[FN#362] Mermen, monsters, beasts, etc.

[FN#363] This is in accordance with Eastern etiqette; the guest must be fed before his errand is asked.  The Porte, in the days of its pride, managed in this way sorely to insult the Ambassadors of the most powerful European kingdoms and the first French Republic had the honour of abating the barbarians’ nuisance.  So the old Scottish Highlanders never asked the name or clan of a chance guest, lest he prove a foe before he had eaten their food.

[FN#364] In Bresl.  Edit. (301) Khafiyah:  in Mac.  Khainah, the perfidy.

[FN#365] So in the Mac.  Edit., in the Bresl. only one “Kaba” or Kaftan; but from the sequel it seems to be a clerical error.

[FN#366] Arab.  “Su’uban” (Thu’uban) popularly translated “basilisk.”  The Egyptians suppose that when this serpent forms ring round the Ibn ’Irs (weasel or ichneumon) the latter emits a peculiar air which causes the reptile to burst.

[FN#367] i.e. that prophesied by Solomon.

[FN#368] Arab.  “Takliyah” from kaly, a fry:  Lane’s Shaykh explained it as “onions cooked in clarified butter, after which they are put upon other cooked food.”  The mention of onions points to Egypt as the origin of this tale and certainly not to Arabia, where the strong-smelling root is hated.

[FN#369] Von Hammer quotes the case of the Grand Vizier Yusuf throwing his own pelisse over the shoulders of the Aleppine Merchant who brought him the news of the death of his enemy, Jazzar Pasha.

[FN#370] This peculiar style of generosity was also the custom in contemporary Europe.

[FN#371] Khatun, which follows the name (e.g.  Hurmat Khatun), in India corresponds with the male title Khan, taken by the Pathan Moslems (e.g.  Pir Khan).  Khanum is the affix to the Moghul or Tartar nobility, the men assuming a double designation e.g.  Mirza Abdallah Beg.  See Oriental collections (Ouseley’s) vol. i. 97.

[FN#372] Lit.  “Whatso thou wouldest do that do!” a contrast with our European laconism.

[FN#373] These are booths built against and outside the walls, made of palm-fronds and light materials.

[FN#374] Von Hammer in Trebutien (ii. 135) says, “Such rejoicings are still customary at Constantinople, under the name of Donanma, not only when the Sultanas are enceintes, but also when they are brought to bed.  In 1803 the rumour of the pregnancy of a Sultana, being falsely spread, involved all the Ministers in useless expenses to prepare for a Donanma which never took place.”  Lane justly remarks upon this passage that the title Sultan precedes while the feminine Sultanah follows the name.

[FN#375] These words (Bresl.  Edit.) would be spoken in jest, a grim joke enough, but showing the elation of the King’s spirits.

[FN#376] A signal like a gong:  the Mac.  Edit. reads “Takah,” = in at the window.

[FN#377] Sayf al-Muluk = “Sword (Egyptian Sif, Arab.  Sayf, Gr.
     ) of the Kings”; and he must not be called tout bonnement
Sayf.  Sai’d = the forearm.