The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night Volume XII Part 20

[FN#8] These policemen's tales present a curious contrast with the detective stories of M. Gaboriau and his host of imitators.

In the East the police, like the old Bow Street runners, were and are still recruited princ.i.p.ally amongst the criminal cla.s.ses on the principle of "Set a thief," &c. We have seen that the Barmecide Wazirs of Baghdad "antic.i.p.ated Fourier's doctrine of the pa.s.sionel treatment of lawless inclinations," and employed as subordinate officers, under the Wali or Prefect of Police, accomplished villains like Ahmad al-Danaf (vol. iv. 75), Hasan Shuuman and Mercury Ali (ibid.) and even women (Dalilah the Crafty) to coerce and checkmate their former comrades. Moreover a gird at the police is always acceptable, not only to a coffee-house audience, but even to a more educated crowd; witness the treatment of the "Charley" and the "Bobby" in our truly English pantomimes.

[FN#9] i.e. the Chief of Police, as the sequel shows.

[FN#10] About 4.

[FN#11] i.e. of the worlds visible and invisible.

[FN#12] Arab. "Mukaddam:" see vol. iv, 42.

[FN#13] "Faithful of Command;" it may be a t.i.tle as well as a P.

N. For "Al-Amin," see vol. iv. 261.

[FN#14] i. e. "What have I to do with, etc.?" or "How great is the difference between me and her." The phrase is still popular in Egypt and Syria; and the interrogative form only intensifies it. The student of Egyptian should always try to answer a question by a question. His labours have been greatly facilitated by the conscientious work of my late friend Spitta Bey. I tried hard to persuade the late Rogers Bey, whose knowledge of Egyptian and Syrian (as opposed to Arabic) was considerable, that a simple grammar of Egyptian was much wanted; he promised to undertake it) but death cut short the design.

[FN#15] Arab. "Nawwab," plur. of Naib (lit. deputies, lieutenants)=a Nabob. Till the unhappy English occupation of Egypt, the grand old Kil'ah (Citadel) contained the palace of the Pasha and the lodgings and offices of the various officials.

Foreign rulers, if they are wise, should convert it into a fort with batteries commanding the town, like that of Hyderabad, in Sind.

[FN#16] For this famous and time-honoured building, see vol. i.

269.

[FN#17] Arab. "Tamkin," gravity, a.s.surance.

[FN#18] Arab. " Iyal-hu" lit. his family, a decorous circ.u.mlocution for his wives and concubines.

[FN#19] Arab. "Darb," lit. a road; here a large thoroughfare.

[FN#20] When Mohammed Ali Pasha (the "Great") began to rule, he found Cairo "stifled" with filth, and gave orders that each householder, under pain of confiscation, should keep the street before his house perfectly clean. This was done after some examples had been made and the result was that since that time Cairo never knew the plague. I am writing at Tangier where a Mohammed Ali is much wanted.

[FN#21] i.e. Allah forfend!

[FN#22] Arab. "Mustauda'"=a strong place where goods are deposited and left in charge.

[FN#23] Because, if she came to grief, the people of the street, and especially those of the adjoining houses would get into trouble. Hence in Moslem cities, like Damascus and Fez, the Harat or quarters are closed at night with strong wooden doors, and the guards will not open them except by means of a silver key.

Mohammed Ali abolished this inconvenience, but fined and imprisoned all night-walkers who carried no lanterns. See Pilgrimage, vol. i. 173,

[FN#24] As Kazi of the quarter he was ex-officio guardian of the orphans and their property, and liable to severe punishment (unless he could pay for the luxury) in case of fraud or neglect.

[FN#25] Altogether six thousand dinars=3000. This sentence is borrowed from the sequel and necessary to make the sense clear.

[FN#26] i.e. "I am going at once to complain of thee before the king unless thou give me due satisfaction by restoring the money and finding the thief."

[FN#27] The Practice (of the Prophet) and the Holy Law (Koranic): see vols. v. 36, 167 and i. 169.

[FN#28] In the corrupt text "Who knew me not;" thus spoiling the point.

[FN#29] Arab. "Maut Ahmar"=violent or b.l.o.o.d.y death. For the various coloured deaths, see vol. vi. 250.

[FN#30] i.e. for lack of sleep.

[FN#31] i.e. of the Kazi.

[FN#32] Arab. "Mubah," in the theologic sense, an action which is not sinful (haram) or quasisinful (makruh); vulgarly "permitted, allowed"; so Shahrazad "ceased to say her say permitted" (by Shahryar).

[FN#33] Arab. "Ya Khawand"; see vol. vii. 315.

[FN#34] i.e. we both make different statements equally credible, but without proof, and the case will go against me, because thou art the greater man.

[FN#35] Arab. "Irtiyad"=seeking a place where to stale, soft and sloping, so that the urine spray may not defile the dress. All this in one word!

[FN#36] Arab. "Bahar," the red buphthalmus sylvester often used for such comparisons. In Algeria it is called 'Arawah: see the Jardin Parfume, p. 245, note 144.

[FN#37] i.e. parties.

[FN#38] i.e. amongst men.

[FN#39] Almost as neat as "ou sont les neiges d'autan?"

[FN#40] Arab. "adi," one transgressing, an enemy, a scoundrel.

[FN#41] It was probably stuck in the ground like an amphora.

[FN#42] i.e. hush up the matter.

[FN#43] In Egypt; the former being the Eastern of the Seven Provinces extending to the Pelusium branch, and the latter to the Can.o.bic. The "Barari" or deserts, i.e. grounds not watered by the Nile, lie scattered between the two and both are bounded South by the Kalubiyah Province and Middle Egypt.

[FN#44] i.e. a man ready of wit and immediate of action, as opposed to his name Al-Atwash -- one notable for levity of mind.

[FN#45] The negative is emphatic, "I certainly saw a Jew," etc.

[FN#46] The "Irish bull" is in the text; justified by--

They hand-in-hand, with wand'ring steps and slow Through Eden took their solitary way,

[FN#47] As we should say, "There are good pickings to be had out of this job." Even in the last generation a Jew or a Christian intriguing with an Egyptian or Syrian Moslemah would be offered the choice of death or Al-Islam. The Wali dared not break open the door because he was not sure of his game.

[FN#48] The Jew rose seemingly to fetch his valuables and ran away, thus leaving the Wali no proof that he had been there in Moslem law which demands ocular testimony, rejects circ.u.mstantial evidence and ignores such partial witnesses as the policeman who accompanied his Chief. This I have before explained.

[FN#49] Arab. "Raba'," lit.=spring-quarters. See Marba', iii. 79.

[FN#50] Arab. "Ni'am," an exception to the Abbe Sicard's rule.

"La consonne N est l'expression naturelle du doute chez toutes les nations, par ce que le son que rend la touche nasale, quand l'homme incertain examine s'il fera ce qu'on lui demande; ainsi NE ON, NE OT, NE EC, NE IL, d'ou l'on a fait non, not, nec, nil.

[FN#51] For this "Halawat al-Miftah," or sweetmeat of the key-money, the French denier a Dieu, Old English "G.o.d's penny,"

see vol. vii. 212, and Pilgrimage i. 62.

[FN#52] Showing that car. cop. had taken place. Here we find the irregular use of the inn, perpetuated in not a few of the monster hotels throughout Europe.

[FN#53] For its rules and right performance see vol. vi. 199.