Book: Supplemental Nights, Volume 1

R >> Richard F. Burton >> Supplemental Nights, Volume 1




[FN#220] i.e. to secure her assistance in arousing the king's
wrath.

[FN#221] i.e. so slow to avenge itself.

[FN#222] Story of Sultan Hebriam (!), and his Son" (Chavis and
Cazotte). Unless they greatly enlarged upon the text, they had a
much fuller copy than that found in the Bresl. Edit.

[FN#223] A right kingly king, in the Eastern sense of the word,
would strike off their heads for daring to see omens threatening
his son and heir: this would be constructive treason of the
highest because it might be expected to cause its own fulfilment.

[FN#224] Mohammed's Hadis "Kazzibu 'l-Munajjimuna bi Rabbi
'I-Ka'abah"=the Astrologers lied, by the Ka'abah's Lord!

[FN#225] Arab. "Khawatin," plur. of Khatun, a matron, a lady,
vol. iv. 66.

[FN#226] See Al-Mas'udi, chapt. xvii. (Fr. Transl. ii. 48-49) of
the circular cavity two miles deep and sixty in circuit inhabited
by men and animals on the Caucasus near Derbend.

[FN#227] Arab. "Nafas" lit.=breath. Arabs living in a land of
caverns know by experience the danger of asphyxiation in such
places.

[FN#228] This simple tale is told with much pathos not of words
but of sense.

[FN#229] Arab. "Ajal"=the appointed day of death, also used for
sudden death. See vol. i. 74.

[FN#230] i.e. the Autumnal Equinox, one of the two great
festival days (the other being the New Year) of the Persians, and
surviving in our Michaelmas. According to Al-Mas'udi (chap.
xxi.), it was established to commemorate the capture of Zahhak
(Azhi-Dahaka), the biting snake (the Hindu Ahi) of night and
darkness, the Greek Astyages, by Furaydun or Feridun. Prof. Sayce
(Principles of Comparative Philology, p. 11) connects the latter
with the Vedic deity Trita, who harnessed the Sun-horse (Rig. v.
i. 163, 2, 3), the of Homer, a title of Athene, the
Dawn-goddess, and Burnouf proved the same Trita to be Thraetaona,
son of Athwya, of the Avesta, who finally became Furaydun, the
Greek Kyrus. See vol. v. 1.

[FN#231] In Chavis and Cazotte, "Story of Selimansha and his
Family."

[FN#232] Arab. for Pers. Pahluwan (from Pahlau) a brave, a
warrior, an athlete, applied in India to a champion in any
gymnastic exercise, especially in wrestling. The Frenchman calls
him "Balavan"; and the Bresl. text in more than one place (p.
312) calls him "Bahwan."

[FN#233] i.e. King (Arab.) King (Persian): we find also Sultan
Malik Shah=King King King.

[FN#234] Arab. "Aulad-i," a vulgarism, plural for dual.

[FN#235] Mr. Payne translates, "so he might take his father's
leavings" i.e. heritage, reading "Asar" which I hold to be a
clerical error for Sar=Vendetta, blood revenge (Bresl. Edit. vi.
310).

[FN#236] Arab. "Al-'Asi" the pop. term for one who refuses to
obey a constituted authority and syn. with Pers. "Yaghi." "Ant
'Asi?" Wilt thou not yield thyself? says a policeman to a
refractory Fellah.

[FN#237] i.e. of the Greeks: so in Kor. xxx. 1. "Alif Lam Mim,
the Greeks (Al-Roum) have been defeated." Mr. Rodwell curiously
remarks that "the vowel-points for 'defeated' not being
originally written, would make the prophecy true in either event,
according as the verb received an active or passive sense in
pronunciation." But in discovering this mare's nest, a rank piece
of humbug like Aio te Aeacida, etc., he forgets that all the
Prophet's "Companions," numbering some 5000, would pronounce it
only in one way and that no man could mistake "ghalabat" (active)
for "ghulibat" (passive).

[FN#238] The text persistently uses "Jariyah"=damsel,
slave-girl, for the politer "Sabiyah"=young lady, being written
in a rude and uncourtly style.

[FN#239] So our familiar phrase "Some one to back us."

[FN#240] Arab. "'Akkada lahu ray," plur. of rayat, a banner. See
vol. iii. 307.

[FN#241] i.e. "What concern hast thou with the king's health?"
The question is offensively put.

[FN#242] Arab. "Masalah," a question; here an enigma.

