登陆注册
22897600000137

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
热门推荐
  • 破境陆仙

    破境陆仙

    几年以后,面对北庭王朝的执刑院时,吴簌簌将会回想起与余子近相遇的那个遥远的黄昏。余子近年纪还轻,阅历不深的时候,他父亲教导过他一句话,他至今念念不忘。“每当你想要批评任何人的时候,”他父亲对他说,“你就记住,这个世界上所有的人,并不是个个都有你那些优越的条件。”你要是真想听我讲,你想要知道的第一件事可能是余子近在什么地方出生,他的童年是怎样度过,他父母在生他之前干些什么,以及诸如此类的大卫·科波菲尔式废话,可我老实告诉你,我无意告诉你这一切。
  • 千金限量拍卖公主爱

    千金限量拍卖公主爱

    对于一个微不足道的敌人,她的做法通常是玩弄于手掌之中;对于一个装B的敌人,她的做法则是毫不留情暴露她;对于做假的敌人,她通常只会默默看着;对于一个心灵狡猾的人,她一般会和她玩到底。四位华丽出现,其余渣渣眼神秒灭。她想上学,怎么办呢?陪她一起去呗!她想去游乐园,要怎么做呢?陪她一起去呗!她想去PIAN酒,要去不?陪她一起去呗!她想找男票,这个这么办呢?无奈,只好一起呗!
  • 超神直播系统

    超神直播系统

    穿越了,没有未婚妻,戒指老头,神秘背景……马蛋!啥都没有穿越来干嘛?咦,等等,有个系统!白天装逼直播,晚上虚心指教刷贴吧!(其实就是水贴)一入贴吧深似海,从此节操路人!“太上老君,你的九转不死丹五十包邮卖不卖?#(滑稽)”“猴哥!我辣妈萌,送根猴毛行不行?#(乖)”“卡特妹子,赶紧打盖伦啊!刷新已烂。#(委屈)”“明天看我直播人数在线破百万了!你们这群水笔难不成就不打算给我刷一波礼物吗?#(阴险)”……
  • 寻道

    寻道

    在一个金碧辉煌的宫殿里,一个风神如玉的青年人对着一条迷你型的金龙说道,原来这个世界真的有龙啊。
  • 恒天道

    恒天道

    “两位鬼差大哥,就这样进去么?不喝孟婆汤什么的么?”孟景好心提醒道,怎么说这两个长舌小鬼也是在转轮王手下当差的呀!怎么能忘了这程序呢?虽然他对地府了解不多,但是不喝孟婆汤返阳不合规矩这么简单的道理他还是知道一些的。“孟婆汤,喝什么孟婆汤?我们第十八轮回隧道返阳的小鬼可从来都不喝孟婆汤的!再说孟婆自己都快吃不上饭了,上哪去做汤给你喝!”一长舌小鬼见孟景这么没有见识,心中冷哼一声,鄙视道。“我说你给这小子废什么话!给我进去吧!”另一个小鬼说罢,猛地一脚将孟景踹了进去......
  • 快穿之炮灰女配

    快穿之炮灰女配

    夏忧,天才少女,无意被系统选中,坦然接受,攻略男主男配,女主有心机,没关系,我比她更深,女主有光环,没关系。。。啊啊啊啊怎么办,没办法抱紧男主男配们的大腿喽
  • 没有事·情发生(千种豆瓣高分原创作品·短故事)

    没有事·情发生(千种豆瓣高分原创作品·短故事)

    故事全部来源于我学生时的随笔。都取自生活中的突发奇想,有的只是人心的光怪陆离造就世界的奇妙,有的是鬼魅丛生但也给生活点缀了些暖意。没有事情是我的亲身经历,请不要胡思乱想。
  • 兑换系统之空间降临

    兑换系统之空间降临

    简介:锋止,一个在孤儿院长大的孩子,内心不甘平凡的他想在联邦数百国家支持开发出来的世界级第一虚拟网络游戏《天下》中努力赚钱的故事!新人新书,更新时间不定,但可以用邻居家小朋友的JJ保证不太监。(解释:刚刚开始步入工作,首要在意的是现实工作,稳定后更新会一天一章,主要请求谅解,理解,解X平方吧!)注:熟悉的配方,熟悉的味道~本书QQ群:325625929。欢迎大家加入。有兴趣的可以一起改进剧情,大家一起聊聊。另:主要就收藏就行,其他不强求,自知写作水平不高!!
  • 旷世情缘:腹黑冥王追妻记

    旷世情缘:腹黑冥王追妻记

    纠结版文案:她是21世纪的天才少女,她是昊月王朝的绝色郡主,她是跨世而来的彼岸花仙,同时她也是命定的倾城冥后。他是下凡历劫的冥王,他是不愿做皇上的当朝太子,同时他也是幻灭的当家主上。两个人巧合的相遇,又因着共同祭活了玄觞镜,不得不走到一起。两人策马江湖,看尽一段段爱恨嗔痴。历劫结束的他却发现爱上的她不是最初的她,这份横生枝节的爱情该何去何从?天逗比版文案:主线就是一个来自未来世界的雌性荷尔蒙分泌过于旺盛的女子一心想要压倒古代美男子,却没想到被腹黑的美男子反压倒的故事。副线就是各种身份,各种属性的人物之间发生的各种风花雪月,爱恨情长,狗血喷一脸。
  • 逍遥毒圣

    逍遥毒圣

    少年无故堕入深谷,却没有摔死,反而掉入了一条巨蟒内的口中,更奇怪的是蟒蛇的胃液无法消化他,他也无法出去,久而久之,他只能以蛇肉为食,以蛇血为肉,可惜毒性过强,本以为快死的他却被飞来的秃鹫抓到。。。一连串的事故让他筋疲力尽,更让他获益匪浅。深山老林十年磨砺,十年后都市出现一个少年,以毒治人,以毒杀人。他不过是一个孤儿,却为何能得到上天的怜悯,种种的奇遇为何只让他得到。