登陆注册
16697400000132

第132章

[27] Lane (i. 616),says'of wine,milk,sherbet,or any other beverage.'Here it is wine,a practice famed in Persian poetry,especially by Hafiz,but most distasteful to a European stomach.

We find the Mu allakah of Imr alKeys noticing'our morning draught.'Nott (Hafiz) says a'cheerful cup of wine in the morning was a favourite indulgence with the more luxurious Persians. And it was not uncommon among the Easterns,to salute friend by saying.'May your morning potation be agreeable to you!'

In the present day this practice is confined to regular debauchees.

[28] Koran xii. 31. The words spoken by Zulaykha's women friends and detractors whom she invited to see Beauty Joseph.

[29] A formula for averting fascination. Koran,chaps. cxiii.1.'Falak'means'cleaving'hence the breaking forth of light from darkness,a'wonderful instance of the Divine power.'

[30] The usual delicate chaff.

[31] Such letters are generally written on a fullsized sheet of paper ('notes'are held slighting in the East) and folded till the breadth is reduced to about one inch. The edges are gummed,the ink,much like our Indian ink,is smeared with the finger upon the signet ring;the place where it is to be applied is slightly wetted with the tongue and the seal is stamped across the line of junction to secure privacy. I have given a specimen of an original loveletter of the kind in'Scinde,or the Unhappy Valley,'chaps. iv.

[32] Arab.'Salb'which may also mean hanging,but the usual term for the latter in The Nights is'shanak.'Crucifixion,abolished by the superstitious Constantine,was practised as a servile punishment as late as the days of Mohammed Ali Pasha the Great e malefactors were nailed and tied to the patibulum or crosspiece without any sup pedaneum or footrest and left to suffer tortures from flies and sun,thirst and hunger. They often lived three days and died of the wounds mortifying and the nervous exhaustion brought on by cramps and convulsions. In many cases the corpses were left to feed the kites and crows;and this added horror to the death. Moslems care little for mere hanging.

Whenever a fanatical atrocity is to be punished,the malefactor should be hung in pigskin,his body burnt and the ashes publicly thrown into a common cesspool.

[33] Arab'Shaytan'the insolent or rebellious one is a common term of abuse. The word I. Koramc,and borrowed as usual from the Jews.'Satan'occurs four times in the O.T. of which two are in Job where,however,he is a subordinate angel.

[34] Arab.'Alak'from the Koran xxii. 5.'O men...consider that we first created you of dust (Adam);afterwards of seed (Rodwell's'moist germs of life');afterwards of a little coagulated (or clots of) blood.'It refers to all mankind except Adam,Eve and Isa. Also chaps. xcvi. 2,which,as has been said was probably the first composed at Meccah. Mr. Rodwell (v. 10)

translates by'Servant of God'what should be'Slave of Allah,'alluding to Mohammed's original name Abdullah. See my learned friend Aloys Sprenger,Leben,etc.,i.155.

[35] The Hindus similarly exaggerate:'He was ready to leap out of his skin in his delight'(Katha,etc.,p. 443).

[36] A star in the tail of the Great Bear,one of the'Banat alNa'ash,'or a star close to the second. Its principal use is to act foil to bright Sohayl (Canopus) as in the beginning of Jami's LaylaMajnun:

To whom Thou'rt hid,day is darksome night:

To whom shown,Soha as Sohayl is bright.

See also alHariri (xxxii. and xxxvi.). The saying,'I show her Soha and she shows me the moon'(A. P. i. 547) arose as follows.

In the Ignorance a beautiful Amazon defied any man to take her maidenhead;and a certain Ibn alGhazz won the game by struggling with her till she was nearly senseless. He then asked her,'How is thine eyesight: dost thou see Soha?'and she,in her confusion,pointed to the moon and said,'That is it!'

[37] The moon being masculine (lupus) and the sun feminine.

[38] The'five Shaykhs'must allude to that number of Saints whose names are doubtful;it would be vain to offer conjectures.

Lane and his'Sheykh'(i. 617) have tried and failed.

[39] The beauties of nature seem always to provoke hunger in Orientals,especially Turks,as good news in Englishmen.

[40] Pers.'Lajuward': Arab.'Lazuward';prob. the origin of our'azure,'through the Romaic and the Ital. azzurro;and,more evidently still,of lapis lazuli,for which do not see the Dictionaries.

[41] Arab.'Maurid.'the desertwells where caravans drink:

also the way to water wells.

[42] The famous Avicenna,whom the Hebrews called Aben Sina.

The early European Arabists,who seem to have learned Arabic through Hebrew,borrowed their corruption,and it long kept its place in Southern Europe.

