_Page 64._ “Begged permission to inform his daughter”—the text adds,ārNā “and, in conformity with the law of Muhammad (_sharī`at_), obtain her consent.”—This is a proof that the lady had attained marriageable age, as the consent of a girl not arrived at the age of puberty is not required.
_Page 64._ “Related to her all that had passed.”—The text: “The daughter said, ‘I am not worthy of the King; besides, once in the King’s service, I cannot [devote myself to the] worship [of] God the Most High; and for the least fault the King would punish me.’”
_Page 65._ “Sent her to his palace (_sarāy-harem_), and appointed servants—_besides a cook_.” Here there is a very remarkable difference between Ouseley’s and the lithographed texts, and between these again and Lescallier and Habicht. This is what the lithographed text says: “And in the service _i.e._ [of the late vizier Kāmgār] there was a good man (_khayyir_) who had acted as a spiritual guide (_buzurg_), whom the King did not admit in the harem. This holy person, who had been constantly at the side of the daughter, wrote a letter [to this effect]: ‘Do thou confirm the reward of service, and speak to the King about my wish [in order] that he may admit me into thy service, [seeing] that I should perish from disappointment.’ ... (the King gave his consent) ... and the daughter continued her devotions in peace and tranquillity.” Thus, in place of a _cook_, as in our version, the lithographed text has, more appropriately, _a holy man_: but in Lescallier and in Habicht, this person is, strange to say, a jester, or merry-andrew—_bouffon_—_lustigmacher!_—while in Cazotte’s rendering of the Arabic version, and in the Turkī version of this story (a translation of which is appended to the present notes), he is simply described as a _slave_.
_Page 66._ Discovered her sitting alone on the balcony (_bālkhāna_), viz. a latticed window on the _upper storey_ of the harem—hence our word “balcony.”
_Page 66._ “Kārdār, fearing lest she should relate to the King what had passed,” &c.—Although many Oriental stories—Indian, Persian, Arabian—are designed to show the malice and craft of women, there are yet some, and the present tale is an example, in which men, when foiled in their attempts upon the chastity of women, are exhibited as equally adroit and unscrupulous. Another instance occurs in the _Anvar-iSuhailī_, ii, 10, where a beautiful and virtuous wife is described in verses which are also applicable to the Vizier’s daughter of our story: