Supplemental Nights to the Book of the Thousand and One Nights — Volume 5 (of 6)

Chapter XVII: Part 17

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The Goodwife of Cairo and the three Rakehells, Night dccxxvi.-dccxxviii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .409 Story of the righteous Wazir wrongfully gaoled, Night dccxxviii.-dccxxxviii. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .416 Tale of the Barber, the Captain and the Cairene Youth, Night dccxxxiii.-dcxxxvii. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .430

(In the Lat. list we find "Tonsor et Juvenis Cahirensis.")

Story of the Goodwife of Cairo and her Gallants, Night dccxxxviii.-dccxliii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .444

SCOTT: "The virtuous Woman of Cairo and her Suitors," p.
380.

The Kazi's Tale of the Tailor, the Lady and the Captain,[FN#637] Night dccxlii.-dccxlvi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .455

SCOTT: "The Cauzee's Story," p. 386.

Story of the Syrian and the Three Women of Cairo, Night dccxlvi-and to end of vol. v . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .465

VOL. VI.

PAGE
Contains 365 pages, from Night dccxlvi. to Night dccclxxiii.

The following is a list of the contents:--

Continuation of the Story of the Syrian, Night dccxlvi.-dccxlix1-9 Tale of the K�im-mak�m's Lady and her two Coyntes, Night dccxlix.-dcclii. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Tale of the whorish Wife who vaunted her virtues, Night dcclii.-dcclv. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 C�lebs the Droll[FN#638] and his Wife and her four lovers, Night dcclv.-dcclx . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

SCOTT: "The Deformed Jester."

The Gate-keeper of Cairo and the wily She-Thief, Night dcclix.-dcclxv . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

SCOTT: "The aged Watchman of Cairo and the artful female
thief."

Tale of Mohsin and Musa, Night dcclxv.-dcclxxii. . . . . . . . 57

SCOTT: "Mhassun the liberal and Mousseh the treacherous
Friend."

Mohammed Shalab�[FN#639] and his Wife and the Kazi's Daughter, Night dcclxxii.-dcclxxvii. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

SCOTT: "Mahummud Julbee," etc.

The Fellah and his wicked Wife, Night dcclxxvii.-dcclxxx . . . 92 The Woman who humoured her Lover at her Husband's expense, Night dcclxxx.-dcclxxxi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .102

SCOTT: "The Adulteress."

The Kazi Schooled by his Wife, Night dcclxxxi.-dcclxxxv. . . .106 The Merchant's Daughter and the Prince of Al-Ir�k, Night dccclxv.-dcccxxiv. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118

SCOTT: "Story of the Merchant, his Daughter, and the Prince
of Eerauk," p. 391. In the text we find 'Ir�k for Al-Ir�k.

The Story of Ahmad and Ali who cuckolded their Masters, Night dcccxxiv.-dcccxxix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .225

SCOTT: "The Two Orphans."

The Fellah and his fair Wife, Night dcccxxix.-dcccxxx. . . . .241 The Youth who would futter his Father's Wives, Night dcccxxx.-dcccxxxviii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .247

SCOTT: "The Vicious Son, translating the Arab. Al-Ibn
al-Fidawi."

The two Lack-tacts of Cairo and Damascus, including the short 'Tale of the Egyptian, the Syrian and the Ass," Night dcccxxxviii.-dcccxl. . . . . .261

SCOTT: "The two wits of Cairo and Sind."

The Tale of Musa and Ibrahim, including Anecdotes of the Berberines, Night dcccxl.-dcccxliii. . . . . . . . . . . . . .271 The Brother Wazirs, Ahmad and Mohammed, Night dcccxiv.-dccclxxiii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280 And to end of vol. vi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .365

VOL. VII.

Contains 447 pages, from Night dccclxxiii.-mi.

The following is a list of the contents:--

PAGE Conclusion of the Brother Wazirs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-69 Story of the thieving Youth and his Step-mother, Night dcccxcvii.-cm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 The Kazi of Baghdad and his virtuous Wife, Night cm.-cmxi. . . 77 History of the Sultan who protected the Kazi's Wife, Night cmxi.-cmxvii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109 The Sultan of Al-'Ir�k, Zunn�r ibn Zunn�r, Night cmxvii.-cmxxi126 Ardashir, Prince of Persia, and the Princess Hay�t al-Nuf�s, daughter of Sultan K�dir, Night cmxxi.-cmlxviii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .139 Story of Shaykh Nakkit the Fisherman, Night cmlxviii.-cmlxxviii297 The Sultan of Andalusia, and the Prince of Al-'Ir�k who deflowered the Wazir's daughter; a prose replica of Al-Hayf� and Yusuf. MS. vol. v. 210. Night cmlxxviii.-cmlxxxviii. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .329 Tale of Sultan Tayl�n and the generous Fellah, Night cmlxxxviii.-cmxciv. . . . 365 The retired Sage and his Servant-lad, Night cmxcviii . . . . .414 The Merchant's Daughter who married an Emperor of China, Night cmxcviii.-mi., ending the work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .430-447

This MS. terminates The Nights with the last tale and has no especial conclusion relating the marriage of the two brother Kings with the two sisters.

Appendix II.

I.--NOTES ON THE STORIES CONTAINED IN VOLUME XIV.[FN#640]

By W. F. Kirby.

Story of the Sultan of Al-yaman and His Three Sons.

P. 9.--The hippopotamus has also been observed, at the Zoological Gardens, to scatter his dung in the manner described.

P. 13.--It is evident from the importance which the author attaches to good birth and heredity, that he would hardly approve of the Socialistic custom, so prevalent in the East, of raising men of low birth to important offices of State.

The Story of the Three Sharpers (pp. 17-35).