[FN#243] Arab. "Lialla" (i.e. li, an, la) lest; but printed here
and elsewhere with the ya as if it were "laylan,"=for a single
night.

[FN#244] i.e. if my death be fated to befal to-day, none may
postpone it to a later date.

[FN#245] Arab. "Dusti": so the ceremony vulgarly called "Doseh"
and by the ItaloEgyptians "Dosso," the riding over disciples'
backs by the Shaykh of the Sa'diyah Darwayshes (Lane M.E. chapt.
xxv.) which took place for the last time at Cairo in 1881.

[FN#246] In Chavis and Cazotte she conjures him "by the great
Maichonarblatha Sarsourat" (Miat wa arba'at ashar Surat)=the 114
chapters of the Alcoran.

[FN#247] I have noted that Moslem law is not fully satisfied
without such confession which, however, may be obtained by the
bastinado. It is curious to compare English procedure with what
Moslem would be in such a case as that of the famous Tichborne
Claimant. What we did need hardly be noticed. An Arab judge would
in a case so suspicious at once have applied the stick and in a
quarter of an hour would have settled the whole business; but
then what about the "Devil's own," the lawyers and lawyers' fees?
And he would have remarked that the truth is not less true
because obtained by such compulsory means.

[FN#248] The Hudhud, so called from its cry "Hood! Hood!" It is
the Lat. upupa, Gr. from its supposed note epip or upup; the
old Egyptian Kukufa; Heb. Dukiphath and Syriac Kikupha (Bochart
Hierozoicon, part ii. 347). The Spaniards call it Gallo de Marzo
(March-Cock) from its returning in that month, and our old
writers "lapwing" (Deut. xiv. 18). This foul-feeding bird derives
her honours from chapt. xxvii. of the Koran (q.v.), the Hudhud
was sharp-sighted and sagacious enough to discover water
underground which the devils used to draw after she had marked
the place by her bill.

[FN#249] Here the vocative Ya is designedly omitted in poetical
fashion (e.g., Khaliliyya--my friend!) to show the speaker's
emotion. See p. 113 of Captain A. Lockett's learned and curious
work the "Miet Amil" (=Hundred Regimens), Calcutta, 1814.

[FN#250] The story-teller introduces this last instance with
considerable art as a preface to the denouement.

[FN#251] See Chavis and Cazotte "Story of the King of Haram and
the slave."

[FN#252] i.e. men caught red-handed.

[FN#253] Arab. "Libwah," one of the multitudinous names for the
king of beasts, still used in Syria where the animal has been
killed out, soon to be followed by the bear (U. Syriacus). The
author knows that lions are most often found in couples.

[FN#254] Arab. "Himyan or Hamyan,"=a girdle.

[FN#255] As he would kiss a son. I have never yet seen an
Englishman endure these masculine kisses, formerly so common in
France and Italy, without showing clearest signs of his disgust.

[FN#256] A cheap way of rewarding merit, not confined to Eastern
monarchs, but practised by all contemporary Europe.

[FN#257] Arab. "Kasf,"=houghing a camel so as to render it
helpless. The passage may read. "we are broken to bits (Kisi) by
our own sin."

[FN#258] Bresl. Edit., vol. vii. pp. 251-4, Night dlxv.

[FN#259] See vol. vi. 175. A Moslem should dress for public
occasions, like the mediaeval student, in vestibus (quasi) nigris
aut subfuscis; though not, except amongst the Abbasides,
absolutely black, as sable would denote Jewry.

[FN#260] A well-known soldier and statesman, noted for piety and
austerity. A somewhat fuller version of this story, from which I
have borrowed certain details, is given in the Biographical
Dictionary of Ibn Khallikan (i. 303-4). The latter, however,
calls the first Abd al-Malik "Ibn Bahran" (in the index Ibn
Bahram), which somewhat spoils the story. "Ibn Khallikan,"
by-the-by, is derived popularly from "Khalli" (let go), and
"Kana" (it was, enough), a favourite expression of the author,
which at last superseded his real name, Abu al-Abbas Ahmad. He is
better off than the companion nicknamed by Mohammed Abu
Horayrah=Father of the She-kitten (not the cat), and who in
consequence has lost his true name and pedigree.

[FN#261] In Ibn Khallikan (i. 303) he is called the "Hashimite,"
from his ancestor, Hashim ibn Abd Manaf. The Hashimites and
Abbasides were fine specimens of the Moslem "Pharisee," as he is
known to Christians, not the noble Purushi of authentic history.

[FN#262] Meaning a cap, but of what shape we ignore. Ibn
Khallikan afterwards calls it a "Kalansua," a word still applied
to a mitre worn by Christian priests.

[FN#263] Arab. "La baas," equivalent in conversation to our "No
matter," and "All right."

[FN#264] As a member of the reigning family, he wore black
clothes, that being the especial colour of the Abbasides, adopted
by them in opposition to the rival dynasty of the Ommiades, whose
family colour was white, that of the Fatimites being green. The
Moslems borrowed their sacred green, "the hue of the Pure," from
the old Nabatheans and the other primitive colours from the tents
of the captains who were thus distinguished. Hence also amongst
the Turks and Tartars, the White Horde and the Black Horde.

[FN#265] The word has often occurred, meaning date-wine or
grape-wine. Ibn Khaldun contends that in Ibn Khallikan it here
means the former.

[FN#266] L25,000. Ibn Khallikan (i. 304) makes the debt four
millions of dirhams or L90,000-L100,000.

[FN#267] In the Biographer occurs the equivalent phrase, "That a
standard be borne over his head."

[FN#268] Here again we have a suggestion that Ja'afar presumed
upon his favour with the Caliph; such presumption would soon be
reported (perhaps by the austere intrigant himself) to the royal
ears, and lay the foundation of ill-will likely to end in utter
destruction.

[FN#269] Bresl. Edit., vol. vii. pp. 258-60, Night dlxvii.

[FN#270] Fourth Abbaside, A.D. 785-786, vol. v. 93. He was a
fantastic tyrant who was bent upon promoting to the Caliphate his
own son, Ja'afar; he cast Harun into prison and would probably
have slain him but for the intervention of the mother of one of
the two brothers, Khayzaran widow of Al-Mahdi, and Yahya the
Barmecide.

[FN#271] Third Abbaside, A.D. 775-785, vol. vii. 136; ix. 334.

[FN#272] This reminds us of the Bir Al-Khatim (Well of the
Signet) at Al-Medinah; in which Caliph Osman during his sixth
year dropped from his finger the silver ring belonging to the
founder of Al-Islam, engraved in three lines with "Mohammed /
Apostle (of) / Allah /." It had served to sign the letters sent
to neighboring kings and had descended to the first three
successors (Pilgrimage ii. 219). Mohammed owned three seal-
rings, the golden one he destroyed himself; and the third, which
was of carnelian, was buried with other objects by his heirs.
The late Subhi Pasha used to declare that the latter had been
brought to him with early Moslem coins by an Arab, and when he
died he left it to the Sultan.

[FN#273] Mr. Payne quotes Al-Tabari's version of this anecdote.
"El-Mehdi had presented his son Haroun with a ruby ring, worth a
hundred thousand dinars, and the latter being one day with his
brother (the then reigning Khalif), El Hadi saw the ring on his
finger and desired it. So, when Haroun went out from him, he
sent after him, to seek the ring of him. The Khalif's messenger
overtook Er Reshid on the bridge over the Tigris and acquainted
him with his errand; whereupon the prince, enraged at the demand,
pulled off the ring and threw it into the river. When El Hadi
died and Er Rashid succeeded to the throne, he went with his
suite to the bridge in question and bade his Vizier Yehya ben
Khalid send for divers and cause them to make search for the
ring. It had then been five months in the water and no one
believed it would be found. However, the divers plunged into the
river and found the ring in the very place where he had thrown it
in, whereat Haroun rejoiced with an exceeding joy, regarding it
as a presage of fair fortune."

[FN#274] Not historically correct. Al-Rashid made Yahya, father
of Ja'afar, his Wazir; and the minister's two sons, Fazl and
Ja'afar, acted as his lieutenants for seventeen years from A.D.
786 till the destruction of the Barmecides in A.D. 803. The
tale-teller quotes Ja'afar because he was the most famous of the
house.

[FN#275] Perhaps after marrying Ja'afar to his sister. But the
endearing name was usually addressed to Ja'afar's elder brother
Fazl, who was the Caliph's foster-brother.

[FN#276] Read seventeen: all these minor inaccuracies tend to
invalidate the main statement.

[FN#277] Arab. "Yar'ad" which may mean "thundereth." The dark
saying apparently means, Do good whilst thou art in power and
thereby strengthen thyself.

