Chapter 14

[Footnote 81: Sic (ashjar anber); though what the Arabic author meant by "trees of ambergris" is more than I can say. The word anber (pro. pounced amber) signifies also "saffron"; but the obbligato juxtaposition of aloes and sandal-wood tends to show that what is meant is the well-known product of the sperm-whale. It is possible that the mention of this latter may be an interpolation by some ignorant copyist, who, seeing two only of the three favourite Oriental scents named, took upon himself to complete the odoriferous trinity, so dear to Arab writers, by the addition of ambergris.]

[Footnote 82: Yas, Persian form of yasm, yasmin or yasimin. Sir R. F. Burton reads yamin and supposes it to be a copyist's error for yasmin, but this is a mistake; the word in the text is clearly yas, though the final s, being somewhat carelessly written in the Arabic MS, might easily be mistaken for mn with an undotted noun.]

[Footnote 83: Lit. "perfect or complete (kamil) of fruits and flowers."]

[Footnote 84: Lit. "many armies" (asakir, pl. of asker, an army), but asker is constantly used in post-classical Arabic (and notably in the Nights) for "a single soldier," and still more generally the plural (asakir), as here, for "soldiers."]

[Footnote 85: Syn. "the gleaming of a brasier" (berc kanoun). Kanoun is the Syrian name of two winter months, December (Kanoun el awwal or first) and January (Kanoun eth thani or second).]

[Footnote 86: So as to form a magic barrier against the Jinn, after the fashion of the mystical circles used by European necromancers.]

[Footnote 87: Night DIV.]

[Footnote 88: Fe-halan tuata, the time-honoured "Ask and it shall be given unto thee."]

[Footnote 89: Sic (berec ed dunya); but dunya (the world) is perhaps meant to be taken here by synecdoche m the sense of "sky."]

[Footnote 90: Syn. "darkness was let down like a curtain."]

[Footnote 91: Lit. "like an earthquake like the earthquakes"; but the second "like" (mithl) is certainly a mistranscription for "of" (min).]

[Footnote 92: Night DV.]

[Footnote 93: Night DVI.]

[Footnote 94: Here we have the word mithl (as or like) which I supplied upon conjecture in the former description of the genie; see ante, p. 24, note.]

[Footnote 95: Medinetu 'l meda'n wa ujoubetu 'l aalem. It is well known (see the Nights passim) that the Egyptians considered Cairo the city of cities and the wonder of the world.]

[Footnote 96: Lit. "How [is] the contrivance and the way the which we shall attain by (or with) it to...."]

[Footnote 97: I.a tehtenim; but the text may also be read la tehettem and this latter reading is adopted by Burton, who translates, "Be not beaten and broken down."]

[Footnote 98: Or "in brief" (bi-tejewwuz). Burton translates, "who maketh marriages," apparently reading bi-tejewwuz as a mistranscription for tetejewwez, a vulgar Syrian corruption of tetezewwej.]

[Footnote 99: Said in a quasi-complimentary sense, as we say, "Confound him, what a clever rascal he is!" See the Nights passim for numerous instances of this.]

[Footnote 100: Quoth Shehrzad to Shehriyar.]

[Footnote 101: Syn. "to work upon her traces or course" (tesaa ala menakibiha).]

[Footnote 102: Night DVII.]

[Footnote 103: Lit. "the thirsty one (es szadi) and the goer-forth by day or in the morning" (el ghadi); but this is most probably a mistranscription for the common phrase es sari (the goer by night) wa 'l ghadi, often used in the sense of "comers and goers" simply. This would be quite in character with the style of our present manuscript, which constantly substitutes sz (sad) for s (sin), e.g. szerai for serai (palace), szufreh, for sufreh (meal-tray), for hheresza for hheresa(he guarded), etc., etc., whilst no one acquainted with the Arabic written character need be reminded how easy it is to mistake a carelessly written-r (ra) for d (dal) or vice-versa]

[Footnote 104: The mosque being the caravanserai of the penniless stranger.]

[Footnote 105: The person specially appointed to lead the prayers of the congregation and paid out of the endowed revenues of the mosque to which he is attached.]

[Footnote 106: Night DVIII.]