P. 19.--In quoting the titles of this and other tales of the Wortley Montague MS., in which the word Ja'�d� frequently occurs, Scott often wrote "labourer" or "artisan" instead of "sharper." The term "sharper" is hardly applicable here, for the fellows appear really to have possessed the knowledge to which they laid claim. The "sharpers" in this story differ much from such impostors as the Illiterate Schoolmaster (No. 93, vol. v. pp. 119-121), who escapes from his dilemma by his ready wit, or from European pretenders of the type of Grimm's Dr. Knowall, who escapes from his difficulties by mere accident; or again from our old friend Ma'aruf (No. 169), whose impudent pretensions and impostures are aided by astounding good luck.

P. 23.--This test was similar to that given to Ma'aruf (vol. x. pp. 16,17), but there is nothing in the latter passage to show whether Ma'aruf had any real knowledge of gems, or not. In the present story, the incident of the worm recalls the well-known incident of Solomon ordering worms to pierce gems for Bilkees, the Queen of Sheba.

P. 23.--English schoolboys sometimes play the "trussing game." Two boys have their wrists and ankles tied together, and their arms are passed over their knees, and a stick thrust over the arms and under the knees, and they are then placed opposite each other on the ground, and endeavour to turn each other over with their toes.

P. 25 note.--Can the word Kashmar be a corruption of Kashmiri?

History of Mohammed, Sultan of Cairo (pp. 37-49).

P. 37.--A few years ago, a travelling menagerie exhibited a pair of dog-faced baboons in Dublin as "two monstrous gorillas!"

P. 40.--Ma'aruf's jewel has been already referred to. The present incident more resembles the demand made by the king and the wazir from Aladdin and his mother, though that was far more extravagant.

Pp. 42, 43.--A more terrible form of these wedding disillusions, is when the bridegroom is entrapped into marriage by an evil magician, and wakes in the morning to find the phantom of a murdered body in the place of his phantom bride, and to be immediately charged with the crime. Compare the story of Naerdan and Guzulbec (Caylus' Oriental Tales; Weber, ii. pp. 632-637) and that of Monia Emin (Gibb's Story of Jewad, pp. 36, 75). Compare my Appendix, Nights, x. pp. 502, 508, 509.

Pp. 44, 45.--There is a Western story (one of the latest versions of which may be found in Moore's Juvenile Poems under the title of "The Ring") in which a bridegroom on his wedding-day places the ring by accident on the finger of a statue of Venus; the finger closes on it, and Venus afterwards interposes continually between him and his bride, claiming him as her husband on the strength of the ring. The unfortunate husband applies to a magician, who sends him by night to a meeting of cross-roads, where a procession similar to that described in the text passes by. He presents the magician's letters to the King (the devil in the medi�val versions of the story) who requires Venus to surrender the ring, and with it her claim to the husband.

One of the most curious stories of these royal processions is perhaps the Lithuanian (or rather Samoghitian) story of

The King of the Rats.[FN#641]

Once upon a time a rich farmer lived in a village near Korzian, who was in the habit of going into the wood late in the evening. One evening he went back again into the wood very late, when he distinctly heard the name Zurkielis shouted. He followed the voice, but could not discover from whence the sound proceeded.

On the next evening the farmer went into the wood, and did not wait long before he heard the cry repeated, but this time much louder and more distinctly. On the third evening the farmer went again to the wood; but this time on Valpurgis-night--the Witch's Sabbath. Suddenly he saw a light appear in the distance; then more lights shone out, and the light grew stronger and stronger; and presently the farmer saw a strange procession advancing, and passing by him. In front of the procession ran a great number of mice of all sorts, each of whom carried a jewel in his mouth which shone brighter than the sun. After these came a golden chariot, drawn by a lion, a bear, and two wolves. The chariot shone like fire, and, instead of nails, it was studded with dazzling jewels. In the chariot sat the King of the Rats and his consort, both clad in golden raiment. The King of the Rats wore a golden crown on his head, and his consort marshalled the procession. After the chariot followed a vast procession of rats, each of whom carried a torch, and the sparks which flew from the torches fell to the earth as jewels. Some of the rats were shouting "Zurkielis" incessantly; and whenever a rat uttered this cry, a piece of gold fell from his mouth. The procession was followed by a great number of fantastic forms, which collected the gold from the ground, and put it into large sacks. When the farmer saw this he also gathered together as much of the gold and jewels as he could reach. Presently a cock crew, and everything vanished. The farmer returned to his house, but the gold and jewels gave him a very tangible proof that the adventure had not been a dream.

A year passed by, and on the next Valpurgis-night the farmer went back to the wood, and everything happened as on the year before. The farmer became immensely rich from the gold and jewels which he collected; and on the third anniversary of the Valpurgis-night he did not go to the wood, but remained quietly at home. He was quite rich enough, and he was afraid that some harm might happen to him in the wood. But on the following morning a rat appeared, and addressed him as follows: "You took the gold and jewels, but this year you did not think it needful to pay our king and his consort the honour due to them by appearing before them during the procession in the wood; and henceforward it will go ill with you."

Having thus spoken, the rat disappeared; but shortly afterwards such a host of rats took up their abode in the farmer's house that it was impossible for him to defend himself against them. The rats gnawed everything in the house, and whatever was brought into it. In time the farmer was reduced to beggary, and died in wretchedness.

Story of the Second Lunatic (pp. 67-74).

This is a variant of "Woman's Craft" (No. 184 of our Table), or "Woman's Wiles," (Supp. Nights, ii. pp. 135-148). Mr. L. C. Smithers tells me that an English version of this story, based upon Langl�s' translation (Cf. Nights, x. App., p. 498, sub "Sindbad the Sailor"), appeared in the Literary Souvenir for 1831, under the title of "Woman's Wit."

Pp. 69-76.--Concerning the Shikk and the Nesn�s, Lane writes (1001 Nights, i., Introd. note 21): "The Shikk is another demoniacal creature, having the form of half a human being (like a man divided longitudinally); and it is believed that the Nesn�s is the offspring of a Shikk and of a human being. The Shikk appears to travellers; and it was a demon of this kind who killed, and was killed by, 'Alkamah, the son of Safw�n, the son of Umeiyeh, of whom it is well known that he was killed by a Jinnee. So says El-Kazweenee.