[FN#278] The lady seems to have made the first advances and Bin
Abu Hajilah quotes a sixaine in which she amorously addresses her
spouse. See D'Herbelot, s.v. Abbassa.

[FN#279] The tale-teller passes with a very light hand over the
horrors of a massacre which terrified and scandalised the then
civilised world, and which still haunt Moslem history. The
Caliph, like the eking, can do no wrong; and, as Viceregent of
Allah upon Earth, what would be deadly crime and mortal sin in
others becomes in his case an ordinance from above. These
actions are superhuman events and fatal which man must not judge
nor feel any sentiment concerning them save one of mysterious
respect. For the slaughter of the Barmecides, see my Terminal
Essay, vol. x.

[FN#280] Bresl. Edit., vol. vii. pp. 260-1, Night dlxviii.

[FN#281] Ibn al-Sammak (Son of the fisherman or fishmonger),
whose name was Abu al-Abbas Mohammed bin Sabih, surnamed Al-
Mazkur (Ibn al-Athir says Al-Muzakkar), was a native of Kufah
(where he died in A.H. 183 = 799-80), a preacher and professional
tale-teller famed as a stylist and a man of piety. Al-Siyuti (p.
292) relates of him that when honoured by the Caliph with
courteous reception he said to him, "Thy humility in thy
greatness is nobler than thy greatness." He is known to have
been the only theologician who, ex cathedra, promised Al-Rashid a
place in Paradise.

[FN#282] Bresl. Edit., vol. vii. pp. 261-2, Night dlxviii.

[FN#283] Seventh Abbaside, A.H. 198-227 = 813-842. See vol. iv.
109. He was a favourite with his father, who personally taught
him tradition; but he offended the Faithful by asserting the
creation of the Koran, by his leaning to Shi'ah doctrine, and by
changing the black garments of the Banu Abbas into green. He
died of a chill at Budandun, a day's march from Tarsus, where he
was buried: for this Podendon = = stretch out thy
feet, see Al-Siyuti, pp. 326-27.

[FN#284] Sixth Abbaside, A.D. 809-13. See vol. v. 93: 152. He
was of pure Abbaside blood on the father's side and his mother
Zubaydah's. But he was unhappy in his Wazir Al-Fazl bin Rabi,
the intriguer against the Barmecides, who estranged him from his
brothers Al-Kasim and Al-Maamun. At last he was slain by a party
of Persians, "who struck him with their swords and cut him
through the nape of his neck and went with his head to Tahir bin
al-Husayn, general to Al-Maamun, who set it upon a garden-wall
and made proclamation, This is the head of the deposed Mohammed
(Al-Amin)." Al-Siyuti, pp. 306-311. It was remarked by Moslem
annalists that every sixth Abbaside met with a violent death: the
first was this Mohammed al-Amin surnamed Al-Makhlu' = The
Deposed; the second sixth was Al-Musta'in; and the last was Al-
Muktadi bi'llah.

[FN#285] Lit. "Order and acceptance." See the Tale of the
Sandal-wood Merchant and the Sharpers: vol. vi. 202.

[FN#286] This is not noticed by Al-Siyuta (p. 318) who says that
his mother was a slave-concubine named Marajil who died in giving
him birth. The tale in the text appears to be a bit of Court
scandal, probably suggested by the darkness of the Caliph's
complexion.

[FN#287] Bresl. Edit., vol. viii. pp. 226-9, Nights dclx-i.

[FN#288] King of the Arab kingdom of Hirah, for whom see vol. v.
74. This ancient villain rarely appears in such favourable form
when tales are told of him.

[FN#289] The tribe of the chieftain and poet, Hatim Tai, for
whom see vol. iv. 94.

[FN#290] i.e. I will make a covenant with him before the Lord.
Here the word "Allah" is introduced among the Arabs of The
Ignorance.

[FN#291] i.e. the man of the Tribe of Tay.

[FN#292] A similar story of generous dealing is told of the
Caliph Omar in The Nights. See vol. v. 99 et seq.

[FN#293] Bresl. Edit., vol. viii. pp. 273-8, Nights dclxxv-vi.
In Syria and Egypt Firuz (the Persian "Piroz") = victorious,
triumphant, is usually pronounced Fayrus. The tale is a rechauffe
of the King and the Wazir's Wife in The Nights. See vol. vi. 129.

[FN#294] i.e. I seek refuge with Allah = God forfend.

