Dukat

“ To that your Majesty would not object?'
'I am parlous hungry,' muttered the Lion.
'Then the Crow went to find the Camel, and, bringing all together before the King under some pretence or other, he thus addressed him:—
'Sire! our pains are come to nothing: we can get no food, and we behold our Lord falling away,
'Of the Tree of State the root
Kings are—feed what brings the fruit.'
Take me, therefore, your Majesty, and break your fast upon me."
'Good Crow,' said the Lion, 'I had liefer die than do so.'
'Will your Majesty deign to make a repast upon me?' asked the Jackal. ”

“ It is the test of your true adventurer in all ages and of all kinds that ducats are with him the sole standard of nobility. A man may pawn his honour, pledge his proper pride and sell his immortal soul, so that he drives a good bargain in the matter of ducats. Thus it was with Pantaleone. Unless you are yourself one of those who measure worth—your own or another's—by ducats, you will pity a little this man who set such store by profit. For the thousand ducats offered him by the Duke he had consented to act the part of a Judas and a traitor. ”

“ The king most humbly submits, "My body is not my own; I have sold it to the lord of the Chandals. How can I forsake my duty to my lord to save you?"
The hermit says, "come and help me if I ever suffer extreme distress."
The king replies, "If I can ever help you without detriment to the business of my lord, I am ready to do it." The hermit retires, and after a short time he returns; and says,
"By your help I am now versed in all mantras. I am prepared to give you such a mantra as by its virtue you will be able at once to repair to Heaven. You need not suffer hell by slavery to a Chandal." ”

“ The Sultan, who had not now the bowl of jewels before him to blind his vision, regarded her intently, and saw that she was of humble state; then, as he turned in perplexity to the Grand Vizier, he observed that the expression on his face was the expression of one who ponders the laying of a stratagem and the way it should be hatched. "What is thy thought on this, O Vizier?" he said. "My word is my word, and I regret that thou shouldst have explained it away; yet it seems to me that this woman is not of the kind that could mother-in-law my daughter. Hast thou a plan which is not a trick? ”

“ No sooner had she entered the apartment than she hastily adjusted her veil. "Sire," said she, "why dost thou summon me thus into the presence of men?" "Nay, O my daughter," answered the King, "there is none here but myself, a eunuch, a slave, and this ape." Her ringers fastened her veil more closely as she replied, "O my father, this that thou callest an ape is no ape at all. Thou knowest I have the gift against enchantment, and I tell thee this is a man, the son of a king, and his name is Prince Eymar. He hath been transformed into this shape by a son of Iblis. ”

“ I have learned that the mantle will cost at least a hundred ducats, and have thence determined to give one ducat to the parish church, to have a mass said in the chapel of Jesus to draw the blessing of Heaven upon the affairs now occupying my parents, and for the continuation of the happiness of her ladyship the starostine. ”

“ We will obey thy commands willingly and with joy." Then one of the Calenders added, "O Prince of the Faithful, we also hear and obey, with equal willingness and equal joy." "And as for me, O King," said the porter, "I, being a wag, and also a liar of some excellence, knew that indeed thou wert the Khalifeh of the Lord of All Creatures, but I was compelled to dissemble for fear of thine Executioner's sword. Thus I
Abu-I-Hasan awakens in the bed of the Khalifeh. ”

“ The gentleman had made out the price to him as eleven thousand ducats.
“You will give at once to this boy’s father the two thousand gold ducats that you received, less the two hundred Austrian florins that you paid him,” said the king to his humiliated and abject subjects. “You are great rogues. ”

“ Chambers was married that any women were baptized. At breakfast the next morning came an old chief, called Tongkat Langit—the Staff of Heaven. His son Lingire was one of the most pleasing converts, and Tongkat was wavering—had not leisure at present! The necessity of forswearing the practise of head-taking deters the old men from becoming Christians: they fear to lose influence with their tribe. The little party then fixed upon the spot where the church should be built, a permanent bilian chancel to which a nave could be added when the additional room was required. ”

