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diff --git a/old/cvthk10.txt b/old/cvthk10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b5dc2dd --- /dev/null +++ b/old/cvthk10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4233 @@ +Project Gutenberg Etext The History of Caliph Vathek, by Beckford + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +This etext was prepared by David Price, email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk +from the 1887 Cassell and Company edition. + + + + + +THE HISTORY OF THE CALIPH VATHEK + + + + +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 +lifetime 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 out +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 Preadamite 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 heards 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 it 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 a 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 a la creme, 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 Pegu 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 filed 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 woodmen 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 Project Gutenberg Etext The History of Caliph Vathek, by Beckford + |