Concerning everything that is Favourable to the act of Coition

Know, O Vizir (God be good to you!), if you would have a pleasant coition, which ought to give an equal share of happiness to the two combatants and be satisfactory to both, you must first of all toy with the woman, excite her with kisses, by nibbling and sucking her lips, by caressing her neck and cheeks. Turn her over in bed, now on her back, now on her stomach, till you see by her eyes that the time for pleasure is near, as I have mentioned in the preceding chapter, and certainly I have not been sparing with my observations thereupon.

Then when you observe the lips of a woman to tremble and get red, and her eyes to become languishing, and her sighs to become quicker, know that she is hot for coition, then get between her thighs, so that your member can enter into her vagina. If you have followed my advice, you will have both a pleasant coition, which will give you the greatest satisfaction, and leave to you a delicious remembrance.

Someone has said:

“If you desire the coition, place the woman on the ground, cling closely to her bosom, with her lips close to yours; then clasp her to you, such her breath, bite her; kiss her breasts, her stomach, her flanks, press her close in your arms, so as to make her faint with pleasure; when you see her so far gone, then push your member into her. If you have done as I said, the enjoyment will come to both of you simultaneously. This it is which makes the pleasure of the woman so sweet. But if you neglect my advice the woman will not be satisfied and you will not have procured her any pleasure.”

The coition being finished, do not get up at once, but come down softly on her right side, and if she has conceived, she will bear a male child, if it please God on high!

Sages and Savants (may God grant to all his forgiveness!) have said:

“If anyone placing his hand upon the vulva of a woman that is with child pronounces the following words. ‘In the name of God! may he grant salutation and mercy to his Prophet (salutation and mercy be with him). Oh! my God! I pray thee in the name of the Prophet to let a boy issue from this conception,’ it will come to pass by the will of God, and in consideration for our lord Mohammed (the salutation and grace of God be with him), the woman will be delivered of a boy.”

Do not drink rain-water directly after copulation, because this beverage weakens the kidneys.

If you want to repeat the coition, perfume yourself with sweet scents, then close with the woman, and you will arrive at a happy result.

Do not let the woman perform the act of coition mounted upon you, for fear that in that position some drops of her seminal fluid might enter the canal of your verge and cause a sharp uretritis.59 Do not work hard directly after coition; this might affect your health badly, but go to rest for some time.

Do not wash your verge directly after having withdrawn it from the vagina of the woman; until the irritattion has gone down somewhat; then wash it and its opening carefully. Otherwise, do not wash your member frequently. Do not leave the vulva directly after the emission, as this may cause canker.60
Sundry Poisons for the Coitus

The ways of doing it to women are numerous and variable. And now is the time to make known to you the different positions which are usual.

God, the magnificent, has said:

“The women are your field. Go upon your field as you like.”61 According to your wish you can choose the position you like best, of course provided that the coition takes place in the spot destined for it, that is, in the vulva.

Manner the first. — Make the woman lie upon her back, with her thighs raised, then getting between her legs, introduce your member into her. Then pressing your toes to the ground, you can rummage her in a convenient, measured way.62 This is a good position for a man with a long verge.

Manner the second. — If your member is a short one, let the woman lie on her back, lift her legs into the air, so that her right leg be near her right ear, and the left one near her left ear, and in this posture, with her buttock lifted up, her vulva will project forward. Then put in your member.

Manner the third. — Let the woman stretch herself upon the ground, and place yourself between her thighs; then putting one of her legs upon your shoulder, and the other under your arm, near the armpit, get into her.

Manner the fourth. — Let her lie down, and put her legs on your shoulders; in this position your member will just face her vulva, which must not touch the ground. And then introduce your member.

Manner the fifth. — Let her lie down on her side, then lie yourself down by her on the side, and getting between her thighs, put your member into her vagina. But the sidelong coition predisposes for rheumatic pains and sciatica.63

Manner the sixth. — Make her get down on her knees and elbows, as if kneeling in prayer. In this position the vulva is projected backwards; you then attack her from that side, and put your member into her.64 Manner the seventh. — Place the woman on her side, and squat between her thighs, with one of her legs on your shoulder and the other between your thighs, while she remains lying on her side. Then you enter her vagina, and make her move by drawing her towards your chest by means of your hands, with which you hold her embraced.