[Footnote 107: Burton translates, "these accurseds," reading melaa'n (pl. of melaoun, accursed); but the word in the text is plainly mulaa'bein (objective dual of mulaa'b, a trickster, malicious joker, hence, by analogy, sharper).]

[Footnote 108: Eth thiyab el heririyeh. Burton "silver-wrought."]

[Footnote 109: Netser ila necshetihim (lit. their image, cf. Scriptural "image and presentment") wa szufretihim, i.e. he satisfied himself by the impress and the colour that they were diners, i.e. gold.]

[Footnote 110: Lit. I am now become in confusion of or at him (lianneni alan szirtu fi khejaleh (properly khejleh) minhu). Burton, "for that I have been ashamed of waiting upon him."]

[Footnote 111: Lit. "That which was incumbent on me to him."]

[Footnote 112: Lit. "go to (or for) his service," or, as we should say, "attend him."]

[Footnote 113: Burton, "one of the envious;" but the verb is in the plural.]

[Footnote 114: Night DIX.]

[Footnote 115: Et tsenn er redi. Burton, "the evil."]

[Footnote 116: So that they might hang down and hide his feet and hands, it being a point of Arab etiquette for an inferior scrupulously to avoid showing either of these members in presenting himself (especially for the first time) before his superior.]

[Footnote 117: Lit., "religiousness or devoutness (diyaneh) was by nature in him," i.e. he was naturally inclined to respect religion and honour its professors. Burton, "He was by nature conscientious," which does not quite express the meaning of the text; conscientiousness being hardly an Oriental virtue.]

[Footnote 118: Lit, "I may (or shall) ransom him with m' life till I (or so that I may) unite him therewith."]

[Footnote 119: Iftekeret fi rejul.]

[Footnote 120: Terbiyeh. This word is not sufficiently rendered by "education," which modern use has practically restricted to scholastic teaching, though the good old English phrase "to bring up" is of course a literal translation of the Latin educare.]

[Footnote 121: i.e. "I shall owe it to thee."]

[Footnote 122: Lit. "It is certain to me," Constat mihi, fe-meikeni (vulg. for fe-yekin) indi.]

[Footnote 123: Night DX.]

[Footnote 124: Or perhaps "Would I might."]

[Footnote 125: i.e. the contract of marriage.]

[Footnote 126: See my "Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night" passim, especially Vol. I pp. 190 et seq.]

[Footnote 127: Miheffeh, a kind of howdah with a flat roof or top.]

[Footnote 128: Tekht-rewan, a sort of palanquin drawn or carried by mules or camels wherein she could recline at length. Burton renders Miheffeh bi-tekhtrewan "a covered litter to be carried by camels."]

[Footnote 129: Burton adds here, "Thou wouldst feel ruth for me."]

[Footnote 130: Lit. profit, gain (meksib), i.e. the ninth image, which he was to receive as a reward for the faithful execution of his commission.]

[Footnote 131: Night DXI.]

[Footnote 132: [A] nehnu bedna baud an hukm. The word hukm, which commonly signifies the exercise of government or judicial power, is here used metonymically in the sense of the place of dominion, the seat of government. Burton, "Have we fared this far distance by commandment of my bridegroom?"]

[Footnote 133: Or "God forbid!" (Hhasha), a common interjection, implying unconditional denial.]

[Footnote 134: Lit. "The writing of (or he wrote) his writ upon thee" (ketb kitabiki aleiki).]

[Footnote 135: i.e.. at the Last Day, when men will be questioned of their actions.]

[Footnote 136: Night DXII.]

[Footnote 137: Sic (tentsur), but this is probably a copyist's error for "we may see" (nentsur), the difference being only a question of one or two diacritical points over the initial letter.]

[Footnote 138: Here Burton adds, "Indeed I had well nigh determined to forfeit all my profit of the Ninth Statue and to bear thee away to Bassorah as my own bride, when my comrade and councillor dissuaded me from so doing, lest I should bring about my death."]

[Footnote 139: Night DXIII.]

[Footnote 140: Or (vulg.) "I thank him, etc." (istekthertu aleihi elladhi hefitsaha wa sanaha wa hejeba rouhaku anha). Burton, "Albeit I repeatedly enjoined him to defend and protect her until he concealed from her his face."]

