guards, saying, "Bring me yonder man with the dish of Sweet rice before him and let him not eat the mouthful he hath read but throw it from his hand."[1] So four of the guards went up to Barsum and haled him along on his face, after throwing the mouthful of rice from his hand, and set him standing before Zumurrud, whilst all the people left eating and said to one another, By Allah, he did wrong in not eating of the food meant for the likes of him." Quoth one, "For me I was content with this porridge[2] which is before me." And the Hashish-eater said, "Praised be Allah who hindered me from eating of the dish of sugared rice for I expected it to stand before him and was waiting only for him to have his enjoyment of it, to eat with him, when there befel him what we see." And the general said, one to other, "Wait till we see what shall befal him." Now as they brought him before Queen Zumurrud she cried, "Woe to thee, O blue eyes! What is thy name and why comest thou to our country?" But the accursed called himself out of his name having a white turband[3] on, and answered, "O King, my name is Ali; I work as a weaver and I came hither to trade." Quoth Zumurrud, "Bring me a table of sand and a pen of brass," and when they brought her what she sought, she took the sand and the pen, and struck a geomantic figure in the likeness of a baboon; then, raising her head, she looked hard at Barsum for an hour or so and said to him, "O dog, how darest thou lie to Kings? Art thou not a Nazarene, Barsum by name, and comest thou not hither in quest of somewhat? Speak the truth, or by the glory of the Godhead, I will strike off thy head!" At this Barsum was confounded and the Emirs and bystanders said, "Verily, this King understandeth geomancy: blessed be He who hath gifted him!" Then she cried out upon the Christian and said, 'Tell me the truth, or I will make an end of thee!" Barsum replied, "Pardon, O King of the age; thou art right as regards the table, for the far one[4]
- ↑ Had he eaten it he would have become her guest. Amongst the older Badawin it was sufficient to spit upon a man (in entreaty) to claim his protection: so the horse-thieves when caught were placed in a hole in the ground covered over with matting to prevent this happening. Similarly Saladin (Saláh al-Din) the chivalrous would not order a cup of water for the robber, Reynald de Châtillon, before putting him to death
- ↑ Arab. "Kishk" properly "Kashk"=wheat-meal-coarsely ground and eaten with milk or broth. It is de rigueur with the Egyptian Copts on the "Friday of Sorrow" (Good Friday): and Lane gives the recipe for making it (M. E. chaps. xxvi.)
- ↑ In those days distinctive of Moslems.
- ↑ The euphemism has before been noticed: the Moslem reader would not like to pronounce the words "I am a Nazarene." The same formula occurs a little lower down to save the reciter or reader from saying "Be my wife divorced," etc.
