Koh-i-Noor

“ The jeweller may properly pronounce perfect the gem whose faults cannot be detected by the human eye. Even the magnificent Regent has one small foul speck in it, according to Jeffries; and Sir David Brewster found in the Koh-i-noor three specks, or rather cavities, in its central portion, which appeared to view in more or less distinctness according as the light reached them.
After a diamond has been cut it is not easy to ascertain its degree of perfection without careful examination, and this occupies considerable time. ”

“ Our victorious army now crossed the Sutlej, and marched on to Lahore, and under its walls dictated terms of peace to the enemy. But the peace was of short duration, for in 1848 these warlike tribes again defied us and murdered our political agents. This war commenced with the siege of Mooltan, which was taken after some hard fighting. It was here that the valuable Koh-i-noor was captured and presented to Her Majesty. Sir Hugh Gough then fought the doubtful field of Chillianwallah, December 2nd, 1848. ”

“ If a woman had relations with one kohen and married another kohen within three months, the child is disqualified from the priesthood. If a kohen has relations with a single girl and admits the child is his son, the son would be a kohen for all matters. ”

“ Safed Koh.— From Landikhana the political boundary runs south-west to the Safed Koh (white mountain) and is continued westwards along that range to the Paiwar Kotal or pass (8450 feet) . The Safed Koh forms the watershed of the Kabul and Kurram rivers. It is a fine pine clad chain with a general level of 12,000 feet, and its skyline is rarely free from snow. It culminates in the west near Paiwar Kotal in Sikaram (15,620 feet) . To the west of the Peshawar and Kohat districts is a tangle of hills and valleys formed by outlying spurs of the Safed Koh. ”

“ He replied. “Let us be enemies, Al Nakia.”
“Agreed.” Hector rose and walked to the door. There he turned and added, quite gently, “But we shall not be enemies for long.”
“For as long as there is breath in my body!” burst out Koom Khan.
“That is just what I meant when I said that it would not be for long. For—I have never trusted a living enemy—and I have never feared a dead one!”
Koom Khan gave a slight start, but controlled himself almost immediately, and said, with the utmost, arrogant nonchalance:
“Death is not such a savory mouthful that one should gulp it down whole. ”

“ Noorna was on the mountain in outer Aklis with Koorookh, waiting for the appearance of her betrothed, Sword in hand. She saw beams from the blazing eye of Aklis, and knew by the redness of it that one, a mortal, was peering on the earth and certain of created things. So she waited awhile in patience for the return of her betrothed, with the head of Koorookh in her lap, caressing the bird, and teaching it words of our language; and the bird fashioned its bill to the pronouncing of names, such as 'Noorna' and 'Feshnavat,' and 'Goorelka' ”

“ Noormahal could not fail to see the reassuring message there when she woke, and began to wonder where Auntie Khôjee had gone.
As she straightened herself from stooping to the padlock, she felt, giddily, that she had locked herself out of life. She had but a few hours left of seclusion, and then--the streets.
But those few hours she might surely claim. So she closed and barred the wicket in the outer door, and dragging a string bed into the scant shade cast by the naubut khana, found rest for her aching limbs. ”

“ Splash went both children into the water, and there in place of the monster was an old man. He caught the children in his arms and brought them to the shore.
"But what will we do for food, now that you are a man?" asked Ko-Ko.
"We shall want for nothing now," replied the old man. "I am a sea-god and can do many things, now that I have my own form again. We will change this island into a beautiful garden, and when the little girl and you are grown up and married you shall have a castle, and all the sea-gods and nymphs will care for you. You will never want for anything again. ”

“ A woman from the harem told the Persian king that the coveted diamond lay hidden in the folds of Mohammed's turban, which he never took off. Nadir accordingly one day invited his helpless friend, Mohammed, to exchange turbans with him in sign of their everlasting friendship. As in the time of the first free-will offering to Baber two centuries before, the Koh-i-nûr was [Pg 96] once again to pass from the conquered to the conqueror, from the weak to the strong. ”

