Note 147 — ALAEDDIN; OR, THE WONDERFUL LAMP. (continued 2)
Richard Francis Burton translation
For the old knightly practice of sleeping with a drawn sword separating man and maid, see vol. vii. 353 and Mr. Clouston’s “Popular Tales and Fictions,” vol. i. 316. In Poland the intermediary who married by procuration slept alongside the bride in all his armour. The H. V. explains, “He (Alaeddin) also lay a naked sword between him and the Princess, so she might perceive that he was ready to die by that blade should he attempt to do aught of villainy by the bride.”