[FN#295] Bresl. Edit., vol. xi. pp. 84-318, Nights
dccclxxv-dccccxxx. Here again the names are Persian, showing the
provenance of the tale; Shah Bakht is=King Luck and Rahwan is a
corruption of Rahban=one who keeps the (right) way; or it may be
Ruhban=the Pious. Mr. W. A. Clouston draws my attention to the
fact that this tale is of the Sindibad (Seven Wise Masters) cycle
and that he finds remotely allied to it a Siamese collection,
entitled Nonthuk Pakaranam in which Princess Kankras, to save the
life of her father, relates eighty or ninety tales to the king of
Pataliput (Palibothra). He purposes to discuss this and similar
subjects in extenso in his coming volumes, "Popular Tales and
Fictions: their Migrations and Transformations," to which I look
forward with pleasant anticipations.

[FN#296] So far this work resembles the Bakhtiyar-nameh, in
which the ten Wazirs are eager for the death of the hero who
relates tales and instances to the king, warning him against the
evils of precipitation.

[FN#297] One pilgrimage (Hajjat al-Islam) is commanded to all
Moslems. For its conditions see The Nights, vol. v. 202, et seq.

[FN#298] Arab. "Hajj al-Sharif." For the expenses of the process
see my Pilgrimage iii. 12. As in all "Holy Places," from Rome to
Benares, the sinner in search of salvation is hopelessly taken in
and fleeced by the "sons of the sacred cities."

[FN#299] Here a stranger invites a guest who at once accepts the
invitation; such is the freedom between Moslems at Meccah and
Al-Medinah, especially during pilgrimagetime.

[FN#300] i.e. the master could no longer use her carnally.

[FN#301] i.e. wantoned it away.

[FN#302] Here "Al-Hajj"=the company of pilgrims, a common use of
the term.

[FN#303] The text says, "He went on with the caravan to the
Pilgrimage," probably a clerical error. "Hajj" is never applied
to the Visitation (Ziyarah) at Al-Medinah.

[FN#304] Arab. "Jawar," that is, he became a mujawir, one who
lives in or near a collegiate mosque. The Egyptian proverb says,
"He pilgrimaged: quoth one, Yes, and for his villainy lives
(yujawir) at Meccah," meaning that he found no other place bad
enough for him.

[FN#305] I have often heard of this mysterious art in the East,
also of similarly making rubies and branch-coral of the largest
size, but, despite all my endeavours, I never was allowed to
witness the operation. It was the same with alchemy, which,
however, I found very useful to the "smasher." See my History of
Sindh, chapt. vii.

[FN#306] Elsewhere in The Nights specified as white woolen
robes.

[FN#307] Whilst she was praying the girl could not address her;
but the use of the rosary is a kind of "parergon."

[FN#308] Arab. "Ya Hajjah" (in Egypt pronounced "Haggeh"), a
polite address to an elderly woman, who is thus supposed to have
"finished her faith."

[FN#309] Arab. "Kanisah" (from Kans=sweeping) a pagan temple, a
Jewish synagogue, and especially a Christian church.

[FN#310] i.e. standeth in prayer or supplication.

[FN#311] i.e. fell into hysterics, a very common complaint
amongst the highly nervous and excitable races of the East.

[FN#312] Arab. "Kahramanah," a word which has often occurred in
divers senses, nurse, duenna, chamberwoman, stewardess, armed
woman defending the Harem, etc.

[FN#313] Which is supposed to contain the Harem.

[FN#314] Especially mentioned because the guide very often
follows his charges, especially when he intends to play them an
ugly trick. I had an unpleasant adventure of the kind in
Somaliland; but having the fear of the "Aborigines Protection
Society" before my eyes, refrained from doing more than hinting
at it.

[FN#315] i.e. otherwise than according to ordinance of Allah.

[FN#316] A well-known city of lrak 'Ajami (or Persian).

[FN#317] i.e. spare pegs and strings, plectra, thumb-guards,
etc.

[FN#318] Arab. "Hasir," the fine matting used for sleeping on
during the hot season in Egypt and Syria.

[FN#319] i.e. The bed where the "rough and tumble" had taken
place.

[FN#320] This word, which undoubtedly derives from cuculus,
cogul, cocu, a cuckoo, has taken a queer twist, nor can I explain
how its present meaning arose from a shebird which lays her egg
in a strange nest. Wittol, on the other hand, from Witan, to
know, is rightly applied to one whom La Fontaine calls "cocu et
content," the Arab Dayyus.