“ Omar answered. "Have I the support of thy people, O Niaro?"
"To a man," the Governor answered. "For the military we cannot, however, answer. They are ruled by unscrupulous place-seekers, who may defend the Naya, expecting to reap rich rewards; but such will assuredly discover that their confidence was misplaced. If the Naya seriously threateneth thee and thy friends, then assuredly she shall be overthrown and thou shalt ascend the stool in her stead." ”

“ Kochō is a beautiful person who kills herself because of false accusations and cruel treatment. Her would-be avenger long seeks in vain for the author of the wrong. But at last the dead woman’s hairpin turns into a butterfly, and serves as a guide to vengeance by hovering above the place where the villain is hiding. ”

“ Another tradition points to the Koh-i-Tûr or Mountain of Sinai as the stone which figured as companion to the Koh-i-Nûr in the two eyes of the jewelled peacock which ornamented the throne of Aurungzeb, son of Shah Jehan. ”

“ All the relatives for whom a kohen must become impure – his father, his mother, his son, his daughter, his brother and his virgin sister through his father, and his wife – one mourns them. They [i.e. the sages] further added to them – his brother from his mother, his sister from his mother whether a virgin or married and his married sister through his father – one mourns for them, even though a kohen may not become impure for them. ”

“ To guard against this, Niaro urged the secret assassination of the Naya immediately preceding the revolt, but Omar, rising with that regal air he now and then assumed, said:
"Give heed, O my friends, unto my words. I, Omar, Prince of Mo, will never sanction the murder of my mother. A Sanom hath never been a murderer. If this step be decided, I shall withdraw from the leadership and depart."
"But canst thou not see, O Prince, that a massacre would strike panic into the hearts of the people, and they would lay down their arms," Niaro urged. ”

“ Khôjee rose to her feet, and laid a quick hand on Noormahal's mouth. 'Nay! none must call,' she said sternly, her self-control brought back by dread. 'Yea! come into the light, and leave her. Come, and I will tell thee there--in the light.'
'How dost thou know?' asked Noormahal, gone grey to her very lips. 'It is not that--lo! folk die of other things. I have seen them. Remember our cousin--it was just so----'
Khôjee's mask of despair showed no wavering. 'Nay, it is the plague. ”

“ All that is needed is a little pluck, a little persistency, and a great deal of initiative—and I rely on thee, friend Gulabian, to supply all three!”—a broad flattery which fully served its purpose and sent the Armenian on his way, as pleased with Hector as Koom Khan had been.
“A clever man is Al Nakia,” the old nurse said that night to Aziza Nurmahal. “He does not draw the sword of foolish audacity, nor does he throw away the scabbard of precaution, and it has indeed been said by a very wise man that the brain, not the body, is the proof of love. The body? ”

“ And now, when only one poor tired old woman limped up the broken stairs, it was a very feeble claim to royalty, indeed, that echoed into the courtyard below, though Khôjee drummed valiantly for all she could, and blew her withered cheeks plump as a cherub's over the nakârah. Feeble as it was, however, it could be heard, and it brought comfort even to Noormahal's hungry heart ”

“ Each new day with you brings a new delight.
"But come--let us return to Akif, where the people are still feting the conqueror of the miserable kozaki; while he, the conqueror, is engaged in recapturing a wretched fugitive, a foolish, lovely, idiotic runaway!"
"No!" She recoiled, turning toward the waters lapping bluely among the reeds.
"Yes!" His flash of open anger was like a spark struck from flint. With a quickness her tender limbs could not approximate, he caught her wrist, twisting it in pure wanton cruelty until she screamed and sank to her knees. ”

“ Here, our holy sages would raise him to priesthood status by himself.
Paragraph 2- If there was one witness that testified (that he is a kohen) , he is believed in order to feed him (the kohen) tithes in these times, and he can read the first Aliyah from the Torah and to raise his hands (for the congregation) . We would even elevate one nowadays to the priesthood from a document. How so? If the document stated, “So-and-so Kohen borrowed a maneh from so-and-so,” and witnesses are signed on the document, the individual is assumed to be a kohen like any other contemporary kohen. ”

