登陆注册
12108200000133

第133章

[105] Names of her slave-girls which mean (in order),Garden-bloom,Dawn (or Beautiful),Tree o'Pearl (P. N. of Saladin's wife),Light of (right) Direction,Star o'the Morn Lewdness (= Shahwah,I suppose this is a chaff),Delight,Sweetmeat and Miss Pretty.

[106] This mode of disposing of a rival was very common in Harems. But it had its difficulties and on the whole the river was (and is) preferred.

[107] An Eastern dislikes nothing more than drinking in a dim dingy place: the brightest lights seem to add to his'drinkitite.'

[108] He did not sleep with her because he suspected some palace-mystery which suggested prudence,she also had her reasons.

[109] This as called in Egypt'Allah.'(Lane M. E. chaps. i.)

[110] It would be a broad ribbon-like band upon which the letters could be worked.

[111] In the Arab.'he cried.'These'Yes,Yes!'and'No! No!'trifles are very common amongst the Arabs.

[112] Arab.'Maragha'lit. rubbed his face on them like a fawning dog. Ghanim is another'softy'lover,a favourite character in Arab tales;and by way of contrast,the girl is masterful enough.

[113] Because the Abbaside Caliphs descend from Al-Abbas,paternal uncle of Mohammed,text means more explicitly,'O

descendant of the Prophet's uncle!'

[114] The most terrible part of a belle passion in the East is that the beloved will not allow her lover leave of absence for an hour.

[115] It is hard to preserve these wretched puns. In the original we have'O spray (or branch) of capparis-shrub (araki)

which has been thinned of leaf and fruit (tujna,i.e.,whose fruit,the hymen,has been plucked before and not by me) I see thee (araka) against me sinning (tajni).

[116] Apparently the writer forgets that the Abbaside banners and dress were black,originally a badge of mourning for the Imam Ibrahim bin Mohammed put to death by the Ommiade Caliph Al-Marwan. The modern Egyptian mourning,like the old Persian,is indigo-blue of the darkest;but,as before noted,the custom is by no means universal.

[117] Koran,chaps. iv. In the East as elsewhere the Devil quotes Scripture.

[118] A servant returning from a journey shows his master due honour by appearing before him in travelling suit and uncleaned.

[119] The first name means'Rattan',the second'Willow wand,'from the'Ban'or'Khilaf'the Egyptian willow (Salix Aegyptiaca Linn.) vulgarly called'Safsaf.'Forskal holds the'Ban'to be a different variety.

[120] Arab.'Ta'am,'which has many meanings: in mod. parlance it would signify millet holcus seed.

[121] i.e.'I well know how to deal with him.'

[122] The Pen (title of the Koranic chaps. Ixviii.) and the Preserved Tablet (before explained).

[123] These plunderings were sanctioned by custom. But a few years ago,when the Turkish soldiers mutinied about arrears of pay (often delayed for years) the governing Pasha would set fire to the town and allow the men to loot what they pleased during a stated time. Rochet (soi-disant D'Hericourt) amusingly describes this manoeuvre of the Turkish Governor of Al-Hodaydah in the last generation. (Pilgrimage iii. 381.)

[124] Another cenotaph whose use was to enable women to indulge in their pet pastime of weeping and wailing in company.

[125] The lodging of pauper travellers,as the chapel in Iceland is of the wealthy. I have often taken benefit of the mosque,but as a rule it is unpleasant,the matting being not only torn but over-populous. Juvenal seems to allude to the Jewish Synagogue similarly used:'in qua te quaero proseucha'?

(iii. 296) and in Acts iii. we find the lame,blind and impotent in the Temple-porch.

[126] This foul sort of vermin is supposed to be bred by perspiration. It is an epoch in the civilised traveller's life when he catches his first louse.

[127] The Moslem peasant is a kind hearted man and will make many sacrifices for a sick stranger even of another creed. It is a manner of'pundonor'with the village.

[128] Such treatment of innocent women was only too common under the Caliphate and in contemporary Europe.

[129] This may also mean,'And Heaven will reward thee,'but camel-men do not usually accept any drafts upon futurity.

[130] He felt that he was being treated like a corpse.

[131] This hatred of the Hospital extends throughout Southern Europe,even in places where it is not justified.

[132] The importance of the pillow (wisadah or makhaddah) to the sick man is often recognised in The Nights.'He took to his pillow'is = took to his bed.

[133] i.e in order that the reverend men,who do not render such suit and service gratis,might pray for him.

[134] The reader will notice in The Nights the frequent mention of these physical prognostications,with which mesmerists are familiar.

