[18]. Scott (vi. 246) comments upon the text:—“The master of the ship having weighed anchor, hoisted sail and departed: the lady in vain entreating him to wait the return of her beloved, or send her on shore, for he was captivated with her beauty. Finding herself thus ensnared, as she was a woman of strong mind ... she assumed a satisfied air; and as the only way to preserve her honour, received the addresses of the treacherous master with pretended complacency, and consented to receive him as a husband at the first port at which the ship might touch.”
[19]. The captain, the skipper, not the owner: see vols. i. 127; vi. 12; the fem. (which we shall presently find) is “Ra’isah.”
[20]. Scott (p. 247) has:—“At length the vessel anchored near a city, to which the captain went to make preparations for his marriage; but the lady, while he was on shore, addressed the ship’s crew, setting forth with such force his treacherous conduct to herself, and offering such rewards if they would convey her to her lover at the port they had left, that the honest sailors were moved in her favour, agreed to obey her as their mistress, and hoisting sail, left the master to shift for himself.”
[21]. In text “Kamrah,” = the chief cabin, from the Gr. καμάρα = vault; Pers. Kamar; Lat. “Camera” or “Camara”; Germ. “Kammer.” It is still the popular term in Egypt for the “cuddy,” which is derived from Pers. “Kadah” = a room.
[22]. Scott makes the doughty damsel (p. 249), “relate to them her own adventures, and assure them that when she should have rejoined her lover, they should, if they chose it, be honourably restored to their homes; but in the mean time she hoped they would contentedly share her fortunes.”
[23]. In text “Fidáwi,” see “Fidá’i” and “Fidawíyah,” vol. iv. 281.
[24]. [In the text “Al-Kázánát,” pl. of “Kázán,” which occurs in Spitta Bey’s tales under the form “Kazán” on account of the accent. It is the Turkish “Kazghán,” vulgarly pronounced “Kazan,” and takes in Persian generally the form “Kazkán.” In Night 652 it will be met again in the sense of crucibles.—St.]
[25]. In text “Banj al-tayyár,” i.e. volatile: as we should say, that which flies fastest to the brain.
[26]. This marvellous bird, the “Ter-il-bas” (Tayr Táús?), is a particular kind of peacock which is introduced with a monstrous amount of nonsense about “Dagon and his son Bil-il-Sanan” and made to determine elections by alighting upon the head of one of the candidates in Chavis and Cazotte, “History of Yamalladdin (Jamál al-Din), Prince of Great Katay” (Khátá = Cathay = China). See Heron, iv. 159.
[27]. Lit. “hath given it to him.”