[Footnote 141: Or we may read "went out, glad and rejoicing, with (bi) the young lady;" but the reading in the test is more consonant with the general style of the Nights.]

[Footnote 142: Azaa, strictly the formal sitting in state to receive visits of condolence for the death of a relation, but in modern parlance commonly applied, by extension, to the funeral ceremonies themselves.]

[Footnote 143: El kendil el meshhour. The lamp is however more than once mentioned in the course of the tale by the name of "wonderful" (ajib, see post, p. 88, note 4) so familiar to the readers of the old version.]

[Footnote 144: Night DXIV.]

[Footnote 145: Khilafahu, lit. "the contrary thereof;" but the expression is constantly used (instead of the more correct gheirahu) in the sense of "other than it," "the take," etc.]

[Footnote 146: Or "street-boys" (auladu 'l hhareh).]

[Footnote 147: Zeboun.]

[Footnote 148: Burton adds here, "Counsel and castigation were of no avail."]

[Footnote 149: Lit. "had been recalled" (tuwouffia), i.e. by God to Himself.]

[Footnote 150: This old English and Shakspearean expression is the exact equivalent of the Arabic phrase Khelesza min sherr walidihi. Burton, "freed from [bearing] the severities of his sire."]

[Footnote 151: Kanet wayyishuhu. Burton, "lived only by."]

[Footnote 152: Night DXV.]

[Footnote 153: I prefer this old English form of the Arabic word Meghrebiy (a native of El Meghreb or North-Western Africa) to "Moor," as the latter conveys a false impression to the modern reader, who would naturally suppose him to be a native of Morocco, whereas the enchanter came, as will presently appear, from biladu 'l gherbi 'l jewwaniy, otherwise Ifrikiyeh, i.e. "the land of the Inner West" or Africa proper, comprising Tunis, Tripoli and part of A]geria.]

[Footnote 154: Min biladi 'l gherbi 'l jewwaniy. The Muslim provinces of North-Western Africa, extending from the north-western boundary of Egypt to Cape Nun on the Mogador Coast, were known under the general name of El Meghreb (modern Barbary) and were divided into three parts, to wit (1) El Meghreb el Jewwaniy, Inner, i.e. Hither or Nearer (to Egypt) Barbary or Ifrikiyeh, comprising Tripoli, Tunis and Constantine (part of Algeria), (2) El Meghreb el Aouset, Central Barbary. comprising the rest of Algeria, and (3) El Meghreb el Acszaa, Farther or Outer Barbary, comprising the modern empire of Morocco.]

[Footnote 155: El hieh. Burton translates, "astrology," and astrology (or astronomy); is the classical meaning of the word; but the common meaning in modern Arabic is "the science of physiognomy," cf. the Nights passim. See especially ante, p. 42.]

[Footnote 156: Bi-szaut hezin meksour. Burton, "in a soft voice saddened by emotion."]

[Footnote 157: Burton, "brother-german."]

[Footnote 158: Or "comfort myself in him" (ateazza bihi). Burton "condole with him [over the past]."]

[Footnote 159: Lit. "hid not unto me that" (ma ekhfa aleyya an).]

[Footnote 160: Night DXVI.]

[Footnote 161: Teaziyeti. Burton, "I have now railed in the mourning ceremonies."]

[Footnote 162: El bein ked efjaani fihi, i e. "I have been stricken with separation from him." Burton, "Far distance wrought me this trouble."]

[Footnote 163: Lit. "the being (el ka'n, i.e. that which is, the accomplished fact) there is not from it a refuge or place of fleeing" (mehreb). Burton, "nor hath the creature aught of asylum from the Creator."]

[Footnote 164: Or "consolation" (azaa).]

[Footnote 165: Burton, "I have none to condole with now save thyself"]

[Footnote 166: Night DXVII.]

[Footnote 167: Burton, "finding out."]

[Footnote 168: Lit. "He had no longer a heart to part with him," i.e.. he could not bear him out of his sight, Alaeddin being necessary for the achievement of the adventure of the lamp. See post.]

[Footnote 169: El asha. Burton, "the meat."]

[Footnote 170: Lit. "vein" (irc).]

