登陆注册
12108200000129

第129章

Volume 2 Footnotes

[1] Supplementarily to note 2,p. 2,[2 Vol 1]and note 2,p. 14,[21 Vol 1] vol. i.,I may add that 'Shahrazad,'in the Shams al-Loghat,is the P.N. of a King. L. Langles (Les Voyages de Sindibad Le Marin et La Ruse des Femmes,first appended to Savary's Grammar and reprinted 12 mot pp. 161 + 113,Imprimerie Royale,Paris,M.D.CCC.XIV) explains it by Le cypres,la beaute de la ville;and he is followed by (A. de Biberstein) Kazimirski (Ends el-Djelis Paris,Barrois,1847). Ouseley (Orient. Collect.)

makes Shahrzad=town-born;and others an Arabisation of Chehr-azad (free of face,ingenuous of countenance) the petit nom of Queen Humay,for whom see the Terminal Essay. The name of the sister,whom the Fihrist converts into a Kahramanah,or nurse,vulgarly written Dinar-zad,would= child of gold pieces,freed by gold pieces,or one who has no need of gold pieces:Dinzad=child of faith and Daynazad,proposed by Langles,'free from debt (!)'I have adopted Macnaghten's Dunyazad. 'Shahryar,'which Scott hideously writes 'Shier ear,'is translated by the Shams,King of the world,absolute monarch and the court of Anushir wan while the Burhan-i-Kati'a renders it a King of Kings,and P.N. of a town. Shahr-baz is also the P.N. of a town in Samarcand.

[2] Arab. 'Malik,'here used as in our story-books:'Pompey was a wise and powerful King'says the Gesta Romanorum. This King is,as will appear,a Regent or Governor under Harun al-Rashid.

In the next tale he is Viceroy of Damascus,where he is also called 'Sultan.'

[3] The Bull Edit. gives the lines as follows:---

The lance was his pen,and the hearts of his foes

His paper,and dipped he in blood for ink;

Hence our sires entitled the spear Khattiyah,

Meaning that withal man shall write,I think.

The pun is in 'Khattiyah'which may mean a writer (feminine) and also a spear,from Khatt Hajar,a tract in the province Al-Bahrayn (Persian Gulf),and Oman,where the best Indian bamboos were landed and fashioned into lances. Imr al-Keys (Mu'allakah v. 4.) sings of 'our dark spears firmly wrought of Khattiyan cane;'Al-Busiri of 'the brown lances of Khatt;'also see Lebid v. 50 and Hamasah pp. 26,231,Antar notes the 'Spears of Khatt'and 'Rudaynian lances.'Rudaynah is said to have been the wife of one Samhar,the Ferrara of lances;others make her the wife of Al-Ka'azab and hold Sambar to be a town in Abyssinia where the best weapons were manufactured The pen is the Calamus or Kalam (reed cut for pen) of which the finest and hardest are brought from Java:they require the least ribbing. The rhetorical figure in the text is called Husn al-Ta'alil,our aetiology;and is as admirable to the Arabs as it appears silly to us.

[4] 'He loves folk'is high praise,meaning something more than benevolence and beneficence.. Like charity it covers a host of sins.

[5] The sentence is euphuistic.

[6] Arab. 'Rubb'=syrup a word Europeanised by the 'Rob Laffecteur.'

[7] The Septentriones or four oxen and their wain.

[8] The list fatally reminds us of 'astronomy and the use of the globes'. . . 'Shakespeare and the musical glasses.'

[9] The octave occurs in Night xv. I quote Torrens (p. 360) by way of variety.

[10] A courteous formula of closing with the offer.

[11] To express our 'change of climate'Easterns say,'change of water and air,'water coming first.

[12] 'The sun shall not smite thee by day,nor the moon by night'(Psalm cxxi. 6). Easterns still believe in the blighting effect of the moon's rays,which the Northerners of Europe,who view it under different conditions,are pleased to deny. I have seen a hale and hearty Arab,after sitting an hour in the moonlight,look like a man fresh from a sick bed;and I knew an Englishman in India whose face was temporarily paralysed by sleeping with it exposed to the moon.

[13] The negroids and negroes of Zanzibar.

[14] i.e. Why not make thy heart as soft as thy sides! The converse of this was reported at Paris during the Empire,when a man had by mistake pinched a very high personage:'Ah,Madame! if your heart be as hard as (what he had pinched) I am a lost man.'

[15] 'Na'iman'is said to one after bathing or head-shaving:

the proper reply,for in the East every sign of ceremony has its countersign,is 'Allah benefit thee!'(Pilgrimage i. 11,iii.

285;Lane M. E. chaps. viii.;Caussin de Perceval's Arabic Grammar,etc.,etc.) I have given a specimen (Pilgrimage i.,122)

not only of sign and countersign,but also of the rhyming repartee which rakes love. Hanien ! (pleasant to thee! said when a man drinks). Allah pleasure thee (Allah yuhannik which Arnauts and other ruffians perverted to Allah yanik,Allah copulate with thee);thou drinkest for ten!腎 am the cock and thou art the hen!

(i.e. a passive catamite)腘ay,I am the thick one (the penis which gives pleasure) and thou art the thin! And so forth with most unpleasant pleasantries.

[16] In the old version she is called 'The Fair Persian,'

probably from the owner:her name means 'The Cheerer of the Companion.'

[17] Pronounce 'Nooraddeen.'I give the name written in Arabic.

[18] Amongst Moslems,I have said,it is held highly disgraceful when the sound of women's cries can be heard by outsiders.

