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diff --git a/34766.txt b/34766.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..43c5fa9 --- /dev/null +++ b/34766.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14181 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Shorter Novels, Eighteenth Century, by +Samuel Johnson and Horace Walpole and William Beckford + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Shorter Novels, Eighteenth Century + The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia; The Castle + of Otranto, a Gothic Story; Vathek, an Arabian Tale + +Author: Samuel Johnson + Horace Walpole + William Beckford + +Editor: Ernest Rhys + +Release Date: December 27, 2010 [EBook #34766] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SHORTER NOVELS, EIGHTEENTH CENTURY *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Lybarger, Brian Janes, S.D., and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Transcriber's Note: + +Greek and Hebrew have been transliterated and appear within {braces} and +\backslashes\, respectively. Upright text used for emphasis within +italicized passages is indicated with |vertical bars|. + +For detailed information about the corrections and changes made, see the +end of the text. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + + + + Everyman, I will go with thee, and be thy guide, + In thy most need to go by thy side. + + EVERYMAN'S LIBRARY + + Founded 1906 by J. M. Dent (d. 1926) + Edited by Ernest Rhys (d. 1946) + + No. 856 + + FICTION + + SHORTER NOVELS + INTRODUCTION AND NOTES BY + PHILIP HENDERSON . IN 3 VOLS. + VOL. 3 . EIGHTEENTH CENTURY + + + + + SHORTER NOVELS + + EIGHTEENTH CENTURY + + RASSELAS--THE CASTLE OF + OTRANTO--VATHEK + + LONDON: J. M. DENT & SONS LTD. + NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON & CO. INC. + + + + + All rights reserved + Type-set and bound in Great Britain + at The Temple Press Letchworth + and printed in Belgium + by Drukkerij Omega Antwerp + for + J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd. + Aldine House Bedford St. London + First published in this edition 1903 + Last reprinted 1948 + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +The three novels collected here all belong to the later years of the +eighteenth century. The first represents what may be called the last +stand of Augustanism before that riot of fancy and imagination, as +exemplified by the other two tales, that ushered in the Romantic +Revival. Thus in _Rasselas_ we have Johnson, with the fortitude of +Atlas, supporting the miseries of the world on his broad shoulders; +Horace Walpole shutting us up in his _Castle of Otranto_, away from +reality and all reasonableness; and Beckford, in _Vathek_, transporting +us on his magic carpet to the court of the grandson of Haroun al +Raschid, and thence to a region of perdition and eternal fire, where all +memory of Augustanism is irretrievably lost. + +They are strange company these three books, but they are nevertheless +infallible indexes to the taste of their time. The fact that _Rasselas_ +in 1759 met with such enormous success and that _The Castle of Otranto_ +four years later met with perhaps an equal success, indicates as plainly +as anything could that although people had not lost their admiration for +Johnson, they were already tiring of "good sense" and quite willing to +give free play to those wilder impulses in their natures that +Augustanism had sought to discipline. But this time the tide turned with +a vengeance! The grave Wordsworth, a romantic himself, is found +deploring the "frantic novels" of this time, although Shelley's young +and fiery imagination seized upon them with avidity, and, in +_Zastrozzi_, he wrote an even more frantic one himself. But it was _The +Castle of Otranto_, written in conscious reaction against the +domesticities and sentiment of Richardson, with its plea that the +material of the novel could be taken from anything _but_ the events of +ordinary life, that opened the gates onto the land of Romance. And in +its train came all the rest of the "Gothic" and "terror" +novelists--Clara Reeve, Mrs. Radcliffe, "Monk" Lewis, Charles +Maturin--to mention only those who are now chiefly remembered. _Vathek_, +however, stands alone, without predecessors or immediate followers, +belonging to a quite un-English tradition, although the Oriental tale in +one shape or another had quite a vogue in the eighteenth century--if we +may include such things as Collins's _Persian Eclogues_ and Goldsmith's +Chinaman, or even _Rasselas_ itself, which, at least, has a nominal +setting in the East. + +_Rasselas_ was written, as every one knows, during the evenings of a +week, when Johnson "had occasion for thirty pounds on Monday night," as +he wrote to the printer on 20 January, 1759. His mother had just died +and he sat down in his Gough Square garret to earn the necessary money +for her funeral and for paying off the few debts she had left. Her +death, we are told, was a great loss to Johnson, and it is wonderful +that what he wrote under pressure at that time should be free not only +from bitterness but from a complaint of any kind. Melancholy it +certainly is, but melancholy with a rare elevation of mind and no more +weighed down with thought--a rather foolish charge that is sometimes +levelled against it--than is any work that deals profoundly with the +major problems of life. It has also been said of _Rasselas_, with more +reason, that it is a test of the reader's capacity to appreciate the +peculiar qualities of Johnson's thought. These qualities, as any one who +takes the trouble to analyse them can see for himself, are a square face +to face attitude to life that takes things as they come, realizing the +futility of attempting "a choice of life," and if without overmuch hope +for the future, at least free from the disintegration of high hopes +disappointed. There is nothing pedantic or high-flown in this attitude +which, with a noble solemnity, enabled Johnson to bear up against all +odds and to steer right on. Undeniably there is sustenance to be got +from _Rasselas_. And if its author has certain qualities in common with +his own "solemn elephant reposing in the shade," they are, one feels, +the product of a character that, like Donne's elephant, could hardly be +dislodged without the noise and cataclysm of a whole town +undermined--whereas much of the style of to-day, which despises what it +calls "Johnsonese," could be blown away with a puff of wind. What +obtuseness there is in Johnson's attitude of mind is due to the +qualities that he shared with "the giant of beasts," a slow-movingness +and an apparent lack of the more intricate nerves of feeling. Compare +his prose with its antithesis, that of Donne, who, for all his medieval +theology, was more modern in the working of his mind than Johnson; for +whereas the author of _Rasselas_ will bring you surely and by slow +degrees to a conclusion, the mind of the author of _Death's Duel_ and +the sermons seems to anticipate all conclusions at once with the +rapidity and circuitousness of a thousand ants. Johnson will attack a +problem broadside on, and it is to him we come for substantial +resistance against life, but to Donne we go for an inward and +self-conscious activity that undermines it. Yet one would read +_Rasselas_ ten times for every single reading of Donne's sermons, which +are as the fire of the spirit consuming. + +Taken altogether, then, _Rasselas_ is a prose _Vanity of Human Wishes_, +a disquisition on the limitations of life rather than a novel holding +our attention by a sequence of events. How characteristic is the passage +on the pyramids! Only Johnson, who kept his head among the Highland +mountains, could have written as he does here, summing up, in these two +sentences, his whole attitude towards happiness and material +possessions: + + I consider this mighty structure as a monument of the + insufficiency of human enjoyments. A king whose power is + unlimited, and whose treasures surmount all real and imaginary + wants, is compelled to solace, by the erection of a Pyramid, + the satiety of dominion and tastelessness of pleasures, and to + amuse the tediousness of declining life by seeing thousands + labouring without end, and one stone, for no purpose, laid + upon another. + +Surely that is magnificent prose, and no one else could have written +with just that fine balance and that same elevation of mind--unless it +was Browne, also pitying the builder of the pyramids in _Hydriotaphia_. + +To pass on to _The Castle of Otranto_ from _Rasselas_ is like going from +the reality and reasonable order of Kew Gardens, with its noble lawns +and splendidly cultivated trees, into some side-show of artificial +medievalism, complete with ghosts in rattling armour, skeletons and +knights, at the White City or the old Earl's Court Exhibition. At a step +we leave behind us the familiar light of day for a castle of uneasy +spirits with the wind whining through its battlements. Otranto is such a +castle, indeed, as never existed and its people were never anywhere but +inside its walls. It is a Gothic "shocker" which is neither truly Gothic +nor shocking; for its terror-apparatus has ceased to make us tremble and +its chivalrous cant and heroical sentiments no longer quicken our heart. +And yet there is something about this absurd tale that still holds our +attention--a spark of genius perhaps that occasionally flashes out +through the cracks in the rusty armour and the turret windows; and it is +this that hurries it impetuously to its climax of furious bathos not +altogether without the sweep of tragedy. Yet did one not know beforehand +that the book was written in good faith, there would be every excuse for +mistaking it for an uproarious parody of the old type of medieval +romance. + +To Sir Walter Scott, however, Horace Walpole's castle was anything but +an occasion for mirth. Evidently writing against the general opinion of +the book at that time, he says, in his chapter on Walpole in _The Lives +of the Novelists_, that it is doing the author an injustice to suppose +that his sole purpose was to terrorize his readers. Walpole's intention +was, he assures us, to depict the social life of the Middle Ages about +the time of the first Crusade, although he admits that "by the too +frequent recurrence of his prodigies, Mr. Walpole ran, perhaps, his +greatest risk of awakening _la raison froide_, that cold common sense, +which he justly deemed the greatest enemy of the effect which he hoped +to produce." But it does not require very much cold common sense to +discern that, for all this supernatural paraphernalia, _The Castle of +Otranto_, unlike Mrs. Radcliffe's books, lacks atmosphere--the first +essential in preparing the mind for legendary happenings. It is simply +foolish to bring what purport to be supernatural phenomena into broad +daylight and then to expect us to believe in their reality. But when +Scott writes of "the gigantic and preposterous figures dimly visible in +the defaced tapestry--the remote clang of the distant doors which divide +him from living society--the deep darkness which involves the high and +fretted roof of the apartment--the dimly-seen pictures of ancient +knights, renowned for their valour, and perhaps for their crimes--the +varied and indistinct sounds which disturb the silent desolation of a +half-deserted mansion," he at once awakes the imagination and creates an +atmosphere pregnant with the foreboding of invisible presences that +prepares the reader to believe almost anything. Scott can raise our hair +in a sentence, but all Walpole's bleeding statues and sighing pictures +can only move us to a certain mild amusement. It is obvious, too, that +in his generous tribute to Walpole, Scott was carried away by a +conception of his own of what his predecessor _might_ have done. +Moreover, he was anxious to own his debt to Walpole for introducing an +element into the novel that he himself was to develop in a way that is +still unsurpassed. For nowadays, although Walpole, and his immediate +follower Clara Reeve, with her _Old English Baron_ (1777), actually +introduced it, it is not of Walpole or Reeve that we think when the +historical novel is mentioned, but of Scott. But being the first attempt +of its kind on any serious scale, it is natural that Scott should have +respected _The Castle of Otranto_, although we of to-day, having the +whole varied wealth of Scott's imagination behind us, as well as the +work of his many followers, find it harder to give Walpole the just +measure of praise that, in spite of attendant absurdities, is his due. + +The mysterious inconsistencies of _Vathek_ (1786) have been sufficiently +remarked. But every fresh reader cannot help being struck by the strange +contrast between the cynical flippancies of the earlier portions and the +sombre grandeur and moral conviction inspiring the scenes in the Hall of +Eblis. Should we take _Vathek_ merely as an extravaganza with a moral +turn--which only serves to make it the more macabre--in which the +characters, not being responsible for their actions, are scarcely +culpable; or should we take it as an allegory of the vanity of +unrestrained desires and inordinate ambition promoting "that blind +curiosity which would transgress the bounds of wisdom the Creator has +prescribed to human knowledge"? Perhaps Beckford did not intend his tale +to be interpreted too solemnly. Some indication of his attitude is given +in a letter to Henley dated 23 April, 1785, in which, speaking of the +most innocent of his characters, he says: "I have always thought +Nouronihar too severely punished, and if I knew how conveniently, would +add a crime or two to her share. What say you?" But it would be a +mistake to imagine that Beckford was in any way ashamed of his +production--far from it!--and it may be that, like Voltaire, he was in +the habit of saying the most serious things flippantly. As it is, Vathek +himself with his basilisk glance and outrageous appetite is partly a +figure of fun, and, by his black magic and pact with the powers of +darkness, partly an Oriental Faust, helped on to damnation by his +mother, the Princess Carathis, who with her insane thirst for +supernatural dominion is a more ghastly Lady Macbeth. But however we +regard the enigma of _Vathek_, Beckford's real claim to remembrance +rests on the half-dozen pages at the end of the book, where his +description of the Hall of Eblis has been compared to Milton's +Pandemonium, Eblis himself being considered as a kind of inferior Satan. +And perhaps there is a touch of _Salammbo_ as well, as Vathek and +Nouronihar stand before the ruins of Istakar, with their intolerable +mystery and deathly stillness under the moon. + +Thus, if _The Castle of Otranto_ has suffered rather badly in its +passage through time, although it will always remain one of the chief +curiosities of our literature, and if we cannot altogether make up our +minds about _Vathek_, there can be no doubt whatever of the permanent +value of _Rasselas_. It is a greater and more subtle book than it is +commonly thought to be. Too many people know only Boswell's +Johnson--here we have Johnson himself, discussing marriage, the art of +flying, and the soul. And what strikes us most in re-reading him now, +quite apart from the style which is essentially of its period, is the +modernity of his thought. Even more than most profound thinkers who are +modern for all time by having reached a certain depth of consciousness +that never changes, Johnson in certain passages of his book astonishes +by the way in which he has anticipated the conclusions of contemporary +thinkers. His conception of the mind is essentially modern, showing it +as at once the creator and destroyer of all values and systems, and yet +"the continuance of reason" being uncertain--although madness is +determined only by the degree to which one idea or one set of ideas +predominates to the exclusion of others--he says, in effect, with +Pirandello--"That's the truth if you think it is!" But realizing the +final inefficacy of any one system of belief, and being deficient in +real faith, he was content, like his own Imlac, "to be driven along the +stream of life, without directing his course to any particular port." +And so _Rasselas_ ends, as all good discussions on life must, with a +conclusion "in which nothing is concluded." + + PHILIP HENDERSON. + +_For biographical notes on the authors and short bibliographies see the +beginning of each story._ + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PAGE + + INTRODUCTION vii + + THE HISTORY OF RASSELAS, PRINCE OF ABYSSINIA. By + Samuel Johnson 1 + + THE CASTLE OF OTRANTO, A GOTHIC STORY. By Horace + Walpole 97 + + VATHEK, AN ARABIAN TALE. By William Beckford 193 + + NOTES TO VATHEK 279 + + + + +THE HISTORY OF RASSELAS + +PRINCE OF ABYSSINIA + +BY + +DOCTOR JOHNSON + + + + +SAMUEL JOHNSON + + +The house in which Samuel Johnson was born on 18 September, 1709, still +stands at the corner of the market-place in Lichfield. His father was a +small bookseller in that town, so that from the first Johnson grew up in +the company of books. So widely had he read by the time he went to +Oxford at the age of eighteen that his tutor told him "he was the best +qualified for the University that he had ever known come there." +Although "miserably poor" and subject to fits of melancholy that were at +times divided only by a thin partition from madness, and cursed by a +kind of St. Vitus's dance and by scrofula which had disfigured his face +and deprived him of the use of one eye, Johnson determined to "fight his +way by his literature and his wit." After leaving Oxford, he made +various unsuccessful attempts to get regular employment. At the age of +twenty-six he married a widow twenty years his senior, who, according to +Garrick, was "a fat woman with red painted cheeks, fantastic dress, and +affected manners." But the marriage was a love match on both sides, and +in spite of ridicule Johnson's affection remained constant and +unshakable. His wife brought him a meagre fortune, and with this he +opened a school for "young gentlemen" near Lichfield. But the number of +his pupils never exceeded seven, of whom the Garrick brothers were two. +So early in 1737 he set out for London with three acts of a tragedy, +_Irene_, which he offered to Drury Lane without success. In the +following year he began writing his parliamentary debates for _The +Gentleman's Magazine_. In 1744 he wrote his powerful _Life of +Savage_--forty-eight octavo pages at a sitting. In 1747 he issued the +plan of his dictionary inscribed to Lord Chesterfield and began work on +it at Gough Square. Two years later Garrick produced _Irene_ at Drury +Lane, and although it brought Johnson quite a nice little sum of money, +it was judged on the whole to be a failure. In 1750, "while he was +bearing his burden with dull patience and beating the track of the +alphabet with sluggish resolution," he began writing _The Rambler_, +which appeared twice a week and lasted for two years. Mrs. Johnson died +in March 1751 and Johnson wrote a sermon for her funeral that was never +preached. By 1755 the dictionary was ready for publication, and +Chesterfield, who had ignored the prospectus, delivered himself of a few +flippant remarks at Johnson's expense in _The World_. It was on account +of this that he brought down on his head the formidable letter of +February the seventh. The dictionary appeared in two volumes on 15 +April. In 1759 Johnson's mother died, and he wrote _Rasselas_ to pay the +expenses of the funeral. Three years later, with the accession of George +the Third, he received a pension of L300 a year, and from that time he +was free of pecuniary troubles and able to spend the rest of his life +talking in the midst of a brilliant company. Among his friends were +Gibbon, Reynolds, Burke, Goldsmith, Charles James Fox, Adam Smith, R. B. +Sheridan, and Sir William Jones, the Orientalist. At this time he lived +with Miss Williams, the blind orphan daughter of a man of learning, and +a Mr. Levett, "an obscure practiser in physic." + +It is unnecessary to detail the events of the remaining twenty-two +years, as they were passed in comparative indolence. His friendship with +Henry Thrale began about 1759, and the Thrales' fine house at Streatham +Park became, until 1782, Johnson's chief asylum. The Thrales, he said, +"soothed twenty years of a life radically wretched." On 16 May, 1768, he +met Boswell. The famous journey to the Highlands was made in 1773, and +in 1774 he visited Wales, and the next year Paris. After 1782 his health +rapidly declined, and he died after an attack of dropsy on 13 December, +1784, in Bolt Court, Fleet Street. + +His chief works are as follows: A translation of Lobo's _Voyage to +Abyssinia_, 1735. _London_, 1738. _Life of Savage_, 1744. _Observations +on the Tragedy of Macbeth_, 1745. _The Vanity of Human Wishes_, 1749. +_Irene_, 1749. _A Dictionary of the English Language_, 1755. _The +History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia_, 1759. _A Journey to the +Western Isles of Scotland_, 1775. _Lives of the English Poets_, 1779. +See Boswell, Johnson's Letters, ed. by Birkbeck Hill, Essay on Life and +Genius by Arthur Murphy, Anecdotes by Madame Piozzi, Diary and Letters +of Madame d'Arblay, Life and Correspondence of Hannah More, also +_Johnson and his Critics_ by Birkbeck Hill. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +DESCRIPTION OF A PALACE IN A VALLEY + + +Ye who listen with credulity to the whispers of fancy, and pursue with +eagerness the phantoms of hope, who expect that age will perform the +promises of youth, and that the deficiencies of the present day will be +supplied by the morrow, attend to the history of Rasselas, Prince of +Abyssinia. + +Rasselas was the fourth son of the mighty emperor, in whose dominions +the Father of Waters begins his course; whose bounty pours down the +streams of plenty, and scatters over half the world the harvests of +Egypt. + +According to the custom which has descended from age to age among the +monarchs of the torrid zone, Rasselas was confined in a private palace, +with the other sons and daughters of Abyssinian royalty, till the order +of succession should call him to the throne. + +The place which the wisdom or policy of antiquity had destined for the +residence of the Abyssinian princes, was a spacious valley in the +kingdom of Amhara, surrounded on every side by mountains, of which the +summits overhang the middle part. The only passage by which it could be +entered, was a cavern that passed under a rock, of which it has long +been disputed whether it was the work of nature or of human industry. +The outlet of the cavern was concealed by a thick wood, and the mouth +which opened into the valley was closed with gates of iron, forged by +the artificers of ancient days, so massy that no man could without the +help of engines open or shut them. + +From the mountains on every side, rivulets descended, that filled all +the valley with verdure and fertility, and formed a lake in the middle, +inhabited by fish of every species, and frequented by every fowl whom +nature has taught to dip the wing in water. This lake discharged its +superfluities by a stream, which entered a dark cleft of the mountain on +the northern side, and fell with dreadful noise from precipice to +precipice till it was heard no more. + +The sides of the mountains were covered with trees; the banks of the +brooks were diversified with flowers; every blast shook spices from the +rocks, and every month dropped fruits upon the ground. All animals that +bite the grass, or browse the shrub, whether wild or tame, wandered in +this extensive circuit, secured from beasts of prey by the mountains +which confined them. On one part were flocks and herds feeding in the +pastures, on another all the beasts of chase frisking in the lawns; the +sprightly kid was bounding on the rocks, the subtle monkey frolicking in +the trees, and the solemn elephant reposing in the shade. All the +diversities of the world were brought together; the blessings of nature +were collected, and its evils extracted and excluded. + +The valley, wide and fruitful, supplied its inhabitants with the +necessaries of life, and all delights and superfluities were added at +the annual visit which the emperor paid his children, when the iron gate +was opened to the sound of music, and, during eight days, every one that +resided in the valley was required to propose whatever might contribute +to make seclusion pleasant, to fill up the vacancies of attention, and +lessen the tediousness of time. Every desire was immediately granted. +All the artificers of pleasure were called to gladden the festivity; the +musicians exerted the power of harmony, and the dancers showed their +activity before the princes, in hope that they should pass their lives +in this blissful captivity, to which those only were admitted whose +performance was thought able to add novelty to luxury. Such was the +appearance of security and delight which this retirement afforded, that +they to whom it was new always desired that it might be perpetual; and +as those on whom the iron gate had once closed were never suffered to +return, the effect of longer experience could not be known. Thus every +year produced new schemes of delight, and new competitors for +imprisonment. + +The palace stood on an eminence, raised about thirty paces above the +surface of the lake. It was divided into many squares or courts, built +with greater or less magnificence, according to the rank of those for +whom they were designed. The roofs were turned into arches of massy +stone, joined by a cement that grew harder by time; and the building +stood from century to century, deriding the solstitial rains and +equinoctial hurricanes, without need of reparation. + +This house, which was so large as to be fully known to none but some +ancient officers who successively inherited the secrets of the place, +was built as if suspicion herself had dictated the plan. To every room +there was an open and secret passage; every square had a communication +with the rest, either from the upper stories by private galleries, or by +subterranean passages from the lower apartments. Many of the columns had +unsuspected cavities, in which a long race of monarchs had reposited +their treasures. They then closed up the opening with marble, which was +never to be removed but in the utmost exigencies of the kingdom; and +recorded their accumulations in a book, which was itself concealed in a +tower, not entered but by the emperor, attended by the prince who stood +next in succession. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE DISCONTENT OF RASSELAS IN THE HAPPY VALLEY + + +Here the sons and daughters of Abyssinia lived only to know the soft +vicissitudes of pleasure and repose, attended by all that were skilful +to delight, and gratified with whatever the senses can enjoy. They +wandered in gardens of fragrance, and slept in the fortresses of +security. Every art was practised to make them pleased with their own +condition. The sages who instructed them told them of nothing but the +miseries of public life, and described all beyond the mountains as +regions of calamity, where discord was always raging, and where man +preyed upon man. + +To heighten their opinion of their own felicity, they were daily +entertained with songs, the subject of which was the Happy Valley. Their +appetites were excited by frequent enumerations of different enjoyments; +and revelry and merriment was the business of every hour, from the dawn +of morning to the close of even. + +These methods were generally successful: few of the princes had ever +wished to enlarge their bounds, but passed their lives in full +conviction that they had all within their reach that art or nature could +bestow, and pitied those whom fate had excluded from this seat of +tranquillity, as the sport of chance and the slaves of misery. + +Thus they rose in the morning and lay down at night, pleased with each +other and with themselves, all but Rasselas, who, in the twenty-sixth +year of his age, began to withdraw himself from their pastimes and +assemblies, and to delight in solitary walks and silent meditation. He +often sat before tables covered with luxury, and forgot to taste the +dainties that were placed before him; he rose abruptly in the midst of +the song, and hastily retired beyond the sound of music. His attendants +observed the change, and endeavoured to renew his love of pleasure; he +neglected their officiousness, repulsed their invitations, and spent day +after day on the banks of rivulets sheltered with trees, where he +sometimes listened to the birds in the branches, sometimes observed the +fish playing in the stream, and anon cast his eyes upon the pastures and +mountains filled with animals, of which some were biting the herbage, +and some sleeping among the bushes. + +This singularity of his humour made him much observed. One of the sages, +in whose conversation he had formerly delighted, followed him secretly, +in hope of discovering the cause of his disquiet. Rasselas, who knew not +that any one was near him, having for some time fixed his eyes upon the +goats that were browsing among the rocks, began to compare their +condition with his own. + +"What," said he, "makes the difference between man and all the rest of +the animal creation? Every beast that strays beside me has the same +corporal necessities with myself: he is hungry and crops the grass, he +is thirsty and drinks the stream; his thirst and hunger are appeased, he +is satisfied and sleeps; he rises again and is hungry; he is again fed +and is at rest. I am hungry and thirsty like him, but when thirst and +hunger cease I am not at rest; I am like him pained with want, but am +not like him satisfied with fullness. The intermediate hours are tedious +and gloomy; I long again to be hungry, that I may again quicken my +attention. The birds peck the berries or the corn, and fly away to the +groves, where they sit in seeming happiness on the branches, and waste +their lives in tuning one unvaried series of sounds. I likewise can call +the lutanist and the singer; but the sounds that pleased me yesterday +weary me to-day, and will grow yet more wearisome to-morrow. I can +discover within me no power of perception which is not glutted with its +proper pleasure; yet I do not feel myself delighted. Man surely has some +latent sense for which this place affords no gratification; or he has +some desires distinct from sense, which must be satisfied before he can +be happy." + +After this he lifted up his head, and seeing the moon rising, walked +towards the palace. As he passed through the fields, and saw the +animals around him, "Ye," said he, "are happy, and need not envy me that +walk thus among you, burdened with myself; nor do I, ye gentle beings, +envy your felicity, for it is not the felicity of man. I have many +distresses from which ye are free; I fear pain when I do not feel it; I +sometimes shrink at evils recollected, and sometimes start at evils +anticipated: surely the equity of providence has balanced peculiar +sufferings with peculiar enjoyments." + +With observations like these the prince amused himself as he returned, +uttering them with a plaintive voice, yet with a look that discovered +him to feel some complacence in his own perspicacity, and to receive +some solace of the miseries of life, from consciousness of the delicacy +with which he felt, and the eloquence with which he bewailed them. He +mingled cheerfully in the diversions of the evening, and all rejoiced to +find that his heart was lightened. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE WANTS OF HIM THAT WANTS NOTHING + + +On the next day, his old instructor, imagining that he had now made +himself acquainted with his disease of mind, was in hope of curing it by +counsel, and officiously sought an opportunity of conference, which the +prince, having long considered him as one whose intellects were +exhausted, was not very willing to afford. "Why," said he, "does this +man thus intrude upon me? shall I be never suffered to forget those +lectures which pleased only while they were new, and to become new again +must be forgotten?" He then walked into the wood, and composed himself +to his usual meditations; when, before his thoughts had taken any +settled form, he perceived his pursuer at his side, and was at first +prompted by his impatience to go hastily away; but, being unwilling to +offend a man whom he had once reverenced and still loved, he invited him +to sit down with him on the bank. + +The old man, thus encouraged, began to lament the change which had been +lately observed in the prince, and to inquire why he so often retired +from the pleasures of the palace to loneliness and silence. "I fly from +pleasure," said the prince, "because pleasure has ceased to please; I +am lonely, because I am miserable, and am unwilling to cloud with my +presence the happiness of others." "You, sir," said the sage, "are the +first who has complained of misery in the Happy Valley. I hope to +convince you that your complaints have no real cause. You are here in +full possession of all that the Emperor of Abyssinia can bestow; here is +neither labour to be endured nor danger to be dreaded, yet here is all +that labour or danger can procure or purchase. Look round and tell me +which of your wants is without supply: if you want nothing, how are you +unhappy?" + +"That I want nothing," said the prince, "or that I know not what I want, +is the cause of my complaint; if I had any known want, I should have a +certain wish; that wish would excite endeavour, and I should not then +repine to see the sun move so slowly towards the western mountain, or +lament when the day breaks and sleep will no longer hide me from myself. +When I see the kids and the lambs chasing one another, I fancy that I +should be happy if I had something to pursue. But possessing all that I +can want, I find one day and one hour exactly like another, except that +the latter is still more tedious than the former. Let your experience +inform me how the day may now seem as short as in my childhood, while +nature was yet fresh, and every moment showed me what I never had +observed before. I have already enjoyed too much; give me something to +desire." + +The old man was surprised at this new species of affliction, and knew +not what to reply, yet was unwilling to be silent. "Sir," said he, "if +you had seen the miseries of the world, you would know how to value your +present state." "Now," said the prince, "you have given me something to +desire; I shall long to see the miseries of the world, since the sight +of them is necessary to happiness." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE PRINCE CONTINUES TO GRIEVE AND MUSE + + +At this time the sound of music proclaimed the hour of repast, and the +conversation was concluded. The old man went away sufficiently +discontented to find that his reasonings had produced the only +conclusion which they were intended to prevent. But in the decline of +life shame and grief are of short duration: whether it be that we bear +easily what we have borne long; or that, finding ourselves in age less +regarded, we less regard others; or, that we look with slight regard +upon afflictions to which we know that the hand of death is about to put +an end. + +The prince, whose views were extended to a wider space, could not +speedily quiet his emotions. He had been before terrified at the length +of life which nature promised him, because he considered that in a long +time much must be endured; he now rejoiced in his youth, because in many +years much might be done. + +This first beam of hope that had been ever darted into his mind, +rekindled youth in his cheeks, and doubled the lustre of his eyes. He +was fired with the desire of doing something, though he knew not yet +with distinctness either end or means. + +He was now no longer gloomy and unsocial; but, considering himself as +master of a secret stock of happiness, which he could enjoy only by +concealing it, he affected to be busy in all schemes of diversion, and +endeavoured to make others pleased with the state of which he himself +was weary. But pleasures never can be so multiplied or continued, as not +to leave much of life unemployed; there were many hours, both of the +night and day, which he could spend without suspicion in solitary +thought. The load of life was much lightened: he went eagerly into the +assemblies, because he supposed the frequency of his presence necessary +to the success of his purposes; he retired gladly to privacy, because he +had now a subject of thought. + +His chief amusement was to picture to himself that world which he had +never seen; to place himself in various conditions, to be entangled in +imaginary difficulties, and to be engaged in wild adventures; but his +benevolence always terminated his projects in the relief of distress, +the detection of fraud, the defeat of oppression, and the diffusion of +happiness. + +Thus passed twenty months of the life of Rasselas. He busied himself so +intensely in visionary bustle, that he forgot his real solitude, and, +amidst hourly preparations for the various incidents of human affairs, +neglected to consider by what means he should mingle with mankind. + +One day, as he was sitting on a bank, he feigned to himself an orphan +virgin robbed of her little portion by a treacherous lover, and crying +after him for restitution and redress. So strongly was the image +impressed upon his mind, that he started up in the maid's defence, and +run forward to seize the plunderer, with all the eagerness of real +pursuit. Fear naturally quickens the flight of guilt. Rasselas could not +catch the fugitive with his utmost efforts; but resolving to weary by +perseverance him whom he could not surpass in speed, he pressed on till +the foot of the mountain stopped his course. + +Here he recollected himself, and smiled at his own useless impetuosity. +Then raising his eyes to the mountain, "This," said he, "is the fatal +obstacle that hinders at once the enjoyment of pleasure, and the +exercise of virtue. How long is it that my hopes and wishes have flown +beyond this boundary of my life, which yet I never have attempted to +surmount!" + +Struck with this reflection, he sat down to muse; and remembered, that +since he first resolved to escape from his confinement, the sun had +passed twice over him in his annual course. He now felt a degree of +regret with which he had never been before acquainted. He considered how +much might have been done in the time which had passed and left nothing +real behind it. He compared twenty months with the life of man. "In +life," said he, "is not to be counted the ignorance of infancy, or +imbecility of age. We are long before we are able to think, and we soon +cease from the power of acting. The true period of human existence may +be reasonably estimated at forty years, of which I have mused away the +four-and-twentieth part. What I have lost was certain, for I have +certainly possessed it; but of twenty months to come who can assure me?" + +The consciousness of his own folly pierced him deeply, and he was long +before he could be reconciled to himself. "The rest of my time," said +he, "has been lost by the crime or folly of my ancestors, and the absurd +institutions of my country; I remember it with disgust, yet without +remorse: but the months that have passed since new light darted into my +soul, since I formed a scheme of reasonable felicity, have been +squandered by my own fault. I have lost that which can never be +restored; I have seen the sun rise and set for twenty months, an idle +gazer on the light of heaven: in this time the birds have left the nest +of their mother, and committed themselves to the woods and to the skies; +the kid has forsaken the teat, and learned by degrees to climb the rocks +in quest of independent sustenance. I only have made no advances, but am +still helpless and ignorant. The moon, by more than twenty changes, +admonished me of the flux of life; the stream that rolled before my feet +upbraided my inactivity. I sat feasting on intellectual luxury, +regardless alike of the examples of the earth, and the instructions of +the planets. Twenty months are passed; who shall restore them?" + +These sorrowful meditations fastened upon his mind; he passed four +months in resolving to lose no more time in idle resolves, and was +awakened to more vigorous exertion, by hearing a maid, who had broken a +porcelain cup, remark, that what cannot be repaired is not to be +regretted. + +This was obvious; and Rasselas reproached himself that he had not +discovered it; having not known, or not considered, how many useful +hints are obtained by chance, and how often the mind, hurried by her own +ardour to distant views, neglects the truths that lie open before her. +He for a few hours regretted his regret, and from that time bent his +whole mind upon the means of escaping from the Valley of Happiness. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE PRINCE MEDITATES HIS ESCAPE + + +He now found that it would be very difficult to effect that which it was +very easy to suppose effected. When he looked round about him, he saw +himself confined by the bars of nature, which had never yet been broken, +and by the gate, through which none that once had passed it were ever +able to return. He was now impatient as an eagle in a grate. He passed +week after week in clambering the mountains, to see if there was any +aperture which the bushes might conceal, but found all the summits +inaccessible by their prominence. The iron gate he despaired to open; +for it was not only secured with all the power of art, but was always +watched by successive sentinels, and was by its position exposed to the +perpetual observation of all the inhabitants. + +He then examined the cavern through which the waters of the lake were +discharged; and, looking down at a time when the sun shone strongly upon +its mouth, he discovered it to be full of broken rocks, which, though +they permitted the stream to flow through many narrow passages, would +stop any body of solid bulk. He returned discouraged and dejected; but +having now known the blessing of hope, resolved never to despair. + +In these fruitless searches he spent ten months. The time, however, +passed cheerfully away: in the morning he rose with new hope, in the +evening applauded his own diligence, and in the night slept sound after +his fatigue. He met a thousand amusements which beguiled his labour and +diversified his thoughts. He discerned the various instincts of animals +and properties of plants, and found the place replete with wonders, of +which he purposed to solace himself with the contemplation, if he should +never be able to accomplish his flight; rejoicing that his endeavours, +though yet unsuccessful, had supplied him with a source of inexhaustible +inquiry. + +But his original curiosity was not yet abated; he resolved to obtain +some knowledge of the ways of men. His wish still continued, but his +hope grew less. He ceased to survey any longer the walls of his prison, +and spared to search by new toils for interstices which he knew could +not be found, yet determined to keep his design always in view, and lay +hold on any expedient that time should offer. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +A DISSERTATION ON THE ART OF FLYING + + +Among the artists that had been allured into the Happy Valley, to labour +for the accommodation and pleasure of its inhabitants, was a man eminent +for his knowledge of the mechanic powers, who had contrived many engines +both of use and recreation. By a wheel which the stream turned, he +forced the water into a tower, whence it was distributed to all the +apartments of the palace. He erected a pavilion in the garden, around +which he kept the air always cool by artificial showers. One of the +groves, appropriated to the ladies, was ventilated by fans, to which the +rivulet that run through it gave a constant motion; and instruments of +soft music were placed at proper distances, of which some played by the +impulse of the wind, and some by the power of the stream. + +This artist was sometimes visited by Rasselas, who was pleased with +every kind of knowledge, imagining that the time would come when all his +acquisitions should be of use to him in the open world. He came one day +to amuse himself in his usual manner, and found the master busy in +building a sailing chariot; he saw that the design was practicable upon +a level surface, and with expressions of great esteem solicited its +completion. The workman was pleased to find himself so much regarded by +the prince, and resolved to gain yet higher honours. "Sir," said he, +"you have seen but a small part of what the mechanic sciences can +perform. I have been long of opinion, that instead of the tardy +conveyance of ships and chariots, man might use the swifter migration of +wings; that the fields of air are open to knowledge, and that only +ignorance and idleness need crawl upon the ground." + +This hint rekindled the prince's desire of passing the mountains; having +seen what the mechanist had already performed, he was willing to fancy +that he could do more; yet resolved to inquire further, before he +suffered hope to afflict him by disappointment. "I am afraid," said he +to the artist, "that your imagination prevails over your skill, and that +you now tell me rather what you wish, than what you know. Every animal +has his element assigned him; the birds have the air, and man and beasts +the earth." "So," replied the mechanist, "fishes have the water, in +which yet beasts can swim by nature, and men by art. He that can swim +needs not despair to fly; to swim is to fly in a grosser fluid, and to +fly is to swim in a subtler. We are only to proportion our power of +resistance to the different density of matter through which we are to +pass. You will be necessarily upborn by the air, if you can renew any +impulse upon it faster than the air can recede from the pressure." + +"But the exercise of swimming," said the prince, "is very laborious; the +strongest limbs are soon wearied: I am afraid the act of flying will be +yet more violent; and wings will be of no great use, unless we can fly +further than we can swim." + +"The labour of rising from the ground," said the artist, "will be +great, as we see it in the heavier domestic fowls; but as we mount +higher, the earth's attraction, and the body's gravity, will be +gradually diminished, till we shall arrive at a region where the man +will float in the air without any tendency to fall: no care will then be +necessary but to move forwards, which the gentlest impulse will effect. +You, sir, whose curiosity is so extensive, will easily conceive with +what pleasure a philosopher, furnished with wings, and hovering in the +sky, would see the earth, and all its inhabitants, rolling beneath him, +and presenting to him successively, by its diurnal motion, all the +countries within the same parallel. How must it amuse the pendent +spectator to see the moving scene of land and ocean, cities and deserts! +To survey with equal security the marts of trade, and the fields of +battle; mountains infested by barbarians, and fruitful regions gladdened +by plenty and lulled by peace! How easily shall we then trace the Nile +through all his passage; pass over to distant regions, and examine the +face of nature from one extremity of the earth to the other!" + +"All this," said the prince, "is much to be desired; but I am afraid +that no man will be able to breathe in these regions of speculation and +tranquillity. I have been told that respiration is difficult upon lofty +mountains; yet from these precipices, though so high as to produce great +tenuity of air, it is very easy to fall; therefore I suspect that, from +any height where life can be supported, there may be danger of too quick +descent." + +"Nothing," replied the artist, "will ever be attempted, if all possible +objections must be first overcome. If you will favour my project, I will +try the first flight at my own hazard. I have considered the structure +of all volant animals, and find the folding continuity of the bat's +wings most easily accommodated to the human form. Upon this model I +shall begin my task to-morrow, and in a year expect to tower into the +air beyond the malice and pursuit of man. But I will work only on this +condition, that the art shall not be divulged, and that you shall not +require me to make wings for any but ourselves." + +"Why," said Rasselas, "should you envy others so great an advantage? All +skill ought to be exerted for universal good; every man has owed much to +others, and ought to repay the kindness that he has received." + +"If men were all virtuous," returned the artist, "I should with great +alacrity teach them all to fly. But what would be the security of the +good, if the bad could at pleasure invade them from the sky? Against an +army sailing through the clouds, neither walls, nor mountains, nor seas, +could afford any security. A flight of northern savages might hover in +the wind, and light at once with irresistible violence upon the capital +of a fruitful region that was rolling under them. Even this valley, the +retreat of princes, the abode of happiness, might be violated by the +sudden descent of some of the naked nations that swarm on the coast of +the southern sea." + +The prince promised secrecy, and waited for the performance, not wholly +hopeless of success. He visited the work from time to time, observed its +progress, and remarked many ingenious contrivances to facilitate motion, +and unite levity with strength. The artist was every day more certain +that he should leave vultures and eagles behind him, and the contagion +of his confidence seized upon the prince. + +In a year the wings were finished; and, on a morning appointed, the +maker appeared furnished for flight on a little promontory: he waved +his pinions awhile to gather air, then leaped from his stand, and in an +instant dropped into the lake. His wings, which were of no use in the +air, sustained him in the water, and the prince drew him to land, half +dead with terror and vexation. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE PRINCE FINDS A MAN OF LEARNING + + +The prince was not much afflicted by this disaster, having suffered +himself to hope for a happier event, only because he had no other means +of escape in view. He still persisted in his design to leave the Happy +Valley by the first opportunity. + +His imagination was now at a stand; he had no prospect of entering into +the world; and, notwithstanding all his endeavours to support himself, +discontent by degrees preyed upon him, and he began again to lose his +thoughts in sadness when the rainy season, which in these countries is +periodical, made it inconvenient to wander in the woods. + +The rain continued longer and with more violence than had been ever +known; the clouds broke on the surrounding mountains, and the torrents +streamed into the plain on every side, till the cavern was too narrow to +discharge the water. The lake overflowed its banks, and all the level of +the valley was covered with the inundation. The eminence on which the +palace was built, and some other spots of rising ground, were all that +the eye could now discover. The herds and flocks left the pastures, and +both the wild beasts and the tame retreated to the mountains. + +This inundation confined all the princes to domestic amusements; and the +attention of Rasselas was particularly seized by a poem, which Imlac +rehearsed, upon the various conditions of humanity. He commanded the +poet to attend him in his apartment, and recite his verses a second +time; then entering into familiar talk, he thought himself happy in +having found a man who knew the world so well, and could so skilfully +paint the scenes of life. He asked a thousand questions about things, to +which, though common to all other mortals, his confinement from +childhood had kept him a stranger. The poet pitied his ignorance, and +loved his curiosity, and entertained him from day to day with novelty +and instruction, so that the prince regretted the necessity of sleep, +and longed till the morning should renew his pleasure. + +As they were sitting together, the prince commanded Imlac to relate his +history, and to tell by what accident he was forced, or by what motive +induced, to close his life in the Happy Valley. As he was going to begin +his narrative, Rasselas was called to a concert, and obliged to restrain +his curiosity till the evening. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE HISTORY OF IMLAC + + +The close of the day is, in the regions of the torrid zone, the only +season of diversion and entertainment, and it was therefore midnight +before the music ceased, and the princesses retired. Rasselas then +called for his companion, and required him to begin the story of his +life. + +"Sir," said Imlac, "my history will not be long: the life that is +devoted to knowledge passes silently away, and is very little +diversified by events. To talk in public, to think in solitude, to read +and to hear, to inquire and answer inquiries, is the business of a +scholar. He wanders about the world without pomp or terror, and is +neither known nor valued but by men like himself. + +"I was born in the kingdom of Goiama, at no great distance from the +fountain of the Nile. My father was a wealthy merchant, who traded +between the inland countries of Afric and the ports of the Red Sea. He +was honest, frugal, and diligent, but of mean sentiments and narrow +comprehension: he desired only to be rich, and to conceal his riches, +lest he should be spoiled by the governor of the province." + +"Surely," said the prince, "my father must be negligent of his charge, +if any man in his dominions dares take that which belongs to another. +Does he not know that kings are accountable for injustice as well as +done? If I were emperour, not the meanest of my subjects should be +oppressed with impunity. My blood boils when I am told that a merchant +durst not enjoy his honest gains, for fear of losing them by the +rapacity of power. Name the governor who robbed the people, that I may +declare his crimes to the emperor." + +"Sir," said Imlac, "your ardour is the natural effect of virtue +animated by youth: the time will come when you will acquit your father, +and perhaps hear with less impatience of the governor. Oppression is, in +the Abyssinian dominions, neither frequent nor tolerated; but no form of +government has been yet discovered, by which cruelty can be wholly +prevented. Subordination supposes power in one part, and subjection on +the other; and if power be in the hands of men, it will sometimes be +abused. The vigilance of the supreme magistrate may do much, but much +will still remain undone. He can never know all the crimes that are +committed, and can seldom punish all that he knows." + +"This," said the prince, "I do not understand; but I had rather hear +thee than dispute. Continue thy narration." + +"My father," proceeded Imlac, "originally intended that I should have no +other education than such as might qualify me for commerce; and +discovering in me great strength of memory and quickness of +apprehension, often declared his hope that I should be some time the +richest man in Abyssinia." + +"Why," said the prince, "did thy father desire the increase of his +wealth, when it was already greater than he durst discover or enjoy? I +am unwilling to doubt thy veracity, yet inconsistencies cannot both be +true." + +"Inconsistencies," answered Imlac, "cannot both be right, but, imputed +to man, they may both be true. Yet diversity is not inconsistency. My +father might expect a time of greater security. However, some desire is +necessary to keep life in motion; and he whose real wants are supplied +must admit those of fancy." + +"This," said the prince, "I can in some measure conceive. I repent that +I interrupted thee." + +"With this hope," proceeded Imlac, "he sent me to school; but when I had +once found the delight of knowledge, and felt the pleasure of +intelligence and the pride of invention, I began silently to despise +riches, and determined to disappoint the purpose of my father, whose +grossness of conception raised my pity. I was twenty years old before +his tenderness would expose me to the fatigue of travel, in which time I +had been instructed, by successive masters, in all the literature of my +native country. As every hour taught me something new, I lived in a +continual course of gratifications; but, as I advanced towards manhood, +I lost much of the reverence with which I had been used to look on my +instructors; because, when the lesson was ended, I did not find them +wiser or better than common men. + +"At length my father resolved to initiate me in commerce, and opening +one of his subterranean treasuries, counted out ten thousand pieces of +gold. 'This, young man,' said he, 'is the stock with which you must +negotiate. I began with less than the fifth part, and you see how +diligence and parsimony have increased it. This is your own to waste or +to improve. If you squander it by negligence or caprice, you must wait +for my death before you will be rich; if in four years you double your +stock, we will thenceforward let subordination cease, and live together +as friends and partners; for he shall always be equal with me, who is +equally skilled in the art of growing rich.' + +"We laid our money upon camels, concealed in bales of cheap goods, and +travelled to the shore of the Red Sea. When I cast my eye on the expanse +of waters, my heart bounded like that of a prisoner escaped. I felt an +unextinguishable curiosity kindle in my mind, and resolved to snatch +this opportunity of seeing the manners of other nations, and of learning +sciences unknown in Abyssinia. + +"I remembered that my father had obliged me to the improvement of my +stock, not by a promise which I ought not to violate, but by a penalty +which I was at liberty to incur; and therefore determined to gratify my +predominant desire, and, by drinking at the fountains of knowledge, to +quench the thirst of curiosity. + +"As I was supposed to trade without connexion with my father, it was +easy for me to become acquainted with the master of a ship, and procure +a passage to some other country. I had no motives of choice to regulate +my voyage; it was sufficient for me that, wherever I wandered, I should +see a country which I had not seen before. I therefore entered a ship +bound for Surat, having left a letter for my father declaring my +intention." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE HISTORY OF IMLAC CONTINUED + + +"When I first entered upon the world of waters, and lost sight of land, +I looked round about me with pleasing terror, and thinking my soul +enlarged by the boundless prospect, imagined that I could gaze round for +ever without satiety; but in a short time I grew weary of looking on +barren uniformity, where I could only see again what I had already seen. +I then descended into the ship, and doubted for a while whether all my +future pleasures would not end like this, in disgust and disappointment. +Yet, surely, said I, the ocean and the land are very different; the only +variety of water is rest and motion, but the earth has mountains and +valleys, deserts and cities; it is inhabited by men of different customs +and contrary opinions; and I may hope to find variety in life, though I +should miss it in nature. + +"With this thought I quieted my mind; and amused myself during the +voyage, sometimes by learning from the sailors the art of navigation, +which I have never practised, and sometimes by forming schemes for my +conduct in different situations, in not one of which I have been ever +placed. + +"I was almost weary of my naval amusements when we landed safely at +Surat. I secured my money, and purchasing some commodities for show, +joined myself to a caravan that was passing into the inland country. My +companions, for some reason or other conjecturing that I was rich, and, +by my inquiries and admiration, finding that I was ignorant, considered +me as a novice whom they had a right to cheat, and who was to learn at +the usual expense the art of fraud. They exposed me to the theft of +servants and the exaction of officers, and saw me plundered upon false +pretences, without any advantage to themselves, but that of rejoicing in +the superiority of their own knowledge." + +"Stop a moment," said the prince. "Is there such depravity in man, as +that he should injure another without benefit to himself? I can easily +conceive that all are pleased with superiority; but your ignorance was +merely accidental, which, being neither your crime nor your folly, could +afford them no reason to applaud themselves; and the knowledge which +they had, and which you wanted, they might as effectually have shown by +warning as betraying you." + +"Pride," said Imlac, "is seldom delicate, it will please itself with +very mean advantages; and envy feels not its own happiness, but when it +may be compared with the misery of others. They were my enemies, because +they grieved to think me rich; and my oppressors, because they delighted +to find me weak." + +"Proceed," said the prince: "I doubt not of the facts which you relate, +but imagine that you impute them to mistaken motives." + +"In this company," said Imlac, "I arrived at Agra, the capital of +Indostan, the city in which the Great Mogul commonly resides. I applied +myself to the language of the country, and in a few months was able to +converse with the learned men; some of whom I found morose and reserved, +and others easy and communicative; some were unwilling to teach another +what they had with difficulty learned themselves; and some showed that +the end of their studies was to gain the dignity of instructing. + +"To the tutor of the young princes I recommended myself so much, that I +was presented to the emperor as a man of uncommon knowledge. The emperor +asked me many questions concerning my country and my travels; and though +I cannot now recollect anything that he uttered above the power of a +common man, he dismissed me astonished at his wisdom, and enamoured of +his goodness. + +"My credit was now so high, that the merchants with whom I had travelled +applied to me for recommendations to the ladies of the court. I was +surprised at their confidence of solicitation, and gently reproached +them with their practices on the road. They heard me with cold +indifference, and showed no tokens of shame or sorrow. + +"They then urged their request with the offer of a bribe; but what I +would not do for kindness, I would not do for money, and refused them, +not because they had injured me, but because I would not enable them to +injure others; for I knew they would have made use of my credit to cheat +those who should buy their wares. + +"Having resided at Agra till there was no more to be learned, I +travelled into Persia, where I saw many remains of ancient magnificence, +and observed many new accommodations of life. The Persians are a nation +eminently social, and their assemblies afforded me daily opportunities +of remarking characters and manners, and of tracing human nature through +all its variations. + +"From Persia I passed into Arabia, where I saw a nation at once pastoral +and warlike; who live without any settled habitation; whose only wealth +is their flocks and herds; and who have yet carried on through all ages +an hereditary war with all mankind, though they neither covet nor envy +their possessions." + + + + +CHAPTER X + +IMLAC'S HISTORY CONTINUED. A DISSERTATION UPON POETRY + + +"Wherever I went, I found that poetry was considered as the highest +learning, and regarded with a veneration somewhat approaching to that +which man would pay to the Angelic Nature. And yet it fills me with +wonder, that, in almost all countries, the most ancient poets are +considered as the best: whether it be that every other kind of knowledge +is an acquisition gradually attained, and poetry is a gift conferred at +once; or that the first poetry of every nation surprised them as a +novelty, and retained the credit by consent, which it received by +accident at first; or whether, as the province of poetry is to describe +Nature and Passion, which are always the same, the first writers took +possession of the most striking objects for description, and the most +probable occurrences for fiction, and left nothing to those that +followed them, but transcription of the same events, and new +combinations of the same images. Whatever be the reason, it is commonly +observed that the early writers are in possession of nature, and their +followers of art; that the first excel in strength and invention, and +the latter in elegance and refinement. + +"I was desirous to add my name to this illustrious fraternity. I read +all the poets of Persia and Arabia, and was able to repeat by memory the +volumes that are suspended in the mosque of Mecca. But I soon found that +no man was ever great by imitation. My desire of excellence impelled me +to transfer my attention to nature and to life. Nature was to be my +subject, and men to be my auditors: I could never describe what I had +not seen; I could not hope to move those with delight or terror, whose +interests and opinions I did not understand. + +"Being now resolved to be a poet, I saw everything with a new purpose; +my sphere of attention was suddenly magnified; no kind of knowledge was +to be overlooked. I ranged mountains and deserts for images and +resemblances, and pictured upon my mind every tree of the forest and +flower of the valley. I observed with equal care the crags of the rock +and the pinnacles of the palace. Sometimes I wandered along the mazes of +the rivulet, and sometimes watched the changes of the summer clouds. To +a poet nothing can be useless. Whatever is beautiful, and whatever is +dreadful, must be familiar to his imagination: he must be conversant +with all that is awfully vast or elegantly little. The plants of the +garden, the animals of the wood, the minerals of the earth, and meteors +of the sky, must all concur to store his mind with inexhaustible +variety: for every idea is useful for the enforcement or decoration of +moral or religious truth; and he who knows most will have most power of +diversifying his scenes, and of gratifying his reader with remote +allusions and unexpected instruction. + +"All the appearances of nature I was therefore careful to study; and +every country which I have surveyed has contributed something to my +poetical powers." + +"In so wide a survey," said the prince, "you must surely have left much +unobserved. I have lived, till now, within the circuit of these +mountains, and yet cannot walk abroad without the sight of something +which I had never beheld before, or never heeded." + +"The business of a poet," said Imlac, "is to examine, not the +individual, but the species; to remark general properties and large +appearances. He does not number the streaks of the tulip, or describe +the different shades in the verdure of the forest: he is to exhibit in +his portraits of nature such prominent and striking features, as recall +the original to every mind; and must neglect the minuter +discriminations, which one may have remarked, and another have +neglected, for those characteristics which are alike obvious to +vigilance and carelessness. + +"But the knowledge of nature is only half the task of a poet: he must be +acquainted likewise with all the modes of life. His character requires +that he estimate the happiness and misery of every condition, observe +the power of all the passions in all their combinations, and trace the +changes of the human mind as they are modified by various institutions +and accidental influences of climate or custom, from the sprightliness +of infancy to the despondence of decrepitude. He must divest himself of +the prejudices of his age and country; he must consider right and wrong +in their abstracted and invariable state; he must disregard present laws +and opinions, and rise to general and transcendental truths, which will +always be the same. He must therefore content himself with the slow +progress of his name, contemn the applause of his own time, and commit +his claims to the justice of posterity. He must write as the interpreter +of nature, and the legislator of mankind, and consider himself as +presiding over the thoughts and manners of future generations; as a +being superior to time and place. + +"His labour is not yet at an end; he must know many languages and many +sciences; and, that his style may be worthy of his thoughts, must, by +incessant practice, familiarize to himself every delicacy of speech and +grace of harmony." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +IMLAC'S NARRATIVE CONTINUED. A HINT ON PILGRIMAGE + + +Imlac now felt the enthusiastic fit, and was proceeding to aggrandize +his own profession, when the prince cried out, "Enough! thou hast +convinced me that no human being can ever be a poet. Proceed with thy +narration." + +"To be a poet," said Imlac, "is indeed very difficult." + +"So difficult," returned the prince, "that I will at present hear no +more of his labours. Tell me whither you went when you had seen Persia." + +"From Persia," said the poet, "I travelled through Syria, and for three +years resided in Palestine, where I conversed with great numbers of the +northern and western nations of Europe; the nations which are now in +possession of all power and all knowledge; whose armies are +irresistible, and whose fleets command the remotest parts of the globe. +When I compared these men with the natives of our own kingdom, and those +that surround us, they appeared almost another order of beings. In their +countries it is difficult to wish for anything that may not be obtained: +a thousand arts, of which we never heard, are continually labouring for +their convenience and pleasure; and whatever their own climate has +denied them is supplied by their commerce." + +"By what means," said the prince, "are the Europeans thus powerful? or +why, since they can so easily visit Asia and Africa for trade or +conquest, cannot the Asiatics and Africans invade their coasts, plant +colonies in their ports, and give laws to their natural princes? The +same wind that carries them back would bring us thither." + +"They are more powerful, sir, than we," answered Imlac, "because they +are wiser; knowledge will always predominate over ignorance, as man +governs the other animals. But why their knowledge is more than ours, I +know not what reason can be given, but the unsearchable will of the +Supreme Being." + +"When," said the prince with a sigh, "shall I be able to visit +Palestine, and mingle with this mighty confluence of nations? Till that +happy moment shall arrive, let me fill up the time with such +representations as thou canst give me. I am not ignorant of the motive +that assembles such numbers in that place, and cannot but consider it as +the centre of wisdom and piety, to which the best and wisest men of +every land must be continually resorting." + +"There are some nations," said Imlac, "that send few visitants to +Palestine; for many numerous and learned sects in Europe concur to +censure pilgrimage as superstitious, or deride it as ridiculous." + +"You know," said the prince, "how little my life has made me acquainted +with diversity of opinions; it will be too long to hear the arguments on +both sides; you, that have considered them, tell me the result." + +"Pilgrimage," said Imlac, "like many other acts of piety, may be +reasonable or superstitious, according to the principles upon which it +is performed. Long journeys in search of truth are not commanded. Truth, +such as is necessary to the regulation of life, is always found where it +is honestly sought. Change of place is no natural cause of the increase +of piety, for it inevitably produces dissipation of mind. Yet, since men +go every day to view the fields where great actions have been performed, +and return with stronger impressions of the event, curiosity of the same +kind may naturally dispose us to view that country whence our religion +had its beginning; and I believe no man surveys those awful scenes +without some confirmation of holy resolutions. That the Supreme Being +may be more easily propitiated in one place than in another, is the +dream of idle superstition; but that some places may operate upon our +own minds in an uncommon manner, is an opinion which hourly experience +will justify. He who supposes that his vices may be more successfully +combated in Palestine, will, perhaps, find himself mistaken; yet he may +go thither without folly: he who thinks they will be more freely +pardoned, dishonours at once his reason and religion." + +"These," said the prince, "are European distinctions. I will consider +them another time. What have you found to be the effect of knowledge? +Are those nations happier than we?" + +"There is so much infelicity," said the poet, "in the world, that scarce +any man has leisure from his own distresses to estimate the comparative +happiness of others. Knowledge is certainly one of the means of +pleasure, as is confessed by the natural desire which every mind feels +of increasing its ideas. Ignorance is mere privation, by which nothing +can be produced: it is a vacuity in which the soul sits motionless and +torpid for want of attraction; and without knowing why, we always +rejoice when we learn, and grieve when we forget. I am therefore +inclined to conclude, that if nothing counteracts the natural +consequence of learning, we grow more happy as our minds take a wider +range. + +"In enumerating the particular comforts of life, we shall find many +advantages on the side of the Europeans. They cure wounds and diseases +with which we languish and perish. We suffer inclemencies of weather +which they can obviate. They have engines for the dispatch of many +laborious works, which we must perform by manual industry. There is such +communication between distant places, that one friend can hardly be said +to be absent from another. Their policy removes all public +inconveniences; they have roads cut through their mountains, and bridges +laid upon their rivers. And, if we descend to the privacies of life, +their habitations are more commodious, and their possessions are more +secure." + +"They are surely happy," said the prince, "who have all these +conveniences, of which I envy none so much as the facility with which +separated friends interchange their thoughts." + +"The Europeans," answered Imlac, "are less unhappy than we; but they are +not happy. Human life is everywhere a state in which much is to be +endured, and little to be enjoyed." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE STORY OF IMLAC CONTINUED + + +"I am not yet willing," said the prince, "to suppose that happiness is +so parsimoniously distributed to mortals; nor can believe but that, if I +had the choice of life, I should be able to fill every day with +pleasure. I would injure no man, and should provoke no resentment; I +would relieve every distress, and should enjoy the benedictions of +gratitude. I would choose my friends among the wise, and my wife among +the virtuous; and therefore should be in no danger from treachery or +unkindness. My children should, by my care, be learned and pious, and +would repay to my age what their childhood had received. What would dare +to molest him who might call on every side to thousands enriched by his +bounty, or assisted by his power? And why should not life glide quietly +away in the soft reciprocation of protection and reverence? All this may +be done without the help of European refinements, which appear by their +effects to be rather specious than useful. Let us leave them, and pursue +our journey." + +"From Palestine," said Imlac, "I passed through many regions of Asia; in +the more civilized kingdoms as a trader, and among the barbarians of the +mountains as a pilgrim. At last I began to long for my native country, +that I might repose, after my travels and fatigues, in the places where +I had spent my earliest years, and gladden my old companions with the +recital of my adventures. Often did I figure to myself those with whom I +had sported away the gay hours of dawning life, sitting round me in its +evening, wondering at my tales, and listening to my counsels. + +"When this thought had taken possession of my mind, I considered every +moment as wasted which did not bring me nearer to Abyssinia. I hastened +into Egypt, and, notwithstanding my impatience, was detained ten months +in the contemplation of its ancient magnificence, and in inquiries after +the remains of its ancient learning. I found in Cairo a mixture of all +nations; some brought thither by the love of knowledge, some by the hope +of gain, and many by the desire of living after their own manner without +observation, and of lying hid in the obscurity of multitudes: for in a +city, populous as Cairo, it is possible to obtain at the same time the +gratifications of society, and the secrecy of solitude. + +"From Cairo I travelled to Suez, and embarked on the Red Sea, passing +along the coast till I arrived at the port from which I had departed +twenty years before. Here I joined myself to a caravan, and re-entered +my native country. + +"I now expected the caresses of my kinsmen, and the congratulations of +my friends, and was not without hope that my father, whatever value he +had set upon riches, would own with gladness and pride a son who was +able to add to the felicity and honour of the nation. But I was soon +convinced that my thoughts were vain. My father had been dead fourteen +years, having divided his wealth among my brothers, who were removed to +some other provinces. Of my companions, the greater part was in the +grave; of the rest, some could with difficulty remember me, and some +considered me as one corrupted by foreign manners. + +"A man used to vicissitudes is not easily dejected. I forgot, after a +time, my disappointment, and endeavoured to recommend myself to the +nobles of the kingdom; they admitted me to their tables, heard my story, +and dismissed me. I opened a school, and was prohibited to teach. I then +resolved to sit down in the quiet of domestic life, and addressed a lady +that was fond of my conversation, but rejected my suit because my father +was a merchant. + +"Wearied at last with solicitation and repulses, I resolved to hide +myself for ever from the world, and depend no longer on the opinion or +caprice of others. I waited for the time when the gate of the Happy +Valley should open, that I might bid farewell to hope and fear: the day +came; my performance was distinguished with favour; and I resigned +myself with joy to perpetual confinement." + +"Hast thou here found happiness at last?" said Rasselas. "Tell me +without reserve; art thou content with thy condition? or, dost thou wish +to be again wandering and inquiring? All the inhabitants of this valley +celebrate their lot, and, at the annual visit of the emperor, invite +others to partake of their felicity." + +"Great prince," said Imlac, "I shall speak the truth; I know not one of +all your attendants who does not lament the hour when he entered this +retreat. I am less unhappy than the rest, because I have a mind replete +with images, which I can vary and combine at pleasure. I can amuse my +solitude by the renovation of the knowledge which begins to fade from my +memory, and by recollection of the accidents of my past life. Yet all +this ends in the sorrowful consideration, that my acquirements are now +useless, and that none of my pleasures can be again enjoyed. The rest, +whose minds have no impression but of the present moment, are either +corroded by malignant passions, or sit stupid in the gloom of perpetual +vacancy." + +"What passions can infest those," said the prince, "who have no rivals? +We are in a place where impotence precludes malice, and where all envy +is repressed by community of enjoyments." + +"There may be community," said Imlac, "of material possessions, but +there can never be community of love or of esteem. It must happen that +one will please more than another; he that knows himself despised will +always be envious; and still more envious and malevolent, if he is +condemned to live in the presence of those who despise him. The +invitations by which they allure others to a state which they feel to be +wretched, proceed from the natural malignity of hopeless misery. They +are weary of themselves and of each other, and expect to find relief in +new companions. They envy the liberty which their folly has forfeited, +and would gladly see all mankind imprisoned like themselves. + +"From this crime, however, I am wholly free. No man can say that he is +wretched by my persuasion. I look with pity on the crowds who are +annually soliciting admission to captivity, and wish that it were lawful +for me to warn them of their danger." + +"My dear Imlac," said the prince, "I will open to thee my whole heart. I +have long meditated an escape from the Happy Valley. I have examined the +mountains on every side, but find myself insuperably barred: teach me +the way to break my prison; thou shalt be the companion of my flight, +the guide of my rambles, the partner of my fortune, and my sole director +in the _choice of life_." + +"Sir," answered the poet, "your escape will be difficult, and, perhaps, +you may soon repent your curiosity. The world, which you figure smooth +and quiet as the lake in the valley, you will find a sea foaming with +tempests and boiling with whirlpools: you will be sometimes overwhelmed +by the waves of violence, and sometimes dashed against the rocks of +treachery. Amidst wrongs and frauds, competitions and anxieties, you +will wish a thousand times for these seats of quiet, and willingly quit +hope to be free from fear." + +"Do not seek to deter me from my purpose," said the prince; "I am +impatient to see what thou hast seen; and, since thou art thyself weary +of the valley, it is evident that thy former state was better than this. +Whatever be the consequence of my experiment, I am resolved to judge +with mine own eyes of the various conditions of men, and then to make +deliberately my _choice of life_." + +"I am afraid," said Imlac, "you are hindered by stronger restraints than +my persuasions; yet, if your determination is fixed, I do not counsel +you to despair. Few things are impossible to diligence and skill." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +RASSELAS DISCOVERS THE MEANS OF ESCAPE + + +The prince now dismissed his favourite to rest; but the narrative of +wonders and novelties filled his mind with perturbation. He revolved all +that he had heard, and prepared innumerable questions for the morning. + +Much of his uneasiness was now removed. He had a friend to whom he could +impart his thoughts, and whose experience could assist him in his +designs. His heart was no longer condemned to swell with silent +vexation. He thought that even the Happy Valley might be endured with +such a companion, and that if they could range the world together, he +should have nothing further to desire. + +In a few days the water was discharged, and the ground dried. The prince +and Imlac then walked out together, to converse without the notice of +the rest. The prince, whose thoughts were always on the wing, as he +passed by the gate, said, with a countenance of sorrow, "Why art thou so +strong, and why is man so weak?" + +"Man is not weak," answered his companion; "knowledge is more than +equivalent to force. The master of mechanics laughs at strength. I can +burst the gate, but cannot do it secretly. Some other expedient must be +tried." + +As they were walking on the side of the mountain, they observed that the +conies, which the rain had driven from their burrows, had taken shelter +among the bushes, and formed holes behind them, tending upwards in an +oblique line. "It has been the opinion of antiquity," said Imlac, "that +human reason borrowed many arts from the instinct of animals; let us, +therefore, not think ourselves degraded by learning from the coney. We +may escape by piercing the mountain in the same direction. We will begin +where the summit hangs over the middle part, and labour upward till we +shall issue up beyond the prominence." + +The eyes of the prince, when he heard this proposal, sparkled with joy. +The execution was easy, and the success certain. + +No time was now lost. They hastened early in the morning to choose a +place proper for their mine. They clambered with great fatigue among +crags and brambles, and returned without having discovered any part that +favoured their design. The second and the third day were spent in the +same manner, and with the same frustration. But, on the fourth, they +found a small cavern, concealed by a thicket, where they resolved to +make their experiment. + +Imlac procured instruments proper to hew stone and remove earth, and +they fell to their work on the next day with more eagerness than vigour. +They were presently exhausted by their efforts, and sat down to pant +upon the grass. The prince, for a moment, appeared to be discouraged. +"Sir," said his companion, "practice will enable us to continue our +labour for a longer time; mark, however, how far we have advanced, and +you will find that our toil will some time have an end. Great works are +performed, not by strength but perseverance: yonder palace was raised by +single stones, yet you see its height and spaciousness. He that shall +walk with vigour three hours a day, will pass in seven years a space +equal to the circumference of the globe." + +They returned to their work day after day, and, in a short time, found a +fissure in the rock, which enabled them to pass far with very little +obstruction. This Rasselas considered as a good omen. "Do not disturb +your mind," said Imlac, "with other hopes or fears than reason may +suggest: if you are pleased with prognostics of good, you will be +terrified likewise with tokens of evil, and your whole life will be a +prey to superstition. Whatever facilitates our work is more than an +omen, it is a cause of success. This is one of those pleasing surprises +which often happen to active resolution. Many things difficult to design +prove easy to performance." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +RASSELAS AND IMLAC RECEIVE AN UNEXPECTED VISIT + + +They had now wrought their way to the middle, and solaced their toil +with the approach of liberty, when the prince, coming down to refresh +himself with air, found his sister Nekayah standing before the mouth of +the cavity. He started and stood confused, afraid to tell his design, +and yet hopeless to conceal it. A few moments determined him to repose +on her fidelity, and secure her secrecy by a declaration without +reserve. + +"Do not imagine," said the princess, "that I came hither as a spy: I +had long observed from my window that you and Imlac directed your walk +every day towards the same point; but I did not suppose you had any +better reason for the preference than a cooler shade, or more fragrant +bank; nor followed you with any other design than to partake of your +conversation. Since, then, not suspicion but fondness has detected you, +let me not lose the advantage of my discovery. I am equally weary of +confinement with yourself, and not less desirous of knowing what is done +or suffered in the world. Permit me to fly with you from this tasteless +tranquillity, which will yet grow more loathsome when you have left me. +You may deny me to accompany you, but cannot hinder me from following." + +The prince, who loved Nekayah above his other sisters, had no +inclination to refuse her request, and grieved that he had lost an +opportunity of showing his confidence by a voluntary communication. It +was therefore agreed that she should leave the valley with them; and +that, in the meantime, she should watch lest any other straggler should, +by chance or curiosity, follow them to the mountain. + +At length their labour was at an end; they saw light beyond the +prominence, and, issuing to the top of the mountain, beheld the Nile, +yet a narrow current, wandering beneath them. + +The prince looked round with rapture, anticipated all the pleasures of +travel, and in thought was already transported beyond his father's +dominions. Imlac, though very joyful at his escape, had less expectation +of pleasure in the world, which he had before tried, and of which he had +been weary. + +Rasselas was so much delighted with a wider horizon, that he could not +soon be persuaded to return into the valley. He informed his sister that +the way was open, and that nothing now remained but to prepare for their +departure. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE PRINCE AND PRINCESS LEAVE THE VALLEY, AND SEE MANY WONDERS + + +The prince and princess had jewels sufficient to make them rich whenever +they came into a place of commerce, which, by Imlac's direction, they +hid in their clothes; and, on the night of the next full moon, all left +the valley. The princess was followed only by a single favourite, who +did not know whither she was going. + +They clambered through the cavity, and began to go down on the other +side. The princess and her maid turned their eyes towards every part, +and, seeing nothing to bound their prospect, considered themselves as in +danger of being lost in a dreary vacuity. They stopped and trembled. "I +am almost afraid," said the princess, "to begin a journey of which I +cannot perceive an end, and to venture into this immense plain, where I +may be approached on every side by men whom I never saw." The prince +felt nearly the same emotions, though he thought it more manly to +conceal them. + +Imlac smiled at their terrors, and encouraged them to proceed; but the +princess continued irresolute till she had been imperceptibly drawn +forward too far to return. + +In the morning they found some shepherds in the field, who set milk and +fruits before them. The princess wondered that she did not see a palace +ready for her reception, and a table spread with delicacies; but being +faint and hungry, she drank the milk and ate the fruits, and thought +them of a higher flavour than the products of the valley. + +They travelled forward by easy journeys, being all unaccustomed to toil +or difficulty, and knowing that, though they might be missed, they could +not be pursued. In a few days they came into a more populous region, +where Imlac was diverted with the admiration which his companions +expressed at the diversity of manners, stations, and employments. + +Their dress was such as might not bring upon them the suspicion of +having anything to conceal; yet the prince, wherever he came, expected +to be obeyed, and the princess was frighted because those that came into +her presence did not prostrate themselves before her. Imlac was forced +to observe them with great vigilance, lest they should betray their rank +by their unusual behaviour, and detained them several weeks in the first +village, to accustom them to the sight of common mortals. + +By degrees the royal wanderers were taught to understand that they had +for a time laid aside their dignity, and were to expect only such regard +as liberality and courtesy could procure. And Imlac having, by many +admonitions, prepared them to endure the tumults of a port, and the +ruggedness of the commercial race, brought them down to the sea-coast. + +The prince and his sister, to whom everything was new, were gratified +equally at all places, and therefore remained for some months at the +port, without any inclination to pass further. Imlac was content with +their stay, because he did not think it safe to expose them, +unpractised in the world, to the hazards of a foreign country. + +At last he began to fear lest they should be discovered, and proposed to +fix a day for their departure. They had no pretensions to judge for +themselves, and referred the whole scheme to his direction. He therefore +took passage in a ship to Suez; and, when the time came, with great +difficulty prevailed on the princess to enter the vessel. They had a +quick and prosperous voyage, and from Suez travelled by land to Cairo. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THEY ENTER CAIRO, AND FIND EVERY MAN HAPPY + + +As they approached the city, which filled the strangers with +astonishment, "This," said Imlac to the prince, "is the place where +travellers and merchants assemble from all the corners of the earth. You +will here find men of every character and every occupation. Commerce is +here honourable: I will act as a merchant, and you shall live as +strangers who have no other end of travel than curiosity; it will soon +be observed that we are rich; our reputation will procure us access to +all whom we shall desire to know; you will see all the conditions of +humanity, and enable yourself at leisure to make your _choice of life_." + +They now entered the town, stunned by the noise and offended by the +crowds. Instruction had not yet so prevailed over habit, but that they +wondered to see themselves pass undistinguished along the street, and +met by the lowest of the people without reverence or notice. The +princess could not at first bear the thought of being levelled with the +vulgar, and for some days continued in her chamber, where she was served +by her favourite Pekuah as in the palace of the valley. + +Imlac, who understood traffic, sold part of the jewels the next day, and +hired a house, which he adorned with such magnificence that he was +immediately considered as a merchant of great wealth. His politeness +attracted many acquaintance, and his generosity made him courted by many +dependants. His table was crowded by men of every nation, who all +admired his knowledge and solicited his favour. His companions, not +being able to mix in the conversation, could make no discovery of their +ignorance or surprise, and were gradually initiated in the world as they +gained knowledge of the language. + +The prince had, by frequent lectures, been taught the use and nature of +money; but the ladies could not, for a long time, comprehend what the +merchants did with small pieces of gold and silver, or why things of so +little use should be received as equivalent to the necessaries of life. + +They studied the language two years, while Imlac was preparing to set +before them the various ranks and conditions of mankind. He grew +acquainted with all who had anything uncommon in their fortune or +conduct. He frequented the voluptuous and the frugal, the idle and the +busy, the merchants and the men of learning. + +The prince being now able to converse with fluency, and having learned +the caution necessary to be observed in his intercourse with strangers, +began to accompany Imlac to places of resort, and to enter into all +assemblies, that he might make his _choice of life_. + +For some time he thought choice needless, because all appeared to him +equally happy. Wherever he went he met gaiety and kindness, and heard +the song of joy or the laugh of carelessness. He began to believe that +the world overflowed with universal plenty, and that nothing was +withheld either from want or merit; that every hand showered liberality, +and every heart melted with benevolence; "and who then," says he, "will +be suffered to be wretched?" + +Imlac permitted the pleasing delusion, and was unwilling to crush the +hope of inexperience, till one day, having sat awhile silent, "I know +not," said the prince, "what can be the reason that I am more unhappy +than any of our friends. I see them perpetually and unalterably +cheerful, but feel my own mind restless and uneasy. I am unsatisfied +with those pleasures which I seem most to court. I live in the crowds of +jollity, not so much to enjoy company as to shun myself, and am only +loud and merry to conceal my sadness." + +"Every man," said Imlac, "may, by examining his own mind, guess what +passes in the minds of others; when you feel that your own gaiety is +counterfeit, it may justly lead you to suspect that of your companions +not to be sincere. Envy is commonly reciprocal. We are long before we +are convinced that happiness is never to be found; and each believes it +possessed by others, to keep alive the hope of obtaining it for himself. +In the assembly where you passed the last night, there appeared such +sprightliness of air and volatility of fancy, as might have suited +beings of a higher order, formed to inhabit serener regions inaccessible +to care or sorrow; yet, believe me, prince, there was not one who did +not dread the moment when solitude should deliver him to the tyranny of +reflection." + +"This," said the prince, "may be true of others, since it is true of me; +yet, whatever be the general infelicity of man, one condition is more +happy than another, and wisdom surely directs us to take the least evil +in the _choice of life_." + +"The causes of good and evil," answered Imlac, "are so various and +uncertain, so often entangled with each other, so diversified by various +relations, and so much subject to accidents which cannot be foreseen, +that he who would fix his condition upon incontestable reasons of +preference must live and die inquiring and deliberating." + +"But surely," said Rasselas, "the wise men, to whom we listen with +reverence and wonder, chose that mode of life for themselves which they +thought most likely to make them happy." + +"Very few," said the poet, "live by choice. Every man is placed in his +present condition by causes which acted without his foresight, and with +which he did not always willingly co-operate; and therefore you will +rarely meet one who does not think the lot of his neighbour better than +his own." + +"I am pleased to think," said the prince, "that my birth has given me at +least one advantage over others, by enabling me to determine for myself. +I have here the world before me; I will review it at leisure: surely +happiness is somewhere to be found." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE PRINCE ASSOCIATES WITH YOUNG MEN OF SPIRIT AND GAIETY + + +Rasselas rose next day, and resolved to begin his experiments upon life. +"Youth," cried he, "is the time of gladness: I will join myself to the +young men whose only business is to gratify their desires, and whose +time is all spent in a succession of enjoyments." + +To such societies he was readily admitted; but a few days brought him +back weary and disgusted. Their mirth was without images; their laughter +without motive; their pleasures were gross and sensual, in which the +mind had no part; their conduct was at once wild and mean: they laughed +at order and at law; but the frown of power dejected, and the eye of +wisdom abashed them. + +The prince soon concluded that he should never be happy in a course of +life of which he was ashamed. He thought it unsuitable to a reasonable +being to act without a plan, and to be sad or cheerful only by chance. +"Happiness," said he, "must be something solid and permanent, without +fear and without uncertainty." + +But his young companions had gained so much of his regard by their +frankness and courtesy, that he could not leave them without warning and +remonstrance. "My friends," said he, "I have seriously considered our +manners and our prospects, and find that we have mistaken our own +interest. The first years of man must make provision for the last. He +that never thinks never can be wise. Perpetual levity must end in +ignorance; and intemperance, though it may fire the spirits for an hour, +will make life short or miserable. Let us consider that youth is of no +long duration, and that in maturer age, when the enchantments of fancy +shall cease, and phantoms of delight dance no more about us, we shall +have no comforts but the esteem of wise men, and the means of doing +good. Let us, therefore, stop, while to stop is in our power: let us +live as men who are some time to grow old, and to whom it will be the +most dreadful of all evils not to count their past years but by follies, +and to be reminded of their former luxuriance of health only by the +maladies which riot has produced." + +They stared awhile in silence one upon another, and at last drove him +away by a general chorus of continued laughter. + +The consciousness that his sentiments were just, and his intentions +kind, was scarcely sufficient to support him against the horror of +derision. But he recovered his tranquillity, and pursued his search. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE PRINCE FINDS A WISE AND HAPPY MAN + + +As he was one day walking in the street, he saw a spacious building, +which all were, by the open doors, invited to enter. He followed the +stream of people, and found it a hall or school of declamation, in which +professors read lectures to their auditory. He fixed his eye upon a sage +raised above the rest, who discoursed with great energy on the +government of the passions. His look was venerable, his action graceful, +his pronunciation clear, and his diction elegant. He showed, with great +strength of sentiment and variety of illustration, that human nature is +degraded and debased when the lower faculties predominate over the +higher; that when fancy, the parent of passion, usurps the dominion of +the mind, nothing ensues but the natural effect of unlawful government, +perturbation and confusion; that she betrays the fortresses of the +intellect to rebels, and excites her children to sedition against +reason, their lawful sovereign. He compared reason to the sun, of which +the light is constant, uniform, and lasting; and fancy to a meteor, of +bright but transitory lustre, irregular in its motion, and delusive in +its direction. + +He then communicated the various precepts given from time to time for +the conquest of passion, and displayed the happiness of those who had +obtained the important victory, after which man is no longer the slave +of fear, nor the fool of hope; is no more emaciated by envy, inflamed by +anger, emasculated by tenderness, or depressed by grief; but walks on +calmly through the tumults or privacies of life, as the sun pursues +alike his course through the calm or the stormy sky. + +He enumerated many examples of heroes immovable by pain or pleasure, who +looked with indifference on those modes or accidents to which the vulgar +give the names of good and evil. He exhorted his hearers to lay aside +their prejudices, and arm themselves against the shafts of malice or +misfortune by invulnerable patience; concluding, that this state only +was happiness, and that this happiness was in every one's power. + +Rasselas listened to him with the veneration due to the instructions of +a superior being, and waiting for him at the door, humbly implored the +liberty of visiting so great a master of true wisdom. The lecturer +hesitated a moment, when Rasselas put a purse of gold into his hand, +which he received with a mixture of joy and wonder. + +"I have found," said the prince at his return to Imlac, "a man who can +teach all that is necessary to be known, who, from the unshaken throne +of rational fortitude, looks down on the scenes of life changing beneath +him. He speaks, and attention watches his lips; he reasons, and +conviction closes his periods. This man shall be my future guide: I will +learn his doctrines, and imitate his life." + +"Be not too hasty," said Imlac, "to trust or to admire the teachers of +morality: they discourse like angels, but they live like men." + +Rasselas, who could not conceive how any man could reason so forcibly +without feeling the cogency of his own arguments, paid his visit in a +few days, and was denied admission. He had now learned the power of +money, and made his way by a piece of gold to the inner apartment, where +he found the philosopher, in a room half darkened, with his eyes misty, +and his face pale. "Sir," said he, "you are come at a time when all +human friendship is useless: what I suffer cannot be remedied; what I +have lost cannot be supplied. My daughter, my only daughter, from whose +tenderness I expected all the comforts of my age, died last night of a +fever. My views, my purposes, my hopes are at an end: I am now a lonely +being disunited from society." + +"Sir," said the prince, "mortality is an event by which a wise man can +never be surprised: we know that death is always near, and it should +therefore always be expected." + +"Young man," answered the philosopher, "you speak like one that has +never felt the pangs of separation." "Have you then forgot the +precepts," said Rasselas, "which you so powerfully enforced? Has wisdom +no strength to arm the heart against calamity? Consider that external +things are naturally variable, but truth and reason are always the +same." "What comfort," said the mourner, "can truth and reason afford +me? Of what effect are they now, but to tell me that my daughter will +not be restored?" + +The prince, whose humanity would not suffer him to insult misery with +reproof, went away convinced of the emptiness of rhetorical sound, and +the inefficacy of polished periods and studied sentences. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +A GLIMPSE OF PASTORAL LIFE + + +He was still eager upon the same inquiry; and having heard of a hermit, +that lived near the lowest cataract of the Nile, and filled the whole +country with the fame of his sanctity, resolved to visit his retreat, +and inquire whether that felicity which public life could not afford was +to be found in solitude; and whether a man whose age and virtue made him +venerable could teach any peculiar art of shunning evils or enduring +them. + +Imlac and the princess agreed to accompany him; and, after the +necessary preparations, they began their journey. Their way lay through +the fields, where shepherds tended their flocks, and the lambs were +playing upon the pasture. "This," said the poet, "is the life which has +been often celebrated for its innocence and quiet; let us pass the heat +of the day among the shepherds' tents, and know whether all our searches +are not to terminate in pastoral simplicity." + +The proposal pleased him, and they induced the shepherds, by small +presents and familiar questions, to tell their opinion of their own +state. They were so rude and ignorant, so little able to compare the +good with the evil of the occupation, and so indistinct in their +narratives and descriptions, that very little could be learned from +them; but it was evident that their hearts were cankered with +discontent, that they considered themselves as condemned to labour for +the luxury of the rich, and looked up with stupid malevolence toward +those that were placed above them. + +The princess pronounced with vehemence, that she would never suffer +these envious savages to be her companions, and that she should not soon +be desirous of seeing any more specimens of rustic happiness; but could +not believe that all the accounts of primeval pleasures were fabulous, +and was yet in doubt, whether life had anything that could be justly +preferred to the placid gratifications of fields and woods. She hoped +that the time would come, when, with a few virtuous and elegant +companions, she should gather flowers planted by her own hand, fondle +the lambs of her own ewe, and listen without care, among brooks and +breezes, to one of her maidens reading in the shade. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE DANGER OF PROSPERITY + + +On the next day they continued their journey, till the heat compelled +them to look round for shelter. At a small distance they saw a thick +wood, which they no sooner entered than they perceived that they were +approaching the habitations of men. The shrubs were diligently cut away, +to open walks where the shades were darkest; the boughs of opposite +trees were artificially interwoven; seats of flowery turf were raised in +vacant spaces; and a rivulet, that wantoned along the side of a winding +path, had its banks sometimes opened into small basins, and its stream +sometimes obstructed by little mounds of stone, heaped together to +increase its murmurs. + +They passed slowly through the wood, delighted with such unexpected +accommodations, and entertained each other with conjecturing what or who +he could be, that, in those rude and unfrequented regions, had leisure +and art for such harmless luxury. + +As they advanced, they heard the sound of music, and saw youths and +virgins dancing in the grove; and going still further, beheld a stately +palace built upon a hill, surrounded with woods. The laws of eastern +hospitality allowed them to enter, and the master welcomed them like a +man liberal and wealthy. + +He was skilful enough in appearances soon to discern that they were no +common guests, and spread his table with magnificence. The eloquence of +Imlac caught his attention, and the lofty courtesy of the princess +excited his respect. When they offered to depart, he entreated their +stay, and was the next day still more unwilling to dismiss them than +before. They were easily persuaded to stop, and civility grew up in time +to freedom and confidence. + +The prince now saw all the domestics cheerful, and all the face of +nature smiling round the place, and could not forbear to hope that he +should find here what he was seeking; but when he was congratulating the +master upon his possessions, he answered with a sigh, "My condition has +indeed the appearance of happiness, but appearances are delusive. My +prosperity puts my life in danger; the Bassa of Egypt is my enemy, +incensed only by my wealth and popularity. I have been hitherto +protected against him by the princes of the country; but as the favour +of the great is uncertain, I know not how soon my defenders may be +persuaded to share the plunder with the Bassa. I have sent my treasures +into a distant country, and, upon the first alarm, am prepared to follow +them. Then will my enemies riot in my mansion, and enjoy the gardens +which I have planted." + +They all joined in lamenting his danger and deprecating his exile; and +the princess was so much disturbed with the tumult of grief and +indignation, that she retired to her apartment. + +They continued with their kind inviter a few days longer, and then went +forward to find the hermit. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE HAPPINESS OF SOLITUDE. THE HERMIT'S HISTORY + + +They came on the third day, by the direction of the peasants, to the +hermit's cell: it was a cavern in the side of a mountain, overshadowed +with palm trees; at such a distance from the cataract, that nothing more +was heard than a gentle uniform murmur, such as composed the mind to +pensive meditation, especially when it was assisted by the wind +whistling among the branches. The first rude essay of nature had been so +much improved by human labour, that the cave contained several +apartments appropriated to different uses, and often afforded lodging to +travellers, whom darkness or tempests happened to overtake. + +The hermit sat on a bench at the door, to enjoy the coolness of the +evening. On one side lay a book with pens and papers, on the other +mechanical instruments of various kinds. As they approached him +unregarded, the princess observed that he had not the countenance of a +man that had found, or could teach, the way to happiness. + +They saluted him with great respect, which he repaid like a man not +unaccustomed to the forms of courts. "My children," said he, "if you +have lost your way, you shall be willingly supplied with such +conveniences for the night as this cavern will afford. I have all that +nature requires, and you will not expect delicacies in a hermit's cell." + +They thanked him, and, entering, were pleased with the neatness and +regularity of the place. The hermit set flesh and wine before them, +though he fed only upon fruits and water. His discourse was cheerful +without levity, and pious without enthusiasm. He soon gained the esteem +of his guests, and the princess repented of her hasty censure. + +At last Imlac began thus: "I do not now wonder that your reputation is +so far extended. We have heard at Cairo of your wisdom, and came hither +to implore your direction for this young man and maiden in the _choice +of life_." + +"To him that lives well," answered the hermit, "every form of life is +good; nor can I give any other rule for choice, than to remove from all +apparent evil." + +"He will remove most certainly from evil," said the prince, "who shall +devote himself to that solitude which you have recommended by your +example." + +"I have indeed lived fifteen years in solitude," said the hermit, "but +have no desire that my example should gain any imitators. In my youth I +professed arms, and was raised by degrees to the highest military rank. +I have traversed wide countries at the head of my troops, and seen many +battles and sieges. At last, being disgusted by the preferments of a +younger officer, and feeling that my vigour was beginning to decay, I +was resolved to close my life in peace, having found the world full of +snares, discord, and misery. I had once escaped from the pursuit of the +enemy by the shelter of this cavern, and therefore chose it for my final +residence. I employed artificers to form it into chambers, and stored it +with all that I was likely to want. + +"For some time after my retreat, I rejoiced like a tempest-beaten sailor +at his entrance into the harbour, being delighted with the sudden change +of the noise and hurry of war to stillness and repose. When the pleasure +of novelty went away, I employed my hours in examining the plants which +grow in the valley, and the minerals which I collected from the rocks. +But that inquiry is now grown tasteless and irksome. I have been for +some time unsettled and distracted: my mind is disturbed with a thousand +perplexities of doubt and vanities of imagination, which hourly prevail +upon me, because I have no opportunities of relaxation or diversion. I +am sometimes ashamed to think that I could not secure myself from vice, +but by retiring from the exercise of virtue, and begin to suspect that I +was rather impelled by resentment, than led by devotion, into solitude. +My fancy riots in scenes of folly, and I lament that I have lost so much +and have gained so little. In solitude, if I escape the example of bad +men, I want likewise the counsel and conversation of the good. I have +been long comparing the evils with the advantages of society, and +resolve to return into the world to-morrow. The life of a solitary man +will be certainly miserable, but not certainly devout." + +They heard his resolution with surprise, but after a short pause offered +to conduct him to Cairo. He dug up a considerable treasure which he had +hid among the rocks, and accompanied them to the city, on which, as he +approached it, he gazed with rapture. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +THE HAPPINESS OF A LIFE LED ACCORDING TO NATURE + + +Rasselas went often to an assembly of learned men, who met at stated +times to unbend their minds and compare their opinions. Their manners +were somewhat coarse, but their conversation was instructive, and their +disputations acute, though sometimes too violent, and often continued +till neither controvertist remembered upon what question they began. +Some faults were almost general among them: every one was desirous to +dictate to the rest, and every one was pleased to hear the genius or +knowledge of another depreciated. + +In this assembly Rasselas was relating his interview with the hermit, +and the wonder with which he heard him censure a course of life which he +had so deliberately chosen, and so laudably followed. The sentiments of +the hearers were various. Some were of opinion that the folly of his +choice had been justly punished by condemnation to perpetual +perseverance. One of the youngest among them, with great vehemence, +pronounced him an hypocrite. Some talked of the right of society to the +labour of individuals, and considered retirement as a desertion of duty. +Others readily allowed that there was a time when the claims of the +public were satisfied, and when a man might properly sequester himself, +to review his life and purify his heart. + +One, who appeared more affected with the narrative than the rest, +thought it likely that the hermit would, in a few years, go back to his +retreat, and perhaps, if shame did not restrain or death intercept him, +return once more from his retreat into the world: "For the hope of +happiness," said he, "is so strongly impressed, that the longest +experience is not able to efface it. Of the present state, whatever it +be, we feel, and are forced to confess, the misery; yet, when the same +state is again at a distance, imagination paints it as desirable. But +the time will surely come, when desire will be no longer our torment, +and no man shall be wretched but by his own fault." + +"This," said a philosopher, who had heard him with tokens of great +impatience, "is the present condition of a wise man. The time is +already come, when none are wretched but by their own fault. Nothing is +more idle than to inquire after happiness, which nature has kindly +placed within our reach. The way to be happy is to live according to +nature, in obedience to that universal and unalterable law with which +every heart is originally impressed; which is not written on it by +precept, but engraven by destiny, not instilled by education, but +infused at our nativity. He that lives according to nature will suffer +nothing from the delusions of hope, or importunities of desire; he will +receive and reject with equability of temper, and act or suffer as the +reason of things shall alternately prescribe. Other men may amuse +themselves with subtle definitions, or intricate ratiocinations. Let +them learn to be wise by easier means: let them observe the hind of the +forest, and the linnet of the grove; let them consider the life of +animals, whose motions are regulated by instinct: they obey their guide, +and are happy. Let us therefore, at length, cease to dispute, and learn +to live; throw away the encumbrance of precepts, which they who utter +them with so much pride and pomp do not understand, and carry with us +this simple and intelligible maxim: that deviation from nature is +deviation from happiness." + +When he had spoken, he looked round him with a placid air, and enjoyed +the consciousness of his own beneficence. "Sir," said the prince with +great modesty, "as I, like all the rest of mankind, am desirous of +felicity, my closest attention has been fixed upon your discourse; I +doubt not the truth of a position which a man so learned has so +confidently advanced. Let me only know what it is to live according to +nature." + +"When I find young men so humble and so docile," said the philosopher, +"I can deny them no information which my studies have enabled me to +afford. To live according to nature, is to act always with due regard to +the fitness arising from the relations and qualities of causes and +effects; to concur with the great and unchangeable scheme of universal +felicity; to co-operate with the general disposition and tendency of the +present system of things." + +The prince soon found that this was one of the sages whom he should +understand less as he heard him longer. He therefore bowed and was +silent; and the philosopher, supposing him satisfied, and the rest +vanquished, rose up, and departed with the air of a man that had +co-operated with the present system. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +THE PRINCE AND HIS SISTER DIVIDE BETWEEN THEM THE WORK OF OBSERVATION + + +Rasselas returned home full of reflections, doubtful how to direct his +future steps. Of the way to happiness he found the learned and simple +equally ignorant: but, as he was yet young, he flattered himself that he +had time remaining for more experiments and further inquiries. He +communicated to Imlac his observations and his doubts, but was answered +by him with new doubts, and remarks that gave him no comfort. He +therefore discoursed more frequently and freely with his sister, who had +yet the same hope with himself, and always assisted him to give some +reason why, though he had been hitherto frustrated, he might succeed at +last. + +"We have hitherto," said she, "known but little of the world: we have +never yet been either great or mean. In our own country, though we had +royalty, we had no power; and in this, we have not yet seen the private +recesses of domestic peace. Imlac favours not our search, lest we should +in time find him mistaken. We will divide the task between us: you shall +try what is to be found in the splendour of courts, and I will range the +shades of humbler life. Perhaps command and authority may be the supreme +blessings, as they afford most opportunities of doing good; or, perhaps, +what this world can give may be found in the modest habitations of +middle fortune, too low for great designs, and too high for penury and +distress." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE PRINCE EXAMINES THE HAPPINESS OF HIGH STATIONS + + +Rasselas applauded the design, and appeared next day with a splendid +retinue at the court of the Bassa. He was soon distinguished for his +magnificence, and admitted, as a prince whose curiosity had brought him +from distant countries, to an intimacy with the great officers, and +frequent conversation with the Bassa himself. + +He was at first inclined to believe, that the man must be pleased with +his own condition whom all approached with reverence and heard with +obedience, and who had the power to extend his edicts to a whole +kingdom. "There can be no pleasure," said he, "equal to that of feeling +at once the joy of thousands all made happy by wise administration. Yet +since by the law of subordination this sublime delight can be in one +nation but the lot of one, it is surely reasonable to think that there +is some satisfaction more popular and accessible, and that millions can +hardly be subjected to the will of a single man, only to fill his +particular breast with incommunicable content." + +These thoughts were often in his mind, and he found no solution of the +difficulty. But as presents and civilities gained him more familiarity, +he found that almost every man who stood high in employment hated all +the rest, and was hated by them, and that their lives were a continual +succession of plots and detections, stratagems and escapes, faction and +treachery. Many of those who surrounded the Bassa were sent only to +watch and report his conduct; every tongue was muttering censure, and +every eye was searching for a fault. + +At last the letters of revocation arrived, the Bassa was carried in +chains to Constantinople, and his name was mentioned no more. + +"What are we now to think of the prerogatives of power?" said Rasselas +to his sister; "is it without any efficacy to good? or, is the +subordinate degree only dangerous, and the supreme safe and glorious? Is +the Sultan the only happy man in his dominions? or, is the Sultan +himself subject to the torments of suspicion and the dread of enemies?" + +In a short time the second Bassa was deposed; the Sultan that had +advanced him was murdered by the Janizaries, and his successor had other +views and different favourites. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +THE PRINCESS PURSUES HER INQUIRY WITH MORE DILIGENCE THAN SUCCESS + + +The princess, in the meantime, insinuated herself into many families; +for there are few doors through which liberality, joined with good +humour, cannot find its way. The daughters of many houses were airy and +cheerful; but Nekayah had been too long accustomed to the conversation +of Imlac and her brother to be much pleased with childish levity, and +prattle which had no meaning. She found their thoughts narrow, their +wishes low, and their merriment often artificial. Their pleasures, poor +as they were, could not be preserved pure, but were embittered by petty +competitions and worthless emulation. They were always jealous of the +beauty of each other; of a quality to which solicitude can add nothing, +and from which detraction can take nothing away. Many were in love with +triflers like themselves, and many fancied that they were in love when +in truth they were only idle. Their affection was seldom fixed on sense +or virtue, and therefore seldom ended but in vexation. Their grief, +however, like their joy, was transient; everything floated in their mind +unconnected with the past or future, so that one desire easily gave way +to another, as a second stone cast into the water effaces and confounds +the circles of the first. + +With these girls she played as with inoffensive animals, and found them +proud of her countenance, and weary of her company. + +But her purpose was to examine more deeply, and her affability easily +persuaded the hearts that were swelling with sorrow to discharge their +secrets in her ear; and those whom hope flattered, or prosperity +delighted, often courted her to partake their pleasures. + +The princess and her brother commonly met in the evening, in a private +summer-house on the bank of the Nile, and related to each other the +occurrences of the day. As they were sitting together, the princess cast +her eyes upon the river that flowed before her. "Answer," said she, +"great father of waters, thou that rollest thy floods through eighty +nations, to the invocations of the daughter of the native king. Tell me +if thou waterest, through all thy course, a single habitation from which +thou dost not hear the murmurs of complaint?" + +"You are, then," said Rasselas, "not more successful in private houses +than I have been in courts." "I have, since the last partition of our +provinces," said the princess, "enabled myself to enter familiarly into +many families, where there was the fairest show of prosperity and peace, +and know not one house that is not haunted by some fury that destroys +their quiet. + +"I did not seek ease among the poor, because I concluded that there it +could not be found. But I saw many poor, whom I had supposed to live in +affluence. Poverty has, in large cities, very different appearances: it +is often concealed in splendour, and often in extravagance. It is the +care of a very great part of mankind to conceal their indigence from +the rest; they support themselves by temporary expedients, and every day +is lost in contriving for the morrow. + +"This, however, was an evil, which, though frequent, I saw with less +pain, because I could relieve it. Yet some have refused my bounties; +more offended with my quickness to detect their wants, than pleased with +my readiness to succour them; and others, whose exigencies compelled +them to admit my kindness, have never been able to forgive their +benefactress. Many, however, have been sincerely grateful, without the +ostentation of gratitude, or the hope of other favours." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +THE PRINCESS CONTINUES HER REMARKS UPON PRIVATE LIFE + + +Nekayah, perceiving her brother's attention fixed, proceeded in her +narrative. + +"In families, where there is or is not poverty, there is commonly +discord: if a kingdom be, as Imlac tells us, a great family, a family +likewise is a little kingdom, torn with factions and exposed to +revolutions. An unpractised observer expects the love of parents and +children to be constant and equal; but this kindness seldom continues +beyond the years of infancy: in a short time the children become rivals +to their parents; benefits are allayed by reproaches, and gratitude +debased by envy. + +"Parents and children seldom act in concert: each child endeavours to +appropriate the esteem or fondness of the parents, and the parents, with +yet less temptation, betray each other to their children; thus, some +place their confidence in the father, and some in the mother, and by +degrees the house is filled with artifices and feuds. + +"The opinions of children and parents, of the young and the old, are +naturally opposite, by the contrary effects of hope and despondence, of +expectation and experience, without crime or folly on either side. The +colours of life in youth and age appear different, as the face of nature +in spring and winter. And how can children credit the assertions of +parents, which their own eyes show them to be false? + +"Few parents act in such a manner as much to enforce their maxims by the +credit of their lives. The old man trusts wholly to slow contrivance and +gradual progression; the youth expects to force his way by genius, +vigour, and precipitance. The old man pays regard to riches, and the +youth reverences virtue. The old man deifies prudence; the youth commits +himself to magnanimity and chance. The young man, who intends no ill, +believes that none is intended, and therefore acts with openness and +candour; but his father, having suffered the injuries of fraud, is +impelled to suspect, and too often allured to practise it. Age looks +with anger on the temerity of youth, and youth with contempt on the +scrupulosity of age. Thus parents and children, for the greatest part, +live on to love less and less; and, if those whom nature has thus +closely united are the torments of each other, where shall we look for +tenderness and consolation?" + +"Surely," said the prince, "you must have been unfortunate in your +choice of acquaintance: I am unwilling to believe, that the most tender +of all relations is thus impeded in its effects by natural necessity." + +"Domestic discord," answered she, "is not inevitably and fatally +necessary; but yet it is not easily avoided. We seldom see that a whole +family is virtuous; the good and evil cannot well agree; and the evil +can yet less agree with one another; even the virtuous fall sometimes to +variance, when their virtues are of different kinds, and tending to +extremes. In general, those parents have most reverence who most deserve +it; for he that lives well cannot be despised. + +"Many other evils infest private life. Some are the slaves of servants +whom they have trusted with their affairs. Some are kept in continual +anxiety by the caprice of rich relations, whom they cannot please and +dare not offend. Some husbands are imperious, and some wives perverse: +and, as it is always more easy to do evil than good, though the wisdom +or virtue of one can very rarely make many happy, the folly or vice of +one may often make many miserable." + +"If such be the general effect of marriage," said the prince, "I shall, +for the future, think it dangerous to connect my interest with that of +another, lest I should be unhappy by my partner's fault." + +"I have met," said the princess, "with many who live single for that +reason; but I never found that their prudence ought to raise envy. They +dream away their time without friendship, without fondness, and are +driven to rid themselves of the day, for which they have no use, by +childish amusements or vicious delights. They act as beings under the +constant sense of some known inferiority, that fills their minds with +rancour, and their tongues with censure. They are peevish at home, and +malevolent abroad; and, as the outlaws of human nature, make it their +business and their pleasure to disturb that society which debars them +from its privileges. To live without feeling or exciting sympathy, to be +fortunate without adding to the felicity of others, or afflicted without +tasting the balm of pity, is a state more gloomy than solitude: it is +not retreat, but exclusion from mankind. Marriage has many pains, but +celibacy has no pleasures." + +"What then is to be done?" said Rasselas; "the more we inquire, the less +we can resolve. Surely he is most likely to please himself that has no +other inclination or regard." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +DISQUISITION UPON GREATNESS + + +The conversation had a short pause. The prince, having considered his +sister's observations, told her, that she had surveyed life with +prejudice, and supposed misery where she did not find it. "Your +narrative," says he, "throws yet a darker gloom upon the prospects of +futurity; the predictions of Imlac were but faint sketches of the evils +painted by Nekayah. I have been lately convinced that quiet is not the +daughter of grandeur or of power: that her presence is not to be bought +by wealth, nor enforced by conquest. It is evident, that as any man acts +in a wider compass, he must be more exposed to opposition from enmity, +or miscarriage from chance; whoever has many to please or to govern, +must use the ministry of many agents, some of whom will be wicked, and +some ignorant; by some he will be misled, and by others betrayed. If he +gratifies one he will offend another; those that are not favoured will +think themselves injured; and, since favours can be conferred but upon +few, the greater number will be always discontented." + +"The discontent," said the princess, "which is thus unreasonable, I hope +that I shall always have spirit to despise, and you power to repress." + +"Discontent," answered Rasselas, "will not always be without reason, +under the most just and vigilant administration of public affairs. +None, however attentive, can always discover that merit which indigence +or faction may happen to obscure; and none, however powerful, can always +reward it. Yet he that sees inferior desert advanced above him will +naturally impute that preference to partiality or caprice; and, indeed, +it can scarcely be hoped that any man, however magnanimous by nature, or +exalted by condition, will be able to persist for ever in the fixed and +inexorable justice of distribution: he will sometimes indulge his own +affections, and sometimes those of his favourites; he will permit some +to please him who can never serve him; he will discover in those whom he +loves, qualities which in reality they do not possess; and to those from +whom he receives pleasure, he will in his turn endeavour to give it. +Thus will recommendations sometimes prevail which were purchased by +money, or by the more destructive bribery of flattery and servility. + +"He that has much to do will do something wrong, and of that wrong must +suffer the consequences; and, if it were possible that he should always +act rightly, yet when such numbers are to judge of his conduct, the bad +will censure and obstruct him by malevolence, and the good sometimes by +mistake. + +"The highest stations cannot therefore hope to be the abodes of +happiness, which I would willingly believe to have fled from thrones and +palaces to seats of humble privacy and placid obscurity. For what can +hinder the satisfaction, or intercept the expectations, of him whose +abilities are adequate to his employments, who sees with his own eyes +the whole circuit of his influence, who chooses by his own knowledge all +whom he trusts, and whom none are tempted to deceive by hope or fear? +Surely he has nothing to do but to love and to be loved, to be virtuous +and to be happy." + +"Whether perfect happiness would be procured by perfect goodness," said +Nekayah, "this world will never afford an opportunity of deciding. But +this, at least, may be maintained, that we do not always find visible +happiness in proportion to visible virtue. All natural and almost all +political evils are incident alike to the bad and good: they are +confounded in the misery of a famine, and not much distinguished in the +fury of a faction; they sink together in a tempest, and are driven +together from their country by invaders. All that virtue can afford is +quietness of conscience and a steady prospect of a happier state; this +may enable us to endure calamity with patience; but remember that +patience must suppose pain." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +RASSELAS AND NEKAYAH CONTINUE THEIR CONVERSATION + + +"Dear princess," said Rasselas, "you fall into the common errors of +exaggeratory declamation, by producing, in a familiar disquisition, +examples of national calamities, and scenes of extensive misery, which +are found in books rather than in the world, and which, as they are +horrid, are ordained to be rare. Let us not imagine evils which we do +not feel, nor injure life by misrepresentations. I cannot bear that +querulous eloquence which threatens every city with a siege like that of +Jerusalem, that makes famine attend on every flight of locusts, and +suspends pestilence on the wing of every blast that issues from the +south. + +"On necessary and inevitable evils which overwhelm kingdoms at once, all +disputation is vain: when they happen they must be endured. But it is +evident, that these bursts of universal distress are more dreaded than +felt; thousands and ten thousands flourish in youth and wither in age, +without the knowledge of any other than domestic evils, and share the +same pleasures and vexations, whether their kings are mild or cruel, +whether the armies of their country pursue their enemies or retreat +before them. While courts are disturbed with intestine competitions, and +ambassadors are negotiating in foreign countries, the smith still plies +his anvil, and the husbandman drives his plough forward; the necessaries +of life are required and obtained; and the successive business of the +seasons continues to make its wonted revolutions. + +"Let us cease to consider what, perhaps, may never happen, and what, +when it shall happen, will laugh at human speculation. We will not +endeavour to modify the motions of the elements, or to fix the destiny +of kingdoms. It is our business to consider what beings like us may +perform; each labouring for his own happiness, by promoting within his +circle, however narrow, the happiness of others. + +"Marriage is evidently the dictate of nature; men and women are made to +be companions of each other; and therefore I cannot be persuaded but +that marriage is one of the means of happiness." + +"I know not," said the princess, "whether marriage be more than one of +the innumerable modes of human misery. When I see and reckon the various +forms of connubial infelicity, the unexpected causes of lasting discord, +the diversities of temper, the oppositions of opinion, the rude +collisions of contrary desire where both are urged by violent impulses, +the obstinate contests of disagreeing virtues where both are supported +by consciousness of good intention, I am sometimes disposed to think +with the severer casuists of most nations, that marriage is rather +permitted than approved, and that none, but by the instigation of a +passion too much indulged, entangle themselves with indissoluble +compacts." + +"You seem to forget," replied Rasselas, "that you have, even now, +represented celibacy as less happy than marriage. Both conditions may be +bad, but they cannot both be worst. Thus it happens when wrong opinions +are entertained, that they mutually destroy each other, and leave the +mind open to truth." + +"I did not expect," answered the princess, "to hear that imputed to +falsehood which is the consequence only of frailty. To the mind, as to +the eye, it is difficult to compare with exactness objects vast in their +extent, and various in their parts. Where we see or conceive the whole +at once, we readily note the discriminations, and decide the preference; +but of two systems, of which neither can be surveyed by any human being +in its full compass of magnitude and multiplicity of complication, where +is the wonder that, judging of the whole by parts, I am alternately +affected by one and the other, as either presses on my memory or fancy? +We differ from ourselves, just as we differ from each other, when we see +only part of the question, as in the multifarious relations of politics +and morality; but when we perceive the whole at once, as in numerical +computations, all agree in one judgment, and none ever varies his +opinion." + +"Let us not add," said the prince, "to the other evils of life the +bitterness of controversy, nor endeavour to vie with each other in +subtleties of argument. We are employed in a search, of which both are +equally to enjoy the success, or suffer by the miscarriage. It is +therefore fit that we assist each other. You surely conclude too hastily +from the infelicity of marriage against its institution: will not the +misery of life prove equally that life cannot be the gift of heaven? The +world must be peopled by marriage, or peopled without it." + +"How the world is to be peopled," returned Nekayah, "is not my care, and +needs not be yours. I see no danger that the present generation should +omit to leave successors behind them: we are not now inquiring for the +world, but for ourselves." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +THE DEBATE OF MARRIAGE CONTINUED + + +"The good of the whole," said Rasselas, "is the same with the good of +all its parts. If marriage be best for mankind, it must be evidently +best for individuals; or a permanent and necessary duty must be the +cause of evil, and some must be inevitably sacrificed to the convenience +of others. In the estimate which you have made of the two states, it +appears that the incommodities of a single life are, in a great measure, +necessary and certain, but those of the conjugal state accidental and +avoidable. + +"I cannot forbear to flatter myself, that prudence and benevolence will +make marriage happy. The general folly of mankind is the cause of +general complaint. What can be expected but disappointment and +repentance from a choice made in the immaturity of youth, in the ardour +of desire, without judgment, without foresight, without inquiry after +conformity of opinions, similarity of manners, rectitude of judgment, or +purity of sentiment? + +"Such is the common process of marriage. A youth and maiden, meeting by +chance or brought together by artifice, exchange glances, reciprocate +civilities, go home, and dream of one another. Having little to divert +attention, or diversify thought, they find themselves uneasy when they +are apart, and therefore conclude that they shall be happy together. +They marry, and discover what nothing but voluntary blindness before had +concealed: they wear out life in altercations, and charge nature with +cruelty. + +"From those early marriages proceeds likewise the rivalry of parents and +children. The son is eager to enjoy the world before the father is +willing to forsake it, and there is hardly room at once for two +generations. The daughter begins to bloom before the mother can be +content to fade, and neither can forbear to wish for the absence of the +other. + +"Surely all these evils may be avoided by that deliberation and delay +which prudence prescribes to irrevocable choice. In the variety and +jollity of youthful pleasures, life may be well enough supported without +the help of a partner. Longer time will increase experience, and wider +views will allow better opportunities of inquiry and selection: one +advantage, at least, will be certain; the parents will be visibly older +than their children." + +"What reason cannot collect," said Nekayah, "and what experiment has not +yet taught, can be known only from the report of others. I have been +told that late marriages are not eminently happy. This is a question too +important to be neglected, and I have often proposed it to those whose +accuracy of remark, and comprehensiveness of knowledge, made their +suffrages worthy of regard. They have generally determined that it is +dangerous for a man and woman to suspend their fate upon each other, at +a time when opinions are fixed, and habits are established; when +friendships have been contracted on both sides; when life has been +planned into method, and the mind has long enjoyed the contemplation of +its own prospects. + +"It is scarcely possible that two, travelling through the world under +the conduct of chance, should have been both directed to the same path, +and it will not often happen that either will quit the track which +custom has made pleasing. When the desultory levity of youth has settled +into regularity, it is soon succeeded by pride ashamed to yield, or +obstinacy delighting to contend. And even though mutual esteem produces +mutual desire to please, time itself, as it modifies unchangeably the +external mien, determines likewise the direction of the passions, and +gives an inflexible rigidity to the manners. Long customs are not easily +broken: he that attempts to change the course of his own life very often +labours in vain: and how shall we do that for others, which we are +seldom able to do for ourselves?" + +"But surely," interposed the prince, "you suppose the chief motive of +choice forgotten or neglected. Whenever I shall seek a wife, it shall be +my first question, whether she be willing to be led by reason." + +"Thus it is," said Nekayah, "that philosophers are deceived. There are a +thousand familiar disputes which reason never can decide; questions that +elude investigation, and make logic ridiculous; cases where something +must be done, and where little can be said. Consider the state of +mankind, and inquire how few can be supposed to act upon any occasions, +whether small or great, with all the reasons of action present to their +minds. Wretched would be the pair above all names of wretchedness, who +should be doomed to adjust by reason, every morning, all the minute +detail of a domestic day. + +"Those who marry at an advanced age will probably escape the +encroachments of their children; but, in diminution of this advantage, +they will be likely to leave them, ignorant and helpless, to a +guardian's mercy; or, if that should not happen, they must at least go +out of the world before they see those whom they love best either wise +or great. + +"From their children, if they have less to fear, they have less also to +hope, and they lose, without equivalent, the joys of early love, and the +convenience of uniting with manners pliant, and minds susceptible of new +impressions, which might wear away their dissimilitudes by long +cohabitation, as soft bodies, by continual attrition, conform their +surfaces to each other. + +"I believe it will be found that those who marry late are best pleased +with their children, and those who marry early, with their partners." + +"The union of these two affections," said Rasselas, "would produce all +that could be wished. Perhaps there is a time when marriage might unite +them, a time neither too early for the father, nor too late for the +husband." + +"Every hour," answered the princess, "confirms my prejudice in favour of +the position so often uttered by the mouth of Imlac, 'That nature sets +her gifts on the right hand and on the left.' Those conditions which +flatter hope and attract desire are so constituted that, as we approach +one, we recede from another. There are goods so opposed that we cannot +seize both, but, by too much prudence, may pass between them at too +great a distance to reach either. This is often the fate of long +consideration: he does nothing who endeavours to do more than is allowed +to humanity. Flatter not yourself with contrarieties of pleasure. Of the +blessings set before you, make your choice, and be content. No man can +taste the fruits of autumn while he is delighting his scent with the +flowers of the spring: no man can, at the same time, fill his cup from +the source and from the mouth of the Nile." + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +IMLAC ENTERS AND CHANGES THE CONVERSATION + + +Here Imlac entered, and interrupted them. "Imlac," said Rasselas, "I +have been taking from the princess the dismal history of private life, +and am almost discouraged from further search." + +"It seems to me," said Imlac, "that while you are making the choice of +life, you neglect to live. You wander about a single city, which, +however large and diversified, can now afford few novelties, and forget +that you are in a country, famous among the earliest monarchies for the +power and wisdom of its inhabitants; a country where the sciences first +dawned that illuminate the world, and beyond which the arts cannot be +traced of civil society or domestic life. + +"The old Egyptians have left behind them monuments of industry and +power, before which all European magnificence is confessed to fade away. +The ruins of their architecture are the schools of modern builders, and +from the wonders which time has spared, we may conjecture, though +uncertainly, what it has destroyed." + +"My curiosity," said Rasselas, "does not very strongly lead me to survey +piles of stone, or mounds of earth; my business is with man. I came +hither not to measure fragments of temples, or trace choked aqueducts, +but to look upon the various scenes of the present world." + +"The things that are now before us," said the princess, "require +attention, and deserve it. What have I to do with the heroes or the +monuments of ancient times? with times which never can return, and +heroes whose form of life was different from all that the present +condition of mankind requires or allows?" + +"To know anything," returned the poet, "we must know its effects; to see +men we must see their works, that we may learn what reason has dictated, +or passion has incited, and find what are the most powerful motives of +action. To judge rightly on the present, we must oppose it to the past; +for all judgment is comparative, and of the future nothing can be known. +The truth is, that no mind is much employed upon the present; +recollection and anticipation fill up almost all our moments. Our +passions are joy and grief, love and hatred, hope and fear. Of joy and +grief the past is the object, and the future of hope and fear: even love +and hatred respect the past, for the cause must have been before the +effect. + +"The present state of things is the consequence of the former, and it is +natural to inquire what were the sources of the good that we enjoy, or +the evil that we suffer. If we act only for ourselves, to neglect the +study of history is not prudent; if we are entrusted with the care of +others, it is not just. Ignorance, when it is voluntary, is criminal; +and he may properly be charged with evil, who refused to learn how he +might prevent it. + +"There is no part of history so generally useful as that which relates +the progress of the human mind, the gradual improvement of reason, the +successive advances of science, the vicissitudes of learning and +ignorance, which are the light and darkness of thinking beings, the +extinction and resuscitation of arts, and the revolutions of the +intellectual world. If accounts of battles and invasions are peculiarly +the business of princes, the useful or elegant arts are not to be +neglected; those who have kingdoms to govern have understandings to +cultivate. + +"Example is always more efficacious than precept. A soldier is formed in +war, and a painter must copy pictures. In this, contemplative life has +the advantage: great actions are seldom seen, but the labours of art are +always at hand for those who desire to know what art has been able to +perform. + +"When the eye or the imagination is struck with any uncommon work, the +next transition of an active mind is to the means by which it was +performed. Here begins the true use of such contemplation; we enlarge +our comprehension by new ideas, and perhaps recover some art lost to +mankind, or learn what is less perfectly known in our own country. At +least we compare our own with former times, and either rejoice at our +improvements, or, what is the first motion towards good, discover our +defects." + +"I am willing," said the prince, "to see all that can deserve my +search." "And I," said the princess, "shall rejoice to learn something +of the manners of antiquity." + +"The most pompous monument of Egyptian greatness, and one of the most +bulky works of manual industry," said Imlac, "are the Pyramids; fabrics +raised before the time of history, and of which the earliest narratives +afford us only uncertain traditions. Of these the greatest is still +standing, very little injured by time." + +"Let us visit them to-morrow," said Nekayah. "I have often heard of the +Pyramids, and shall not rest till I have seen them within and without +with my own eyes." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +THEY VISIT THE PYRAMIDS + + +The resolution being thus taken, they set out the next day. They laid +tents upon their camels, being resolved to stay among the Pyramids till +their curiosity was fully satisfied. They travelled gently, turned aside +to everything remarkable, stopped from time to time and conversed with +the inhabitants, and observed the various appearances of towns ruined +and inhabited, of wild and cultivated nature. + +When they came to the Great Pyramid, they were astonished at the extent +of the base and the height of the top. Imlac explained to them the +principles upon which the pyramidal form was chosen for a fabrick +intended to co-extend its duration with that of the world: he showed +that its gradual diminution gave it such stability as defeated all the +common attacks of the elements, and could scarcely be overthrown by +earthquakes themselves, the least resistible of natural violence. A +concussion that should shatter the Pyramid would threaten the +dissolution of the continent. + +They measured all its dimensions, and pitched their tents at its foot. +Next day they prepared to enter its exterior apartments, and having +hired the common guides, climbed up to the first passage, when the +favourite of the princess, looking into the cavity, stepped back and +trembled. "Pekuah," said the princess, "of what art thou afraid?" "Of +the narrow entrance," answered the lady, "and of the dreadful gloom. I +dare not enter a place which must surely be inhabited by unquiet souls. +The original possessors of these dreadful vaults will start up before +us, and perhaps shut us in for ever." She spoke, and threw her arms +round the neck of her mistress. + +"If all your fear be of apparitions," said the prince, "I will promise +you safety: there is no danger from the dead: he that is once buried +will be seen no more." + +"That the dead are seen no more," said Imlac, "I will not undertake to +maintain, against the concurrent and unvaried testimony of all ages, and +of all nations. There is no people, rude or learned, among whom +apparitions of the dead are not related and believed. This opinion, +which perhaps prevails as far as human nature is diffused, could become +universal only by its truth: those that never heard of one another would +not have agreed in a tale which nothing but experience can make +credible. That it is doubted by single cavillers, can very little weaken +the general evidence; and some who deny it with their tongues confess it +by their fears. + +"Yet I do not mean to add new terrors to those which have already seized +upon Pekuah. There can be no reason why spectres should haunt the +Pyramid more than other places, or why they should have power or will to +hurt innocence and purity. Our entrance is no violation of their +privileges; we can take nothing from them, how then can we offend them?" + +"My dear Pekuah," said the princess, "I will always go before you, and +Imlac shall follow you. Remember that you are the companion of the +Princess of Abyssinia." + +"If the princess is pleased that her servant should die," returned the +lady, "let her command some death less dreadful than enclosure in this +horrid cavern. You know I dare not disobey you: I must go if you command +me; but, if I once enter, I never shall come back." + +The princess saw that her fear was too strong for expostulation or +reproof, and embracing her, told her that she should stay in the tent +till their return. Pekuah was yet not satisfied, but entreated the +princess not to pursue so dreadful a purpose as that of entering the +recesses of the Pyramid. "Though I cannot teach courage," said Nekayah, +"I must not learn cowardice; nor leave at last undone what I came hither +only to do." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +THEY ENTER THE PYRAMID + + +Pekuah descended to the tents, and the rest entered the Pyramid: they +passed through the galleries, surveyed the vaults of marble, and +examined the chest in which the body of the founder is supposed to have +been reposited. They then sat down in one of the most spacious chambers +to rest awhile before they attempted to return. + +"We have now," said Imlac, "gratified our minds with an exact view of +the greatest work of man, except the wall of China. + +"Of the wall it is very easy to assign the motive. It secured a wealthy +and timorous nation from the incursions of barbarians, whose +unskilfulness in arts made it easier for them to supply their wants by +rapine than by industry, and who from time to time poured in upon the +habitations of peaceful commerce, as vultures descend upon domestic +fowl. Their celerity and fierceness made the wall necessary, and their +ignorance made it efficacious. + +"But for the Pyramids no reason has ever been given adequate to the cost +and labour of the work. The narrowness of the chambers proves that it +could afford no retreat from enemies, and treasures might have been +reposited at far less expense with equal security. It seems to have been +erected only in compliance with that hunger of imagination which preys +incessantly upon life, and must be always appeased by some employment. +Those who have already all that they can enjoy must enlarge their +desires. He that has built for use, till use is supplied, must begin to +build for vanity, and extend his plan to the utmost power of human +performance, that he may not be soon reduced to form another wish. + +"I consider this mighty structure as a monument of the insufficiency of +human enjoyments. A king whose power is unlimited, and whose treasures +surmount all real and imaginary wants, is compelled to solace, by the +erection of a Pyramid, the satiety of dominion and tastelessness of +pleasures, and to amuse the tediousness of declining life, by seeing +thousands labouring without end, and one stone, for no purpose, laid +upon another. Whoever thou art that, not content with a moderate +condition, imaginest happiness in royal magnificence, and dreamest that +command or riches can feed the appetite of novelty with perpetual +gratifications, survey the Pyramids, and confess thy folly!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +THE PRINCESS MEETS WITH AN UNEXPECTED MISFORTUNE + + +They rose up, and returned through the cavity at which they had entered, +and the princess prepared for her favourite a long narrative of dark +labyrinths and costly rooms, and of the different impressions which the +varieties of the way had made upon her. But when they came to their +train, they found every one silent and dejected; the men discovered +shame and fear in their countenances, and the women were weeping in the +tents. + +What had happened they did not try to conjecture, but immediately +inquired. "You had scarcely entered into the Pyramid," said one of the +attendants, "when a troop of Arabs rushed upon us; we were too few to +resist them, and too slow to escape. They were about to search the +tents, set us on our camels, and drive us along before them, when the +approach of some Turkish horsemen put them to flight; but they seized +the Lady Pekuah with her two maids, and carried them away. The Turks are +now pursuing them by our instigation, but I fear they will not be able +to overtake them." + +The princess was overpowered with surprise and grief. Rasselas, in the +first heat of his resentment, ordered his servants to follow him, and +prepared to pursue the robbers with his sabre in his hand. "Sir," said +Imlac, "what can you hope from violence or valour? the Arabs are mounted +on horses trained to battle and retreat; we have only beasts of burden. +By leaving our present station we may lose the princess, but cannot hope +to regain Pekuah." + +In a short time the Turks returned, having not been able to reach the +enemy. The princess burst out into new lamentations, and Rasselas could +scarcely forbear to reproach them with cowardice; but Imlac was of +opinion that the escape of the Arabs was no addition to their +misfortune, for perhaps they would have killed their captives rather +than have resigned them. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +THEY RETURN TO CAIRO WITHOUT PEKUAH + + +There was nothing to be hoped from longer stay. They returned to Cairo, +repenting of their curiosity, censuring the negligence of the +government, lamenting their own rashness which had neglected to procure +a guard, imagining many expedients by which the loss of Pekuah might +have been prevented, and resolving to do something for her recovery, +though none could find anything proper to be done. + +Nekayah retired to her chamber, where her women attempted to comfort her +by telling her that all had their troubles, and that Lady Pekuah had +enjoyed much happiness in the world for a long time, and might +reasonably expect a change of fortune. They hoped that some good would +befall her wheresoever she was, and that their mistress would find +another friend who might supply her place. + +The princess made them no answer, and they continued the form of +condolence, not much grieved in their hearts that the favourite was +lost. + +Next day the prince presented to the Bassa a memorial of the wrong which +he had suffered, and a petition for redress. The Bassa threatened to +punish the robbers, but did not attempt to catch them; nor indeed could +any account or description be given by which he might direct the +pursuit. + +It soon appeared that nothing would be done by authority. Governors, +being accustomed to hear of more crimes than they can punish, and more +wrongs than they can redress, set themselves at ease by indiscriminate +negligence, and presently forget the request when they lose sight of the +petitioner. + +Imlac then endeavoured to gain some intelligence by private agents. He +found many who pretended to an exact knowledge of all the haunts of the +Arabs, and to regular correspondence with their chiefs, and who readily +undertook the recovery of Pekuah. Of these, some were furnished with +money for their journey, and came back no more; some were liberally paid +for accounts which a few days discovered to be false. But the princess +would not suffer any means, however improbable, to be left untried. +While she was doing something, she kept her hope alive. As one expedient +failed, another was suggested; when one messenger returned unsuccessful, +another was dispatched to a different quarter. + +Two months had now passed, and of Pekuah nothing had been heard; the +hopes which they had endeavoured to raise in each other grew more +languid, and the princess, when she saw nothing more to be tried, sunk +down inconsolable in hopeless dejection. A thousand times she reproached +herself with the easy compliance by which she permitted her favourite to +stay behind her. "Had not my fondness," said she, "lessened my +authority, Pekuah had not dared to talk of her terrors. She ought to +have feared me more than spectres. A severe look would have overpowered +her; a peremptory command would have compelled obedience. Why did +foolish indulgence prevail upon me? Why did I not speak, and refuse to +hear?" + +"Great princess," said Imlac, "do not reproach yourself for your virtue, +or consider that as blameable by which evil has accidentally been +caused. Your tenderness for the timidity of Pekuah was generous and +kind. When we act according to our duty, we commit the event to Him by +whose laws our actions are governed, and who will suffer none to be +finally punished for obedience. When, in prospect of some good, whether +natural or moral, we break the rules prescribed us, we withdraw from the +direction of superior wisdom, and take all consequences upon ourselves. +Man cannot so far know the connexion of causes and events, as that he +may venture to do wrong in order to do right. When we pursue our end by +lawful means, we may always console our miscarriage by the hope of +future recompense. When we consult only our own policy, and attempt to +find a nearer way to good, by overleaping the settled boundaries of +right and wrong, we cannot be happy even by success, because we cannot +escape the consciousness of our fault: but if we miscarry, the +disappointment is irremediably embittered. How comfortless is the sorrow +of him who feels at once the pangs of guilt, and the vexation of +calamity which guilt has brought upon him! + +"Consider, princess, what would have been your condition, if the Lady +Pekuah had entreated to accompany you, and being compelled to stay in +the tents, had been carried away; or how would you have borne the +thought, if you had forced her into the Pyramid, and she had died before +you in agonies of terror." + +"Had either happened," said Nekayah, "I could not have endured life till +now: I should have been tortured to madness by the remembrance of such +cruelty, or must have pined away in abhorrence of myself." + +"This at least," said Imlac, "is the present reward of virtuous conduct, +that no unlucky consequence can oblige us to repent it." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + +THE PRINCESS LANGUISHES FOR WANT OF PEKUAH + + +Nekayah, being thus reconciled to herself, found that no evil is +insupportable, but that which is accompanied with consciousness of +wrong. She was from that time delivered from the violence of tempestuous +sorrow, and sunk into silent pensiveness and gloomy tranquillity. She +sat from morning to evening recollecting all that had been done or said +by her Pekuah, treasured up with care every trifle on which Pekuah had +set an accidental value, and which might recall to mind any little +incident or careless conversation. The sentiments of her whom she now +expected to see no more, were treasured in her memory as rules of life, +and she deliberated to no other end than to conjecture, on any occasion, +what would have been the opinion and counsel of Pekuah. + +The women by whom she was attended knew nothing of her real condition, +and therefore she could not talk to them but with caution and reserve. +She began to remit her curiosity, having no great care to collect +notions which she had no convenience of uttering. Rasselas endeavoured +first to comfort, and afterwards to divert her; he hired musicians, to +whom she seemed to listen, but did not hear them, and procured masters +to instruct her in various arts, whose lectures, when they visited her +again, were again to be repeated. She had lost her taste of pleasure, +and her ambition of excellence. And her mind, though forced into short +excursions, always recurred to the image of her friend. + +Imlac was every morning earnestly enjoined to renew his inquiries, and +was asked every night whether he had yet heard of Pekuah, till not being +able to return the princess the answer that she desired, he was less and +less willing to come into her presence. She observed his backwardness, +and commanded him to attend her. "You are not," said she, "to confound +impatience with resentment, or to suppose that I charge you with +negligence, because I repine at your unsuccessfulness. I do not much +wonder at your absence; I know that the unhappy are never pleasing, and +that all naturally avoid the contagion of misery. To hear complaints is +wearisome alike to the wretched and the happy; for who would cloud, by +adventitious grief, the short gleams of gaiety which life allows us? or +who, that is struggling under his own evils, will add to them the +miseries of another? + +"The time is at hand, when none shall be disturbed any longer by the +sighs of Nekayah; my search after happiness is now at an end. I am +resolved to retire from the world with all its flatteries and deceits, +and will hide myself in solitude, without any other care than to compose +my thoughts, and regulate my hours by a constant succession of innocent +occupations, till with a mind purified from all earthly desires, I shall +enter into that state to which all are hastening, and in which I hope +again to enjoy the friendship of Pekuah." + +"Do not entangle your mind," said Imlac, "by irrevocable +determinations, nor increase the burden of life by a voluntary +accumulation of misery: the weariness of retirement will continue or +increase when the loss of Pekuah is forgotten. That you have been +deprived of one pleasure is no very good reason for rejection of the +rest." + +"Since Pekuah was taken from me," said the princess, "I have no pleasure +to reject or to retain. She that has no one to love or trust has little +to hope. She wants the radical principle of happiness. We may, perhaps, +allow that what satisfaction this world can afford must arise from the +conjunction of wealth, knowledge, and goodness: wealth is nothing but as +it is bestowed, and knowledge nothing but as it is communicated; they +must therefore be imparted to others, and to whom could I now delight to +impart them? Goodness affords the only comfort which can be enjoyed +without a partner, and goodness may be practised in retirement." + +"How far solitude may admit goodness or advance it, I shall not," +replied Imlac, "dispute at present. Remember the confession of the pious +hermit. You will wish to return into the world, when the image of your +companion has left your thoughts." "That time," said Nekayah, "will +never come. The generous frankness, the modest obsequiousness, and the +faithful secrecy of my dear Pekuah, will always be more missed, as I +shall live longer to see vice and folly." + +"The state of a mind oppressed with a sudden calamity," said Imlac, "is +like that of the fabulous inhabitants of the new-created earth, who, +when the first night came upon them, supposed that day would never +return. When the clouds of sorrow gather over us, we see nothing beyond +them, nor can imagine how they will be dispelled; yet a new day +succeeded to the night, and sorrow is never long without a dawn of ease. +But they who restrain themselves from receiving comfort do as the +savages would have done, had they put out their eyes when it was dark. +Our minds, like our bodies, are in continual flux; something is hourly +lost, and something acquired. To lose much at once is inconvenient to +either, but while the vital powers remain uninjured, nature will find +the means of reparation. Distance has the same effect on the mind as on +the eye, and while we glide along the stream of time, whatever we leave +behind us is always lessening, and that which we approach increasing, in +magnitude. Do not suffer life to stagnate; it will grow muddy for want +of motion; commit yourself again to the current of the world; Pekuah +will vanish by degrees: you will meet in your way some other favourite, +or learn to diffuse yourself in general conversation." + +"At least," said the prince, "do not despair before all remedies have +been tried; the inquiry after the unfortunate lady is still continued, +and shall be carried on with yet greater diligence, on condition that +you will promise to wait a year for the event, without any unalterable +resolution." + +Nekayah thought this a reasonable demand, and made the promise to her +brother, who had been advised by Imlac to require it. Imlac had, indeed, +no great hope of regaining Pekuah; but he supposed, that if he could +secure the interval of a year, the princess would be then in no danger +of a cloister. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + +PEKUAH IS STILL REMEMBERED. THE PROGRESS OF SORROW + + +Nekayah, seeing that nothing was omitted for the recovery of her +favourite, and having, by her promise, set her intention of retirement +at a distance, began imperceptibly to return to common cares and common +pleasures. She rejoiced without her own consent at the suspension of her +sorrows, and sometimes caught herself with indignation in the act of +turning away her mind from the remembrance of her, whom yet she resolved +never to forget. + +She then appointed a certain hour of the day for meditation on the +merits and fondness of Pekuah, and for some weeks retired constantly at +the time fixed, and returned with her eyes swollen and her countenance +clouded. By degrees she grew less scrupulous, and suffered any important +and pressing avocation to delay the tribute of daily tears. She then +yielded to less occasions; sometimes forgot what she was indeed afraid +to remember, and at last wholly released herself from the duty of +periodical affliction. + +Her real love of Pekuah was yet not diminished. A thousand occurrences +brought her back to memory, and a thousand wants, which nothing but the +confidence of friendship can supply, made her frequently regretted. She +therefore solicited Imlac never to desist from inquiry, and to leave no +art of intelligence untried, that at least she might have the comfort of +knowing that she did not suffer by negligence or sluggishness. "Yet +what," said she, "is to be expected from our pursuit of happiness, when +we find the state of life to be such, that happiness itself is the cause +of misery? Why should we endeavour to attain that of which the +possession cannot be secured? I shall henceforward fear to yield my +heart to excellence however bright, or to fondness however tender, lest +I should lose again what I have lost in Pekuah." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + +THE PRINCESS HEARS NEWS OF PEKUAH + + +In seven months, one of the messengers, who had been sent away upon the +day when the promise was drawn from the princess, returned, after many +unsuccessful rambles, from the borders of Nubia, with an account that +Pekuah was in the hands of an Arab chief, who possessed a castle or +fortress on the extremity of Egypt. The Arab, whose revenue was plunder, +was willing to restore her, with her two attendants, for two hundred +ounces of gold. + +The price was no subject of debate. The princess was in ecstasies, when +she heard that her favourite was alive, and might so cheaply be +ransomed. She could not think of delaying for a moment Pekuah's +happiness or her own, but entreated her brother to send back the +messenger with the sum required. Imlac, being consulted, was not very +confident of the veracity of the relater, and was still more doubtful of +the Arab's faith, who might, if he were too liberally trusted, detain at +once the money and the captives. He thought it dangerous to put +themselves in the power of the Arab, by going into his district, and +could not expect that the rover would so much expose himself as to come +into the lower country, where he might be seized by the forces of the +Bassa. + +It is difficult to negotiate where neither will trust. But Imlac, after +some deliberation, directed the messenger to propose that Pekuah should +be conducted by ten horsemen to the monastery of St. Antony, which is +situated in the deserts of Upper Egypt, where she should be met by the +same number, and her ransom should be paid. + +That no time might be lost, as they expected that the proposal would not +be refused, they immediately began their journey to the monastery; and +when they arrived, Imlac went forward with the former messenger to the +Arab's fortress. Rasselas was desirous to go with them, but neither his +sister nor Imlac would consent. The Arab, according to the custom of his +nation, observed the laws of hospitality with great exactness to those +who put themselves into his power, and, in a few days, brought Pekuah +with her maids, by easy journeys, to their place appointed, where, +receiving the stipulated price, he restored her with great respect to +liberty and her friends, and undertook to conduct them back towards +Cairo, beyond all danger of robbery or violence. + +The princess and her favourite embraced each other with transport too +violent to be expressed, and went out together to pour the tears of +tenderness in secret, and exchange professions of kindness and +gratitude. After a few hours they returned into the refectory of the +convent, where, in the presence of the prior and his brethren, the +prince required of Pekuah the history of her adventures. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII + +THE ADVENTURES OF THE LADY PEKUAH + + +"At what time and in what manner I was forced away," said Pekuah, "your +servants have told you. The suddenness of the event struck me with +surprise, and I was at first rather stupefied than agitated with any +passion of either fear or sorrow. My confusion was increased by the +speed and tumult of our flight, while we were followed by the Turks, +who, as it seemed, soon despaired to overtake us, or were afraid of +those whom they made a show of menacing. + +"When the Arabs saw themselves out of danger, they slackened their +course; and as I was less harassed by external violence, I began to feel +more uneasiness in my mind. After some time, we stopped near a spring +shaded with trees in a pleasant meadow, where we were set upon the +ground, and offered such refreshments as our masters were partaking. I +was suffered to sit with my maids apart from the rest, and none +attempted to comfort or insult us. Here I first began to feel the full +weight of my misery. The girls sat weeping in silence, and from time to +time looked on me for succour. I knew not to what condition we were +doomed, nor could conjecture where would be the place of our captivity, +or whence to draw any hope of deliverance. I was in the hands of +robbers and savages, and had no reason to suppose that their pity was +more than their justice, or that they would forbear the gratification of +any ardour of desire, or caprice of cruelty. I, however, kissed my +maids, and endeavoured to pacify them by remarking that we were yet +treated with decency, and that, since we were now carried beyond +pursuit, there was no danger of violence to our lives. + +"When we were to be set again on horseback, my maids clung round me, and +refused to be parted; but I commanded them not to irritate those who had +us in their power. We travelled the remaining part of the day through an +unfrequented and pathless country, and came by moonlight to the side of +a hill, where the rest of the troop were stationed. Their tents were +pitched and their fires kindled, and our chief was welcomed as a man +much beloved by his dependants. + +"We were received into a large tent, where we found women who had +attended their husbands in the expedition. They set before us the supper +which they had provided, and I ate rather to encourage my maids, than to +comply with any appetite of my own. When the meat was taken away, they +spread the carpets for repose. I was weary, and hoped to find in sleep +that remission of distress which nature seldom denies. Ordering myself +therefore to be undressed, I observed that the women looked very +earnestly upon me, not expecting, I suppose, to see me so submissively +attended. When my upper vest was taken off, they were apparently struck +with the splendour of my clothes, and one of them timorously laid her +hand upon the embroidery. She then went out, and in a short time came +back with another woman, who seemed to be of higher rank and greater +authority. She did, at her entrance, the usual act of reverence, and +taking me by the hand, placed me in a smaller tent, spread with finer +carpets, where I spent the night quietly with my maids. + +"In the morning, as I was sitting on the grass, the chief of the troop +came towards me. I rose up to receive him, and he bowed with great +respect. 'Illustrious lady,' said he, 'my fortune is better than I had +presumed to hope: I am told by my women that I have a princess in my +camp.' 'Sir,' answered I, 'your women have deceived themselves and you; +I am not a princess, but an unhappy stranger, who intended soon to have +left this country, in which I am now to be imprisoned for ever.' +'Whoever or whencesoever you are,' returned the Arab, 'your dress, and +that of your servants, show your rank to be high and your wealth to be +great. Why should you, who can so easily procure your ransom, think +yourself in danger of perpetual captivity? The purpose of my incursions +is to increase my riches, or, more properly, to gather tribute. The sons +of Ishmael are the natural and hereditary lords of this part of the +continent, which is usurped by late invaders and low-born tyrants, from +whom we are compelled to take by the sword what is denied to justice. +The violence of war admits no distinction; the lance that is lifted at +guilt and power will sometimes fall on innocence and gentleness.' + +"'How little,' said I, 'did I expect that yesterday it should have +fallen upon me!' + +"'Misfortunes,' answered the Arab, 'should always be expected. If the +eye of hostility could learn reverence or pity, excellence like yours +had been exempt from injury. But the angels of affliction spread their +toils alike for the virtuous and the wicked, for the mighty and the +mean. Do not be disconsolate: I am not one of the lawless and cruel +rovers of the desert; I know the rules of civil life; I will fix your +ransom, give a passport to your messenger, and perform my stipulation +with nice punctuality.' + +"You will easily believe that I was pleased with his courtesy: and +finding that his predominant passion was desire of money, I began now to +think my danger less, for I knew that no sum would be thought too great +for the release of Pekuah. I told him that he should have no reason to +charge me with ingratitude, if I was used with kindness, and that any +ransom which could be expected for a maid of common rank would be paid; +but that he must not persist to rate me as a princess. He said he would +consider what he should demand, and then smiling, bowed and retired. + +"Soon after, the women came about me, each contending to be more +officious than the other, and my maids themselves were served with +reverence. We travelled onward by short journeys. On the fourth day, the +chief told me that my ransom must be two hundred ounces of gold; which I +not only promised him, but told him that I would add fifty more, if I +and my maids were honourably treated. + +"I never knew the power of gold before. From that time I was the leader +of the troop. The march of every day was longer or shorter as I +commanded, and the tents were pitched where I chose to rest. We now had +camels and other conveniences for travel; my own women were always at +my side; and I amused myself with observing the manners of the vagrant +nations, and with viewing remains of ancient edifices, with which these +deserted countries appear to have been, in some distant age, lavishly +embellished. + +"The chief of the band was a man far from illiterate: he was able to +travel by the stars or the compass, and had marked, in his erratic +expeditions, such places as are most worthy the notice of a passenger. +He observed to me, that buildings are always best preserved in places +little frequented and difficult of access: for, when once a country +declines from its primitive splendour, the more inhabitants are left, +the quicker ruin will be made. Walls supply stones more easily than +quarries, and palaces and temples will be demolished, to make stables of +granite and cottages of porphyry." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX + +THE ADVENTURES OF PEKUAH CONTINUED + + +"We wandered about in this manner for some weeks, whether, as our chief +pretended, for my gratification, or, as I rather suspected, for some +convenience of his own. I endeavoured to appear contented, where +sullenness and resentment would have been of no use, and that endeavour +conduced much to the calmness of my mind; but my heart was always with +Nekayah, and the troubles of the night much overbalanced the amusements +of the day. My women, who threw all their cares upon their mistress, set +their minds at ease from the time when they saw me treated with respect, +and gave themselves up to the incidental alleviations of our fatigue +without solicitude or sorrow. I was pleased with their pleasure, and +animated with their confidence. My condition had lost much of its +terror, since I found that the Arab ranged the country merely to get +riches. Avarice is an uniform and tractable vice: other intellectual +distempers are different in different constitutions of mind; that which +soothes the pride of one will offend the pride of another; but to the +favour of the covetous there is a ready way; bring money, and nothing is +denied. + +"At last we came to the dwelling of our chief, a strong and spacious +house built with stone in an island of the Nile, which lies, as I was +told, under the tropic. 'Lady,' said the Arab, 'you shall rest after +your journey a few weeks in this place, where you are to consider +yourself as sovereign. My occupation is war: I have therefore chosen +this obscure residence, from which I can issue unexpected, and to which +I can retire unpursued. You may now repose in security; here are few +pleasures, but here is no danger.' He then led me into the inner +apartments, and seating me on the richest couch, bowed to the ground. +His women, who considered me as a rival, looked on me with malignity; +but being soon informed that I was a great lady detained only for my +ransom, they began to vie with each other in obsequiousness and +reverence. + +"Being again comforted with new assurances of speedy liberty, I was for +some days diverted from impatience by the novelty of the place. The +turrets overlooked the country to a great distance, and afforded a view +of many windings of the stream. In the day I wandered from one place to +another as the course of the sun varied the splendour of the prospect, +and saw many things which I had never seen before. The crocodiles and +river-horses are common in this unpeopled region, and I often looked +upon them with terror, though I knew that they could not hurt me. For +some time I expected to see mermaids and tritons, which, as Imlac has +told me, the European travellers have stationed in the Nile; but no such +beings ever appeared, and the Arab, when I inquired after them, laughed +at my credulity. + +"At night the Arab always attended me to a tower set apart for celestial +observations, where he endeavoured to teach me the names and courses of +the stars. I had no great inclination to this study, but an appearance +of attention was necessary to please my instructor, who valued himself +for his skill; and, in a little while, I found some employment requisite +to beguile the tediousness of time, which was to be passed always amidst +the same objects. I was weary of looking in the morning on things from +which I had turned away weary in the evening; I therefore was at last +willing to observe the stars rather than do nothing, but could not +always compose my thoughts, and was very often thinking on Nekayah, when +others imagined me contemplating the sky. Soon after, the Arab went upon +another expedition, and then my only pleasure was to talk with my maids +about the accident by which we were carried away, and the happiness that +we should all enjoy at the end of our captivity." + +"There were women in your Arab's fortress," said the princess: "why did +you not make them your companions, enjoy their conversation, and partake +their diversions? In a place where they found business or amusement, why +should you alone sit corroded with idle melancholy? or why could not you +bear for a few months that condition to which they were condemned for +life?" + +"The diversions of the women," answered Pekuah, "were only childish +play, by which the mind accustomed to stronger operations could not be +kept busy. I could do all which they delighted in doing, by powers +merely sensitive, while my intellectual faculties were flown to Cairo. +They ran from room to room, as a bird hops from wire to wire in his +cage. They danced for the sake of motion, as lambs frisk in a meadow. +One sometimes pretended to be hurt, that the rest might be alarmed; or +hid herself, that another might seek her. Part of their time passed in +watching the progress of light bodies that floated on the river, and +part in marking the various forms into which clouds broke in the sky. + +"Their business was only needlework, in which I and my maids sometimes +helped them; but you know that the mind will easily straggle from the +fingers, nor will you suspect that captivity and absence from Nekayah +could receive solace from silken flowers. + +"Nor was much satisfaction to be hoped from their conversation: for of +what could they be expected to talk? They had seen nothing, for they had +lived from early youth in that narrow spot; of what they had not seen +they could have no knowledge, for they could not read. They had no ideas +but of the few things that were within their view, and had hardly names +for anything but their clothes and their food. As I bore a superior +character, I was often called to terminate their quarrels, which I +decided as equitably as I could. If it could have amused me to hear the +complaints of each against the rest, I might have been often detained by +long stories; but the motives of their animosity were so small, that I +could not listen without intercepting the tale." + +"How," said Rasselas, "can the Arab, whom you represented as a man of +more than common accomplishments, take any pleasure in his seraglio, +when it is filled only with women like these? Are they exquisitely +beautiful?" + +"They do not," said Pekuah, "want that unaffecting and ignoble beauty +which may subsist without sprightliness or sublimity, without energy of +thought or dignity of virtue. But to a man like the Arab such beauty was +only a flower casually plucked and carelessly thrown away. Whatever +pleasures he might find among them, they were not those of friendship or +society. When they were playing about him, he looked on them with +inattentive superiority; when they vied for his regard, he sometimes +turned away disgusted. As they had no knowledge, their talk could take +nothing from the tediousness of life; as they had no choice, their +fondness, or appearance of fondness, excited in him neither pride nor +gratitude; he was not exalted in his own esteem by the smiles of a woman +who saw no other man, nor was much obliged by that regard, of which he +could never know the sincerity, and which he might often perceive to be +exerted, not so much to delight him as to pain a rival. That which he +gave and they received as love, was only a careless distribution of +superfluous time, such love as man can bestow upon that which he +despises, such as has neither hope nor fear, neither joy nor sorrow." + +"You have reason, lady, to think yourself happy," said Imlac, "that you +have been thus easily dismissed. How could a mind, hungry for knowledge, +be willing, in an intellectual famine, to lose such a banquet as +Pekuah's conversation?" + +"I am inclined to believe," answered Pekuah, "that he was for some time +in suspense; for, notwithstanding his promise, whenever I proposed to +dispatch a messenger to Cairo, he found some excuse for delay. While I +was detained in his house, he made many incursions into the neighbouring +countries; and perhaps he would have refused to discharge me, had his +plunder been equal to his wishes. He returned always courteous, related +his adventures, delighted to hear my observations, and endeavoured to +advance my acquaintance with the stars. When I importuned him to send +away my letters, he soothed me with professions of honour and sincerity; +and, when I could be no longer decently denied, put his troop again in +motion, and left me to govern in his absence. I was much afflicted by +this studied procrastination, and was sometimes afraid that I should be +forgotten; that you would leave Cairo, and I must end my days in an +island of the Nile. + +"I grew at last hopeless and dejected, and cared so little to entertain +him, that he for a while more frequently talked with my maids. That he +should fall in love with them or with me might have been equally fatal, +and I was not much pleased with the growing friendship. My anxiety was +not long; for, as I recovered