The Thousand and One Nights, Vol. I. / Commonly Called the Arabian Nights' Entertainments

by Unknown

Note [4.] The wine is mentioned in the Calcutta edition of the first two hundred nights, but not in the edition of Cairo. The lady went to a Christian to purchase her wine because Muslims are not allowed to sell it.

Note [5.] The "'Othmánee quinces" I suppose to be a kind so called after some person named 'Othmán who introduced it, or was famous for its culture. The term "Sulṭánee," applied to the citrons afterwards mentioned, signifies "imperial."

Note [6.] A list of these sweets is given in my original, but I have thought it better to omit the names.

Note [7.] The "willow-flower-water" is prepared from the sweet-scented flowers of the Oriental willow, called "bán" and "khiláf" or "khaláf;" a twig of which is, among the Arabs, a favourite emblem of a graceful female.

Note [8.]—On the Vessels used for Sprinkling and Perfuming. The sprinkling-bottle, here called "mirashsh," is more commonly called "ḳumḳum," and has been alluded to in a former note, as having a spherical or wide body, and a long and narrow neck. It is generally about eight inches high, and of plain or gilt silver, or of fine brass, or china, or glass; and has a cover pierced with a small hole. This vessel is used in the houses of the rich to sprinkle a guest or visiter, before he rises to take his leave, with rose-water; after which ceremony, a page or servant presents to him a kind of censer, called "mibkharah," which is generally of one or other of the metals above mentioned, and about the same height as the ḳumḳum; and he wafts the smoke which rises from it towards his face, beard, &c., with the right hand. The body of the mibkharah, the form of which is nearly globular, surmounts a stem rising from the centre of a small circular tray; the upper half is a cover pierced with apertures for the escape of the smoke; and the lower half, in which some burning charcoal is placed, is lined, or half filled, with gypsum-plaster. Aloes-wood, previously moistened, or some other odoriferous substance, is placed upon the burning coals; and sometimes, in the houses of very wealthy persons, ambergris is used.

Note [9.] This description of the outer door of a house in Baghdád is an obvious absurdity; but none of the copies of the original to which I have access authorizes my substituting "gilt" for "plated with gold;" all here agreeing in the use of words which have the latter sense.

Note [10.] In their eagerness to obtain the earliest possible sight of the new moon which marks the period of the commencement of the Ramaḍán, lest they should not begin their fast as soon as the law requires, the Muslims often see the crescent one night earlier in this than in any other month. The comparison of an eyebrow to the new moon of Ramaḍán expresses, therefore, its extreme thinness, as well as its arched form. To reduce its natural thickness, and to give it this form, scissors are often used.

Note [11.] "The seal of Suleymán" is a name given by the Arabs to a six-pointed star formed by two equilateral triangles intersecting each other, and to the flower which we, also, call "Solomon's seal." I fear that the reader will not consider the comparison very apposite, unless the allusion be to a beautiful red berry which, I am informed, is borne by the flower here mentioned.

Note [12.]—Description of Apartments in Arab Houses. Most of the descriptions of interior domestic architecture which occur in the present work, I may aptly illustrate by availing myself of observations made in Cairo. In the houses of persons of the higher and middle classes in this city, the different apartments generally resemble each other in several respects, and are similarly furnished. The greater portion of the floor is elevated about half a foot, or somewhat more, above the rest. The higher portion is called "leewán" (a corruption of "el-eewán"), and the lower, "durḳá'ah," from the Persian "dar-gáh." When there is but one leewán, the durḳá'ah occupies the lower end, extending from the door to the opposite wall. In a handsome house, it is usually paved with white and black marble, and little pieces of red tile, inlaid in tasteful and complicated patterns; and if the room is on the ground-floor, and sometimes in other cases, it has, in the centre, a fountain which plays into a small, shallow pool, lined with coloured marbles, &c., like the surrounding pavement. The shoes, or slippers, are left upon the durḳá'ah previously to stepping upon the leewán. The latter is generally paved with common stone, and covered with a mat in summer, and a carpet over this in winter; and a mattress and cushions are placed against each of its three walls, composing what is called a "deewán," or divan. The mattress, which is commonly about three feet wide, and three or four inches thick, is placed either on the floor or on a raised frame or a slightly-elevated pavement; and the cushions, which are usually of a length equal to the width of the mattress, and of a height equal to half that measure, lean against the wall. Both mattresses and cushions are stuffed with cotton, and are covered with printed calico, cloth, or some more expensive stuff. The deewán which extends along the upper end of the leewán is called the "ṣadr," and is the most honourable: and the chief place on this seat is the corner which is to the right of a person facing this end of the room; the other corner is the next in point of honour; and the intermediate places on the same deewán are more honourable than those on the two side-deewáns. To a superior, and often to an equal, the master or mistress yields the chief place. The corners are often furnished with an additional mattress, of a square form, just large enough for one person, placed upon the other mattress, and with two additional (but smaller) cushions to recline against. The walls are, for the most part, plastered and white-washed, and generally have two or more shallow cupboards, the doors of which, as well as those of the apartments, are fancifully constructed with small panels. The windows, which are chiefly composed of curious wooden lattice-work, serving to screen the inhabitants from the view of persons without, as also to admit both light and air, commonly project outwards, and are furnished with mattresses and cushions. In many houses there are, above these, small windows of coloured glass, representing bunches of flowers, &c. The ceiling is of wood, and certain portions of it, which are carved, or otherwise ornamented by fanciful carpentry, are usually painted with bright colours, such as red, green, and blue, and sometimes varied with gilding; but the greater part of the wood-work is generally left unpainted.

The word in the original text which I translate "saloon," is "ḳá'ah." This term is applied to a large and lofty apartment, commonly having two leewáns, on opposite sides of the durḳá'ah. One of these is, in most instances, larger than the other, and is held to be the more honourable part. Some ḳá'ahs, containing three leewáns, one of these being opposite the entrance, or four leewáns composing the form of a cross with the durḳá'ah in the centre, communicate with small chambers or closets, or have elevated recesses which are furnished in the same manner as the leewáns. That part of the roof which is over the durḳá'ah rises above the rest, sometimes to nearly twice the height of the latter, and is generally surmounted by a lantern of wooden lattice-work to admit the air.