._)

FOOTNOTES:

[B] A "block book," with its illustrations and text cut on a wood block,
and which is regarded as the immediate precursor of the type-printed
book.

[Illustration: THE COURTSHIP OF HALIL]

BY A. E. BURN.

When I went out to Egypt some years ago, I determined to devote myself
to the study of Arabic, and not to rest till I could speak and write it
like an educated native. This rash resolve, however, was made in
ignorance of the sublime difficulties of this language, and after
plodding at it with great vigour for a year, and acquiring some facility
in speaking it, and the ability to read a sentence so as to sometimes
get a faint glimpse into the meaning hidden behind the hieroglyphs which
the Arabs call letters, I came to the conclusion that I had better rest
on my laurels.

While my enthusiasm lasted I used to seize every possible opportunity of
talking Arabic with any native I came across, and great was my disgust
when, as sometimes happened, an Arab would persist in airing his English
on me. As a rule, however, they were rather flattered by my evident
desire to know their tongue, and some of the shopkeepers with whom I
dealt would take a pleasure in teaching me new phrases.

One of these, by name Halil, who sold silks, shawls, etc., etc., and
whose respect I had gained by some considerable purchases for friends in
England, became quite intimate with me, and related to me a considerable
portion of his own history and that of his family, and it was from him
that I heard the following story of his courtship, which is not quite so
prosaic and business-like as such affairs usually are in Mohammedan
countries. His shop was in the silk bazaar at Cairo, and what first led
to the subject was a sentence in Arabic written over it, which I had
puzzled my brains in trying to read for some time before I at last
managed to translate it. It ran as follows: "Long is the hair of woman,
and long also is her understanding." This motto rather surprised me, as
the Arabs have not, as a rule, that high opinion of the fair sex's
understanding which it expressed, and I thought I could see the reason
for a certain reluctance to assist me in translating it in the usually
obliging Halil. After some evasive answers to my questions he took me
into his confidence, and told me the following story in explanation of
it:--

"I have already told you, Effendi, that my father died when I was
eighteen years old, and that, b