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diff --git a/2060-0.txt b/2060-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5a7dc66 --- /dev/null +++ b/2060-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4071 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The History of the Caliph Vathek, by William +Beckford, Edited by Henry Morley + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The History of the Caliph Vathek + + +Author: William Beckford + +Editor: Henry Morley + +Release Date: April 6, 2010 [eBook #2060] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HISTORY OF THE CALIPH VATHEK*** + + +Transcribed from the 1887 Cassell & Company edition by David Price, email +ccx074@pglaf.org + + CASSELL’S NATIONAL LIBRARY + + * * * * * + + + + + + THE HISTORY + OF THE + CALIPH VATHEK + + + BY + WILLIAM BECKFORD. + + [Picture: Printer’s mark] + + CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED: + _LONDON_, _PARIS_, _NEW YORK & MELBOURNE_. + 1887. + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +William Beckford, born in 1759, the year before the accession of King +George the Third, was the son of an Alderman who became twice Lord Mayor +of London. His family, originally of Gloucestershire, had thriven by the +plantations in Jamaica; and his father, sent to school in England, and +forming a school friendship at Westminster with Lord Mansfield, began the +world in this country as a merchant, with inheritance of an enormous West +India fortune. William Beckford the elder became Magistrate, Member of +Parliament, Alderman. Four years before the birth of William Beckford +the younger he became one of the Sheriffs of London, and three years +after his son’s birth he was Lord Mayor. As Mayor he gave very sumptuous +dinners that made epochs in the lives of feeding men. His son’s famous +“History of the Caliph Vathek” looks as if it had been planned for an +Alderman’s dream after a very heavy dinner at the Mansion House. There +is devotion in it to the senses, emphasis on heavy dining. Vathek piqued +himself on being the greatest eater alive; but when the Indian dined with +him, though the tables were thirty times covered, there was still want of +more food for the voracious guest. There is thirst: for at one part of +the dream, when Vathek’s mother, his wives, and some eunuchs “assiduously +employed themselves in filling bowls of rock crystal, and emulously +presented them to him, it frequently happened that his avidity exceeded +their zeal, insomuch that he would prostrate himself upon the ground to +lap up the water, of which he could never have enough.” And the +nightmare incidents of the Arabian tale all culminate in a most terrible +heartburn. Could the conception of Vathek have first come to the son +after a City dinner? + +Though a magnificent host, the elder Beckford was no glutton. In the +year of his first Mayoralty, 1763, Beckford, stood by the side of +Alderman Wilkes, attacked for his No. 45 of _The North Briton_. As +champion of the popular cause, when he had been again elected to the +Mayoralty, Beckford, on the 23rd of May, 1770, went up to King George the +Third at the head of the Aldermen and Livery with an address which the +king snubbed with a short answer. Beckford asked leave to reply, and +before His Majesty recovered breath from his astonishment, proceeded to +reply in words that remain graven in gold upon his monument in Guildhall. +Young Beckford, the author of “Vathek,” was then a boy not quite eleven +years old, an only son; and he was left three years afterwards, by his +father’s death, heir to an income of a hundred thousand a year, with a +million of cash in hand. + +During his minority young Beckford’s mother, who was a granddaughter of +the sixth Earl of Abercorn, placed him under a private tutor. He was +taught music by Mozart; and the Earl of Chatham, who had been his +father’s friend, thought him so fanciful a boy—“all air and fire”—that he +advised his mother to keep the Arabian Nights out of his way. Happily +she could not, for Vathek adds the thousand and second to the thousand +and one tales, with the difference that it joins to wild inventions in +the spirit of the East touches of playful extravagance that could come +only from an English humourist who sometimes laughed at his own tale, and +did not mind turning its comic side to the reader. The younger William +Beckford had been born at his father’s seat in Wiltshire, Fonthill Abbey; +and at seventeen amused himself with a caricature “History of +Extraordinary Painters,” encouraging the house-keeper of Fonthill to show +the pictures to visitors as works of Og of Basan and other worthies in +her usual edifying manner. + +Young Beckford’s education was continued for a year and a half at Geneva. +He then travelled in Italy and the Low Countries, and it was at this time +that he amused himself by writing, at the age of about twenty-two, +“Vathek” in French, at a single sitting; but he gave his mind to it and +the sitting lasted three days and two nights. An English version of it +was made by a stranger, and published without permission in 1784. +Beckford himself published his tale at Paris and Lausanne in 1787, one +year after the death of a wife to whom he had been three years married, +and who left him with two daughters. + +Beckford went to Portugal and Spain; returned to France, and was present +at the storming of the Bastille. He was often abroad; he bought Gibbon’s +library at Lausanne, and shut himself up with it for a time, having a +notion of reading it through. He was occasionally in Parliament, but did +not care for that kind of amusement. He wrote pieces of less enduring +interest than “Vathek,” including two burlesques upon the sentimental +novel of his time. In 1796 he settled down at Fonthill, and began to +spend there abundantly on building and rebuilding. Perhaps he thought of +Vathek’s tower when he employed workmen day and night to build a tower +for himself three hundred feet high, and set them to begin it again when +it fell down. He is said to have spent upon Fonthill a quarter of a +million, living there in much seclusion during the last twenty years of +his life. He died in 1844. + +The happy thought of this William Beckford’s life was “Vathek.” It is a +story that paints neither man nor outward nature as they are, but +reproduces with happy vivacity the luxuriant imagery and wild incidents +of an Arabian tale. There is a ghost of a moral in the story of a +sensual Caliph going to the bad, as represented by his final introduction +to the Halls of Eblis. But the enjoyment given by the book reflects the +real enjoyment that the author had in writing it—enjoyment great enough +to cause it to be written at a heat, in one long sitting, without +flagging power. Young and lively, he delivered himself up to a free run +of fancy, revelled in the piled-up enormities of the Wicked Mother, who +had not brought up Vathek properly, and certainly wrote some parts of his +nightmare tale as merrily as if he were designing matter for a pantomime. + +Whoever, in reading “Vathek,” takes it altogether seriously, does not +read it as it was written. We must have an eye for the vein of +caricature that now and then comes to the surface, and invites a laugh +without disturbing the sense of Eastern extravagance bent seriously upon +the elaboration of a tale crowded with incident and action. Taken +altogether seriously, the book has faults of construction. But the +faults turn into beauties when we catch the twinkle in the writer’s eye. + + H. M. + + + + +THE HISTORY OF THE CALIPH VATHEK + + +Vathek, ninth Caliph of the race of the Abassides, was the son of +Motassem, and the grandson of Haroun Al Raschid. From an early accession +to the throne, and the talents he possessed to adorn it, his subjects +were induced to expect that his reign would be long and happy. His +figure was pleasing and majestic; but when he was angry one of his eyes +became so terrible that no person could bear to behold it, and the wretch +upon whom it was fixed instantly fell backward, and sometimes expired. +For fear, however, of depopulating his dominions and making his palace +desolate he but rarely gave way to his anger. + +Being much addicted to women and the pleasures of the table, he sought by +his affability to procure agreeable companions; and he succeeded the +better as his generosity was unbounded, and his indulgences unrestrained, +for he was by no means scrupulous, nor did he think with the Caliph Omar +Ben Abdalaziz that it was necessary to make a hell of this world to enjoy +Paradise in the next. + +He surpassed in magnificence all his predecessors. The palace of +Alkoremmi, which his father Motassem had erected on the hill of Pied +Horses, and which commanded the whole city of Samarah, was in his idea +far too scanty; he added therefore five wings, or rather other palaces, +which he destined for the particular gratification of each of his senses. + +In the first of these were tables continually covered with the most +exquisite dainties, which were supplied both by night and by day, +according to their constant consumption, whilst the most delicious wines +and the choicest cordials flowed forth from a hundred fountains that were +never exhausted. This palace was called “The Eternal or Unsatiating +Banquet.” + +The second was styled “The Temple of Melody, or the Nectar of the Soul.” +It was inhabited by the most skilful musicians and admired poets of the +time, who not only displayed their talents within, but, dispersing in +bands without, caused every surrounding scene to reverberate their songs, +which were continually varied in the most delightful succession. + +The palace named “The Delight of the Eyes, or the Support of Memory,” was +one entire enchantment. Rarities collected from every corner of the +earth were there found in such profusion as to dazzle and confound, but +for the order in which they were arranged. One gallery exhibited the +pictures of the celebrated Mani, and statues that seemed to be alive. +Here a well-managed perspective attracted the sight; there the magic of +optics agreeably deceived it; whilst the naturalist on his part +exhibited, in their several classes, the various gifts that Heaven had +bestowed on our globe. In a word, Vathek omitted nothing in this palace +that might gratify the curiosity of those who resorted to it, although he +was not able to satisfy his own, for he was of all men the most curious. + +“The Palace of Perfumes,” which was termed likewise “The Incentive to +Pleasure,” consisted of various halls, where the different perfumes which +the earth produces were kept perpetually burning in censers of gold. +Flambeaux and aromatic lamps were here lighted in open day. But the too +powerful effects of this agreeable delirium might be avoided by +descending into an immense garden, where an assemblage of every fragrant +flower diffused through the air the purest odours. + +The fifth palace, denominated “The Retreat of Joy, or the Dangerous,” was +frequented by troops of young females beautiful as the houris, and not +less seducing, who never failed to receive with caresses all whom the +Caliph allowed to approach them; for he was by no means disposed to be +jealous, as his own women were secluded within the palace he inhabited +himself. + +Notwithstanding the sensuality in which Vathek indulged, he experienced +no abatement in the love of his people, who thought that a sovereign +immersed in pleasure was not less tolerable to his subjects than one that +employed himself in creating them foes. But the unquiet and impetuous +disposition of the Caliph would not allow him to rest there; he had +studied so much for his amusement in the life-time of his father as to +acquire a great deal of knowledge, though not a sufficiency to satisfy +himself; for he wished to know everything, even sciences that did not +exist. He was fond of engaging in disputes with the learned, but liked +them not to push their opposition with warmth; he stopped the mouths of +those with presents whose mouths could be stopped, whilst others, whom +his liberality was unable to subdue, he sent to prison to cool their +blood: a remedy that often succeeded. + +Vathek discovered also a predilection for theological controversy, but it +was not with the orthodox that he usually held. By this means he induced +the zealots to oppose him, and then persecuted them in return; for he +resolved at any rate to have reason on his side. + +The great prophet Mahomet, whose vicars the caliphs are, beheld with +indignation from his abode in the seventh heaven the irreligious conduct +of such a vicegerent. “Let us leave him to himself,” said he to the +genii, who are always ready to receive his commands; “let us see to what +lengths his folly and impiety will carry him; if he run into excess we +shall know how to chastise him. Assist him, therefore, to complete the +tower which, in imitation of Nimrod, he hath begun, not, like that great +warrior, to escape being drowned, but from the insolent curiosity of +penetrating the secrets of Heaven; he will not divine the fate that +awaits him.” + +The genii obeyed, and when the workmen had raised their structure a cubit +in the day-time, two cubits more were added in the night. The expedition +with which the fabric arose was not a little flattering to the vanity of +Vathek. He fancied that even insensible matter showed a forwardness to +subserve his designs, not considering that the successes of the foolish +and wicked form the first rod of their chastisement. + +His pride arrived at its height when, having ascended for the first time +the eleven thousand stairs of his tower, he cast his eyes below, and +beheld men not larger than pismires, mountains than shells, and cities +than bee-hives. The idea which such an elevation inspired of his own +grandeur completely bewildered him; he was almost ready to adore himself, +till, lifting his eyes upward, he saw the stars as high above him as they +appeared when he stood on the surface of the earth. He consoled himself, +however, for this transient perception of his littleness with the thought +of being great in the eyes of others, and flattered himself that the +light of his mind would extend beyond the reach of his sight, and +transfer to the stars the decrees of his destiny. + +With this view the inquisitive prince passed most of his nights on the +summit of his tower, till he became an adept in the mysteries of +astrology, and imagined that the planets had disclosed to him the most +marvellous adventures, which were to be accomplished by an extraordinary +personage from a country altogether unknown. Prompted by motives of +curiosity, he had always been courteous to strangers, but from this +instant he redoubled his attention, and ordered it to be announced by +sound of trumpet, through all the streets of Samarah, that no one of his +subjects, on peril of displeasure, should either lodge or detain a +traveller, but forthwith bring him to the palace. + +Not long after this proclamation there arrived in his metropolis a man so +hideous that the very guards who arrested him were forced to shut their +eyes as they led him along. The Caliph himself appeared startled at so +horrible a visage, but joy succeeded to this emotion of terror when the +stranger displayed to his view such rarities as he had never before seen, +and of which he had no conception. + +In reality, nothing was ever so extraordinary as the merchandise this +stranger produced; most of his curiosities, which were not less admirable +for their workmanship than splendour, had, besides, their several virtues +described on a parchment fastened to each. There were slippers which +enabled the feet to walk; knives that cut without the motion of a hand; +sabres which dealt the blow at the person they were wished to strike; and +the whole enriched with gems that were hitherto unknown. + +The sabres, whose blades emitted a dazzling radiance, fixed more than all +the Caliph’s attention, who promised himself to decipher at his leisure +the uncouth characters engraven on their sides. Without, therefore, +demanding their price, he ordered all the coined gold to be brought from +his treasury, and commanded the merchant to take what he pleased; the +stranger complied with modesty and silence. + +Vathek, imagining that the merchant’s taciturnity was occasioned by the +awe which his presence inspired, encouraged him to advance, and asked +him, with an air of condescension, “Who he was? whence he came? and where +he obtained such beautiful commodities?” The man, or rather monster, +instead of making a reply, thrice rubbed his forehead, which, as well as +his body, was blacker than ebony, four times clapped his paunch, the +projection of which was enormous, opened wide his huge eyes, which glowed +like firebrands, began to laugh with a hideous noise, and discovered his +long amber-coloured teeth bestreaked with green. + +The Caliph, though a little startled, renewed his inquiries, but without +being able to procure a reply; at which, beginning to be ruffled, he +exclaimed: “Knowest thou, varlet, who I am? and at whom thou art aiming +thy gibes?” Then, addressing his guards, “Have ye heard him speak? is he +dumb?” + +“He hath spoken,” they replied, “though but little.” + +“Let him speak again, then,” said Vathek, “and tell me who he is, from +whence he came, and where he procured these singular curiosities, or I +swear by the ass of Balaam that I will make him rue his pertinacity.” + +The menace was accompanied by the Caliph with one of his angry and +perilous glances, which the stranger sustained without the slightest +emotion, although his eyes were fixed on the terrible eye of the prince. + +No words can describe the amazement of the courtiers when they beheld +this rude merchant withstand the encounter unshocked. They all fell +prostrate with their faces on the ground to avoid the risk of their +lives, and continued in the same abject posture till the Caliph exclaimed +in a furious tone, “Up, cowards! seize the miscreant! see that he be +committed to prison and guarded by the best of my soldiers! Let him, +however, retain the money I gave him; it is not my intent to take from +him his property; I only want him to speak.” + +No sooner had he uttered these words than the stranger was surrounded, +pinioned with strong fetters, and hurried away to the prison of the great +tower, which was encompassed by seven empalements of iron bars, and armed +with spikes in every direction longer and sharper than spits. + +The Caliph, nevertheless, remained in the most violent agitation; he sat +down indeed to eat, but of the three hundred covers that were daily +placed before him could taste of no more than thirty-two. A diet to +which he had been so little accustomed was sufficient of itself to +prevent him from sleeping; what then must be its effect when joined to +the anxiety that preyed upon his spirits? At the first glimpse of dawn +he hastened to the prison, again to importune this intractable stranger; +but the rage of Vathek exceeded all bounds on finding the prison empty, +the gates burst asunder, and his guards lying lifeless around him. In +the paroxysm of his passion he fell furiously on the poor carcases, and +kicked them till evening without intermission. His courtiers and vizirs +exerted their efforts to soothe his extravagance, but finding every +expedient ineffectual, they all united in one vociferation: “The Caliph +is gone mad! the Caliph is out of his senses!” + +This outcry, which soon resounded through the streets of Samarah, at +length reaching the ears of Carathis, his mother, she flew in the utmost +consternation to try her ascendency on the mind of her son. Her tears +and caresses called off his attention, and he was prevailed upon by her +entreaties to be brought back to the palace. + +Carathis, apprehensive of leaving Vathek to himself, caused him to be put +to bed, and seating herself by him, endeavoured by her conversation to +heal and compose him. Nor could any one have attempted it with better +success, for the Caliph not only loved her as a mother, but respected her +as a person of superior genius; it was she who had induced him, being a +Greek herself, to adopt all the sciences and systems of her country, +which good Mussulmans hold in such thorough abhorrence. Judicial +astrology was one of those systems in which Carathis was a perfect adept; +she began, therefore, with reminding her son of the promise which the +stars had made him, and intimated an intention of consulting them again. + +“Alas!” sighed the Caliph, as soon as he could speak, “what a fool have I +been! not for the kicks bestowed on my guards who so tamely submitted to +death, but for never considering that this extraordinary man was the same +the planets had foretold, whom, instead of ill-treating, I should have +conciliated by all the arts of persuasion.” + +“The past,” said Carathis, “cannot be recalled, but it behoves us to +think of the future; perhaps you may again see the object you so much +regret; it is possible the inscriptions on the sabres will afford +information. Eat, therefore, and take thy repose, my dear son; we will +consider to-morrow in what manner to act.” + +Vathek yielded to her counsel as well as he could, and arose in the +morning with a mind more at ease. The sabres he commanded to be +instantly brought, and poring upon them through a green glass, that their +glittering might not dazzle, he set himself in earnest to decipher the +inscriptions; but his reiterated attempts were all of them nugatory; in +vain did he beat his head and bite his nails, not a letter of the whole +was he able to ascertain. So unlucky a disappointment would have undone +him again had not Carathis by good fortune entered the apartment. + +“Have patience, son!” said she; “you certainly are possessed of every +important science, but the knowledge of languages is a trifle at best, +and the accomplishment of none but a pedant. Issue forth a proclamation +that you will confer such rewards as become your greatness upon any one +that shall interpret what you do not understand, and what it is beneath +you to learn; you will soon find your curiosity gratified.” + +“That may be,” said the Caliph; “but in the meantime I shall be horribly +disgusted by a crowd of smatterers, who will come to the trial as much +for the pleasure of retailing their jargon as from the hope of gaining +the reward. To avoid this evil it will be proper to add that I will put +every candidate to death who shall fail to give satisfaction; for, thank +Heaven! I have skill enough to distinguish between one that translates +and one that invents.” + +“Of that I have no doubt,” replied Carathis; “but to put the ignorant to +death is somewhat severe, and may be productive of dangerous effects; +content yourself with commanding their beards to be burnt—beards in a +state are not quite so essential as men.” + +The Caliph submitted to the reasons of his mother, and sending for +Morakanabad, his prime vizir, said: “Let the common criers proclaim, not +only in Samarah, but throughout every city in my empire, that whosoever +will repair hither, and decipher certain characters which appear to be +inexplicable, shall experience the liberality for which I am renowned; +but that all who fail upon trial shall have their beards burnt off to the +last hair. Let them add also that I will bestow fifty beautiful slaves, +and as many jars of apricots from the Isle of Kirmith, upon any man that +shall bring me intelligence of the stranger.” + +The subjects of the Caliph, like their Sovereign, being great admirers of +women and apricots from Kirmith, felt their mouths water at these +promises, but were totally unable to gratify their hankering, for no one +knew which way the stranger had gone. + +As to the Caliph’s other requisition, the result was different. The +learned, the half-learned, and those who were neither, but fancied +themselves equal to both, came boldly to hazard their beards, and all +shamefully lost them. + +The exaction of these forfeitures, which found sufficient employment for +the eunuchs, gave them such a smell of singed hair as greatly to disgust +the ladies of the seraglio, and make it necessary that this new +occupation of their guardians should be transferred into other hands. + +At length, however, an old man presented himself whose beard was a cubit +and a half longer than any that had appeared before him. The officers of +the palace whispered to each other, as they ushered him in, “What a pity +such a beard should be burnt!” Even the Caliph, when he saw it, +concurred with them in opinion, but his concern was entirely needless. +This venerable personage read the characters with facility, and explained +them verbatim as follows: “We were made where everything good is made; we +are the least of the wonders of a place where all is wonderful, and +deserving the sight of the first potentate on earth.” + +“You translate admirably!” cried Vathek; “I know to what these marvellous +characters allude. Let him receive as many robes of honour and thousands +of sequins of gold as he hath spoken words. I am in some measure +relieved from the perplexity that embarrassed me!” + +Vathek invited the old main to dine, and even to remain some days in the +palace. Unluckily for him, he accepted the offer; for the Caliph, having +ordered him next morning to be called, said: “Read again to me what you +have read already; I cannot hear too often the promise that is made me, +the completion of which I languish to obtain.” + +The old man forthwith put on his green spectacles, but they instantly +dropped from his nose on perceiving that the characters he had read the +day preceding had given place to others of different import. + +“What ails you?” asked the Caliph; “and why these symptoms of wonder?” + +“Sovereign of the world,” replied the old man, “these sabres hold another +language to-day from that they yesterday held.” + +“How say you?” returned Vathek; “but it matters not! tell me, if you can, +what they mean.” + +“It is this, my lord,” rejoined the old man: “Woe to the rash mortal who +seeks to know that of which he should remain ignorant, and to undertake +that which surpasseth his power!” + +“And woe to thee!” cried the Caliph, in a burst of indignation; “to-day +thou art void of understanding. Begone from my presence; they shall burn +but the half of thy beard, because, thou wert yesterday fortunate in +guessing; my gifts I never resume.” + +The old man, wise enough to perceive he had luckily escaped, considering +the folly of disclosing so disgusting a truth, immediately withdrew, and +appeared not again. + +But it was not long before Vathek discovered abundant reason to regret +his precipitation; for though he could not decipher the characters +himself, yet by constantly poring upon them he plainly perceived that +they every day changed, and unfortunately no other candidate offered to +explain them. This perplexing occupation inflamed his blood, dazzled his +sight, and brought on a giddiness and debility that he could not support. +He failed not, however, though in so reduced a condition, to be often +carried to his tower, as he flattered himself that he might there read in +the stars which he went to consult something more congenial to his +wishes: but in this his hopes were deluded, for his eyes, dimmed by the +vapours of his head, began to subserve his curiosity so ill, that he +beheld nothing but a thick dun cloud, which he took for the most direful +of omens. + +Agitated with so much anxiety, Vathek entirely lost all firmness; a fever +seized him, and his appetite failed. Instead of being one of the +greatest eaters, he became as distinguished for drinking. So insatiable +was the thirst which tormented him that his mouth, like a funnel, was +always open to receive the various liquors that might be poured into it, +and especially cold water, which calmed him more than every other. + +This unhappy prince being thus incapacitated for the enjoyment of any +pleasure, commanded the palaces of the five senses to be shut up, forbore +to appear in public, either to display his magnificence or administer +justice, and retired to the inmost apartment of his harem. As he had +ever been an indulgent husband, his wives, overwhelmed with grief at his +deplorable situation, incessantly offered their prayers for his health, +and unremittingly supplied him with water. + +In the meantime the Princess Carathis, whose affliction no words can +describe, instead of restraining herself to sobbing and tears, was +closeted daily with the Vizir Morakanabad, to find out some cure or +mitigation of the Caliph’s disease. Under the persuasion that it was +caused by enchantment, they turned over together, leaf by leaf, all the +books of magic that might point out a remedy, and caused the horrible +stranger, whom they accused as the enchanter, to be everywhere sought for +with the strictest diligence. + +At the distance of a few miles from Samarah stood a high mountain, whose +sides were swarded with wild thyme and basil, and its summit overspread +with so delightful a plain, that it might be taken for the paradise +destined for the faithful. Upon it grew a hundred thickets of eglantine +and other fragrant shrubs, a hundred arbours of roses, jessamine, and +honeysuckle, as many clumps of orange trees, cedar, and citron, whose +branches, interwoven with the palm, the pomegranate, and the vine, +presented every luxury that could regale the eye or the taste. The +ground was strewed with violets, hare-bells, and pansies, in the midst of +which sprang forth tufts of jonquils, hyacinths, and carnations, with +every other perfume that impregnates the air. Four fountains, not less +clear than deep, and so abundant as to slake the thirst of ten armies, +seemed profusely placed here to make the scene more resemble the garden +of Eden, which was watered by the four sacred rivers. Here the +nightingale sang the birth of the rose, her well-beloved, and at the same +time lamented its short-lived beauty; whilst the turtle deplored the loss +of more substantial pleasures, and the wakeful lark hailed the rising +light that re-animates the whole creation. Here more than anywhere the +mingled melodies of birds expressed the various passions they inspired, +as if the exquisite fruits which they pecked at pleasure had given them a +double energy. + +To this mountain Vathek was sometimes brought for the sake of breathing a +purer air, and especially to drink at will of the four fountains, which +were reputed in the highest degree salubrious and sacred to himself. His +attendants were his mother, his wives, and some eunuchs, who assiduously +employed themselves in filling capacious bowls of rock crystal, and +emulously presenting them to him; but it frequently happened that his +avidity exceeded their zeal, insomuch that he would prostrate himself +upon the ground to lap up the water, of which he could never have enough. + +One day, when this unhappy prince had been long lying in so debasing a +posture, a voice, hoarse but strong, thus addressed him: “Why assumest +thou the function of a dog, O Caliph, so proud of thy dignity and power?” + +At this apostrophe he raised his head, and beheld the stranger that had +caused him so much affliction. Inflamed with anger at the sight, he +exclaimed— + +“Accursed Giaour! what comest thou hither to do? Is it not enough to +have transformed a prince remarkable for his agility into one of those +leather barrels which the Bedouin Arabs carry on their camels when they +traverse the deserts? Perceivest thou not that I may perish by drinking +to excess no less than by a total abstinence?” + +“Drink then this draught,” said the stranger, as he presented to him a +phial of a red and yellow mixture; “and, to satiate the thirst of thy +soul as well as of thy body, know that I am an Indian, but from a region +of India which is wholly unknown.” + +The Caliph delighted to see his desires accomplished in part, and +flattering himself with the hope of obtaining their entire fulfilment, +without a moment’s hesitation swallowed the potion, and instantaneously +found his health restored, his thirst appeased, and his limbs as agile as +ever. + +In the transports of his joy Vathek leaped upon the neck of the frightful +Indian, and kissed his horrid mouth and hollow cheeks as though they had +been the coral lips and the lilies and roses of his most beautiful wives; +whilst they, less terrified than jealous at the sight, dropped their +veils to hide the blush of mortification that suffused their foreheads. + +Nor would the scene have closed here, had not Carathis, with all the art +of insinuation, a little repressed the raptures of her son. Having +prevailed upon him to return to Samarah, she caused a herald to precede +him, whom she commanded to proclaim as loudly as possible: “The wonderful +stranger hath appeared again; he hath healed the Caliph; he hath spoken! +he hath spoken!” + +Forthwith all the inhabitants of this vast city quitted their +habitations, and ran together in crowds to see the procession of Vathek +and the Indian, whom they now blessed as much as they had before +execrated, incessantly shouting: “He hath healed our sovereign; he hath +spoken! he hath spoken!” Nor were these words forgotten in the public +festivals which were celebrated the same evening, to testify the general +joy; for the poets applied them as a chorus to all the songs they +composed. + +The Caliph in the meanwhile caused the palaces of the senses to be again +set open; and, as he found himself prompted to visit that of taste in +preference to the rest, immediately ordered a splendid entertainment, to +which his great officers and favourite courtiers were all invited. The +Indian, who was placed near the prince, seemed to think that as a proper +acknowledgment of so distinguished a privilege he could neither eat, +drink, nor talk too much. The various dainties were no sooner served up +than they vanished, to the great mortification of Vathek, who piqued +himself on being the greatest eater alive, and at this time in particular +had an excellent appetite. + +The rest of the company looked round at each other in amazement; but the +Indian, without appearing to observe it, quaffed large bumpers to the +health of each of them, sung in a style altogether extravagant, related +stories at which he laughed immoderately, and poured forth extemporaneous +verses, which would not have been thought bad but for the strange +grimaces with which they were uttered. In a word, his loquacity was +equal to that of a hundred astrologers; he ate as much as a hundred +porters, and caroused in proportion. + +The Caliph, notwithstanding the table had been thirty times covered, +found himself incommoded by the voraciousness of his guest, who was now +considerably declined in the prince’s esteem. Vathek, however, being +unwilling to betray the chagrin he could hardly disguise, said in a +whisper to Bababalouk, the chief of his eunuchs: “You see how enormous +his performances in every way are; what would be the consequence should +he get at my wives? Go! redouble your vigilance, and be sure look well +to my Circassians, who would be more to his taste than all of the rest.” + +The bird of the morning had thrice renewed his song when the hour of the +Divan sounded. Vathek, in gratitude to his subjects, having promised to +attend, immediately rose from table and repaired thither, leaning upon +his vizir, who could scarcely support him, so disordered was the poor +prince by the wine he had drunk, and still more by the extravagant +vagaries of his boisterous guest. + +The vizirs, the officers of the crown and of the law, arranged themselves +in a semicircle about their sovereign, and preserved a respectful +silence, whilst the Indian, who looked as cool as if come from a fast, +sat down without ceremony on the step of the throne, laughing in his +sleeve at the indignation with which his temerity had filled the +spectators. + +The Caliph, however, whose ideas were confused and his head embarrassed, +went on administering justice at haphazard, till at length the prime +vizir, perceiving his situation, hit upon a sudden expedient to interrupt +the audience and rescue the honour of his master, to whom he said in a +whisper: “My Lord, the Princess Carathis, who hath passed the night in +consulting the planets, informs you that they portend you evil, and the +danger is urgent. Beware lest this stranger, whom you have so lavishly +recompensed for his magical gewgaws, should make some attempt on your +life; his liquor, which at first had the appearance of effecting your +cure, may be no more than a poison of a sudden operation. Slight not +this surmise; ask him at least of what it was compounded, whence he +procured it, and mention the sabres which you seem to have forgotten.” + +Vathek, to whom the insolent airs of the stranger became every moment +less supportable, intimated to his vizir by a wink of acquiescence that +he would adopt his advice, and at once turning towards the Indian, said: +“Get up and declare in full Divan of what drugs the liquor was compounded +you enjoined me to take, for it is suspected to be poison; add also the +explanation I have so earnestly desired concerning the sabres you sold +me, and thus show your gratitude for the favours heaped on you.” + +Having pronounced these words in as moderate a tone as a caliph well +could, he waited in silent expectation for an answer. But the Indian, +still keeping his seat, began to renew his loud shouts of laughter, and +exhibit the same horrid grimaces he had shown them before, without +vouchsafing a word in reply. Vathek, no longer able to brook such +insolence, immediately kicked him from the steps; instantly descending, +repeated his blow, and persisted with such assiduity as incited all who +were present to follow his example. Every foot was aimed at the Indian, +and no sooner had any one given him a kick than he felt himself +constrained to reiterate the stroke. + +The stranger afforded them no small entertainment; for, being both short +and plump, he collected himself into a ball, and rolled round on all +sides at the blows of his assailants, who pressed after him wherever he +turned with an eagerness beyond conception, whilst their numbers were +every moment increasing. The ball, indeed, in passing from one apartment +to another, drew every person after it that came in its way, insomuch +that the whole palace was thrown into confusion, and resounded with a +tremendous clamour. The women of the harem, amazed at the uproar, flew +to their blinds to discover the cause; but no sooner did they catch a +glimpse of the ball, than feeling themselves unable to refrain, they +broke from the clutches of their eunuchs, who to stop their flight +pinched them till they bled, but in vain; whilst themselves, though +trembling with terror at the escape of their charge, were as incapable of +resisting the attraction. + +The Indian, after having traversed the halls, galleries, chambers, +kitchens, gardens, and stables of the palace, at last took his course +through the courts; whilst the Caliph, pursuing him closer than the rest, +bestowed as many kicks as he possibly could, yet not without receiving +now and then one, which his competitors in their eagerness designed for +the ball. + +Carathis, Morakanabad, and two or three old vizirs, whose wisdom had +hitherto withstood the attraction, wishing to prevent Vathek from +exposing himself in the presence of his subjects, fell down in his way to +impede the pursuit; but he, regardless of their obstruction, leaped over +their heads, and went on as before. They then ordered the Muezzins to +call the people to prayers, both for the sake of getting them out of the +way and of endeavouring by their petitions to avert the calamity; but +neither of these expedients was a whit more successful: the sight of this +fatal ball was alone sufficient to draw after it every beholder. The +Muezzins themselves, though they saw it but at a distance, hastened down +from their minarets and mixed with the crowd, which continued to increase +in so surprising a manner, that scarce an inhabitant was left in Samarah, +except the aged, the sick confined to their beds, and infants at the +breast, whose nurses could run more nimbly without them. Even Carathis, +Morakanabad, and the rest were all become of the party. + +The shrill screams of the females, who had broken from their apartments, +and were unable to extricate themselves from the pressure of the crowd, +together with those of the eunuchs jostling after them, terrified lest +their charge should escape from their sight, increased by the execrations +of husbands urging forward and menacing both, kicks given and received, +stumblings and overthrows at every step; in a word, the confusion that +universally prevailed rendered Samarah like a city taken by storm and +devoted to absolute plunder. + +At last the cursed Indian, who still preserved his rotundity of figure, +after passing through all the streets and public places, and leaving them +empty, rolled onwards to the plain of Catoul, and traversed the valley at +the foot of the mountain of the Four Fountains. + +As a continual fall of water had excavated an immense gulf in the valley, +whose opposite side was closed in by a steep acclivity, the Caliph and +his attendants were apprehensive lest the ball should bound into the +chasm, and, to prevent it, redoubled their efforts, but in vain. The +Indian persevered in his onward direction, and, as had been apprehended, +glancing from the precipice with the rapidity of lightning, was lost in +the gulf below. + +Vathek would have followed the perfidious Giaour, had not an invisible +agency arrested his progress. The multitude that pressed after him were +at once checked in the same manner, and a calm instantaneously ensued. +They all gazed at each other with an air of astonishment; and, +notwithstanding that the loss of veils and turbans, together with torn +habits and dust blended with sweat, presented a most laughable spectacle, +there was not one smile to be seen; on the contrary, all, with looks of +confusion and sadness, returned in silence to Samarah, and retired to +their inmost apartments, without ever reflecting that they had been +impelled by an invisible power into the extravagance for which they +reproached themselves; for it is but just that men, who so often arrogate +to their own merit the good of which they are but instruments, should +attribute to themselves the absurdities which they could not prevent. + +The Caliph was the only person that refused to leave the valley. He +commanded his tents to be pitched there, and stationed himself on the +very edge of the precipice, in spite of the representations of Carathis +and Morakanabad, who pointed out the hazard of its brink giving way, and +the vicinity to the magician that had so severely tormented him. Vathek +derided all their remonstrances, and, having ordered a thousand flambeaux +to be lighted, and directed his attendants to proceed in lighting more, +lay down on the slippery margin, and attempted, by help of this +artificial splendour, to look through that gloom which all the fires of +the empyrean had been insufficient to pervade. One while he fancied to +himself voices arising from the depth of the gulf; at another he seemed +to distinguish the accents of the Indian, but all was no more than the +hollow murmur of waters, and the din of the cataracts that rushed from +steep to steep down the sides of the mountain. + +Having passed the night in this cruel perturbation, the Caliph at +daybreak retired to his tent, where, without taking the least sustenance, +he continued to doze till the dusk of evening began again to come on. He +then resumed his vigils as before, and persevered in observing them for +many nights together. At length, fatigued with so successless an +employment, he sought relief from change. To this end he sometimes paced +with hasty strides across the plain, and, as he wildly gazed at the +stars, reproached them with having deceived him; but, lo! on a sudden the +clear blue sky appeared streaked over with streams of blood, which +reached from the valley even to the city of Samarah. As this awful +phenomenon seemed to touch his tower, Vathek at first thought of +re-pairing thither to view it more distinctly, but feeling himself unable +to advance, and being overcome with apprehension, he muffled up his face +in his robe. + +Terrifying as these prodigies were, this impression upon him was no more +than momentary, and served only to stimulate his love of the marvellous. +Instead, therefore, of returning to his palace, he persisted in the +resolution of abiding where the Indian vanished from his view. One +night, however, while he was walking as usual on the plain, the moon and +the stars at once were eclipsed, and a total darkness ensued; the earth +trembled beneath him, and a voice came forth, the voice of the Giaour, +who, in accents more sonorous than thunder, thus addressed him: “Wouldest +thou devote thyself to me? Adore then the terrestrial influences, and +abjure Mahomet. On these conditions I will bring thee to the palace of +subterranean fire; there shalt thou behold in immense depositories the +treasures which the stars have promised thee, and which will be conferred +by those Intelligences whom thou shalt thus render propitious. It was +from thence I brought my sabres, and it is there that Soliman Ben Daoud +reposes, surrounded by the talismans that control the world.” + +The astonished Caliph trembled as he answered, yet in a style that showed +him to be no novice in preternatural adventures: “Where art thou? be +present to my eyes; dissipate the gloom that perplexes me, and of which I +deem thee the cause; after the many flambeaux I have burnt to discover +thee, thou mayst at least grant a glimpse of thy horrible visage.” + +“Abjure, then, Mahomet,” replied the Indian, “and promise me full proofs +of thy sincerity, otherwise thou shalt never behold me again.” + +The unhappy Caliph, instigated by insatiable curiosity, lavished his +promises in the utmost profusion. The sky immediately brightened; and by +the light of the planets, which seemed almost to blaze, Vathek beheld the +earth open, and at the extremity of a vast black chasm, a portal of +ebony, before which stood the Indian, still blacker, holding in his hand +a golden key that caused the lock to resound. + +“How,” cried Vathek, “can I descend to thee without the certainty of +breaking my neck? come, take me, and instantly open the portal.” + +“Not so fast,” replied the Indian, “impatient Caliph! Know that I am +parched with thirst, and cannot open this door till my thirst be +thoroughly appeased. I require the blood of fifty of the most beautiful +sons of thy vizirs and great men, or neither can my thirst nor thy +curiosity be satisfied. Return to Samarah, procure for me this necessary +libation, come back hither, throw it thyself into this chasm, and then +shalt thou see!” + +Having thus spoken, the Indian turned his back on the Caliph, who, +incited by the suggestion of demons, resolved on the direful sacrifice. +He now pretended to have regained his tranquillity, and set out for +Samarah amidst the acclamations of a people who still loved him, and +forbore not to rejoice when they believed him to have recovered his +reason. So successfully did he conceal the emotion of his heart, that +even Carathis and Morakanabad were equally deceived with the rest. +Nothing was heard of but festivals and rejoicings; the ball, which no +tongue had hitherto ventured to mention, was again brought on the tapis; +a general laugh went round, though many, still smarting under the hands +of the surgeon from the hurts received in that memorable adventure, had +no great reason for mirth. + +The prevalence of this gay humour was not a little grateful to Vathek, as +perceiving how much it conduced to his project. He put on the appearance +of affability to every one, but especially to his vizirs and the grandees +of his court, whom he failed not to regale with a sumptuous banquet, +during which he insensibly inclined the conversation to the children of +his guests. Having asked with a good-natured air who of them were +blessed with the handsomest boys, every father at once asserted the +pretensions of his own, and the contest imperceptibly grew so warm that +nothing could have withholden them from coming to blows but their +profound reverence for the person of the Caliph. Under the pretence, +therefore, of reconciling the disputants, Vathek took upon him to decide; +and with this view commanded the boys to be brought. + +It was not long before a troop of these poor children made their +appearance, all equipped by their fond mothers with such ornaments as +might give the greatest relief to their beauty or most advantageously +display the graces of their age. But whilst this brilliant assemblage +attracted the eyes and hearts of every one besides, the Caliph +scrutinized each in his turn with a malignant avidity that passed for +attention, and selected from their number the fifty whom he judged the +Giaour would prefer. + +With an equal show of kindness as before, he proposed to celebrate a +festival on the plain for the entertainment of his young favourites, who +he said ought to rejoice still more than all at the restoration of his +health, on account of the favours he intended for them. + +The Caliph’s proposal was received with the greatest delight, and soon +published through Samarah; litters, camels, and horses were prepared. +Women and children, old men and young, every one placed himself in the +station he chose. The cavalcade set forward, attended by all the +confectioners in the city and its precincts; the populace following on +foot composed an amazing crowd, and occasioned no little noise; all was +joy, nor did any one call to mind what most of them had suffered when +they first travelled the road they were now passing so gaily. + +The evening was serene, the air refreshing, the sky clear, and the +flowers exhaled their fragrance; the beams of the declining sun, whose +mild splendour reposed on the summit of the mountain, shed a glow of +ruddy light over its green declivity and the white flocks sporting upon +it; no sounds were audible save the murmurs of the Four Fountains, and +the reeds and voices of shepherds calling to each other from different +eminences. + +The lovely innocents proceeding to the destined sacrifice added not a +little to the hilarity of the scene; they approached the plain full of +sportiveness, some coursing butterflies, others culling flowers, or +picking up the shining little pebbles that attracted their notice. At +intervals they nimbly started from each other, for the sake of being +caught again, and mutually imparting a thousand caresses. + +The dreadful chasm at whose bottom the portal of ebony was placed began +to appear at a distance; it looked like a black streak that divided the +plain. Morakanabad and his companions took it for some work which the +Caliph had ordered; unhappy men! little did they surmise for what it was +destined. + +Vathek, not liking they should examine it too nearly, stopped the +procession, and ordered a spacious circle to be formed on this side, at +some distance from the accursed chasm. The body-guard of eunuchs was +detached to measure out the lists intended for the games, and prepare +ringles for the lines to keep off the crowd. The fifty competitors were +soon stripped, and presented to the admiration of the spectators the +suppleness and grace of their delicate limbs; their eyes sparkled with a +joy which those of their fond parents reflected. Every one offered +wishes for the little candidate nearest his heart, and doubted not of his +being victorious; a breathless suspense awaited the contest of these +amiable and innocent victims. + +The Caliph, awaiting himself of the first moment to retire from the +crowd, advanced towards the chasm, and there heard, yet not without +shuddering, the voice of the Indian, who, gnashing his teeth, eagerly +demanded: “Where are they? where are they? perceivest thou not how my +mouth waters?” + +“Relentless Giaour!” answered Vathek, with emotion, “can nothing content +thee but the massacre of these lovely victims! Ah! wert thou to behold +their beauty it must certainly move thy compassion.” + +“Perdition on thy compassion, babbler!” cried the Indian. “Give them me, +instantly give them, or my portal shall be closed against thee for ever!” + +“Not so loudly,” replied the Caliph, blushing. + +“I understand thee,” returned the Giaour, with the grin of an ogre; “thou +wantest to summon up more presence of mind; I will for a moment forbear.” + +During this exquisite dialogue the games went forward with all alacrity, +and at length concluded just as the twilight began to overcast the +mountains. Vathek, who was still standing on the edge of the chasm, +called out, with all his might: “Let my fifty little favourites approach +me separately, and let them come in the order of their success. To the +first I will give my diamond bracelet, to the second my collar of +emeralds, to the third my aigret of rubies, to the fourth my girdle of +topazes, and to the rest each a part of my dress, even down to my +slippers.” + +This declaration was received with reiterated acclamations, and all +extolled the liberality of a prince who would thus strip himself for the +amusement of his subjects and the encouragement of the rising generation. + +The Caliph in the meantime undressed himself by degrees, and, raising his +arm as high as he was able, made each of the prizes glitter in the air; +but whilst he delivered it with one hand to the child, who sprang forward +to receive it, he with the other pushed the poor innocent into the gulf, +where the Giaour, with a sullen muttering, incessantly repeated, “More! +more!” + +This dreadful device was executed with so much dexterity that the boy who +was approaching him remained unconscious of the fate of his forerunner; +and as to the spectators, the shades of evening, together with their +distance, precluded them from perceiving any object distinctly. Vathek, +having in this manner thrown in the last of the fifty, and expecting that +the Giaour on receiving them would have presented the key, already +fancied himself as great as Soliman, and consequently above being +amenable for what he had done: when, to his utter amazement, the chasm +closed, and the around became as entire as the rest of the plain. + +No language could express his rage and despair. He execrated the perfidy +of the Indian, loaded him with the most infamous invectives, and stamped +with his foot as resolving to be heard; he persisted in this demeanour +till his strength failed him, and then fell on the earth like one void of +sense. His vizirs and grandees, who were nearer than the rest, supposed +him at first to be sitting on the grass at play with their amiable +children; but at length, prompted