Note 109 — THE FISHERMAN AND THE JINNI.

Arab. "Dastúr" (from Persian)=leave, permission. The word has two meanings (see Burckhardt, Arab. Prov. No. 609) and is much used, e.g. before walking up stairs or entering a room where strange women might be met. So "Tarík"=Clear the way (Pilgrimage, iii., 319). The old Persian occupation of Egypt, not to speak of the Persian-speaking Circassians and other rulers has left many such traces in popular language. One of them is that horror of travellers—"Bakhshísh" pron. bakh-sheesh and shortened to shísh from the Pers. "baksheesh." Our "Christmas box" has been most unnecessarily derived from the same, despite our reading:—

Gladly the boy, with Christmas box in hand.

And, as will be seen, Persians have bequeathed to the outer world worse things than bad language, e.g. heresy and sodomy.