Manner the eighth. — Let her stretch herself upon the ground, on her back, with her legs crossed; then mount her like a cavalier on horseback, being on your knees, while her legs are placed under her thighs, and put your member into her vagina.

Manner the ninth. — Place the woman so that she leans with her front, or, if you prefer it, her back upon a moderate elevation, with her feet set upon the ground. She thus offers her vulva to the introduction of your member.65

Manner the tenth. — Place the woman near to a low divan, the back of which she can take hold of with her hands; then, getting under her, lift her legs to the height of your navel, and let her clasp you with her legs on each side of your body; in this position plant your verge into her, seizing with your hands the back of the divan. When you begin the action your movements must respond to those of the woman.

Manner the eleventh. — Let her lie upon her back on the ground with a cushion under her posterior; then getting between her legs, and letting her place the sole of her right foot against the sole of her left, introduce your member.

There are other positions besides the above named in use among the peoples of India. It is well for you to know that the inhabitants of those parts have multiplied the different ways to enjoy women, and they have advanced further than we in knowledge and investigation of the coitus. Amongst those manners are the following, called:

    El asemeud, the stopperage.
    El modefeda, frog-fashion.
    El mokefa, with the toes cramped.
    El mokeurmeutt, with the legs in the air.
    Es setouri, he-goat-fashion.
    El loulabi, the screw of Archimedes.
    Ez zedjadja, piercing with the lance.
    El hedouh, hanging.
    El kelouci, the somerset.
    Hachou en nekanok, the tail of the ostrich.
    Lebeuss el djoureb, in head over heel.
    Kechef el astine, reciprocal sight of the posteriors.
    Neza el kouss, the bent of the rainbow.
    Nesedj el kheuzz, alternative boring.
    Dok el arz, pounding on the spot.
    Nik el kohoul, the coition at the back.
    El keurchi, belly to belly.
    El kepachi, ram-fashion.
    El kouri, the camel’s hump.
    Dok el outed, driving the peg home.
    Sebek el heub, love’s fusion.
    El morteseb, rape.
    Tred ech chate, sheep-fashion.
    Kaleb el miche, interchange in coition.
    Rekeud el air, the tilting of the member.
    El modakheli, the fitter in.
    El khouariki, the one who stops in the house.
    Nik el haddadi, the smith’s coition.
    El moheundi, the seducer.

The first manner. — El asemeud (the stopperage). Place the woman on her back with a cushion under her buttocks, then get between her legs, resting the points of your feet against the ground; bend her thighs against her chest as far as you can; place your hands under her arms so as to enfold her or cramp her shoulders. Then introduce your member, and at the moment of ejaculation draw her towards you. This position is painful for woman, for her thighs being bent upwards and her buttocks raised by the cushion, the walls of her vagina tighten, and the uterus tending forward there is no much room for movement, and scarcely space enough for the intruder; consequently the latter enters with difficulty and strikes against the uterus. This position should therefore not be adopted, unless the man’s member is short or soft.

Second manner. — El modefeda (frog fashion). Place the woman on her back, and arrange her thighs so that they touch the heels, which latter are thus coming close to the buttocks; then you sit down in this kind of merry thought,66 facing the vulva, in which you insert your member; you then place her knees under your arm-pits; and taking firm hold of the upper part of her arms, you draw her towards you at the crisis.

Third manner. — El mokefa (with the toes cramped). Place the woman on her back, and squat on your knees, between her thighs, gripping the ground with the toes; raise her knees as high as your sides, in order that she may cross her legs over your back, and then pass her arms round your neck.

Fourth manner. — El mokeurmeutt (the legs in the air). The woman lying on her back, you put her thighs together and raise her legs up until the soles of her feet look at the ceiling; then enfolding her within your thighs you insert your member, holding her legs up with your hands.

Fifth manner. — Es setouri (he-goat fashion67). The woman being crouched on her side, you let her stretch out the leg on which she is resting, and squat down between her thighs with your calves bent under you;68 then you lift her uppermost leg so that it rests on your back, and introduce your member. During the action you take hold of her shoulders, or, if you prefer it, by the arms.

Sixth manner. — El loulabi (the screw of Archimedes69). The man being stretched on his back the woman sits on his member, facing him; she then places her hands upon the bed so that she can keep her stomach from touching the man’s, she then moves up and downwards, and if the man is supple he assists her from below. If in this position she wants to kiss him, she need only stretch her arms along the bed.

