Bagh O Bahar, or Tales of the Four Darweshes Part 16

[248] Plato is supposed by the _Muhammadans_ to have been not only a profound philosopher, but a wise physician. In short, it is too general an idea with them, that a clever man must be a good doctor.

[249] The _langot_ or _langoti_ is a piece of cloth wrapped or fastened round the loins, and tucked in between the feet. It barely conceals what civilization requires should be hid from the public view.

[250] _Ma'jun_ is the extract from the intoxicating plant called _charas_ or _bhang_, a species of hemp; it is mixed with sugar and spices to render it palatable. The inebriation it produces fills the imagination with agreeable visions, and the effects are different from those of wine or spirits.

[251] Six _mashas_ amount to nearly a quarter of an ounce; a sicca rupee weighs eleven _mashas_.

[252] Literally, "a volume of a book."

[253] This exceedingly absurd story is of Rabbinical origin. I have a strong impression on my mind of having read something very like it long ago in the works of Philo Judaeus, the contemporary of Josephus.

[254] The _Ismi A'zam_, or the "Most Mighty Name" [of G.o.d] is a magic spell or incantation which the acquirer can apply to wonderful purposes. G.o.d hath, among the _Muhammadans_, ninety-nine names or epithets; the _Ismi A'zam_ is one of the number, but it is only the initiated few who can say which of the ninety-nine it is.

[255] The word _sawab_ strictly means, "the reward received in the next world for virtuous actions performed in the present state of existence."

[256] The veiled horseman who rescued the first and second _Darweshes_ from self-destruction.

[257] A Persian proverb.

[258] _Badakhshan_ is a part of the grand province of _Khurasan_, and the city of _Balkh_ is its metropolis, to the eastward of which is a chain of mountains celebrated for producing fine rubies.

[259] All Asiatic princes, like others nearer home, have spies, called "reporters of intelligence," who inform themselves of what pa.s.ses in public. They are, as a matter of course, the pest of society, and generally corrupt.

[260] A _miskal_ is four and a half _mashas_; our ounce contains twenty-four _mashas_. So the ruby weighed more than half an ounce.

[261] The word _raja_ is the _Hindu_ term for a prince or sovereign. In more recent times it has become a mere empty t.i.tle, conferred upon rich _Hindus_ by the Emperor of _Delhi_.

[262] _Naishapur_ was once the richest and grandest city in the province of _Khurasan_. It was utterly destroyed by _Tuli_, the son of _Jenghis Khan_ (or more correctly, _Changis Ka,an_), in A.D. 1221.

[263] Seven _miskals_ are more than an ounce and a quarter.

[264] The term Farang, vulgarly Frank, was formerly applied to Christian Europe in general, with the exclusion of Russia.

[265] Literally, "kissed the ground of obeisance," a Persian phrase, expressive of profound respect.

[266] "The minister's daughter," afterwards called "the young merchant."

[267] The phrase _pachas ek_ means "about fifty." It is strange that a certain critic on this work, (who has a prodigiously high opinion of himself,) should have rendered the above pa.s.sage, "whose age was about forty or fifty years!" Most a.s.suredly, the merest tyro in _Hindustani_ can tell him that it cannot have such a lat.i.tude as to mean "about forty or fifty." He might just as correctly have said "about fifty or sixty." The phrase _pachas ek_, as I have stated, means simply "about fifty," i.e., it may be _one_ year more or less.

[268] In the text, the _wazir-zadi_ is henceforth called _saudagar-bacha_ or the young merchant, being the character under which she, for some time, figures.

[269] _morchhals_, vulgarly called _chowrees_, are fly-flaps, to drive away those troublesome companions; the best kind is made of the fine white long tail of the mountain cow; the others of the long feathers from, the peac.o.c.k's tail, or the odoriferous roots of a species of gra.s.s called _Khas_. They are likewise a part of the paraphernalia of state in India.

[270] The t.i.tle _khwaja _ means "chief," or "master;" it is generally applied to rich merchants, &c., such as we would call "men of respectability." The idiomatic London English for it is "governor,"

or (as it is p.r.o.nounced) "guv'ner".

[271] Literally, "What difficulty" (is there in so doing).

[272] The city of _Naishapur_ being some 270 miles inland, it would not be easy for the young merchant to reach it by sea. Asiatic story-tellers are not at all particular in regard to matters of geography.

[273] _'Ajam_ means, in general, Persia; the Arabs use it in the same sense as the Greeks did the word "barbarian;" and all who are not Arabs they call _'Ajami_; more especially the Persians.

[274] _Sara,e, sera,i_ or _caravanserai_, are buildings for the accommodation of travellers, merchants, &c., in cities, and on the great roads in Asia. Those in Upper _Hindustan_, built by the emperors of _Dilli_, are grand and costly; they are either of stone or burnt bricks. In Persia, they are mostly of bricks dried in the sun. In Upper _Hindustan_ they are commonly sixteen to twenty miles distant from each other, which is a _manzil_ or stage. They are generally built of a square or quadrangular form with a large open court in the centre, and contain numerous rooms for goods, men, and beasts.

[275] Literally, made excuses from the surface of his heart," i.e., not serious excuses.

[276] That is, "completely armed." Vide note 2, page 87.

[277] On the exact meaning of _dastar-khwan,_ see note, page 104.

[278] The _Musalman_ confession of faith, see note 3, page 156.

[279] The idiom "_do mahine ek_," about two months, similar to the phrase, "_pachas ek baras_," _v._ note 1, page 161.

[280] Literally, "began to smack his lips;" denoting his satisfaction.

[281] Tartar, African, and Turkish slaves.

[282] Literally, "I have not proved false in what you have entrusted to me."

[283] The coffee and pipe are always presented to visitors in Turkey, Arabia, and Persia, and they are considered as indispensable in good manners.

[284] "_dant kholne_" is fully explained in my Grammar, page 129. It appears to have sadly puzzled a learned critic, to whom I have occasionally alluded.

[285] Literally, "middle brother;" as there were three in number, of course the "second" and "middle" are identical.

[286] The _Siyum_ are the rites performed for the dead on the third day after demise; it is called the _tija_ in _Hinduwi_.

[287] Alluding to G.o.d.

[288] Or it may mean, "my blood boiled" [with resentment].

[289] The _Muhammadan_ sabbath is Friday.

[290] A _kafila_ means a company of merchants who a.s.semble and travel together for mutual protection. It is synonymous with caravan.

[291] _Bukhara_ is a celebrated city in Tartary; it was formerly the capital of the province called _Mawaralnahr_, or _Transoxiana_, before the Tartar conquerors fixed on _Samarkand_. It lies to the northward of the river _Oxus_ or _Gihun_, which divides Tartary from Persia, or as the Persian geographers term it, _Iran_, from _Turan_. _Bukhara_ is celebrated by Persian poets for its climate, its fruits, and its beautiful women.

[292] The _boza_ is an intoxicating drink made of spirits, the leaves of the _charas_ plant, _tari_, and opium. _Tari_, erroneously called _todee_, is the juice of the palm tree.

[293] Literally, ale-house, or tippling-house. One is strongly led to believe that this is the origin of our cant word _boozing-ken_, imported from the East by the gipsies some four or five centuries ago.

[294] A grateful and luxurious operation in the warm climate of India, more especially after the fatigue of travelling. _Shampooing_ is a word of uncertain etymology; the French have a better term, _ma.s.ser_. The natives say it has a physical advantage, as it quickens their languid circulation; perhaps they are right.

[295] A _kos_ is nearly two English miles, being about fifteen furlongs.

[296] Literally, "the fire was kindled in my stomach."