some degree of cheerfulness, he returned +to me, and I could not forbear to despise my former uneasiness. + +"He still delayed to send for my ransom, and would, perhaps, never have +determined, had not your agent found his way to him. The gold, which he +would not fetch, he could not reject when it was offered. He hastened to +prepare for our journey hither, like a man delivered from the pain of an +intestine conflict. I took leave of my companions in the house, who +dismissed me with cold indifference." + +Nekayah, having heard her favourite's relation, rose and embraced her, +and Rasselas gave her an hundred ounces of gold, which she presented to +the Arab for the fifty that were promised. + + + + +CHAPTER XL + +THE HISTORY OF A MAN OF LEARNING + + +They returned to Cairo, and were so well pleased at finding themselves +together, that none of them went much abroad. The prince began to love +learning, and one day declared to Imlac, that he intended to devote +himself to science, and pass the rest of his days in literary solitude. + +"Before you make your final choice," answered Imlac, "you ought to +examine its hazards, and converse with some of those who are grown old +in the company of themselves. I have just left the observatory of one of +the most learned astronomers in the world, who has spent forty years in +unwearied attention to the motions and appearances of the celestial +bodies, and has drawn out his soul in endless calculations. He admits a +few friends once a month, to hear his deductions and enjoy his +discoveries. I was introduced as a man of knowledge worthy of his +notice. Men of various ideas and fluent conversation are commonly +welcome to those whose thoughts have been long fixed upon a single +point, and who find the images of other things stealing away. I +delighted him with my remarks; he smiled at the narrative of my travels, +and was glad to forget the constellations, and descend for a moment into +the lower world. + +"On the next day of vacation I renewed my visit, and was so fortunate as +to please him again. He relaxed from that time the severity of his rule, +and permitted me to enter at my own choice. I found him always busy, and +always glad to be relieved. As each knew much which the other was +desirous of learning, we exchanged our notions with great delight. I +perceived that I had every day more of his confidence, and always found +new cause of admiration in the profundity of his mind. His comprehension +is vast, his memory capacious and retentive, his discourse is +methodical, and his expression clear. + +"His integrity and benevolence are equal to his learning. His deepest +researches and most favourite studies are willingly interrupted for any +opportunity of doing good by his counsel or his riches. To his closest +retreat, at his most busy moments, all are admitted that want his +assistance: 'For though I exclude idleness and pleasure, I will never,' +says he, 'bar my doors against charity. To man is permitted the +contemplation of the skies, but the practice of virtue is commanded.'" + +"Surely," said the princess, "this man is happy." + +"I visited him," said Imlac, "with more and more frequency, and was +every time more enamoured of his conversation; he was sublime without +haughtiness, courteous without formality, and communicative without +ostentation. I was at first, great princess, of your opinion, thought +him the happiest of mankind, and often congratulated him on the blessing +that he enjoyed. He seemed to hear nothing with indifference but the +praises of his condition, to which he always returned a general answer, +and diverted the conversation to some other topic. + +"Amidst this willingness to be pleased and labour to please, I had +quickly reason to imagine that some painful sentiment pressed upon his +mind. He often looked up earnestly towards the sun, and let his voice +fall in the midst of his discourse. He would sometimes, when we were +alone, gaze upon me in silence, with the air of a man who longed to +speak what he was yet resolved to suppress. He would often send for me +with vehement injunctions of haste, though, when I came to him, he had +nothing extraordinary to say; and sometimes, when I was leaving him, +would call me back, pause a few moments, and then dismiss me." + + + + +CHAPTER XLI + +THE ASTRONOMER DISCOVERS THE CAUSE OF HIS UNEASINESS + + +"At last the time came when the secret burst his reserve. We were +sitting together last night in the turret of his house, watching the +emersion of a satellite of Jupiter. A sudden tempest clouded the sky, +and disappointed our observation. We sat awhile silent in the dark, and +then he addressed himself to me in these words: 'Imlac, I have long +considered thy friendship as the greatest blessing of my life. Integrity +without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity +is dangerous and dreadful. I have found in thee all the qualities +requisite for trust, benevolence, experience, and fortitude. I have long +discharged an office which I must soon quit at the call of nature, and +shall rejoice in the hour of imbecility and pain to devolve it upon +thee.' + +"I thought myself honoured by this testimony, and protested, that +whatever could conduce to his happiness would add likewise to mine. + +"'Hear, Imlac, what thou wilt not without difficulty credit. I have +possessed for five years the regulation of weather, and the distribution +of the seasons; the sun has listened to my dictates, and passed from +tropic to tropic by my direction; the clouds, at my call, have poured +their waters, and the Nile has overflowed at my command; I have +restrained the rage of the dog-star, and mitigated the fervours of the +Crab. The winds alone, of all the elemental powers, have hitherto +refused my authority, and multitudes have perished by equinoctial +tempests, which I found myself unable to prohibit or restrain. I have +administered this great office with exact justice, and made to the +different nations of the earth an impartial dividend of rain and +sunshine. What must have been the misery of half the globe, if I had +limited the clouds to particular regions, or confined the sun to either +side of the equator?'" + + + + +CHAPTER XLII + +THE OPINION OF THE ASTRONOMER IS EXPLAINED AND JUSTIFIED + + +"I suppose he discovered in me, through the obscurity of the room, some +tokens of amazement and doubt, for, after a short pause, he proceeded +thus: + +"'Not to be easily credited will neither surprise nor offend me; for I +am, probably, the first of human beings to whom this trust has been +imparted. Nor do I know whether to deem this distinction a reward or +punishment; since I have possessed it, I have been far less happy than +before, and nothing but the consciousness of good intention could have +enabled me to support the weariness of unremitted vigilance.' + +"'How long, sir,' said I, 'has this great office been in your hands?' + +"'About ten years ago,' said he, 'my daily observations of the changes +of the sky led me to consider, whether, if I had the power of the +seasons, I could confer greater plenty upon the inhabitants of the +earth. This contemplation fastened on my mind, and I sat days and nights +in imaginary dominion, pouring upon this country and that the showers of +fertility, and seconding every fall of rain with a due proportion of +sunshine. I had yet only the will to do good, and did not imagine that I +should ever have the power. + +"'One day, as I was looking on the fields withering with heat, I felt in +my mind a sudden wish that I could send rain on the southern mountains, +and raise the Nile to an inundation. In the hurry of my imagination I +commanded rain to fall; and by comparing the time of my command with +that of the inundation, I found that the clouds had listened to my +lips.' + +"'Might not some other cause,' said I, 'produce this concurrence? the +Nile does not always rise on the same day.' + +"'Do not believe,' said he with impatience, 'that such objections could +escape me: I reasoned long against my own conviction, and laboured +against truth with the utmost obstinacy. I sometimes suspected myself of +madness, and should not have dared to impart this secret but to a man +like you, capable of distinguishing the wonderful from the impossible, +and the incredible from the false.' + +"'Why, sir,' said I, 'do you call that incredible, which you know, or +think you know, to be true?' + +"'Because,' said he, 'I cannot prove it by any external evidence; and I +know too well the laws of demonstration to think that my conviction +ought to influence another, who cannot like me be conscious of its +force. I therefore shall not attempt to gain credit by disputation. It +is sufficient that I feel this power, that I have long possessed, and +every day exerted it. But the life of man is short, the infirmities of +age increase upon me, and the time will soon come, when the regulator of +the year must mingle with the dust. The care of appointing a successor +has long disturbed me; the night and the day have been spent in +comparisons of all the characters which have come to my knowledge, and I +have yet found none so worthy as thyself.'" + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII + +THE ASTRONOMER LEAVES IMLAC HIS DIRECTIONS + + +"'Hear, therefore, what I shall impart, with attention such as the +welfare of a world requires. If the task of a king be considered as +difficult, who has the care only of a few millions, to whom he cannot do +much good or harm, what must be the anxiety of him on whom depends the +action of the elements, and the great gifts of light and heat! Hear me +therefore with attention. + +"'I have diligently considered the position of the earth and sun, and +formed innumerable schemes in which I changed their situation. I have +sometimes turned aside the axis of the earth, and sometimes varied the +ecliptic of the sun; but I have found it impossible to make a +disposition by which the world may be advantaged; what one region gains, +another loses, by any imaginable alteration, even without considering +the distant parts of the solar system with which we are unacquainted. Do +not, therefore, in thy administration of the year, indulge thy pride by +innovation; do not please thyself with thinking that thou canst make +thyself renowned to all future ages by disordering the seasons. The +memory of mischief is no desirable fame. Much less will it become thee +to let kindness or interest prevail. Never rob other countries of rain +to pour it on thine own. For us the Nile is sufficient.' + +"I promised, that when I possessed the power, I would use it with +inflexible integrity; and he dismissed me, pressing my hand. 'My heart,' +said he, 'will be now at rest, and my benevolence will no more destroy +my quiet; I have found a man of wisdom and virtue, to whom I can +cheerfully bequeath the inheritance of the sun.'" + +The prince heard this narration with very serious regard; but the +princess smiled, and Pekuah convulsed herself with laughter. "Ladies," +said Imlac, "to mock the heaviest of human afflictions is neither +charitable nor wise. Few can attain this man's knowledge, and few +practise his virtues; but all may suffer his calamity. Of the +uncertainties of our present state, the most dreadful and alarming is +the uncertain continuance of reason." + +The princess was recollected, and the favourite was abashed. Rasselas, +more deeply affected, inquired of Imlac, whether he thought such +maladies of the mind frequent, and how they were contracted. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV + +THE DANGEROUS PREVALENCE OF IMAGINATION + + +"Disorders of intellect," answered Imlac, "happen much more often than +superficial observers will easily believe. Perhaps, if we speak with +rigorous exactness, no human mind is in its right state. There is no man +whose imagination does not sometimes predominate over his reason, who +can regulate his attention wholly by his will, and whose ideas will come +and go at his command. No man will be found in whose mind airy notions +do not sometimes tyrannize, and force him to hope or fear beyond the +limits of sober probability. All power of fancy over reason is a degree +of insanity; but while this power is such as we can control and repress, +it is not visible to others, nor considered as any depravation of the +mental faculties: it is not pronounced madness but when it becomes +ungovernable and apparently influences speech or action. + +"To indulge the power of fiction, and send imagination out upon the +wing, is often the sport of those who delight too much in silent +speculation. When we are alone we are not always busy; the labour of +excogitation is too violent to last long; the ardour of inquiry will +sometimes give way to idleness or satiety. He who has nothing external +that can divert him, must find pleasure in his own thoughts, and must +conceive himself what he is not; for who is pleased with what he is? He +then expatiates in boundless futurity, and culls from all imaginable +conditions that which for the present moment he should most desire, +amuses his desires with impossible enjoyments, and confers upon his +pride unattainable dominion. The mind dances from scene to scene, unites +all pleasures in all combinations, and riots in delights, which nature +and fortune, with all their bounty, cannot bestow. + +"In time some particular train of ideas fixes the attention; all other +intellectual gratifications are rejected; the mind, in weariness or +leisure, recurs constantly to the favourite conception, and feasts on +the luscious falsehood whenever she is offended with the bitterness of +truth. By degrees the reign of fancy is confirmed; she grows first +imperious, and in time despotic. Then fictions begin to operate as +realities, false opinions fasten upon the mind, and life passes in +dreams of rapture or of anguish. + +"This, sir, is one of the dangers of solitude, which the hermit has +confessed not always to promote goodness, and the astronomer's misery +has proved to be not always propitious to wisdom." + +"I will no more," said the favourite, "imagine myself the queen of +Abyssinia. I have often spent the hours which the princess gave to my +own disposal, in adjusting ceremonies and regulating the court; I have +repressed the pride of the powerful and granted the petitions of the +poor; I have built new palaces in more happy situations, planted groves +upon the tops of mountains, and have exulted in the beneficence of +royalty, till, when the princess entered, I had almost forgotten to bow +down before her." + +"And I," said the princess, "will not allow myself any more to play the +shepherdess in my waking dreams. I have often soothed my thoughts with +the quiet and innocence of pastoral employments, till I have in my +chamber heard the winds whistle, and the sheep bleat; sometimes freed +the lamb entangled in the thicket, and sometimes with my crook +encountered the wolf. I have a dress like that of the village maids, +which I put on to help my imagination, and a pipe on which I play +softly, and suppose myself followed by my flocks." + +"I will confess," said the prince, "an indulgence of fantastic delight +more dangerous than yours. I have frequently endeavoured to image the +possibility of a perfect government, by which all wrong should be +restrained, all vice reformed, and all the subjects preserved in +tranquillity and innocence. This thought produced innumerable schemes of +reformation, and dictated many useful regulations and salutary edicts. +This has been the sport, and sometimes the labour, of my solitude; and I +start when I think with how little anguish I once supposed the death of +my father and my brothers." + +"Such," says Imlac, "are the effects of visionary schemes. When we first +form them, we know them to be absurd, but familiarize them by degrees, +and in time lose sight of their folly." + + + + +CHAPTER XLV + +THEY DISCOURSE WITH AN OLD MAN + + +The evening was now far past, and they rose to return home. As they +walked along the bank of the Nile, delighted with the beams of the moon +quivering on the water, they saw at a small distance an old man, whom +the prince had often heard in the assembly of the sages. "Yonder," said +he, "is one whose years have calmed his passions, but not clouded his +reason; let us close the disquisitions of the night, by inquiring what +are his sentiments of his own state, that we may know whether youth +alone is to struggle with vexation, and whether any better hope remains +for the latter part of life." + +Here the sage approached and saluted them. They invited him to join +their walk, and prattled awhile, as acquaintance that had unexpectedly +met one another. The old man was cheerful and talkative, and the way +seemed short in his company. He was pleased to find himself not +disregarded, accompanied them to their house, and, at the prince's +request, entered with them. They placed him in the seat of honour, and +set wine and conserves before him. + +"Sir," said the princess, "an evening walk must give to a man of +learning, like you, pleasures which ignorance and youth can hardly +conceive. You know the qualities and the causes of all that you behold, +the laws by which the river flows, the periods in which the planets +perform their revolutions. Everything must supply you with +contemplation, and renew the consciousness of your own dignity." + +"Lady," answered he, "let the gay and the vigorous expect pleasure in +their excursions; it is enough that age can obtain ease. To me the world +has lost its novelty: I look round, and see what I remember to have seen +in happier days. I rest against a tree, and consider, that in the same +shade I once disputed upon the annual overflow of the Nile with a friend +who is now silent in the grave. I cast my eyes upwards, fix them on the +changing moon, and think with pain on the vicissitudes of life. I have +ceased to take much delight in physical truth; for what have I to do +with those things which I am soon to leave?" + +"You may at least recreate yourself," said Imlac, "with the recollection +of an honourable and useful life, and enjoy the praise which all agree +to give you." + +"Praise," said the sage with a sigh, "is to an old man an empty sound. I +have neither mother to be delighted with the reputation of her son, nor +wife to partake the honours of her husband. I have outlived my friends +and my rivals. Nothing is now of much importance; for I cannot extend my +interest beyond myself. Youth is delighted with applause, because it is +considered as the earnest of some future good, and because the prospect +of life is far extended; but to me, who am now declining to decrepitude, +there is little to be feared from the malevolence of men, and yet less +to be hoped from their affection or esteem. Something they may yet take +away, but they can give me nothing. Riches would now be useless, and +high employment would be pain. My retrospect of life recalls to my view +many opportunities of good neglected, much time squandered upon trifles, +and more lost in idleness and vacancy. I leave many great designs +unattempted, and many great attempts unfinished. My mind is burdened +with no heavy crime, and therefore I compose myself to tranquillity; +endeavour to abstract my thoughts from hopes and cares, which, though +reason knows them to be vain, still try to keep their old possession of +the heart; expect, with serene humility, that hour which nature cannot +long delay; and hope to possess, in a better state, that happiness which +here I could not find, and that virtue which here I have not attained." + +He rose and went away, leaving his audience not much elated with the +hope of long life. The prince consoled himself with remarking, that it +was not reasonable to be disappointed by this account, for age had never +been considered as the season of felicity, and if it was possible to be +easy in decline and weakness, it was likely that the days of vigour and +alacrity might be happy; that the noon of life might be bright, if the +evening could be calm. + +The princess suspected that age was querulous and malignant, and +delighted to repress the expectations of those who had newly entered the +world. She had seen the possessors of estates look with envy on their +heirs, and known many who enjoyed pleasure no longer than they can +confine it to themselves. + +Pekuah conjectured that the man was older than he appeared, and was +willing to impute his complaints to delirious dejection; or else +supposed that he had been unfortunate, and was therefore discontented: +"For nothing," said she, "is more common, than to call our own condition +the condition of life." + +Imlac, who had no desire to see them depressed, smiled at the comforts +which they could so readily procure to themselves, and remembered, that +at the same age he was equally confident of unmingled prosperity, and +equally fertile of consolatory expedients. He forbore to force upon them +unwelcome knowledge, which time itself would too soon impress. The +princess and her lady retired; the madness of the astronomer hung upon +their minds, and they desired Imlac to enter upon his office, and delay +next morning the rising of the sun. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVI + +THE PRINCESS AND PEKUAH VISIT THE ASTRONOMER + + +The princess and Pekuah having talked in private of Imlac's astronomer, +thought his character at once so amiable and so strange, that they could +not be satisfied without a nearer knowledge; and Imlac was requested to +find the means of bringing them together. + +This was somewhat difficult: the philosopher had never received any +visits from women, though he lived in a city that had in it many +Europeans, who followed the manners of their own countries, and many +from other parts of the world, that lived there with European liberty. +The ladies would not be refused, and several schemes were proposed for +the accomplishment of their design. It was proposed to introduce them as +strangers in distress, to whom the sage was always accessible; but, +after some deliberation, it appeared that by this artifice no +acquaintance could be formed, for their conversation would be short, and +they could not decently importune him often. "This," said Rasselas, "is +true; but I have yet a stronger objection against the misrepresentation +of your state. I have always considered it as treason against the great +republic of human nature, to make any man's virtues the means of +deceiving him, whether on great or little occasions. All imposture +weakens confidence, and chills benevolence. When the sage finds that you +are not what you seemed, he will feel the resentment natural to a man +who, conscious of great abilities, discovers that he has been tricked by +understandings meaner than his own, and, perhaps, the distrust which he +can never afterwards wholly lay aside, may stop the voice of counsel and +close the hand of charity; and where will you find the power of +restoring his benefactions to mankind, or his peace to himself?" + +To this no reply was attempted, and Imlac began to hope that their +curiosity would subside; but, next day, Pekuah told him, she had now +found an honest pretence for a visit to the astronomer, for she would +solicit permission to continue under him the studies in which she had +been initiated by the Arab, and the princess might go with her either as +a fellow-student, or because a woman could not decently come alone. "I +am afraid," said Imlac, "that he will be soon weary of your company; men +advanced far in knowledge do not love to repeat the elements of their +art, and I am not certain that even of the elements, as he will deliver +them, connected with inferences and mingled with reflections, you are a +very capable auditress." "That," said Pekuah, "must be my care; I ask of +you only to take me thither. My knowledge is, perhaps, more than you +imagine it; and, by concurring always with his opinions, I shall make +him think it greater than it is." + +The astronomer, in pursuance of this resolution, was told that a foreign +lady, travelling in search of knowledge, had heard of his reputation, +and was desirous to become his scholar. The uncommonness of the proposal +raised at once his surprise and curiosity; and when, after a short +deliberation, he consented to admit her, he could not stay without +impatience till the next day. + +The ladies dressed themselves magnificently, and were attended by Imlac +to the astronomer, who was pleased to see himself approached with +respect by persons of so splendid an appearance. In the exchange of the +first civilities he was timorous and bashful; but when the talk became +regular, he recollected his powers, and justified the character which +Imlac had given. Inquiring of Pekuah what could have turned her +inclination towards astronomy, he received from her a history of her +adventure at the Pyramid, and of the time passed in the Arab's island. +She told her tale with ease and elegance, and her conversation took +possession of his heart. The discourse was then turned to astronomy: +Pekuah displayed what she knew: he looked upon her as a prodigy of +genius, and entreated her not to desist from a study which she had so +happily begun. + +They came again and again, and were every time more welcome than before. +The sage endeavoured to amuse them, that they might prolong their +visits, for he found his thoughts grow brighter in their company; the +clouds of solicitude vanished by degrees, as he forced himself to +entertain them, and he grieved when he was left at their departure to +his old employment of regulating the seasons. + +The princess and her favourite had now watched his lips for several +months, and could not catch a single word from which they could judge +whether he continued, or not, in the opinion of his preternatural +commission. They often contrived to bring him to an open declaration; +but he easily eluded all their attacks, and, on which side soever they +pressed him, escaped from them to some other topic. + +As their familiarity increased, they invited him often to the house of +Imlac, where they distinguished him by extraordinary respect. He began +gradually to delight in sublunary pleasures. He came early, and departed +late; laboured to recommend himself by assiduity and compliance; excited +their curiosity after new arts, that they might still want his +assistance; and when they made any excursion of pleasure or inquiry, +entreated to attend them. + +By long experience of his integrity and wisdom, the prince and his +sister were convinced that he might be trusted without danger; and lest +he should draw any false hopes from the civilities which he received, +discovered to him their condition, with the motives of their journey, +and required his opinion on the choice of life. + +"Of the various conditions which the world spreads before you, which you +shall prefer," said the sage, "I am not able to instruct you. I can only +tell that I have chosen wrong. I have passed my time in study without +experience; in the attainment of sciences which can, for the most part, +be but remotely useful to mankind. I have purchased knowledge at the +expense of all the common comforts of life; I have missed the endearing +elegance of female friendship, and the happy commerce of domestic +tenderness. If I have obtained any prerogatives above other students, +they have been accompanied with fear, disquiet, and scrupulosity; but +even of these prerogatives, whatever they were, I have, since my +thoughts have been diversified by more intercourse with the world, begun +to question the reality. When I have been for a few days lost in +pleasing dissipation, I am always tempted to think that my inquiries +have ended in error, and that I have suffered much and suffered it in +vain." + +Imlac was delighted to find that the sage's understanding was breaking +through its mists, and resolved to detain him from the planets till he +should forget his task of ruling them, and reason should recover its +original influence. + +From this time the astronomer was received into familiar friendship, and +partook of all their projects and pleasures; his respect kept him +attentive, and the activity of Rasselas did not leave much time +unengaged. Something was always to be done: the day was spent in making +observations which furnished talk for the evening, and the evening was +closed with a scheme for the morrow. + +The sage confessed to Imlac, that since he had mingled in the gay +tumults of life, and divided his hours by a succession of amusements, he +found the conviction of his authority over the skies fade gradually from +his mind, and began to trust less to an opinion which he never could +prove to others, and which he now found subject to variation, from +causes in which reason had no part. "If I am accidentally left alone for +a few hours," said he, "my inveterate persuasion rushes upon my soul, +and my thoughts are chained down by some irresistible violence; but they +are soon disentangled by the prince's conversation, and instantaneously +released at the entrance of Pekuah. I am like a man habitually afraid of +spectres, who is set at ease by a lamp, and wonders at the dread which +harassed him in the dark; yet, if his lamp be extinguished, feels again +the terrors which he knows that when it is light he shall feel no more. +But I am sometimes afraid lest I indulge my quiet by criminal +negligence, and voluntarily forget the great charge with which I am +entrusted. If I favour myself in a known error, or am determined by my +own ease in a doubtful question of this importance, how dreadful is my +crime!" + +"No disease of the imagination," answered Imlac, "is so difficult of +cure as that which is complicated with the dread of guilt; fancy and +conscience then act interchangeably upon us, and so often shift their +places, that the illusions of one are not distinguished from the +dictates of the other. If fancy presents images not moral or religious, +the mind drives them away when they give it pain; but when melancholic +notions take the form of duty, they lay hold on the faculties without +opposition, because we are afraid to exclude or banish them. For this +reason the superstitious are often melancholy, and the melancholy almost +always superstitious. + +"But do not let the suggestions of timidity overpower your better +reason: the danger of neglect can be but as the probability of the +obligation, which, when you consider it with freedom, you find very +little, and that little growing every day less. Open your heart to the +influence of the light which from time to time breaks in upon you; when +scruples importune you, which you in your lucid moments know to be vain, +do not stand to parley, but fly to business, or to Pekuah, and keep this +thought always prevalent, that you are only one atom of the mass of +humanity, and have neither such virtue nor vice, as that you should be +singled out for supernatural favours or afflictions." + + + + +CHAPTER XLVII + +THE PRINCE ENTERS, AND BRINGS A NEW TOPIC + + +"All this," said the astronomer, "I have often thought, but my reason +has been so long subjugated by an uncontrollable and overwhelming idea, +that it durst not confide in its own decisions. I now see how fatally I +betrayed my quiet, by suffering chimeras to prey upon me in secret; but +melancholy shrinks from communication, and I never found a man before to +whom I could impart my troubles, though I had been certain of relief. I +rejoice to find my own sentiments confirmed by yours, who are not easily +deceived, and can have no motive or purpose to deceive. I hope that time +and variety will dissipate the gloom that has so long surrounded me, and +the latter part of my days will be spent in peace." + +"Your learning and virtue," said Imlac, "may justly give you hopes." + +Rasselas then entered with the princess and Pekuah, and inquired, +whether they had contrived any new diversion for the next day. "Such," +said Nekayah, "is the state of life, that none are happy but by the +anticipation of change: the change itself is nothing; when we have made +it, the next wish is to change again. The world is not yet exhausted; +let me see something to-morrow which I never saw before." + +"Variety," said Rasselas, "is so necessary to content, that even the +Happy Valley disgusted me by the recurrence of its luxuries; yet I could +not forbear to reproach myself with impatience, when I saw the monks of +St. Anthony support, without complaint, a life, not of uniform delight, +but uniform hardship." + +"Those men," answered Imlac, "are less wretched in their silent convent +than the Abyssinian princes in their prison of pleasure. Whatever is +done by the monks is incited by an adequate and reasonable motive. Their +labour supplies them with necessaries; it therefore cannot be omitted, +and is certainly rewarded. Their devotion prepares them for another +state, and reminds them of its approach while it fits them for it. Their +time is regularly distributed: one duty succeeds another, so that they +are not left open to the distraction of unguided choice, nor lost in the +shades of listless inactivity. There is a certain task to be performed +at an appropriated hour; and their toils are cheerful, because they +consider them as acts of piety by which they are always advancing +towards endless felicity." + +"Do you think," said Nekayah, "that the monastic rule is a more holy and +less imperfect state than any other? May not he equally hope for future +happiness who converses openly with mankind, who succours the distressed +by his charity, instructs the ignorant by his learning, and contributes +by his industry to the general system of life; even though he should +omit some of the mortifications which are practised in the cloister, and +allow himself such harmless delights as his condition may place within +his reach?" + +"This," said Imlac, "is a question which has long divided the wise, and +perplexed the good. I am afraid to decide on either part. He that lives +well in the world is better than he that lives well in a monastery. But, +perhaps, every one is not able to stem the temptations of public life; +and if he cannot conquer, he may properly retreat. Some have little +power to do good, and have likewise little strength to resist evil. Many +are weary of their conflicts with adversity, and are willing to eject +those passions which have long busied them in vain. And many are +dismissed by age and diseases from the more laborious duties of society. +In monasteries, the weak and timorous may be happily sheltered, the +weary may repose, and the penitent may meditate. Those retreats of +prayer and contemplation have something so congenial to the mind of man, +that, perhaps, there is scarcely one that does not purpose to close his +life in pious abstraction, with a few associates serious as himself." + +"Such," said Pekuah, "has often been my wish, and I have heard the +princess declare, that she could not willingly die in a crowd." + +"The liberty of using harmless pleasures," proceeded Imlac, "will not +be disputed; but it is still to be examined what pleasures are harmless. +The evil of any pleasure that Nekayah can image, is not in the act +itself, but in its consequences. Pleasure, in itself harmless, may +become mischievous, by endearing to us a state which we know to be +transient and probatory, and withdrawing our thoughts from that of which +every hour brings us nearer to the beginning, and of which no length of +time will bring us to the end. Mortification is not virtuous in itself, +nor has any other use, but that it disengages us from the allurements of +sense. In the state of future perfection, to which we all aspire, there +will be pleasure without danger, and security without restraint." + +The princess was silent; and Rasselas, turning to the astronomer, asked +him, whether he could not delay her retreat, by showing her something +which she had not seen before. + +"Your curiosity," said the sage, "has been so general, and your pursuit +of knowledge so vigorous, that novelties are not now very easily to be +found; but what you can no longer procure from the living may be given +by the dead. Among the wonders of this country are the Catacombs, or the +ancient repositories in which the bodies of the earliest generations +were lodged, and where, by the virtue of the gums which embalmed them, +they yet remain without corruption." + +"I know not," said Rasselas, "what pleasure the sight of the Catacombs +can afford; but, since nothing else offered, I am resolved to view them, +and shall place this with many other things, which I have done because I +would do something." + +They hired a guard of horsemen, and the next day visited the Catacombs. +When they were about to descend into the sepulchral caves, "Pekuah," +said the princess, "we are now again invading the habitations of the +dead; I know that you will stay behind; let me find you safe when I +return." "No; I will not be left," answered Pekuah, "I will go down +between you and the prince." + +They then all descended, and roved with wonder through the labyrinth of +subterraneous passages, where the bodies were laid in rows on either +side. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII + +IMLAC DISCOURSES ON THE NATURE OF THE SOUL + + +"What reason," said the prince, "can be given, why the Egyptians should +thus expensively preserve those carcasses, which some nations consume +with fire, others lay to mingle with the earth, and all agree to remove +from their sight as soon as decent rites can be performed?" + +"The original of ancient customs," said Imlac, "is commonly unknown, for +the practice often continues when the cause has ceased; and concerning +superstitious ceremonies it is vain to conjecture, for what reason did +not dictate reason cannot explain. I have long believed that the +practice of embalming arose only from tenderness to the remains of +relations or friends, and to this opinion I am more inclined, because it +seems impossible that this care should have been general: had all the +dead been embalmed, their repositories must in time have been more +spacious than the dwellings of the living. I suppose only the rich or +honourable were secured from corruption, and the rest left to the course +of nature. + +"But it is commonly supposed, that the Egyptians believed the soul to +live as long as the body continued undissolved, and therefore tried this +method of eluding death." + +"Could the wise Egyptians," said Nekayah, "think so grossly of the soul? +If the soul could once survive its separation, what could it afterwards +receive or suffer from the body?" + +"The Egyptians would doubtless think erroneously," said the astronomer, +"in the darkness of heathenism, and the first dawn of philosophy. The +nature of the soul is still disputed, amidst all our opportunities of +clearer knowledge: some yet say that it may be material, who, +nevertheless, believe it to be immortal." + +"Some," answered Imlac, "have indeed said that the soul is material, but +I can scarcely believe that any man has thought it, who knew how to +think; for all the conclusions of reason enforce the immateriality of +mind, and all the notices of sense and investigations of science concur +to prove the unconsciousness of matter. + +"It was never supposed that cogitation is inherent in matter, or that +every particle is a thinking being. Yet, if any part of matter be devoid +of thought, what part can we suppose to think? Matter can differ from +matter only in form, density, bulk, motion, and direction of motion: to +which of these, however varied or combined, can consciousness be +annexed? To be round or square, to be solid or fluid, to be great or +little, to be moved slowly or swiftly one way or another, are modes of +material existence, all equally alien from the nature of cogitation. If +matter be once without thought, it can only be made to think by some new +modification; but all the modifications which it can admit are equally +unconnected with cogitative powers." + +"But the materialists," said the astronomer, "urge that matter may have +qualities with which we are unacquainted." + +"He who will determine," returned Imlac, "against that which he knows, +because there may be something which he knows not,--he that can set +hypothetical possibility against acknowledged certainty,--is not to be +admitted among reasonable beings. All that we know of matter is, that +matter is inert, senseless, and lifeless; and if this conviction cannot +be opposed but by referring us to something that we know not, we have +all the evidence that human intellect can admit. If that which is known +may be overruled by that which is unknown, no being, not omniscient, can +arrive at certainty." + +"Yet let us not," said the astronomer, "too arrogantly limit the +Creator's power." + +"It is no limitation of omnipotence," replied the poet, "to suppose that +one thing is not consistent with another, that the same proposition +cannot be at once true and false, that the same number cannot be even +and odd, that cogitation cannot be conferred on that which is created +incapable of cogitation." + +"I know not," said Nekayah, "any great use of this question. Does that +immateriality, which in my opinion you have sufficiently proved, +necessarily include eternal duration?" + +"Of immateriality," said Imlac, "our ideas are negative, and therefore +obscure. Immateriality seems to imply a natural power of perpetual +duration as a consequence of exemption from all causes of decay; +whatever perishes is destroyed by the solution of its contexture, and +separation of its parts; nor can we conceive how that which has no +parts, and therefore admits no solution, can be naturally corrupted or +impaired." + +"I know not," said Rasselas, "how to conceive anything without +extension; what is extended must have parts, and you allow that whatever +has parts may be destroyed." + +"Consider your own conceptions," replied Imlac, "and the difficulty +will be less. You will find substance without extension. An ideal form +is no less real than material bulk; yet an ideal form has no extension. +It is no less certain, when you think on a pyramid, that your mind +possesses the idea of a pyramid, than that the pyramid itself is +standing. What space does the idea of a pyramid occupy more than the +idea of a grain of corn? or how can either idea suffer laceration? As is +the effect, such is the cause: as thought, such is the power that +thinks; a power impassive and indiscerptible." + +"But the Being," said Nekayah, "whom I fear to name, the Being which +made the soul, can destroy it." + +"He surely can destroy it," answered Imlac, "since, however +unperishable, it receives from a superior nature its power of duration. +That it will not perish by any inherent cause of decay, or principle of +corruption, may be shown by philosophy; but philosophy can tell no more. +That it will not be annihilated by Him that made it, we must humbly +learn from higher authority." The whole assembly stood a while silent +and collected. "Let us return," said Rasselas, "from this scene of +mortality. How gloomy would be these mansions of the dead to him who did +not know that he should never die, that what now acts shall continue its +agency, and what now thinks shall think on for ever. Those that lie here +stretched before us, the wise and the powerful of ancient times, warn us +to remember the shortness of our present state: they were, perhaps, +snatched away while they were busy like us in the choice of life." + +"To me," said the princess, "the choice of life is become less +important; I hope hereafter to think only on the choice of eternity." + +They then hastened out of the caverns, and under the protection of their +guard returned to Cairo. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIX + +THE CONCLUSION, IN WHICH NOTHING IS CONCLUDED + + +It was now the time of the inundation of the Nile: a few days after +their visit to the Catacombs, the river began to rise. + +They were confined to their house. The whole region being under water +gave them no invitation to any excursions, and being well supplied with +material for talk, they diverted themselves with comparisons of the +different forms of life which they had observed, and with various +schemes of happiness which each of them had formed. + +Pekuah was never so much charmed with any place as the convent of St. +Anthony, where the Arab restored her to the princess, and wished only to +fill it with pious maidens, and to be made prioress of the order; she +was weary of expectation and disgust, and would gladly be fixed in some +unvariable state. + +The princess thought, that of all sublunary things knowledge was the +best: she desired first to learn all sciences, and then proposed to +found a college of learned women, in which she would preside, that, by +conversing with the old, and educating the young, she might divide her +time between the acquisition and communication of wisdom, and raise up +for the next age models of prudence, and patterns of piety. + +The prince desired a little kingdom, in which he might administer +justice in his own person, and see all the parts of government with his +own eyes; but he could never fix the limits of his dominion, and was +always adding to the number of his subjects. + +Imlac and the astronomer were contented to be driven along the stream of +life, without directing their course to any particular port. + +Of these wishes that they had formed they well knew that none could be +obtained. They deliberated awhile what was to be done, and resolved, +when the inundation should cease, to return to Abyssinia. + + + + +THE CASTLE OF OTRANTO: + +A GOTHIC STORY + +BY + +HORACE WALPOLE, EARL OF ORFORD + + + + +HORACE WALPOLE + + +Horace Walpole, the fourth son of Sir Robert Walpole, was born at 17 +Arlington Street on 24 September, 1717. He spent the greater part of his +boyhood at his father's house in Chelsea, a building that is now part of +the Hospital. At Eton, Walpole did not distinguish himself in any way. +After leaving Cambridge in 1737, his father appointed him Inspector of +Imports and Exports in the Customs House, and, in the following year, +Usher to the Exchequer. In 1739 he began the usual "grand tour" on the +Continent, where he developed a passion for antiquities. He returned to +England at the end of 1741. His father died in March 1745, and in 1747 +Walpole settled in the neighbourhood of Twickenham at Strawberry Hill. +The transforming of this house into "a little Gothic castle" and museum +was the chief occupation of the greater part of his life. Here he +erected a private printing press on which he printed many of his own +works as well as some poems of Gray. Although never really interested in +politics, in 1754 Walpole entered Parliament as member for Castle Rising +in Norfolk, vacating this seat three years later for that of Lynn. About +this time, too, he made an unsuccessful attempt to save the unfortunate +Admiral Byng. He went to Paris in 1765, where he formed a friendship +with Madame du Deffand which lasted until her death in 1780. But from +1769 until his death, his life, apart from intermittent literary work +and adding to his museum, was comparatively uneventful. In 1773, +however, his comedy _Nature Will Prevail_ was acted at the Haymarket +with considerable success. In 1791, on the death of his brother, he +acceded to the Earldom of Orford. He died at what was then 40 Berkeley +Square on 2 March, 1797. + +Among his books printed at Strawberry Hill are: _A Letter from Xo Ho, a +Chinese Philosopher at London, to his friend Lien Chi, at Peking_, 1757. +_A Catalogue of the Royal and Noble Authors of England_, 2 vols., 1758. +_Fugitive Pieces in Verse and Prose_, 1758. _Anecdotes of Painting in +England_, 4 vols., 1762. _The Castle of Otranto_, 1764. _The Mysterious +Mother, a Tragedy_, 1768. _A Description and Inventory of the Villa of +Horace Walpole_, 1774. _Hieroglyphic Tales_, 1784. _Essay on Modern +Gardening_, 1785. _Memoirs of the Last Ten Years of George II._ _Memoirs +of the Reign of George III._ See also his _Letters_. + + + + +PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION + + +The following work was found in the library of an ancient Catholic +family in the north of England. It was printed at Naples, in the black +letter, in the year 1529. How much sooner it was written does not +appear. The principal incidents are such as were believed in the darkest +ages of Christianity; but the language and conduct have nothing that +savours of barbarism. The style is of the purest Italian. If the story +was written near the time when it is supposed to have happened, it must +have been between 1095, the era of the first crusade, and 1243, the date +of the last, or not long afterwards. There is no other circumstance in +the work that can lead us to guess at the period in which the scene is +laid; the names of the actors are evidently fictitious, and probably +disguised on purpose; yet the Spanish names of the domestics seem to +indicate, that this work was not composed until the establishment of the +Arragonian kings in Naples had made Spanish appellations familiar in +that country. The beauty of the diction, and the zeal of the author +(moderated, however, by singular judgment), concur to make me think that +the date of the composition was little antecedent to that of the +impression. Letters were then in the most flourishing state in Italy, +and contributed to dispel the empire of superstition, at that time so +forcibly attacked by the reformers. It is not unlikely that an artful +priest might endeavour to turn their own arms on the innovators; and +might avail himself of his abilities as an author to confirm the +populace in their ancient errors and superstitions. If this was his +view, he has certainly acted with signal address. Such a work as the +following would enslave a hundred vulgar minds beyond half the books of +controversy that have been written from the days of Luther to the +present hour. + +This solution of the author's motives is, however, offered as a mere +conjecture. Whatever his views were, or whatever effects the execution +of them might have, his work can only be laid before the public at +present as a matter of entertainment. Even as such some apology for it +is necessary. Miracles, visions, necromancies, dreams, and other +preternatural events, are exploded now even from romances. That was not +the case when our author wrote; much less when the story itself is +supposed to have happened. Belief in every kind of prodigy was so +established in those dark ages, that an author would not be faithful to +the manners of the times who should omit all mention of them. He is not +bound to believe them himself, but he must represent his actors as +believing them. + +If this air of the miraculous is excused, the reader will find nothing +else unworthy of his perusal. Allow the possibility of the facts, and +all the actors comport themselves as persons would do in their +situation. There is no bombast, no similes, flowers, digressions, or +unnecessary descriptions. Everything tends directly to the catastrophe. +Never is the reader's attention relaxed. The rules of the drama are +almost observed throughout the conduct of the piece. The characters are +well drawn, and still better maintained. Terror, the author's principal +engine, prevents the story from ever languishing; and it is so often +contrasted by pity, that the mind is kept up in a constant vicissitude +of interesting passions. + +Some persons may, perhaps, think the characters of the domestics too +little serious for the general cast of the story; but, besides their +opposition to the principal personages, the art of the author is very +observable in his conduct of the subalterns. They discover many passages +essential to the story, which could not be well brought to light but by +their _naivete_ and simplicity: in particular, the womanish terror and +foibles of Bianca, in the last chapter, conduce essentially towards +advancing the catastrophe. + +It is natural for a translator to be prejudiced in favour of his adopted +work. More impartial readers may not be so much struck with the beauties +of this piece as I was. Yet I am not blind to my author's defects. I +could wish he had grounded his plan on a more useful moral than this; +that _the sins of the fathers are visited on their children to the third +and fourth generation_. I doubt whether, in his time, any more than at +present, ambition curbed its appetite of dominion from the dread of so +remote a punishment. And yet this moral is weakened by that less direct +insinuation, that even such anathema may be diverted by devotion to St. +Nicholas. Here the interest of the monk plainly gets the better of the +judgment of the author. However, with all its faults, I have no doubt +but the English reader will be pleased with a sight of this performance. +The piety that reigns throughout, the lessons of virtue that are +inculcated, and the rigid purity of the sentiments, exempt this work +from the censure to which romances are but too liable. Should it meet +with the success I hope for, I may be encouraged to reprint the original +Italian, though it will tend to depreciate my own labour. Our language +falls far short of the charms of the Italian, both for variety and +harmony. The latter is peculiarly excellent for simple narrative. It is +difficult in English _to relate_ without falling too low or rising too +high; a fault obviously occasioned by the little care taken to speak +pure language in common conversation. Every Italian or Frenchman, of any +rank, piques himself on speaking his own tongue correctly and with +choice. I cannot flatter myself with having done justice to my author in +this respect: his style is as elegant as his conduct of the passions is +masterly. It is pity that he did not apply his talents to what they were +evidently proper for--the theatre. + +I will detain the reader no longer, but to make one short remark. Though +the machinery is invention, and the names of the actors imaginary, I +cannot but believe that the groundwork of the story is founded on truth. +The scene is undoubtedly laid in some real castle. The author seems +frequently, without design, to describe particular parts. _The chamber_, +says he, _on the right hand; the door on the left hand; the distance +from the chapel to Conrad's apartment_: these, and other passages, are +strong presumptions that the author had some certain building in his +eye. Curious persons, who have leisure to employ in such researches, may +possibly discover in the Italian writers the foundation on which our +author has built. If a catastrophe, at all resembling that which he +describes, is believed to have given rise to this work, it will +contribute to interest the reader, and will make THE CASTLE OF OTRANTO a +still more moving story. + + + + +PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION + + +The favourable manner in which this little piece has been received by +the public calls upon the author to explain the grounds on which he +composed it. But before he opens those motives, it is fit that he should +ask pardon of his readers for having offered his work to them under the +borrowed personage of a translator. As diffidence of his own abilities, +and the novelty of the attempt, were the sole inducements to assume that +disguise, he flatters himself he shall appear excusable. He resigned his +performance to the impartial judgment of the public; determined to let +it perish in obscurity, if disapproved; nor meaning to avow such a +trifle, unless better judges should pronounce that he might own it +without a blush. + +It was an attempt to blend the two kinds of romance: the ancient and the +modern. In the former, all was imagination and improbability; in the +latter, nature is always intended to be, and sometimes has been, copied +with success. Invention has not been wanting; but the great resources of +fancy have been dammed up, by a strict adherence to common life. But if +in the latter species nature has cramped imagination, she did but take +her revenge, having been totally excluded from old romances. The +actions, sentiments, conversations, of the heroes and heroines of +ancient days, were as unnatural as the machines employed to put them in +motion. + +The author of the following pages thought it possible to reconcile the +two kinds. Desirous of leaving the powers of fancy at liberty to +expatiate through the boundless realms of invention, and thence of +creating more interesting situations, he wished to conduct the mortal +agents in his drama according to the rules of probability; in short, to +make them think, speak, and act, as it might be supposed mere men and +women would do in extraordinary positions. He had observed, that in all +inspired writings, the personages under the dispensation of miracles, +and witnesses to the most stupendous phenomena, never lose sight of +their human character; whereas, in the productions of romantic story, an +improbable event never fails to be attended by an absurd dialogue. The +actors seem to lose their senses, the moment the laws of nature have +lost their tone. As the public have applauded the attempt, the author +must not say he was entirely unequal to the task he had undertaken; yet +if the new route he has struck out shall have paved a road for men of +brighter talents, he shall own with pleasure and modesty, that he was +sensible the plan was capable of receiving greater embellishments than +his imagination or conduct of the passions could bestow on it. + +With regard to the deportment of the domestics, on which I have touched +in the former preface, I will beg leave to add a few words. The +simplicity of their behaviour, almost tending to excite smiles, which at +first seems not consonant to the serious cast of the work, appeared to +me not only not improper, but was marked designedly in that manner. My +rule was nature. However grave, important, or even melancholy, the +sensations of princes and heroes may be, they do not stamp the same +affections on their domestics; at least the latter do not, or should not +be made to express their passions in the same dignified tone. In my +humble opinion, the contrast between the sublime of the one and the +_naivete_ of the other, sets the pathetic of the former in a stronger +light. The very impatience which a reader feels while delayed by the +coarse pleasantries of vulgar actors from arriving at the knowledge of +the important catastrophe he expects, perhaps heightens, certainly +proves, that he has been artfully interested in the depending event. But +I had higher authority than my own opinion for this conduct. That great +master of nature, Shakespeare, was the model I copied. Let me ask if his +tragedies of _Hamlet_ and _Julius Caesar_ would not lose a considerable +share of their spirit and wonderful beauties, if the humour of the +grave-diggers, the fooleries of Polonius, and the clumsy jests of the +Roman citizens, were omitted, or vested in heroics? Is not the eloquence +of Antony, the nobler and affectingly unaffected oration of Brutus, +artificially exalted by the rude outbursts of nature from the mouths of +their auditors? These touches remind one of the Grecian sculptor, who, +to convey the idea of a Colossus within the dimensions of a seal, +inserted a little boy measuring his thumb. + +No, says Voltaire, in his edition of Corneille, this mixture of +buffoonery and solemnity is intolerable.--Voltaire is a genius--but not +of Shakespeare's magnitude. Without recurring to disputable authority, I +appeal from Voltaire to himself. I shall not avail myself of his former +encomiums on our mighty poet, though the French critic has twice +translated the same speech in _Hamlet_, some years ago in admiration, +latterly in derision; and I am sorry to find that his judgment grows +weaker when it ought to be farther matured. But I shall make use of his +own words, delivered on the general topic of the theatre, when he was +neither thinking to recommend or decry Shakespeare's practice; +consequently at a moment when Voltaire was impartial. In the preface to +his _Enfant Prodigue_, that exquisite piece, of which I declare my +admiration, and which, should I live twenty years longer, I trust I +shall never attempt to ridicule, he has these words, speaking of comedy +(but equally applicable to tragedy, if tragedy is, as surely it ought to +be, a picture of human life; nor can I conceive why occasional +pleasantry ought more to be banished from the tragic scene, than +pathetic seriousness from the comic): "_On y voit un melange de serieux +et de plaisanterie, de comique et de touchant; |souvent meme une seule +avanture| produit tous ces contrastes. Rien n'est si commun qu'une +maison dans laquelle |un pere gronde|, |une fille occupee de sa passion +pleure|; le fils se moque des deux, et quelques parens prennent +part differemment a la scene, etc. Nous n'inferons pas de la que toute +comedie doive avoir des scenes de bouffonerie et des scenes +attendrissantes: il y a beaucoup de tres bonnes pieces ou il ne regne +que de la gayete; d'autres toutes serieuses; d'autres melangees: +d'autres ou l'attendrissement va jusqu'aux larmes: |il ne faut donner +l'exclusion a aucun genre|: et si l'on me demandoit quel genre est le +meilleur, je repondrois, celui qui est le mieux traite._" Surely if a +comedy may be _toute serieuse_, tragedy may now and then, soberly, be +indulged in a smile. Who shall proscribe it? shall the critic, who, in +self-defence, declares that _no kind_ ought to be excluded from comedy, +give laws to Shakespeare? + +I am aware that the preface from whence I have quoted these passages +does not stand in Monsieur de Voltaire's name, but in that of his +editor; yet who doubts that the editor and author were the same person? +or where is the editor who has so happily possessed himself of his +author's style and brilliant ease of argument? These passages were +indubitably the genuine sentiments of that great writer. In his epistle +to Maffei, prefixed to his _Merope_, he delivers almost the same +opinion, though I doubt with a little irony. I will repeat his words, +and then give my reason for quoting them. After translating a passage in +Maffei's _Merope_, Monsieur de Voltaire adds, "_Tous ces traits sont +naifs: tout y est convenable a ceux que vous introduisez sur la scene, +|et aux moeurs que vous leur donnez|. Ces familiarites naturelles +eussent ete, a ce que je crois, bien recues dans Athenes; mais Paris et +notre parterre veulent une autre espece de simplicite._" I doubt, I say, +whether there is not a grain of sneer in this and other passages of that +epistle; yet the force of truth is not damaged by being tinged with +ridicule. Maffei was to represent a Grecian story: surely the Athenians +were as competent judges of Grecian manners and of the propriety of +introducing them, as the parterre of Paris. On the contrary, says +Voltaire (and I cannot but admire his reasoning), there were but ten +thousand citizens at Athens, and Paris has near eight hundred thousand +inhabitants, among whom one may reckon thirty thousand judges of +dramatic works.--Indeed! but, allowing so numerous a tribunal, I believe +this is the only instance in which it was ever pretended, that thirty +thousand persons, living near two thousand years after the era in +question, were, upon the mere face of the poll, declared better judges +than the Grecians themselves of what ought to be the manners of a +tragedy written on a Grecian story. + +I will not enter into a discussion of the _espece de simplicite_, which +the parterre of Paris demands, nor of the shackles with which _the +thirty thousand judges_ have cramped their poetry, the chief merit of +which, as I gather from repeated passages in _The New Commentary on +Corneille_, consists in vaulting in spite of those fetters; a merit +which, if true, would reduce poetry, from the lofty effort of +imagination, to a puerile and most contemptible labour--_difficiles +nugae_ with a witness! I cannot, however, help mentioning a couplet, +which, to my English ears, always sounded as the flattest and most +trifling instance of circumstantial propriety: but which Voltaire, who +has dealt so severely with nine parts in ten of Corneille's works, has +singled out to defend in Racine: + + De son appartement cette porte est prochaine, + Et cette autre conduit dans celui de la reine. + + In English: + + To Caesar's closet through this door you come, + And t'other leads to the queen's drawing-room. + +Unhappy Shakespeare! hadst thou made Rosencrantz inform his compeer, +Guildenstern, of the ichnography of the palace of Copenhagen, instead of +presenting us with a moral dialogue between the Prince of Denmark and +the grave-digger, the illuminated pit of Paris would have been +instructed _a second time_ to adore thy talents. + +The result of all I have said is, to shelter my own daring under the +canon of the brightest genius this country, at least, has produced. I +might have pleaded, that having created a new species of romance, I was +at liberty to lay down what rules I thought fit for the conduct of it: +but I should be more proud of having imitated, however faintly, weakly, +and at a distance, so masterly a pattern, than to enjoy the entire merit +of invention, unless I could have marked my work with genius as well as +with originality. Such as it is, the public have honoured it +sufficiently, whatever rank their suffrages allot to it. + + + + +SONNET + +TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE + +LADY MARY COKE + + + The gentle maid, whose hapless tale + These melancholy pages speak + Say, gracious lady, shall she fail + To draw the tear adown thy cheek? + + No; never was thy pitying breast + Insensible to human woes; + Tender, though firm, it melts distrest + For weaknesses it never knows. + + Oh! guard the marvels I relate + Of fell ambition scourg'd by fate, + From reason's peevish blame. + Blest with thy smile, my dauntless sail + I dare expand to fancy's gale. + For sure thy smiles are fame. + + H. W. + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +Manfred, Prince of Otranto, had one son and one daughter: the latter, a +most beautiful virgin, aged eighteen, was called Matilda. Conrad, the +son, was three years younger, a homely youth, sickly, and of no +promising disposition; yet he was the darling of his father, who never +showed any symptoms of affection to Matilda. Manfred had contracted a +marriage for his son with the Marquis of Vicenza's daughter, Isabella; +and she had already been delivered by her guardians into the hands of +Manfred, that he might celebrate the wedding as soon as Conrad's infirm +state of health would permit. Manfred's impatience for this ceremonial +was remarked by his family and neighbours. The former, indeed, +apprehending the severity of their prince's disposition, did not dare to +utter their surmises on this precipitation. Hippolita, his wife, an +amiable lady, did sometimes venture to represent the danger of marrying +their only son so early, considering his great youth, and greater +infirmities; but she never received any other answer than reflections on +her own sterility, who had given him but one heir. His tenants and +subjects were less cautious in their discourses: they attributed this +hasty wedding to the prince's dread of seeing accomplished an ancient +prophecy, which was said to have pronounced, that _the castle and +lordship of Otranto should pass from the present family, whenever the +real owner should be grown too large to inhabit it_. It was difficult to +make any sense of this prophecy; and still less easy to conceive what it +had to do with the marriage in question. Yet these mysteries, or +contradictions, did not make the populace adhere the less to their +opinion. + +Young Conrad's birthday was fixed for his espousals. The company was +assembled in the chapel of the castle, and everything ready for +beginning the divine office, when Conrad himself was missing. Manfred, +impatient of the least delay, and who had not observed his son retire, +dispatched one of his attendants to summon the young prince. The +servant, who had not stayed long enough to have crossed the court to +Conrad's apartment, came running back breathless, in a frantic manner, +his eyes staring, and foaming at the mouth. He said nothing, but pointed +to the court. The company were struck with terror and amazement. The +Princess Hippolita, without knowing what was the matter, but anxious for +her son, swooned away. Manfred, less apprehensive than enraged at the +procrastination of the nuptials, and at the folly of his domestic, asked +imperiously what was the matter? The fellow made no answer, but +continued pointing towards the court-yard; and, at last, after repeated +questions put to him, cried out: + +"Oh! the helmet! the helmet!" + +In the mean time, some of the company had run into the court, from +whence was heard a confused noise of shrieks, horror, and surprise. +Manfred, who began to be alarmed at not seeing his son, went himself to +get information of what occasioned this strange confusion. Matilda +remained endeavouring to assist her mother, and Isabella stayed for the +same purpose, and to avoid showing any impatience for the bridegroom, +for whom, in truth, she had conceived little affection. + +The first thing that struck Manfred's eyes was a group of his servants +endeavouring to raise something that appeared to him a mountain of sable +plumes. He gazed without believing his sight. "What are ye doing?" cried +Manfred, wrathfully. "Where is my son?" + +A volley of voices replied, "Oh! my lord! the prince! the prince! the +helmet! the helmet!" + +Shocked with these lamentable sounds, and dreading he knew not what, he +advanced hastily--but, what a sight for a father's eyes!--he beheld his +child dashed to pieces, and almost buried under an enormous helmet, a +hundred times more large than any casque ever made for human being, and +shaded with a proportionable quantity of black feathers. + +The horror of the spectacle, the ignorance of all around how this +misfortune had happened, and, above all, the tremendous phenomenon +before him, took away the prince's speech. Yet his silence lasted longer +than even grief could occasion. He fixed his eyes on what he wished in +vain to believe a vision; and seemed less attentive to his loss, than +buried in meditation on the stupendous object that had occasioned it. He +touched, he examined, the fatal casque; nor could even the bleeding, +mangled remains of the young prince divert the eyes of Manfred from the +portent before him. All who had known his partial fondness for young +Conrad were as much surprised at their prince's insensibility, as +thunderstruck themselves at the miracle of the helmet. They conveyed +the disfigured corpse into the hall, without receiving the least +direction from Manfred. As little was he attentive to the ladies who +remained in the chapel; on the contrary, without mentioning the unhappy +princesses, his wife and daughter, the first sounds that dropped from +Manfred's lips were, "Take care of the Lady Isabella." + +The domestics, without observing the singularity of this direction, were +guided by their affection to their mistress to consider it as peculiarly +addressed to her situation, and flew to her assistance. They conveyed +her to her chamber more dead than alive, and indifferent to all the +strange circumstances she heard, except the death of her son. Matilda, +who doted on her mother, smothered her own grief and amazement, and +thought of nothing but assisting and comforting her afflicted parent. +Isabella, who had been treated by Hippolita like a daughter, and who +returned that tenderness with equal duty and affection, was scarce less +assiduous about the princess; at the same time endeavouring to partake +and lessen the weight of sorrow which she saw Matilda strove to +suppress, for whom she had conceived the warmest sympathy of friendship. +Yet her own situation could not help finding its place in her thoughts. +She felt no concern for the death of young Conrad, except commiseration; +and she was not sorry to be delivered from a marriage which had promised +her little felicity, either from her destined bridegroom, or from the +severe temper of Manfred, who, though he had distinguished her by great +indulgence, had impressed her mind with terror, from his causeless +rigour to such amiable princesses as Hippolita and Matilda. + +While the ladies were conveying the wretched mother to her bed, Manfred +remained in the court, gazing on the ominous casque, and regardless of +the crowd which the strangeness of the event had now assembled around +him. The few words he articulated tended solely to inquiries, whether +any man knew from whence it could have come? Nobody could give him the +least information. However, as it seemed to be the sole object of his +curiosity, it soon became so to the rest of the spectators, whose +conjectures were as absurd and improbable, as the catastrophe itself was +unprecedented. In the midst of their senseless guesses, a young peasant, +whom rumour had drawn thither from a neighbouring village, observed, +that the miraculous helmet was exactly like that on the figure in black +marble of Alfonso the Good, one of their former princes, in the church +of St. Nicholas. + +"Villain! what sayest thou?" cried Manfred, starting from his trance in +a tempest of rage, and seizing the young man by the collar; "how darest +thou utter such treason? thy life shall pay for it." + +The spectators, who as little comprehended the cause of the prince's +fury as all the rest they had seen, were at a loss to unravel this new +circumstance. The young peasant himself was still more astonished, not +conceiving how he had offended the prince; yet, recollecting himself, +with a mixture of grace and humility, he disengaged himself from +Manfred's gripe, and then, with an obeisance which discovered more +jealousy of innocence than dismay, he asked, with respect, of what he +was guilty? Manfred, more enraged at the vigour, however decently +exerted, with which the young man had shaken off his hold, than appeased +by his submission, ordered his attendants to seize him, and, if he had +not been withheld by his friends, whom he had invited to the nuptials, +would have poniarded the peasant in their arms. + +During this altercation, some of the vulgar spectators had run to the +great church, which stood near the castle, and came back open-mouthed, +declaring that the helmet was missing from Alfonso's statue. Manfred, at +this news, grew perfectly frantic; and, as if he sought a subject on +which to vent the tempest within him, he rushed again on the young +peasant, crying, "Villain! monster! sorcerer! 'tis thou hast done this! +'tis thou hast slain my son!" + +The mob, who wanted some object within the scope of their capacities, on +whom they might discharge their bewildered reasonings, caught the words +from the mouth of their lord, and re-echoed, "Ay, ay; 'tis he, 'tis he! +he has stolen the helmet from good Alfonso's tomb, and dashed out the +brains of our young prince with it," never reflecting how enormous the +disproportion was between the marble helmet that had been in the church, +and that of steel before their eyes; nor how impossible it was for a +youth, seemingly not twenty, to wield a piece of armour of so prodigious +a weight. + +The folly of these ejaculations brought Manfred to himself: yet, whether +provoked at the peasant having observed the resemblance between the two +helmets, and thereby led to the farther discovery of the absence of that +in the church, or wishing to bury any fresh rumour under so impertinent +a supposition, he gravely pronounced that the young man was certainly a +necromancer; and that till the Church could take cognizance of the +affair, he would have the magician, whom they had thus detected, kept +prisoner under the helmet itself, which he ordered his attendants to +raise, and place the young man under it; declaring he should be kept +there without food, with which his own infernal art might furnish him. + +It was in vain for the youth to represent against this preposterous +sentence: in vain did Manfred's friends endeavour to divert him from +this savage and ill-grounded resolution. The generality were charmed +with their lord's decision, which to their apprehensions carried great +appearance of justice, as the magician was to be punished by the very +instrument with which he had offended; nor were they struck with the +least compunction at the probability of the youth being starved, for +they firmly believed that, by his diabolical skill, he could easily +supply himself with nutriment. + +Manfred thus saw his commands even cheerfully obeyed; and appointing a +guard, with strict orders to prevent any food being conveyed to the +prisoner, he dismissed his friends and attendants, and retired to his +own chamber, after locking the gates of the castle, in which he suffered +none but his domestics to remain. + +In the meantime, the care and zeal of the young ladies had brought the +Princess Hippolita to herself, who, amidst the transports of her own +sorrow, frequently demanded news of her lord, would have dismissed her +attendants to watch over him, and at last enjoined Matilda to leave her, +and visit and comfort her father. Matilda, who wanted not affectionate +duty to Manfred, though she trembled at his austerity, obeyed the orders +of Hippolita, whom she tenderly recommended to Isabella; and inquiring +of the domestics of her father, was informed that he was retired to his +chamber, and had commanded that nobody should have admittance to him. +Concluding that he was immersed in sorrow for the death of her brother, +and fearing to renew his tears by the sight of his sole remaining child, +she hesitated whether she should break in upon his affliction: yet +solicitude for him, backed by the commands of her mother, encouraged her +to venture disobeying the orders he had given; a fault she had never +been guilty of before. The gentle timidity of her nature made her pause +for some minutes at his door. She heard him traverse his chamber +backwards and forwards with disordered steps; a mood which increased her +apprehensions. She was however just going to beg admittance, when +Manfred suddenly opened the door; and as it was now twilight, +concurring with the disorder of his mind, he did not distinguish the +person, but asked angrily, who it was? Matilda replied, trembling, "My +dearest father, it is I, your daughter." + +Manfred, stepping back hastily, cried, "Begone, I do not want a +daughter"; and, flinging back abruptly, clapped the door against the +terrified Matilda. + +She was too well acquainted with her father's impetuosity to venture a +second intrusion. When she had a little recovered the shock of so bitter +a reception, she wiped away her tears, to prevent the additional stab +that the knowledge of it would give to Hippolita, who questioned her in +the most anxious terms on the health of Manfred, and how he bore his +loss. Matilda assured her he was well, and supported his misfortune with +manly fortitude. + +"But will he not let me see him?" said Hippolita, mournfully; "will he +not permit me to blend my tears with his, and shed a mother's sorrows in +the bosom of her lord? Or do you deceive me, Matilda? I know how Manfred +doted on his son: is not the stroke too heavy for him? has he not sunk +under it? You do not answer me:--alas! I dread the worst!--raise me, my +maidens; I will, I will see my lord. Bear me to him instantly. He is +dearer to me even than my children." + +Matilda made signs to Isabella to prevent Hippolita's rising; and both +those lovely young women were using their gentle violence to stop and +calm the princess, when a servant, on the part of Manfred, arrived, and +told Isabella that his lord demanded to speak with her. + +"With me!" cried Isabella. + +"Go," said Hippolita, relieved by a message from her lord: "Manfred +cannot support the sight of his own family. He thinks you less +disordered than we are, and dreads the shock of my grief. Console him, +dear Isabella, and tell him I will smother my own anguish rather than +add to his." + +As it was now evening, the servant who conducted Isabella bore a torch +before her. When they came to Manfred, who was walking impatiently about +the gallery, he started, and said hastily: + +"Take away that light, and begone." Then shutting the door impetuously, +he flung himself upon a bench against the wall, and bade Isabella sit by +him. She obeyed trembling. + +"I sent for you, lady," said he, and then stopped, under great +appearance of confusion. + +"My lord!" + +"Yes, I sent for you on a matter of great moment," resumed he: "dry your +tears, young lady:--you have lost your bridegroom. Yes, cruel fate! and +I have lost the hopes of my race! but Conrad was not worthy of your +beauty." + +"How! my lord," said Isabella; "sure you do not suspect me of not +feeling the concern I ought! my duty and affection would have +always----" + +"Think no more of him," interrupted Manfred: "he was a sickly, puny +child; and Heaven has perhaps taken him away, that I might not trust the +honours of my house on so frail a foundation. The line of Manfred calls +for numerous supports. My foolish fondness for that boy blinded the eyes +of my prudence--but it is better as it is. I hope, in a few years, to +have reason to rejoice at the death of Conrad." + +Words cannot paint the astonishment of Isabella. At first she +apprehended that grief had disordered Manfred's understanding. Her next +thought suggested that this strange discourse was designed to ensnare +her: she feared that Manfred had perceived her indifference for his son; +and in consequence of that idea she replied: + +"Good my lord, do not doubt my tenderness: my heart would have +accompanied my hand. Conrad would have engrossed all my care; and +wherever fate shall dispose of me, I shall always cherish his memory, +and regard your highness and the virtuous Hippolita as my parents." + +"Curse on Hippolita!" cried Manfred: "forget her from this moment, as I +do. In short, lady, you have missed a husband undeserving of your +charms: they shall now be better disposed of. Instead of a sickly boy, +you shall have a husband in the prime of his age, who will know how to +value your beauties, and who may expect a numerous offspring." + +"Alas! my lord," said Isabella, "my mind is too sadly engrossed by the +recent catastrophe in your family to think of another marriage. If ever +my father returns, and it shall be his pleasure, I shall obey, as I did +when I consented to give my hand to your son; but, until his return, +permit me to remain under your hospitable roof, and employ the +melancholy hours in assuaging yours, Hippolita's, and the fair Matilda's +affliction." + +"I desired you once before," said Manfred, angrily, "not to name that +woman: from this hour she must be a stranger to you, as she must be to +me:--in short, Isabella, since I cannot give you my son, I offer you +myself." + +"Heavens!" cried Isabella, waking from her delusion, "what do I hear? +You, my lord! You! my father-in-law, the father of Conrad! the husband +of the virtuous and tender Hippolita!" + +"I tell you," said Manfred imperiously, "Hippolita is no longer my wife; +I divorce her from this hour. Too long has she cursed me by her +unfruitfulness. My fate depends on having sons, and this night I trust +will give a new date to my hopes." + +At those words he seized the cold hand of Isabella, who was half dead +with fright and horror. She shrieked and started from him. Manfred rose +to pursue her, when the moon, which was now up and gleamed in at the +opposite casement, presented to his sight the plumes of the fatal +helmet, which rose to the height of the windows, waving backwards and +forwards in a tempestuous manner, and accompanied with a hollow and +rustling sound. Isabella, who gathered courage from her situation, and +who dreaded nothing so much as Manfred's pursuit of his declaration, +cried: + +"Look, my lord! see, Heaven itself declares against your impious +intentions!" + +"Heaven nor hell shall impede my designs," said Manfred, advancing again +to seize the princess. At that instant the portrait of his grandfather, +which hung over the bench where they had been sitting, uttered a deep +sigh, and heaved its breast. Isabella, whose back was turned to the +picture, saw not the motion, nor whence the sound came but started, and +said: + +"Hark, my lord! what sound was that?" and at the same time made towards +the door. Manfred, distracted between the flight of Isabella, who had +now reached the stairs, and yet unable to keep his eyes from the +picture, which began to move, had, however, advanced some steps after +her, still looking backwards on the portrait, when he saw it quit its +panel, and descend on the floor with a grave and melancholy air. + +"Do I dream?" cried Manfred, returning; "or are the devils themselves in +league against me? Speak, infernal spectre! or, if thou art my +grandsire, why dost thou, too, conspire against thy wretched descendant, +who too dearly pays for----" Ere he could finish the sentence, the +vision sighed again, and made a sign to Manfred to follow him. + +"Lead on!" cried Manfred: "I will follow thee to the gulf of perdition." +The spectre marched sedately, but dejected, to the end of the gallery, +and turned into a chamber on the right hand. Manfred accompanied him at +a little distance, full of anxiety and horror, but resolved. As he +would have entered the chamber, the door was clapped to with violence by +an invisible hand. The prince, collecting courage from this delay, would +have forcibly burst open the door with his foot, but found that it +resisted his utmost efforts. + +"Since hell will not satisfy my curiosity," said Manfred, "I will use +the human means in my power for preserving my race; Isabella shall not +escape me." + +That lady, whose resolution had given way to terror the moment she had +quitted Manfred, continued her flight to the bottom of the principal +staircase. There she stopped, not knowing whither to direct her steps, +nor how to escape from the impetuosity of the prince. The gates of the +castle she knew were locked, and guards placed in the court. Should she, +as her heart prompted her, go and prepare Hippolita for the cruel +destiny that awaited her, she did not doubt but Manfred would seek her +there, and that his violence would incite him to double the injury he +meditated, without leaving room for them to avoid the impetuosity of his +passions. Delay might give him time to reflect on the horrid measures he +had conceived, or produce some circumstance in her favour, if she could, +for that night at least, avoid his odious purpose. Yet where conceal +herself? how avoid the pursuit he would infallibly make throughout the +castle? As these thoughts passed rapidly through her mind, she +recollected a subterraneous passage which led from the vaults of the +castle to the church of St. Nicholas. Could she reach the altar before +she was overtaken, she knew even Manfred's violence would not dare to +profane the sacredness of the place; and she determined, if no other +means of deliverance offered, to shut herself up for ever among the holy +virgins, whose convent was contiguous to the cathedral. In this +resolution, she seized a lamp that burned at the foot of the staircase, +and hurried towards the secret passage. + +The lower part of the castle was hollowed into several intricate +cloisters; and it was not easy for one under so much anxiety to find the +door that opened into the cavern. An awful silence reigned throughout +those subterraneous regions, except now and then some blasts of wind +that shook the doors she had passed, and which, grating on the rusty +hinges, were re-echoed through that long labyrinth of darkness. Every +murmur struck her with new terror;--yet more she dreaded to hear the +wrathful voice of Manfred urging his domestics to pursue her. She trod +as softly as impatience would give her leave,--yet frequently stopped, +and listened to hear if she was followed. In one of those moments she +thought she heard a sigh. She shuddered, and recoiled a few paces. In a +moment she thought she heard the step of some person. Her blood curdled: +she concluded it was Manfred. Every suggestion that horror could inspire +rushed into her mind. She condemned her rash flight, which had thus +exposed her to his rage in a place where her cries were not likely to +draw anybody to her assistance. Yet the sound seemed not to come from +behind: if Manfred knew where she was, he must have followed her: she +was still in one of the cloisters, and the steps she had heard were too +distinct to proceed from the way she had come. Cheered with this +reflection, and hoping to find a friend in whoever was not the prince, +she was going to advance, when a door that stood ajar, at some distance +to the left, was opened gently; but ere her lamp, which she held up, +could discover who opened it, the person retreated precipitately on +seeing the light. + +Isabella, whom every incident was sufficient to dismay, hesitated +whether she should proceed. Her dread of Manfred soon outweighed every +other terror. The very circumstance of the person avoiding her, gave her +a sort of courage. It could only be, she thought, some domestic +belonging to the castle. Her gentleness had never raised her an enemy, +and conscious innocence made her hope that, unless sent by the prince's +order to seek her, his servants would rather assist than prevent her +flight. Fortifying herself with these reflections, and believing, by +what she could observe, that she was near the mouth of the subterraneous +cavern, she approached the door that had been opened; but a sudden gust +of wind, that met her at the door, extinguished her lamp, and left her +in total darkness. + +Words cannot paint the horror of the princess's situation. Alone, in so +dismal a place, her mind impressed with all the terrible events of the +day, hopeless of escaping, expecting every moment the arrival of +Manfred, and far from tranquil on knowing she was within reach of +somebody, she knew not whom, who for some cause seemed concealed +thereabouts; all these thoughts crowded on her distracted mind, and she +was ready to sink under her apprehensions. She addressed herself to +every saint in heaven, and inwardly implored their assistance. For a +considerable time she remained in an agony of despair. At last, as +softly as was possible, she felt for the door, and having found it, +entered trembling into the vault from whence she had heard the sigh and +steps. It gave her a kind of momentary joy to perceive an imperfect ray +of clouded moonshine gleam from the roof of the vault, which seemed to +be fallen in, and from whence hung a fragment of earth or building, she +could not distinguish which, that appeared to have been crushed inwards. +She advanced eagerly towards this chasm, when she discerned a human form +standing close against the wall. + +She shrieked, believing it the ghost of her betrothed Conrad. The +figure, advancing, said in a submissive voice, "Be not alarmed, lady, I +will not injure you." + +Isabella, a little encouraged by the words and tone of voice of the +stranger, and recollecting that this must be the person who had opened +the door, recovered her spirits enough to reply, "Sir, whoever you are, +take pity on a wretched princess, standing on the brink of destruction: +assist me to escape from this fatal castle, or, in a few moments, I may +be made miserable for ever." + +"Alas!" said the stranger, "what can I do to assist you? I will die in +your defence; but I am unacquainted with the castle, and want----" + +"Oh!" said Isabella, hastily interrupting him, "help me but to find a +trap-door that must be hereabout, and it is the greatest service you can +do me, for I have not a minute to lose." Saying these words, she felt +about on the pavement, and directed the stranger to search likewise, for +a smooth piece of brass enclosed in one of the stones. "That," said she, +"is the lock which opens with a spring, of which I know the secret. If +we can find that, I may escape; if not, alas! courteous stranger, I fear +I shall have involved you in my misfortunes. Manfred will suspect you +for the accomplice of my flight, and you will fall a victim to his +resentment." + +"I value not my life," said the stranger; "and it will be some comfort +to lose it, in trying to deliver you from his tyranny." + +"Generous youth!" said Isabella, "how shall I ever requite----" + +As she uttered these words, a ray of moonshine, streaming through a +cranny of the ruin above, shone directly on the lock they sought.