Shorter Novels, Eighteenth Century Part 40

PAGE 235. _... melodious Philomel, I am thy rose_

The pa.s.sion of the nightingale for the rose is celebrated over all the East. Thus Mesihi, as translated by Sir W. Jones:

"Come, charming maid, and hear thy poet sing, Thyself the rose, and he the bird of spring: Love bids him sing, and love will be obey'd, Be gay; too soon the flowers of spring will fade."

PAGE 236. _... calenders_

These were a sort of men amongst the Mahometans who abandoned father and mother, wife and children, relations and possessions, to wander through the world, under a pretence of religion, entirely subsisting on the fortuitous bounty of those they had the address to dupe.--D'HERBELOT, _Suppl._, p. 204.

PAGE 236. _... santons_

A body of religionists, who were also called abdals, and pretended to be inspired with the most enthusiastic raptures of divine love. They were regarded by the vulgar as _saints_.--OLEARIUS, tom. i, p. 971.

D'HERBELOT, p. 5.

PAGE 236. _... dervishes_

The term _dervish_ signifies a _poor man_, and is the general appellation by which a religious amongst the Mahometans is named. There are, however, discriminations that distinguish this cla.s.s from the others already mentioned. They are bound by no vow of poverty, they abstain not from marriage, and, whenever disposed, they may relinquish both their blue shirt and profession.--D'HERBELOT, _Suppl._, 214. It is observable, that these different orders, though not established till the reign of Na.s.ser al Samani, are notwithstanding mentioned by our author as coeval with Vathek, and by the author of the _Arabian Nights_ as existing in the days of Haroun al Raschid; so that the Arabian fabulists appear as inattentive to chronological exactness in points of this sort as our immortal dramatist himself.

PAGE 236. _... Brahmins_

These const.i.tuted the princ.i.p.al caste of the Indians, according to whose doctrine _Brahma_, from whom they are called, is the first of the three created beings by whom the world was made. This Brahma is said to have communicated to the Indians four books, in which all the sciences and ceremonies of their religion are comprised. The word Brahma, in the Indian language, signifies _pervading all things_. The Brahmins lead a life of most rigid abstinence refraining not only from the use, but even the touch, of animal food; and are equally exemplary for their contempt of pleasures and devotion to philosophy and religion.--D'HERBELOT, p.

212. BRUCKERI _Hist. Philosoph._, tom. i, p. 194.

PAGE 236. _... fakirs_

This sect were a kind of religious anch.o.r.ets, who spent their whole lives in the severest austerities and mortification. It is almost impossible for the imagination to form an extravagance that has not been practised by some of them, to torment themselves. As their reputation for sanct.i.ty rises in proportion to their sufferings, those amongst them are reverenced the most, who are most ingenious in the invention of tortures, and persevering in enduring them. Hence some have persisted in sitting or standing for years together in one unvaried posture, supporting an almost intolerable burden, dragging the most c.u.mbrous chains, exposing their naked bodies to the scorching sun, and hanging with the head downward before the fiercest fires.--_Relig. Ceremon._, vol. iii, p. 264, etc. WHITE'S _Sermons_, p. 504.

PAGE 237. _... Visnow and Ixhora_

Two deities of the East Indians, concerning whose history and adventures more nonsense is related than can be found in the whole compa.s.s of mythology besides. The traditions of their votaries are, no doubt, allegorical; but without a key to disclose their mystic import, they are little better than senseless jargon.

PAGE 237. _... talapoins_

This order, which abounds in Siam, Laos, Pegu, and other countries, consists of different cla.s.ses, and both s.e.xes, but chiefly of men.--_Relig. Ceremon._, vol. iv, p. 62, etc.

PAGE 237. _... small plates of abominations_

The Koran hath established several distinctions relative to different kinds of food, in imitation of the Jewish prescriptions; and many Mahometans are so scrupulous as not to touch the flesh of any animal over which, _in articulo mortis_, the butcher had omitted to p.r.o.nounce the _Bismillah_.--_Relig. Ceremon._, vol. vii, p. 110.