[Footnote 171: Night DXVIII.]

[Footnote 172: Ujoubetu 'l aalem. See ante, p. 32, note. {see FN#95}]

[Footnote 173: Ila biladi 'l gherbi 'l jewwaniy.]

[Footnote 174: Burton, "to the regions of the Setting Sun and abode for a space of thirty years in the Moroccan interior." See ante, p. 57, notes. {see FN#154}]

[Footnote 175: Burton adds, "Alone at home."]

[Footnote 176: i.e. birthplace, a child being bow head-foremost.]

[Footnote 177: Burton, "wander like a wild Arab."]

[Footnote 178: Lit. "and "; but this is the error of some copyist, who, by leaving out an initial l, has turned lau (if) into wa (and).]

[Footnote 179: The first chapter of the Koran; a common usage in anticipation of travel or indeed before commencing any enterprise of moment.]

[Footnote 180: Istehhweda (vulg. for istehhwedha) aleyya. Burton, "of the pains which prevailed upon me."]

[Footnote 181: Or "succeedeth" (yekklufu). Burton, "the legacy bequeathed to us by."]

[Footnote 182: Khellefa.]

[Footnote 183: Night DXIX.]

[Footnote 184: Lit. "abide in the subsistence of the like of this one" (acoumu fi ma"sh mithl hadha). Burton, "go about for a maintenance after this fashion."]

[Footnote 185: Uhheszszilu ana ma"ski ana buddi men yuayyishani. Burton, "I am compelled to provide him with daily bread when I require to be provided."]

[Footnote 186: Ibn nas generally signifies "a man of good family" (Fr. fils de famille), but here the sense seems to be as in the text.]

[Footnote 187: Or "constrain not thyself for me," in do not be ashamed to say what thou wishes", lit. "let it not be hard or grievous upon thee from or on account of me" (la yesubu aleika minni). Burton, "Let not my words seem hard and harsh to thee."]

[Footnote 188: Fe-in kana keman (vulg. for kema anna). Burton, "if despite all I say."]

[Footnote 189: Fi, lit. "in," but here used, as is common in Syria, instead of bi "with."]

[Footnote 190: Burton, "Shalt become famous among the folk."]

[Footnote 191: Khwaja (Persian).]

[Footnote 192: Tajir (Arabic equivalent of khwaja).]

[Footnote 193: Burton, "that such folk dress handsomely and fare delicately."]

[Footnote 194: Night DXX.]

[Footnote 195: Lit. "was past" (fata). Burton, "the dark hours were passing by and the wine was drunken."]

[Footnote 196: Sherab. Burton, "sherbets."]

[Footnote 197: Night DXXI.]

[Footnote 198: Or "places" (amakin).]

[Footnote 199: Or "streets" (mehellat). Burton, "apartments."]

[Footnote 200: i.e. "It is no merit in me that I do what I have done."]

[Footnote 201: Bi-jahi 'l awwelin. Burton, "by the honour of the Hallows."]

[Footnote 202: i.e.. "a protection."]

[Footnote 203: Lit. "that thine eye will be cooled with (or by) him."]

[Footnote 204: Likai yetearrefa fihim wa yetearrefou fihi. This passage confirms my reading of a former one; see ante, p. 68, note 3. {see FN#189}]

[Footnote 205: Nighs DXXII.]

[Footnote 206: Lit. "believed not what time (ayyumetn) the day broke;" but ayyumeta (of which ayyumeta is a vulgar corruption) supposes the future and should be used with the aorist. The phrase, as I have translated common in the Nights.]

[Footnote 207: Or, "laughing at" (yudsahiku).. Burton, "he began to make the lad laugh."]

[Footnote 208: Szeraya (for seraya).]

[Footnote 209: Keszr.]

[Footnote 210: Newafir, an evident mistranscription, probably for some such word as fewawir, irregular form of fewwarat, pl. of fewwareh, a spring or jet of water.]

[Footnote 211: Burton adds, "and reach the end of our walk."]

[Footnote 212: Jebel aali. Burton, "the base of a high and naked hill."]

[Footnote 213: Lit. "before or in front of a mountain." Burton, "we have reached the barren hill-country."]

