登陆注册
6605300000137

第137章

[222]Arab.'Uzn al-Kuffah'lit.'Ear of the basket,'which vulgar Egyptians pronounce'Wizn,'so'Wajh'(face) becomes'Wishsh'and so forth.

[223]Arab.'Bi-fardayn'= with two baskets,lit.'two singles,'but the context shows what is meant.English Frail and French Fraile are from Arab.'Farsalah'a parcel (now esp.of coffee-beans) evidently derived from the low Lat.'Parcella'(Du Cange,Paris,firmin Didot 1845).Compare'ream,'vol.v.109.

[224]Arab.'Satur,'a kind of chopper which here would be used for the purpose of splitting and cleaning and scaling the fish.

[225]And,consequently,that the prayer he is about to make will find ready acceptance.

[226]Arab.'Ruh bila Fuzul'(lit.excess,exceeding) still a popular phrase.

[227]i.e.better give the fish than have my head broken.

[228]Said ironice,a favourite figure of speech with the Fellah: the day began badly and threatened to end unluckily.

[229]The penalty of Theft.See vol.i.274.

[230]This is the model of a courtly compliment;and it would still be admired wherever Arabs are not'frankified.'

[231]Arab.'Shibabah;'Lane makes it a kind of reed-flageolet.

[232]These lines occur in vol.i.76: I quote Mr.Payne.

[233]The instinctive way of juggling with Heaven like our sanding the sugar and going to church.

[234]Arab.'Ya Shukayr,'from Shakar,being red (clay;etc.): Shukar is an anemone or a tulip and Shukayr is its dim.

Form.Lane's Shaykh made it a dim.of'Ashkar'= tawny,ruddy (of complexion),so the former writes,'O Shukeyr.' Mr.Payne prefers'O Rosy cheeks.'

[235]For'Sandal,'see vol.ii.50.Sandali properly means an Eunuch clean rase,but here Sandal is a P.N.= Sandal-wood.

[236]Arab.'Ya mumatil,'one who retards payment.

[237]Arab.'Kirsh al-Nukhal'= guts of bran,a term too little fitted for the handsome and distinguished Persian.But Khalifah is a Fallah-grazioso of normal assurance shrewd withal;

he blunders like an Irishman of the last generation and he uses the first epithet that comes to his tongue.See Night dcccxliii.for the sudden change in Khalifah.

[238]So the Persian'May your shadow never be less'means,I have said,the shadow which you throw over your servant.Shade;cold water and fresh breezes are the joys of life in arid Arabia.

[239]When a Fellah demanded money due to him by the Government of Egypt,he was a once imprisoned for arrears of taxes and thus prevented from being troublesome.I am told that matters have improved under English rule,but I'doubt the fact.'

[240]This freak is of course not historical.The tale-

teller introduces it to enhance the grandeur and majesty of Harun al-Rashid,and the vulgar would regard it as a right kingly diversion.Westerns only wonder that such things could be.

[241]Uncle of the Prophet: for his death see Pilgrimage ii.248.

[242]First cousin of the Prophet,son of Abu Talib,a brother of Al-Abbas from whom the Abbasides claimed descent.

[243]i.e.I hope thou hast or Allah grant thou have good tidings to tell me.

[244]Arab.'Nakhuzah Zulayt.' The former,from the Persian Nakhoda or ship-captain which is also used in a playful sense'a godless wight,'one owning no (na) God (Khuda).Zulayt = a low fellow,blackguard.

[245]Yasamin and Narjis,names of slave-girls or eunuchs.

[246]Arab.Tamar-hanna,the cheapest of dyes used ever by the poorest classes.Its smell,I have said,is that of newly mown hay,and is prized like that of the tea-rose.

[247]The formula (meaning,'What has he to do here?') is by no means complimentary.

[248]Arab.'Jarrah'(pron.'Garrah') a'jar.' See Lane (M.E.chapt.v.) who was deservedly reproached by Baron von Hammer for his superficial notices.The'Jarrah'is of pottery;whereas the'Dist'is a large copper chauldron and the Khalkinah one of lesser size.

[249]i.e.What a bother thou art,etc.

[250]This sudden transformation,which to us seems exaggerated and unnatural,appears in many Eastern stories and in the biographies of their distinguished men,especially students.

A youth cannot master his lessons;he sees a spider climbing a slippery wall and after repeated falls succeeding.Allah opens the eyes of his mind,his studies become easy to him,and he ends with being an Allamah (doctissimus).

[251]Arab.'Bismillah,Nami!'here it is not a blessing;but a ****** invitation,'Now please go to sleep.'

[252]The modern inkcase of the Universal East is a lineal descendant of the wooden palette with writing reeds.See an illustration of that of'Amasis,the good god and lord of the two lands'(circ.B.C.1350) in British Museum (p.41,'The Dwellers on the Nile,'by E.A.Wallis Bridge,London,56,Paternoster Row,1885).

[253]This is not ironical,as Lane and Payne suppose,but a specimen of inverted speech--Thou art in luck this time!

[254]Arab.'Marhub'= terrible: Lane reads'Mar'ub'=

terrified.But the former may also mean,threatened with something terrible.

[255]i.e.in Kut al-Kulub.

[256]Lit.to the son of thy paternal uncle,i.e.Mohammed.

