[269]. “Yá A’awar” = O one eye! i.e. the virile member. So the vulgar insult “Ya ibn al-aur” (as the vulgar pronounce it) “O son of a yard!” When Al-Mas’údi writes (Fr. Trans. vii. 106), “Udkhul usbu’ak fi aynih,” it must not be rendered “Il faut lui faire violence”: thrust thy finger into his eye (’Ayn) means “put thy penis up his fundament!” (’Ayn being = Dubur). The French remarks, “On en trouverait l’équivalent dans les bas-fonds de notre langue.” So in English “pig’s eye,” “blind eye.” etc.
[270]. Arab. Nabbút = a quarterstaff: see vol. i. [234].
[271]. Arab. “Banní,” vulg. Benni and in Lane (Lex. Bunni) the Cyprinus Bynni (Forsk.), a fish somewhat larger than a barbel with lustrous silvery scales and delicate flesh, which Sonnini believes may be the “Lepidotes” (smooth-scaled) mentioned by Athenæus. I may note that the Bresl. Edit. (iv. 332) also affects the Egyptian vulgarism “Farkh-Banni” of the Mac. Edit. (Night dcccxxxii.)
[272]. The story-teller forgets that Khalif had neither basket nor knife.
[273]. Arab. “Rayhán” which may here mean any scented herb.
[274]. In the text “Fard Kalmah,” a vulgarism. The Mac. Edit. (Night dcccxxxv.) more aptly says, “Two words” (Kalmatáni, vulg. Kalmatayn) the Twofold Testimonies to the Unity of Allah and the Mission of His Messenger.
[275]. The lowest Cairene chaff which has no respect for itself or others.
[276]. Arab. “Karrat azlá’ hú”: alluding to the cool skin of healthy men when digesting a very hearty meal.
[277]. This is the true Fellah idea. A peasant will go up to his proprietor with the “rint” in gold pieces behind his teeth and undergo an immense amount of flogging before he spits them out. Then he will return to his wife and boast of the number of sticks he has eaten instead of paying at once and his spouse will say, “Verily thou art a man.” Europeans know nothing of the Fellah. Napoleon Buonaparte, for political reasons, affected great pity for him and horror of his oppressors, the Beys and Pashas; and this affectation gradually became public opinion. The Fellah must either tyrannise or be tyrannised over; he is never happier than under a strong-handed despotism and he has never been more miserable than under British rule or rather misrule. Our attempts to constitutionalise him have made us the laughing-stock of Europe.
[278]. The turban is a common substitute for a purse with the lower classes of Egyptians; and an allusion to the still popular practice of turban-snatching will be found in vol. i. p. [259].