HKB
God, bestow upon me [offspring] by her, and bestow upon her [offspring] by me! O God, unite us, as Thou hast united, happily; and separate us, when Thou separatest, happily!'"[319]
NOTE 40. The ṭarboosh is a woollen skull-cap, of a deep blood-red colour, having a tassel of dark blue silk attached to the crown. It is now worn by most Arabs of the higher and middle classes, and by many others, except in Arabia, where it is not so common. Round it is wound the muslin or shawl which forms the turban. Within it is worn a cotton cap. The Turks call it "fes," and "fés."
NOTE 41. The farajeeyeh is a loose robe or coat, now generally made of cloth, with full and long sleeves extending a little beyond the extremities of the fingers and without any slit. It is worn chiefly by persons of the learned professions.
NOTE 42. This is the usual mode in which money is collected for the singing-women in the present day.
NOTE 43. "Ḥooreeyeh" is the appellation commonly given by the Arabs to a virgin of Paradise, by French and English writers, termed "Houri;" which term, in Arabic, converts a female into a male, but is agreeable with the Persian equivalent of the Arabic "Ḥooreeyeh."
NOTE 44.--On the Evil Eye. Some remarks on the "evil eye" have been made in a former note (No. 24 in the present series), with respect to children, and the means of counteracting its supposed influence; but I mention this subject again partly with the view of suggesting to the reader the necessity of bearing it in mind, as it explains many usages described, or alluded to, in this work, which would otherwise appear unaccountable. He may remember a well-known line of Virgil--
"Nescio quis teneros oculus mihi fascinat agnos,"
which, like many other allusions in works of ancient authors, shews how long and how extensively this superstition has been entertained. How deeply it is rooted in the minds of Arabs, even the most religious and learned, may be inferred from this saying of their Prophet: "The eye has a complete influence; because verily, if there were a thing to overcome fate, it most certainly would be a malignant eye."[320] Hence he permitted charms (which he disallowed in almost every other case) to be employed for the purpose of counteracting its influence.[321] The following observation, selected from several of a similar nature in my work on the Modern Egyptians, aptly illustrates the passage to which this note immediately refers. "It is a custom among the higher and middle classes in Cairo, on the occasion of a marriage, to hang chandeliers in the street before the bridegroom's house; and it often happens that a crowd is collected to see a very large and handsome chandelier suspended: in this case, it is a common practice to divert the attention of the spectators by throwing down and breaking a large jar, or by some other artifice, lest an envious eye should cause the chandelier to fall."
NOTE 45. The closet here alluded to, being one in which ablution is performed, always contains a small trough of water, or a ewer.
NOTE 46. This epithet, "unlucky," is often applied to an 'Efreet. I have frequently heard it thus used by Arabs.
NOTE 47. "Aboo-Shiháb" (literally, Father of a Shooting Star) is a nickname often given to a devil, and is so employed because devils, or evil jinnees, are sometimes destroyed by shooting stars hurled at them by angels; an instance of which occurs in the tale under consideration.
NOTE 48. "Sitt-el-Ḥosn" signifies "the Lady of Beauty."
NOTE 49. "Ḥasheesh" is the intoxicating hemp, which has been mentioned in former notes.
NOTE 50. Thus in the Breslau edition, and in the Calcutta edition of the first two hundred nights; but in the edition of Cairo, the cook is merely termed a prodigal.