Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 7.djvu/71

 9*8. VII. JAN. 28, 1901.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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of the phrasing that he repeats it in the last speech by Estrild, Act V. sc. iv. Of course, too, Ate's "Egyptian crocodile" is identical with the reptile described in stanza iii. of the 'Visions of the Worlds Vanitie.'

I turn now to Spenser's ' Ruines of Rome,' a poem that was evidently a favourite of Marlowe's, who has taken suggestions from it for several of the speeches in * Tamburlaine.' This poem is also copied in ' Selimus ' as well as in ' Locrine,' and, very curiously, the two plays crib identical lines from it and agree to tack on to those lines other matter which is not present in Spenser. But I will deal with a purely Spenser-' Locrine ' parallel before I bring in ' Selimus ' and Marlowe, just to show how flagrantly the playwriter deals with Spenser's work :

O that I had the Thracian Poets harpe, For to awake out of th' infernall shade Those antique Caesars, sleeping long in darke, The which this auncient Citie whilome made ! Or that I had Amphions instrument To quicken with his vitall notes accord, The stonie joynts of these old walls now rent, By which th' Ausonian light might be restor'd.

Stanza xxv. Compare :

O that I had the Thracian Orpheus' harp,

For to awake out of the infernal shade

Those uglv devils of black Erebus,

That might torment the damned traitor's soul !

O that I had Amphion's instrument,

To quicken with his vital notes and tunes

The flinty joints of every stony rock,

By which the Scythians might be punished.

' Locrine,' III. i. 5-12.

" Notes and tunes " ! Does that accord ? The author of 'Locrine' never reaches any- thing like the level of Spenser when he attempts to vary that poet ; he tears every- thing to tatters. We shall have an opportu- nity later on of contrasting his methods with those of Marlowe and * Selimus.'

CHARLES CRAWFORD. (To be continued.')

A MUSSULMAN LEGEND OF JOB. THE following is a condensed translation of notes contributed to the 'Turkestan Literary Miscellany' (Sbornik} for 1900 by Mr. M. Brodovski.

^Near Jelalabad, Andizhanski district, pro- vince of Ferghana, are certain mineral springs t 1 " the mountains known as the springs of azret- Ayoub i.e, holy Job. According to Eil tradition, more than five thousand years ago the righteous Job, with his wife, eleven sons, and three daughters, lived in happiness and affluence in the Kugartski valley. Shaitan (batan), jealous of the saint whom he could

not lead astray, told the Lord God that Job's righteousness and faith would vanish if he were afflicted by adversity. According!}^ the saint was delivered over to temptation, and deprived of children, substance, and health. His body was covered with wounds which swarmed with worms and exhaled a foul odour, and the inhabitants of the valley compelled him to seek refuge in the mountains. There lay Khazret - Ayoub in sickness for seven yearsTbut remained faithful to God. At the end of that time came an angel from God with a message of mercy. The angel took the sufferer's hand, whereupon the worms fell from his wounds on the ground. A hot soring gushed forth where his right foot was planted : the saint bathed, and the wounds were healed. This spring is known as Chashma-i-shifo, the fount of healing. Ayoub took seven steps, and where his left foot stopped a cold spring burst out.* He drank a draught, and felt completely restored. This spring is called Chashma-i-dova, the fount of internal purification. Rejoicing in sound health, TChazret - Ayoub noticed a heap of worms on the ground, which had lately infested his wounds, and drew his staff round them. Like Aaron's rod or the staff in became a beautiful mulberry tree : the worms crawled thereon, fed on the leaves, spun cocoons, and yielded the first silk for dress material. The angel pointed out to Ayoub's wife Bibi-Rakhima, who had tended him through long years of suffering a spring of warm wa.ter near at hand. She bathed, and recovered all the charms of vouth. This spring received the name of Kiz-bulak, the fount of virginity.
 * Tan nhauser,' Job's staff broke into foliage and

The saint settled here permanently, as the springs furnished all he needed for the house- hold. He left an account of his life on a large stone which lay near the fount of virginity, but. unfortunately this was shat- tered by robbers in search of supposed treasures left behind by Ayoub. The frag- ments have long since been carried away by pious pilorrims to the saint's shrine in the mosque. On the walls round the tomb are hung different stones and horns of mountain sheep left by pilgrims. Near the tomb of Bibi- Rakhiraa lies a stone in the form of a cradle of the locality ; a sterile woman of honourable character has only to sit on it for a short time to obtain power of bearing, and the many gaily - coloured rags adorning the

have made considerable strides to cover the ground in seven rnces, as the narrator observes. An arshin equals 2 ft. 4 in.
 * As these springs are 45 ar shins apart, Job must

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