"The Nesn�s (above-mentioned) is described as resembling half a human being, having half a head, half a body, one arm, and one leg, with which it hops with much agility; as being found in the woods of El-Yemen, and being endowed with speech; 'but God,' it is added, 'is all-knowing.' (El-Kazweenee in the khatimeh of his work.) It is said that it is found in Hadram�t as well as El-Yemen; and that one was brought alive to El-Mutawekkil; it resembled a man in form, excepting that it had but half a face, which was in its breast, and a tail like that of a sheep. The people of Hadram�t, it is added, eat it; and its flesh is sweet. It is only generated in their country. A man who went there asserted that he saw a captured Nesn�s, which cried out for mercy, conjuring him by God and by himself. (Mi-r�t ez-Zem�n.) A race of people whose head is in the breast is described as inhabiting an island called J�beh (supposed to be Java) in the Sea of El-Hind or India; and a kind of Nesn�s is also described as inhabiting the Island of R��j, in the Sea of Es-Seen, or China, and having wings like those of the bat. (Ibn El-Wardee.)" Compare also an incident in the story of Janshah (Nights v. p. 333, and note) and the description of the giant Haluka in Forbes' translation of the Persian Romance of Hatim Tai (p. 47): "In the course of an hour the giant was so near as to be distinctly seen in shape like an immense dome. He had neither hands nor feet, but a tremendous mouth, situated in the midst of his body. He advanced with an evolving motion, and from his jaws issued volumes of flame and clouds of smoke." When his reflection was shown him in a mirror, he burst with rage.

I may add that a long-tailed species of African monkey (Cercopithecus Pyrrhonotus) is now known to naturalists as the Nisnas.

Story of the Broken-backed Schoolmaster (pp. 95-97).

I once heard a tale of two Irishmen, one of whom lowered the other over a cliff, probably in search of the nests of sea-fowl. Presently the man at the top called out, "Hold hard while I spit on my hands," so he loosed the rope for that purpose, and his companion incontinently disappeared with it.

Story of the Split-mouthed Schoolmaster (pp. 97-101).

In Scott's "Story of the Wry-mouthed Schoolmaster" (Arabian Nights, vi. pp. 74-75) the schoolmaster crams a boiling egg into his mouth, which the boy smashes.

Night Adventure of Sultan Mohammed of Cairo (pp.
90-109).

P. 103.--Scott (vi. p. 403) makes the proclamation read, "Whoever presumes after the first watch of the night to have a lamp lighted in his house, shall have his head struck off, his goods confiscated, his house razed to the ground, and his women dishonoured." A proclamation in such terms under the circumstances (though not meant seriously) would be incredible, even in the East.

Story of the Kazi Who Bare a Babe (pp. 167-185).

In the Esthonian Kalevipoeg we read of two giants who lay down to sleep on opposite sides of the table after eating a big supper of thick peas-soup. An unfortunate man was hidden under the table, and the consequence was that he was blown backwards and forwards between them all night.

History of the Bhang-Eater and His Wife (pp. 202-209).

Selling a bull or a cow in the manner described is a familiar incident in folk-lore; and in Rivi�re's "Contes Populaires Kabyles" we find a variant of the present story under the title of "L'Idiot et le Coucou." In another form, the cow or other article is exchanged for some worthless, or apparently worthless, commodity, as in Jack and the Bean-stalk; Hans im Gl�ck; or as in the case of Moses in the Vicar of Wakefield. The incident of the fool finding a treasure occurs in Cazotte's story of Xailoun.[FN#642]

How Drummer Abu Kasim Became a Kazi (pp. 210-212).

I have heard an anecdote of a man who was sued for the value of a bond which he had given payable one day after the day of judgment. The judge ruled, "This is the day of judgment, and I order that the bill must be paid to-morrow!"

Story of the Kazi and His Slipper (pp. 212-215).

This story is well known in Europe, though not as forming part of The Nights. Mr. W. A. Clouston informs me that it first appeared in Cardonne's "M�langes de litt�rature orientale" (Paris, 1770). Cf. Nights x. App. pp. 509 and 512.

History of the Third Larrikin (pp. 296-297).

Such mistakes must be very frequent. I remember once seeing a maid stoop down with a jug in her hand, when she knocked her head against the table. Some one sitting by, thinking it was the jug, observed, "Never mind, there's nothing in it."

Another time I was driving out in the country with a large party, and our host got out to walk across to another point. Presently he was missed, and they inquired, "Where is he?" There was a dog lying in the carriage, and one of the party looked round, and not seeing the dog, responded, "Why, where is the dog?"

Tale of the Fisherman and His Son (pp. 314-329).

The present story, though not very important in itself, is interesting as combining some of the features of three distinct classes of folk-tales. One of these is the anti-Jewish series, of which Grimm's story of the Jew in the Bramble-Bush is one of the most typical examples. According to these tales, any villany is justifiable, if perpetrated on a Jew. We find traces of this feeling even in Shakspeare, and to this day Shylock (notwithstanding the grievous wrongs which he had suffered at the hands of Christians) rarely gets much sympathy from modern readers, who quite overlook all the extenuating circumstances in his case.[FN#643] Nor do we always find the Jew famous for 'cuteness in folk-tales. This phase of his reputation is comparatively modern, and in the time of Horace, "Credat Jud�us" was a Roman proverb, which means, freely translated, "Nobody would be fool enough to believe it except a Jew."

The present story combines the features of the anti-Jewish tales, the Alaeddin series, and the Grateful Beasts series. (Compare Mr. W. A. Clouston's remarks on Aladdin, Supp. Nights, App. iii., pp. 564-581; and also his "Tales and Popular Fictions.")

In vol. 53 of the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (1884, pp. 24-39) I find a Nicobar story which relates how Tiomberombi received a magic mirror from a snake whose enemy he had killed. Its slaves obeyed all his orders if he only put the key into the keyhole, but he was not allowed to open the mirror, as he was too weak to face the spirits openly. He dwelt on an island, but when a hostile fleet came against him, the gunners could not hit it, as the island became invisible. The hostile chief sent an old woman to worm the secret out of Tiomberombi's wife; the mirror was stolen, and Tiomberombi and his wife were carried off. On reaching land, Tiomberombi was thrown into prison, but he persuaded the rats to fetch him the mirror.[FN#644] He destroyed his enemies, went home, and re-established himself on his island, warning his wife and mother not to repeat what had happened, lest the island should sink. They told the story while he was eating; the island sank into the sea, and they were all drowned.

The History of Abu Niyyah and Abu Niyyatayn (pp.
334-352).

This story combines features which we find separately in Nos. 3b (ba); 162 and 198. The first story, the Envier and the Envied, is very common in folk-lore, and has been sometimes used in modern fairy-tales. The reader will remember the Tailor and the Shoemaker in Hans Christian Andersen's "Eventyr." Frequently, as in the latter story, the good man, instead of being thrown into a well, is blinded by the villain, and abandoned in a forest, where he afterwards recovers his sight. One of the most curious forms of this story is the Samoghitian

Truth and Injustice.[FN#645]

Truth and Injustice lived in the same country, and one day they happened to meet, and agreed to be friends. But as Injustice brought many people into trouble, Truth declared that she would have no more to do with her, upon which Injustice grew angry, and put out the eyes of Truth. Truth wandered about for a long time at random, and at last she came to a walnut-tree, and climbed up it to rest awhile in safety from wild beasts. During the night a wolf and a mouse came to the foot of the tree, and held the following conversation. The wolf began, "I am very comfortable in the land where I am now living, for there are so many blind people there that I can steal almost any animal I like without anybody seeing me. If the blind men knew that they had only to rub their eyes with the moss which grows on the stones here in order to recover their sight, I should soon get on badly with them."

The mouse responded, "I live in a district where the people have no water, and are obliged to fetch it from a great distance. When they are away from home I can enjoy as much of their provisions as I like; indeed, I can heap together as large a store as I please without being disturbed. If the people knew that they had only to cut down a great oak tree, and a great lime tree which grow near their houses, in order to find water, I should soon be badly off."

As soon as the wolf and the mouse were gone, Truth came down from her tree, and groped about until she found a moss-covered stone, when she rubbed her eyes with the moss. She recovered her sight immediately, and then went her way till she came to the country where most of the people were blind. Truth demanded that the blind people should pay her a fixed sum of money, when she would tell them of a remedy by which they could recover their sight. The blind men gave her the money, and Truth supplied them with the remedy which had cured herself.

After this, Truth proceeded further till she came to the district where the people had no water. She told them that if they would give her a carriage and horses, she would tell them where to find water. The people were glad to agree to her proposal.

When Truth had received the carriage and horses, she showed the people the oak and the lime tree, which they felled by her directions, when water immediately flowed from under the roots in great abundance.

As Truth drove away she met Injustice, who had fallen into poverty, and was wandering from one country to another in rags. Truth knew her immediately, and asked her to take a seat in her carriage. Injustice then recognised her, and asked her how she had received the light of her eyes, and how she had come by such a fine carriage. Truth told her everything, including what she had heard from the wolf and the mouse. Injustice then persuaded her to put out her eyes, for she wanted to be rich, and to have a fine carriage too; and then Truth told her to descend. Truth herself drove away, and seldom shows herself to men.

Injustice wandered about the country till she found the walnut tree, up which she climbed. When evening came, the wolf and the fox met under the tree again to talk. Both were now in trouble, for the wolf could not steal an animal without being seen and pursued by the people, and the mouse could no longer eat meat or collect stores without being disturbed, for the people were no longer obliged to leave their home for a long time to fetch water. Both the wolf and the mouse suspected that some one had overheard their late conversation, so they looked up in search of the listener, and discovered Injustice in the tree. The animals supposed that it was she who had betrayed them, and said in anger, "May our curse be upon you that you may remain for ever blind, for you have deprived us of our means of living."

After thus speaking, the animals ran away, but Injustice has ever since remained blind, and does harm to everybody who chances to come in her way.

II.--NOTES ON THE STORIES CONTAINED IN VOLUME XV.

By W. F. KIRBY.

History of the King's Son of Sind and the Lady Fatimah
(pp. 1-18).

P. 3.--This mixture of seeds, &c., is a very common incident in folk-tales.

P. 7.--Compare the well-known incident in John xviii. 1-11, which passage, by the way, is considered to be an interpolation taken from the lost Gospel of the Hebrews.

History of the Lovers of Syria (pp. 21-36).

P. 18.--Divination by the flight or song of birds is so universal that it is ridiculous of Kreutzwald (the compiler of the Kalevipoeg) to quote the fact of the son of Kalev applying to birds and beasts for advice as being intended by the composers as a hint that he was deficient in intelligence.

In Bulwer Lytton's story of the Fallen Star (Pilgrims of the Rhine, ch. xix.) he makes the imposter Morven determine the succession to the chieftainship by means of a trained hawk.

P. 26, note 2.--Scott may possibly refer to the tradition that the souls of the dead are stored up in the trumpet of Israfil, when he speaks of the "receiving angel."

History of Al-Hajjaj Bin Yusuf and the Young Sayyid
(pp. 39-60).

P. 43, note 1.--I doubt if the story-teller intended to represent Al-Hajjaj as ignorant. The story rather implies that he was merely catechising the youth, in order to entangle him in his talk.

P. 46.--Compare the story of the Sandal-wood Merchant and the Sharpers (Nights, vi. p. 206) in which the Merchant is required to drink up the sea [or rather, perhaps, river], and requires his adversary to hold the mouth of the sea for him with his hand.

P. 52, note 3.--It is well known that children should not be allowed to sleep with aged persons, as the latter absorb their vitality.

Night Adventure of Harun Al-Rashid and the Youth Manjab
(pp. 61-105).

P. 102.--In the Danish ballads we frequently find heroes appealing to their mothers or nurses in cases of difficulty. Compare "Habor and Signild," and "Knight Stig's Wedding," in Prior's Danish Ballads, i. p. 216 and ii. p. 339.