PAGE 238. _... fish which they drew from a river_

According to Le Bruyn, the Oriental method of fishing with a line, is by winding it round the finger, and when the fisherman feels that the bait is taken, he draws in the string with alternate hands: in this way, he adds, a good dish of fish is soon caught. Tom. i, p. 564. It appears, from a circ.u.mstance related by Galand, that Vathek was fond of this amus.e.m.e.nt.--D'HERBELOT, _Suppl._, p. 210.

PAGE 238. _Sinai_

This mountain is deemed by Mahometans the n.o.blest of all others, and even regarded with the highest veneration, because the divine law was promulgated from it.--D'HERBELOT, p. 812.

PAGE 238. _Peris_

The word _Peri_, in the Persian language, signifies that beautiful race of creatures which const.i.tutes the link between angels and men. The Arabians call them _Ginn_, or genii, and we (from the Persian, perhaps) _Fairies_: at least, the peris of the Persian romance correspond to that imaginary cla.s.s of beings in our poetical system. The Italians denominate them _Fata_, in allusion to their power of charming and enchanting; thus the _Manto fatidica_ of Virgil is rendered in _Orlando_, _La Fata Manto_. The term ginn being common to both peris and dives, some have erroneously fancied that the peris were female dives. This appellation, however, served only to discriminate their common nature from the angelic and human, without respect to their qualities, moral or personal. Thus, the dives are hideous and wicked, whilst the peris are beautiful and good. Amongst the Persian poets, the beauty of the peris is proverbial: insomuch that a woman superlatively handsome, is styled by them, _the offspring of a Peri_.

PAGE 239. _... b.u.t.terflies of Cashmere_

The same insects are celebrated in an unpublished poem of Mesihi. Sir Anthony Shirley relates, that it was customary in Persia, "to hawke after b.u.t.terflies with sparrows, made to that use, and stares." It is, perhaps, to this amus.e.m.e.nt that our author alludes in the context.

PAGE 240. _Megnoun and Leilah_

These personages are esteemed amongst the Arabians as the most beautiful, chaste, and impa.s.sioned of lovers; and their amours have been celebrated with all the charms of verse, in every Oriental language. The Mahometans regard them, and the poetical records of their love, in the same light as the Bridegroom and Spouse, and the Song of Songs, are regarded by the Jews.--D'HERBELOT, p. 573.

PAGE 240. _... they still detained him in the harem_

Noureddin, who was as old as Gulchenrouz, had a similar indulgence of resorting to the harem, and no less availed himself of it.--_Arabian Nights_, vol. iii, pp. 9, 10.

PAGE 240. _... dart the lance in the chase_

Throwing the lance was a favourite pastime with the young Arabians; and so expert were they in this practice (which prepared them for the mightier conflicts, both of the chase and of war), that they could bear off a ring on the points of their javelins.--RICHARDSON'S _Dissertation on the Languages, etc., of Eastern Nations_, pp. 198, 281.

PAGE 240. _Shaddukian and Ambreabad_

These were two cities of the peris, in the imaginary region of _Ginnistan_: the former signifies _pleasure_ and _desire_, the latter, _the city of Ambergris_.--See RICHARDSON'S _Dissertation on the Languages, etc., of Eastern Nations_, p. 169.

PAGE 242. _... a spoon of c.o.c.knos_

The c.o.c.knos is a bird whose beak is much esteemed for its beautiful polish, and sometimes used as a spoon. Thus, in the _History of Atalmulck and Zelica Begum_, it was employed for a similar purpose: "Zelica having called for refreshment, six old slaves instantly brought in and distributed _Mahramas_, and then served about in a great basin of Martabam, a salad _made of herbs of various kinds, citron juice, and the pith of cuc.u.mbers_. They served it first to the Princess in a _c.o.c.knos beak_: she took a beak of the salad, ate it, and gave another to the next slave that sat by her on her right hand; which slave did as her mistress had done."

PAGE 243. _Ghouls_

Ghoul, or _ghul_, in Arabic, signifies any terrifying object, which deprives people of the use of their senses. Hence it became the appellative of that species of monster which was supposed to haunt forests, cemeteries, and other lonely places; and believed not only to tear in pieces the living, but to dig up and devour the dead.--RICHARDSON'S _Dissertation on the Languages, etc., of Eastern Nations_, pp. 174, 274.