[FN#124] "Al-Nátúr," the keeper, esp. of a vineyard, a word naturalized in Persian. The Caliph asks, Is this a bon> fide affair and hast thou the power to settle the matter definitely? M. Houdas translates as Les raisins sont-ils à toi, ou bien es-tu seulement la gardienne de la vigne? [The verb záraba, 3rd form, followed by the accusative, means "to join one in partnership." The sense of the passage seems therefore to be: Dost thou own grapes thyself, or art thou ("tuzáribí," 2 fem. sing.) in partnership with the vineyard-keeper. The word may be chosen because it admits of another interpretation, the double entendre of which might be kept up in English by using the expression "sleeping" partnership. Perhaps, however, "tuzáribí" means here simply: "Dost thou play the part of."--ST.] [FN#125] The innuendo is intelligible and I may draw attention to the humorous skill with which the mother-in-law's character is drawn. [FN#126] In text "Aská-hu 'alakah" = gave him a good sound drubbing ('alakah), as a robber would apply to a Judge had he the power. [FN#127] Lest he happen to meet an unveiled woman on the stairs; the usual precaution is to cry "Dastúr!" by your leave (Persian). [FN#128] Arab. "Khayr"--a word of good omen. [FN#129] In Chavis and Cazotte the mother gives her daughter's name as Zutulbé (?) and her own Lelamain (?). [FN#130] In text "Waliyah" or "Waliyáh" = and why? [FN#131] The "Wronged" (Al-Mazlúm) refers to the Caliph who was being abused and to his coming career as a son-in-law. Gauttier, who translates the tale very perfunctorily, has Dieu protège les malheureux et les orphelins (vii. 133). [FN#132] This again is intended to show the masterful nature of the Caliph, and would be as much admired by the average coffee- house audience as it would stir the bile of the free and independent Briton. [FN#133] The "Street of the Copperas-maker": the name, as usual, does not appear till further on in the tale. [FN#134] In text "Rukhám" = marble or alabaster, here used for building material: so "Murakhkhim" = a marble-cutter, means simply a stone-mason. I may here note the rediscovery of the porphyry quarries in Middle Egypt, and the gypsum a little inland of Ras Gharíb to the West of the Suez Gulf. Both were much used by the old Egyptians, and we may now fairly expect to rediscover the lost sites, about Tunis and elsewhere in Northern Africa, whence Rosso antico and other fine stones were quarried. [FN#135] Arab. "Al-Hásil" also meaning the taxes, the revenue. [FN#136] In text "Ká'ah" = a saloon: see vols. i. 85; i. 292; and vii. 167. [FN#137] In the sing. "Sikálah." [FN#138] The Jinn here was Curiosity, said to be a familiar of the sex feminine, but certainly not less intimate with "the opposite." [FN#139] In text "Kinnab" which M. Houdas translates étoupe que l'on fixe an bout d'un roseau pour blanchir les murs. [FN#140] Impossible here not to see a sly hit at the Caliph and the Caliphate.