Story of the Darwaysh and the Barber's Boy and the
Greedy Sultan (pp. 105-114).

This story belongs to the large category known to students of folk-lore as the Sage and his Pupil; and of this again there are three main groups:

1. Those in which (as in the present instance) the two remain on friendly terms.

2. Those in which the sage is outwitted and destroyed by his pupil (e.g., Cazotte's story of the Maugraby; or Spitta Bey's tales, No. 1).

3. Those in which the pupil attempts to outwit or to destroy the sage, and is himself outwitted or destroyed (e.g., The Lady's Fifth Story, in Gibb's Forty Vezirs, pp. 76-80; and his App. B. note v., p. 413).

The Loves of Al-Hayfa and Yusuf (pp. 121-210).

P. 149, note 1.--I believe that a sudden attack of this kind is always speedily fatal.

The Goodwife of Cairo and Her Four Gallants (pp.
251-294).

P. 255, note.--It may be worth while to note that Swedenborg asserts that it is unlawful in Heaven for any person to look at the back of the head of another, as by so doing he interrupts the divine influx. The foundation of this idea is perhaps the desire to avoid mesmeric action upon the cerebellum.

Tale of Mohsin and Muss (pp. 232-241).

The notes on the story of Abu Niyyat and Abu Niyyateen (supra, pp. 356) will apply still better to the present story.

The Merchant's Daughter, and the Prince of Al-irak (pp.
264-317).

Pp. 305-312.--The case of Tobias and Sara (Tobit, chaps. iii.-viii.) was very similar: but in this instance the demon Asmodeus was driven away by fumigating with the liver and heart of a fish.

Arabian Nights, Volume 15
Footnotes

[FN#1] In the same volume (ii. 161) we also find an "Introductory Chapter of the Arabian Tales," translated from an original manuscript by Jonathan Scott, Esq.; neither MS nor translation having any merit. In pp. 34, 35 (ibid.) are noticed the "Contents of a Fragment of the Arabian Nights procured in India by James Anderson, Esq., a copy of which" (made by his friend Scott) "is now in the possession of Jonathan Scott, Esq." (See Scott, vol. vi. p. 451.) For a short but sufficient notice of this fragment cf. the Appendix (vol. x. p. 497) to my Thousand Nights and a Night, the able and conscientious work of Mr. W. F. Kirby. "The Labourer and the Flying Chain" (No. x.) and "The King's Son who escaped death by the ingenuity of his Father's seven Viziers" (No. xi.) have been translated or rather abridged by Scott in his "Tales, Anecdotes and Letters" before alluded to, a vol. of pp. 446 containing scraps from the Persian "Tohfat al-Maj�lis" and "Hazliy�t' Abb�d Zahk�n�" (Faceti� of 'Abb�d the Jester), with letters from Aurangzeb and other such padding much affected by the home public in the Early XIXth Century.

[FN#2] So called from Herr Uri, a Hungarian scholar who first catalogued "The Contents."

[FN#3] W. M. MS. iv. 165�189: Scott (vi. 238�245), "Story of the Prince of Sind, and Fatima, daughter of Amir Bin Naomaun": Gauttier (vi. 342�348) Histoire du Prince de Sind et de Fatime. Sind is so called from Sindhu, the Indus (in Pers. Sind�b), is the general name of the riverine valley: in early days it was a great station of the so-called Aryan race, as they were migrating eastwards into India Proper, and it contains many Holy Places dating from the era of the Pur�n�s. The Moslems soon made acquaintance with it, and the country was conquered and annexed by Mohammed bin K�sim, sent to attack it by the famous or infamous Hajj�j bin Y�suf the Thakafite, lieutenant of Al-'Ir�k under the Ommiade Abd al-Malik bin Marw�n. For details, see my "Sind Re-visited": vol. i. chapt. viii.

[FN#4] [In MS. "shakhat," a modern word which occurs in Spitta Bey's "Contes Arabes Modernes," spelt with the palatal instead of the dental, and is translated there by "injurier."--ST.]

[FN#5] In the text "Sahr�j"; hence the "Chafariz" (fountain) of Portugal, which I derived (Highlands of the Brazil, i. 46) from "Sak�r�j." It is a "Moghrabin" word = fonte, a fountain, preserved in the Brazil and derided in the mother country, where a New World village is described as

--Chafariz,
Joam Antam e a Matriz:

which may be roughly rendered

--Parish church,
Pump on the Green and Johnny Birch.

[FN#6] [Here I suppose the scribe dropped a word, as "yaht�j," or the like, and the sentence should read: it requires, etc.--ST.]

[FN#7] In text "S�rayah," for "Sar�yah," Serai, Government House: vol. ix. 52.

[FN#8] A manner of metonymy, meaning that he rested his cheek upon his right hand.

[FN#9] For the sig. of this phrase = words suggested by the circumstances, see vol. i. 121.

[FN#10] Mr. Charles M. Doughty ("Arabia Deserta," i. 223) speaks of the Badawin who "sit beating the time away, and for pastime limning with their driving-sticks (the B�k�r) in the idle land."

[FN#11] In text "Lam yan�b al-W�hidu min-hum nisf haff�n." [I cannot explain this sentence satisfactory to myself, but by inserting "ill�" after "min-hum." Further I would read "nassaf" = libavit, delibavit, degustavit (Dozy, Suppl. s. v.) and "Hif�n," pl. of "Hafna" = handful, mouthful, small quantity, translating accordingly: "and none took his turn without sipping a few laps."--ST.]

[FN#12] "Tarajjama": Suppl. vol. iv. 188. I shall always translate it by "he deprecated" scil. evil to the person addressed.

[FN#13] [The text, as I read it, has: "In wahadtu (read wajadtu) f� h�zih al-S�'�h shayyan naakul-hu wa nam�t bi-hi nart�h min h�z� al-Taab wa'l-mashakkah la-akultu-hu" = if I could find at this hour a something (i.e. in the way of poison) which I might eat and die thereby and rest from this toil and trouble, I would certainly eat it, etc.--ST.]