[43] According to the Hindus there are ten stages of love

sickness: (1) Love of the eyes (2) Attraction of the Manas or mind;(3) Birth of desire;(4) Loss of sleep;(5) Loss of flesh;(6) Indifference to objects of sense;(7) Loss of shame,(8)Distraction of thought (9) Loss of consciousness;and (10) Death.

[44] We should call this walk of'Arab ladies'a waddle: I have never seen it in Europe except amongst the trading classes of Trieste,who have a'wriggle'of their own.

[45] In our idiom six doors.

[46] They refrained from the highest enjoyment,intending to marry.

[47] Arab.'Jihad,'lit. fighting against something;

Koranically,fighting against infidels non believers in Allslam (chaps. Ix. 1). But the'Mujahidun'who wage such war are forbidden to act aggressively (ii. 186). Here it is a war to save a son.

[48] The lady proposing extreme measures is characteristic:

Egyptians hold,and justly enough,that their women are more amorous than men.

[49]'O Camphor,'an antiphrase before noticed. The vulgar also say'Ya Talji'=O snowy (our snowball),the polite'Ya Abu Sumrah !'=O father of brownness.

同类推荐
  • The Origins of Contemporary France

    The Origins of Contemporary France

    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。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • Burlesques

    Burlesques

    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。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • Stories in Light and Shadow

    Stories in Light and Shadow

    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。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 王心斋语

    王心斋语

    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。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 五虎征西

    五虎征西

    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。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 修真少年之千金大小姐

    修真少年之千金大小姐

    一个修真者少年,保护着千金大小姐,但是,这个千金大小姐还有一个难缠的闺蜜,这个闺蜜整蛊,学习,还有胸部,都不在话下,看我们的少年怎么保护大小姐吧。
  • 八荒战武

    八荒战武

    逆天混元珠,修罗战不休。八荒谁为主,唯我雪流风。
  • tfboys:因为遇见你

    tfboys:因为遇见你

    他们,是小时候的蓝颜,可因为一次事故,他们分开了,本是两个世界的人应该不会再次相遇应该不会再次相遇,是因为一次偶然他们又在了一起,是一个世界的人,但又爱着彼此,可苍天是那么不公,让他们一次又一次遭遇不幸,可后来他们究竟会不会在一起?
  • 长街短梦

    长街短梦

    我的耳朵旁边是你的耳朵。隔着电话线。也隔着光年。“许你七年。”“但是你相信时间吗。”
  • 英雄传之影流之主

    英雄传之影流之主

    英雄联盟中影流之主小时候的故事,在此书中很多英雄都会露脸。
  • 破木珠

    破木珠

    吉林乌拉的一双兄弟,种种变故活出不一样的人生,正与邪,黑与白的大对决。。。。。。
  • 无幽劫

    无幽劫

    精灵,由得天地造化生出意识化身成人的种族,他们单纯善良,从生出意识的那一刻,修炼成了他们的毕生追求,只愿与天同寿,长生不老;人类,有着复杂情感的种族,他们彼此勾心斗角,情感极为复杂。当两方不同世界相连,两种不同的种族相遇,彼此间的恩恩怨怨爱恨纠缠又将如何去面对。***********《无幽劫》是一本带有玄幻色彩的古典仙侠小说,可以说是一部“玄幻仙侠”,所以本书的读者朋友也可以把它当成玄幻小说来看。************
  • 万殊

    万殊

    踏上路途寻红颜,为红颜屠戮天上人间!与世为敌又如何?我只为红颜!
  • 恶魔首席太凶猛

    恶魔首席太凶猛

    “把你送我七天七夜,我便帮你。”一场契约,她成了他的人。他-东方沐辰,商业帝王黑道霸主,妖孽俊美,冰冷霸气!而她-暮雪,只是一个菜鸟杀手!为了自己在意的人,她千方百计接近他,只为杀他;而他明知她的目的,却将她留在身边,无情的折磨;最后她爱上了他,却害了另一个他!楼顶之上他拿枪对准她的心脏,她悲痛欲绝,一跃而下……五年后,她为复仇而来!一张妖艳不可方物的脸庞取代了昔日清纯的容颜!
  • 爱是图谋已久

    爱是图谋已久

    生日那天,他交给俞菲一沓男友劈腿的照片,说,“生日快乐。”私家侦探?真是个有趣的身份。之后的日子中俞菲似乎穷尽了这辈子的智商和他斗智斗勇。他说,经过我的调查,我们很合适相伴一生。俞菲翻了个白眼,还私家侦探呢,你其实是个算命的吧?顾总!