by doubt, they advanced towards the +spot, and found the Caliph alone, who wildly demanded what they wanted. + +“Our children! our children!” cried they. + +“It is assuredly pleasant,” said he, “to make me accountable for +accidents; your children while at play fell from the precipice that was +here, and I should have experienced their fate had I not been saved by a +sudden start back.” + +At these words the fathers of the fifty boys cried out aloud, the mothers +repeated their exclamations an octave higher, whilst the rest, without +knowing the cause, soon drowned the voices of both with still louder +lamentations of their own. + +“Our Caliph,” said they—and the report soon circulated—“Our Caliph has +played us this trick to gratify his accursed Giaour. Let us punish him +for his perfidy! let us avenge ourselves! let us avenge the blood of the +innocent! let us throw this cruel prince into the gulf that is near, and +let his name be mentioned no more!” + +At this rumour and these menaces, Carathis, full of consternation, +hastened to Morakanabad, and said: “Vizir, you have lost two beautiful +boys, and must necessarily be the most afflicted of fathers, but you are +virtuous; save your master.” + +“I will brave every hazard,” replied the vizir, “to rescue him from his +present danger, but afterwards will abandon him to his fate. +Bababalouk,” continued he, “put yourself at the head of your eunuchs; +disperse the mob, and, if possible, bring back this unhappy prince to his +palace.” Bababalouk and his fraternity, felicitating each other in a low +voice on their disability of ever being fathers, obeyed the mandate of +the vizir; who, seconding their exertions to the utmost of his power, at +length accomplished his generous enterprise, and retired as he resolved, +to lament at his leisure. + +No sooner had the Caliph re-entered his palace than Carathis commanded +the doors to be fastened; but, perceiving the tumult to be still violent, +and hearing the imprecations which resounded from all quarters, she said +to her son: “Whether the populace be right or wrong, it behoves you to +provide for your safety; let us retire to your own apartment, and from +thence through the subterranean passage, known only to ourselves, into +your tower; there, with the assistance of the mutes who never leave it, +we may be able to make some resistance. Bababalouk, supposing us to be +still in the palace, will guard its avenues for his own sake; and we +shall soon find, without the counsels of that blubberer Morakanabad, what +expedient may be the best to adopt.” + +Vathek, without making the least reply, acquiesced in his mother’s +proposal, and repeated as he went: “Nefarious Giaour! where art thou! +hast thou not yet devoured those poor children? where are thy sabres? thy +golden key? thy talismans?” + +Carathis, who guessed from these interrogations a part of the truth, had +no difficulty to apprehend in getting at the whole, as soon as he should +be a little composed in his tower. This princess was so far from being +influenced by scruples that she was as wicked as woman could be, which is +not saying a little, for the sex pique themselves on their superiority in +every competition. The recital of the Caliph, therefore, occasioned +neither terror nor surprise to his mother; she felt no emotion but from +the promises of the Giaour, and said to her son: “This Giaour, it must be +confessed, is somewhat sanguinary in his taste, but the terrestrial +powers are always terrible; nevertheless, what the one hath promised and +the others can confer will prove a sufficient indemnification; no crimes +should be thought too dear for such a reward! forbear then to revile the +Indian; you have not fulfilled the conditions to which his services are +annexed; for instance, is not a sacrifice to the subterranean Genii +required? and should we not be prepared to offer it as soon as the tumult +is subsided? This charge I will take on myself, and have no doubt of +succeeding by means of your treasures, which, as there are now so many +others in store, may without fear be exhausted.” + +Accordingly the princess, who possessed the most consummate skill in the +art of persuasion, went immediately back through the subterranean +passage; and presenting herself to the populace, from a window of the +palace, began to harangue them with all the address of which she was +mistress, whilst Bababalouk showered money from both hands amongst the +crowd, who by these united means were soon appeased; every person retired +to his home, and Carathis returned to the tower. + +Prayer at break of day was announced, when Carathis and Vathek ascended +the steps which led to the summit of the tower, where they remained for +some time, though the weather was lowering and wet. This impending gloom +corresponded with their malignant dispositions; but when the sun began to +break through the clouds they ordered a pavilion to be raised, as a +screen from the intrusion of his beams. The Caliph, overcome with +fatigue, sought refreshment from repose, at the same time hoping that +significant dreams might attend on his slumbers; whilst the indefatigable +Carathis, followed by a party of her mutes, descended to prepare whatever +she judged proper for the oblation of the approaching night. + +By secret stairs, known only to herself and to her son, she first +repaired to the mysterious recesses in which were deposited the mummies +that had been brought from the catacombs of the ancient Pharaohs; of +these she ordered several to be taken. From thence she resorted to a +gallery where, under the guard of fifty female negroes, mute and blind of +the right eye, were preserved the oil of the most venomous serpents, +rhinoceros’ horns, and woods of a subtle and penetrating odour procured +from the interior of the Indies, together with a thousand other horrible +rarities. This collection had been formed for a purpose like the present +by Carathis herself, from a presentment that she might one day enjoy some +intercourse with the infernal powers to whom she had ever been +passionately attached, and to whose taste she was no stranger. + +To familiarise herself the better with the horrors in view, the princess +remained in the company of her negresses, who squinted in the most +amiable manner from the only eye they had, and leered with exquisite +delight at the skulls and skeletons which Carathis had drawn forth from +her cabinets, whose key she entrusted to no one; all of them making +contortions, and uttering a frightful jargon, but very amusing to the +princess; till at last, being stunned by their gibbering, and suffocated +by the potency of their exhalations, she was forced to quit the gallery, +after stripping it of a part of its treasures. + +Whilst she was thus occupied, the Caliph, who, instead of the visions he +expected, had acquired in these insubstantial regions a voracious +appetite, was greatly provoked at the negresses; for, having totally +forgotten their deafness, he had impatiently asked them for food, and +seeing them regardless of his demand, he began to cuff, pinch, and push +them, till Carathis arrived to terminate a scene so indecent, to the +great content of these miserable creatures, who, having been brought up +by her, understood all her signs, and communicated in the same way their +thoughts in return. + +“Son! what means all this?” said she, panting for breath. “I thought I +heard as I came up the shrieks of a thousand bats tearing from their +crannies in the recesses of a cavern; and it was the outcry only of these +poor mutes, whom you were so unmercifully abusing. In truth you but ill +deserve the admirable provision I have brought you.” + +“Give it me instantly,” exclaimed the Caliph; “I am perishing for +hunger!” + +“As to that,” answered she, “you must have an excellent stomach if it can +digest what I have been preparing.” + +“Be quick,” replied the Caliph; “but, oh, heavens! what horrors! what do +you intend?” + +“Come, come,” returned Carathis, “be not so squeamish, but help me to +arrange everything properly, and you shall see that what you reject with +such symptoms of disgust will soon complete your felicity. Let us get +ready the pile for the sacrifice of to-night, and think not of eating +till that is performed; know you not that all solemn rites are preceded +by a rigorous abstinence?” + +The Caliph, not daring to object, abandoned himself to grief and the wind +that ravaged his entrails, whilst his mother went forward with the +requisite operations. Phials of serpents’ oil, mummies, and bones were +soon set in order on the balustrade of the tower; the pile began to rise, +and in three hours was as many cubits high. At length darkness +approached, and Carathis, having stripped herself to her inmost garment, +clapped her hands in an impulse of ecstasy and struck light with all her +force. The mutes followed her example; but Vathek, extenuated with +hunger and impatience, was unable to support himself, and fell down in a +swoon. The sparks had already kindled the dry wood, the venomous oil +burst into a thousand blue flames, the mummies dissolving emitted a thick +dun vapour, and the rhinoceros’ horns beginning to consume, all together +diffused such a stench, that the Caliph, recovering, started from his +trance, and gazed wildly on the scene in full blaze around him. The oil +gushed forth in a plenitude of streams; and the negresses, who supplied +it without intermission, united their cries to those of the princess. At +last the fire became so violent, and the flames reflected from the +polished marble so dazzling, that the Caliph, unable to withstand the +heat and the blaze, effected his escape, and clambered up the imperial +standard. + +In the meantime the inhabitants of Samarah, scared at the light which +shone over the city, arose in haste, ascended their roofs, beheld the +tower on fire, and hurried half naked to the square. Their love to their +sovereign immediately awoke; and, apprehending him in danger of perishing +in his tower, their whole thoughts were occupied with the means of his +safety. Morakanabad flew from his retirement, wiped away his tears, and +cried out for water like the rest. Bababalouk, whose olfactory nerves +were more familiarised to magical odours, readily conjecturing that +Carathis was engaged in her favourite amusements, strenuously exhorted +them not to be alarmed. Him, however, they treated as an old poltroon, +and forbore not to style him a rascally traitor. The camels and +dromedaries were advancing with water, but no one knew by which way to +enter the tower. Whilst the populace was obstinate in forcing the doors +a violent east wind drove such a volume of flame against them, as at +first forced them off, but afterwards re-kindled their zeal; at the same +time the stench of the horns and mummies increasing, most of the crowd +fell backward in a state of suffocation; those that kept their feet +mutually wondered at the cause of the smell, and admonished each other to +retire. Morakanabad, more sick than the rest, remained in a piteous +condition; holding his nose with one hand, he persisted in his efforts +with the other to burst open the doors and obtain admission. A hundred +and forty of the strongest and most resolute at length accomplished their +purpose; having gained the staircase by their violent exertions, they +attained a great height in a quarter of an hour. + +Carathis, alarmed at the signs of her mutes, advanced to the staircase, +went down a few steps, and heard several voices calling out from below: +“You shall in a moment have water!” Being rather alert, considering her +age, she presently regained the top of the tower, and bade her son +suspend the sacrifice for some minutes, adding: “We shall soon be enabled +to render it more grateful; certain dolts of your subjects, imagining no +doubt that we were on fire, have been rash enough to break through those +doors which had hitherto remained inviolate, for the sake of bringing up +water; they are very kind, you must allow, so soon to forget the wrongs +you have done them, but that is of little moment. Let us offer them to +the Giaour; let them come up; our mutes, who neither want strength nor +experience, will soon despatch them, exhausted as they are with fatigue.” + +“Be it so,” answered the Caliph, “provided we finish and I dine.” + +In fact, these good people, out of breath from ascending eleven thousand +stairs in such haste, and chagrined at having spilt by the way the water +they had taken, were no sooner arrived at the top than the blaze of the +flames and the fumes of the mummies at once overpowered their senses. It +was a pity; for they beheld not the agreeable smile with which the mutes +and the negresses adjusted the cord to their necks; these amiable +personages rejoiced, however, no less at the scene; never before had the +ceremony of strangling been performed with so much facility; they all +fell without the least resistance or struggle, so that Vathek in the +space of a few moments found himself surrounded by the dead bodies of his +faithfullest subjects, all which were thrown on the top of the pile. + +Carathis, whose presence of mind never forsook her, perceiving that she +had carcases sufficient to complete her oblation, commanded the chains to +be stretched across the staircase, and the iron doors barricaded, that no +more might come up. + +No sooner were these orders obeyed than the tower shook, the dead bodies +vanished in the flames, which at once changed from a swarthy crimson to a +bright rose colour; an ambient vapour emitted the most exquisite +fragrance, the marble columns rang with harmonious sounds, and the +liquefied horns diffused a delicious perfume. Carathis, in transports, +anticipated the success of her enterprise, whilst her mutes and +negresses, to whom these sweets had given the colic, retired to their +cells grumbling. + +Scarcely were they gone when, instead of the pile, horns, mummies, and +ashes, the Caliph both saw and felt, with a degree of pleasure which he +could not express, a table covered with the most magnificent repast; +flagons of wine and vases of exquisite sherbet floating on snow. He +availed himself without scruple of such an entertainment and had already +laid hands on a lamb stuffed with pistachios, whilst Carathis was +privately drawing from a filigree urn a parchment that seemed to be +endless, and which had escaped the notice of her son; totally occupied in +gratifying an importunate appetite he left her to peruse it without +interruption, which, having finished, she said to him in an authoritative +tone, “Put an end to your gluttony, and hear the splendid promises with +which you are favoured!” She then read as follows: “Vathek, my +well-beloved, thou hast surpassed my hopes; my nostrils have been regaled +by the savour of thy mummies, thy horns, and still more by the lives +devoted on the pile. At the full of the moon cause the bands of thy +musicians and thy tymbals to be heard; depart from thy palace surrounded +by all the pageants of majesty; thy most faithful slaves, thy best +beloved wives, thy most magnificent litters, thy richest leaden camels, +and set forward on thy way to Istakhar; there await I thy coming; that is +the region of wonders; there shalt thou receive the diadem of Gian Ben +Gian, the talismans of Soliman, and the treasures of the Pre-Adamite +Sultans; there shalt thou be solaced with all kinds of delight. But +beware how thou enterest any dwelling on thy route, or thou shalt feel +the effects of my anger.” + +The Caliph, who, notwithstanding his habitual luxury, had never before +dined with so much satisfaction, gave full scope to the joy of these +golden tidings, and betook himself to drinking anew. Carathis, whose +antipathy to wine was by no means insuperable, failed not to supply a +reason for every bumper, which they ironically quaffed to the health of +Mahomet. This infernal liquor completed their impious temerity, and +prompted them to utter a profusion of blasphemies; they gave a loose to +their wit at the expense of the ass of Balaam, the dog of the seven +sleepers, and the other animals admitted into the paradise of Mahomet. +In this sprightly humour they descended the eleven thousand stairs, +diverting themselves as they went at the anxious faces they saw on the +square through the oilets of the tower, and at length arrived at the +royal apartments by the subterranean passage. Bababalouk was parading to +and fro, and issuing his mandates with great pomp to the eunuchs, who +were snuffing the lights and painting the eyes of the Circassians. No +sooner did he catch sight of the Caliph and his mother than he exclaimed, +“Hah! you have then, I perceive, escaped from the flames; I was not, +however, altogether out of doubt.” + +“Of what moment is it to us what you thought, or think?” cried Carathis; +“go, speed, tell Morakanabad that we immediately want him; and take care +how you stop by the way to make your insipid reflections.” + +Morakanabad delayed not to obey the summons, and was received by Vathek +and his mother with great solemnity; they told him, with an air of +composure and commiseration, that the fire at the top of the tower was +extinguished; but that it had cost the lives of the brave people who +sought to assist them. + +“Still more misfortunes,” cried Morakanabad, with a sigh. “Ah, Commander +of the Faithful, our holy Prophet is certainly irritated against us! it +behoves you to appease him.” + +“We will appease him hereafter!” replied the Caliph, with a smile that +augured nothing of good. “You will have leisure sufficient for your +supplications during my absence; for this country is the bane of my +health; I am disgusted with the mountain of the Four Fountains, and am +resolved to go and drink of the stream of Rocnabad; I long to refresh +myself in the delightful valleys which it waters. Do you, with the +advice of my mother, govern my dominions, and take care to supply +whatever her experiments may demand; for you well know that our tower +abounds in materials for the advancement of science.” + +The tower but ill suited Morakanabad’s taste. Immense treasures had been +lavished upon it; and nothing had he ever seen carried thither but female +negroes, mutes, and abominable drugs. Nor did he know well what to think +of Carathis, who, like a chameleon, could assume all possible colours; +her cursed eloquence had often driven the poor Mussulman to his last +shifts. He considered, however, that if she possessed but few good +qualities, her son had still fewer; and that the alternative on the whole +would be in her favour. Consoled, therefore, with this reflection, he +went in good spirits to soothe the populace, and make the proper +arrangements for his master’s journey. + +Vathek, to conciliate the Spirits of the subterranean palace, resolved +that his expedition should be uncommonly splendid. With this view he +confiscated on all sides the property of his subjects, whilst his worthy +mother stripped the seraglios she visited of the gems they contained. +She collected all the sempstresses and embroiderers of Samarah and other +cities to the distance of sixty leagues, to prepare pavilions, +palanquins, sofas, canopies, and litters for the train of the monarch. +There was not left in Masulipatam a single piece of chintz, and so much +muslin had been bought up to dress out Bababalouk and the other black +eunuchs, that there remained not an ell in the whole Irak of Babylon. + +During these preparations Carathis, who never lost sight of her great +object, which was to obtain favour with the Powers of Darkness, made +select parties of the fairest and most delicate ladies of the city; but +in the midst of their gaiety she contrived to introduce serpents amongst +them, and to break pots of scorpions under the table; they all bit to a +wonder; and Carathis would have left them to bite, were it not that, to +fill up the time, she now and then amused herself in curing their wounds +with an excellent anodyne of her own invention, for this good princess +abhorred being indolent. + +Vathek, who was not altogether so active as his mother, devoted his time +to the sole gratification of his senses, in the palaces which were +severally dedicated to them; he disgusted himself no more with the Divan +or the Mosque. One half of Samarah followed his example, whilst the +other lamented the progress of corruption. + +In the midst of these transactions the embassy returned which had been +sent in pious times to Mecca. It consisted of the most reverend +Moullahs, who had fulfilled their commission and brought back one of +those precious besoms which are used to sweep the sacred Caaba: a present +truly worthy of the greatest potentate on earth! + +The Caliph happened at this instant to be engaged in an apartment by no +means adapted to the reception of embassies, though adorned with a +certain magnificence, not only to render it agreeable, but also because +he resorted to it frequently, and stayed a considerable time together. +Whilst occupied in this retreat he heard the voice of Bababalouk calling +out from between the door and the tapestry that hung before it: “Here are +the excellent Mahomet Ebn Edris al Shafei, and the seraphic Al +Mouhadethin, who have brought the besom from Mecca, and with tears of joy +intreat they may present it to your majesty in person.” + +“Let them bring the besom hither; it may be of use,” said Vathek, who was +still employed, not having quite racked off his wine. + +“How!” said Bababalouk, half aloud and amazed. + +“Obey,” replied the Caliph, “for it is my sovereign will; go instantly, +vanish; for here will I receive the good folk, who have thus filled thee +with joy.” + +The eunuch departed muttering, and bade the venerable train attend him. +A sacred rapture was diffused amongst these reverend old men. Though +fatigued with the length of their expedition, they followed Bababalouk +with an alertness almost miraculous, and felt themselves highly +flattered, as they swept along the stately porticoes, that the Caliph +would not receive them like ambassadors in ordinary in his hall of +audience. Soon reaching the interior of the harem (where, through blinds +of Persian, they perceived large soft eyes, dark and blue, that went and +came like lightning), penetrated with respect and wonder, and full of +their celestial mission, they advanced in procession towards the small +corridors that appeared to terminate in nothing, but nevertheless led to +the cell where the Caliph expected their coming. + +“What! is the Commander of the Faithful sick?” said Ebn Edris al Shafei +in a low voice to his companion. + +“I rather think he is in his oratory,” answered Al Mouhadethin. + +Vathek, who heard the dialogue, cried out: “What imports it you how I am +employed? approach without delay.” + +They advanced, and Bababalouk almost sunk with confusion, whilst the +Caliph, without showing himself, put forth his hand from behind the +tapestry that hung before the door, and demanded of them the besom. +Having prostrated themselves as well as the corridor would permit, and +even in a tolerable semicircle, the venerable Al Shafei, drawing forth +the besom from the embroidered and perfumed scarves in which it had been +enveloped, and secured from the profane gaze of vulgar eyes, arose from +his associates, and advanced, with an air of the most awful solemnity, +towards the supposed oratory; but with what astonishment! with what +horror was he seized! Vathek, bursting out into a villainous laugh, +snatched the besom from his trembling hand, and, fixing upon some cobwebs +that hung suspended from the ceiling, gravely brushed away till not a +single one remained. The old men, overpowered with amazement, were +unable to lift their beards from the ground; for, as Vathek had +carelessly left the tapestry between them half drawn, they were witnesses +to the whole transaction; their tears gushed forth on the marble; Al +Mouhadethin swooned through mortification and fatigue; whilst the Caliph, +throwing himself backward on his seat, shouted and clapped his hands +without mercy. At last, addressing himself to Bababalouk: “My dear +black,” said he, “go, regale these pious poor souls with my good wine +from Shiraz; and, as they can boast of having seen more of my palace than +any one besides, let them also visit my office courts, and lead them out +by the back steps that go to my stables.” Having said this, he threw the +besom in their face, and went to enjoy the laugh with Carathis. +Bababalouk did all in his power to console the ambassadors, but the two +most infirm expired on the spot; the rest were carried to their beds, +from whence, being heart-broken with sorrow and shame, they never arose. + +The succeeding night Vathek, attended by his mother, ascended the tower +to see if everything were ready for his journey; for he had great faith +in the influence of the stars. The planets appeared in their most +favourable aspects. The Caliph, to enjoy so flattering a sight, supped +gaily on the roof, and fancied that he heard during his repast loud +shouts of laughter resound through the sky, in a manner that inspired the +fullest assurance. + +All was in motion at the palace; lights were kept burning through the +whole of the night; the sound of implements and of artisans finishing +their work, the voices of women and their guardians who sung at their +embroidery, all conspired to interrupt the stillness of nature and +infinitely delight the heart of Vathek, who imagined himself going in +triumph to sit upon the throne of Soliman. + +The people were not less satisfied than himself; all assisted to +accelerate the moment which should rescue them from the wayward caprices +of so extravagant a master. + +The day preceding the departure of this infatuated prince was employed by +Carathis in repeating to him the decrees of the mysterious parchment, +which she had thoroughly gotten by heart, and in recommending him not to +enter the habitation of any one by the way; “for well thou knowest,” +added she, “how liquorish thy taste is after good dishes and young +damsels; let me, therefore, enjoin thee to be content with thy old cooks, +who are the best in the world, and not to forget that in thy ambulatory +seraglio there are three dozen pretty faces, which Bababalouk hath not +yet unveiled. I myself have a great desire to watch over thy conduct, +and visit the subterranean palace, which no doubt contains whatever can +interest persons like us; there is nothing so pleasing as retiring to +caverns; my taste for dead bodies and everything like mummy is decided; +and I am confident thou wilt see the most exquisite of their kind. +Forget me not, then, but the moment thou art in possession of the +talismans which are to open to thee the mineral kingdoms and the centre +of the earth itself, fail not to despatch some trusty genius to take me +and my cabinet, for the oil of the serpents I have pinched to death will +be a pretty present to the Giaour, who cannot but be charmed with such +dainties.” + +Scarcely had Carathis ended this edifying discourse when the sun, setting +behind the mountain of the Four Fountains, gave place to the rising moon; +this planet, being that evening at full, appeared of unusual beauty and +magnitude in the eyes of the women, the eunuchs, and the pages, who were +all impatient to set forward. The city re-echoed with shouts of joy and +flourishing of trumpets; nothing was visible but plumes nodding on +pavilions, and aigrets shining in the mild lustre of the