Seventh manner. — Er zedjadja (piercing with the lance).70 You suspend the woman from the ceiling by means of four cords attached to her hands and feet; the middle of her body is supported by a fifth cord, arranged so as not to hurt her back. Her position should be so that if you stand upright before her, her vagina should just face your member, which you introduce into her. You then communicate to the apparatus a swinging motion, first pushing it slightly from you and then drawing it towards you again; in this way your weapon will alternately enter and retire from its sheath, you taking care to hit the entrance on her approach. This action you continue till the ejaculation arrives.

Eighth manner. — El hedouli (suspension). The man brings the woman’s hands and feet together in the direction of her neck, so that her vulva is standing out like a dome, and then raises her up by means of a pulley which is fixed in the ceiling. Then he stretches himself out below her, holding in his hand the other end of the cord, by means of which he can lower her down upon himself, and so is able to penetrate into her. He thus causes her alternately to rise and descend upon his tool until the ejaculation takes place.

Ninth Manner. — El kelouci (the summerset). The woman must have a pair of pantaloons on, which she lets drop down upon her heels; she then stoops down, placing her head between her feet, so that her neck is in the pantaloons. At that moment the man, seizing her legs, turns her upon her back, making her perform a summerset; then he brings his member right against her vulva, and, slipping it between her legs, inserts it.

It is alleged that there are women who, lying on their back, can place their feet under the head without the help of pantaloons or of their hands.

Tenth manner. — Hacou en nekanok (the tail of the ostrich). The woman lying on her back along the bed, the man kneels in front of her, and lifts up her legs until her head and shoulders only are resting on the bed; his member sets into motion the buttocks of the woman who, on her part, twines her legs round his neck.71

Eleventh manner. — Lebeuss el djoureb (fitting on of the sock).72 The woman lies on her back, you sit down between her legs and place your member between the lips of her vulva, which you fit over it with your thumb and first finger; then you move so as to procure for your member as far as it is in contact with the woman a lively rubbing, which action you continue until her vulva gets moistened with the liquid emitted from your verge. When she is thus amply prepared for the enjoyment by the alternate coming and going of your weapon in her scabbard, put it into her full length.

Twelfth manner. — Kechef el astine (reciprocal sight of the posteriors).73 The man lying stretched out on his back, the woman sits down upon his member with her back to the man’s face, who presses her sides between his thighs and legs, whilst she places her hands upon the bed as a support for her movements, and stooping her head, her eyes are turned towards the buttocks of the man.74

Thirteenth manner. — Neza el kouss (the bend of the arch). The woman is lying on her side; the man also on his side, with his face towards her back, pushes in between her legs and introduces his member, with his hands lying on the upper part of her back. As to the woman, she then gets hold of the man’s feet, which she lifts up as far as she can, drawing him close to her; thus she forms with the body of the man an arch, of which she is the rise.

Fourteenth manner. — Nesedj el kheuzz (the alternate movement of piercing).75 The man in sitting attitude places the soles of his feet together, and lowering his thighs, draws his feet nearer to his member; the woman sits down upon his feet, which he takes care to keep firm together. In this position the two thighs of the woman are pressed against the man’s flanks, and she puts her arms round his neck. Then the man clasps the woman’s ankles, and drawing his feet nearer to his body, brings also the woman sitting on them, within range of his member, which then enters her vagina. By moving his feet he sends her back and brings her forward again, without ever withdrawing his member entirely.

The woman makes herself as light as possible, and assists as well as she can in this come-and-go exercise; her cooperation is indispensable for it. If the man apprehends that his member may come out entirely, he takes her round the waist, and she receives otherwise no other impulse than that which is imparted to her by the feet of the man upon which she is sitting.

Fifteenth manner. — Dok el arz; (the pounding on the spot).76 The man sits down with his legs stretched out; the woman then places herself astride on his thighs, crossing her legs behind the back of the man, and places her vulva opposite his member, which latter she guides into her vagina; she then places her arms round his neck, and he embraces her sides and waist, and helps her to rise and descend upon his verge. She must assist in his work.

Sixteenth manner. — Nik el kohoul (coitus from the back). The woman lies down on her stomach and raises her buttocks by help of a cushion; the man approaches from behind, stretches himself on her back and inserts his tool, while the woman twines her arms round the man’s elbows. This is the easiest of all methods.