[FN#321] Arab. "Shabakah," here a net like a fisherman's, which
is hung over the hole in the wall called a shop, during the
temporary absence of the shopkeeper. See my Pilgrimage, i. 100.

[FN#322] i.e. of which the singer speaks.

[FN#323] i.e., she found him good at the to-and-fro movement;
our corresponding phrase is "basket-making."

[FN#324] Arab. "Mu'arris": in vol. i. 338, 1 derived the word
from 'Ars marriage, like the Germ. Kupplerin. This was a mere
mistake; the root is 'Ars (with a Sad not a Sin) and means a pimp
who shows off or displays his wares.

[FN#325] Arab. "Akhmitu Ghazla-ha" lit.=thicken her yarn or
thread.

[FN#326] I must again warn the reader that the negative, which
to us appears unnecessary, is emphatic in Arabic.

[FN#327] i.e. By removing the goods from the "but" to the "ben."
Pilgrimage i. 99.

[FN#328] Arab. "Tannur," here the large earthern jar with a
cover of the same material, round which the fire is built.

[FN#329] Being a musician the hero of the tale was also a
pederast.

[FN#330] Here Mr. Payne supplies "Then they returned and sat
down" (apparently changing places). He is quite correct in
characterising the Bresl. Edit. as corrupt and "fearfully
incoherent." All we can make certain of in this passage is that
the singer mistook the Persian for his white slave (Mameluke).

[FN#331] Arab. "Bazaka," normally used in the sense of spitting;
here the saliva might be applied for facilitating insertion.

[FN#332] In Persian "Award o burd,"=brought and bore away, gen.
applied to the movement of the man as in the couplet,

Chenin burd o award o award o burd,
Kih dayeh pas-i-pardeh zi ghussah murd.

He so came and went, went and came again,
That Nurse who lay curtained to faint was fain.

[FN#333] Alluding to the fighting rams which are described by
every Anglo-Indian traveller. They strike with great force, amply
sufficient to crush the clumsy hand which happens to be caught
between the two foreheads. The animals are sometimes used for Fal
or consulting futurity: the name of a friend is given to one and
that of a foe to the other; and the result of the fight suggests
victory or defeat for the men.

[FN#334] Arab. "Jauhar"=the jewel, the essential nature of a
substance. Compare M. Alcofribas' "Abstraction of the
Quintessence."

[FN#335] In parts of the Moslem world Al-Jabr=the tyranny, is
the equivalent of what we call "civil law," as opposed to
Al-Shari'ah, or Holy Law, the religious code; Diwan al-Jabr
(Civil Court) being the contrary of the Mahkamah or Kazi's
tribunal. See "First Footsteps in East Africa," p. 126.

[FN#336] i.e. in offering thee the kingship.

[FN#337] i.e. "a man of fourscore."

[FN#338] i.e. outside the city.

[FN#339] See the conclusion of the story.

[FN#340] i.e. I have said my say.

[FN#341] Arab. "Al-Mutabattil," usually=one who forsakes the
world. The Katarat alNaysan or rain-drops in the month Naysan
(April) produce pearls when falling into the oyster-shells and
poison in the serpent's mouth. The allusions to them are
innumerable in Persian poetry, and the idea gives rise to a host
of moralities more or less insipid.

[FN#342] This is the general idea concerning the diamond in all
countries where the gem is dug, but I never heard it of the
pearl.

[FN#343] Arab. "Faras," properly a mare; but the writer begins
by using the feminine, and then employs the masculine. It is an
abominable text.

[FN#344] Arab. "Rutab wa manazil," may also mean "stations and
mansions (of the moon and planets)." The double entendre was
probably intended.

[FN#345] Arab. "Za-if," still a popular word, meaning feeble,
sick, ailing, but especially, weak in venery.

[FN#346] See the original of this tale in King Al-Af'a:
Al-Mas'udi, chap. xlvi.

[FN#347] He says this without any sense of shame, coolly as
Horace or Catullus wrote.

[FN#348] i.e. of the caravan with which he came.

[FN#349] Arab. "Al-'Adl." In the form of Zu 'adl it = a legal
witness, a man of good repute; in Marocco and other parts of the
Moslem world 'Adul (plur. 'Udul) signifies an assessor of the
Kazi, a notary. Padre Lerchundy (loc. cit. p. 345) renders it
notario.

Copyright (c) 2007. knowncrafts.net. All rights reserved.