moon; the +spacious square resembled an immense parterre, variegated with the most +stately tulips of the East. + +Arrayed in the robes which were only worn at the most distinguished +ceremonials, and supported by his Vizir and Bababalouk, the Caliph +descended the grand staircase of the tower in the sight of all his +people; he could not forbear pausing at intervals to admire the superb +appearance which everywhere courted his view, whilst the whole multitude, +even to the camels with their sumptuous burdens, knelt down before him. +For some time a general stillness prevailed, which nothing happened to +disturb but the shrill screams of some eunuchs in the rear; these +vigilant guards, having remarked certain cages of the ladies swagging +somewhat awry, and discovered that a few adventurous gallants had +contrived to get in, soon dislodged the enraptured culprits. The majesty +of so magnificent a spectacle was not, however, violated by incidents +like these. Vathek meanwhile saluted the moon with an idolatrous air, +that neither pleased Morakanabad nor the Doctors of the Law, any more +than the vizirs and the grandees of his court, who were all assembled to +enjoy the last view of their sovereign. + +At length the clarions and trumpets from the top of the tower announced +the prelude of departure; though the instruments were in unison with each +other, yet a singular dissonance was blended with their sounds; this +proceeded from Carathis, who was singing her direful orisons to the +Giaour, whilst the negresses and mutes supplied thorough-base without +articulating a word. The good Mussulmans fancied that they heard the +sullen hum of those nocturnal insects which presage evil, and importuned +Vathek to beware how he ventured his sacred person. + +On a given signal the great standard of the Califat was displayed, twenty +thousand lances shone around it, and the Caliph, treading loyally on the +cloth of gold which had been spread for his feet, ascended his litter +amidst the general awe that possessed his subjects. + +The expedition commenced with the utmost order and so entire a silence, +that even the locusts were heard from the thickets on the plain of +Catoul. Gaiety and good-humour prevailing, six good leagues were past +before the dawn; and the morning star was still glittering in the +firmament when the whole of this numerous train had halted on the banks +of the Tigris, where they encamped to repose for the rest of the day. + +The three days that followed were spent in the same manner; but on the +fourth the heavens looked angry, lightnings broke forth in frequent +flashes, re-echoing peals of thunder succeeded, and the trembling +Circassians clung with all their might to their ugly guardians. The +Caliph himself was greatly inclined to take shelter in the large town of +Gulchissar, the governor of which came forth to meet him, and tendered +every kind of refreshment the place could supply; but, having examined +his tablets, he suffered the rain to soak him almost to the bone, +notwithstanding the importunity of his first favourites. Though he began +to regret the palace of the senses, yet he lost not sight of his +enterprise, and his sanguine expectations confirmed his resolution; his +geographers were ordered to attend him, but the weather proved so +terrible that these poor people exhibited a lamentable appearance; and, +as no long journeys had been undertaken since the time of Haroun al +Raschid, their maps of the different countries were in a still worse +plight than themselves; every one was ignorant which way to turn; for +Vathek, though well versed in the course of the heavens, no longer knew +his situation on earth; he thundered even louder than the elements, and +muttered forth certain hints of the bow-string, which were not very +soothing to literary ears. Disgusted at the toilsome weariness of the +way, he determined to cross over the craggy heights and follow the +guidance of a peasant, who undertook to bring him in four days to +Rocnabad. Remonstrances were all to no purpose; his resolution was +fixed, and an invasion commenced on the province of the goats, who sped +away in large troops before them. It was curious to view on these half +calcined rocks camels richly caparisoned, and pavilions of gold and silk +waving on their summits, which till then had never been covered but with +sapless thistles and fern. + +The females and eunuchs uttered shrill wailings at the sight of the +precipices below them, and the dreary prospects that opened in the vast +gorges of the mountains. Before they could reach the ascent of the +steepest rock, night overtook them, and a boisterous tempest arose, +which, having rent the awnings of the palanquins and cages, exposed to +the raw gusts the poor ladies within, who had never before felt so +piercing a cold. The dark clouds that overcast the face of the sky +deepened the horrors of this disastrous night, insomuch that nothing +could be heard distinctly but the mewling of pages and lamentations of +sultanas. + +To increase the general misfortune, the frightful uproar of wild beasts +resounded at a distance, and there were soon perceived, in the forest +they were skirting, the glaring of eyes which could belong only to devils +or tigers. The pioneers, who, as well as they could, had marked out a +track, and a part of the advanced guard were devoured before they had +been in the least apprized of their danger. The confusion that prevailed +was extreme; wolves, tigers, and other carnivorous animals, invited by +the howling of their companions, flocked together from every quarter; the +crashing of bones was heard on all sides, and a fearful rush of wings +overhead, for now vultures also began to be of the party. + +The terror at length reached the main body of the troops which surrounded +the monarch and his harem, at the distance of two leagues from the scene. +Vathek (voluptuously reposed in his capacious litter upon cushions of +silk, with two little pages beside him of complexions more fair than the +enamel of Franguestan, who were occupied in keeping off flies) was +soundly asleep, and contemplating in his dreams the treasures of Soliman. +The shrieks, however, of his wives awoke him with a start, and, instead +of the Giaour with his key of gold, he beheld Bababalouk full of +consternation. + +“Sire,” exclaimed this good servant of the most potent of monarchs, +“misfortune is arrived at its height; wild beasts, who entertain no more +reverence for your sacred person than for that of a dead ass, have beset +your camels and their drivers; thirty of the richest laden are already +become their prey, as well as your confectioners, your cooks, and +purveyors; and, unless our holy Prophet should protect us, we shall have +all eaten our last meal.” + +At the mention of eating the Caliph lost all patience; he began to +bellow, and even beat himself (for there was no seeing in the dark). The +rumour every instant increased, and Bababalouk, finding no good could be +done with his master, stopped both his ears against the hurly-burly of +the harem, and called out aloud: “Come, ladies and brothers! all hands to +work! strike light in a moment! never shall it be said that the Commander +of the Faithful served to regale these infidel brutes.” + +Though there wanted not in this bevy of beauties a sufficient number of +capricious and wayward, yet on the present occasion they were all +compliance; fires were visible in a twinkling in all their cages; ten +thousand torches were lighted at once; the Caliph himself seized a large +one of wax; every person followed his example, and, by kindling ropes’ +ends dipped in oil and fastened on poles, an amazing blaze was spread. +The rocks were covered with the splendour of sunshine; the trails of +sparks wafted by the wind communicated to the dry fern, of which there +was plenty. Serpents were observed to crawl forth from their retreats +with amazement and hissings, whilst the horses snorted, stamped the +ground, tossed their noses in the air, and plunged about without mercy. + +One of the forests of cedar that bordered their way took fire, and the +branches that overhung the path, extending their flames to the muslins +and chintzes which covered the cages of the ladies, obliged them to jump +out, at the peril of their necks. Vathek, who vented on the occasion a +thousand blasphemies, was himself compelled to touch with his sacred feet +the naked earth. + +Never had such an incident happened before. Full of mortification, +shame, and despondence, and not knowing how to walk, the ladies fell into +the dirt. “Must I go on foot?” said one; “Must I wet my feet?” cried +another; “Must I soil my dress?” asked a third; “Execrable Bababalouk!” +exclaimed all; “Outcast of hell! what hadst thou to do with torches? +Better were it to be eaten by tigers than to fall into our present +condition! we are for ever undone! Not a porter is there in the army, +nor a currier of camels, but hath seen some part of our bodies, and, what +is worse, our very faces!” On saying this the most bashful amongst them +hid their foreheads on the ground, whist such as had more boldness flew +at Bababalouk; but he, well apprized of their humour, and not wanting in +shrewdness, betook himself to his heels along with his comrades, all +dropping their torches and striking their tymbals. + +It was not less light than in the brightest of the dog-days, and the +weather was hot in proportion; but how degrading was the spectacle, to +behold the Caliph bespattered like an ordinary mortal! As the exercise +of his faculties seemed to be suspended, one of his Ethiopian wives (for +he delighted in variety) clasped him in her arms, threw him upon her +shoulder like a sack of dates, and finding that the fire was hemming them +in, set off with no small expedition, considering the weight of her +burden. The other ladies, who had just learnt the use of their feet, +followed her, their guards galloped after, and the camel-drivers brought +up the rear as fast as their charge would permit. + +They soon reached the spot where the wild beasts had commenced the +carnage, and which they had too much spirit to leave, notwithstanding the +approaching tumult and the luxurious supper they had made; Bababalouk +nevertheless seized on a few of the plumpest, which were unable to budge +from the place, and began to flay them with admirable adroitness. The +cavalcade being got so far from the conflagration as that the heat felt +rather grateful than violent, it was immediately resolved on to halt. +The tattered chintzes were picked up, the scraps left by the wolves and +tigers interred, and vengeance was taken on some dozens of vultures that +were too much glutted to rise on the wing. The camels, which had been +left unmolested to make sal ammoniac, being numbered, and the ladies once +more enclosed in their cages, the imperial tent was pitched on the +levellest ground they could find. + +Vathek, reposing upon a mattress of down, and tolerably recovered from +the jolting of the Ethiopian, who to his feelings seemed the roughest +trotting jade he had hitherto mounted, called out for something to eat. +But, alas! those delicate cakes which had been baked in silver ovens for +his royal mouth, those rich manchets, amber comfits, flagons of Schiraz +wine, porcelain vases of snow, and grapes from the banks of the Tigris, +were all irremediably lost! And nothing had Bababalouk to present in +their stead but a roasted wolf, vultures _à la daube_, aromatic herbs of +the most acrid poignancy, rotten truffles, boiled thistles, and such +other wild plants as most ulcerate the throat and parch up the tongue. +Nor was he better provided in the article of drink, for he could procure +nothing to accompany these irritating viands but a few vials of +abominable brandy, which had been secreted by the scullions in their +slippers. + +Vathek made wry faces at so savage a repast, and Bababalouk answered them +with shrugs and contortions; the Caliph, however, ate with tolerable +appetite, and fell into a nap that lasted six hours. The splendour of +the sun reflected from the white cliffs of the mountains, in spite of the +curtains that enclosed him, at length disturbed his repose; he awoke +terrified, and stung to the quick by those wormwood-coloured flies, which +emit from their wings a suffocating stench. The miserable monarch was +perplexed how to act, though his wits were not idle in seeking +expedients, whilst Bababalouk lay snoring amidst a swarm of those +insects, that busily thronged to pay court to his nose. The little +pages, famished with hunger, had dropped their fans on the ground, and +exerted their dying voices in bitter reproaches on the Caliph, who now +for the first time heard the language of truth. + +Thus stimulated, he renewed his imprecations against the Giaour, and +bestowed upon Mahomet some soothing expressions. “Where am I?” cried he; +“what are these dreadful rocks? these valleys of darkness? are we arrived +at the horrible Kaf? is the Simurgh coming to pluck out my eyes, as a +punishment for undertaking this impious enterprise!” Having said this, +he bellowed like a calf and turned himself towards an outlet in the side +of his pavilion; but, alas! what objects occurred to his view! on one +side a plain of black sand that appeared to be unbounded, and on the +other perpendicular crags, bristled over with those abominable thistles +which had so severely lacerated his tongue. He fancied, however, that he +perceived, amongst the brambles and briers, some gigantic flowers, but +was mistaken; for these were only the dangling palampores and variegated +tatters of his gay retinue. As there were several clefts in the rock +from whence water seemed to have flowed, Vathek applied his ear, with the +hope of catching the sound of some latent runnel, but could only +distinguish the low murmurs of his people, who were repining at their +journey, and complaining for the want of water. + +“To what purpose,” asked they, “have we been brought hither? Hath our +Caliph another tower to build? or have the relentless Afrits, whom +Carathis so much loves, fixed in this place their abode?” + +At the name of Carathis Vathek recollected the tablets he had received +from his mother, who assured him they were fraught with preternatural +qualities, and advised him to consult them as emergencies might require. +Whilst he was engaged in turning them over he heard a shout of joy and a +loud clapping of hands; the curtains of his pavilion were soon drawn +back, and he beheld Bababalouk, followed by a troop of his favourites, +conducting two dwarfs, each a cubit high, who brought between them a +large basket of melons, oranges, and pomegranates. They were singing in +the sweetest tones the words that follow: + +“We dwell on the top of these rocks in a cabin of rushes and canes; the +eagles envy us our nest; a small spring supplies us with Abdest, and we +daily repeat prayers which the Prophet approves. We love you, O +Commander of the Faithful! our master, the good Emir Fakreddin, loves you +also; he reveres in your person the vicegerent of Mahomet. Little as we +are, in us he confides; he knows our hearts to be good as our bodies are +contemptible, and hath placed us here to aid those who are bewildered on +these dreary mountains. Last night, whilst we were occupied within our +cell in reading the holy Koran, a sudden hurricane blew out our lights +and rocked our habitation; for two whole hours a palpable darkness +prevailed, but we heard sounds at a distance which we conjectured to +proceed from the bells of a Cafila passing over the rocks; our ears were +soon filled with deplorable shrieks, frightful roarings, and the sound of +tymbals. Chilled with terror, we concluded that the Deggial, with his +exterminating angels, had sent forth their plagues on the earth. In the +midst of these melancholy reflections we perceived flames of the deepest +red glow in the horizon, and found ourselves in a few moments covered +with flakes of fire; amazed at so strange an appearance, we took up the +volume dictated by the blessed Intelligence, and, kneeling by the light +of the fire that surrounded us, we recited the verse which says: ‘Put no +trust in anything but the mercy of Heaven; there is no help save in the +holy Prophet; the mountain of Kaf itself may tremble, it is the power of +Allah only that cannot be moved.’ After having pronounced these words we +felt consolation, and our minds were hushed into a sacred repose; silence +ensued, and our ears clearly distinguished a voice in the air, saying: +‘Servants of my faithful servant! go down to the happy valley of +Fakreddin; tell him that an illustrious opportunity now offers to satiate +the thirst of his hospitable heart. The Commander of true believers is +this day bewildered amongst these mountains, and stands in need of thy +aid.’ We obeyed with joy the angelic mission, and our master, filled +with pious zeal, hath culled with his own hands these melons, oranges, +and pomegranates; he is following us with a hundred dromedaries laden +with the purest waters of his fountains, and is coming to kiss the fringe +of your consecrated robe, and implore you to enter his humble habitation, +which, placed amidst these barren wilds, resembles an emerald set in +lead.” The dwarfs, having ended their address, remained still standing, +and, with hands crossed upon their bosoms, preserved a respectful +silence. + +Vathek in the midst of this curious harangue, seized the basket, and long +before it was finished the fruits had dissolved in his mouth; as he +continued to eat his piety increased, and in the same breath which +recited his prayers he called for the Koran and sugar. + +Such was the state of his mind when the tablets, which were thrown by at +the approach of the dwarfs, again attracted his eye; he took them up, but +was ready to drop on the ground when he beheld, in large red characters, +these words inscribed by Carathis, which were indeed enough to make him +tremble: + +“Beware of thy old doctors, and their puny messengers of but one cubit +high; distrust their pious frauds, and, instead of eating their melons, +impale on a spit the bearers of them. Shouldst thou be such a fool as to +visit them, the portal of the subterranean palace will be shut in thy +face, and with such force as shall shake thee asunder; thy body shall be +spit upon, and bats will engender in thy belly.” + +“To what tends this ominous rhapsody?” cries the Caliph. “And must I +then perish in these deserts with thirst, whilst I may refresh myself in +the valley of melons and cucumbers! Accursed be the Giaour, with his +portal of ebony! he hath made me dance attendance too long already. +Besides, who shall prescribe laws to me? I forsooth must not enter any +one’s habitation! Be it so; but what one can I enter that is not my +own?” + +Bababalouk, who lost not a syllable of this soliloquy, applauded it with +all his heart, and the ladies for the first time agreed with him in +opinion. + +The dwarfs were entertained, caressed, and seated with great ceremony on +little cushions of satin. The symmetry of their persons was the subject +of criticism; not an inch of them was suffered to pass unexamined; +knick-knacks and dainties were offered in profusion, but all were +declined with respectful gravity. They clambered up the sides of the +Caliph’s seat, and, placing themselves each on one of his shoulders, +began to whisper prayers in his ears; their tongues quivered like the +leaves of a poplar, and the patience of Vathek was almost exhausted, when +the acclamations of the troops announced the approach of Fakreddin, who +was come with a hundred old grey-beards and as many Korans and +dromedaries; they instantly set about their ablutions, and began to +repeat the Bismillah; Vathek, to get rid of these officious monitors, +followed their example, for his hands were burning. + +The good Emir, who was punctiliously religious, and likewise a great +dealer in compliments, made an harangue five times more prolix and +insipid than his harbingers had already delivered. The Caliph, unable +any longer to refrain, exclaimed— + +“For the love of Mahomet, my dear Fakreddin, have done! let us proceed to +your valley, and enjoy the fruits that Heaven hath vouchsafed you.” + +The hint of proceeding put all into motion; the venerable attendants of +the Emir set forward somewhat slowly, but Vathek, having ordered his +little pages in private to goad on the dromedaries, loud fits of laughter +broke forth from the cages, for the unwieldy curvetting of these poor +beasts, and the ridiculous distress of their superannuated riders, +afforded the ladies no small entertainment. + +They descended, however, unhurt into the valley, by the large steps which +the Emir had cut in the rock; and already the murmuring of streams and +the rustling of leaves began to catch their attention. The cavalcade +soon entered a path which was skirted by flowering shrubs, and extended +to a vast wood of palm-trees, whose branches overspread a building of +hewn stone. This edifice was crowned with nine domes, and adorned with +as many portals of bronze, on which was engraven the following +inscription: “This is the asylum of pilgrims, the refuge of travellers, +and the depository of secrets for all parts of the world.” + +Nine pages, beautiful as the day, and clothed in robes of Egyptian linen, +very long and very modest, were standing at each door. They received the +whole retinue with an easy and inviting air. Four of the most amiable +placed the Caliph on a magnificent taktrevan, four others, somewhat less +graceful, took charge of Bababalouk, who capered for joy at the snug +little cabin that fell to his share; the pages that remained waited on +the rest of the train. + +When everything masculine was gone out of sight the gate of a large +enclosure on the right turned on its harmonious hinges and a young female +of a slender form came forth; her light brown hair floated in the hazy +breeze of the twilight; a troop of young maidens, like the Pleiades, +attended her on tip-toe. They hastened to the pavilions that contained +the sultanas, and the young lady, gracefully bending, said to them: + +“Charming Princesses, everything is ready; we have prepared beds for your +repose, and strewed your apartments with jasmine; no insects will keep +off slumber from visiting your eyelids, we will dispel them with a +thousand plumes; come then, amiable ladies! refresh your delicate feet +and your ivory limbs in baths of rose water; and, by the light of +perfumed lamps your servants will amuse you with tales.” + +The sultanas accepted with pleasure these obliging offers, and followed +the young lady to the Emir’s harem, where we must for a moment leave +them, and return to the Caliph. + +Vathek found himself beneath a vast dome, illuminated by a thousand lamps +of rock crystal; as many vases of the same material, filled with +excellent sherbet, sparkled on a large table, where a profusion of viands +were spread; amongst others were sweetbreads stewed in milk of almonds, +saffron soups, and lamb _à la crême_, of all which the Caliph was +amazingly fond. He took of each as much as he was able, testified his +sense of the Emir’s friendship by the gaiety of his heart, and made the +dwarfs dance against their will, for these little devotees durst not +refuse the Commander of the Faithful; at last he spread himself on the +sofa, and slept sounder than he had ever before. + +Beneath this dome a general silence prevailed, for there was nothing to +disturb it but the jaws of Bababalouk, who had untrussed himself to eat +with greater advantage, being anxious to make amends for his fast in the +mountains. As his spirits were too high to admit of his sleeping, and +not loving to be idle, he proposed with himself to visit the harem, and +repair to his charge of the ladies, to examine if they had been properly +lubricated with the balm of Mecca, if their eyebrows and tresses were in +order, and, in a word, to perform all the little offices they might need. +He sought for a long time together, but without being able to find out +the door; he durst not speak aloud, for fear of disturbing the Caliph, +and not a soul was stirring in the precincts of the palace; he almost +despaired of effecting his purpose, when a low whispering just reached +his ear; it came from the dwarfs who were returned to their old +occupation, and for the nine hundred and ninety-ninth time in their +lives, were reading over the Koran. They very politely invited +Bababalouk to be of their party, but his head was full of other concerns. +The dwarfs, though scandalised at his dissolute morals, directed him to +the apartments he wanted to find; his way thither lay through a hundred +dark corridors, along which he groped as he went, and at last began to +catch from the extremity of a passage the charming gossiping of the +women, which not a little delighted his heart. “Ah, ha! what, not yet +asleep!” cried he; and, taking long strides as he spoke. “Did you not +suspect me of abjuring my charge? I stayed but to finish what my master +had left.” + +Two of the black eunuchs, on hearing a voice so loud, detached a party in +haste, sabre in hand, to discover the cause; but presently was repeated +on all sides: “’Tis only Bababalouk! no one but Bababalouk!” This +circumspect guardian, having gone up to a thin veil of carnation-coloured +silk that hung before the doorway, distinguished, by means of the +softened splendour that shone through it, an oval bath of dark porphyry, +surrounded by curtains festooned in large folds; through the apertures +between them, as they were not drawn close, groups of young slaves were +visible, amongst whom Bababalouk perceived his pupils, indulgingly +expanding their arms, as if to embrace the perfumed water and refresh +themselves after their fatigues. The looks of tender languor, their +confidential whispers, and the enchanting smiles with which they were +imparted, the exquisite fragrance of the roses, all combined to inspire a +voluptuousness, which even Bababalouk himself was scarce able to +withstand. + +He summoned up, however, his usual solemnity, and, in the peremptory tone +of authority, commanded the ladies instantly to leave the bath. Whilst +he was issuing these mandates the young Nouronihar, daughter of the Emir, +who was sprightly as an antelope, and full of wanton gaiety, beckoned one +of her slaves to let down the great swing, which was suspended to the +ceiling by cords of silk, and whilst this was doing, winked to her +companions in the bath, who, chagrined to be forced from so soothing a +state of indolence, began to twist it round Bababalouk, and tease him +with a thousand vagaries. + +When Nouronihar perceived that he was exhausted with fatigue, she +accosted him with an arch air of respectful concern, and said: “My lord, +it is not by any means decent that the chief eunuch of the Caliph, our +Sovereign, should thus continue standing; deign but to recline your +graceful person upon this sofa, which will burst with vexation if it have +not the honour to receive you.” + +Caught by these flattering accents, Bababalouk gallantly replied: +“Delight of the apple of my eye! I accept the invitation of thy honeyed +lips; and, to say truth, my senses are dazzled with the radiance that +beams from thy charms.” + +“Repose, then, at your ease,” replied the beauty, and placed him on the +pretended sofa, which, quicker than lightning, gave way all at once. The +rest of the women, having aptly conceived