310 ([return])
[ i.e. Bayt al-Mukaddas, for which see vol. ii. 132.]
311 ([return])
[ An affidavit amongst Moslems is "litis decisio," as in the jurisprudence of medi val Europe.]
312 ([return])
[ In Arab folk-lore there are many instances of such precocious boys—enfants terribles they must be in real life. In Ibn Khall. (iii. 104) we find notices of a book "Kitáb Nujabá al-Abná" = Treatise on Distinguished Children, by Ibn Zakar al- Sakalli (the Sicilian), ob. A. D. 1169-70. And the boy-Kazi is a favourite role in the plays of peasant-lads who enjoy the irreverent "chaff" almost as much as when "making a Pasha." This reminds us of the boys electing Cyrus as their King in sport (Herodotus, i. 114). For the cycle of "Precocious Children" and their adventures, see Mr. Clouston (Popular Tales, etc., ii. 1- 14), who enters into the pedigree and affiliation. I must, however, differ with that able writer when he remarks at the end, "And now we may regard the story of Valerius Maximus with suspicion, and that of Lloyd as absolutely untrue, so far as William Noy's alleged share in the 'case.' " The jest or the event happening again and again is no valid proof of its untruth; and it is often harder to believe in derivation than in spontaneous growth.]
313 ([return])
[ In Galland Ali Cogia, Marchand de Bagdad, is directly followed by the Histoire du Cheval Enchanté. For this "Ebony Horse," as I have called it, see vol. v. p. 32.]
314 ([return])
[ "Bánú" = a lady, a dame of high degree generally, e.g. the (Shah's) Banu-i-Harem in James Morier ("The Mirza," iii. 50), who rightly renders Pari Banu = Pari of the first quality. "Peri" (Parí) in its modern form has a superficial resemblance to "Fairy;" but this disappears in the "Pairika" of the Avesta and the "Pairik" of the modern Parsee. In one language only, the Multání, there is a masculine form for the word "Pará" = a he-fairy (Scinde, ii. 203). In Al-Islam these Peris are beautiful feminine spirits who, created after the "Dívs" (Tabari, i. 7), mostly believe in Allah and the Koran and desire the good of mankind: they are often attacked by the said Dívs, giants or demons, who imprison them in cages hung to the highest trees, and here the captives are visited by their friends who feed them with the sweetest of scents. I have already contrasted them with the green-coated pygmies to which the grotesque fancy of Northern Europe has reduced them. Bánú in Pers. = a princess, a lady, and is still much used, e.g. Bánú-í-Harim, the Dame of the Serraglio, whom foreigners call "Queen of Persia," and rám-Banu="the calm Princess," a nickname. A Greek story equivalent of Prince Ahmad is told by Pio in Contes Populaires Grecs (No. ii. p. 98) and called {Greek}, the Golden box. Three youths ({Greek}) love the same girl and agree that whoever shall learn the best craft ({Greek}) shall marry her; one becomes an astrologer, the second can raise the dead, and the third can run faster than air. They find her at death's door, and her soul, which was at her teeth ready to start, goes down ({Greek}).]