The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan Part 47

[Footnote 36: _Isauvi_, a follower of Jesus.]

[Footnote 37: This is the most approved form of speech among well- educated Persians whenever any allusion to the mysteries of the harem is intended.]

[Footnote 38: A piastre is about two shillings.]

[Footnote 39: This dye is used throughout the whole of Asia, and produces a strong orange or auburn colour. The Persians dye the whole of their hands as far as the wrist with it, and also the soles of their feet. The Turks more commonly only tinge the nails; both use it for the hair.]

[Footnote 40: The Yezeedies are a tribe of the Curds, who are said to worship the devil.]

[Footnote 41: The Persians give the most magnificent names to their negro slaves. Thus Nur Jehan means "light of the world."]

[Footnote 42: Khanum is the t.i.tle usually given to a Persian lady, and is equivalent to "madam."]

[Footnote 43: The priest is so called who invites the Mohamedans to prayers from the minaret, or from the roof of the mosque.]

[Footnote 44: This no doubt relates to certain mysterious and obscene customs which are said to be practised among the Yezeedies, at the village of Kerrund, in the Curdistan, and peculiar to the tribe of Nusiri, commonly called Chiragh Kush, or lamp extinguishers.

Antiquarians pretend in them to trace a resemblance to the abominable worship of Venus, as practised by the Babylonians, and recorded in Herodotus, book i. sect. cxcix.]

[Footnote 45: The _cherkajis_ (literally wheelers about) in Oriental armies are skirmishers, who are thrown out from the main body to engage in the fight, and are generally esteemed the most expert hors.e.m.e.n and the best soldiers.]

[Footnote 46: The point to which the Mohamedans turn in prayer.]

[Footnote 47: Light of the world. The Persians are apt to give high- sounding names to their slaves, and particularly to the guardians of their women.]

[Footnote 48: Aga is used in the sense of master.]

[Footnote 49: The surme is a collyrium.]

[Footnote 50: The sham is, in truth, the evening meal, and is served up at sunset.]

[Footnote 51: The ceremony of the _pahendaz_ consists in spreading rich stuffs for the king to walk upon.]

[Footnote 52: This is an ancient Persian custom, and is supposed to secure good fortune--sweetness, and consequently sugar, being an emblem of felicity.]

[Footnote 53: The _musnud_, in Eastern acceptation, is, in fact, the throne; but on occasions such as the one here described the mode of making a musnud is to double up a thick carpet, by which means there is only room for one person to be seated upon it.]

[Footnote 54: Catherine II. is so styled by the Persians.]

[Footnote 55: Kizzil Bash, or Red Head, is a sort of nickname given from old times to the Persians.]

[Footnote 56: The inner, or women's apartment.]

[Footnote 57: _Mumiai_ and _pahzer_ are antidotes in which the Persians have great faith. Our bezoar is evidently a corruption of pahzer.]

[Footnote 58: This is a Persian idiom, and is intended to denote the fascinations of a brunette.]

[Footnote 59: The _jika_ is an upright ornament worn in front of the crown, and is an insignia of royalty.]

[Footnote 60: Roast meat.]

[Footnote 61: So Hippocrates is called in Persia.]

[Footnote 62: The gate of the palace, where public business is transacted.]

[Footnote 63: Perhaps the description of this personage will bring to the recollection of those who were in Persia in the years 1813 and 1814 the character of the nasakchi bashi of that day.]

[Footnote 64: Luti here is used in the sense of polisson.]

[Footnote 65: Celebrated heroes in the _Shah Nameh_, a book which is believed, by the present Persians, to contain their ancient history.]

[Footnote 66: Strict Mussulmans hold silk unclean.]

[Footnote 67: In the direction of Mecca.]

[Footnote 68: The third month in the Arabic calendar.]

[Footnote 69: A ghez is not quite a yard.]

[Footnote 70: _Shir bi pir_--a lion without a saint, is a favourite Persian epithet, when applied to a desperado, a fellow without compa.s.sion.]

[Footnote 72: A maun is seven pounds and a half; a miscal, twenty-four grains.]

[Footnote 73: The Shah's great diamond, which he wears in one of his armlets, is called the _koh nur_, or the mountain of light.]

[Footnote 74: The camel tie is made by fastening the lower and upper limb of one of the forelegs together, which is done to prevent an unruly animal from straying from the pasture ground.]

[Footnote 75: It is supposed that the instruments here alluded to were hand-grenades.]

[Footnote 76: Ha.s.san Khan Serdan, the governor of Erivan, was said to have attacked Armenian villages in the manner here described, by throwing grenades into the houses from the orifice at the top.]

[Footnote 77: This is a circ.u.mstance which is said to have really happened.]

[Footnote 78: I.e. Mecca, to which all Mohamedans turn in their prayers.]

[Footnote 79: Khon-khor, literally "blood-drinker"; so the Sultan of Roum, or Turkey, is styled in Persia.]

[Footnote 80: The kabob shops at Constantinople are eating-houses, where, at a moment's notice, a dish of roast meat, and small bits of meat done on skewers, are served up to whoever asks for them.]

[Footnote 81: So the Persians call Freemasons, about whom they are very inquisitive.]

[Footnote 82: Sheikh Attar and Jelaledin Rumi are the two great doctors of the Sufies.]

[Footnote 83: A mollah who is a schoolmaster is also styled ahkon.]

[Footnote 84: It is a popular belief that near the city of Kashan there exists a well of fabulous depth, at the bottom of which are found enchanted groves and gardens.]

[Footnote 85: A real is about two shillings--eight reals one tomaun.]