“521. THE KING’S MARE—SOLOMON’S SONG OF SOLOMON 1:9-11”
The King’s Mare—Solomon’s Son_1:9-11
In our way through the Song of Songs, we come next to a dialogue between Shelomoth and Shulamith, in which the character and position of each is described.
In Shelomoh’s part of this conversation, occurs the extraordinary comparison: “I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh’s chariots.” This has been characterized by some as an “unpolished,” or an “uncouth” simile—ranking, as some would say, with the comparison of women to their favorite “fillies,” which used to be in vogue among our own hunting and racing squires in the last century; but which we should suppose to be seldom heard in our own day. The author of a “new translation,” quoted by Harmer, but which we have not seen, says that the word literally signifies, “to my mare,” which is no doubt more correct than taking it for a collective noun, “a company of horses.” This also greatly exemplifies the figure. The same author remarks, with great propriety, that “the learned have observed that Theocritus, in a Greek epithalamium, has made use of the very same image to express the agreeableness of Helen, comparing her to a Thessalian animal of that kind in a chariot. If Grecian elegance admitted this, it is no wonder that a song, composed in more ancient times, has made use of this simile.”
Remembering the “ox-eyed Juno,” and other enormities of the like nature, we care not to say much of “Grecian elegance,” or to accept that as a standard of taste. But the observation is otherwise good.
Harmer himself observes, upon this passage, on the authority of Maillet, that the horses of Egypt are remarkable for their beauty and stateliness, and are sent as presents of high value to the great men of Constantinople; but that strangers cannot procure them, and that he himself, though consul-general (for France, in Egypt), could obtain permission to transport only two of them. It appears by the Old Testament, that they were not less valued anciently, being eagerly sought for by Solomon himself and the Syrian kings.
It is further remarked, that the people of the East are almost passionately attached to their horses, particularly the Arabs, who deal with them much as if they were their own children. They never beat them; but treat them with great tenderness, caress them, kiss them, speak to them, and reason with them, as if they were creatures capable of reasoning, and conscious of speech. The Chevalier D Arvieux, who has an interesting chapter on Arabian horses, Note: In Memoires du Chevalier D’Arvieux. Paris, 1735, in six vols. 12mo. This work is but little known in this country, but from Harmer’s s references in his Observations to it. A portion of it was translated into English. The chapter “Des Cheveaux des Arabes,” occurs in the third volume of the original. says that there are frequent partnerships in valuable and high-descended mares, and he relates that a French merchant at Rama held such a partnership with an Arab called Ibrahim Alee Vouasses, in a mare of the first noble race. Ibrahim frequently came to Rama to see the mare, which he loved most tenderly. “I have often,” says D’Arvieux, “seen him cry with tenderness while he was kissing and caressing her. He would embrace her; he would wipe her eyes with his handkerchief, would rub her with his shirt sleeves, and would give her a thousand blessings during whole hours that he would be talking to her: ‘My eyes!’ would he say to her, ‘my soul! my heart! must I be so unhappy as to have thee sold to so many masters, and not be able to keep thee to myself? I am poor, my gazelle! You know well enough, my darling, that I have brought thee up like my child. I never beat thee; I never chid thee, but I did cherish thee as the apple of mine eye. God preserve thee, my dearest! Thou art beautiful, thou art sweet, thou art lovely! God defend thee from the evil eye!’ And so he would go on, saying a thousand things like these. He then embraced her, kissed her eyes, and went backward, bidding her the most tender adieu.” This story reminds its relator of an Arab of Tunis, who could not be got to deliver up a mare that had been purchased for the stud of the king of France. “When he had put the money in his bag, he looked wistfully upon his mare, and began to weep. ‘Shall it be possible,’ said he, ‘that after having reared thee up in my house with so much care, and after having had so much service from thee, I should be delivering thee up into slavery to the Franks, for thy reward? No, I never will do it, my darling!’ and with that be threw down the money upon the table, embraced and kissed his mare, and took her home with him again.”
Considering that the chariot-horses of Pharaoh were, beyond all doubt, the most stately and beautiful that could be found; and looking to the admiration and affectionate regard in which these animals are held, we perceive how a woman might, under such notions, be compared to a mare, not only without disparagement, but with the purpose and effect of extolling her perfections.
It is worthy of note, however, that the comparison is not, strictly speaking, to the chariot-horse in the possession of the Egyptian king, but to one in the hands of Solomon himself—probably the most illustrious and beautiful of all the horses he had obtained from Egypt, and very possibly presented to him, from the royal stud of Pharaoh, with chariot and trappings all complete. Properly, the text reads, “To my Pharaoh’s chariot-horse [mare], do I compare thee my love.”
Still, after all, it is doubtful that there is any intended reference to the form, action, speed, or docility of the horse. Does not what immediately follows—“Thy cheeks [or rather brows] are comely with rows of jewels, thy neck with chains of gold,” seem as if intended to indicate wherein the comparison lay—not to the horse itself, but to its trappings—that is, rather, the horse with its trappings, and in particular, its rich head-stall? What that was we know from the Egyptian paintings and sculptures; and if we compare the head-gear of a royal chariot-horse, we shall seem at no loss for the source of the comparison.
Head-Stall of Egyptian Chariot horse
Head-tire of Egyptian Princess
The favorite oriental fancy of decorating the brows or headdress of females with “rows of jewels,” is by the text just cited shown to have been of very early date. This is corroborated by the ancient Egyptian paintings, and is illustrated by the existing usage, of the East. In the further East it is common both to men and women, and the Nepaulese ambassador has made the idea of it more familiar in this country than even the common portraits of the Mogul emperors. In Western Asia men rather eschew such fineries, and leave them to the women, who indulge in them without stint. Here is a representation of the jeweled head-band in use among the ladies of modern Egypt.
Head-dress of the Nepaulese Ambassador
Kussah, or Egyptian Head Jewel
It is stated by Oleanus (and his statement is still applicable, that all the head-dress that the Persian ladies make use of are two or three rows of pearls, which are worn around the head, beginning at the forehead and descending down the checks, and under the chin, so that their faces seem to be set in pearls. This head-dress seemed to Olearius to be very ancient, for he says (alluding to this passage), “mention is made of it in Solomon’s Song” The sultana Hafitan is described by Lady Mary W. Montague as wearing around her talpache or headdress “fur strings of pearls, the finest and whitest in the world.” And if, as some suppose, it was only as a royal bride that Shulamith wore these rows of jewels, this also is illustrated by the later usages of the East; for it is recorded in the Tarikh-el-Abbas, that when the khalif el-Maimun went to take home his bride Touran Dokht, he found that princess “seated upon a throne, her head laden with a thousand pearls, every one of them as large as a pigeon’s egg or large nut; and this rich coiffure, the khalif resolved should be assigned to her for a dowry.”
Autor: JOHN KITTO