marvellous, then will I give thee a third of his blood." Thereupon the old man to tell
THE FIRST SHAYKH’S STORY.
Know, O Jinni! that this gazelle is the daughter of my paternal uncle, my own flesh and blood, and I married her when she was a young maid, and I lived with her well-nigh thirty years, yet was I not blessed with issue by her. So I took me a concubine[1] who brought to me the boon of a male child fair as the full moon, with eyes of lovely shine, and eyebrows which formed one line, and limbs of perfect design. Little by little he grew in stature and waxed tall; and when he was a lad fifteen years old, it became needful I should journey to certain cities, and I travelled with great store of goods. But the daughter of my uncle (this gazelle) had learned gramarye and egromancy and clerkly craft[2] from her childhood; so she bewitched that son of mine to a calf, and my handmaid (his mother) to a heifer, and made them over to the herdsman’s care. Now when I returned after a long time from my journey, and asked for my son and his mother, she answered me saying, "Thy slave-girl is dead, and thy son hath fled and I know not whither he is sped." So I remained for a whole year with grieving heart and streaming eyes, until the time came for the Great Festival of Allah.[3] Then sent I to my herdsman bidding him to choose for me a fat heifer; and he brought me one which was the damsel, my handmaid, whom this gazelle had ensorcelled. I tucked up my sleeves and skirt and, taking a knife, proceeded to cut her throat, but she lowed aloud and wept bitter tears. Thereat I
- ↑ Originally in Al-Islam the concubine (Surriyat, etc.) was a captive taken in war, and the Koran says nothing about buying slave-girls. But if the captives were true believers the Moslem was ordered to marry, not to keep them. In modern days concubinage has become an extensive subject. Practically the disadvantage is that the slave-girls, knowing themselves to be the master’s property, consider him bound to have marital relations with them; which is by no means the mistress’s view. Some wives, however, when old and childless, insist, after the fashion of Sarah, upon the husband taking a young concubine, and treat her like a daughter—which is rare. The Nights abound in tales of concubines, but these are chiefly owned by the Caliphs and high officials who did much as they pleased. The only redeeming point in the system is that it obviates the necessity of prostitution, which is, perhaps, the greatest evil known to modern society.
- ↑ Arab. "Al-Kahánah"=the craft of a "Káhin" (Heb. Cohen)a diviner, soothsayer, etc.
- ↑ Arab. "Íd al-kabír"=The Great Festival; the Turkish Bayrám and Indian Bakar-eed (Kine-fête), the pilgrimage-time, also termed "Festival of the Kurbán" (sacrifice) because victims are slain; Al-Zuhá (of forenoon), Al-Azhá (of serene night), and Al-Nahr (of throat-stabbing). For full details I must refer readers to my "Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to El-Medinah and Meccah" (3 vols. 8vo. London: Longmans, 1855). I shall have often to refer to it.
