah” = the building craft, builders’ trade.

  218 In text “Kawwárah,” which is not found in the dictionaries. “Kuwárah” = that which is cut off from the side of a thing, etc. My translation is wholly tentative: perhaps Kawwára may be a copyist’s error for “Kazázah” = vulg. a (flask of) glass.

  219 The “Khaznah,” = treasury, is a thousand “Kís” = 500 piastres, or Ł5 at par; and thus represents Ł5,000, a large sum for Tripoli in those days.

  220 The same incident occurs in that pathetic tale with an ill name”How Abu al-Hasan brake Wind,” vol. v. 135.

  221 Arab. “Karkabah,” clerical error (?) for “Karkarah” = driving (as wind the clouds); rumbling of wind in bowels. Dr. Steingass holds that it is formed by addition of a second “K,” from the root “Karb,” one of whose meanings is: “to inflate the stomach.”

  222 For Ummu ‘Amrin = mother of ‘Amru, so written and pronounced “ ‘Amr,” a fancy name, see vol. v. 118, for the Tale of the Schoolmaster, a well-known “Joe Miller.” [Ummu ‘Amrin, like Ummu ‘Ámirin, is a slang term for “hyena.” Hence, if Ass and Umm Amr went off together, it is more than likely that neither came back. St.]

  223 A slang name for Death. “Kash’am” has various sigs. esp. the lion, hence Rabí’at al-Faras (of the horses), one of the four sons of Nizár was surnamed Al-Kash’am from his cur de lion (Al-Mas’udi iii. 238). Another pleasant term for departing life is Abú Yáhyá = Father of John, which also means “The Living” from Hayy?Death being the lord of all: hence “Yamút” lit. = he dies, is an ill-omened name amongst Arabs. Kash’am is also a hyena, and Umm Kash’am is syn. with Umm ‘Ámir (vol. i. 43). It was considered a point of good breeding to use these “Kunyah” for the purpose of varying speech (see al-Hariri Ass. xix.). The phrase in the text = meaning went to hell, as a proverb was first used by Zuhayr, one of the “Suspended Poets.” Umm Kash’am was the P.N. of a runaway camel which, passing by a large fire, shied and flung its riding saddle into the flames. So in Al-Siyúti’s “History of the Caliphs” (), the text has “And Malak Shah went to where her saddle was thrown by Umm Kash’am,” which Major Jarrett renders “departed to hell-fire.”

  224 Scott’s “Story of the Bhang-eater and Cauzee,” vi. 126:

  Gauttier, Histoire du Preneur d’Opium et du Cadi, vi. 268.

  225 Arab. “Lawwaha” = lit. pointing out, making clear.

  226 Text “in his belly,” but afterwards in his “Halkah” = throat, throttle, which gives better sense.

  227 In text “Háyishah” from {root} “Haysh” = spoiling, etc.

  228 Arab. “Yauh!” See vols. ii. 321; vi. 235.

  229 Arab. “Yá Jad’án” (pron. “Gád’án”) more gen. “Yá Jad’a” = mon brave!

  230 In text “Yá ‘Arzád”: prob. a clerical slip for “‘Urzát,” plur. of “‘Urzah” = a companion, a (low) fellow, a man evil spoken of.

  231 Easterns love drinking in a bright light: see vol. ii. 59.

  232 Arab. “‘Akl” (= comprehension, understanding) and “Nakl” (= copying, describing, transcribing), a favourite phrase in this MS.

  233 Arab. “Ummáli”; gen. Ummál, an affirmation; Certes, I believe you!

  234 For the many preparations of this drug, see Herklots, Appendix, pp. lxviii. ciii. It is impossible to say how “Indian hemp,” like opium, datura, ether and chloroform, will affect the nervous system of an untried man. I have read a dozen descriptions of the results, from the highly imaginative Monte Cristo to the prose of prosaic travellers; and do not recognise that they are speaking of the same thing.

  235 This tranquil enjoyment is popularly called “Kayf.” See my Pilgrimage i. 13. In a coarser sense it is applied to all manners of intoxication; and the French traveller Sonnini says, “The Arabs (by which he means the Egyptians) give the name of Kayf to the voluptuous relaxation, the delicious stupor, produced by the smoking of hemp.” I have smoked it and eaten it for months without other effect than a greatly increased appetite and a little drowsiness.

  236 These childish indecencies are often attributed to Bhang-eaters. See “Bákún’s Tale of the Hashísh-eater,” vol. ii. 91. Modest Scott (vi. 129) turns the joke into “tweaking the nose.” Respectable Moslems dislike the subject, but the vulgar relish it as much as the sober Italian enjoys the description of a drinking bout?in novels.

  237 In the text “Finjál,” a vulgarism for “Finján”: so the

  converse “Isma’ín” for “Ism’aíl” = Ishmael. Mr. J. W. Redhouse

  (The Academy No. 764) proposes a new date for coffee in Al-Yaman. Colonel Playfair (History of Yemen, Bombay 1859) had carelessly noted that its “first use at Aden was by a judge of the place who had seen it drunk at Zayla’, on t
he African coast opposite Aden,” and he made the judge die in A.H. 875 = A.D. 1470. This is about the date of the Shaykh al-Sházalí’s tomb at Mocha, and he was the first who brought the plant from about African Harar to the Arabian seaboard. But Mr. Redhouse finds in a Turkish work written only two centuries ago, and printed at Constantinople, in A.D. 1732, that the “ripe fruit was discovered growing wild in the mountains of Yemen (?) by a company of dervishes banished thither.” Finding the berry relieve their hunger and support their vigils the prior, “Shaykh ‘Umar advised their stewing it (?) and the use became established. They dried a store of the fruit; and its use spread to other dervish communities, who perhaps (?) sowed the seed wherever it would thrive throughout Africa (N.B. where it is indigenous) and India (N.B. where both use and growth are quite modern). From Africa, two centuries later, its use was reimported to Arabia at Aden (?) by the judge above mentioned, who in a season of scarcity of the dried fruit (?) tried the seed” (N.B. which is the fruit). This is passing strange and utterly unknown to the learned De Sacy (Chrest. Arab.

  i. 412-481).

  238 Koran iii. 128. D’Herbelot and Sale (Koran, chap. iii. note) relate on this text a noble story of Hasan Ali-son and his erring slave which The Forty Vezirs (Lady’s eighth story, ) ignorantly attributes to Harun al-Rashid:?Forthwith the Caliph rose in wrath and was about to hew the girl to pieces, when she said, “O Caliph, Almighty Allah saith in His glorious Word (the Koran), ‘And the stiflers of Wrath’” (iii. 128). Straightway the Caliph’s wrath was calmed. Again said the girl, “‘And the pardoners of men.’” (ibid.) Quoth the Caliph, “I have forgiven the crimes of all the criminals who may be in prison.” Again said the slave-girl, “‘And Allah loveth the beneficent.’” (ibid.) Quoth the Caliph, “God be witness that I have with my own wealth freed thee and as many male and female slaves as I have, and that this day I have for the love of Allah given the half of all my good in alms to the poor.” This is no improvement upon the simple and unexaggerated story in Sale. “It is related of Hasan, the son of Ali, that a slave having once thrown a dish on him boiling hot, as he sat at table, and fearing his master’s resentment, fell on his knees and repeated these words, Paradise is for those who bridle their anger. Hasan answered, I am not angry. The slave proceeded, And for those who forgive men. I forgive you, said Hasan. The slave, however, finished the verse, For Allah loveth the beneficent. Since it is so, replied Hasan, I give you your liberty and four hundred pieces of silver.”