The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night Volume I Part 21

[FN#4] G.o.d on thee! abbreviated form of "I conjure thee (or call on thee) by G.o.d!"

[FN#5] lit. bull

[FN#6] Epithet of the a.s.s and the c.o.c.k. The best equivalent would be the French "Pere L'Eveille."

[FN#7] i.e. stupid.

[FN#8] The Arabic word for garden (bustan) applies to any cultivated or fertile spot, abounding in trees. An European would call such a place as that mentioned in the tale an oasis.

[FN#9] in preparation for death.

[FN#10] Jinn, plural of genie.

[FN#11] A dinar (Lat. denarius) is a gold coin worth about 10s.

[FN#12] i.e. I have nothing to give thee.

[FN#13] A dirhem (Gr. drachma) is a silver coin worth about 6d.

[FN#14] Afriteh, a female Afrit. Afrit means strictly an evil spirit; but the term is not unfrequently applied to benevolent Jinn, as will appear in the course of these stories.

[FN#15] for his impatience.

[FN#16] A Marid is a genie of the most powerful cla.s.s. The name generally, though not invariably, denotes an evil spirit.

[FN#17] Of Islam, which is fabled by the Muslims to have existed before Mohammed, under the headship, first of Abraham and afterwards of Solomon.

[FN#18] From this point I omit the invariable formula which introduces each night, as its constant repet.i.tion is only calculated to annoy the reader and content myself with noting the various nights in the margin. {which will not be included in this electronic version}

[FN#19] Probably the skin of some animal supposed to be a defence against poison.

[FN#20] Literally, "eyes adorned with kohl:" but this expression is evidently used tropically to denote a natural beauty of the eye, giving it that liquid appearance which it is the object of the use of the cosmetic in question to produce.

[FN#21] A fabulous tribe of giants mentioned in the Koran.

[FN#22] The word here translated "eye" may also be rendered "understanding." The exact meaning of the phrase (one of frequent recurrence in these stories) is doubtful.

[FN#23] A fabulous range of mountains which, according to Muslim cosmography, encompa.s.ses the world.

[FN#24] The prophet Mohammed.

[FN#25] Various kinds of cakes and sweetmeats.

[FN#26] The appearance of which is the signal for the commencement of the fast. All eyes being on the watch, it naturally follows that the new moon of this month is generally seen at an earlier stage than are those of the other months of the year, and its crescent is therefore apparently more slender.

Hence the comparison.

[FN#27] Caravanserai or public lodging-place.

[FN#28] A kind of religious mendicant.

[FN#29] One condition of which is that no violation of the ceremonial law (which prohibits the use of intoxicating liquors) be committed by the pilgrim, from the time of his a.s.suming the pilgrim's habit to that of his putting it off; and this is construed by the stricter professors to take effect from the actual formation of the intent to make the pilgrimage. Haroun er Reshid, though a voluptuary, was (at all events, from time to time) a rigid observer of Muslim ritual.

[FN#30] It is a frequent practice, in the East, gently to rub and knead the feet, for the purpose of inducing sleep or gradually arousing a sleeper.

[FN#31] An expression frequent in Oriental works, meaning "The situations suggested such and such words or thoughts."

[FN#32] Religious mendicants.

[FN#33] Referring, of course, to the wine, which it appears to have been customary to drink warm or boiled (vinum coctum) as among several ancient nations and in j.a.pan and China at the present day.

[FN#34] Or chapter or formula.

[FN#35] A play upon words is here intended turning upon the double meaning ("aloes" and "patience") of the Arabic word sebr.

[FN#36] See note on p. 120. {Vol. 1, FN#35}

[FN#37] Dar es Selam.

[FN#38] A certain fixed succession of prayers and acts of adoration is called a rekah (or bow) from the inclination of the body that occurs in it. The ordained prayers, occurring five times a day, consist of a certain number of rekahs.

[FN#39] i.e. "There is no G.o.d but G.o.d", etc.

[FN#40] or sinister conjunction of the planets.

[FN#41] Menkeleh, a game played with a board and draughtmen, partaking of the character of backgammon, draughts and fox-and-geese.

[FN#42] A common Oriental subst.i.tute for soap.

[FN#43] i.e. newly dug over.

[FN#44] lit. rukh.

[FN#45] A sweet-scented, variegated wood.

[FN#46] The Arabs consider a slight division of the two middle teeth a beauty.

[FN#47] The Egyptian privet; a plant whose flowers have a very delicious fragrance.

[FN#48] A kind of mocking-bird.

[FN#49] Of providence.

[FN#50] Literally, "O my eyes!"

[FN#51] A niche in the wall, which indicates the position the worshipper must a.s.sume, in order to face Mecca, in accordance with the ritual of prayer.

[FN#52] cf. Germ. Zuckerpuppchen.