[FN#14] See vol. i. 311 for this "tom-tom" as Anglo-Indians call it.

[FN#15] i.e. Whereinto the happy man was able to go, which he could not whilst the spell was upon the hoard.

[FN#16] Here ends this tale, a most lame and impotent conclusion, in the W. M. MS. iv. 189. Scott (p. 244�5) copied by Gauttier (vi. 348) has, "His father received him with rapture, and the prince having made an apology to the sultana (!) for his former rude behaviour, she received his excuses, and having no child of her own readily adopted him as her son; so that the royal family lived henceforth in the utmost harmony, till the death of the sultan and sultana, when the prince succeeded to the empire."

[FN#17] W. M. MS. iv. 189. Scott (vi. 246-258) "Story of the Lovers of Syria; or, the Heroine:" Gauttier (iv. 348-354) Histoire des Amans de Syrie.

[FN#18] Scott (vi. 246) comments upon the text:--"The master of the ship having weighed anchor, hoisted sail and departed: the lady in vain entreating him to wait the return of her beloved, or send her on shore, for he was captivated with her beauty. Finding herself thus ensnared, as she was a woman of strong mind . . . she assumed a satisfied air; and as the only way to preserve her honour, received the addresses of the treacherous master with pretended complacency, and consented to receive him as a husband at the first port at which the ship might touch."

[FN#19] The captain, the skipper, not the owner: see vols. i. 127; vi. 12; the fem. (which we shall presently find) is "Ra'isah."

[FN#20] Scott (p. 246) has:--"At length the vessel anchored near a city, to which the captain went to make preparations for his marriage; but the lady, while he was on shore, addressed the ship's crew, setting forth with such force his treacherous conduct to herself, and offering such rewards if they would convey her to her lover at the port they had left, that the honest sailors were moved in her favour, agreed to obey her as their mistress, and hoisting sail, left the master to shift for himself."

[FN#21] In text "Kamrah," = the chief cabin, from the Gr. ?a�??a = vault; Pers. Kamar; Lat. "Camera" or "Camara"; Germ. "Kammer." It is still the popular term in Egypt for the "cuddy," which is derived from Pers. "Kadah" = a room.

[FN#22] Scott makes the doughty damsel (p. 249), "relate to them her own adventures, and assure them that when she should have rejoined her lover, they should, if they chose it, be honourably restored to their homes; but in the mean time she hoped they would contentedly share her fortunes."

[FN#23] In text "Fid�wi," see "Fid�'i" and "Fidaw�yah," suppl. vol. iv. 281.

[FN#24] [In the text "Al-K�z�n�t," pl. of "K�z�n," which occurs in Spitta Bey's tales under the form "Kaz�n" on account of the accent. It is the Turkish "Kazgh�n," vulgarly pronounced "Kazan," and takes in Persian generally the form "Kazk�n." In Night 652 it will be met again in the sense of crucibles.--ST.]

[FN#25] In text "Banj al-tayy�r," i.e. volatile: as we should say, that which flies fastest to the brain.

[FN#26] This marvellous bird, the "Ter-il-bas" (Tayr T��s?), is a particular kind of peacock which is introduced with a monstrous amount of nonsense about "Dagon and his son Bil-il-Sanan" and made to determine elections by alighting upon the head of one of the candidates in Chavis and Cazotte, "History of Yamalladdin (Jam�l al-Din), Prince of Great Katay" (Kh�t� = Cathay = China). See Heron, iv. 159.

[FN#27] Lit. "hath given it to him."

[FN#28] Arab. "Jih�z," the Egypt. "Gah�z," which is the Scotch "tocher," and must not be confounded with the "Mahr" = dowry, settled by the husband upon the wife. Usually it consists of sundry articles of dress and ornament, furniture (matting and bedding carpets, divans, cushions and kitchen utensils), to which the Badawi add "Girbahs" (water-skins), querns, and pestles with mortars. These are usually carried by camels from the bride's house to the bridegroom's: they are the wife's property, and if divorced she takes them away with her and the husband has no control over the married woman's capital, interest or gains. For other details see Lane M.E. chapt. vi. and Herklots chapt. xiv. sec. 7.

[FN#29] [Arab. "Shuw�r" = trousseau, whence the verb "shawwara binta-hu" = he gave a marriage outfit to his daughter. See Dozy Suppl. s. v. and Arnold's Chrestom. 157, 1. --ST.]

[FN#30] Arab. "Ghash�m," see vol. ii. 330. It is a favourite word in Egypt extending to Badawi-land, and especially in Cairo, where it is looked upon as slighting if not insulting.

[FN#31] The whole of the scene is a replica of the marriage between Kamar al-Zam�n and that notable blackguard the Lady Bud�r (vol. iii. 211), where also we find the pigeon slaughtered (p. 289). I have mentioned that the blood of this bird is supposed throughout the East, where the use of the microscope is unknown, and the corpuscles are never studied, most to resemble the results of a bursten hymen, and that it is the most used to deceive the expert eyes of midwives and old matrons. See note to vol. iii. p. 280.

[FN#32] Scott (p. 254) makes his heroine "erect a most magnificent caravanserai, furnished with baths hot and cold, and every convenience for the weary traveller." Compare this device with the public and royal banquet (p. 212) contrived by the slave-girl sultaness, the charming Zumurrud or Smaragdine in the tale of Ali Sh�r, vol. iv. 187.

[FN#33] In text "Shakhs," see vol. iii. 26; viii. 159.

[FN#34] This assemblage of the dramatis person� at the end of the scene, highly artistic and equally improbably, reminds us of the ending of King Omar bin al-Nu'uman (vol. iii. 112).

[FN#35] The King and the Minister could not have recognised the portrait as neither had seen the original.

[FN#36] In text "Ishtalaka" = he surmised, discovered (a secret).

[FN#37] In the Arab. "she knew them," but the careless storyteller forgets the first part of his own story.