her design, sprang naked from +the bath, and plied the swing with such unmerciful jerks, that it swept +through the whole compass of a very lofty dome, and took from the poor +victim all power of respiration; sometimes his feet rased the surface of +the water, and at others the skylight almost flattened his nose; in vain +did he pierce the air with the cries of a voice that resembled the +ringing of a cracked basin, for their peals of laughter were still more +predominant. + +Nouronihar, in the inebriety of youthful spirits, being used only to +eunuchs of ordinary harems, and having never seen anything so royal and +disgusting, was far more diverted than all of the rest; she began to +parody some Persian verses, and sang with an accent most demurely +piquant: + + “O gentle white dove, as thou soar’st through the air, + Vouchsafe one kind glance on the mate of thy love; + Melodious Philomel, I am thy rose; + Warble some couplet to ravish my heart!” + +The sultanas and their slaves, stimulated by these pleasantries, +persevered at the swing with such unremitted assiduity, that at length +the cord which had secured it snapped suddenly asunder, and Bababalouk +fell floundering like a turtle to the bottom of the bath. This accident +occasioned a universal shout; twelve little doors, till now unobserved, +flew open at once, and the ladies in an instant made their escape, after +throwing all the towels on his head, and putting out the lights that +remained. + +The deplorable animal, in water to the chin, overwhelmed with darkness, +and unable to extricate himself from the wrap that embarrassed him, was +still doomed to hear for his further consolation the fresh bursts of +merriment his disaster occasioned. He bustled, but in vain, to get from +the bath, for the margin was become so slippery with the oil spilt in +breaking the lamps, that at every effort he slid back with a plunge, +which resounded aloud through the hollow of the dome. These cursed peals +of laughter at every relapse were redoubled; and he, who thought the +place infested rather by devils than women, resolved to cease groping, +and abide in the bath, where he amused himself with soliloquies, +interspersed with imprecations, of which his malicious neighbours +reclining on down suffered not an accent to escape. In this delectable +plight the morning surprised him. The Caliph, wondering at his absence, +had caused him to be everywhere sought for. At last he was drawn forth, +almost smothered from the wisp of linen, and wet even to the marrow. +Limping and chattering his teeth, he appeared before his master, who +inquired what was the matter, and how he came soused in so strange a +pickle. + +“And why did you enter this cursed lodge?” answered Bababalouk, gruffly. +“Ought a monarch like you to visit with his harem the abode of a +grey-bearded Emir, who knows nothing of life? And with what gracious +damsels doth the place, too, abound! Fancy to yourself how they have +soaked me like a burnt crust, and made me dance like a jack-pudding the +live-long night through, on their damnable swing! What an excellent +lesson for your sultanas to follow, into whom I have instilled such +reserve and decorum!” + +Vathek, comprehending not a syllable of all this invective, obliged him +to relate minutely the transaction; but instead of sympathising with the +miserable sufferer, he laughed immoderately at the device of the swing, +and the figure of Bababalouk mounting upon it. The stung eunuch could +scarcely preserve the semblance of respect. + +“Ay, laugh, my lord! laugh,” said he; “but I wish this Nouronihar would +play some trick on you; she is too wicked to spare even majesty itself.” + +Those words made for the present but a slight impression on the Caliph; +but they not long after recurred to his mind. + +This conversation was cut short by Fakreddin, who came to request that +Vathek would join in the prayers and ablutions to be solemnised on a +spacious meadow, watered by innumerable streams. The Caliph found the +waters refreshing, but the prayers abominably irksome; he diverted +himself, however, with the multitude of Calenders, Santons, and Dervises, +who were continually coming and going, but especially with the Brahmins, +Fakirs, and other enthusiasts, who had travelled from the heart of India, +and halted on their way with the Emir. These latter had, each of them, +some mummery peculiar to himself. One dragged a huge chain wherever he +went, another an ouranoutang, whilst a third was furnished with scourges, +and all performed to a charm; some clambered up trees, holding one foot +in the air; others poised themselves over a fire, and without mercy +filliped their noses. There were some amongst them that cherished +vermin, which were not ungrateful in requiting their caresses. These +rambling fanatics revolted the hearts of the Dervises, the Calenders, and +Santons; however, the vehemence of their aversion soon subsided, under +the hope that the presence of the Caliph would cure their folly, and +convert them to the Mussulman faith; but, alas! how great was their +disappointment! for Vathek, instead of preaching to them, treated them as +buffoons, bade them present his compliments to Visnow and Ixhora, and +discovered a predilection for a squat old man from the isle of Serendib, +who was more ridiculous than any of the rest. + +“Come!” said he, “for the love of your gods bestow a few slaps on your +chops to amuse me.” + +The old fellow, offended at such an address, began loudly to weep; but, +as he betrayed a villainous drivelling in his tears, the Caliph turned +his back and listened to Bababalouk, who whispered, whilst he held the +umbrella over him: “Your Majesty should be cautious of this odd assembly +which hath been collected I know not for what. Is it necessary to +exhibit such spectacles to a mighty potentate, with interludes of +Talapoins more mangy than dogs? Were I you, I would command a fire to be +kindled, and at once purge the earth of the Emir, his harem, and all his +menagerie.” + +“Tush, dolt!” answered Vathek; “and know that all this infinitely charms +me; nor shall I leave the meadow till I have visited every hive of these +pious mendicants.” + +Wherever the Caliph directed his course objects of pity were sure to +swarm round him: the blind, the purblind, smarts without noses, damsels +without ears, each to extol the munificence of Fakreddin, who, as well as +his attendant grey-beards, dealt about gratis plasters and cataplasms to +all that applied. At noon a superb corps of cripples made its +appearance, and soon after advanced by platoons on the plain, the +completest association of invalids that had ever been embodied till then. +The blind went groping with the blind, the lame limped on together, and +the maimed made gestures to each other with the only arm that remained; +the sides of a considerable waterfall were crowded by the deaf, amongst +whom were some from Pegû with ears uncommonly handsome and large, but +were still less able to hear than the rest; nor were there wanting others +in abundance with humpbacks, wenny necks, and even horns of an exquisite +polish. + +The Emir, to aggrandise the solemnity of the festival in honour of his +illustrious visitant, ordered the turf to be spread on all sides with +skins and table-cloths, upon which were served up for the good Mussulmans +pilaus of every line, with other orthodox dishes; and, by the express +order of Vathek, who was shamefully tolerant, small plates of +abominations for regaling the rest. This prince, on seeing so many +mouths put in motion, began to think it time for employing his own; in +spite, therefore, of every remonstrance from the chief of his eunuchs, he +resolved to have a dinner dressed on the spot. The complaisant Emir +immediately gave orders for a table to be placed in the shade of the +willows. The first service consisted of fish, which they drew from a +river flowing over sands of gold at the foot of a lofty hill; these were +broiled as fast as taken, and served up with a sauce of vinegar, and +small herbs that grow on Mount Sinai; for everything with the Emir was +excellent and pious. + +The dessert was not quite set on when the sound of lutes from the hill +was repeated by the echoes of the neighbouring mountains. The Caliph, +with an emotion of pleasure and surprise, had no sooner raised up his +head than a handful of jasmine dropped on his face; an abundance of +tittering succeeded the frolic, and instantly appeared through the bushes +the elegant forms of several young females, skipping and bounding like +roes. The fragrance diffused from their hair struck the sense of Vathek, +who, in an ecstasy, suspending his repast, said to Bababalouk: + +“Are the Peris come down from their spheres? Note her in particular +whose form is so perfect, venturously running on the brink of the +precipice, and turning back her head, as regardless of nothing but the +graceful flow of her robe; with what captivating impatience doth she +contend with the bushes for her veil! could it be she who threw the +jasmine at me?” + +“Ay! she it was; and you too would she throw from the top of the rock,” +answered Bababalouk; “for that is my good friend Nouronihar, who so +kindly lent me her swing; my dear lord and master,” added he, twisting a +twig that hung by the rind from a willow, “let me correct her for want of +respect; the Emir will have no reason to complain, since (bating what I +owe to his piety) he is much to be censured for keeping a troop of girls +on the mountains, whose sharp air gives their blood too brisk a +circulation.” + +“Peace, blasphemer!” said the Caliph; “speak not thus of her who over her +mountains leads my heart a willing captive; contrive rather that my eyes +may be fixed upon hers, that I may respire her sweet breath, as she +bounds panting along these delightful wilds!” On saying these words, +Vathek extended his arms towards the hill, and directing his eyes with an +anxiety unknown to him before, endeavoured to keep within view the object +that enthralled his soul; but her course was as difficult to follow as +the flight of one of those beautiful blue butterflies of Cashmere, which +are at once so volatile and rare. + +The Caliph, not satisfied with seeing, wished also to hear Nouronihar, +and eagerly turned to catch the sound of her voice; at last he +distinguished her whispering to one of her companions behind the thicket +from whence she had thrown the jasmine: “A Caliph, it must be owned, is a +fine thing to see, but my little Gulchenrouz is much more amiable; one +lock of his hair is of more value to me than the richest embroidery of +the Indies; I had rather that his teeth should mischievously press my +finger than the richest ring of the imperial treasure. Where have you +left him, Sutlememe? and why is he now not here?” + +The agitated Caliph still wished to hear more, but she immediately +retired, with all her attendants; the fond monarch pursued her with his +eyes till she was gone out of sight, and then continued like a bewildered +and benighted traveller, from whom the clouds had obscured the +constellation that guided his way; the curtain of night seemed dropped +before him; everything appeared discoloured; the falling waters filled +his soul with dejection, and his tears trickled down the jasmines he had +caught from Nouronihar, and placed in his inflamed bosom; he snatched up +a shining pebble, to remind him of the scene where he felt the first +tumults of love. Two hours were elapsed, and evening drew on before he +could resolve to depart from the place; he often, but in vain, attempted +to go; a soft languor enervated the powers of his mind; extending himself +on the brink of the stream, he turned his eyes towards the blue summits +of the mountain, and exclaimed: “What concealest thou behind thee? what +is passing in thy solitudes? Whither is she gone? O Heaven! perhaps she +is now wandering in thy grottos, with her happy Gulchenrouz!” + +In the meantime the damps began to descend, and the Emir, solicitous for +the health of the Caliph, ordered the imperial litter to be brought. +Vathek, absorbed in his reveries, was imperceptibly removed, and conveyed +back to the saloon that received him the evening before. + +But let us leave the Caliph, immersed in his new passion, and attend +Nouronihar beyond the rocks, where she had again joined her beloved +Gulchenrouz. This Gulchenrouz was the son of Ali Hassan, brother to the +Emir, and the most delicate and lovely creature in the world. Ali +Hassan, who had been absent ten years on a voyage to the unknown seas, +committed at his departure this child, the only survivor of many, to the +care and protection of his brother. Gulchenrouz could write in various +characters with precision, and paint upon vellum the most elegant +arabesques that fancy could devise; his sweet voice accompanied the lute +in the most enchanting manner, and when he sang the loves of Megnoun and +Leileh, or some unfortunate lovers of ancient days, tears insensibly +overflowed the cheeks of his auditors; the verses he composed (for, like +Megnoun, he too was a poet) inspired that unresisting languor so +frequently fatal to the female heart; the women all doted upon him; for +though he had passed his thirteenth year, they still detained him in the +harem; his dancing was light as the gossamer waved by the zephyrs of +spring, but his arms, which twined so gracefully with those of the young +girls in the dance, could neither dart the lance in the chase, nor curb +the steeds that pastured his uncle’s domains. The bow, however, he drew +with a certain aim, and would have excelled his competitors in the race, +could he have broken the ties that bound him to Nouronihar. + +The two brothers had mutually engaged their children to each other, and +Nouronihar loved her cousin more than her eyes; both had the same tastes +and amusements, the same long, languishing looks, the same tresses, the +same fair complexions, and when Gulchenrouz appeared in the dress of his +cousin he seemed to be more feminine than even herself. If at any time +he left the harem to visit Fakreddin, it was with all the bashfulness of +a fawn, that consciously ventures from the lair of its dam; he was +however, wanton enough to mock the solemn old grey-beards to whom he was +subject, though sure to be rated without mercy in return; whenever this +happened he would plunge into the recesses of the harem, and sobbing, +take refuge in the arms of Nouronihar, who loved even his faults beyond +the virtues of others. + +It fell out this evening that, after leaving the Caliph in the meadow, +she ran with Gulchenrouz over the green sward of the mountain that +sheltered the vale where Fakreddin had chosen to reside. The sun was +dilated on the edge of the horizon; and the young people, whose fancies +were lively and inventive, imagined they beheld in the gorgeous clouds of +the west the domes of Shadukiam and Amberabad, where the Peris have fixed +their abode. Nouronihar, sitting on the slope of the hill, supported on +her knees the perfumed head of Gulchenrouz; the air was calm, and no +sound stirred but the voices of other young girls, who were drawing cool +water from the streams below. The unexpected arrival of the Caliph, and +the splendour that marked his appearance, had already filled with emotion +the ardent soul of Nouronihar; her vanity irresistibly prompted her to +pique the prince’s attention, and this she before took good care to +effect whilst he picked up the jasmine she had thrown upon him. But when +Gulchenrouz asked after the flowers he had culled for her bosom, +Nouronihar was all in confusion; she hastily kissed his forehead, arose +in a flutter, and walked with unequal steps on the border of the +precipice. Night advanced, and the pure gold of the setting sun had +yielded to a sanguine red, the glow of which, like the reflection of a +burning furnace, flushed Nouronihar’s animated countenance. Gulchenrouz, +alarmed at the agitation of his cousin, said to her with a supplicating +accent: + +“Let us be gone; the sky looks portentous, the tamarisks tremble more +than common, and the raw wind chills my very heart; come! let us be gone; +’tis a melancholy night!” + +Then, taking hold of her hand, he drew it towards the path he besought +her to go. Nouronihar unconsciously followed the attraction, for a +thousand strange imaginations occupied her spirit; she passed the large +round of honeysuckles, her favourite resort, without ever vouchsafing it +a glance, yet Gulchenrouz could not help snatching off a few shoots in +his way, though he ran as if a wild beast were behind. + +The young females seeing him approach in such haste, and according to +custom expecting a dance, instantly assembled in a circle, and took each +other by the hand; but Gulchenrouz, coming up out of breath, fell down at +once on the grass. This accident struck with consternation the whole of +this frolicsome party; whilst Nouronihar, half distracted, and overcome, +both by the violence of her exercise and the tumult of her thoughts, sunk +feebly down at his side, cherished his cold hands in her bosom, and +chafed his temples with a fragrant unguent. At length he came to +himself, and, wrapping up his head in the robe of his cousin, entreated +that she would not return to the harem; he was afraid of being snapped at +by Shaban, his tutor, a wrinkled old eunuch of a surly disposition; for +having interrupted the stated walk of Nouronihar, he dreaded lest the +churl should take it amiss. The whole of this sprightly group, sitting +round upon a mossy knoll, began to entertain themselves with various +pastimes, whilst their superintendents the eunuchs were gravely +conversing at a distance. The nurse of the Emir’s daughter, observing +her pupil sit ruminating with her eyes on the ground, endeavoured to +amuse her with diverting tales, to which Gulchenrouz, who had already +forgotten his inquietudes, listened with a breathless attention; he +laughed, he clapped his hands, and passed a hundred little tricks on the +whole of the company, without omitting the eunuchs, whom he provoked to +run after him, in spite of their age and decrepitude. + +During these occurrences the moon arose, the wind subsided, and the +evening became so serene and inviting, that a resolution was taken to sup +on the spot. Sutlememe, who excelled in dressing a salad, having filled +large bowls of porcelain with eggs of small birds, curds turned with +citron juice, slices of cucumber, and the inmost leaves of delicate +herbs, handed it round from one to another, and gave each their shares in +a large spoon of Cocknos. Gulchenrouz, nestling as usual in the bosom of +Nouronihar, pouted out his vermilion little lips against the offer of +Sutlememe, and would take it only from the hand of his cousin, on whose +mouth he hung like a bee inebriated with the quintessence of flowers. +One of the eunuchs ran to fetch melons, whilst others were employed in +showering down almonds from the branches that overhung this amiable +party. + +In the midst of this festive scene there appeared a light on the top of +the highest mountain, which attracted the notice of every eye; this light +was not less bright than the moon when at full, and might have been taken +for her, had it not been that the moon was already risen. The phenomenon +occasioned a general surprise, and no one could conjecture the cause; it +could not be a fire, for the light was clear and bluish, nor had meteors +ever been seen of that magnitude or splendour. This strange light faded +for a moment, and immediately renewed its brightness; it first appeared +motionless at the foot of the rock, whence it darted in an instant to +sparkle in a thicket of palm-trees; from thence it glided along the +torrent, and at last fixed in a glen that was narrow and dark. The +moment it had taken its direction, Gulchenrouz, whose heart always +trembled at anything sudden or rare, drew Nouronihar by the robe, and +anxiously requested her to return to the harem; the women were +importunate in seconding the entreaty, but the curiosity of the Emir’s +daughter prevailed; she not only refused to go back, but resolved at all +hazards to pursue the appearance. Whilst they were debating what was +best to be done, the light shot forth so dazzling a blaze, that they all +fled away shrieking; Nouronihar followed them a few steps, but, coming to +the turn of a little bye-path, stopped, and went back alone; as she ran +with an alertness peculiar to herself, it was not long before she came to +the place where they had just been supping. The globe of fire now +appeared stationary in the glen, and burned in majestic stillness. +Nouronihar, compressing her hands upon her bosom, hesitated for some +moments to advance; the solitude of her situation was new, the silence of +the night awful, and every object inspired sensations which till then she +never had felt: the affright of Gulchenrouz recurred to her mind, and she +a thousand times turned to go back, but this luminous appearance was +always before her; urged on by an irresistible impulse, she continued to +approach it, in defiance of every obstacle that opposed her progress. + +At length she arrived at the opening of the glen; but, instead of coming +up to the light, she found herself surrounded by darkness, excepting that +at a considerable distance a faint spark glimmered by fits. She stopped +a second time; the sound of water-falls mingling their murmurs, the +hollow rustlings amongst the palm-branches, and the funereal screams of +the birds from their rifted trunks, all conspired to fill her with +terror; she imagined every moment that she trod on some venomous reptile; +all the stories of malignant Dives and dismal Gouls thronged into her +memory; but her curiosity was, notwithstanding, more predominant than her +fears; she therefore firmly entered a winding track that led towards the +spark, but, being a stranger to the path, she had not gone far till she +began to repent of her rashness. + +“Alas!” said she, “that I were but in those secure and illuminated +apartments where my evenings glided on with Gulchenrouz! Dear child! how +would thy heart flutter with terror wert thou wandering in these wild +solitudes like me!” At the close of this apostrophe she regained her +road, and, coming to steps hewn out in the rock, ascended them +undismayed; the light, which was now gradually enlarging, appeared above +her on the summit of the mountain; at length she distinguished a +plaintive and melodious union of voices, proceeding from a sort of +cavern, that resembled the dirges which are sung over tombs; a sound, +likewise, like that which arises from the filling of baths, at the same +time struck her ear; she continued ascending, and discovered large wax +torches in full blaze planted here and there in the fissures of the rock; +this preparation filled her with fear, whilst the subtle and potent odour +which the torches exhaled caused her to sink almost lifeless at the +entrance of the grot. + +Casting her eyes within in this kind of trance, she beheld a large +cistern of gold filled with a water, whose vapour distilled on her face a +dew of the essence of roses; a soft symphony resounded through the grot; +on the sides of the cistern she noticed appendages of royalty, diadems, +and feathers of the heron, all sparkling with carbuncles; whilst her +attention was fixed on this display of magnificence, the music ceased, +and a voice instantly demanded: + +“For what monarch were these torches kindled, this bath prepared, and +these habiliments, which belong, not only to the sovereigns of the earth, +but even to the Talismanic Powers?” + +To which a second voice answered: “They are for the charming daughter of +the Emir Fakreddin.” + +“What,” replied the first, “for that trifler, who consumes her time with +a giddy child, immersed in softness, and who at best can make but an +enervated husband?” + +“And can she,” rejoined the other voice, “be amused with such empty +trifles, whilst the Caliph, the sovereign of the world, he who is +destined to enjoy the treasures of the pre-adamite Sultans, a prince six +feet high, and whose eyes pervade the inmost soul of a female, is +inflamed with the love of her. No! she will be wise enough to answer +that passion alone that can aggrandise her glory; no doubt she will, and +despise the puppet of her fancy. Then all the riches this place +contains, as well as the carbuncle of Giamschid, shall be hers.” + +“You judge right,” returned the first voice, “and I haste to Istakar to +prepare the palace of subterranean fire for the reception of the bridal +pair.” + +The voices ceased, the torches were extinguished, the most entire +darkness succeeded, and Nouronihar, recovering with a start, found +herself reclined on a sofa in the harem of her father. She clapped her +hands, and immediately came together Gulchenrouz and her women, who, in +despair at having lost her, had despatched eunuchs to seek her in every +direction; Shaban appeared with the rest, and began to reprimand her with +an air of consequence: + +“Little impertinent,” said he, “whence got you false keys? or are you +beloved of some Genius that hath given you a pick-lock? I will try the +extent of your power; come, to your chamber! through the two skylights; +and expect not the company of Gulchenrouz; be expeditious! I will shut +you up in the double tower.” + +At these menaces Nouronihar indignantly raised her head, opened on Shaban +her black eyes, which, since the important dialogue of the enchanted +grot, were considerably enlarged, and said: “Go, speak thus to slaves, +but learn to reverence her who is born to give laws, and subject all to +her power.” + +She was proceeding in the same style, but was interrupted by a sudden +exclamation of “The Caliph! The Caliph!” The curtains at once were +thrown open, and the slaves prostrate in double rows, whilst poor little +Gulchenrouz hid himself beneath the elevation of a sofa. At first +appeared a file of black eunuchs, trailing after them long trains of +muslin embroidered with gold, and holding in their hands censers, which +dispensed as they passed the grateful perfume of the wood of aloes; next +marched Bababalouk with a solemn strut, and tossing his head as not +over-pleased at the visit; Vathek came close after, superbly robed; his +gait was unembarrassed and noble, and his presence would have engaged +admiration, though he had not been the sovereign of the world; he +approached Nouronihar with a throbbing heart, and seemed enraptured at +the full effulgence of her radiant eyes, of which he had before caught +but a few glimpses; but she instantly depressed them, and her confusion +augmented her beauty. + +Bababalouk, who was a thorough adept in coincidences of this nature, and +knew that the worst game should be played with the best face, immediately +made a signal for all to retire; and no sooner did he perceive beneath +the sofa the little one’s feet, than he drew him forth without ceremony, +set him upon his shoulders, and lavished on him as he went off a thousand +odious caresses; Gulchenrouz cried out, and resisted till his cheeks +became the colour of the blossom of the pomegranate, and the tears that +started into his eyes shot forth a gleam of indignation; he cast a +significant glance at Nouronihar, which the Caliph noticing, asked: “Is +that then your Gulchenrouz?” + +“Sovereign of the world?” answered she, “spare my cousin, whose innocence +and gentleness deserve not your anger.” + +“Take comfort,” said