“ In their lifetime they strive to excel one another in their gifts to the cloisters of nuns and friars, some erecting altars to their best-devoted saints, worth many thousand ducats, others presenting crowns of gold to the pictures of Mary, others lamps, others golden chains, others building cloisters at their own charge, others repairing them, others, at their death, leaving to them two or three thousand ducats for an annual stipend. ”

“ But, from what the people outside are saying, it seems, Dacoits have come upon our boat. The Sahib has been killed—alas, it is the result of our sins!
Shaibalini. The Sahib has been killed, how can that be the result of our sins? It is rather the consequence of his own wickedness.
Parbati. The Dacoits are upon us—it is we alone who are in danger.
Shaibalini. Wherein lies the danger? We have been with one Dacoit and it makes little difference if we have to accompany another. Won't it be better if we get out of the clutches of a white bandit and fall into the hands of a black one? ”

“ But lo, as I looked at him, I saw that he was in like case with me, having lost his left eye. I was about to question him on this, when a third mendicant came out of the night, and accosted us. "By Allah!" cried the two of us in a breath, "and thou too hast lost an eye!" "Verily," said he, "we are all strangers one to another, but the stars have enmeshed us in their network, and so have drawn us together with one purpose." "And that is?" we asked. "To seek audience of the Khalifeh," he answered ”

“ Duk-Duk only appears with the full moon. The society is now much discredited and is fast dying out.
See “Duk-Duk and other Customs or Forms of Expression of the Melanesian’s Intellectual Life,” by Graf von Pfeil (Journ. of Anthrop. Instit. vol. 27, p. 181) .
DUKE (corresponding to Fr. duc, Ital. duca, Ger. Herzog) , the title of one of the highest orders of the European nobility, and of some minor sovereign princes. The word “duke,” which is derived from the Lat. dux, a leader, or general, through the Fr. ”

“ Wait! Also twelve maidens of unequalled grace and loveliness in person to attire and accompany my mother to the Sultan's presence. And look you! whatever of grace and beauty is lacking in my person supply it to me on my natural plan of being. See to it, O Slave of the Lamp!"
"It is already done," said the Slave of the Lamp; and, vanishing on the instant, he reappeared at once at the doorway of the house, leading a noble white stallion gorgeously equipped, while behind came the twelve damsels and forty-nine memluks on magnificent chargers. The damsels were bearing rich stuffs in their arms ”

“ For the more windows, the wider the view; and the wider the view, the more pretty damsels do you see; and the more pretty damsels you see, the more jocund a thing is life—and that is what the men of the Duchy love—and not least, Duke Deodonato, whom, with his bride Dulcissima, may Heaven long preserve!
VIII. ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL.
There was once—the date is of no moment—a Sultan, and he had a Vizier named Ashimullah. This minister was a wise man, much trusted by his master ”

“ A gust of wind suddenly dispersed the cotton on all sides, and the poor girl distractedly ran after the pieces flying in the air. Even the wind took pity on her and said, "Dukhu, don't cry, come after me." The girl did as she was told and eventually reached the door of a cowshed and was asked by its inmate to give her some food. Cows are regarded by Hindus as incarnations of their chief goddess (Durga) , and Dukhu gladly did the service asked of her. ”

“ The Dakktar Sahib bent down and placed a coin in the upturned palms.
"That also is for thy God, Vahana," he said, with grave respect. Receiving no answer, he turned away and untethered his horse, a quadruped which even the solemn shadow could not dignify. It must have stood over seventeen hands high and its shape was comically suggestive of a child's drawing—six none too steady lines representing legs, back, and neck. The Dakktar Sahib whispered to it tenderly and reassuringly: "Only ten miles, Arabella, on my word of honour, only ten miles. And you shall have all tomorrow. ”

“ Tunkan, the Dakotas say, is the god that dwells in stones and rocks, and is the oldest god. If asked why he is considered the oldest, they will tell you because he is the hardest—an Indian’s reason. The usual form of the stone employed in worship is round, and it is about the size of the human head. The devout Dakota paints this Tunkan red, putting colored swan’s down upon it, and then he falls down and worships the god that is supposed to dwell in it or hover near it. ”