--"Oh! +transport!" said Isabella, "here is the trap-door"; and, taking out the +key, she touched the spring, which, starting aside, discovered an iron +ring. "Lift up the door," said the princess. The stranger obeyed; and +beneath appeared some stone steps descending into a vault totally dark. +"We must go down here," said Isabella: "follow me; dark and dismal as +it is, we cannot miss our way; it leads directly to the church of St. +Nicholas--but, perhaps," added the princess, modestly, "you have no +reason to leave the castle, nor have I farther occasion for your +service; in a few minutes I shall be safe from Manfred's rage--only let +me know to whom I am so much obliged." + +"I will never quit you," said the stranger eagerly, "until I have placed +you in safety--nor think me, princess, more generous than I am; though +you are my principal care----" + +The stranger was interrupted by a sudden noise of voices that seemed +approaching, and they soon distinguished these words: "Talk not to me of +necromancers; I tell you she must be in the castle; I will find her in +spite of enchantment." + +"Oh, heavens!" cried Isabella, "it is the voice of Manfred; make haste, +or we are ruined! and shut the trap-door after you." Saying this, she +descended the steps precipitately; and as the stranger hastened to +follow her, he let the door slip out of his hands: it fell, and the +spring closed over it. He tried in vain to open it, not having observed +Isabella's method of touching the spring; nor had he many moments to +make an essay. The noise of the falling door had been heard by Manfred, +who, directed by the sound, hastened thither, attended by his servants +with torches. + +"It must be Isabella," cried Manfred, before he entered the vault: "she +is escaping by the subterraneous passage, but she cannot have got far." +What was the astonishment of the prince, when, instead of Isabella, the +light of the torches discovered to him the young peasant, whom he +thought confined under the fatal helmet. "Traitor!" said Manfred, "how +camest thou here? I thought thee in durance above in the court." + +"I am no traitor," replied the young man boldly, "nor am I answerable +for your thoughts." + +"Presumptuous villain!" cried Manfred, "dost thou provoke my wrath? Tell +me; how hast thou escaped from above? Thou hast corrupted thy guards, +and their lives shall answer it." + +"My poverty," said the peasant calmly, "will disculpate them: though the +ministers of a tyrant's wrath, to thee they are faithful, and but too +willing to execute the orders which you unjustly imposed upon them." + +"Art thou so hardy as to dare my vengeance?" said the prince; "but +tortures shall force the truth from thee. Tell me; I will know thy +accomplices." + +"There was my accomplice!" said the youth, smiling and pointing to the +roof. + +Manfred ordered the torches to be held up, and perceived that one of +the cheeks of the enchanted casque had forced its way through the +pavement of the court, as his servants had let it fall over the peasant, +and had broken through into the vault, leaving a gap through which the +peasant had pressed himself some minutes before he was found by +Isabella. "Was that the way by which thou didst descend?" said Manfred. + +"It was," said the youth. + +"But what noise was that," said Manfred, "which I heard, as I entered +the cloister?" + +"A door clapped," said the peasant; "I heard it as well as you." + +"What door?" said Manfred hastily. + +"I am not acquainted with your castle," said the peasant: "this is the +first time I ever entered it; and this vault the only part of it within +which I ever was." + +"But I tell thee," said Manfred, wishing to find out if the youth had +discovered the trap-door, "it was this way I heard the noise; my +servants heard it too." + +"My lord," interrupted one of them officiously, "to be sure it was the +trap-door, and he was going to make his escape." + +"Peace! blockhead," said the prince angrily; "if he was going to escape, +how should he come on this side? I will know from his own mouth what +noise it was I heard. Tell me truly, thy life depends on thy veracity." + +"My veracity is dearer to me than my life," said the peasant; "nor would +I purchase the one by forfeiting the other." + +"Indeed, young philosopher!" said Manfred, contemptuously; "tell me, +then, what was that noise I heard?" + +"Ask me, what I can answer," said he, "and put me to death instantly, if +I tell you a lie." + +Manfred, growing impatient at the steady valour and indifference of the +youth, cried, "Well, then, thou man of truth! answer; was it the fall of +the trap-door that I heard?" + +"It was," said the youth. + +"It was!" said the prince; "and how didst thou come to know there was a +trap-door here?" + +"I saw the plate of brass by a gleam of moonshine," replied he. + +"But what told thee it was a lock?" said Manfred; "how didst thou +discover the secret of opening it?" + +"Providence, that delivered me from the helmet, was able to direct me to +the spring of a lock," said he. + +"Providence should have gone a little farther, and have placed thee out +of the reach of my resentment," said Manfred: "when Providence had +taught thee to open the lock, it abandoned thee for a fool, who did not +know how to make use of its favours. Why didst thou not pursue the path +pointed out for thy escape? Why didst thou shut the trap-door before +thou hadst descended the steps?" + +"I might ask you, my lord," said the peasant, "how I, totally +unacquainted with your castle, was to know that those steps led to any +outlet? but I scorn to evade your questions. Wherever those steps led +to, perhaps, I should have explored the way. I could not be in a worse +situation than I was. But the truth is, I let the trap-door fall: your +immediate arrival followed. I had given the alarm--what imported it to +me whether I was seized a minute sooner or a minute later?" + +"Thou art a resolute villain for thy years," said Manfred; "yet, on +reflection, I suspect thou dost but trifle with me: thou hast not yet +told me how thou didst open the lock." + +"That I will show you, my lord," said the peasant; and, taking up a +fragment of stone that had fallen from above, he laid himself on the +trap-door, and began to beat on the piece of brass that covered it; +meaning to gain time for the escape of the princess. This presence of +mind, joined to the frankness of the youth, staggered Manfred. He even +felt a disposition towards pardoning one who had been guilty of no +crime. Manfred was not one of those savage tyrants who wanton in cruelty +unprovoked. The circumstances of his fortune had given an asperity to +his temper, which was naturally humane; and his virtues were always +ready to operate, when his passions did not obscure his reason. + +While the prince was in this suspense, a confused noise of voices echoed +through the distant vaults. As the sound approached, he distinguished +the clamours of some of his domestics, whom he had dispersed through the +castle in search of Isabella, calling out, "Where is my lord? where is +the prince?" + +"Here I am," said Manfred, as they came nearer; "have you found the +princess?" + +The first that arrived replied, "Oh, my lord, I am glad we have found +you." + +"Found me!" said Manfred; "have you found the princess?" + +"We thought we had, my lord," said the fellow, looking terrified; +"but----" + +"But what?" cried the prince; "has she escaped?" + +"Jaquez and I, my lord----" + +"Yes, I and Diego," interrupted the second, who came up in still greater +consternation. + +"Speak one of you at a time," said Manfred; "I ask you, where is the +princess?" + +"We do not know," said they both together; "but we are frightened out of +our wits." + +"So I think, blockheads," said Manfred; "what is it has scared you +thus?" + +"Oh, my lord," said Jaquez, "Diego has seen such a sight! your highness +would not believe your eyes." + +"What new absurdity is this?" cried Manfred; "give me a direct answer, +or by Heaven----" + +"Why, my lord, if it please your highness to hear me," said the poor +fellow, "Diego and I----" + +"Yes, I and Jaquez," cried his comrade. + +"Did not I forbid you to speak both at a time?" said the prince: "you, +Jaquez, answer; for the other fool seems more distracted than thou art: +what is the matter?" + +"My gracious lord," said Jaquez, "if it please your highness to hear me, +Diego and I, according to your highness's orders, went to search for the +young lady; but being apprehensive that we might meet the ghost of my +young lord, your highness's son, God rest his soul! as he has not +received Christian burial----" + +"Sot!" cried Manfred, in a rage, "is it only a ghost, then, that thou +hast seen?" + +"Oh, worse! worse! my lord," cried Diego: "I had rather have seen ten +whole ghosts." + +"Grant me patience!" said Manfred; "those blockheads distract me. Out of +my sight, Diego; and thou, Jaquez, tell me, in one word, art thou sober? +art thou raving? thou wast wont to have some sense; has the other sot +frightened himself and thee too? speak; what is it he fancies he has +seen?" + +"Why, my lord," replied Jaquez, trembling. "I was going to tell your +highness, that since the calamitous misfortune of my young lord, God +rest his precious soul! not one of us, your highness's faithful +servants, indeed we are, my lord, though poor men; I say, not one of us +has dared to set a foot about the castle, but two together: so Diego and +I, thinking that my young lady might be in the great gallery, went up +there to look for her, and tell her your highness wanted something to +impart to her." + +"O blundering fools!" cried Manfred; "and in the meantime she has made +her escape, because you were afraid of goblins! Why, thou knave! she +left me in the gallery; I came from thence myself." + +"For all that, she may be there still for aught I know," said Jaquez; +"but the devil shall have me before I seek her there again: poor Diego! +I do not believe he will ever recover it." + +"Recover what?" said Manfred; "am I never to learn what it is has +terrified these rascals? But I lose my time; follow me, slave; I will +see if she is in the gallery." + +"For Heaven's sake, my dear good lord," cried Jaquez, "do not go to the +gallery! Satan himself, I believe, is in the chamber next to the +gallery." + +Manfred, who hitherto had treated the terror of his servants as an idle +panic, was struck at this new circumstance. He recollected the +apparition of the portrait, and the sudden closing of the door at the +end of the gallery--his voice faltered, and he asked with disorder, +"What is in the great chamber?" + +"My lord," said Jaquez, "when Diego and I came into the gallery, he went +first, for he said he had more courage than I;--so, when we came into +the gallery, we found nobody. We looked under every bench and stool; and +still we found nobody." + +"Were all the pictures in their places?" said Manfred. + +"Yes, my lord," answered Jaquez; "but we did not think of looking behind +them." + +"Well, well," said Manfred, "proceed." + +"When we came to the door of the great chamber," continued Jaquez, "we +found it shut." + +"And could not you open it?" said Manfred. + +"Oh yes, my lord; would to Heaven we had not!" replied he: "nay, it was +not I neither, it was Diego: he was grown foolhardy, and would go on, +though I advised him not: if ever I open a door that is shut again!" + +"Trifle not," said Manfred, shuddering, "but tell me what you saw in the +great chamber, on opening the door." + +"I! my lord!" said Jaquez, "I saw nothing: I was behind Diego; but I +heard the noise." + +"Jaquez," said Manfred, in a solemn tone of voice; "tell me, I adjure +thee by the souls of my ancestors, what was it thou sawest? what was it +thou heardest?" + +"It was Diego saw it, my lord, it was not I," replied Jaquez; "I only +heard the noise. Diego had no sooner opened the door, than he cried out, +and ran back--I ran back too, and said, 'Is it the ghost?'--'The ghost! +no, no,' said Diego, and his hair stood an end--'it is a giant, I +believe: he is all clad in armour, for I saw his foot and part of his +leg, and they are as large as the helmet below in the court.' As he said +these words, my lord, we heard a violent motion, and the rattling of +armour, as if the giant was rising, for Diego has told me since that he +believes the giant was lying down, for the foot and leg were stretched +at length on the floor. Before we could get to the end of the gallery, +we heard the door of the great chamber clap behind us, but we did not +dare turn back to see if the giant was following us--yet, now I think on +it, we must have heard him if he pursued us; but for Heaven's sake, good +my lord, send for the chaplain, and have the castle exorcized, for, for +certain, it is enchanted." + +"Ay, pray do, my lord," cried all the servants at once, "or we must +leave your highness's service." + +"Peace, dotards!" said Manfred, "and follow me; I will know what all +this means." + +"We! my lord?" cried they, with one voice; "we would not go up to the +gallery for your highness's revenue." + +The young peasant, who had stood silent, now spoke. "Will your +highness," said he, "permit me to try this adventure? my life is of +consequence to nobody; I fear no bad angel, and have offended no good +one." + +"Your behaviour is above your seeming," said Manfred, viewing him with +surprise and admiration: "hereafter I will reward your bravery; but +now," continued he with a sigh, "I am so circumstanced, that I dare +trust no eyes but my own. However, I give you leave to accompany me." + +Manfred, when he first followed Isabella from the gallery, had gone +directly to the apartment of his wife, concluding the princess had +retired thither. Hippolita, who knew his step, rose with anxious +fondness to meet her lord, whom she had not seen since the death of her +son. She would have flown in a transport, mixed of joy and grief, to his +bosom, but he pushed her rudely off, and said, "Where is Isabella?" + +"Isabella, my lord!" said the astonished Hippolita. + +"Yes, Isabella," cried Manfred imperiously; "I want Isabella." + +"My lord," replied Matilda, who perceived how much his behaviour had +shocked her mother, "she has not been with us since your highness +summoned her to your apartment." + +"Tell me where she is," said the prince; "I do not want to know where +she has been." + +"My good lord," says Hippolita, "your daughter tells you the truth: +Isabella left us by your command, and has not returned since; but, my +good lord, compose yourself: retire to your rest; this dismal day has +disordered you. Isabella shall wait your orders in the morning." + +"What, then, you know where she is?" cried Manfred. "Tell me directly, +for I will not lose an instant; and you, woman," speaking to his wife, +"order your chaplain to attend me forthwith." + +"Isabella," said Hippolita, calmly, "is retired, I suppose to her +chamber: she is not accustomed to watch at this late hour. Gracious my +lord," continued she, "let me know what has disturbed you. Has Isabella +offended you?" + +"Trouble me not with questions," said Manfred, "but tell me where she +is." + +"Matilda shall call her," said the princess. "Sit down, my lord, and +resume your wonted fortitude." + +"What! art thou jealous of Isabella?" replied he, "that you wish to be +present at our interview?" + +"Good heavens! my lord," said Hippolita; "what is it your highness +means?" + +"Thou wilt know ere many minutes are passed," said the cruel prince. +"Send your chaplain to me, and wait my pleasure here." At these words he +flung out of the room in search of Isabella, leaving the amazed ladies +thunderstruck with his words and frantic deportment, and lost in vain +conjectures on what he was meditating. + +Manfred was now returning from the vault, attended by the peasant and a +few of his servants, whom he had obliged to accompany him. He ascended +the staircase without stopping, till he arrived at the gallery, at the +door of which he met Hippolita and her chaplain. When Diego had been +dismissed by Manfred, he had gone directly to the princess's apartment +with the alarm of what he had seen. That excellent lady, who no more +than Manfred doubted of the reality of the vision, yet affected to treat +it as a delirium of the servants. Willing, however, to save her lord +from any additional shock, and prepared by a series of grief not to +tremble at any accession to it, she determined to make herself the first +sacrifice, if fate had marked the present hour for their destruction. +Dismissing the reluctant Matilda to her rest, who in vain sued for leave +to accompany her mother, and attended only by her chaplain, Hippolita +had visited the gallery and great chamber; and now, with more serenity +of soul than she had felt for many hours, she met her lord, and assured +him that the vision of the gigantic leg and foot was all a fable; and no +doubt an impression made by fear, and the dark and dismal hour of the +night, on the minds of his servants. She and the chaplain had examined +the chamber, and found everything in the usual order. + +Manfred, though persuaded, like his wife, that the vision had been no +work of fancy, recovered a little from the tempest of mind into which so +many strange events had thrown him. Ashamed, too, of his inhuman +treatment of a princess, who returned every injury with new marks of +tenderness and duty, he felt returning love forcing itself into his +eyes; but not less ashamed of feeling remorse towards one against whom +he was inwardly meditating a yet more bitter outrage, he curbed the +yearnings of his heart, and did not dare to lean even towards pity. The +next transition of his soul was to exquisite villainy. Presuming on the +unshaken submission of Hippolita, he flattered himself that she would +not only acquiesce with patience to a divorce, but would obey, if it was +his pleasure, in endeavouring to persuade Isabella to give him her +hand--but ere he could indulge this horrid hope, he reflected that +Isabella was not to be found. Coming to himself, he gave orders that +every avenue to the castle should be strictly guarded, and charged his +domestics, on pain of their lives, to suffer nobody to pass out. The +young peasant to whom he spoke favourably, he ordered to remain in a +small chamber on the stairs, in which there was a pallet-bed, and the +key of which he took away himself, telling the youth he would talk with +him in the morning. Then dismissing his attendants, and bestowing a +sullen kind of half-nod on Hippolita, he retired to his own chamber. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +Matilda, who, by Hippolita's order, had retired to her apartment, was +ill-disposed to take any rest. The shocking fate of her brother had +deeply affected her. She was surprised at not seeing Isabella; but the +strange words which had fallen from her father, and his obscure menace +to the princess, his wife, accompanied by the most furious behaviour, +had filled her gentle mind with terror and alarm. She waited anxiously +for the return of Bianca, a young damsel that attended her, whom she had +sent to learn what was become of Isabella. Bianca soon appeared, and +informed her mistress of what she had gathered from the servants, that +Isabella was nowhere to be found. She related the adventure of the young +peasant who had been discovered in the vault, though with many simple +additions from the incoherent accounts of the domestics; and she dwelt +principally on the gigantic leg and foot which had been seen in the +gallery-chamber. This last circumstance had terrified Bianca so much, +that she was rejoiced when Matilda told her that she would not go to +rest, but would watch till the princess should rise. + +The young princess wearied herself in conjectures on the flight of +Isabella, and on the threats of Manfred to her mother. "But what +business could he have so urgent with the chaplain?" said Matilda. "Does +he intend to have my brother's body interred privately in the chapel?" + +"Oh, madam," said Bianca, "now I guess. As you are become his heiress, +he is impatient to have you married. He has always been raving for more +sons; I warrant he is now impatient for grandsons. As sure as I live, +madam, I shall see you a bride at last. Good madam, you won't cast off +your faithful Bianca: you won't put Donna Rossara over me, now you are a +great princess!" + +"My poor Bianca," said Matilda, "how fast your thoughts ramble! I a +great princess! What hast thou seen in Manfred's behaviour since my +brother's death that bespeaks any increase of tenderness to me? No, +Bianca; his heart was ever a stranger to me--but he is my father, and I +must not complain. Nay, if Heaven shuts my father's heart against me, it +overpays my little merit in the tenderness of my mother.--O that dear +mother! Yes, Bianca, 'tis there I feel the rugged temper of Manfred. I +can support his harshness to me with patience; but it wounds my soul +when I am witness to his causeless severity towards her." + +"Oh, madam," said Bianca, "all men use their wives so, when they are +weary of them." + +"And yet you congratulated me but now," said Matilda, "when you fancied +my father intended to dispose of me!" + +"I would have you a great lady," replied Bianca, "come what will. I do +not wish to see you moped in a convent, as you would be if you had your +will, and if my lady, your mother, who knows that a bad husband is +better than no husband at all, did not hinder you.--Bless me! what noise +is that? St. Nicholas forgive me! I was but in jest." + +"It is the wind," said Matilda, "whistling through the battlements in +the tower above. You have heard it a thousand times." + +"Nay," said Bianca, "there was no harm neither in what I said: it is no +sin to talk of matrimony--and so, madam, as I was saying, if my Lord +Manfred should offer you a handsome young prince for a bridegroom, you +would drop him a curtsy, and tell him you would rather take the veil?" + +"Thank Heaven! I am in no such danger," said Matilda: "you know how many +proposals for me he has rejected." + +"And you thank him like a dutiful daughter, do you, madam?--but come, +madam; suppose to-morrow morning he was to send for you to the great +council-chamber, and there you should find at his elbow a lovely young +prince, with large black eyes, a smooth white forehead, and manly +curling locks like jet; in short, madam, a young hero resembling the +picture of the good Alfonso in the gallery, which you sit and gaze at +for hours together." + +"Do not speak lightly of that picture," interrupted Matilda, sighing: "I +know the adoration with which I look at that picture is uncommon--but I +am not in love with a coloured panel. The character of that virtuous +prince, the veneration with which my mother has inspired me for his +memory, the orisons which, I know not why, she has enjoined me to pour +forth at his tomb, all have concurred to persuade me that, somehow or +other, my destiny is linked with something relating to him." + +"Lord, madam! how should that be?" said Bianca: "I have always heard +that your family was no way related to his; and I am sure I cannot +conceive why my lady, the princess, sends you in a cold morning or a +damp evening to pray at his tomb: he is no saint by the almanac. If you +must pray, why does she not bid you address yourself to our great St. +Nicholas? I am sure he is the saint I pray to for a husband." + +"Perhaps my mind would be less affected," said Matilda, "if my mother +would explain her reasons to me; but it is the mystery she observes, +that inspires me with this--I know not what to call it. As she never +acts from caprice, I am sure there is some fatal secret at bottom--nay, +I know there is. In her agony of grief for my brother's death she +dropped some words that intimated as much." + +"Oh, dear madam," cried Bianca, "what were they?" + +"No," said Matilda, "if a parent lets fall a word, and wishes it +recalled, it is not for a child to utter it." + +"What! was she sorry for what she had said?" asked Bianca. "I am sure, +madam, you may trust me." + +"With my own little secrets, when I have any, I may," said Matilda; "but +never with my mother's. A child ought to have no ears or eyes, but as a +parent directs." + +"Well, to be sure, madam, you were born to be a saint," said Bianca, +"and there is no resisting one's vocation: you will end in a convent at +last. But there is my Lady Isabella would not be so reserved to me: she +will let me talk to her of young men; and when a handsome cavalier has +come to the castle, she has owned to me that she wished your brother +Conrad resembled him." + +"Bianca," said the princess, "I do not allow you to mention my friend +disrespectfully. Isabella is of a cheerful disposition, but her soul is +as pure as virtue itself. She knows your idling, babbling humour, and +perhaps has now and then encouraged it, to divert melancholy, and +enliven the solitude in which my father keeps us." + +"Blessed Mary!" said Bianca, starting, "there it is again! Dear madam, +do you hear nothing? The castle is certainly haunted!" + +"Peace!" said Matilda, "and listen! I did think I heard a voice--but it +must be fancy; your terrors, I suppose, have infected me." + +"Indeed! indeed! madam," said Bianca, half weeping with agony, "I am +sure I heard a voice." + +"Does anybody lie in the chamber beneath?" said the princess. + +"Nobody has dared to lie there," answered Bianca, "since the great +astrologer, that was your brother's tutor, drowned himself. For certain, +madam, his ghost and the young prince's are now met in the chamber +below; for Heaven's sake let us fly to your mother's apartment!" + +"I charge you not to stir," said Matilda. "If they are spirits in pain, +we may ease their sufferings by questioning them. They can mean no hurt +to us, for we have not injured them; and if they should, shall we be +more safe in one chamber than in another? Reach me my beads; we will say +a prayer, and then speak to them." + +"Oh, dear lady, I would not speak to a ghost for the world," cried +Bianca. As she said these words, they heard the casement of the little +chamber below Matilda's open. They listened attentively, and in a few +minutes thought they heard a person sing, but could not distinguish the +words. + +"This can be no evil spirit," said the princess, in a low voice: "it is +undoubtedly one of the family--open the window, and we shall know the +voice." + +"I dare not, indeed, madam," said Bianca. + +"Thou art a very fool," said Matilda, opening the window gently herself. +The noise that the princess made was, however, heard by the person +beneath, who stopped, and they concluded had heard the casement open. + +"Is anybody below?" said the princess: "if there is, speak." + +"Yes," said an unknown voice. + +"Who is it?" said Matilda. + +"A stranger," replied the voice. + +"What stranger?" said she, "and how didst thou come here at this unusual +hour, when all the gates of the castle are locked?" + +"I am not here willingly," answered the voice; "but pardon me, lady, if +I have disturbed your rest: I knew not that I was overheard. Sleep has +forsaken me: I left a restless couch, and came to waste the irksome +hours with gazing on the fair approach of morning, impatient to be +dismissed from this castle." + +"Thy words and accents," said Matilda, "are of a melancholy cast: if +thou art unhappy, I pity thee. If poverty afflicts thee, let me know it: +I will mention thee to the princess, whose beneficent soul ever melts +for the distressed; and she will relieve thee." + +"I am, indeed, unhappy," said the stranger, "and I know not what wealth +is; but I do not complain of the lot which Heaven has cast for me. I am +young and healthy and am not ashamed of owing my support to myself; yet +think me not proud, or that I disdain your generous offers. I will +remember you in my orisons, and I will pray for blessings on your +gracious self and your noble mistress--if I sigh, lady, it is for +others, not for myself." + +"Now I have it, madam," said Bianca, whispering the princess. "This is +certainly the young peasant; and, by my conscience, he is in +love:--well, this is a charming adventure! Do, madam, let us sift him. +He does not know you, but takes you for one of my Lady Hippolita's +women." + +"Art thou not ashamed, Bianca?" said the princess. "What right have we +to pry into the secrets of this young man's heart? He seems virtuous and +frank, and tells us he is unhappy. Are those circumstances that +authorize us to make a property of him? How are we entitled to his +confidence?" + +"Lord! madam, how little you know of love!" replied Bianca: "why, lovers +have no pleasure equal to talking of their mistress." + +"And would you have me become a peasant's confidant?" said the princess. + +"Well, then, let me talk to him," said Bianca: "though I have the honour +of being your highness's maid of honour, I was not always so great. +Besides, if love levels ranks, it raises them too: I have a respect for +a young man in love." + +"Peace, simpleton," said the princess. "Though he said he was unhappy, +it does not follow that he must be in love. Think of all that has +happened to-day, and tell me, if there are no misfortunes but what love +causes.--Stranger," resumed the princess, "if thy misfortunes have not +been occasioned by thy own fault, and are within the compass of the +Princess Hippolita's power to redress, I will take upon me to answer +that she will be thy protectress. When thou art dismissed from this +castle, repair to holy Father Jerome, at the convent adjoining to the +church of St. Nicholas, and make thy story known to him, as far as thou +thinkest meet. He will not fail to inform the princess, who is the +mother of all that want her assistance. Farewell! It is not seemly for +me to hold further converse with a man at this unwonted hour." + +"May the saints guard thee, gracious lady!" replied the peasant; "but, +oh! if a poor and worthless stranger might presume to beg a minute's +audience further--am I so happy?--the casement is not shut--might I +venture to ask----" + +"Speak quickly," said Matilda; "the morning dawns apace; should the +labourers come into the fields and perceive us--what wouldst thou ask?" + +"I know not how--I know not if I dare," said the young stranger, +faltering; "yet the humanity with which you have spoken to me +emboldens--lady, dare I trust you?" + +"Heavens," said Matilda, "what dost thou mean? with what wouldst thou +trust me?--speak boldly, if thy secret is fit to be entrusted to a +virtuous breast." + +"I would ask," said the peasant, recollecting himself, "whether what I +have heard from the domestics is true, that the princess is missing from +the castle." + +"What imports it to thee to know?" replied Matilda: "thy first words +bespoke a prudent and becoming gravity. Dost thou come hither to pry +into the secrets of Manfred? Adieu. I have been mistaken in thee." +Saying these words, she shut the casement hastily, without giving the +young man time to reply. + +"I had acted more wisely," said the princess to Bianca, with some +sharpness, "if I had let thee converse with this peasant: his +inquisitiveness seems of a piece with thy own." + +"It is not fit for me to argue with your highness," replied Bianca; "but +perhaps the questions I should have put to him would have been more to +the purpose than those you have been pleased to ask him." + +"Oh, no doubt," said Matilda; "you are a very discreet personage! may I +know what you would have asked him?" + +"A bystander often sees more of the game than those that play," answered +Bianca. "Does your highness think, madam, that his question about my +Lady Isabella was the result of mere curiosity? No, no, madam; there is +more in it than you great folks are aware of. Lopez told me, that all +the servants believe this young fellow contrived my Lady Isabella's +escape--now, pray, madam, observe--you and I both know that my Lady +Isabella never much fancied the prince your brother--well, he is killed +just in the critical minute--I accuse nobody. A helmet falls from the +moon--so my lord, your father, says; but Lopez and all the servants say, +that this young spark is a magician, and stole it from Alfonso's tomb." + +"Have done with this rhapsody of impertinence," said Matilda. + +"Nay, madam, as you please," cried Bianca; "yet it is very particular, +though, that my Lady Isabella should be missing the very same day, and +that this young sorcerer should be found at the mouth of the +trap-door--I accuse nobody--but if my young lord came honestly by his +death----" + +"Dare not, on thy duty," said Matilda, "to breathe a suspicion on the +purity of my dear Isabella's fame." + +"Purity or not purity," said Bianca, "gone she is--a stranger is found +that nobody knows. You question him yourself. He tells you he is in +love, or unhappy, it is the same thing--nay, he owned he was unhappy +about others; and is anybody unhappy about another unless they are in +love with them? and at the very next word he asks innocently, poor soul, +if my Lady Isabella is missing." + +"To be sure," said Matilda, "thy observations are not totally without +foundation; Isabella's flight amazes me. The curiosity of the stranger +is very particular; yet Isabella never concealed a thought from me." + +"So she told you," said Bianca, "to fish out your secrets; but who +knows, madam, but this stranger may be some prince in disguise? Do, +madam, let me open the window, and ask him a few questions." + +"No," replied Matilda, "I will ask him myself: if he knows aught of +Isabella, he is not worthy that I should converse farther with him." She +was going to open the casement, when they heard the bell ring at the +postern gate of the castle, which is on the right hand of the tower +where Matilda lay. This prevented the princess from renewing the +conversation with the stranger. + +After continuing silent for some time, "I am persuaded," said she to +Bianca, "that whatever be the cause of Isabella's flight, it had no +unworthy motive. If this stranger was accessory to it, she must be +satisfied of his fidelity and worth. I observed, did not you, Bianca? +that his words were tinctured with an uncommon infusion of piety. It was +no ruffian's speech: his phrases were becoming a man of gentle birth." + +"I told you, madam," said Bianca, "that I was sure he was some prince in +disguise." + +"Yet," said Matilda, "if he was privy to her escape how will you account +for his not accompanying her in her flight? Why expose himself +unnecessarily and rashly to my father's resentment?" + +"As for that, madam," replied she, "if he could get from under the +helmet, he will find ways of eluding your father's anger. I do not doubt +but he has some talisman or other about him." + +"You resolve everything into magic," said Matilda; "but a man who has +any intercourse with infernal spirits does not dare to make use of those +tremendous and holy words which he uttered. Didst thou not observe with +what fervour he vowed to remember me to Heaven in his prayers? yes; +Isabella was undoubtedly convinced of his piety." + +"Commend me to the piety of a young fellow and a damsel that consult to +elope!" said Bianca. "No, no, madam; my Lady Isabella is of another +guess-mould than you take her for. She used, indeed, to sigh and lift up +her eyes in your company, because she knows you are a saint; but when +your back was turned----" + +"You wrong her," said Matilda. "Isabella is no hypocrite: she has a due +sense of devotion, but never affected a call she has not. On the +contrary, she always combated my inclination for the cloister; and +though I own the mystery she has made to me of her flight confounds +me--though it seems inconsistent with the friendship between us--I +cannot forget the disinterested warmth with which she always opposed my +taking the veil: she wished to see me married, though my dower would +have been a loss to her and my brother's children. For her sake, I will +believe well of this young peasant." + +"Then you do think there is some liking between them?" said Bianca. +While she was speaking, a servant came hastily into the chamber, and +told the princess that the Lady Isabella was found. + +"Where?" said Matilda. + +"She has taken sanctuary in St. Nicholas's church," replied the servant: +"Father Jerome has brought the news himself; he is below with his +highness." + +"Where is my mother?" said Matilda. + +"She is in her own chamber, madam, and has asked for you." + +Manfred had risen at the first dawn of light, and gone to Hippolita's +apartment, to inquire if she knew aught of Isabella. While he was +questioning her, word was brought that Jerome demanded to speak with +him. Manfred, little suspecting the cause of the friar's arrival, and +knowing he was employed by Hippolita in her charities, ordered him to be +admitted, intending to leave them together, while he pursued his search +after Isabella. + +"Is your business with me or the princess?" said Manfred. + +"With both," replied the holy man. "The Lady Isabella----" + +"What of her?" interrupted Manfred, eagerly. + +"Is at St. Nicholas's altar," replied Jerome. + +"That is no business of Hippolita's," said Manfred with confusion: "let +us retire to my chamber, father, and inform me how she came thither." + +"No, my lord," replied the good man with an air of firmness and +authority, that daunted even the resolute Manfred, who could not help +revering the saint-like virtues of Jerome, "my commission is to both; +and, with your highness's good liking, in the presence of both, I shall +deliver it: but first, my lord, I must interrogate the princess, whether +she is acquainted with the cause of the Lady Isabella's retirement from +your castle." + +"No, on my soul," said Hippolita: "does Isabella charge me with being +privy to it?" + +"Father," interrupted Manfred, "I pay due reverence to your holy +profession; but I am sovereign here, and will allow no meddling priest +to interfere in the affairs of my domestic. If you have aught to say, +attend me to my chamber. I do not use to let my wife be acquainted with +the secret affairs of my state: they are not within a woman's province." + +"My lord," said the holy man, "I am no intruder into the secrets of +families. My office is to promote peace, to heal divisions, to preach +repentance, and teach mankind to curb their headstrong passions. I +forgive your highness's uncharitable apostrophe: I know my duty, and am +the minister of a mightier prince than Manfred. Hearken to him who +speaks through my organs." + +Manfred trembled with rage and shame. Hippolita's countenance declared +her astonishment and impatience to know where this would end: her +silence more strongly spoke her observance of Manfred. + +"The Lady Isabella," resumed Jerome, "commends herself to both your +highnesses: she thanks both for the kindness with which she has been +treated in your castle: she deplores the loss of your son, and her own +misfortune in not becoming the daughter of such wise and noble princes, +whom she shall always respect as parents: she prays for uninterrupted +union and felicity between you (Manfred's colour changed); but, as it is +no longer possible for her to be allied to you, she entreats your +consent to remain in sanctuary till she can learn news of her father, +or, by the certainty of his death, be at liberty, by the approbation of +her guardians, to dispose of herself in suitable marriage." + +"I shall give no such consent," said the prince; "but insist on her +return to the castle without delay: I am answerable for her person to +her guardians, and will not brook her being in any hands but my own." + +"Your highness will recollect whether that can any longer be proper," +replied the friar. + +"I want no monitor," said Manfred, colouring: "Isabella's conduct leaves +room for strange suspicions; and that young villain, who was at least +the accomplice of her flight, if not the cause of it----" + +"The cause!" interrupted Jerome; "was a _young_ man the cause?" + +"This is not to be borne!" cried Manfred. "Am I to be bearded in my own +palace by an insolent monk? thou art privy, I guess, to their amours." + +"I would pray to Heaven to clear up your uncharitable surmises," said +Jerome, "if your highness were not satisfied in your conscience how +unjustly you accuse me. I do pray to Heaven to pardon that +uncharitableness; and I implore your highness to leave the princess at +peace in that holy place, where she is not liable to be disturbed by +such vain and worldly fantasies as discourses of love from any man." + +"Cant not to me," said Manfred, "but return and bring the princess to +her duty." + +"It is my duty to prevent her return hither," said Jerome. "She is where +orphans and virgins are safest from the snares and wiles of this world; +and nothing but a parent's authority shall take her thence." + +"I am her parent," cried Manfred, "and demand her." + +"She wished to have you for her parent," said the friar: "but Heaven, +that forbade that connection, has for ever dissolved all ties betwixt +you: and I announce to your highness----" + +"Stop! audacious man," said Manfred, "and dread my displeasure." + +"Holy father," said Hippolita, "it is your office to be no respecter of +persons: you must speak as your duty prescribes; but it is my duty to +hear nothing that it pleases not my lord I should hear. Attend the +prince to his chamber. I will retire to my oratory, and pray to the +blessed Virgin to inspire you with her holy counsels, and to restore the +heart of my gracious lord to its wonted peace and gentleness." + +"Excellent woman!" said the friar.--"My lord, I attend your pleasure." + +Manfred, accompanied by the friar, passed to his own apartment, where, +shutting the door, "I perceive, father," said he, "that Isabella has +acquainted you with my purpose. Now hear my resolve, and obey. Reasons +of state, most urgent reasons, my own and the safety of my people, +demand that I should have a son. It is in vain to expect an heir from +Hippolita; I have made choice of Isabella. You must bring her back, and +you must do more. I know the influence you have with Hippolita: her +conscience is in your hands. She is, I allow, a faultless woman: her +soul is set on heaven, and scorns the little grandeur of this world: you +can withdraw her from it entirely. Persuade her to consent to the +dissolution of our marriage, and to retire into a monastery: she shall +endow one if she will; and shall have the means of being as liberal to +your order as she or you can wish. Thus you will divert the calamities +that are hanging over our heads, and have the merit of saving the +principality of Otranto from destruction. You are a prudent man, and, +though the warmth of my temper betrayed me into some unbecoming +expressions, I honour your virtue, and wish to be indebted to you for +the repose of my life and the preservation of my family." + +"The will of Heaven be done," said the friar. "I am but its worthless +instrument. It makes use of my tongue to tell thee, prince, of thy +unwarrantable designs. The injuries of the virtuous Hippolita have +mounted to the throne of pity. By me thou art reprimanded for thy +adulterous intention of repudiating her: by me thou art warned not to +pursue the incestuous design on thy contracted daughter. Heaven, that +delivered her from thy fury, when the judgments so recently fallen on +thy house ought to have inspired thee with other thoughts, will continue +to watch over her. Even I, a poor and despised friar, am able to protect +her from thy violence. I, sinner as I am, and uncharitably reviled by +your highness as an accomplice of I know not what amours, scorn the +allurements with which it has pleased thee to tempt mine honesty. I love +my order; I honour devout souls; I respect the piety of thy princess; +but I will not betray the confidence she reposes in me, nor serve even +the cause of religion by foul and sinful compliances: but, forsooth, the +welfare of the state depends on your highness having a son! Heaven mocks +the short-sighted views of man. But yester-morn, whose house was so +great, so flourishing as Manfred's? Where is young Conrad now? My lord, +I respect your tears, but I mean not to check them: let them flow, +prince! they will weigh more with Heaven towards the welfare of thy +subjects, than a marriage which, founded on lust or policy, could never +prosper. The sceptre which passed from the race of Alfonso to thine +cannot be preserved by a match which the Church will never allow. If it +is the will of the Most High that Manfred's name must perish, resign +yourself, my lord, to its decrees; and thus deserve a crown that can +never pass away. Come, my lord, I like this sorrow; let us return to the +princess; she is not apprised of your cruel intentions; nor did I mean +more than to alarm you. You saw with what gentle patience, with what +efforts of love, she heard, she rejected hearing, the extent of your +guilt. I know she longs to fold you in her arms, and assure you of her +unalterable affection." + +"Father," said the prince, "you mistake my compunction. True, I honour +Hippolita's virtues; I think her a saint; and wish it were for my soul's +health to tie faster the knot that has united us; but, alas, father, you +know not the bitterest of my pangs; it is some time that I have had +scruples on the legality of our union: Hippolita is related to me in the +fourth degree--it is true, we had a dispensation: but I have been +informed, that she had also been contracted to another. This it is that +sits heavy at my heart; to this state of unlawful wedlock I impute the +visitation that has fallen on me in the death of Conrad. Ease my +conscience of this burden, dissolve our marriage, and accomplish the +work of godliness which your divine exhortations have commenced in my +soul." + +How cutting was the anguish which the good man felt, when he perceived +this turn in the wily prince! He trembled for Hippolita, whose ruin he +saw was determined; and he feared if Manfred had no hope of recovering +Isabella, that his impatience for a son would direct him to some other +object who might not be equally proof against the temptation of +Manfred's rank. For some time the holy man remained absorbed in thought. +At length, conceiving some hopes from delay, he thought the wisest +conduct would be to prevent the prince from despairing of recovering +Isabella. Her the friar knew he could dispose, from her affection to +Hippolita, and from the aversion she had expressed to him for Manfred's +addresses, to second his views till the censures of the Church could be +fulminated against a divorce. With this intention, as if struck with the +prince's scruples, he at length said: + +"My lord, I have been pondering on what your highness has said; and if +in truth it is delicacy of conscience that is the real motive of your +repugnance to your virtuous lady, far be it from me to endeavour to +harden your heart. The Church is an indulgent mother; unfold your griefs +to her; she alone can administer comfort to your soul, either by +satisfying your conscience, or, upon examination of your scruples, by +setting you at liberty, and indulging you in the lawful means of +continuing your lineage. In the latter case, if the Lady Isabella can be +brought to consent----" + +Manfred, who concluded that he had either over-reached the good man, or +that his first warmth had been but a tribute paid to appearance, was +overjoyed at this sudden turn, and repeated the most magnificent +promises, if he should succeed by the friar's mediation. The +well-meaning priest suffered him to deceive himself, fully determined to +traverse his views, instead of seconding them. + +"Since we now understand one another," resumed the prince, "I expect, +father, that you satisfy me in one point. Who is the youth that I found +in the vault? He must have been privy to Isabella's flight. Tell me +truly, is he her lover? or is he an agent for another's passion? I have +often suspected Isabella's indifference to my son; a thousand +circumstances crowd on my mind that confirm that suspicion. She herself +was so conscious of it, that while I discoursed her in the gallery she +outran my suspicions, and endeavoured to justify herself from coolness +to Conrad." + +The friar, who knew nothing of the youth but what he had learnt +occasionally from the princess, ignorant what was become of him, and not +sufficiently reflecting on the impetuosity of Manfred's temper, +conceived that it might not be amiss to sow the seeds of jealousy in his +mind: they might be turned to some use hereafter, either by prejudicing +the prince against Isabella, if he persisted in that union; or, by +diverting his attention to a wrong scent, and employing his thoughts on +a visionary intrigue, prevent his engaging in any new pursuit. With this +unhappy policy, he answered in a manner to confirm Manfred in the belief +of some connection between Isabella and the youth. The prince, whose +passions wanted little fuel to throw them into a blaze, fell into a rage +at the idea of what the friar had suggested. + +"I will fathom to the bottom of this intrigue," cried he; and quitting +Jerome abruptly, with a command to remain there till his return, he +hastened to the great hall of the castle, and ordered the peasant to be +brought before him. + +"Thou hardened young impostor," said the prince, as soon as he saw the +youth; "what becomes of thy boasted veracity now? It was Providence, was +it, and the light of the moon, that discovered the lock of the trap-door +to thee? Tell me, audacious boy, who thou art, and how long thou hast +been acquainted with the princess; and take care to answer with less +equivocation than thou didst last night, or tortures shall wring the +truth from thee." + +The young man, perceiving that his share in the flight of the princess +was discovered, and concluding that anything he should say could no +longer be of service or detriment to her, replied, "I am no impostor, my +lord, nor have I deserved opprobrious language. I answered to every +question your highness put to me last night with the same veracity that +I shall speak now; and that will not be from fear of your tortures, but +because my soul abhors a falsehood. Please to repeat your questions, my +lord; I am ready to give you all the satisfaction in my power." + +"You know my questions," replied the prince, "and only want time to +prepare an evasion. Speak directly; who art thou, and how long hast thou +been known to the princess?" + +"I am a labourer at the next village," said the peasant; "my name is +Theodore. The princess found me in the vault last night; before that +hour I never was in her presence." + +"I may believe as much or as little as I please of this," said Manfred; +"but I will hear thy own story, before I examine into the truth of it. +Tell me, what reason did the princess give thee for making her escape? +Thy life depends on thy answer." + +"She told me," replied Theodore, "that she was on the brink of +destruction, and that if she could not escape from the castle, she was +in danger in a few moments of being made miserable for ever." + +"And on this slight foundation, on a silly girl's report," said Manfred, +"thou didst hazard my displeasure!" + +"I fear no man's displeasure," said Theodore, "when a woman in distress +puts herself under my protection." + +During this examination Matilda was going to the apartment of Hippolita. +At the upper end of the hall, where