[FN#38] Story-telling being servile work.

[FN#39] [In the MS. "istanat� l�-ha." The translation in the text presupposes the reading "istanatt�" as the 10th form of "natt" = he jumped, he leaped. I am inclined to take it for the 8th form of "sanat," which according to Dozy stands in its 2nd form "sannat" for "sannat," a transposition of the classical "nassat" = he listened to. The same word with the same meaning of "listening attentively," recurs in the next line in the singular, applying to the captain and the following pronoun "la-h�" refers in both passages to "Hik�yah," tale, not to the lady-sultan who reveals herself only later, when she has concluded her narrative.--ST.]

[FN#40] Here the converse is probably meant, as we have before seen.

[FN#41] Scott ends (p. 258) "Years of unusual happiness passed over the heads of the fortunate adventurers of this history, until death, the destroyer of all things, conducted them to a grave which must one day be the resting-place for ages of us all, till the receiving (?) angel shall sound his trumpet."

[FN#42] Scott (vi. 259-267), "Story of Hyjuaje, the tyrannical Governor of Coufeh, and the Young Syed." For the difference between the "Sayyid" (descendant of Hasan) and the "Shar�f," derived from Husayn, see vol. v. 259. Being of the Holy House the youth can truly deny that he belongs to any place or race, as will be seen in the sequel.

[FN#43] This masterful administrator of the Caliphate under the early Ommiades is noticed in vols. iv. 3, vii. 97. The succession to the Prophet began--as mostly happens in the proceedings of elective governments, republics, and so forth--with the choice of a nobody, "Abubakr the Veridical," a Meccan merchant, whose chief claim was the glamour of the Apostolate. A more notable personage, and seen under the same artificial light, was "Omar the Justiciary," also a trader of Meccah, who was murdered for an act of injustice. In Osman nepotism and corruption so prevailed, while distance began to dim the Apostolic glories, that the blood-thirsty turbulence of the Arab was aroused and caused the death of the third Caliph by what we should call in modern phrase "lynching." Ali succeeded, if indeed we can say he succeeded at all, to an already divided empire. He was the only one of the four who could be described as a man of genius, and therefore he had a host of enemies: he was a poet, a sage, a moralist and even a grammarian; brave as a lion, strong as a bull, a successful and experienced captain, yet a complete failure as a King. A mere child in mundane matters, he ever acted in a worldly sense as he should have avoided acting, and hence, after a short and disastrous reign, he also was killed. His two sons, Hasan and Husayn, inherited all the defects and few of the merits of their sire: Hasan was a pauvre diable, whose chief characteristic was addiction to marriage, and by poetical justice one of his wives murdered him. Husayn was of stronger mould, but he fought against the impossible; for his rival was Mu'�wiyah, the Cavour of the Age, the longest-headed man in Arabia, and against Yez�d, who, like Italy of the present day, flourished and prospered by the artificial game which the far-seeing politician, his father, had bequeathed to his house--the Ommiade. The fourth of this dynasty, 'Abd al-Malik bin Marw�n, "the Father of Flies," and his successor, Al-Walid, were happy in being served thoroughly and unscrupulously by Al-Hajj�j, the ablest of Lieutenants, whose specialty it was to take in hand a revolted province, such as Al-Hij�z, Al-Ir�k, or Khor�s�n, and to slaughter it into submission; besides deaths in battle he is computed to have slain 120,000 men. He was an unflinching preacher of the Divine Right of Kings and would observe that the Lord says, "Obey Allah an ye can" (conditional), but as regards royal government "Hearing and obeying" (absolute); ergo, all opposition was to be cut down and uprooted. However, despite his most brilliant qualities, his learning, his high and knightly sense of honour, his insight and his foresight (e.g. in building W�sit), he won an immortality of infamy: he was hated by his contemporaries, he is the subject of silly tale and offensive legend (e.g., that he was born without anus, which required opening with instruments, and he was suckled by Satan's orders on blood), and he is still execrated as the tyrant, per excellentiam, and the oppressor of the Holy Family--the children and grand-children of the Apostle.

The traditional hatred of Al-Hajjaj was envenomed by the accession of the Abbasides and this dynasty, the better to distinguish itself from the Ommiades, affected love for the Holy Family, especially Ali and his descendants, and a fanatical hatred against their oppressors. The following table from Ibn Khald�n (Introduct. xxii.) shows that the Caliphs were cousins, which may account for their venomous family feud.

[First Version]

[Second Version]

'Abd Manaf, father of Hashim and Abd Shams
Hashim, father of Abd al-Muttalib
Abd al-Muttalib, father of Al-Abbas, Abdullah, and Abu Talib
Al-Abbas, father of Abdullah
Abdullah, father of Ali
Ali, father of Mohammed
Mohammed, father of Al-Saff�h (1st Abbaside)
Abdullah, father of Mohammed
Mohammed, father of Fatimah, who married Ali
(son of Abu Talib)
Fatimah, mother of Al-Hasan and Al-Husayn
Abu Talib, father of Ali
Abd Shams, father of Umayyah
Umayyah, father of Harb and Abu 'l-Aus
Harb, father of Abu Sufyan
Abu Sufyan, father of Mu'awiyah (1st Ommiade)
Abu 'l-Aus, father of Al-Hakim
Al-Hakim, father of Marwan

[FN#44] [The word here translated "invited guest" reads in the MS. "Mad'�r." In this form it is no dictionary word, but under the root "D'r" I find in the Muh�t: "wa 'l-'�matu tak�lu ful�nun da'irun ya'n� ghal�zun j�fin" = the common people say such a one is "da'ir," i.e., rude, churlish. "Mad'�r" may be a synonym and rendered accordingly: as though thou wert a boor or clown.--ST]

[FN#45] A neat specimen of the figure anachronism. Al-Hajjaj died in A.H. 95 (= A.D. 714), and Cairo was built in A.H. 358 (= A.D. 968).