“ These wretched people live almost entirely upon alms. The Sultan gives them annually about seven thousand ducats, or about a thousand pounds sterling. I hear that their children prove sometimes quite free of the malady, but the curse is in their blood and they must remain in the Hara and intermarry with lepers. People of bad character, or those condemned for crime, often, I am told, escape to the Hara, and find concealment there by assuming the covering of the lepers and living with them, until perhaps they become lepers or their crimes are forgotten. ”

“ He was greatly pleased with the letter, and, when he saw the sparkling goblet of ruby and precious stones, he was filled with delight.
"O Sindbad," he said, "this King must be exceedingly wealthy and powerful; what sayest thou?" And I told him of the wonder and magnificence of the land of Sarandib: how the King's seat of state is on a splendid throne placed upon a gigantic elephant with his courtiers and officials standing about him on a richly decorated platform; how there are around His Majesty a thousand other elephants on which sit the princes of the land ”

“ The king replies, "Many thanks for your kind offer. But how can I accept your offer as this body belongs to a Chandal? I will not go anywhere before death."
The hermit says, "Then take this money and deliver your wife."
The king thankfully declines the offer with the observation, "I have sold my queen in my hour of need. To buy her back is not in my power." The hermit soliloquizes,
"Blessed is Maharaja Harischandra! What fortitude! what wisdom! what generosity! what a sense of duty! The world has never produced a nobler man. A tempest shakes even the mountains, but behold! ”

“ One party of pilgrims of 1483 paid 42 ducats each on the understanding that they were allowed full time to see the Holy Places, and received two meals a day; the other party paid 45 ducats each, their meals including wine. The party of twenty persons in 1484 paid a thousand ducats, i.e. 50 ducats for each person. Half the money was paid at Venice before starting, the other half on arrival at Jaffa. A certain Zülnhart fell ill at Venice after paying his 25 ducats, and as he was unable to sail, his money was forfeited. [281] ”

“ Evil associations and the charms of a contraband career are equally potent in Europe and in Asia. But among the natives of India the profession of a Dacoit was not regarded as one of shame and disgrace. ”

“ This morning we came in on elephants because the Duttyah rajah met G. We arrived all over dust, but still, as I was telling G., the meeting between Dutty and Dusty was tolerably good. Duttyah’s is rather a pretty story. He was picked up ‘a naked, new-born child’ under a tree at this place by the Governor-General’s agent, who was taking his morning’s ride, and who carried the child to the Palace. The old rajah, who had no children, said it was the gift of God, and that he would adopt him; and an adopted son is, with the natives, as good an heir as any other ”

“ He asked me many questions, and when I answered him, giving him the whole history of my adventures as heretofore set down, he was a man bewildered. Raising his eyes to heaven he said, "By Allah! thy case is extraordinary!" And all around wondered that a man could experience such things and live.
In return for his kindness in rescuing me from my terrible plight, I tendered him some of the rarest jewels I had brought with me from the cavern. But he refused me courteously, saying, "Nay, O my brother; if we find one in like case with thee, we succour him and give him to eat and drink ”

“ Yet the ways of God are inscrutable, and his will is fulfilled with thee and me. Depart, therefore, O my son, in peace; and think not that I bear thee malice."
So I went out from his presence, and shaved my beard, and left the City. And thus through many regions have I travelled to gain the Abode of Peace, and lay my case before thee, O Prince of the Faithful. ”

“ Oh! what a thing it is to live up to such a demand as I have made." Thinking like this she found her son and spoke sorrowfully to him. "O my son," she exclaimed, weeping, "said I not to thee that the Grand Vizier was thine enemy? The Sultan remembered his pledge, but the Vizier—may his bones rot!—spake in his ear, and the outcome is this: forty golden bowls of jewels, forty female slaves to carry them, and forty slaves as an escort. With this dowry, O my son, thou mayest approach the Sultan and claim his daughter as thy bride."
Loudly Aladdin laughed to scorn. "O my mother," he said ”