登陆注册
22900700000137

第137章

next,black with blaze and three white legs (bad,because whitehoofs are brittle):next,bay with white blaze and white fore and hind legs.'He also said,'Prosperity is with sorrel horses;'and praised a sorrel with white forehead and legs;but he dispraised the'Shikal,'which has white stockings (Arab.'Muhajjil') on alternate hoofs (e.g. right hind and left fore). The curious reader will consult Lady Anne Blunt's'Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates,with some Account of the Arabs and their Horses'(1879);but he must remember that it treats of the frontier tribes. The late Major Upton also left a book'Gleanings from the Desert of Arabia'(1881);but it is a marvellous production deriving e.g. Khayl (a horse generically) from Kohl or antimony (p. 275). What the Editor was dreaming of I cannot imagine. I have given some details concerning the Arab horse especially in AlYaman,among the Zu Mohammed,the Zu Husayn and the Banu Yam in Pilgrimage iii. 270. As late as Marco Polo's day they supplied the Indian market via Aden;but the'Eye o AlYaman'has totally lost the habit of exporting horses.

[138] The shoveliron which is the only form of spur.

[139] Used for the dromedary: the baggagecamel is haltered.

[140] Arab.'Harwalah,'the pas gymnastique affected when circumambulating the Ka'abah (Pilgrimage iii. 208).

[141]'This night'would be our'last night': the Arabs,I repeat,say'night and day,'not'day and night.'

[142] The vulgar belief is that man's fate is written upon his skull,the sutures being the writing.

[143] Koran ii. 191.

[144] Arab.'Tasbih'=saying,'Subhan' Allah.'It also means a rosary (Egypt. Sebhah for Subhah) a string of 99 beads divided by a longer item into sets of three and much fingered by the would appear pious. The professional devotee carries a string of wooden balls the size of pigeons' eggs.

[145] The pigeon is usually made to say,''Wahhidu Rabbakumu''llazi khalakakum,yaghfiru lakum zambakum'='Unify (Assert the Unity of) your Lord who created you;so shall He forgive your sin!'As might be expected this'language'is differently interpreted. Pigeonsuperstitions are found in all religions and I have noted (Pilgrimage iii,218) how the Hindu deity of Destruction reproduction,the third Person of their Triad,Shiva and his Spouse (or active Energy),are supposed to have dwelt at Meccah under the titles of Kapoteshwara (Pigeongod) and Kapoteshi (Pigeongoddess).

[146] I have seen this absolute horror of women amongst the Monks of the Coptic Convents.

[147] After the Day of Doom,when men's actions are registered,that of mutual retaliation will follow and all creatures (brutes included) will take vengeance on one another.

[148] The Comrades of the Cave,famous in the Middle Ages of Christianity (Gibbon chaps. xxxiii.),is an article of faith with Moslems,being part subject of chapter xviii.,the Koranic Surah termed the Cave. These Rip Van Winkletales begin with Endymion so famous amongst the Classics and Epimenides of Crete who slept fiftyseven years;and they extend to modern days as La Belle au Bois dormant. The Seven Sleepers are as many youths of Ephesus (six royal councillors and a shepherd,whose names are given on the authority of Ali);and,accompanied by their dog,they fled the persecutions of Dakianus (the Emperor Decius) to a cave near Tarsus in Natolia where they slept for centuries. The Caliph Mu'awiyah when passing the cave sent into it some explorers who were all killed by a burning wind. The number of the sleepers remains uncertain,according to the Koran (ibid. v. 21) three,five or seven and their sleep lasted either three hundred or three hundred and nine years. The dog (ibid. v. 17) slept at the caveentrance with paws outstretched and,according to the general,was called'Katmir'or'Kitmir;'but AlRakim (v. 8) is also applied to it by some. Others hold this to be the name of the valley or mountain and others of a stone or leaden tablet on which their names were engraved by their countrymen who built a chapel on the spot (v. 20). Others again make the Men of AlRakim distinct from the Cavemen,and believe (with Bayzawi) that they were three youths who were shut up in a grotto by a rockslip.

Each prayed for help through the merits of some good deed: when the first had adjured Allah the mountain cracked till light appeared;at the second petition it split so that they saw one another and after the third it opened. However that may be,Kitmir is one of the seven favoured animals: the others being the Hudhud (hoopoe) of Solomon (Koran xxii. 20);the shecamel of Salih (chaps. Ixxxvii.);the cow of Moses which named the Second Surah;the fish of Jonah;the serpent of Eve,and the peacock of Paradise. For Koranic revelations of the Cave see the late Thomas Chenery (p. 414 The Assemblies of AlHariri: Williams and Norgate,1870) who borrows from the historian Tabari.

[149] These lines have occurred in Night cxlvi.: I quote Mr.

Payne by way of variety.

[150] The wolf (truly enough to nature) is the wicked man without redeeming traits;the fox of Arab folklore is the cunning man who can do good on occasion. Here the latter is called'Sa'alab'which may,I have noted,mean the jackal;but further on'Father of a Fortlet'refers especially to the fox.

Herodotus refers to the gregarious Canis Aureus when he describes Egyptian wolves as being'not much bigger than foxes'(ii. 67).

Canon Rawlinson,in his unhappy version,does not perceive that the Halicarnassian means the jackal and blunders about the hyena.

[151] The older'Leila'or'Leyla': it is a common name and is here applied to woman in general. The root is evidently'layl'=nox,with,probably,the idea,'She walks in beauty like the night.'

[152] Arab. Abu'lHosayn;his hole being his fort (Unexplored Syria,ii. 18).

[153] A Koranic phrase often occurring.