Vathek, with a smile; “he is in good hands. +Bababalouk is fond of children, and never goes without sweetmeats and +comfits.” + +The daughter of Fakreddin was abashed, and suffered Gulchenrouz to be +borne away without adding a word. The tumult of her bosom betrayed her +confusion; and Vathek, becoming still more impassioned, gave a loose to +his frenzy, which had only not subdued the last faint strugglings of +reluctance, when the Emir, suddenly bursting in, threw his face upon the +ground at the feet of the Caliph, and said: + +“Commander of the Faithful! abase not yourself to the meanness of your +slave.” + +“No, Emir,” replied Vathek; “I raise her to an equality with myself; I +declare her my wife, and the glory of your race shall extend from one +generation to another.” + +“Alas! my lord,” said Fakreddin, as he plucked off the honours of his +beard, “cut short the days of your faithful servant, rather than force +him to depart from his word. Nouronihar, as her hands evince, is +solemnly promised to Gulchenrouz, the son of my brother Ali Hassan; they +are united also in heart, their faith is mutually plighted, and affiances +so sacred cannot be broken.” + +“What then!” replied the Caliph, bluntly, “would you surrender this +divine beauty to a husband more womanish than herself? and can you +imagine that I will suffer her charms to decay in hands so inefficient +and nerveless? No! she is destined to live out her life within my +embraces: such is my will; retire, and disturb not the time I devote to +the homage of her charms.” + +The irritated Emir drew forth his sabre, presented it to Vathek, and +stretching out his neck, said in a firm tone of voice: “Strike your +unhappy host, my lord! he has lived long enough, since he hath seen the +Prophet’s Vicegerent violate the rites of hospitality.” + +At his uttering these words Nouronihar, unable to support any longer the +conflict of her passions, sank down in a swoon. Vathek, both terrified +for her life and furious at an opposition to his will, bade Fakreddin +assist his daughter, and withdrew, darting his terrible look at the +unfortunate Emir, who suddenly fell backward, bathed in a sweat cold as +the damp of death. + +Gulchenrouz, who had escaped from the hands of Bababalouk, and was that +instant returned, called out for help as loudly as he could, not having +strength to afford it himself. Pale and panting, the poor child +attempted to revive Nouronihar by caresses; and it happened that the +thrilling warmth of his lips restored her to life. Fakreddin beginning +also to recover from the look of the Caliph, with difficulty tottered to +a seat, and after warily casting round his eye to see if this dangerous +prince was gone, sent for Shaban and Sutlememe, and said to them apart: + +“My friends! violent evils require as violent remedies; the Caliph has +brought desolation and horror into my family, and how shall we resist his +power? another of his looks will send me to my grave. Fetch then that +narcotic powder which the Dervish brought me from Aracan; a dose of it, +the effect of which will continue three days, must be administered to +each of these children; the Caliph will believe them to be dead, for they +will have all the appearance of death; we shall go as if to inter them in +the cave of Meimoune, at the entrance of the great desert of sand, and +near the cabin of my dwarfs. When all the spectators shall be withdrawn, +you, Shaban, and four select eunuchs, shall convey them to the lake, +where provisions shall be ready to support them a month; for one day +allotted to the surprise this event will occasion, five to the tears, a +fortnight to reflection, and the rest to prepare for renewing his +progress, will, according to my calculation, fill up the whole time that +Vathek will tarry, and I shall then be freed from his intrusion.” + +“Your plan,” said Sutlememe, “is a good one, if it can but be effected. +I have remarked that Nouronihar is well able to support the glances of +the Caliph, and that he is far from being sparing of them to her; be +assured, therefore, notwithstanding her fondness for Gulchenrouz, she +will never remain quiet while she knows him to be here, unless we can +persuade her that both herself and Gulchenrouz are really dead, and that +they were conveyed to those rocks for a limited season to expiate the +little faults of which their love was the cause; we will add that we +killed ourselves in despair, and that your dwarfs, whom they never yet +saw, will preach to them delectable sermons. I will engage that +everything shall succeed to the bent of your wishes.” + +“Be it so!” said Fakreddin. “I approve your proposal; let us lose not a +moment to give it effect.” + +They forthwith hastened to seek for the powder, which, being mixed in a +sherbet, was immediately drank by Gulchenrouz and Nouronihar. Within the +space of an hour both were seized with violent palpitations, and a +general numbness gradually ensued; they arose from the floor, where they +had remained ever since the Caliph’s departure, and, ascending to the +sofa, reclined themselves at full length upon it, clasped in each other’s +embraces. + +“Cherish me, my dear Nouronihar!” said Gulchenrouz; “put thy hand upon my +heart, for it feels as if it were frozen. Alas! thou art as cold as +myself! Hath the Caliph murdered us both with his terrible look?” + +“I am dying!” cried she in a faltering voice; “press me closer; I am +ready to expire!” + +“Let us die then together,” answered the little Gulchenrouz, whilst his +breast laboured with a convulsive sigh; “let me at least breathe forth my +soul on thy lips!” They spoke no more, and became as dead. + +Immediately the most piercing cries were heard through the harem, whilst +Shaban and Sutlememe personated with great adroitness the parts of +persons in despair. The Emir, who was sufficiently mortified to be +forced into such untoward expedients, and had now for the first time made +a trial of his powder, was under no necessity of counterfeiting grief. +The slaves, who had flocked together from all quarters, stood motionless +at the spectacle before them; all lights were extinguished save two +lamps, which shed a wan glimmering over the faces of these lovely +flowers, that seemed to be faded in the spring-time of life; funeral +vestments were prepared, their bodies were washed with rose-water, their +beautiful tresses were braided and incensed, and they were wrapped in +simars whiter than alabaster. At the moment that their attendants were +placing two wreaths of their favourite jasmines on their brows, the +Caliph, who had just heard of the tragical catastrophe, arrived; he +looked not less pale and haggard than the Gouls, that wander at night +among graves; forgetful of himself and every one else, he broke through +the midst of the slaves, fell prostrate at the foot of the sofa, beat his +bosom, called himself “atrocious murderer!” and invoked upon his head a +thousand imprecations; with a trembling hand he raised the veil that +covered the countenance of Nouronihar, and, uttering a loud shriek, fell +lifeless on the floor. The chief of the eunuchs dragged him off with +horrible grimaces, and repeated as he went: “Ay, I foresaw she would play +you some ungracious turn!” + +No sooner was the Caliph gone than the Emir commanded biers to be +brought, and forbad that any one should enter the harem. Every window +was fastened, all instruments of music were broken, and the Imams began +to recite their prayers; towards the close of this melancholy day Vathek +sobbed in silence, for they had been forced to compose with anodynes his +convulsions of rage and desperation. + +At the dawn of the succeeding morning the wide folding doors of the +palace were set open, and the funeral procession moved forward for the +mountain. The wailful cries of “La Ilah illa Allah!” reached to the +Caliph, who was eager to cicatrise himself and attend the ceremonial; nor +could he have been dissuaded, had not his excessive weakness disabled him +from walking; at the few first steps he fell on the ground, and his +people were obliged to lay him on a bed, where he remained many days in +such a state of insensibility, as excited compassion in the Emir himself. + +When the procession was arrived at the grot of Meimoune, Shaban and +Sutlememe dismissed the whole of the train, excepting the four +confidential eunuchs who were appointed to remain. After resting some +moments near the biers, which had been left in the open air, they caused +them to be carried to the brink of a small lake, whose banks were +overgrown with a hoary moss; this was the great resort of herons and +storks, which preyed continually on little blue fishes. The dwarfs, +instructed by the Emir, soon repaired thither, and, with the help of the +eunuchs, began to construct cabins of rushes and reeds, a work in which +they had admirable skill; a magazine also was contrived for provisions, +with a small oratory for themselves, and a pyramid of wood neatly piled, +to furnish the necessary fuel, for the air was bleak in the hollows of +the mountains. + +At evening two fires were kindled on the brink of the lake, and the two +lovely bodies, taken from their biers, were carefully deposited upon a +bed of dried leaves within the same cabin. The dwarfs began to recite +the Koran with their clear shrill voices, and Shaban and Sutlememe stood +at some distance, anxiously waiting the effects of the powder. At length +Nouronihar and Gulchenrouz faintly stretched out their arms, and +gradually opening their eyes, began to survey with looks of increasing +amazement every object around them; they even attempted to rise, but for +want of strength fell back again; Sutlememe on this administered a +cordial, which the Emir had taken care to provide. + +Gulchenrouz, thoroughly aroused, sneezed out aloud, and raising himself +with an effort that expressed his surprise, left the cabin, and inhaled +the fresh air with the greatest avidity. + +“Yes,” said he, “I breathe again! again do I exist! I hear sounds! I +behold a firmament spangled over with stars!” + +Nouronihar, catching these beloved accents, extricated herself from the +leaves, and ran to clasp Gulchenrouz to her bosom. The first objects she +remarked were their long simars, their garlands of flowers, and their +naked feet; she hid her face in her hands to reflect; the vision of the +enchanted bath, the despair of her father, and, more vividly than both, +the majestic figure of Vathek recurred to her memory; she recollected +also that herself and Gulchenrouz had been sick and dying; but all these +images bewildered her mind. Not knowing where she was, she turned her +eyes on all sides, as if to recognise the surrounding scene; this +singular lake, those flames reflected from its glassy surface, the pale +hues of its banks, the romantic cabins, the bulrushes that sadly waved +their drooping heads, the storks whose melancholy cries blended with the +shrill voices of the dwarfs, everything conspired to persuade them that +the Angel of Death had opened the portal of some other world. + +Gulchenrouz on his part, lost in wonder, clung to the neck of his cousin: +he believed himself in the region of phantoms, and was terrified at the +silence she preserved; at length addressing her: + +“Speak,” said he, “where are we? do you not see those spectres that are +stirring the burning coals? are they Monker and Nakir, come to throw us +into them? does the fatal bridge cross this lake, whose solemn stillness +perhaps conceals from us an abyss, in which for whole ages we shall be +doomed incessantly to sink?” + +“No, my children!” said Sutlememe, going towards them, “take comfort! the +exterminating Angel, who conducted our souls hither after yours, hath +assured us that the chastisement of your indolent and voluptuous life +shall be restricted to a certain series of years, which you must pass in +this dreary abode, where the sun is scarcely visible, and where the soil +yields neither fruits nor flowers. These,” continued she, pointing to +the dwarfs, “will provide for our wants, for souls so mundane as ours +retain too strong a tincture of their earthly extraction; instead of +meats your food will be nothing but rice, and your bread shall be +moistened in the fogs that brood over the surface of the lake.” + +At this desolating prospect the poor children burst into tears, and +prostrated themselves before the dwarfs, who perfectly supported their +characters, and delivered an excellent discourse of a customary length +upon the sacred camel, which after a thousand years was to convey them to +the paradise of the faithful. + +The sermon being ended, and ablutions performed, they praised Allah and +the Prophet, supped very indifferently, and retired to their withered +leaves. Nouronihar and her little cousin consoled themselves on finding +that, though dead, they yet lay in one cabin. Having slept well before, +the remainder of the night was spent in conversation on what had befallen +them, and both, from a dread of apparitions, betook themselves for +protection to one another’s arms. + +In the morning, which was lowering and rainy, the dwarfs mounted high +poles like minarets, and called them to prayers; the whole congregation, +which consisted of Sutlememe, Shaban, the four eunuchs, and some storks, +were already assembled. The two children came forth from their cabin +with a slow and dejected pace; as their minds were in a tender and +melancholy mood, their devotions were performed with fervour. No sooner +were they finished, than Gulchenrouz demanded of Sutlememe and the rest, +“how they happened to die so opportunely for his cousin and himself.” + +“We killed ourselves,” returned Sutlememe, “in despair at your death.” + +On this, said Nouronihar, who, notwithstanding what was past, had not yet +forgotten her vision: “And the Caliph! is he also dead of his grief? and +will he likewise come hither?” + +The dwarfs, who were prepared with an answer, most demurely replied: +“Vathek is damned beyond all redemption!” + +“I readily believe so,” said Gulchenrouz, “and I am glad from my heart to +hear it; for I am convinced it was his horrible look that sent us hither +to listen to sermons and mess upon rice.” + +One week passed away on the side of the lake unmarked by any variety; +Nouronihar ruminating on the grandeur of which death had deprived her, +and Gulchenrouz applying to prayers and to panniers, along with the +dwarfs, who infinitely pleased him. + +Whilst this scene of innocence was exhibiting in the mountains, the +Caliph presented himself to the Emir in a new light; the instant he +recovered the use of his senses, with a voice that made Bababalouk quake, +he thundered out: “Perfidious Giaour! I renounce thee for ever! it is +thou who hast slain my beloved Nouronihar! and I supplicate the pardon of +Mahomet, who would have preserved her to me had I been more wise; let +water be brought to perform my ablutions, and let the pious Fakreddin be +called to offer up his prayers with mine, and reconcile me to him; +afterwards we will go together and visit the sepulchre of the unfortunate +Nouronihar; I am resolved to become a hermit, and consume the residue of +my days on this mountain, in hope of expiating my crimes.” + +Nouronihar was not altogether so content, for though she felt a fondness +for Gulchenrouz, who, to augment the attachment, had been left at full +liberty with her, yet she still regarded him as but a bauble, that bore +no competition with the carbuncle of Giamschid. At times she indulged +doubts on the mode of her being, and scarcely could believe that the dead +had all the wants and the whims of the living. To gain satisfaction, +however, on so perplexing a topic, she arose one morning whilst all were +asleep, with a breathless caution, from the side of Gulchenrouz, and, +after having given him a soft kiss, began to follow the windings of the +lake till it terminated with a rock, whose top was accessible, though +lofty; this she clambered up with considerable toil, and having reached +the summit, set forward in a run, like a doe that unwittingly follows her +hunter; though she skipped along with the alertness of an antelope, yet +at intervals she was forced to desist, and rest beneath the tamarisks to +recover her breath. Whilst she, thus reclined, was occupied with her +little reflections on the apprehension that she had some knowledge of the +place, Vathek, who, finding himself that morning but ill at ease, had +gone forth before the dawn, presented himself on a sudden to her view; +motionless with surprise, he durst not approach the figure before him, +which lay shrouded up in a simar, extended on the ground, trembling and +pale, but yet lovely to behold. At length Nouronihar, with a mixture of +pleasure and affliction, raising her fine eyes to him, said: “My lord, +are you come hither to eat rice and hear sermons with me?” + +“Beloved phantom!” cried Vathek; “dost thou speak? hast thou the same +graceful form? the same radiant features? art thou palpable likewise?” +and, eagerly embracing her, added: “here are limbs and a bosom animated +with a gentle warmth! what can such a prodigy mean?” + +Nouronihar with diffidence answered: “You know, my lord, that I died on +the night you honoured me with your visit; my cousin maintains it was +from one of your glances, but I cannot believe him; for to me they seem +not so dreadful. Gulchenrouz died with me, and we were both brought into +a region of desolation, where we are fed with a wretched diet. If you be +dead also, and are come hither to join us, I pity your lot; for you will +be stunned with the noise of the dwarfs and the storks; besides, it is +mortifying in the extreme that you, as well as myself, should have lost +the treasures of the subterranean palace.” + +At the mention of the subterranean palace the Caliph suspended his +caresses, to seek from Nouronihar an explanation of her meaning. She +then recapitulated her vision, what immediately followed, and the history +of her pretended death, adding also a description of the place of +expiation from whence she had fled, and all in a manner that would have +extorted his laughter, had not the thoughts of Vathek been too deeply +engaged. No sooner, however, had she ended, than he again clasped her to +his bosom, and said: + +“Light of my eyes! the mystery is unravelled; we both are alive! your +father is a cheat, who, for the sake of dividing, hath deluded us both; +and the Giaour, whose design, as far as I can discover, is that we shall +proceed together, seems scarce a whit better; it shall be some time at +least before he find us in his palace of fire. Your lovely little person +in my estimation is far more precious than all the treasures of the +pre-adamite Sultans, and I wish to possess it at pleasure, and in open +day, for many a moon, before I go to burrow underground like a mole. +Forget this little trifler, Gulchenrouz, and—” + +“Ah! my lord!” interposed Nouronihar, “let me entreat that you do him no +evil.” + +“No, no!” replied Vathek, “I have already bid you forbear to alarm +yourself for him; he has been brought up too much on milk and sugar to +stimulate my jealousy; we will leave him with the dwarfs, who, by the +bye, are my old acquaintances; their company will suit him far better +than yours. As to other matters, I will return no more to your father’s; +I want not to have my ears dinned by him and his dotards with the +violation of the rites of hospitality; as if it were less an honour for +you to espouse the sovereign of the world than a girl dressed up like a +boy!” + +Nouronihar could find nothing to oppose in a discourse so eloquent; she +only wished the amorous monarch had discovered more ardour for the +carbuncle of Giamschid; but flattered herself it would gradually +increase, and therefore yielded to his will with the most bewitching +submission. + +When the Caliph judged it proper, he called for Bababalouk, who was +asleep in the cave of Meimoune, and dreaming that the phantom of +Nouronihar, having mounted him once more on her swing, had just given him +such a jerk, that he one moment soared above the mountains, and the next +sunk into the abyss; starting from his sleep at the voice of his master, +he ran gasping for breath, and had nearly fallen backward at the sight, +as he believed, of the spectre by whom he had so lately been haunted in +his dream. + +“Ah, my lord!” cried he, recoiling ten steps, and covering his eyes with +both hands: “do you then perform the office of a Goul? ’tis true you have +dug up the dead, yet hope not to make her your prey; for after all she +hath caused me to suffer, she is even wicked enough to prey upon you.” + +“Cease thy folly,” said Vathek, “and thou shalt soon be convinced that it +is Nouronihar herself, alive and well, whom I clasp to my breast; go only +and pitch my tents in the neighbouring valley; there will I fix my abode +with this beautiful tulip, whose colours I soon shall restore; there +exert thy best endeavours to procure whatever can augment the enjoyments +of life, till I shall disclose to thee more of my will.” + +The news of so unlucky an event soon reached the ears of the Emir, who +abandoned himself to grief and despair, and began, as did all his old +grey-beards, to begrime his visage with ashes. A total supineness +ensued, travellers were no longer entertained, no more plaisters were +spread, and, instead of the charitable activity that had distinguished +this asylum, the whole of its inhabitants exhibited only faces of a half +cubit long, and uttered groans that accorded with their forlorn +situation. + +Though Fakreddin bewailed his daughter as lost to him for ever, yet +Gulchenrouz was not forgotten. He despatched immediate instruction to +Sutlememe, Shaban, and the dwarfs, enjoining them not to undeceive the +child in respect to his state, but, under some pretence, to convey him +far from the lofty rock at the extremity of the lake, to a place which he +should appoint, as safer from danger; for he suspected that Vathek +intended him evil. + +Gulchenrouz in the meanwhile was filled with amazement at not finding his +cousin; nor were the dwarfs at all less surprised; but Sutlememe, who had +more penetration, immediately guessed what had happened. Gulchenrouz was +amused with the delusive hope of once more embracing Nouronihar in the +interior recesses of the mountains, where the ground, strewed over with +orange blossoms and jasmines, offered beds much more inviting than the +withered leaves in their cabin, where they might accompany with their +voices the sounds of their lutes, and chase butterflies in concert. +Sutlememe was far gone in this sort of description, when one of the four +eunuchs beckoned her aside to apprise her of the arrival of a messenger +from their fraternity, who had explained the secret of the flight of +Nouronihar, and brought the commands of the Emir. A council with Shaban +and the dwarfs was immediately held; their baggage being stowed in +consequence of it, they embarked in a shallop, and quietly sailed with +the little one, who acquiesced in all their proposals; their voyage +proceeded in the same manner till they came to the place where the lake +sinks beneath the hollow of the rock; but as soon as the bark had entered +it, and Gulchenrouz found himself surrounded with darkness, he was seized +with a dreadful consternation, and incessantly uttered the most piercing +outcries; for he now was persuaded he should actually be damned for +having taken too much freedom in his life-time with his cousin. + +But let us return to the Caliph and her who ruled over his heart. +Bababalouk had pitched the tents, and closed up the extremities of the +valley with magnificent screens of India cloth, which were guarded by +Ethiopian slaves with their drawn sabres; to preserve the verdure of this +beautiful enclosure in its natural freshness, the white eunuchs went +continually round it with their red water-vessels. The waving of fans +was heard near the imperial pavilion, where, by the voluptuous light that +glowed through the muslins, the Caliph enjoyed at full view all the +attractions of Nouronihar. Inebriated with delight, he was all ear to +her charming voice, which accompanied the lute; while she was not less +captivated with his descriptions of Samarah and the tower full of +wonders, but especially with his relation of the adventure of the ball, +and the chasm of the Giaour, with its ebony portal. + +In this manner they conversed for a day and a night; they bathed together +in a basin of black marble, which admirably relieved the fairness of +Nouronihar. Bababalouk, whose good graces this beauty had regained, +spared no attention that their repasts might be served up with the +minutest exactness; some exquisite rarity was ever placed before them; +and he sent even to Schiraz for that fragrant and delicious wine which +had been hoarded up in bottles prior to the birth of Mahomet; he had +excavated little ovens in the rock to bake the nice manchets which were +prepared by the hands of Nouronihar, from whence they had derived a +flavour so grateful to Vathek, that he regarded the ragouts of his other +wives as entirely mawkish; whilst they would have died at the Emir’s of +chagrin at finding themselves so neglected, if Fakreddin, notwithstanding +his resentment, had not taken pity upon them. + +The Sultana Dilara, who till then had been the favourite, took this +dereliction of the Caliph to heart with a vehemence natural to her +character, for during her continuance in favour she had imbibed from +Vathek many of his extravagant fancies, and was fired with impatience to +behold the superb tombs of Istakar, and the palace of forty columns; +besides, having been brought up amongst the Magi, she had fondly +cherished the idea of the Caliph’s devoting himself to the worship of +fire; thus his voluptuous and desultory life with her rival was to her a +double source of affliction. The transient piety of Vathek had +occasioned her some serious alarms, but the present was an evil of far +greater magnitude; she resolved, therefore, without hesitation, to write +to Carathis, and acquaint her that all things went ill; that they had +eaten, slept, and revelled at an old Emir’s, whose sanctity was very +formidable, and that after all, the prospect of possessing the treasures +of the pre-adamite Sultans was no less remote than before. This letter +was entrusted to the care of two wood-men, who were at work on one of the +great forests of the mountains, and, being acquainted with the shortest +cuts, arrived in ten days at Samarah. + +The Princess Carathis was engaged at chess with Morakanabad, when the +arrival of these wood-fellers was announced. She, after some weeks of +Vathek’s absence, had forsaken the upper regions of her tower, because +everything appeared in confusion among the stars, whom she consulted +relative to the fate of her son. In vain did she renew her fumigations, +and extend herself on the roof to obtain mystic visions; nothing more +could she see in her dreams than pieces of brocade, nosegays of flowers, +and other unmeaning gewgaws. These disappointments had thrown her into a +state of dejection, which no drug in her power was sufficient to remove; +her only resource was in Morakanabad, who was a good man, and endowed +with a decent share of confidence, yet whilst in her company he never +thought himself on roses. + +No person knew aught of Vathek, and a thousand ridiculous stories were +propagated at his expense. The eagerness of Carathis