[257]In the text he tells of the whole story beginning with the eunuch and the hundred dinars,the chest,etc.: but --'of no avail is a twice-told tale.'

[258]Koran xxxix.54.I have quoted Mr.Rodwell who affects the Arabic formula,omitting the normal copulatives.

[259]Easterns find it far easier to'get the chill of poverty out of their bones'than Westerns.

[260]Arab.'Dar al-Na'im.' Name of one of the seven stages of the Moslem heaven.This style of inion dates from the days of the hieroglyphs.A papyrus describing the happy town of Raamses ends with these lines.--

Daily is there a supply of food:

Within it gladness doth ever brood

Prolonged,increased;abides there Joy,etc.,etc.

[261]Arab.'Ansar'= auxiliaries,the men of Al-Medinah (Pilgrimage ii.130,etc.).

同类推荐
  • Myths and Legends of the Sioux

    Myths and Legends of the Sioux

    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。
  • 赠别

    赠别

    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。
  • 剧说

    剧说

    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。
  • 青崖集

    青崖集

    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。
  • 吴郡图经续记

    吴郡图经续记

    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。
热门推荐
  • 星世界之神

    星世界之神

    游戏开发公司老板穿越到自己公司旗下一款名为《瑞特尔之星》的游戏世界中......化身为游戏首个内测号——星神。宏伟的星际世界观一遍遍刺激的初来乍到之人。宇灵,圣装,圣武...基于游戏与现实而又全新的力量体现;帝国,联邦,教国...星域级别的势力碰撞;神州,扶桑,大荒星域...远至宇宙边缘的探索。新世界的大门已经开启!新星历3603年,拥有无上伟力,无尽生命,无限威严,称以“星神”之名的年轻人,降临于此!
  • 琳琅灿目

    琳琅灿目

    永和年间,大理寺少卿崔璨通过一件件扑朔迷离的案件,渐渐揭开事情的真相。其间,琳琅阁李桑柔似敌似友,相疑相知,分分合合的感情牵绊令人唏嘘。
  • 穿越炮灰公主

    穿越炮灰公主

    这世上存在一种悲催生物,她出身高贵,张扬跋扈,本有大好前程,却专门为男一男二男三or男四与女主间添堵,最后往往沦落到悲惨的结局,观看群众大呼叫好,这种角色我们俗称炮灰!但是有一天这个角色突然落到自己的头上……
  • 天行

    天行

    号称“北辰骑神”的天才玩家以自创的“牧马冲锋流”战术击败了国服第一弓手北冥雪,被誉为天纵战榜第一骑士的他,却受到小人排挤,最终离开了效力已久的银狐俱乐部。是沉沦,还是再次崛起?恰逢其时,月恒集团第四款游戏“天行”正式上线,虚拟世界再起风云!
  • 欢乐异界旅

    欢乐异界旅

    一次次出色完成任务的残忍杀手小莎,突然穿越到了异界,和一群逗比开始了各种欢乐搞笑的冒险
  • 我的第一本英语百科全书

    我的第一本英语百科全书

    本书的特色:全!全到不能再全的英语百科,内容涵盖口语、俚语、句型、短语、希腊神话一应俱全细!每个常识讲解非常的详尽,深入浅出,很好地解决了读者学习时的“输出”问题!酷!课堂上很少能接触到的美式英语。英语最实用常识一网打尽!值!超长美语录音MP3免费下载,标准美音,地道表达,犹如外教在身边,给读者以超值的学习体验!练口语,会俚语,学句型,知短语,晓故事,这些基础知识是学习好英语的基础,而《我的第一本英语百科全书》已完整收录了所有功能,相信读者在使用本书后,英文能力肯定能够得到全面提升!
  • 穿越王妃不听话

    穿越王妃不听话

    她爱上了一心利用她的哥哥!偶然穿越成权倾朝野的南翎王最疼爱的女儿!只是,那看似面善的父亲却在利用她母亲!天成王朝,再度遇上大哥,可她知道不能再一次泥足深陷!他,三王爷,当朝太子最佳候选人!为了和他大哥争夺太子之位需要南翎王的力量,必须联姻!她,再次被利用…她不会就这么算了…
  • 青春有点无聊

    青春有点无聊

    青春是年龄的动词,天真的代表。是哭过之后还会笑,闹过之后还能原谅。是一个你侬我侬的时光,友谊也好,懵懂的爱情也好。回想着,她的青春有点无聊,但却又让她意味深长。她是安然,她是唐默然。他们是她们青春的句号,也是制止友谊的句号。
  • 豪门追缉:专属保镖惹火妻

    豪门追缉:专属保镖惹火妻

    曲二少爷是个暴君。陷害生父,使大哥锒铛入狱,架空三弟的所有权利。对付对手无所不用极其。一纸契约将她困在身侧,予索予求。她想要温暖他冰冷的心,却突然发现他是她父亲死亡的导火线。她是否应该留恋暴君只给她一人的温柔?
  • 网游之左手剑神

    网游之左手剑神

    他是很多人心中的游戏天才,在刚成年之时即成就非凡,甚至自己都觉得成就了人生。现实是残酷的,一夜之间失去了所有,右手被废,他的人生就这样结束了吗?