them on the camels and went and threw them into the Nile. After he had thrown them he took the camels and went and carried away the treasure from the cave.”
It will be observed that the story of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves has been tacked on to the story of the two brothers. Or does the version recounted to me represent an earlier form of that in the Arabian Nights? Unfortunately the narrator forgot the crucial point of the story, where the brigand chief would have first promised to bring some more “first-class” oil to the merchant and then have told his companions to provide forty ballasis or jars—so called from their being made at Ballas—inside which they were to be concealed.
Customs and Beliefs.
The Cairenes say:
| “Shâmi shûmi; Masri ḥarâmi; Kilâb er-Rûmi; Iskanderi kilâb el-ḥawâmi.” |
“A Syrian is unlucky; an Egyptian a thief; dogs are the Greeks; Alexandrians are dogs of the rover.” |
Children say on a festival:
| “Yôm el-waqfa Nitbakh shaqfa; Yôm el‘îd Min bakht sa‘îd.” |
“Eve of the festival we will cook a potsherd; the day of the feast is happy in luck.” |
Said of the shîḥ or “wormwood” (Artemisia maritima) which is used for putting into clothes and rugs in order to keep insects away:
| “Esh-shîḥ fîl-bêt malîh.” |
“Wormwood is salt in the house.” |
The shîḥ is believed in Upper Egypt to keep serpents out of a house.
