[5] Not necessarily a Chinese woman, simply a beauty; China and Chinese Tartary being regarded as pre-eminent for the beauty of their women.
[6] A term of endearment.
[7] Probably he was afraid lest the king should put him to death for giving such bad news.
[8] The Prophet Mahomet.
[9] I.e., beautiful.
[10] Koran, iv. 94.
[11] As servants do.
[12] In the time of Murad II an aspre was worth about 2½d. stg. Turkish sequins were not struck till the time of his successor, Mahomet II, when they were equivalent to about 12s. 6d. Foreign gold coins, especially Venetian, were used previously.
[13] Qāf is the name of a fabled mountain chain, formerly supposed to encircle the world: “the castle” is simply a metaphor for the mountain peaks.
[14] This famous speech is usually attributed to ‘Omar, the second caliph.