Seventeenth manner. — El keurchi (belly to belly). The man and the woman are standing upright, face to face; she opens her thighs; the man then brings his feet forward between those of the woman, who also advances hers a little. In this position the man must have one of his feet somewhat in advance of the other. Each of the two has the arms round the other’s hips, the man introduces his verge, and the two move thus intertwined after a manner called neza’ el dela, which I shall explain later on, please God the Almighty. (See first manner.)

Eighteenth manner. — El kebachi (after the fashion of the ram). The woman is on her knees, with her forearms on the ground; the man approaches from behind, kneels down, and lets his member penetrate into her vagina, which she presses out as much as possible; he will do well in placing his hands on the woman’s shoulders.

Nineteenth manner. — El houri (the hump of the camel). The woman, standing on her feet, places her hands on the ground, and elevates her hinder parts; the man, standing behind her, explores her, taking hold of her thighs in front of her buttocks. If in this position the man, after having introduced his member, withdraws it, and the woman remains steady in her attitude, there will escape from her vagina a sound resembling the lowing of a calf. But this kind of coitus is not easy to obtain, as women who know that circumstance refuse to lend themselves for it.

Twentieth manner. — Dok el (driving the pin in). The woman enlaces with her legs the waist of the man, steadying herself by leaning against the wall. Whilst she who is standing, with her arms passed round his neck, and is thus suspended the man inserts his pin into her vulva.

Twenty-first manner. — Sebek el heub (love’s fusion). While the woman is lying on her right side you extend yourself on your left side; your left leg remains extended, and you raise your right one till it is up to her flank, when you lay her upper leg upon your side. Thus her uppermost leg serves the woman as a support for her back. After having introduced your member you move as you please, and she responds to your action as she pleases.

Twenty-second manner. — El morteseb (the coition by violence). The man approaches the woman from behind, so as to take her unawares; he passes his hands under her armpits; and seizing hers, draws them up towards her throat, so as to paralyze all resistance on her part. He can intertwine his fingers with hers, and thus bring her hands behind her neck by making her bend her head down.

If she has no drawers on, he tries to raise her robe with his knees towards the middle of the body, fixing one of her legs with his, so that she cannot turn away her receptacle from his weapon, nor make any resistance to its introduction. If she has drawers on and is strong, the man will be obliged to hold her two hands with one of his while he undoes her drawers with the other.

This manner will prove convenient for a man who wants to enjoy a woman, and can only get her by force and against her will.

Twenty-third manner. — Tred ech chate (coitus of the sheep).77 The woman is on her hands and knees; the man behind her lifts her thighs till her vulva is on a level with his member, which he then inserts. In this position she ought to place her head between her arms.

Twenty-fourth manner. — Kaleb el miche (the inversion in coition). The man is lying on his back, and the woman gliding in between his legs, places herself upon him with her toe-nails against the ground; she lifts up the man’s thighs, turning them against his own body, so that his virile member faces her vulva, into which she glides it; she then places her hands upon the bed by the sides of the man. It is, however, indispensable that the woman’s feet rest upon a cushion to enable her to keep her vulva in accordance with his member.

In this position the parts are exchanged, the woman fulfilling that of the man, and vice versa.

There is a variation to this manner. The man stretches himself out upon his back, while the woman kneels with her legs under her between his legs. The remainder conforms exactly to what has been said above.

Twenty-fifth manner. — Rekeud el air (the race of the member). The man on his back supports himself with a cushion under his shoulders, but his posterior must keep touch of the bed. Thus placed, he draws up his thighs until his knees are on a level with his face; then the woman sits down, impaling herself on his member; she must not lie down, but keep seated as if on horseback, the saddle being represented by the knees and the stomach of the man. In that position she can by the play of her knees work up and down and down and up. She can beside place her knees on the bed, in which case the man accentuates the movement by plying his thighs, whilst she holds with her left hand on to his right shoulder.

Twenty-sixth manner. — El modakheli (the fitter-in). The woman is seated on her coccyx, with only the points of her buttocks touching the ground; the man takes the same position, her vulva facing his member, then the woman puts her right thigh over the left thigh of the man, whilst he on his part puts his right thigh over her left one.

