[462] All Prophets had some manual trade and that of David was making coats of mail，which he invented，for before his day men used plate-armour. So 'Allah softened the iron for him'and in his hands it became like wax （Koran xxi. xxxiv.，etc.）. Hence a good coat of mail is called 'Davidean.'I have _disibledevent= 'canes，'long beads，bugles.
[481] Koran，xcvi. 5.
[482] Both words （masc. and fem.） mean 'dear，excellent，highly-prized.'The tale is the Arab form of the European 'Patient Griselda'and shows a higher conception of womanly devotion，because Azizah，despite her wearisome weeping，is a girl of high intelligence and Aziz is a vicious zany，weak as water and wilful as wind. The phenomenon （not rare in life） is explained by the couplet：--I love my love with an S Because he is stupid and not intellectual.
This fond affection of clever women for fools can be explained only by the law of unlikeness which mostly governs sexual unions in physical matters；and its appearance in the story gives novelty and point. Aziz can plead only the violence of his passion which distinguished him as a lover among the mob of men who cannot love anything beyond themselves. And none can pity him for losing a member which he so much abused.
[483] Arab. 'Shahid，'the index，the pointer raised in testimony：the comparison of the Eastern and the Western names is curious.