[154] Koran v. 35.

同类推荐
  • Greyfriars Bobby

    Greyfriars Bobby

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 寒门

    寒门

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 洞玄灵宝自然斋仪

    洞玄灵宝自然斋仪

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 蒙求

    蒙求

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 非十二子

    非十二子

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
热门推荐
  • 龙族之星愿永恒

    龙族之星愿永恒

    PS-0【南大的《龙族》的同人】———————————————2008,仕兰中学—陈雯雯(看工具人):“路明非,你要不要加入我们文学社?”路明非(坚定脸):这才是宜室宜家的好女孩啊……我此生只爱陈雯雯!路明远(吃瓜脸):欸。—2009,万达影城—诺诺(看傻孩子):“李嘉图,我们的时间不够了,还要继续参加活动么?”路明非(向往脸):我的世界很大很暗没有光……师姐就是我的那道光啊!路明远(无语脸):你认真的?—2010,日本东京—绘梨衣(看路明非):“sakura最好了。”路明非(怂包脸):她喜欢的其实是那个虚假的‘小樱花’…并不是真实的我……路明远(暴躁脸):喝尼玛呢!!快给劳资滚去找人家!
  • 契约你的前世今生

    契约你的前世今生

    青云携手欲同游,合卺之夜断肠酒。柔肠寸断随君去,只愿来生不再愁。…………青云山下,一白衣少年与一青衣女子相互追逐,行云流水般逍遥自在的演练着剑术。少年英俊潇洒,女子貌美如花……本是郎才女貌,天作之合的一对佳人,却在新婚之夜双双陨命她迷惑、懊悔、不甘,这一切到底是为什么?这一世她能经历那些层层挫折,屈辱,磨难,与他在一起吗?_公子家的读者扣扣群,欢迎入群讨论(693837483)
  • 清风徐,此一生

    清风徐,此一生

    她是亡国公主,他是亡她之国的皇子。他出身卑微,身不由己,可还是受到了她的报复。他不曾想会爱上她,她也不想会为他沉沦。深宫之中,它成为皇帝,终是为她凉了心,终是冷落了她。她受尽凌辱,尽知真相,放下了仇恨,与他双宿双栖。
  • 斗罗之我为金龙王

    斗罗之我为金龙王

    逸轩在一场事故之中失去了意识,醒来竟发现自己变成了金龙王,和妹妹古月娜逃往下界后,降临斗罗大陆,在这片神奇的大陆上,他又会书写出怎样的传奇。本书并非单女主,比比东会救,不会按原书的剧情来,会有很大改动。保证绝不太监,设定上可能不够严谨,不喜勿喷
  • 承包小萌妻:国民老公霸上身

    承包小萌妻:国民老公霸上身

    她是豪门养女,在她的眼里,这个号称亚州巨星的国民男神,是她看中的未来老公。为了得到他,她不择手段。他是红遍全亚州的国际巨星,身上标签无数,妖孽,性感,迷人,冷酷,富有,最重要的是零绯闻。被一个磨人的小妖精缠上,可不是一件轻松摆脱的事情。这陆珉皓郁闷的要死,他看起来像是有“恋童僻”的人吗?
  • 智慧背囊——最让你情绪放松的心灵鸡汤

    智慧背囊——最让你情绪放松的心灵鸡汤

    如果生活是一片一望无际的汪洋,故事便是汪洋里飘荡的小舟;岁月是一座望不透顶的高山,感动便是高山上绿荫的草木。最优美华丽的文字,最温馨动人的故事,最睿智的人生哲理,最经典的“智慧背囊”。阅读“智慧背囊”,是一种快乐。打开快乐与智慧的大门,亲吻那带着新鲜露珠,透着淡淡清香的玫瑰吧!拥抱那闪着壑智火花、充满青春气息的人生大树吧!
  • 关于猴子掉进泰拉瑞亚这件事

    关于猴子掉进泰拉瑞亚这件事

    你们以为这是本是穿越文,其实它是沙雕文哒!群号:910060688
  • 穿越柯南之莫失莫忘

    穿越柯南之莫失莫忘

    主要来说是给柯南加了几个原创人物的说...情节取胜,推理废柴,但是这里有兄控妹控哀控秀控的各种奸情哦~~求点进支持~决不让你失望~其实呢...惟每周都在写文文,不过惟的首发地点不在这里而在贴吧,所以惟会一有空就码字放在帖子里,这里呢估计是要惟想起来才一次性放出一堆...不过其实一次看多几章比一次看一章两三千字要好的多对吗~~依旧求支持~感激不尽~
  • 枫林决

    枫林决

    (又名《枫剑丹青录》)。北宋乱世之中,在美丽的武夷山巅,竟然凭空生长出了一片违背地理现象的红枫林。在这片奇妙景观的指引下,一对寻父路上的少男少女偶然相遇。山河破碎,家国风雨,一段传奇的江湖之旅就此展开。枫花剑走鸿云层,傲世丹心铁骨铮。骚人竞往千书赞,霜红一笔神来锋。
  • 容颜枯

    容颜枯

    顾萱的童年在爷爷奶奶家度过,第一次来到大城市,面对一个冷淡的妈妈和一个讨厌她的姐姐,她本该安安分分的读完A中,却在进入A中的第一眼,便无法自拔的喜欢上了这个叫梁仁德的男孩,这个少年靠着窗户,那一眼,冷淡而疏离,就像是六年级的时候迷上的哈利波特一般带着黑色眼镜,有着苍白的肤色和轮廓分明的下巴,她本以为,只要自己努力,就可以像言情小说一样,有一个完美的结局,没想到大她几个月的姐姐却突然插足……