may be easily +guessed at receiving the letter, as well as her rage at reading the +dissolute conduct of her son. “Is it so?” said she; “either I will +perish, or Vathek shall enter the palace of fire. Let me expire in +flames, provided he may reign on the throne of Soliman!” Having said +this, and whirled herself round in a magical manner, which struck +Morakanabad with such terror as caused him to recoil, she ordered her +great camel Alboufaki to be brought, and the hideous Nerkes with the +unrelenting Cafour to attend. “I require no other retinue,” said she to +Morakanabad; “I am going on affairs of emergency; a truce therefore to +parade! Take you care of the people; fleece them well in my absence; for +we shall expend large sums, and one knows not what may betide.” + +The night was uncommonly dark, and a pestilential blast ravaged the plain +of Catoul that would have deterred any other traveller, however urgent +the call; but Carathis enjoyed most whatever filled others with dread. +Nerkes concurred in opinion with her, and Cafour had a particular +predilection for a pestilence. In the morning this accomplished caravan, +with the wood-fellers who directed their route, halted on the edge of an +extensive marsh, from whence so noxious a vapour arose as would have +destroyed any animal but Alboufaki, who naturally inhaled these malignant +fogs. The peasants entreated their convoy not to sleep in this place. + +“To sleep,” cried Carathis; “what an excellent thought! I never sleep +but for visions; and, as to my attendants, their occupations are too many +to close the only eye they each have.” + +The poor peasants, who were not over-pleased with their party, remained +open-mouthed with surprise. + +Carathis alighted, as well as her negresses, and severally stripping off +their outer garments, they all ran in their drawers, to cull from those +spots where the sun shone fiercest the venomous plants that grew on the +marsh; this provision was made for the family of the Emir, and whoever +might retard the expedition to Istakar. The wood-men were overcome with +fear when they beheld these three horrible phantoms run, and, not much +relishing the company of Alboufaki, stood aghast at the command of +Carathis to set forward, notwithstanding it was noon, and the heat fierce +enough to calcine even rocks. In spite, however, of every remonstrance, +they were forced implicitly to submit. + +Alboufaki, who delighted in solitude, constantly snorted whenever he +perceived himself near a habitation; and Carathis, who was apt to spoil +him with indulgence, as constantly turned him aside, so that the peasants +were precluded from procuring subsistence; for the milch goats and ewes, +which Providence had sent towards the district they traversed, to refresh +travellers with their milk, all fled at the sight of the hideous animal +and his strange riders. As to Carathis, she needed no common aliment, +for her invention had previously furnished her with an opiate to stay her +stomach, some of which she imparted to her mutes. + +At the fall of night Alboufaki, making a sudden stop, stamped with his +foot, which to Carathis, who understood his paces, was a certain +indication that she was near the confines of some cemetery. The moon +shed a bright light on the spot, which served to discover a long wall, +with a large door in it standing ajar, and so high that Alboufaki might +easily enter. The miserable guides, who perceived their end approaching, +humbly implored Carathis, as she had now so good an opportunity, to inter +them, and immediately gave up the ghost. Nerkes and Cafour, whose wit +was of a style peculiar to themselves, were by no means parsimonious of +it on the folly of these poor people, nor could anything have been found +more suited to their tastes than the site of the burying-ground, and the +sepulchres which its precincts contained; there were at least two +thousand of them on the declivity of a hill: some in the form of +pyramids, others like columns, and, in short, the variety of their shapes +was endless. Carathis was too much immersed in her sublime +contemplations to stop at the view, charming as it appeared in her eyes; +pondering the advantages that might accrue from her present situation, +she could not forbear to exclaim: + +“So beautiful a cemetery must be haunted by Gouls! and they want not for +intelligence; having heedlessly suffered my guides to expire, I will +apply for directions to them, and as an inducement will invite them to +regale on these fresh corpses.” + +After this short soliloquy she beckoned to Nerkes and Cafour, and made +signs with her fingers, as much as to say, “Go, knock against the sides +of the tombs, and strike up your delightful warblings, that are so like +to those of the guests whose company I wish to obtain.” + +The negresses, full of joy at the behests of their mistress, and +promising themselves much pleasure from the society of the Gouls, went +with an air of conquest, and began their knockings at the tombs; as their +strokes were repeated a hollow noise was heard in the earth, the surface +hove up into heaps, and the Gouls on all sides protruded their noses, to +inhale the effluvia which the carcases of the wood-men began to emit. + +They assembled before a sarcophagus of white marble, where Carathis was +seated between the bodies of her miserable guides; the princess received +her visitants with distinguished politeness, and, when supper was ended, +proceeded with them to business. Having soon learnt from them everything +she wished to discover, it was her intention to set forward forthwith on +her journey, but her negresses, who were forming tender connections with +the Gouls, importuned her with all their fingers to wait at least till +the dawn. Carathis, however, being chastity in the abstract, and an +implacable enemy to love and repose, at once rejected their prayer, +mounted Alboufaki, and commanded them to take their seats in a moment; +four days and four nights she continued her route, without turning to the +right hand or left; on the fifth she traversed the mountains and +half-burnt forests, and arrived on the sixth before the beautiful screens +which concealed from all eyes the voluptuous wanderings of her son. + +It was daybreak, and the guards were snoring on their posts in careless +security, when the rough trot of Alboufaki awoke them in consternation. +Imagining that a group of spectres ascended from the abyss was +approaching, they all without ceremony took to their heels. Vathek was +at that instant with Nouronihar in the bath, hearing tales, and laughing +at Bababalouk, who related them; but no sooner did the outcry of his +guards reach him, than he flounced from the water like a carp, and as +soon threw himself back at the sight of Carathis, who, advancing with her +negresses upon Alboufaki, broke through the muslin awnings and veils of +the pavilion; at this sudden apparition Nouronihar (for she was not at +all times free from remorse) fancied that the moment of celestial +vengeance was come, and clung about the Caliph in amorous despondence. + +Carathis, still seated on her camel, foamed with indignation at the +spectacle which obtruded itself on her chaste view; she thundered forth +without check or mercy: “Thou double-headed and four-legged monster! what +means all this winding and writhing? art thou not ashamed to be seen +grasping this limber sapling, in preference to the sceptre of the +pre-adamite Sultans? is it then for this paltry doxy that thou hast +violated the conditions in the parchment of our Giaour? is it on her thou +hast lavished thy precious moments? is this the fruit of the knowledge I +have taught thee? is this the end of thy journey? tear thyself from the +arms of this little simpleton, drown her in the water before me, and +instantly follow my guidance.” + +In the first ebullition of his fury Vathek resolved to make a skeleton of +Alboufaki, and to stuff the skins of Carathis and her blacks; but the +ideas of the Giaour, the palace of Istakar, the sabres and the talismans, +flashing before his imagination with the simultaneousness of lightning, +he became more moderate, and said to his mother, in a civil but decisive +tone: “Dread lady! you shall be obeyed, but I will not drown Nouronihar; +she is sweeter to me than a Myrabolan comfit, and is enamoured of +carbuncles, especially that of Giamschid, which hath also been promised +to be conferred upon her; she therefore shall go along with us, for I +intend to repose with her beneath the canopies of Soliman; I can sleep no +more without her.” + +“Be it so!” replied Carathis, alighting, and at the same time committing +Alboufaki to the charge of her women. + +Nouronihar, who had not yet quitted her hold, began to take courage, and +said, with an accent of fondness to the Caliph: “Dear Sovereign of my +soul! I will follow thee, if it be thy will, beyond the Kaf in the land +of the Afrits; I will not hesitate to climb for thee the nest of the +Simurgh, who, this lady excepted, is the most awful of created +existences.” + +“We have here then,” subjoined Carathis, “a girl both of courage and +science!” + +Nouronihar had certainly both; but, notwithstanding all her firmness, she +could not help casting back a look of regret upon the graces of her +little Gulchenrouz, and the days of tenderness she had participated with +him; she even dropped a few tears, which Carathis observed, and +inadvertently breathed out with a sigh: “Alas! my gentle cousin! what +will become of him!” + +Vathek at this apostrophe knitted up his brows, and Carathis inquired +what it could mean. + +“She is preposterously sighing after a stripling with languishing eyes +and soft hair, who loves her,” said the Caliph. + +“Where is he?” asked Carathis. “I must be acquainted with this pretty +child; for,” added she, lowering her voice, “I design before I depart to +regain the favour of the Giaour; there is nothing so delicious in his +estimation as the heart of a delicate boy, palpitating with the first +tumults of love.” + +Vathek, as he came from the bath, commanded Bababalouk to collect the +women and other movables of his harem, embody his troops, and hold +himself in readiness to march in three days; whilst Carathis retired +alone to a tent, where the Giaour solaced her with encouraging visions; +but at length waking, she found at her feet Nerkes and Cafour, who +informed her by their signs that, having led Alboufaki to the borders of +a lake, to browse on some moss that looked tolerably venomous, they had +discovered certain blue fishes of the same kind with those in the +reservoir on the top of the tower. + +“Ah! ha!” said she, “I will go thither to them; these fish are past doubt +of a species that, by a small operation, I can render oracular; they may +tell me where this little Gulchenrouz is, whom I am bent upon +sacrificing.” Having thus spoken, she immediately set out with her +swarthy retinue. + +It being but seldom that time is lost in the accomplishment of a wicked +enterprise, Carathis and her negresses soon arrived at the lake, where, +after burning the magical drugs with which they were always provided, +they, stripping themselves naked, waded to their chins, Nerkes and Cafour +waving torches around them, and Carathis pronouncing her barbarous +incantations. The fishes with one accord thrust forth their heads from +the water, which was violently rippled by the flutter of their fins, and, +at length finding themselves constrained by the potency of the charm, +they opened their piteous mouths, and said: “From gills to tail we are +yours; what seek ye to know?” + +“Fishes,” answered she, “I conjure you, by your glittering scales, tell +me where now is Gulchenrouz?” + +“Beyond the rock,” replied the shoal in full chorus; “will this content +you? for we do not delight in expanding our mouths.” + +“It will,” returned the princess; “I am not to learn that you like not +long conversations; I will leave you therefore to repose, though I had +other questions to propound.” The instant she had spoken the water +became smooth, and the fishes at once disappeared. + +Carathis, inflated with the venom of her projects, strode hastily over +the rock, and found the amiable Gulchenrouz asleep in an arbour, whilst +the two dwarfs were watching at his side, and ruminating their accustomed +prayers. These diminutive personages possessed the gift of divining +whenever an enemy to good Mussulmans approached; thus they anticipated +the arrival of Carathis, who, stopping short, said to herself: “How +placidly doth he recline his lovely little head! how pale and languishing +are his looks! it is just the very child of my wishes!” + +The dwarfs interrupted this delectable soliloquy by leaping instantly +upon her, and scratching her face with their utmost zeal. But Nerkes and +Cafour, betaking themselves to the succour of their mistress, pinched the +dwarfs so severely in return, that they both gave up the ghost, imploring +Mahomet to inflict his sorest vengeance upon this wicked woman and all +her household. + +At the noise which this strange conflict occasioned in the valley, +Gulchenrouz awoke, and, bewildered with terror, sprung impetuously upon +an old figtree that rose against the acclivity of the rocks; from thence +gained their summits, and ran for two hours without once looking back. +At last, exhausted with fatigue, he fell as if dead into the arms of a +good old Genius, whose fondness for the company of children had made it +his sole occupation to protect them, and who, whilst performing his +wonted rounds through the air, happening on the cruel Giaour at the +instant of his growling in the horrible chasm, rescued the fifty little +victims which the impiety of Vathek had devoted to his maw; these the +Genius brought up in nests still higher than the clouds, and himself +fixed his abode in a nest more capacious than the rest, from which he had +expelled the possessors that had built it. + +These inviolable asylums were defended against the Dives and the Afrits +by waving streamers, on which were inscribed, in characters of gold that +flashed like lightning, the names of Allah and the Prophet. It was there +that Gulchenrouz, who as yet remained undeceived with respect to his +pretended death, thought himself in the mansions of eternal peace, he +admitted without fear the congratulations of his little friends, who were +all assembled in the nest of the venerable Genius, and vied with each +other in kissing his serene forehead and beautiful eyelids. This he +found to be the state congenial to his soul; remote from the inquietudes +of earth, the impertinence of harems, the brutality of eunuchs, and the +lubricity of women: in this peacable society, his days, months, and years +glided on; nor was he less happy than the rest of his companions; for the +Genius, instead of burthening his pupils with perishable riches and the +vain sciences of the world, conferred upon them the boon of perpetual +childhood. + +Carathis, unaccustomed to the loss of her prey, vented a thousand +execrations on her negresses for not seizing the child, instead of +amusing themselves with pinching to death the dwarfs, from which they +could gain no advantage. She returned into the valley murmuring, and +finding that her son was not risen from the arms of Nouronihar, +discharged her ill-humour upon both. The idea, however, of departing +next day for Istakar, and cultivating, through the good offices of the +Giaour, an intimacy with Eblis himself, at length consoled her chagrin. +But Fate had ordained it otherwise. + +In the evening, as Carathis was conversing with Dilara, who, through her +contrivance, had become of the party, and whose taste resembled her own, +Bababalouk came to acquaint her “that the sky towards Samarah looked of a +fiery red, and seemed to portend some alarming disaster.” Immediately, +recurring to her astrolabes and instruments of magic, she took the +altitude of the planets, and discovered by her calculations, to her great +mortification, that a formidable revolt had taken place at Samarah; that +Motavakel, availing himself of the disgust which was inveterate against +his brother, had incited commotions amongst the populace, made himself +master of the palace, and actually invested the great tower, to which +Morakanabad had retired, with a handful of the few that still remained +faithful to Vathek. + +“What!” exclaimed she; “must I lose then my tower! my mutes! my +negresses! my mummies! and, worse than all, the laboratory in which I +have spent so many a night, without knowing at least if my hair-brained +son will complete his adventure? No! I will not be the dupe! +Immediately will I speed to support Morakanabad; by my formidable art the +clouds shall sleet hailstones in the faces of the assailants, and shafts +of red-hot iron on their heads; I will spring mines of serpents and +torpedos from beneath them, and we shall soon see the stand they will +make against such an explosion!” + +Having thus spoken, Carathis hastened to her son, who was tranquilly +banqueting with Nouronihar in his superb carnation-coloured tent. + +“Glutton that thou art!” cried she, “were it not for me, thou wouldst +soon find thyself the commander only of pies. Thy faithful subjects have +abjured the faith they swore to thee; Motavakel, thy brother, now reigns +on the hill of pied horses, and had I not some slight resources in the +tower, would not be easily persuaded to abdicate; but, that time may not +be lost, I shall only add four words: Strike tent to-night, set forward, +and beware how thou loiterest again by the way; though thou hast +forfeited the conditions of the parchment, I am not yet without hope; for +it cannot be denied that thou hast violated to admiration the laws of +hospitality, by seducing the daughter of the Emir, after having partaken +of his bread and his salt. Such a conduct cannot but be delightful to +the Giaour; and if on thy march thou canst signalise thyself by an +additional crime, all will still go well, and thou shalt enter the palace +of Soliman in triumph. Adieu! Alboufaki and my negresses are waiting.” + +The Caliph had nothing to offer in reply; he wished his mother a +prosperous journey, and ate on till he had finished his supper. At +midnight the camp broke up, amidst the flourishing of trumpets and other +martial instruments; but loud indeed must have been the sound of the +tymbals to overpower the blubbering of the Emir and his long-beards, who, +by an excessive profusion of tears, had so far exhausted the radical +moisture, that their eyes shrivelled up in their sockets, and their hairs +dropped off by the roots. Nouronihar, to whom such a symphony was +painful, did not grieve to get out of hearing; she accompanied the Caliph +in the imperial litter, where they amused themselves with imagining the +splendour which was soon to surround them. The other women, overcome +with dejection, were dolefully rocked in their cages, whilst Dilara +consoled herself with anticipating the joy of celebrating the rites of +fire on the stately terraces of Istakar. + +In four days they reached the spacious valley of Rocnabad. The season of +spring was in all its vigour, and the grotesque branches of the almond +trees in full blossom fantastically chequered the clear blue sky; the +earth, variegated with hyacinths and jonquils, breathed forth a fragrance +which diffused through the soul a divine repose; myriads of bees, and +scarce fewer of Santons, had there taken up their abode; on the banks of +the stream hives and oratories were alternately ranged, and their +neatness and whiteness were set off by the deep green of the cypresses +that spired up amongst them. These pious personages amused themselves +with cultivating little gardens that abounded with flowers and fruits, +especially musk-melons of the best flavour that Persia could boast; +sometimes dispersed over the meadow, they entertained themselves with +feeding peacocks whiter than snow, and turtles more blue than the +sapphire; in this manner were they occupied when the harbingers of the +imperial procession began to proclaim: “Inhabitants of Rocnabad! +prostrate yourselves on the brink of your pure waters, and tender your +thanksgivings to Heaven, that vouchsafeth to show you a ray of its glory; +for lo! the Commander of the Faithful draws near.” + +The poor Santons, filled with holy energy, having bustled to light up wax +torches in their oratories and expand the Koran on their ebony desks, +went forth to meet the Caliph with baskets of honeycomb, dates, and +melons. But, whilst they were advancing in solemn procession and with +measured steps, the horses, camels, and guards wantoned over their tulips +and other flowers, and made a terrible havoc amongst them. The Santons +could not help casting from one eye a look of pity on the ravages +committing around them, whilst the other was fixed upon the Caliph and +heaven. Nouronihar, enraptured with the scenery of a place which brought +back to her remembrance the pleasing solitudes where her infancy had +passed, entreated Vathek to stop; but he, suspecting that each oratory +might be deemed by the Giaour a distinct habitation, commanded his +pioneers to level them all; the Santons stood motionless with horror at +the barbarous mandate, and at last broke out into lamentations; but these +were uttered with so ill a grace, that Vathek bade his eunuchs to kick +them from his presence. He then descended from the litter with +Nouronihar; they sauntered together in the meadow, and amused themselves +with culling flowers, and passing a thousand pleasantries on each other. +But the bees, who were staunch Mussulmans, thinking it their duty to +revenge the insult on their dear masters the Santons, assembled so +zealously to do it with effect, that the Caliph and Nouronihar were glad +to find their tents prepared to receive them. + +Bababalouk, who in capacity of purveyor had acquitted himself with +applause as to peacocks and turtles, lost no time in consigning some +dozens to the spit, and as many more to be fricasseed. Whilst they were +feasting, laughing, carousing, and blaspheming at pleasure on the banquet +so liberally furnished, the Moullahs, the Sheiks, the Cadis and Imams of +Schiraz (who seemed not to have met the Santons) arrived, leading by +bridles of riband inscribed from the Koran, a train of asses, which were +loaded with the choicest fruits the country could boast; having presented +their offerings to the Caliph, they petitioned him to honour their city +and mosques with his presence. + +“Fancy not,” said Vathek, “that you can detain me; your presents I +condescend to accept, but beg you will let me be quiet, for I am not +over-fond of resisting temptation; retire, then; yet, as it is not decent +for personages so reverend to return on foot, and as you have not the +appearance of expert riders, my eunuchs shall tie you on your asses, with +the precaution that your backs be not turned towards me, for they +understand etiquette.” + +In this deputation were some high-stomached Sheiks, who, taking Vathek +for a fool, scrupled not to speak their opinion. These Bababalouk girded +with double cords, and, having well disciplined their asses with nettles +behind, they all started with a preternatural alertness, plunging, +kicking, and running foul of each other in the most ludicrous manner +imaginable. + +Nouronihar and the Caliph mutually contended who should most enjoy so +degrading a sight; they burst out in volleys of laughter to see the old +men and their asses fall into the stream; the leg of one was fractured, +the shoulder of another dislocated, the teeth of a third dashed out, and +the rest suffered still worse. + +Two days more, undisturbed by fresh embassies, having been devoted to the +pleasures of Rocnabad, the expedition proceeded, leaving Shiraz on the +right, and verging towards a large plain, from whence were discernible on +the edge of the horizon the dark summits of the mountains of Istakar. + +At this prospect the Caliph and Nouronihar were unable to repress their +transports; they bounded from their litter to the ground, and broke forth +into such wild exclamations, as amazed all within hearing. Interrogating +each other, they shouted, “Are we not approaching the radiant palace of +light? or gardens more delightful than those of Sheddad?” Infatuated +mortals! they thus indulged delusive conjecture, unable to fathom the +decrees of the Most High! + +The good Genii, who had not totally relinquished the superintendence of +Vathek, repairing to Mahomet in the seventh heaven, said: “Merciful +Prophet! stretch forth thy propitious arms towards thy Vicegerent, who is +ready to fall irretrievably into the snare which his enemies, the Dives, +have prepared to destroy him; the Giaour is awaiting his arrival in the +abominable palace of fire, where, if he once set his foot, his perdition +will be inevitable.” + +Mahomet answered with an air of indignation: “He hath too well deserved +to be resigned to himself, but I permit you to try if one effort more +will be effectual to divert him from pursuing his ruin.” + +One of these beneficent Genii, assuming without delay the exterior of a +shepherd, more renowned for his piety than all the Dervises and Santons +of the region, took his station near a flock of white sheep on the slope +of a hill, and began to pour forth from his flute such airs of pathetic +melody as subdued the very soul, and, awakening remorse, drove far from +it every frivolous fancy. At these energetic sounds the sun hid himself +beneath a gloomy cloud, and the waters of two little lakes, that were +naturally clearer than crystal, became of a colour like blood. The whole +of this superb assembly was involuntarily drawn towards the declivity of +the hill; with downcast eyes they all stood abashed, each upbraiding +himself with the evil he had done; the heart of Dilara palpitated, and +the chief of the eunuchs with a sigh of contrition implored pardon of the +women, whom for his own satisfaction he had so often tormented. + +Vathek and Nouronihar turned pale in their litter, and, regarding each +other with haggard looks, reproached themselves—the one with a thousand +of the blackest crimes, a thousand projects of impious ambition—the other +with the desolation of her family, and the perdition of the amiable +Gulchenrouz. Nouronihar persuaded herself that she heard in the fatal +music the groans of her dying father, and Vathek the sobs of the fifty +children he had sacrificed to the Giaour. Amidst these complicated pangs +of anguish they perceived themselves impelled towards the shepherd, whose +countenance was so commanding, that Vathek for the first time felt +overawed, whilst Nouronihar concealed her face with her hands. + +The music paused, and the Genius, addressing the Caliph, said: “Deluded +Prince! to whom Providence hath confided the care of innumerable +subjects, is it thus that thou fulfillest thy mission? Thy crimes are +already completed, and art thou now hastening towards thy punishment? +Thou knowest that beyond these mountains Eblis and his accursed Dives +hold their infernal empire; and, seduced by a malignant phantom, thou art +proceeding to surrender thyself to them! This moment is the last of +grace allowed thee; abandon thy atrocious purpose; return; give back +Nouronihar to her father, who still retains a few sparks of life; destroy +thy tower with all its abominations; drive Carathis from thy councils; be +just to thy subjects; respect the ministers of the Prophet; compensate +for thy