The Thousand and One Nights, Vol. I.: Commonly Called the Arabian Nights' Entertainments
General
The Thousand and One Nights, Vol. I.: Commonly Called the Arabian Nights' Entertainments
Fairy tales; Tales -- Arab countries
NOTE 21.--_On the_ Deenár _and_ Dirhem. The standards of gold and
silver coin, among the Arabs, were the deenár and the dirhem: therefore,
in this work, I call the former "a piece of gold," and the latter "a
piece of silver." Their values have varied considerably at different
periods; but in the present work, we shall sufficiently approximate to
the truth, if we understand the average value of the former to be about
ten shillings or half a guinea; and that of the latter, about sixpence.
NOTE 22.--_Description of Shops._ In Eastern cities, most of the great
thoroughfare-streets, and many others, have a row of shops along each
side, not communicating with the superstructures; which latter are
divided into separate lodgings, inhabited by different families, and
seldom by the persons who rent the shops beneath. These streets are
called, in Arabic, "Sooḳs;" and are generally termed by us, "Bázárs." A
whole street of this description, or a portion of such a street,
commonly contains only or chiefly shops appropriated to a particular
trade; and is called the Sooḳ of that trade. In general, the shop is a
small recess or cell, about six or seven feet high, and between three
and four feet wide, the floor of which is even with the top of a raised
seat of stone or brick, called "maṣṭabah," between two and three feet
high, and about the same in breadth; upon which the shopkeeper usually
sits.[149] The front of the shop is furnished with shutters; which, when
closed, at night, are secured by a wooden lock. Several of the
engravings in this work will convey a better notion of shops of
different kinds than a more detailed description.
NOTE 23. Distrust in his governors and relations and acquaintance often
induces an Arab to hide his money under the paved floor of a room, or in
some other place, in his house.
NOTE 24. These words, "I give myself to thee," uttered by a woman to a
man, even without the presence of witnesses, if they cannot be easily
procured, render her his lawful wife, if he replies that he accepts her,
and gives her a dowry.
NOTE 25. I have substituted "Jinneeyeh" (agreeably with the Calcutta
edition of the first two hundred nights, and because the context
requires it) for "'Efreeteh," which signifies a powerful and evil female
genie.--The tale to which this note refers may be illustrated by the
following anecdote, which was related to me by a Persian with whom I was
acquainted in Cairo, named Abu-l-Ḳásim, a native of Geelán, then
superintendent of the Báshà's Printing-office at Booláḳ.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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