[Footnote 214: Ra'hhin, a vulgarism of frequent occurrence in this story.]

[Footnote 215: Shudd heilek.]

[Footnote 216: Lit. the land of the West (biladu 'l gherb); see ante, p. 57, notes. {see FN#153}]

[Footnote 217: Night DXXIII.]

[Footnote 218: Lit. "without aught" (bilash), i e. without [visible] cause or reason. Burton, "beyond the range of matter."]

[Footnote 219: Nuhhas szebb (for szebeb min er) reml, lit. "brass poured [forth from] sand," i.e. cast in a mould of sand. Cf. 1 Kings, vii 16, "two chapiters of molten brass."]

[Footnote 220: Dir balek, lit. "turn thy thought (i.e. be attentive) [Footnote to that which I shall say to thee]."]

[Footnote 221: Night DXXIV.]

[Footnote 222: Lit. "pass not by" (la tuferwwit). Burton, "nor gainsay."]

[Footnote 223: Yani li-min (vulg. for tani li-men), i.e. on whose behalf do I undertake all these my toils?]

[Footnote 224: Lit. "leave"; but the verb khella (II. of khela is constantly used in the present text in the sense of "he made."]

[Footnote 225: There is some mistake here in the text. The word which I translate "great" is akabir (pl. of akber, most great), apparently inserted by mistake for kebir, great. But that akabir is followed by jiddan (exceedingly), I should be inclined to read the phrase [kebiru 'l] akabir, greatest of the great.]

[Footnote 226: Wehdi, lit. "my lone," a Scotch expression, which might be usefully acclimatized in English prose and verse.]

[Footnote 227: Night DXXV.]

[Footnote 228: Or "pay attention," dir (vulg. for adir) balek. See ante, p. 78, note. {see FN#220}]

[Footnote 229: Lit. "a place divided into four places" I take the variant aweds, chambers. from Chavis's copy of the MS., as quoted by M. Zotenberg.]

[Footnote 230: Liwan, i.e. an estrade or recessed room, raised above the level of the ground and open in front.]

[Footnote 231: Lit. "in it" (fihi); but the meaning is as in the text, i.e. connected with it or leading thereto. This reading is confirmed by the terms in which the stair is afterwards mentioned, q.v. post, p. 83, and note. {see FN#235}]

[Footnote 232: Night DXXVI.]

[Footnote 233: Ubb. Burton, "breast-pocket," the usual word for which is jeib. Ubb is occasionally used in this sense; but it is evident from what follows (see post, p. 85. {see FN#243} "Alaeddin proceeded to pluck and put in his pockets (ajyab, pl. of jeib), and his sleeves" (ibab), and note) that ubb is here used in the common sense of "sleeve."]

[Footnote 234: i.e. "that which is in the lamp."]

[Footnote 235: Burton transposes, "where he entered the saloon and mounted the ladder;" but the context shows that the stair was a flight of steps leading up to the dais and not a ladder in it. The word fihi in the magician's instructions might indeed be taken in this latter sense, but may just as well be read "thereto" or "pertaining thereto" as "therein." See also below, where Alaeddin is made to descend from the dais into the garden.]

[Footnote 236: Lit. voices (aswat). Burton, "fond voices"]

[Footnote 237: Burton, "Furthermore the size of each stone so far surpassed description that no king of the kings of the world owned a single gem of the larger sort."]

[Footnote 238: Night DXXVII.]

[Footnote 239: Toubasi. I insert this from the Chavis MS. Burton adds, "spinels and balasses."]

[Footnote 240: Ibab.]

[Footnote 241: Ubb.]

[Footnote 242: Ajyab, pl. of jeib, the bosom of a shirt, hence a breast or other pocket.]

[Footnote 243: Ibab. Burton, "pokes and breast-pockets."]

[Footnote 244: The possession of the lamp rendering him superior to the spells by which they were enchanted.]