[19] In a case like this,the father would be justified by Rasm (or usage) not by Koranic law,in playing Brutus with his son. The same would be the case in a detected intrigue with a paternal concubine and,in very strict houses,with a slave-girl.

[20] Orientals fear the 'Zug'or draught as much as Germans;

and with even a better reason. Draughts are most dangerous in hot climates.

[21] The Unity of the Godhead and the Apostleship of Mohammed.

[22] This would be done only in the case of the very poor.

[23] Prayers over the dead are not universal in Al-Islam;but when they are recited they lack the 'sijdah'or prostration.

[24] Or,'Of the first and the last,'i.e. Mohammed,who claimed (and claimed justly) to be the 'Seal'or head and end of all Prophets and Prophecy. For note that whether the Arab be held inspired or a mere imposter,no man making the same pretension has moved the world since him. Mr. J. Smith the Mormon (to mention one in a myriad) made a bold attempt and failed.

[25] i.e. flatterers.

[26] In one matter Moslems contrast strongly with Christians,by most scrupulously following the example of their law-giver:

hence they are the model Conservatives. But (European)

Christendom is here,as in other things,curiously contradictory:

for instance,it still keeps a 'Feast of the Circumcision,'and practically holds circumcision in horror. Eastern Christians,however,have not wholly abolished it,and the Abyssinians,who find it a useful hygenic precaution,still practise it. For ulcers,syphilis and other venereals which are readily cured in Egypt become dangerous in the Highlands of Ethiopia.

[27] Arab. 'Sabab,'the orig. and material sense of the word;hence 'a cause,'etc.

同类推荐
  • 六十种曲紫钗记

    六十种曲紫钗记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 岫岩志略

    岫岩志略

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 五母子经

    五母子经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 古今医统大全

    古今医统大全

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 九章算术

    九章算术

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
热门推荐
  • 惑世芳华终须散

    惑世芳华终须散

    硝烟四起的战场上,男子一身盔甲沾尽鲜血,撕心裂肺的吼着:“阮南音!你爱我吗?”女子一身红衫,青丝飞舞,从城墙上跌落,嘴里嘟囔着:“我爱…”
  • 温情时光:夫人等等我

    温情时光:夫人等等我

    ”唐宋时!想不到你居然是这样的薯片!“”难道不是你最爱的青柠味吗?“”才不是!我的最爱是麻辣香锅味!你已经被我抛弃了!””其实我是麻辣香锅味的……“”……阿时……我饿了……““
  • 平凡少年闯都市

    平凡少年闯都市

    平凡的少年本应该过着普普通通的生活,却因为它的出现而颠覆了他的人生,且看平凡少年如何脱胎换骨、纵横天下......
  • 指导学生心理健康的经典故事:悉心呵护心灵健康

    指导学生心理健康的经典故事:悉心呵护心灵健康

    每个人都在梦想着成功,但每个人心中的成功都不一样,是鲜花和掌声,是众人羡慕的眼神,还是存折上不断累积的财富?其实,无论是哪一种成功,真正需要的都是一种健康的心理。有了健康的心理才是成功的前提与保证,在人的一生中,中学是极其重要的一个阶段,心理健康对以后的健康成长非常重要。
  • 鸿蒙仙法

    鸿蒙仙法

    上古始祖遭弟子鸿钧暗算,幸亏女娲救下始祖,始祖在下界重生,从凡人开始修炼,流浪下界躲避鸿钧追杀,伺机寻找机会重回上界。
  • 白玉兰市

    白玉兰市

    随便写写,想些什么就写什么,剧情看兴趣,有意见qq我,我可以采纳你们做我后宫
  • 丑妻倾城:邪魅妖夫碗中来

    丑妻倾城:邪魅妖夫碗中来

    "一无是处!无良丑妇!这些都是她的名声债——她是夜间止小儿哭闹的罗刹,她是别人手中的玩物,命不由她。临产之际,长姐亲身示教,教她如何取悦男人,而那个男人正是她的夫君!取悦不成反被辱,枕边人一掌送掉她亲子性命,长姐一刀了断她的芳魂!重生归来,她以幼童之身藏着七窍玲珑心。这一世,她定要护好一切爱她之人,将那些负她的,陷害她的,操纵她的,通通踹下地狱!丑妇?真颜一出谁与争锋;废物?仙丹妙药当糖吃,修炼神速跌人镜!他是神帝国的太子,神秘莫测,修真强者。可他眼中只她一人。
  • 创业有道

    创业有道

    这是一个全民创业的年代,每个人都可能成为创业者,而几乎每个创业者都会经历迷茫、失落、坎坷、无助……他们会遭遇资金、市场、团队、管理等各方面的问题,此刻,他们最渴望的是能够获得他人的明确指点和帮助。《创业有道》将众多成功创业者多年的创业经历凝炼成简洁、平易的话语,为懵懂中的创业者指点迷津,为迷茫中的创业者传道解惑。
  • 妃常凶猛旱:废材嫡女要逆天

    妃常凶猛旱:废材嫡女要逆天

    现代杀手梨花一朝穿越一个五岁废材傻子娃娃身上。废材,上古混沌之体,天才舍我其谁。人敬我一尺,我还他一丈。若来惹事,千倍偿还。契神兽,练丹药,铸武器,样样信手拈来。可是大叔你怎么回事,我才五岁,不缺男人。某大叔:“萝莉养成记。以后情比金坚。”
  • 慧根独具

    慧根独具

    大脑——一个神秘的领域。它创造了太多的奇迹。当人们能用一些修行的手段对大脑进行强化时!那将会是一个怎样的世界,又会有怎样的奇遇......小猪的QQ群:236030822希望大家多多支持多多收藏