[308]. Showing utter ignorance of the Jewish rite which must always be performed by the Mohel, an official of the Synagogue duly appointed by the Sheliach = legatus; and within eight days after birth. The rite consists of three operations. Milah = the cut; Priah = tearing the foreskin and Mezzízah = applying styptics to the wound. The latter process has become a matter of controversy and the Israelite community of Paris, headed by the Chief Rabbi, M. Zadoc Kahin, has lately assembled to discuss the question. For the difference between Jewish and Moslem circumcision see vol. v. 209.
[309]. The Jewish quarter (Hárah), which the Israelites themselves call “Hazer,” = a court-yard, an inclosure. In Mayer’s valuable “Conversations-lexicon” the Italian word is derived from the Talmudic “Ghet” = divorce, separation (as parting the Hebrews from the rest of the population) and the Rev. S. R. Melli, Chief Rabbi of Trieste, has kindly informed me that the word is Chaldaic.
[310]. [Ar. “Sarmújah,” from Persian “Sar-múzah,” a kind of hose or gaiter worn over a boot.—St.]
[311]. [Arab. “Yastanít,” aor. to the preter. “istanat,” which has been explained, p. 34.—St.]
[312]. The bed would be made of a carpet or thin mattress strewn upon the stucco flooring of the terrace-roof. But the ignorant scribe overlooks the fact that by Mosaic law every Jewish house must have a parapet for the “Sakf” (flat roof), a precaution neglected by Al-Islam.
[313]. Good old classical English. In the “Breeches Bible” (A.D. 1586) we read, “But a certaine woman cast a piece of millstone upon Abimelech’s head and broke his brain-panne” (Judges ix. 33).
[314]. [The words “’Irz,” protection, in the preceding sentence, “Hurmah” and “Shatáráh” explain each other mutually. The formula “fí ’irzak” (vulg. “arzak,”) I place myself under thy protection, implies an appeal to one’s honour (“’Irz”). Therefore the youth says: “Inna házih Hurmah lam ’alay-há Shatárah,” i.e. “Truly this one is a woman” (in the emphatic sense of a sacred or forbidden object; “this woman” would be “házih al-Hurmah”), “I must not act vilely or rashly towards her,” both vileness and rashness belonging to the many significations of “Shatárah,” which is most usually “cleverness.”—St.]
[315]. In the text “Sind,” still confounding this tale with the preceding.
[316]. In text “Intihába ’l furas,” lit. = the snatching of opportunities, a jingle with “Kanas.”
[317]. [Compare with this episode the viith of Spitta Bey’s Tales: Histoire du Prince qui apprit un métier.—St.]