impieties by an exemplary life; and, instead of squandering thy +days in voluptuous indulgence, lament thy crimes on the sepulchres of thy +ancestors. Thou beholdest the clouds that obscure the sun; at the +instant he recovers his splendour, if thy heart be not changed, the time +of mercy assigned thee will be past for ever.” + +Vathek, depressed with fear, was on the point of prostrating himself at +the feet of the shepherd, whom he perceived to be of a nature superior to +man; but, his pride prevailing, he audaciously lifted his head, and, +glancing at him one of his terrible looks, said: “Whoever thou art, +withhold thy useless admonitions; thou wouldst either delude me, or art +thyself deceived. If what I have done be so criminal as thou pretendest, +there remains not for me a moment of grace; I have traversed a sea of +blood to acquire a power which will make thy equals tremble; deem not +that I shall retire when in view of the port, or that I will relinquish +her who is dearer to me than either my life or thy mercy. Let the sun +appear! let him illumine my career! it matters not where it may end.” On +uttering these words, which made even the Genius shudder, Vathek threw +himself into the arms of Nouronihar, and commanded that his horse should +be forced back to the road. + +There was no difficulty in obeying these orders, for the attraction had +ceased; the sun shone forth in all his glory, and the shepherd vanished +with a lamentable scream. + +The fatal impression of the music of the Genius remained, +notwithstanding, in the heart of Vathek’s attendants; they viewed each +other with looks of consternation; at the approach of night almost all of +them escaped, and of this numerous assemblage there only remained the +chief of the eunuchs, some idolatrous slaves, Dilara and a few other +women, who, like herself, were votaries of the religion of the Magi. + +The Caliph, fired with the ambition of prescribing laws to the +Intelligences of Darkness, was but little embarrassed at this +dereliction; the impetuosity of his blood prevented him from sleeping, +nor did he encamp any more as before. Nouronihar, whose impatience, if +possible, exceeded his own, importuned him to hasten his march, and +lavished on him a thousand caresses to beguile all reflection; she +fancied herself already more potent than Balkis, and pictured to her +imagination the Genii falling prostrate at the foot of her throne. In +this manner they advanced by moonlight, till they came within view of the +two towering rocks that form a kind of portal to the valley, at whose +extremity rose the vast ruins of Istakar. Aloft on the mountain +glimmered the fronts of various royal mausoleums, the horror of which was +deepened by the shadows of night. They passed through two villages +almost deserted, the only inhabitants remaining being a few feeble old +men, who, at the sight of horses and litters, fell upon their knees and +cried out: + +“O Heaven! is it then by these phantoms that we have been for six months +tormented? Alas! it was from the terror of these spectres and the noise +beneath the mountains, that our people have fled, and left us at the +mercy of maleficent spirits!” + +The Caliph, to whom these complaints were but unpromising auguries, drove +over the bodies of these wretched old men, and at length arrived at the +foot of the terrace of black marble; there he descended from his litter, +handing down Nouronihar; both with beating hearts stared wildly around +them, and expected with an apprehensive shudder the approach of the +Giaour; but nothing as yet announced his appearance. + +A death-like stillness reigned over the mountain and through the air; the +moon dilated on a vast platform the shades of the lofty columns, which +reached from the terrace almost to the clouds; the gloomy watch-towers, +whose numbers could not be counted, were veiled by no roof, and their +capitals, of an architecture unknown in the records of the earth, served +as an asylum for the birds of darkness, which, alarmed at the approach of +such visitants, fled away croaking. + +The chief of the eunuchs, trembling with fear, besought Vathek that a +fire might be kindled. + +“No!” replied he, “there is no time left to think of such trifles; abide +where thou art, and expect my commands.” + +Having thus spoken, he presented his hand to Nouronihar, and, ascending +the steps of a vast staircase, reached the terrace, which was flagged +with squares of marble, and resembled a smooth expanse of water, upon +whose surface not a leaf ever dared to vegetate; on the right rose the +watch-towers, ranged before the ruins of an immense palace, whose walls +were embossed with various figures; in front stood forth the colossal +forms of four creatures, composed of the leopard and the griffin; and, +though but of stone, inspired emotions of terror; near these were +distinguished by the splendour of the moon, which streamed full on the +place, characters like those on the sabres of the Giaour, that possessed +the same virtue of changing every moment; these, after vacillating for +some time, at last fixed in Arabic letters, and prescribed to the Caliph +the following words: + +“Vathek! thou hast violated the conditions of my parchment, and deservest +to be sent back; but, in favour to thy companion, and as the meed for +what thou hast done to obtain it, EBLIS permitteth that the portal of his +palace shall be opened, and the subterranean fire will receive thee into +the number of its adorers.” + +He scarcely had read these words before the mountain against which the +terrace was reared trembled, and the watch-towers were ready to topple +headlong upon them; the rock yawned, and disclosed within it a staircase +of polished marble that seemed to approach the abyss; upon each stair +were planted two large torches, like those Nouronihar had seen in her +vision, the camphorated vapour ascending from which gathered into a cloud +under the hollow of the vault. + +This appearance, instead of terrifying, gave new courage to the daughter +of Fakreddin. Scarcely deigning to bid adieu to the moon and the +firmament, she abandoned without hesitation the pure atmosphere to plunge +into these infernal exhalations. The gait of those impious personages +was haughty and determined; as they descended by the effulgence of the +torches they gazed on each other with mutual admiration, and both +appeared so resplendent, that they already esteemed themselves spiritual +Intelligences; the only circumstance that perplexed them was their not +arriving at the bottom of the stairs; on hastening their descent with an +ardent impetuosity, they felt their steps accelerated to such a degree, +that they seemed not walking, but falling from a precipice. Their +progress, however, was at length impeded by a vast portal of ebony, which +the Caliph without difficulty recognised; here the Giaour awaited them +with the key in his hand. + +“Ye are welcome,” said he to them, with a ghastly smile, “in spite of +Mahomet and all his dependants. I will now admit you into that palace +where you have so highly merited a place.” + +Whilst he was uttering these words he touched the enamelled lock with his +key, and the doors at once expanded, with a noise still louder than the +thunder of mountains, and as suddenly recoiled the moment they had +entered. + +The Caliph and Nouronihar beheld each other with amazement, at finding +themselves in a place which, though roofed with a vaulted ceiling, was so +spacious and lofty that at first they took it for an immeasurable plain. +But their eyes at length growing familiar to the grandeur of the objects +at hand, they extended their view to those at a distance, and discovered +rows of columns and arcades, which gradually diminished till they +terminated in a point, radiant as the sun when he darts his last beams +athwart the ocean; the pavement, strewed over with gold dust and saffron, +exhaled so subtle an odour as almost overpowered them; they, however, +went on, and observed an infinity of censers, in which ambergris and the +wood of aloes were continually burning; between the several columns were +placed tables, each spread with a profusion of viands, and wines of every +species sparkling in vases of crystal. A throng of Genii and other +fantastic spirits of each sex danced in troops, at the sound of music +which issued from beneath. + +In the midst of this immense hall a vast multitude was incessantly +passing, who severally kept their right hands on their hearts, without +once regarding anything around them; they had all the livid paleness of +death; their eyes, deep sunk in their sockets, resembled those phosphoric +meteors that glimmer by night in places of interment. Some stalked +slowly on, absorbed in profound reverie; some, shrieking with agony, ran +furiously about, like tigers wounded with poisoned arrows; whilst others, +grinding their teeth in rage, foamed along, more frantic than the wildest +maniac. They all avoided each other, and, though surrounded by a +multitude that no one could number, each wandered at random, unheedful of +the rest, as if alone on a desert which no foot had trodden. + +Vathek and Nouronihar, frozen with terror at a sight so baleful, demanded +of the Giaour what these appearances might mean, and why these ambulating +spectres never withdrew their hands from their hearts. + +“Perplex not yourselves,” replied he bluntly, “with so much; at once you +will soon be acquainted with all; let us haste and present you to Eblis.” + +They continued their way through the multitude but, notwithstanding their +confidence at first, they were not sufficiently composed to examine with +attention the various perspectives of halls and of galleries that opened +on the right hand and left, which were all illuminated by torches and +braziers, whose flames rose in pyramids to the centre of the vault. At +length they came to a place where long curtains, brocaded with crimson +and gold, fell from all parts in striking confusion; here the choirs and +dances were heard no longer; the light which glimmered came from afar. + +After some time Vathek and Nouronihar perceived a gleam brightening +through the drapery, and entered a vast tabernacle carpeted with the +skins of leopards; an infinity of elders with streaming beards, and +Afrits in complete armour, had prostrated themselves before the ascent of +a lofty eminence, on the top of which, upon a globe of fire, sat the +formidable Eblis. His person was that of a young man, whose noble and +regular features seemed to have been tarnished by malignant vapours; in +his large eyes appeared both pride and despair; his flowing hair retained +some resemblance to that of an angel of light; in his hand, which thunder +had blasted, he swayed the iron sceptre that causes the monster +Ouranabad, the Afrits, and all the powers of the abyss to tremble; at his +presence the heart of the Caliph sank within him, and for the first time +he fell prostrate on his face. Nouronihar, however, though greatly +dismayed, could not help admiring the person of Eblis; for she expected +to have seen some stupendous giant. Eblis, with a voice more mild than +might be imagined, but such as transfused through the soul the deepest +melancholy, said: + +“Creatures of clay, I receive you into mine empire; ye are numbered +amongst my adorers; enjoy whatever this palace affords; the treasures of +the pre-adamite Sultans, their bickering sabres, and those talismans that +compel the Dives to open the subterranean expanses of the mountain of +Kaf, which communicate with these; there, insatiable as your curiosity +may be, shall you find sufficient to gratify it; you shall possess the +exclusive privilege of entering the fortress of Aherman, and the halls of +Argenk, where are portrayed all creatures endowed with intelligence, and +the various animals that inhabited the earth prior to the creation of +that contemptible being whom ye denominate the Father of Mankind.” + +Vathek and Nouronihar, feeling themselves revived and encouraged by this +harangue, eagerly said to the Giaour: + +“Bring us instantly to the place which contains these precious +talismans.” + +“Come!” answered this wicked Dive, with his malignant grin, “come! and +possess all that my sovereign hath promised, and more.” + +He then conducted them into a long aisle adjoining the tabernacle, +preceding them with hasty steps, and followed by his disciples with the +utmost alacrity. They reached, at length, a hall of great extent, and +covered with a lofty dome, around which appeared fifty portals of bronze, +secured with as many fastenings of iron; a funereal gloom prevailed over +the whole scene; here, upon two beds of incorruptible cedar, lay +recumbent the fleshless forms of the pre-adamite kings, who had been +monarchs of the whole earth; they still possessed enough of life to be +conscious of their deplorable condition; their eyes retained a melancholy +motion; they regarded each other with looks of the deepest dejection; +each holding his right hand motionless on his heart; at their feet were +inscribed the events of their several reigns, their power, their pride, +and their crimes; Soliman Raad, Soliman Daki, and Soliman Di Gian Ben +Gian, who, after having chained up the Dives in the dark caverns of Kaf, +became so presumptuous as to doubt of the Supreme Power; all these +maintained great state, though not to be compared with the eminence of +Soliman Ben Daoud. + +This king, so renowned for his wisdom, was on the loftiest elevation, and +placed immediately under the dome; he appeared to possess more animation +than the rest; though from time to time he laboured with profound sighs, +and, like his companions, kept his right hand on his heart; yet his +countenance was more composed, and he seemed to be listening to the +sullen roar of a vast cataract, visible in part through the grated +portals: this was the only sound that intruded on the silence of these +doleful mansions. A range of brazen vases surrounded the elevation. + +“Remove the covers from these cabalistic depositories,” said the Giaour +to Vathek, “and avail thyself of the talismans, which will break asunder +all these gates of bronze; and not only render thee master of the +treasures contained within them, but also of the spirits by which they +are guarded.” + +The Caliph, whom this ominous preliminary had entirely disconcerted, +approached the vases with faltering footsteps, and was ready to sink with +terror when he heard the groans of Soliman. As he proceeded a voice from +the livid lips of the Prophet articulated these words: + +“In my life-time I filled a magnificent throne, having on my right hand +twelve thousand seats of gold, where the patriarchs and the prophets +heard my doctrines; on my left the sages and doctors, upon as many +thrones of silver, were present at all my decisions. Whilst I thus +administered justice to innumerable multitudes, the birds of the air +librating over me served as a canopy from the rays of the sun; my people +flourished, and my palace rose to the clouds; I erected a temple to the +Most High, which was the wonder of the universe; but I basely suffered +myself to be seduced by the love of women, and a curiosity that could not +be restrained by sublunary things; I listened to the counsels of Aherman +and the daughter of Pharaoh, and adored fire and the hosts of heaven; I +forsook the holy city, and commanded the Genii to rear the stupendous +palace of Istakar, and the terrace of the watch-towers, each of which was +consecrated to a star; there for a while I enjoyed myself in the zenith +of glory and pleasure; not only men, but supernatural existences were +subject also to my will. I began to think, as these unhappy monarchs +around had already thought, that the vengeance of Heaven was asleep; when +at once the thunder burst my structures asunder and precipitated me +hither; where, however, I do not remain, like the other inhabitants, +totally destitute of hope, for an angel of light hath revealed that, in +consideration of the piety of my early youth, my woes shall come to an +end when this cataract shall for ever cease to flow; till then I am in +torments, ineffable torments! an unrelenting fire preys on my heart.” + +Having uttered this exclamation, Soliman raised his hands towards heaven, +in token of supplication, and the Caliph discerned through his bosom, +which was transparent as crystal, his heart enveloped in flames. At a +sight so full of horror Nouronihar fell back, like one petrified, into +the arms of Vathek, who cried out with a convulsive sob: + +“O Giaour! whither hast thou brought us? Allow us to depart, and I will +relinquish all thou hast promised. O Mahomet! remains there no more +mercy?” + +“None! none!” replied the malicious Dive. “Know, miserable prince! thou +art now in the abode of vengeance and despair; thy heart also will be +kindled, like those of the other votaries of Eblis. A few days are +allotted thee previous to this fatal period; employ them as thou wilt; +recline on these heaps of gold; command the Infernal Potentates; range at +thy pleasure through these immense subterranean domains; no barrier shall +be shut against thee; as for me, I have fulfilled my mission; I now leave +thee to thyself.” At these words he vanished. + +The Caliph and Nouronihar remained in the most abject affliction; their +tears unable to flow, scarcely could they support themselves. At length, +taking each other despondingly by the hand, they went faltering from this +fatal hall, indifferent which way they turned their steps; every portal +opened at their approach; the Dives fell prostrate before them; every +reservoir of riches was disclosed to their view; but they no longer felt +the incentives of curiosity, pride, or avarice. With like apathy they +heard the chorus of Genii, and saw the stately banquets prepared to +regale them; they went wandering on from chamber to chamber, hall to +hall, and gallery to gallery, all without bounds or limit, all +distinguishable by the same lowering gloom, all adorned with the same +awful grandeur, all traversed by persons in search of repose and +consolation, but who sought them in vain; for every one carried within +him a heart tormented in flames: shunned by these various sufferers, who +seemed by their looks to be upbraiding the partners of their guilt, they +withdrew from them to wait in direful suspense the moment which should +render them to each other the like objects of terror. + +“What!” exclaimed Nouronihar; “will the time come when I shall snatch my +hand from thine!” + +“Ah!” said Vathek; “and shall my eyes ever cease to drink from thine long +draughts of enjoyment! Shall the moments of our reciprocal ecstasies be +reflected on with horror? It was not thou that broughtest me hither; the +principles by which Carathis perverted my youth have been the sole cause +of my perdition!” Having given vent to these painful expressions, he +called to an Afrit, who was stirring up one of the braziers, and bade him +fetch the Princess Carathis from the palace of Samarah. + +After issuing these orders, the Caliph and Nouronihar continued walking +amidst the silent crowd, till they heard voices at the end of the +gallery; presuming them to proceed from some unhappy beings, who, like +themselves, were awaiting their final doom, they followed the sound, and +found it to come from a small square chamber, where they discovered +sitting on sofas five young men of goodly figure, and a lovely female, +who were all holding a melancholy conversation by the glimmering of a +lonely lamp; each had a gloomy and forlorn air, and two of them were +embracing each other with great tenderness. On seeing the Caliph and the +daughter of Fakreddin enter, they arose, saluted, and gave them place; +then he who appeared the most considerable of the group addressed himself +thus to Vathek: + +“Strangers! who doubtless are in the same state of suspense with +ourselves, as you do not yet bear your hands on your hearts, if you are +come hither to pass the interval allotted previous to the infliction of +our common punishment, condescend to relate the adventures that have +brought you to this fatal place, and we in return will acquaint you with +ours, which deserve but too well to be heard; we will trace back our +crimes to their source, though we are not permitted to repent; this is +the only employment suited to wretches like us!” + +The Caliph and Nouronihar assented to the proposal, and Vathek began, not +without tears and lamentations, a sincere recital of every circumstance +that had passed. When the afflicting narrative was closed, the young man +entered on his own. Each person proceeded in order, and when the fourth +prince had reached the midst of his adventures, a sudden noise +interrupted him, which caused the vault to tremble and to open. + +Immediately a cloud descended, which gradually dissipating, discovered +Carathis on the back of an Afrit, who grievously complained of his +burden. She, instantly springing to the ground, advanced towards her +son, and said: + +“What dost thou here in this little square chamber? As the Dives are +become subject to thy beck, I expected to have found thee on the throne +of the pre-adamite kings.” + +“Execrable woman!” answered the Caliph; “cursed be the day thou gavest me +birth! go, follow this Afrit; let him conduct thee to the hall of the +Prophet Soliman, there thou wilt learn to what these palaces are +destined, and how much I ought to abhor the impious knowledge thou hast +taught me.” + +“The height of power to which thou art arrived has certainly turned thy +brain,” answered Carathis; “but I ask no more than permission to show my +respect for the Prophet. It is, however, proper thou shouldest know, +that (as the Afrit has informed me neither of us shall return to Samarah) +I requested his permission to arrange my affairs, and he politely +consented; availing myself, therefore, of the few moments allowed me, I +set fire to the tower, and consumed in it the mutes, negresses, and +serpents which have rendered me so much good service; nor should I have +been less kind to Morakanabad, had he not prevented me by deserting at +last to thy brother. As for Bababalouk, who had the folly to return to +Samarah, and all the good brotherhood to provide husbands for thy wives, +I undoubtedly would have put them to the torture, could I but have +allowed them the time; being, however, in a hurry, I only hung him after +having caught him in a snare with thy wives, whilst them I buried alive +by the help of my negresses, who thus spent their last moments greatly to +their satisfaction. With respect to Dilara, who ever stood high in my +favour, she hath evinced the greatness of her mind by fixing herself near +in the service of one of the Magi, and I think will soon be our own.” + +Vathek, too much cast down to express the indignation excited by such a +discourse, ordered the Afrit to remove Carathis from his presence, and +continued immersed in thought, which his companion durst not disturb. + +Carathis, however, eagerly entered the dome of Soliman, and, without +regarding in the least the groans of the Prophet, undauntedly removed the +covers of the vases, and violently seized on the talismans; then, with a +voice more loud than had hitherto been heard within these mansions, she +compelled the Dives to disclose to her the most secret treasures, the +most profound stores, which the Afrit himself had not seen; she passed by +rapid descents, known only to Eblis and his most favoured potentates, and +thus penetrated the very entrails of the earth, where breathes the +Sansar, or icy wind of death; nothing appalled her dauntless soul; she +perceived, however, in all the inmates who bore their hands on their +hearts a little singularity, not much to her taste. As she was emerging +from one of the abysses, Eblis stood forth to her view; but, +notwithstanding he displayed the full effulgence of his infernal majesty, +she preserved her countenance unaltered, and even paid her compliments +with considerable firmness. + +This superb monarch thus answered: “Princess, whose knowledge and whose +crimes have merited a conspicuous rank in my empire, thou dost well to +employ the leisure that remains; for the flames and torments, which are +ready to seize on thy heart, will not fail to provide thee with full +employment.” He said this, and was lost in the curtains of his +tabernacle. + +Carathis paused for a moment with surprise; but, resolved to follow the +advice of Eblis, she assembled all the choirs of Genii, and all the +Dives, to pay her homage; thus marched she in triumph through a vapour of +perfumes, amidst the acclamations of all the malignant spirits, with most +of whom she had formed a previous acquaintance; she even attempted to +dethrone one of the Solimans for the purpose of usurping his place, when +a voice, proceeding from the abyss of Death, proclaimed, “All is +accomplished!” Instantaneously the haughty forehead of the intrepid +princess was corrugated with agony; she uttered a tremendous yell, and +fixed, no more to be withdrawn, her right hand upon her heart, which was +become a receptacle of eternal fire. + +In this delirium, forgetting all ambitious projects and her thirst for +that knowledge which should ever be hidden from mortals, she overturned +the offerings of the Genii, and, having execrated the hour she was +begotten and the womb that had borne her, glanced off in a whirl that +rendered her invisible, and continued to revolve without intermission. + +At almost the same instant the same voice announced to the Caliph, +Nouronihar, the five princes, and the princess, the awful and irrevocable +decree. Their hearts immediately took fire, and they at once lost the +most precious of the gifts of Heaven—Hope. These unhappy beings recoiled +with looks of the most furious distraction; Vathek beheld in the eyes of +Nouronihar nothing but rage and vengeance, nor could she discern aught in +his but aversion and despair. The two princes who were friends, and till +that moment had preserved their attachment, shrank back, gnashing their +teeth with mutual and unchangeable hatred. Kalilah and his sister made +reciprocal gestures of imprecation, whilst the two other princes +testified their horror for each other by the most ghastly convulsions, +and screams that could not be smothered. All severally plunged +themselves into the accursed multitude, there to wander in an eternity of +unabating anguish. + +Such was, and such should be, the punishment of unrestrained passions and +atrocious actions! Such is, and such should be, the chastisement of +blind ambition, that would transgress those bounds which the Creator hath +prescribed to human knowledge; and, by aiming at discoveries reserved for +pure Intelligence, acquire that infatuated pride, which perceives not +that the condition appointed to man is to be ignorant and humble. + +Thus the Caliph Vathek, who, for the sake of empty pomp and forbidden +power, had sullied himself with a thousand crimes, became a prey to grief +without end, and remorse without mitigation; whilst the humble and +despised Gulchenrouz passed whole ages in undisturbed tranquillity, and +the pure happiness of childhood. + + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HISTORY OF THE CALIPH VATHEK*** + + +******* This file should be named 2060-0.txt or 2060-0.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/0/6/2060 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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