[135] The Pers. name of the planet Saturn in the Seventh Heaven. Arab.'Zuhal';the Kiun or Chiun of Amos vi. 26.

[136] i.e.'Pardon me if I injured thee'-- a popular phrase.

[137] A'seduction,'a charmer. The double-entendre has before been noticed.

[138] This knightly tale,the longest in the Nights (xliv.--cxlv.),about one-eighth of the whole,does not appear in the Bres. Edit. Lane,who finds it'objectionable,'reduces it to two of its episodes,Aziz-cum-Azizah and Taj al-Muluk. On the other hand it has been converted into a volume (8vo,pp. 240)

'Scharkan,Conte Arabe,'etc. Traduit par M. Asselan Riche,etc.

Paris: Dondey-Dupre. 1829. It has its longueurs and at times is longsome enough;but it is interesting as a comparison between the chivalry of Al-Islam and European knight-errantry. Although all the characters are fictitious the period is evidently in the early crusading days. Caesarea,the second capital of Palestine,taken during the Caliphate of Omar (A.H. 19) and afterwards recovered,was fortified in A.H. 353 = 963 as a base against the Arabs by the Emperor Phocas,the Arab.'Nakfur'i.e. Nicephorus.

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 修王路

    修王路

    本文不YY,不后宫。在公元2034年大科技时代,许川,一位平凡的小职员,如何在时代巨变中,蜕变成一方宇宙的霸主。
  • 念无妖

    念无妖

    那一世,她生于天庭之上,百鸟朝凤,其光璀璨。她被认作神之子,拥有万仙所妒的神躯。她初次历劫,在历劫中遇见一名凡人少年,她想许少年一世长安无灾,但后来,她因失心忘了少年,少年死于她手。她救济,在奈何桥上遇见一名男子。救济凡尘的她为了令一名男子将他亲手杀死,殊不知,这名被她杀死的男子,才是她的真心。而她的命运,就是忘记。她于千年后又遇见了他,他委身相随,可她,偏偏又记不起他……
  • A Fair Penitent

    A Fair Penitent

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 九子之有女玲珑

    九子之有女玲珑

    老皇帝年迈,太子未立;北方战事岌岌可危,民心不稳;九子夺嫡,天下风云变换;那把椅子,最终鹿死谁手?她是镇国公府的嫡次女,但真正身世成谜?不知不觉卷入夺嫡战争,如何爬出这无限漩涡?本文一对一九子系列第一部《有女玲珑》
  • 鬼谷子天髓灵文

    鬼谷子天髓灵文

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 校园大师2015年最多人追看

    校园大师2015年最多人追看

    华硕的清风不是校园的传说,用细腻而舒缓的节奏为我们讲述了这段跨度十年的多人命运,蓝天将我们领到了离那年夏天最近的地方。你们全在一伸手的距离,像窗外的蝴蝶纷飞。聊天,等待下一节课的铃声响起来。这是2015年夏天。7月9日。晴。没有云。一朵也没有。
  • QQ封神录

    QQ封神录

    一个神秘老头的一不小心,造就了一个落魄少年的意外崛起。少年突然发现自己的QQ空间的说说竟然都是封神榜里面的人物发表的。我.........是疯了么............
  • 无味

    无味

    我简单的人生,一些不入眼的随感。为自己记录。
  • 天命神女之如梦所向

    天命神女之如梦所向

    原以为就此与老公诀别生命走向结束,不曾想却莫名来到这异世。丑?废物?白痴?懦弱?任人欺凌?不!这些都不属于我!至少咱也是二十一世纪新兴美少女好不?这点打击还受得了的。既来之,则安之,我的穿越我做主哦!我去!这结婚戒指咋跟来了?原来另有乾坤啊!这那冒出的奇葩师傅来头还不小呢!路边捡了个小正太戴着和我一样的戒指也就摆了,可这哪冒出的男人咋也戴一样的啊?凤凰戒不是只有俩个吗?“喂,你谁啊?你这戒指哪来的?”“我是你老公.....”“你妹的老公,我还你老婆呢!”“嗯!”“.....”一时失误啊!咋就把自己给卖了呢!咦,等等,这个时代还没有老公这个词吧!
  • 想想那些年

    想想那些年

    少年不懂事,青年多张狂,中年土过膝,方知事沧桑!岁月无痕沧桑有迹,回首身后跌跌撞撞的经历,总有一些光阴难以磨灭的东西留在我们记忆里,有苦涩,有欢笑,有感动,有泪水,跟着这篇文章,走进那即将消逝的时光,再想想那些年......