“ The same kind of tantalizing but exciting chase after ducks delayed us considerably, until when about two miles from Oopungnewing. Koojesse was steering, when, suddenly taking up my spy-glass, and directing it to some islets near Oopungnewing, he cried out, "Ninoo! Ninoo!" This was enough to make each of the boat's crew spring into new life, for of all game that they delight in Ninoo is the chief. They started ahead with fresh vigour, the women pulling hard, but as noiselessly as they could, and the men loading their guns ready for the attack. ”

“ And she gave him a handful of fish-bones, which Ko-ko thrust into his bosom, taking them to be the Invisible Tallies which had helped Onwee Bahmondang in climbing the magical tree.
"Thank you," said Ko-ko, taking up his club and striding toward the door.
"Will you not have a little advice," said the old woman. "This is a dangerous business you are going on."
Ko-ko turned about and laughed to scorn the proposal. Then putting forth his right foot from the lodge first, an observance in which he had great hopes, he started for the lodge of the wicked father. ”

“ To Niaro, an excellent officer, the leadership of the defending force had been entrusted, as he had already had experience of fighting in the Hombori country, having been second in command of Kouaga's expedition when he conquered the tribes of Massina, while Kona, who had with him his valiant Dagombas, had orders to enrol another thousand men of that tribe when passing through their territory, prior to our dash upon Samory's country. ”

“ For she had to be up at dawn, so that everything should be ready for the visitings, and yet leave her time to get round to the goldsmith's, sell the bangle by weight, and purchase some 'Essence of Happiness'--which was, alas! worth its weight in gold.
Yet when it came it had not much effect, greatly to poor Khôjee's disappointment. Even the quivering, sobbing keene of her neighbours and relations did not rouse Noormahal to any proper display of grief, and--as the groups whispered--how could you expect to lose tears unless you shed them? ”

“ When I arrived there, I heard that the battle was at its height. My motherly affection at last induced me to turn my steps here."
"Pshaw!" interrupted Naozané angrily. "When a warrior goes to battle, he cannot expect to return alive. What would you have done if Kojirō had fallen on the field?"
"I should be filled with joy, if he, in his first battle, had fallen fighting with a distinguished warrior."
"Kojirō was spurred by the ambition of gaining the fame of being the first fighter. He therefore singly cut his way into the Taira camp. ”

“ Kohl is thus only used by the women who have what the Arabs call "natural kohl." As Flinders Petrie has found, the women of the so-called "New Race," between the sixth and tenth dynasties of ancient Egypt, used galena and malachite for painting their faces. Jewish women in the days of the prophets painted their eyes with kohl, as do some Hindu women to-day.
"The Ainu have a great affection for their beards. They regard them as a sign of manhood and strength and consider them as especially handsome. They look upon them, indeed, as a great and highly prized treasure." ”

“ Omar knit his brows, and thought deeply for several moments. It was apparent that this suggestion to oppose the Naya by force of arms had never before entered his mind.
"Is this really true?" he asked in a doubting tone.
"O Master, let thy servant Goliba perish rather than his word be questioned. As councillor of thy queen-mother, have I not greater facilities for testing the popular feeling than any other man in Mo? I swear by Zomara's wrath that what I have uttered is truth. ”

“ She is right, for Sobrai! Thou art right, for Kôjeeya Khânum! Ye are both God-bred, God-fed! Except concerning houses--there thou art wrong,' he added, giving the old lady a shrewd tentative look. 'Dead folk should remain in their graves and leave the letting of houses to the living. I deem Alidâd wise, for, as the old saw says, "an empty house is the wasp's estate." Jehân should do the like with this, if the Nawâbin would consent to live elsewhere.'
'Elsewhere?' echoed Khôjee, aghast. 'Where else should Noormahal live but in her own house?'
'In a smaller one. Look! ”

“ The two savages were former friends of Cook's and warned the whites not to be allured on land, nor to trust Koah, the leper priest, on the ships.
Again the conch-shells blew their challenge all night through the darkness. Again the war fires danced; but next morning the guns of the Discovery were trained on Koah, when he tried to come on board. That day sailors were landed for water and set fire to the village of the cocoanut groves to drive assailants back. How quickly human nature may revert to the beast type! ”