The woman, seizing with her hands the man’s arms, gets his member into her vulva; and each of them leaning alternately a little back, and holding each other by the upper part of the arms, they get into a swaying movement, acting by way of little concussions,78 and keeping their movements in exact rhythm by the assistance of their heels, which are resting on the ground.

Twenty-seventh manner. — El khouariki (the one that stops at home). The woman being couched on her back, the man lies down on her, with cushions held in his hands.

After the member has got in, the woman raises her buttocks as high as she can off the bed, the man following her up with his member well inside; then the woman lowers herself again upon the bed, giving some short shocks, and although they do not embrace, the man must stick like glue to her. This movement they continue, but the man must make himself light and must not be ponderous, and the bed must be soft; in default of which the exercise cannot be kept up without break.

Twenty-eighth manner. — Nik el haddadi (the coition of the blacksmith). The woman lies on her back with a cushion under her buttocks, with her knees raised as far as possible towards her chest, so that her vulva stands out as a target; she then guides his member in. The man then executes for some time the usual action of the coition, then draws his tool out of the vulva, and glides it for a moment between the thighs of the woman, as the smith withdraws the glowing iron from the furnace in order to plunge it into cold water. This manner is called sferdgeli, position of the quince.

Twenty-ninth manner. — El moheundi (the seductive). The woman lying on her back, the man sits between her legs, with his croupe on his feet; then he raises and separates the woman’s thighs, placing her legs under his arms or over his shoulders; he then takes her round the waist, or seizes her shoulders.

The preceding descriptions furnish a large number of procedures that cannot well be all put to the proof; but with such a variety to choose from, the man who finds one of them difficult to practise can easily find plenty of others more to his convenience.

I have not made mention of positions which appeared to me to be impossible to realize, and if there be any body who thinks that those which I have described are not exhaustive he has only to look for new ones.

It cannot be gainsaid that the Indians have surmounted the greatest difficulties in respect to coition. As a grand exploit, originating with them, the following may be cited:

“The woman being stretched out on her back, the man sits down on her chest with his back turned to her face, his knees turned forward and his nails gripping the ground; he then raises her hips, arching her back until he has brought her vulva to face with his member, which he then inserts, and thus gains his purpose.”

This position, as you perceive, is very fatiguing and very difficult to attain. I even believe that the only realization of it consists in words and designs. With regard to the other methods, as described above, they can only be practised if both man and woman are free from physical defects, and of analogous construction; for instance, one or the other of them must not be humpbacked or very little, or very tall, or too fat. And I repeat, that both must be in perfect health.

I shall now treat of the coition between two persons of different conformation. I shall particularize the positions that will suit them in treating each of them severally.

I shall first discourse of the coition of a lean man and a corpulent woman, and the different postures they can take for the operation, assuming the woman to be lying down, and being turned successively over on her four sides.

If the man wants to work her sideways he takes the thigh of the woman which is uppermost, and raises it as high as possible on his flank, so that it rests over his waist; he employs her undermost arm as a pillow for the support of his head, and he takes care to place a stout cushion under his undermost hip, so as to elevate his member to the necessary height, which is indispensable on account of the thickness of the woman’s thighs.

But if the man has an enormous stomach, projecting by reason of its obesity, over her thighs and flanks it will be best to lay her on her back, and to lift up her thighs toward her belly; the man kneels between them, with his hands having hold of her waist, and drawing her towards him, and if he cannot manage her in consequence of the obesity of her belly and thighs, he must with his two arms encircle her buttocks. But it is impossible for him to work her conveniently, owing to the want of mobility as to her thighs, which are impeded by her belly. He may, however, support them with his hands, but let him take care not to place them over his own thighs, as, owing to their weight, he would not have the power nor the facility to move. As the poet has said:

“If you have to explore her, lift up her buttocks,

In order to work like the rope thrown to a drowning man.

You will then seem between her thighs

Like a rower seated at the end of the boat.”

The man can likewise couch the woman on her side, with the undermost leg in front; then he sits down on the thigh of that leg, his member being opposite her vulva, and lets her raise the upper leg, which she must bend at the knee. Then, with his hands seizing her legs and thighs, he introduces his member, with his body lying between her legs, his knees bent, and the points of his feet between the ground, so that he can elevate his posterior, and prevent her thighs from impeding the entrance. In this attitude they can enter into action.

If the woman’s belly is enlarged by reason of her being with child, the m............