[FN#46] Perfectly true even in the present day. The city was famed for intelligence and sanguinary fanaticism; and no stranger in disguise could pass through it without detection. This ended with the massacre of 1840, which brought a new era into the Moslem East. The men are, as a rule, fine-looking, but they seem to be all show: we had a corps of them in the old B�sh-Buzuks, who, after a month or two in camp, seemed to have passed suddenly from youth into old age.

[FN#47] In text, "Yasta'amil�na al-Mrd," which may have a number of meanings, e.g. "work frowardness" (Maradd), or "work the fruit of the tree Ar�k" (Marad = wild capparis) and so forth. I have chosen the word mainly because "Murd" rhymes to "Burd." The people of Al-Yaman are still deep in the Sotadic Zone and practice; this they owe partly to a long colonization of the "'Ajam," or Persians. See my Terminal Essay, � "Pederasty," p. 205.

[FN#48] "Burd," plur. of "Burdah" = mantle or woollen plaid of striped stuff: vol. vii. 95. They are still woven in Arabia, but they are mostly white.

[FN#49] So in Tabari (vol. III. 127) Al Hajj�j sees a man of haughty mien (Abd al-Rahm�n bin Abdullah), and exclaims, "Regarde comme il est orgueilleux: par Dieu, j'aurais envie de lui couper la t�te!"

[FN#50] [The phrase is Koranic (viii. 24): "Wa 'lam� anna 'll�ha yah�lu bayna 'l-mari wa kalbi-hi," which Rodwell translates: Know that God cometh in between man and his own heart.--ST]

[FN#51] "Yathrib," the classical name ?at??ppa, one of the multifarious titles of what is called in full "Mad�nat al-Nabi," City of the Prophet, and vulgarly, Al-Madinah, the City. "Tayyibah," the good, sweet, or lawful: "Al-Munawwarah" = the enlightened, i.e. by the light of The Faith and the column of (odylic) flame supposed to be based upon the Prophet's tomb. For more, see my Pilgrimage, ii. 162. I may note how ridiculously the story-teller displays ignorance in Al-Hajjaj, who knew the Moslem's Holy Land by heart.

[FN#52] In text "Taaw�l," = the commentary or explanation of Moslem Holy Writ: "Tanz�l" = coming down, revelation of the Koran: "Tahr�m" = rendering any action "har�m" or unlawful, and "Tahl�l" = the converse, making word or deed canonically legal. Those are well-known theological terms.

[FN#53] The Ban� Gh�lib, whose eponymous forefather was Gh�lib, son of Fihr, the well-known ancestor of Mohammed.

[FN#54] In text "Hasab wa Nasab." It is told of Al-Mu'izz bi D�ni'llah, first Fatimite Caliph raised to the throne of Egypt, that he came forward to the elective assembly and drew his sword half way out of the scabbard and exclaimed "H�z� Nasab�" (this is my genealogy); and then cast handfuls of gold amongst the crowd, crying, "H�z� Hasab�" (such is my title to reign). This is as good as the traditional saying of Napoleon the Great at his first assuming the iron crown--"God gave her to me; woe for whoso toucheth her" (the crown).

[FN#55] [In MS. "takhsa-u," a curious word of venerable yet green old age, used in the active form with both transitive and intransitive meaning: to drive away (a dog, etc.), and to be driven away. In the Koran (xxiii. 110) we find the imper. "ikhsa�" = be ye driven away, and in two other places (ii. 61, vii. 166), the nomen agentis "kh�si" = "scouted" occurs, as applied to the apes into which the Sabbath-breaking Jews were transformed. In the popular language of the present day it has become equivalent with "kh�ba," to be disappointed, and may here be translated: thou wilt fail ignominiously.--ST]

[FN#56] Scott introduces (p. 262), "the tyrant, struck with his magnanimity, became calm, and commanding the executioner to release the youth, said, For the present I forbear, and will not kill thee unless thy answers to my further questions shall deserve it. They then entered on the following dialogue: Hyjuawje hoping to entrap him in discourse."

[FN#57] See the dialogue on this subject between Al-Hajjaj and Y�hy� ibn Yamar in Ibn Khallikan, iv. 60.

[FN#58] Surah xxxiii. (The Confederates), v. 40, which ends, "And Allah knoweth all things."

[FN#59] Surah lix. (The Emigration), v. 40: the full quotation would be, "The spoil, taken from the townsfolk and assigned by Allah to His Apostle, belongeth to Allah and to the Apostle and to his kindred and to the orphan and to the poor and to the wayfarer, that naught thereof may circulate among such only of you as be rich. What the Apostle hath given you, take. What he hath refused you, refuse. And fear ye Allah, for Allah is sure in punishing."

[FN#60] The House of H�shim, great-grandfather to the Prophet.

[FN#61] Ibn Khallikan (vol. i. 354) warns us that "Al-Ta�" means belonging to the Ta� which is a famous tribe. This relative adjective is of irregular formation; analogy would require it to be T��; but the formation of relative adjectives admits some variations; thus from dahr (time) is derived duhr� (temporal) and from sahl (a plain), suhl� (plain, level). The author might also have told us that there is always a reason for such irregularities; thus "Dahr�" (from Dahr) would mean a Mundanist, one who believes in this world and not the next or another.

[FN#62] The "Ban� Thak�f" was a noble tribe sprung from Iy�d (Ibn Khallikan i. 358-363); but the ignorant and fanatic scribe uses every means, fair and foul, to defame Al-Hajjaj. It was a great race and a well known, living about T�if in the Highlands East of Meccah, where they exist to the present day. Mr. Doughty (loc. cit. ii. 174) mentions a kindred of the Juhaynah Badawin called El-Thegif (Thak�f) of whom the Medinites say, "Allah ya'alan Theg�f Kudd�m takuf" (God damn the Theg�f ere thou stand still). They are called "Yahud" (Jews), probably meaning pre-Islamitic Arabs, and are despised accordingly.

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Supplemental Nights to the Book of the Thousand and One Nights — Volume 5 (of 6)Chapter XVII: Part 17

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