[Footnote 245: Burton says here, "The text creates some confusion by applying sullem to staircase and ladder; hence probably the latter is not mentioned by Galland and Co., who speak only of an 'escalier de cinquante marches.'" As far as I can see, Galland was quite right, a staircase (and not a ladder) being, in my judgment, meant in each case, and Sir Richard Burton's translation of sullem min thelathin derejeh as "a ladder of thirty rungs" (see ante p. 82, note {see FN#231}) seems to me founded on a misconception, he being misled by the word "fihi" (see my note ante, p. 83 {see FN#235}). He adds, "sullem in modern Egyptian is used for a flight of steps;" but it signifies both "ladder" and "flight of steps" in the classic tongue; see Lane, p. 1416, colt 2, "sullem, a ladder or a series of stairs or steps, either of wood or clay, etc." His remark would apply better to derej (class. "a way," but in modern parlance "a ladder" or "staircase" which the story-teller uses interchangeably with sullem, in speaking of the stair leading down into the underground, thus showing that he considered the two words synonymous.]

[Footnote 246: Akyas. This is the first mention of purses.]

[Footnote 247: Lit. "without" (kharijan).]

[Footnote 248: Burton, "Forasmuch as he had placed it at the bottom of his breast-pocket and his other pockets being full of gems bulged outwards."]

[Footnote 249: Night DXXVIII.]

[Footnote 250: Lit. "was locked," inkefelet, but I take this to be a mistranscription of inkelebet, "was turned over."]

[Footnote 251: Lit. "was covered over, shut like a lid" (intebeket).]

[Footnote 252: Tebbeca, i.e. caused (by his enchantments) to become covered or closed up like a lid.]

[Footnote 253: Ifrikiyeh, see ante, p. 57, note 1. {see FN#153} Here the story-teller takes the province for a city.]

[Footnote 254: Burton adds, "by devilish inspiration."]

[Footnote 255: Wa [kan] el aghreb an fi hadha 'l kenz [kana]. Burton "the most marvellous article in this treasure was, etc."]

[Footnote 256: Kendil ajib.]

[Footnote 257: Night DXXIX.]

[Footnote 258: A proverbial expression, meaning that, as he did not absolutely kill Alaeddin, though doing what was (barring a miracle) certain to cause his death, he could not be said to be his slayer; a piece of casuistry not peculiar to the East, cf. the hypocritical show of tenderness with which the Spanish Inquisition was wont, when handing over a victim to the secular power for execution by burning alive, to recommend that there should be "no effusion of blood." It is possible, however, that the proverb is to be read in the sense of "He who is destined to live cannot be slain."]

[Footnote 259: i.e. with the contents of the chambers and the garden.]

[Footnote 260: Night DXXX.]

[Footnote 261: Lit. rubbing in or upon.]

[Footnote 262: Lit. "The Quickener, the Deadener" (el muhheyyi, el mumit), two of the ninety-nine names of God.]

[Footnote 263: Or "Judge" (cadsi).]

[Footnote 264: Farijuha. Burton, "Bringer of joy not of annoy."]

[Footnote 265: i.e. Mohammed's.]

[Footnote 266: Lit. a servant or slave, i.e. that of the ring. Burton, "its Familiar."]

[Footnote 267: i.e. Solomon.]

[Footnote 268: See my Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol. 1. p 33, note. {see Payne's Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol. 1 FN#16}]

[Footnote 269: Night DXXXI.]

[Footnote 270: Night DXXXII.]

[Footnote 271: i.e.. in all the registers of men's actions fabled to be kept in heaven.]

[Footnote 272: Lit. "see the accursed his duplicity and his promises that he promised me withal in that he would do all good with me." Burton, "see how the dammed villain broke every promise he made, certifying that he would soon work all good with me."]

[Footnote 273: Lit. "on account of my pain therefrom when I was absent from the world."]

[Footnote 274: Hatha 'l metleb li, lit. "this quest (or object of quest) [was] mine (or for me)." Metleb is often used in the special technical sense of "buried treasure."]

[Footnote 275: Night DXXXIII.]

[Footnote 276: Bustan.]

[Footnote 277: Bilaur.]

[Footnote 278: Keszr, instead of liwan (dais), as in previous description.]

[Footnote 279: Keisan. Burton, "bag-pockets."]

[Footnote 280: Lit. "without" (kharij).]

[Footnote 281: Aadim, present participle of adima, he lacked.]

[Footnote 282: Night DXXXIV.]

[Footnote 283: Lit. the pre-eminence (el fedsl).]