Manfred sat, was a boarded gallery, +with latticed windows, through which Matilda and Bianca were to pass. +Hearing her father's voice, and seeing the servants assembled round him, +she stopped to learn the occasion. The prisoner soon drew her attention: +the steady and composed manner in which he answered, and the gallantry +of his last reply, which were the first words she heard distinctly, +interested her in his favour. His person was noble, handsome, and +commanding, even in that situation, but his countenance soon engrossed +her whole care. + +"Heavens! Bianca," said the princess softly, "do I dream, or is not that +youth the exact resemblance of Alfonso's picture in the gallery?" She +could say no more, for her father's voice grew louder at every word. + +"This bravado," said he, "surpasses all thy former insolence. Thou shalt +experience the wrath with which thou darest to trifle. Seize him," +continued Manfred, "and bind him--the first news the princess hears of +her champion shall be, that he has lost his head for her sake." + +"The injustice of which thou art guilty towards me," said Theodore, +"convinces me that I have done a good deed in delivering the princess +from thy tyranny. May she be happy, whatever becomes of me!" + +"This is a lover," cried Manfred, in a rage; "a peasant within sight of +death is not animated by such sentiments. Tell me, tell me, rash boy, +who thou art, or the rack shall force thy secret from thee." + +"Thou hast threatened me with death already," said the youth, "for the +truth I have told thee; if that is all the encouragement I am to expect +for sincerity, I am not tempted to indulge thy vain curiosity further." + +"Then thou wilt not speak?" said Manfred. + +"I will not," replied he. + +"Bear him away into the court-yard," said Manfred; "I will see his head +this instant severed from his body." + +Matilda fainted at hearing those words. Bianca shrieked and cried, +"Help, help! the princess is dead!" Manfred started at this ejaculation, +and demanded what was the matter. The young peasant, who heard it too, +was struck with horror, and asked eagerly the same question; but Manfred +ordered him to be hurried into the court, and kept there for execution, +till he had informed himself of the cause of Bianca's shrieks. When he +learned the meaning, he treated it as a womanish panic, and ordering +Matilda to be carried to her apartment, he rushed into the court, and +calling for one of his guards, bade Theodore kneel down and prepare to +receive the fatal blow. + +The undaunted youth received the bitter sentence with a resignation that +touched every heart but Manfred's. He wished earnestly to know the +meaning of the words he had heard relating to the princess; but fearing +to exasperate the tyrant more against her, he desisted. The only boon he +deigned to ask was, that he might be permitted to have a confessor, and +make his peace with Heaven. Manfred, who hoped by the confessor's means +to come at the youth's history, readily granted his request; and being +convinced that Father Jerome was now in his interest, he ordered him to +be called and shrive the prisoner. The holy man, who had little foreseen +the catastrophe that his imprudence occasioned, fell on his knees to the +prince, and adjured him in the most solemn manner not to shed innocent +blood. He accused himself in the bitterest terms for his indiscretion, +endeavoured to exculpate the youth, and left no method untried to soften +the tyrant's rage. Manfred, more incensed than appeased by Jerome's +intercession, whose retraction now made him suspect he had been imposed +upon by both, commanded the friar to do his duty, telling him he would +not allow the prisoner many minutes for confession. + +"Nor do I ask many, my lord," said the unhappy young man. "My sins, +thank Heaven, have not been numerous; nor exceed what might be expected +at my years. Dry your tears, good father, and let us dispatch: this is a +bad world; nor have I had cause to leave it with regret." + +"Oh, wretched youth!" said Jerome, "how canst thou bear the sight of me +with patience? I am thy murderer! it is I have brought this dismal hour +upon thee!" + +"I forgive thee from my soul," said the youth, "as I hope Heaven will +pardon me. Hear my confession, father, and give me thy blessing." + +"How can I prepare thee for thy passage as I ought?" said Jerome. "Thou +canst not be saved without pardoning thy foes, and canst thou forgive +that impious man there?" + +"I can," said Theodore; "and do." + +"And does not this touch thee, cruel prince?" said the friar. + +"I sent for thee to confess him," said Manfred, sternly; "not to plead +for him. Thou didst first incense me against him; his blood be upon thy +head." + +"It will, it will!" said the good man, in an agony of sorrow. "Thou and +I must never hope to go where this blessed youth is going." + +"Dispatch," said Manfred; "I am no more to be moved by the whining of +priests than by the shrieks of women." + +"What!" said the youth; "is it possible that my fate could have +occasioned what I heard? Is the princess, then, again in thy power?" + +"Thou dost but remember me of my wrath," said Manfred; "prepare thee, +for this moment is thy last." + +The youth, who felt his indignation rise, and who was touched with the +sorrow which he saw he had infused into all the spectators, as well as +into the friar, suppressed his emotions, and putting off his doublet, +and unbuttoning his collar, knelt down to his prayers. As he stooped, +his shirt slipped down below his shoulder, and discovered the mark of a +bloody arrow. + +"Gracious Heaven!" cried the holy man, starting, "what do I see? It is +my child, my Theodore!" + +The passions that ensued must be conceived; they cannot be painted. The +tears of the assistants were suspended by wonder, rather than stopped by +joy. They seemed to inquire into the eyes of their lord what they ought +to feel. Surprise, doubt, tenderness, respect, succeeded each other in +the countenance of the youth. He received with modest submission the +effusion of the old man's tears and embraces; yet, afraid of giving a +loose to hope, and suspecting, from what had passed, the inflexibility +of Manfred's temper, he cast a glance towards the prince, as if to say, +Canst thou be unmoved at such a scene as this? + +Manfred's heart was capable of being touched. He forgot his anger in his +astonishment; yet his pride forbade his owning himself affected. He even +doubted whether this discovery was not a contrivance of the friar to +save the youth. "What may this mean?" said he; "how can he be thy son? +Is it consistent with thy profession or reputed sanctity to avow a +peasant's offspring for the fruit of thy irregular amours?" + +"Oh God!" said the holy man, "dost thou question his being mine? Could I +feel the anguish I do, if I were not his father? Spare him, good prince! +spare him! and revile me as thou pleasest." + +"Spare him! spare him!" cried the attendants, "for this good man's +sake." + +"Peace!" said Manfred, sternly; "I must know, ere I am disposed to +pardon. A saint's bastard may be no saint himself." + +"Injurious lord!" said Theodore; "add not insult to cruelty. If I am +this venerable man's son, though no prince, as thou art, know, the blood +that flows in my veins----" + +"Yes," said the friar, interrupting him, "his blood is noble; nor is he +that abject thing, my lord, you speak him. He is my lawful son; and +Sicily can boast of few houses more ancient than that of Falconara--but, +alas! my lord, what is blood? what is nobility? We are all reptiles, +miserable, sinful creatures. It is piety alone that can distinguish us +from the dust whence we sprung, and whither we must return." + +"Truce to your sermon," said Manfred; "you forget you are no longer +Friar Jerome, but the Count of Falconara. Let me know your history: you +will have time enough to moralize hereafter, if you should not happen to +obtain the grace of that sturdy criminal there." + +"Mother of God!" said the friar, "is it possible my lord can refuse a +father the life of his only, his long-lost child? Trample me, my lord, +scorn, afflict me, accept my life for his, but spare my son!" + +"Thou canst feel, then," said Manfred, "what it is to lose an only son! +A little hour ago thou didst preach up resignation to me: _my_ house, if +fate so pleased, must perish--but the Count of Falconara----" + +"Alas! my lord," said Jerome, "I confess I have offended; but aggravate +not an old man's sufferings. I boast not of my family, nor think of such +vanities; it is nature that pleads for this boy; it is the memory of the +dear woman that bore him--is she, Theodore, is she dead?" + +"Her soul has long been with the blessed," said Theodore. + +"Oh! how?" cried Jerome; "tell me--no--she is happy! Thou art all my +care now. Most dread lord! will you--will you grant me my poor boy's +life?" + +"Return to thy convent," answered Manfred; "conduct the princess hither; +obey me in what else thou knowest, and I promise thee the life of thy +son." + +"Oh, my lord!" said Jerome, "is my honesty the price I must pay for this +dear youth's safety?" + +"For me!" cried Theodore; "let me die a thousand deaths, rather than +stain thy conscience. What is it the tyrant would exact of thee? Is the +princess still safe from his power? Protect her, thou venerable old man, +and let all the weight of his wrath fall on me." + +Jerome endeavoured to check the impetuosity of the youth; and ere +Manfred could reply, the trampling of horses was heard, and a brazen +trumpet, which hung without the gate of the castle, was suddenly +sounded. At the same instant the sable plumes on the enchanted helmet, +which still remained at the other end of the court, were tempestuously +agitated, and nodded thrice, as if bowed by some invisible wearer. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +Manfred's heart misgave him when he beheld the plumage on the miraculous +casque shaken in concert with the sounding of the brazen trumpet. +"Father," said he to Jerome, whom he now ceased to treat as Count of +Falconara, "what mean these portents? If I have offended"--the plumes +were shaken with greater violence than before. "Unhappy prince that I +am!" cried Manfred. "Holy father, will you not assist me with your +prayers?" + +"My lord," replied Jerome, "Heaven is no doubt displeased with your +mockery of its servants. Submit yourself to the Church, and cease to +persecute her ministers. Dismiss this innocent youth, and learn to +respect the holy character I wear: Heaven will not be trifled with. You +see"--the trumpet sounded again. + +"I acknowledge I have been too hasty," said Manfred. "Father, do you go +to the wicket, and demand who is at the gate." + +"Do you grant me the life of Theodore?" replied the friar. + +"I do," said Manfred; "but inquire who is without." + +Jerome, falling on the neck of his son, discharged a flood of tears, +that spoke the fullness of his soul. + +"You promised to go to the gate," said Manfred. + +"I thought," replied the friar, "your highness would excuse my thanking +you first in this tribute of my heart." + +"Go, dearest sir," said Theodore, "obey the prince; I do not deserve +that you should delay his satisfaction for me." + +Jerome, inquiring who was without, was answered, "A herald." + +"From whom?" said he. + +"From the Knight of the Gigantic Sabre," said the herald; "and I must +speak with the usurper of Otranto." + +Jerome returned to the prince, and did not fail to repeat the message in +the very words it had been uttered. The first sounds struck Manfred with +terror; but when he heard himself styled usurper, his rage rekindled, +and all his courage revived. + +"Usurper!--insolent villain!" cried he; "who dares to question my title? +Retire, father; this is no business for monks: I will meet this +presumptuous man myself. Go to your convent, and prepare the princess's +return; your son shall be a hostage for your fidelity: his life depends +on your obedience." + +"Good Heaven! my lord," cried Jerome, "your highness did but this +instant freely pardon my child. Have you so soon forgot the +interposition of Heaven?" + +"Heaven," replied Manfred, "does not send heralds to question the title +of a lawful prince. I doubt whether it even notifies its will through +friars; but that is your affair, not mine. At present you know my +pleasure; and it is not a saucy herald that shall save your son, if you +do not return with the princess." + +It was in vain for the holy man to reply. Manfred commanded him to be +conducted to the postern gate, and shut out from the castle; and he +ordered some of his attendants to carry Theodore to the top of the Black +Tower, and guard him strictly, scarce permitting the father and son to +exchange a hasty embrace at parting. He then withdrew to the hall, and +seating himself in princely state, ordered the herald to be admitted to +his presence. + +"Well, thou insolent!" said the prince, "what wouldst thou with me?" + +"I come," replied he, "to thee, Manfred, usurper of the principality of +Otranto, from the renowned and invincible knight, the Knight of the +Gigantic Sabre: in the name of his lord, Frederic Marquis of Vicenza, he +demands the Lady Isabella, daughter of that prince, whom thou hast +basely and traitorously got into thy power, by bribing her false +guardians during his absence; and he requires thee to resign the +principality of Otranto, which thou hast usurped from the said Lord +Frederic, the nearest of blood to the last rightful lord, Alfonso the +Good. If thou dost not instantly comply with these just demands, he +defies thee to single combat to the last extremity." And so saying the +herald cast down his warder. + +"And where is this braggart who sends thee?" said Manfred. + +"At the distance of a league," said the herald: "he comes to make good +his lord's claim against thee, as he is a true knight, and thou an +usurper and ravisher." + +Injurious as this challenge was, Manfred reflected that it was not his +interest to provoke the marquis. He knew how well founded the claim of +Frederic was, nor was this the first time he had heard of it. Frederic's +ancestors had assumed the style of Princes of Otranto, from the death of +Alfonso the Good without issue; but Manfred, his father, and +grandfather, had been too powerful for the house of Vicenza to +dispossess them. Frederic, a martial, amorous young prince, had married +a beautiful young lady, of whom he was enamoured, and who had died in +childbed of Isabella. Her death affected him so much, that he had taken +the cross and gone to the Holy Land, where he was wounded in an +engagement against the infidels, made prisoner, and reported to be dead. +When the news reached Manfred's ears, he bribed the guardians of the +Lady Isabella to deliver her up to him as a bride for his son Conrad, by +which alliance he had proposed to unite the claims of the two houses. +This motive, on Conrad's death, had co-operated to make him so suddenly +resolve on espousing her himself; and the same reflection determined him +now to endeavour at obtaining the consent of Frederic to this marriage. +A like policy inspired him with the thought of inviting Frederic's +champion into his castle, lest he should be informed of Isabella's +flight, which he strictly enjoined his domestics not to disclose to any +of the knight's retinue. + +"Herald," said Manfred, as soon as he had digested these reflections, +"return to thy master, and tell him, ere we liquidate our differences by +the sword, Manfred would hold some converse with him. Bid him welcome to +my castle, where, by my faith, as I am a true knight, he shall have +courteous reception, and full security for himself and followers. If we +cannot adjust our quarrel by amicable means, I swear he shall depart in +safety, and shall have full satisfaction according to the laws of arms. +So help me God and his Holy Trinity!" The herald made three obeisances, +and retired. + +During this interview, Jerome's mind was agitated by a thousand contrary +passions. He trembled for the life of his son, and his first thought was +to persuade Isabella to return to the castle. Yet he was scarce less +alarmed at the thought of her union with Manfred. He dreaded Hippolita's +unbounded submission to the will of her lord; and though he did not +doubt but he could alarm her piety not to consent to a divorce, if he +could get access to her, yet, should Manfred discover that the +obstruction came from him, it might be equally fatal to Theodore. He was +impatient to know whence came the herald, who, with so little +management, had questioned the title of Manfred; yet he did not dare +absent himself from the convent, lest Isabella should leave it, and her +flight be imputed to him. He returned disconsolately to the monastery, +uncertain on what conduct to resolve. A monk, who met him in the porch, +and observed his melancholy air, said, "Alas! brother, is it then true +that we have lost our excellent Princess Hippolita?" + +The holy man started, and cried, "What meanest thou, brother? I came +this instant from the castle, and left her in perfect health." + +"Martelli," replied the other friar, "passed by the convent but a +quarter of an hour ago, on his way from the castle, and reported that +her highness was dead. All our brethren are gone to the chapel to pray +for her happy transit to a better life, and willed me to wait thy +arrival. They know thy holy attachment to that good lady, and are +anxious for the affliction it will cause thee--indeed we have all reason +to weep; she was a mother to our house. But this life is but a +pilgrimage; we must not murmur--we shall all follow her: may our end be +like hers!" + +"Good brother, thou dreamest," said Jerome; "I tell thee I come from +the castle, and left the princess well:--where is the Lady Isabella?" + +"Poor gentlewoman," replied the friar, "I told her the sad news, and +offered her spiritual comfort; I reminded her of the transitory +condition of mortality, and advised her to take the veil: I quoted the +example of the holy Princess Sanchia of Arragon." + +"Thy zeal was laudable," said Jerome, impatiently; "but at present it +was unnecessary. Hippolita is well--at least I trust in the Lord she is; +I heard nothing to the contrary--yet methinks, the prince's +earnestness--well, brother, but where is the Lady Isabella?" + +"I know not," said the friar: "she wept much, and said she would retire +to her chamber." + +Jerome left his comrade abruptly, and hastened to the princess, but she +was not in her chamber. He inquired of the domestics of the convent, but +could learn no news of her. He searched in vain throughout the monastery +and the church, and dispatched messengers round the neighbourhood, to +get intelligence if she had been seen, but to no purpose. Nothing could +equal the good man's perplexity. He judged that Isabella, suspecting +Manfred of having precipitated his wife's death, had taken the alarm, +and withdrawn herself to some more secret place of concealment. This new +flight would probably carry the prince's fury to the height. The report +of Hippolita's death, though it seemed almost incredible, increased his +consternation; and though Isabella's escape bespoke her aversion of +Manfred for a husband, Jerome could feel no comfort from it while it +endangered the life of his son. He determined to return to the castle, +and made several of his brethren accompany him, to attest his innocence +to Manfred, and, if necessary, join their intercessions with his for +Theodore. + +The prince, in the meantime, had passed into the court, and ordered the +gates of the castle to be flung open for the reception of the stranger +knight and his train. In a few minutes the cavalcade arrived. First came +two harbingers with wands; next a herald, followed by two pages and two +trumpeters; then a hundred foot-guards. These were attended by as many +horse. After them fifty footmen, clothed in scarlet and black, the +colours of the knight; then a led horse. Two heralds on each side of a +gentleman on horseback, bearing a banner, with the arms of Vicenza and +Otranto quarterly--a circumstance that much offended Manfred, but he +stifled his resentment. Two more pages; the knight's confessor telling +his beads; fifty more footmen clad as before; two knights habited in +complete armour, their beavers down, comrades to the principal knight; +the squires of the two knights, carrying their shields and devices; the +knight's own squire; a hundred gentlemen bearing an enormous sword, and +seeming to faint under the weight of it. The knight himself, on a +chestnut steed, in complete armour, his lance in the rest, his face +entirely concealed by his visor, which was surmounted by a large plume +of scarlet and black feathers. Fifty foot-guards, with drums and +trumpets, closed the procession, which wheeled off to the right and +left, to make room for the principal knight. + +As soon as he approached the gate, he stopped; and the herald, +advancing, read again the words of the challenge. Manfred's eyes were +fixed on the gigantic sword, and he scarce seemed to attend to the +cartel; but his attention was soon diverted by a tempest of wind that +rose behind him: he turned, and beheld the plumes of the enchanted +helmet agitated in the same extraordinary manner as before. It required +intrepidity like Manfred's not to sink under a concurrence of +circumstances that seemed to announce his fate. Yet, scorning in the +presence of strangers to betray the courage he had always manifested, he +said boldly: + +"Sir Knight, whoever thou art, I bid thee welcome. If thou art of mortal +mould, thy valour shall meet its equal; and if thou art a true knight, +thou wilt scorn to employ sorcery to carry thy point. Be these omens +from heaven or hell, Manfred trusts to the righteousness of his cause, +and to the aid of St. Nicholas, who has ever protected his house. +Alight, Sir Knight, and repose thyself; to-morrow thou shalt have a fair +field; and Heaven befriend the juster side!" + +The knight made no reply, but, dismounting, was conducted by Manfred to +the great hall of the castle. As they traversed the court, the knight +stopped to gaze on the miraculous casque; and, kneeling down, seemed to +pray inwardly for some minutes. Rising, he made a sign to the prince to +lead on. As soon as they entered the hall, Manfred proposed to the +stranger to disarm, but the knight shook his head in token of refusal. +"Sir Knight," said Manfred, "this is not courteous: but by my good faith +I will not cross thee; nor shalt thou have cause to complain of the +Prince of Otranto. No treachery is designed on my part; I hope none is +intended on thine; here, take my gage," giving him his ring, "your +friends and you shall enjoy the laws of hospitality. Rest here until +refreshments are brought; I will but give orders for the accommodation +of your train, and return to you." + +The three knights bowed, as accepting his courtesy. Manfred directed the +stranger's retinue to be conducted to an adjacent hospital, founded by +the Princess Hippolita for the reception of pilgrims. As they made the +circuit of the court to return towards the gate, the gigantic sword +burst from the supporters, and falling to the ground opposite to the +helmet, remained immovable. Manfred, almost hardened to preternatural +appearances, surmounted the shock of this new prodigy; and returning to +the hall, where by this time the feast was ready, he invited his silent +guests to take their places. Manfred, however ill his heart was at ease, +endeavoured to inspire the company with mirth. He put several questions +to them, but was answered only by signs. They raised their visors but +sufficiently to feed themselves, and that but sparingly. + +"Sirs," said the prince, "ye are the first guests I ever treated within +these walls, who scorned to hold any intercourse with me; nor has it oft +been customary, I ween, for princes to hazard their state and dignity +against strangers and mutes. You say you come in the name of Frederic of +Vicenza; I have ever heard that he was a gallant and courteous knight; +nor would he, I am bold to say, think it beneath him to mix in social +converse with a prince who is his equal, and not unknown by deeds in +arms.--Still ye are silent--well, be it as it may, by the laws of +hospitality and chivalry, ye are masters under this roof: ye shall do +your pleasure--but come, give me a goblet of wine; ye will not refuse to +pledge me to the healths of your fair mistresses." The principal knight +sighed and crossed himself, and was rising from the board. "Sir Knight," +said Manfred, "what I said was but in sport; I shall constrain you in +nothing. Use your good liking; since mirth is not your mood, let us be +sad. Business may hit your fancies better; let us withdraw, and hear if +what I have to unfold may be better relished than the vain efforts I +have made for your pastime." + +Manfred then conducting the three knights into an inner chamber, shut +the door, and inviting them to be seated, began thus, addressing himself +to the chief personage: + +"You come, Sir Knight, as I understand, in the name of the Marquis of +Vicenza, to re-demand the Lady Isabella, his daughter, who has been +contracted, in the face of Holy Church, to my son, by the consent of her +legal guardians; and to require me to resign my dominions to your lord, +who gives himself for the nearest of blood to Prince Alfonso, whose soul +God rest! I shall speak to the latter article of your demands first. You +must know, your lord knows, that I enjoy the principality of Otranto +from my father Don Manuel, as he received it from his father Don +Ricardo. Alfonso, their predecessor, dying childless in the Holy Land, +bequeathed his estates to my grandfather, Don Ricardo, in consideration +of his faithful services."--The stranger shook his head.--"Sir Knight," +said Manfred, warmly, "Ricardo was a valiant and upright man; he was a +pious man; witness his munificent foundation of the adjoining church and +two convents. He was peculiarly patronized by St. Nicholas--my +grandfather was incapable--I say, sir, Don Ricardo was incapable--excuse +me, your interruption has disordered me.--I venerate the memory of my +grandfather.--Well! sirs, he held this estate; he held it by his good +sword and by the favour of St. Nicholas--so did my father; and so, sirs, +will I, come what come will.--But Frederic, your lord, is nearest in +blood.--I have consented to put my title to the issue of the sword--does +that imply a vicious title?--I might have asked, where is Frederic, your +lord? Report speaks him dead in captivity. You say, your actions say, he +lives--I question it not--I might, sirs, I might, but I do not. Other +princes would bid Frederic take his inheritance by force, if he can: +they would not stake their dignity on a single combat: they would not +submit it to the decision of unknown mutes!--Pardon me, gentlemen, I am +too warm; but suppose yourselves in my situation: as ye are stout +knights, would it not move your choler to have your own and the honour +of your ancestors called in question?--But to the point: ye require me +to deliver up the Lady Isabella.--Sirs, I must ask if ye are authorized +to receive her?"--The knight nodded.--"Receive her!" continued Manfred; +"well, you are authorized to receive her--but, gentle knight, may I ask +if you have full powers?"--The knight nodded.--"'Tis well," said +Manfred. "Then hear what I have to offer.--Ye see, gentlemen, before you +the most unhappy of men (he began to weep); afford me your compassion; I +am entitled to it; indeed I am. Know, I have lost my only hope, my joy, +the support of my house--Conrad died yester-morning."--The knights +discovered signs of surprise.--"Yes, sirs, fate has disposed of my son. +Isabella is at liberty." + +"Do you then restore her?" cried the chief knight, breaking silence. + +"Afford me your patience," said Manfred. "I rejoice to find, by this +testimony of your good will, that this matter may be adjusted without +bloodshed. It is no interest of mine dictates what little I have farther +to say. Ye behold in me a man disgusted with the world; the loss of my +son has weaned me from earthly cares. Power and greatness have no longer +any charms in my eyes. I wished to transmit the sceptre I had received +from my ancestors with honour to my son--but that is over! Life itself +is so indifferent to me, that I accepted your defiance with joy: a good +knight cannot go to the grave with more satisfaction than when falling +in his vocation. Whatever is the will of Heaven I submit; for, alas! +sirs, I am a man of many sorrows. Manfred is no object of envy--but no +doubt you are acquainted with my story."--The knight made signs of +ignorance, and seemed curious to have Manfred proceed.--"Is it possible, +sirs," continued the prince, "that my story should be a secret to you? +Have you heard nothing relating to me and the Princess Hippolita?"--They +shook their heads.--"No! thus, then sirs, it is. You think me ambitious: +ambition alas! is composed of more rugged materials. If I were +ambitious, I should not for so many years have been a prey to all the +hell of conscientious scruples--but I weary your patience: I will be +brief. Know, then, that I have long been troubled in mind on my union +with the Princess Hippolita.--Oh, sirs, if ye were acquainted with that +excellent woman! if ye knew that I adore her like a mistress, and +cherish her as a friend--but man was not born of perfect happiness! She +shares my scruples, and with her consent I have brought this matter +before the Church, for we are related within the forbidden degrees. I +expect every hour the definitive sentence that must separate us for +ever--I am sure you feel for me--I see you do--pardon these tears!"--The +knights gazed on each other, wondering where this would end. Manfred +continued:--"The death of my son betiding while my soul was under this +anxiety, I thought of nothing but resigning my dominions, and retiring +for ever from the sight of mankind. My only difficulty was to fix on a +successor, who would be tender of my people, and to dispose of the Lady +Isabella, who is dear to me as my own blood. I was willing to restore +the line of Alfonso, even in his most distant kindred; and though, +pardon me, I am satisfied it was his will that Ricardo's lineage should +take place of his own relations, yet where was I to search for those +relations? I knew of none but Frederic, your lord: he was a captive to +the infidels, or dead; and were he living, and at home, would he quit +the flourishing state of Vicenza for the inconsiderable principality of +Otranto? If he would not, could I bear the thought of seeing a hard +unfeeling viceroy set over my poor faithful people?--for, sirs, I love +my people, and, thank Heaven, am beloved by them. But ye will ask, +whither tends this long discourse? briefly, then, thus, sirs. Heaven in +your arrival seems to point out a remedy for these difficulties and my +misfortunes. The Lady Isabella is at liberty; I shall soon be so--I +would submit to anything for the good of my people--were it not the +best, the only way to extinguish the feuds between our families if I was +to take the Lady Isabella to wife--you start--but though Hippolita's +virtues will ever be dear to me, a prince must not consider himself; he +is born for his people."--A servant at that instant entering the +chamber, apprised Manfred that Jerome and several of his brethren +demanded immediate access to him. + +The prince, provoked at this interruption, and fearing that the friar +would discover to the strangers that Isabella had taken sanctuary, was +going to forbid Jerome's entrance. But recollecting that he was +certainly arrived to notify the princess's return, Manfred began to +excuse himself to the knights for leaving them for a few moments, but +was prevented by the arrival of the friars. Manfred angrily reprimanded +them for their intrusion, and would have forced them back from the +chamber; but Jerome was too much agitated to be repulsed. He declared +aloud the flight of Isabella, with protestations of his own innocence. +Manfred, distracted at the news, and not less at its coming to the +knowledge of the strangers, uttered nothing but incoherent sentences, +now upbraiding the friar, now apologizing to the knights; earnest to +know what was become of Isabella, yet equally afraid of their knowing; +impatient to pursue her, yet dreading to have them join in the pursuit. +He offered to dispatch messengers in quest of her--but the chief knight, +no longer keeping silence, reproached Manfred in bitter terms for his +dark and ambiguous dealing, and demanded the cause of Isabella's first +absence from the castle. Manfred, casting a stern look at Jerome, +implying a command of silence, pretended that on Conrad's death he had +placed her in sanctuary until he could determine how to dispose of her. +Jerome, who trembled for his son's life, did not dare contradict this +falsehood, but one of his brethren, not under the same anxiety, declared +frankly that she had fled to their church in the preceding night. The +prince in vain endeavoured to stop this discovery, which overwhelmed +him with shame and confusion. The principal stranger, amazed at the +contradictions he heard, and more than half persuaded that Manfred had +secreted the princess, notwithstanding the concern he expressed at her +flight, rushing to the door, said,--"Thou traitor-prince! Isabella shall +be found." Manfred endeavoured to hold him, but the other knights +assisting their comrade, he broke from the prince, and hastened into the +court, demanding his attendants. Manfred, finding it vain to divert him +from the pursuit, offered to accompany him; and summoning his +attendants, and taking Jerome and some of the friars to guide them, they +issued from the castle; Manfred privately giving orders to have the +knight's company secured, while to the knight he affected to dispatch a +messenger to require their assistance. + +The company had no sooner quitted the castle, than Matilda, who felt +herself deeply interested for the young peasant, since she had seen him +condemned to death in the hall, and whose thoughts had been taken up +with concerting measures to save him, was informed by some of the female +attendants that Manfred had dispatched all his men various ways in +pursuit of Isabella. He had in his hurry given this order in general +terms, not meaning to extend it to the guard he had set upon Theodore, +but forgetting it. The domestics, officious to obey so peremptory a +prince, and urged by their own curiosity and love of novelty to join in +any precipitate chase, had to a man left the castle. Matilda disengaged +herself from her women, stole up to the Black Tower, and unbolting the +door, presented herself to the astonished Theodore. "Young man," said +she, "though filial duty and womanly modesty condemn the step I am +taking, yet holy charity, surmounting all other ties, justifies this +act. Fly; the doors of thy prison are open; my father and his domestics +are absent; but they may soon return; begone in safety; and may the +angels of heaven direct thy course!" + +"Thou art surely one of those angels!" said the enraptured Theodore: +"none but a blessed saint could speak, could act, could look like thee! +May I not know the name of my divine protectress? Methought thou namedst +thy father: is it possible? can Manfred's blood feel holy pity? Lovely +lady, thou answerest not--but how art thou here thyself? why dost thou +neglect thy own safety, and waste a thought on a wretch like Theodore? +Let us fly together. The life thou bestowest shall be dedicated to thy +defence." + +"Alas! thou mistakest," said Matilda, sighing: "I am Manfred's daughter, +but no dangers await me." + +"Amazement!" said Theodore; "but last night I blessed myself for +yielding thee the service thy gracious compassion so charitably returns +me now." + +"Still thou art in error," said the princess; "but this is no time for +explanation. Fly, virtuous youth, while it is in my power to save thee. +Should my father return, thou and I both should indeed have cause to +tremble." + +"How?" said Theodore, "thinkest thou, charming maid, that I will accept +of life at the hazard of aught calamitous to thee? better I endure a +thousand deaths." + +"I run no risk," said Matilda, "but by thy delay. Depart; it cannot be +known that I assisted thy flight." + +"Swear by the saints above," said Theodore, "that thou canst not be +suspected; else here I vow to wait whatever can befall me." + +"Oh, thou art too generous," said Matilda; "but rest assured that no +suspicion can alight on me." + +"Give me thy beauteous hand in token that thou dost not deceive me," +said Theodore; "and let me bathe it with the warm tears of gratitude." + +"Forbear," said the princess; "this must not be." + +"Alas!" said Theodore, "I have never known but calamity until this +hour--perhaps shall never know other fortune again: suffer the chaste +raptures of holy gratitude: 'tis my soul would print its effusions on +thy hand." + +"Forbear, and be gone," said Matilda; "how would Isabella approve of +seeing thee at my feet?" + +"Who is Isabella?" said the young man with surprise. + +"Ah me! I fear," said the princess, "I am serving a deceitful one;--hast +thou forgot thy curiosity this morning?" + +"Thy looks, thy actions, all thy beauteous self, seem an emanation of +divinity," said Theodore; "but thy words are dark and mysterious:--speak, +lady; speak to thy servant's comprehension." + +"Thou understandest but too well!" said Matilda. "But once more, I +command thee to be gone: thy blood, which I may preserve, will be on my +head, if I waste the time in vain discourse." + +"I go, lady," said Theodore, "because it is thy will, and because I +would not bring the grey hairs of my father with sorrow to the grave. +Say but, adored lady, that I have thy gentle pity." + +"Stay," said Matilda; "I will conduct thee to the subterraneous vault by +which Isabella escaped; it will lead thee to the church of St. Nicholas, +where thou mayest take sanctuary." + +"What!" said Theodore, "was it another, and not thy lovely self, that I +assisted to find the subterraneous passage?" + +"It was," said Matilda; "but ask no more; I tremble to see thee still +abide here: fly to the sanctuary." + +"To sanctuary!" said Theodore; "no, princess, sanctuaries are for +helpless damsels, or for criminals. Theodore's soul is free from guilt, +nor will wear the appearance of it. Give me a sword, lady, and thy +father shall learn that Theodore scorns an ignominious flight." + +"Rash youth!" said Matilda, "thou wouldst not dare to lift thy +presumptuous arm against the Prince of Otranto?" + +"Not against thy father; indeed, I dare not," said Theodore: "excuse me, +lady; I had forgotten--but could I gaze on thee, and remember thou art +sprung from the tyrant Manfred?--but he is thy father, and from this +moment my injuries are buried in oblivion." A deep and hollow groan, +which seemed to come from above, startled the princess and Theodore. +"Good Heavens! we are overheard!" said the princess. They listened, but +perceived no farther noise: they both concluded it the effect of pent-up +vapours. And the princess, preceding Theodore softly, carried him to her +father's armoury, where equipping him with a complete suit, he was +conducted by Matilda to the postern-gate. + +"Avoid the town," said the princess, "and all the western side of the +castle: 'tis there the search must be making by Manfred and the +strangers; but hie thee to the opposite quarter. Yonder, behind that +forest to the east, is a chain of rocks, hollowed into a labyrinth of +caverns that reach to the sea-coast. There thou mayest lie concealed +till thou canst make signs to some vessel to put on shore and take thee +off. Go; Heaven be thy guide!--and sometimes in thy prayers +remember--Matilda!" Theodore flung himself at her feet; and seizing her +lily hand, which with struggles she suffered him to kiss, he vowed on +the earliest opportunity to get himself knighted, and fervently +entreated her permission to swear himself eternally her knight. Ere the +princess could reply, a clap of thunder was suddenly heard that shook +the battlements. Theodore, regardless of the tempest, would have urged +his suit, but the princess, dismayed, retreated hastily into the castle, +and commanded the youth to be gone with an air that would not be +disobeyed. He sighed and retired, but with eyes fixed on the gate until +Matilda, closing it, put an end to an interview in which the hearts of +both had drunk so deeply of a passion, which both now tasted for the +first time. + +Theodore went pensively to the convent, to acquaint his father with his +deliverance. There he learned the absence of Jerome, and the pursuit +that was making after the Lady Isabella, with some particulars of whose +story he now first became acquainted. The generous gallantry of his +nature prompted him to wish to assist her; but the monks could lend him +no lights to guess at the route she had taken. He was not tempted to +wander far in search of her, for the idea of Matilda had imprinted +itself so strongly on his heart, that he could not bear to absent +himself at much distance from her abode. The tenderness Jerome had +expressed for him concurred to confirm this reluctance; and he even +persuaded himself that filial affection was the chief cause of his +hovering between the castle and monastery, until Jerome should return at +night. Theodore at length determined to repair to the forest that +Matilda had pointed out to him. Arriving there, he sought the gloomiest +shades, as best suited to the pleasing melancholy that reigned in his +mind. In this mood he roved insensibly to the caves which had formerly +served as a retreat to hermits, and were now reported round the country +to be haunted by evil spirits. He recollected to have heard this +tradition; and being of a brave and adventurous disposition, he +willingly indulged his curiosity in exploring the secret recesses of +this labyrinth. He had not penetrated far before he thought he heard the +steps of some person who seemed to retreat before him. Theodore, though +firmly grounded in all our holy faith enjoins to be believed, had no +apprehension that good men were abandoned without cause to the malice of +the powers of darkness. He thought the place more likely to be infested +by robbers than by those infernal agents who are reported to molest and +bewilder travellers. He had long burned with impatience to approve his +valour: drawing his sabre, he marched sedately onwards, still directing +his steps, as the imperfect rustling round before him led the way. The +armour he wore was a like indication to the person who avoided him. +Theodore, now convinced that he was not mistaken, redoubled his pace, +and evidently gained on the person that fled, whose haste increasing, +Theodore came up just as a woman fell breathless before him. He hasted +to raise her; but her terror was so great that he apprehended she would +faint in his arms. He used every gentle word to dispel her alarms, and +assured her that, far from injuring, he would defend her at the peril of +his life. The lady recovering her spirits from his courteous demeanour, +and gazing on her protector, said, "Sure, I have heard that voice +before!" + +"Not to my knowledge," replied Theodore, "unless, as I conjecture, thou +art the Lady Isabella." + +"Merciful Heaven!" cried she, "thou art not sent in quest of me, art +thou?" And saying these words she threw herself at his feet, and +besought him not to deliver her up to Manfred. + +"To Manfred!" cried Theodore; "no, lady, I have once already delivered +thee from his tyranny, and it shall fare hard with me now, but I will +place thee out of the reach of his daring." + +"Is it possible," said she, "that thou shouldst be the generous unknown +whom I met last night in the vault of the castle? Sure thou art not a +mortal, but my guardian angel. On my knees let me thank----" + +"Hold, gentle princess," said Theodore, "nor demean thyself before a +poor and friendless young man. If Heaven has selected me for thy +deliverer, it will accomplish its work, and strengthen my arm in thy +cause: but come, lady, we are too near the mouth of the cavern; let us +seek its inmost recesses; I can have no tranquillity till I have placed +thee beyond the reach of danger." + +"Alas, what mean you, sir?" said she. "Though all your actions are +noble, though your sentiments speak the purity of your soul, is it +fitting that I should accompany you alone in these perplexed retreats? +should we be found together, what would a censorious world think of my +conduct?" + +"I respect your virtuous delicacy," said Theodore; "nor do you harbour a +suspicion that wounds my honour. I meant to conduct you into the most +private cavity of these rocks, and then, at the hazard of my life, to +guard their entrance against every living thing. Besides, lady," +continued he, drawing a deep sigh, "beauteous and all perfect as your +form is, and though my wishes are not guiltless of aspiring, know, my +soul is dedicated to another; and although----" A sudden noise prevented +Theodore from proceeding. They soon distinguished these sounds, +"Isabella! what ho! Isabella!" + +The trembling princess relapsed into her former agony of fear. Theodore +endeavoured to encourage her, but in vain. He assured her he would +rather die than suffer her to return under Manfred's power, and begging +her to remain concealed, he went forth to prevent the person in search +of her from approaching. + +At the mouth of the cavern he found an armed knight discoursing with a +peasant, who assured him he had seen a lady enter the passes of the +rock. The knight was preparing to seek her, when Theodore, placing +himself in his way, with his sword drawn, sternly forbade him at his +peril to advance. + +"And who art thou who darest to cross my way?" said the knight +haughtily. + +"One who does not dare more than he will perform," said Theodore. + +"I seek the Lady Isabella," said the knight, "and understand she has +taken refuge among these rocks. Impede me not, or thou wilt repent +having provoked my resentment." + +"Thy purpose is as odious as thy resentment is contemptible," said +Theodore: "return whence thou camest, or we shall soon know whose +resentment is most terrible." + +The stranger, who was the principal knight that had arrived from the +Marquis of Vicenza, had galloped from Manfred as he was busied in +getting information of the princess, and giving various orders to +prevent her falling into the power of the three knights. Their chief had +suspected Manfred of being privy to the princess's absconding; and this +insult from a man who, he concluded, was stationed by that prince to +secrete her, confirming his suspicions, he made no reply, but +discharging a blow with his sabre at Theodore, would soon have removed +all obstruction, if Theodore, who took him for one of Manfred's +captains, and who had no sooner given the provocation than he prepared +to support it, had not received the stroke on his shield. The valour +that had so long been smothered in his breast broke forth at once; he +rushed impetuously on the knight, whose pride and wrath were not less +powerful incentives to hardy deeds. The combat was furious, but not +long: Theodore wounded the knight in three several places, and at last +disarmed him, as he fainted by the loss of blood. The peasant, who had +fled on the first onset, had given the alarm to some of Manfred's +domestics, who, by his orders, were dispersed through the forest in +pursuit of Isabella. They came up as the knight fell, whom they soon +discovered to be the noble stranger. Theodore, notwithstanding his +hatred to Manfred, could not behold the victory he had gained without +emotions of pity and generosity. But he was more touched when he learned +the quality of his adversary, and was informed that he was no retainer, +but an enemy of Manfred. He assisted the servants of the latter in +disarming the knight, and in endeavouring to stanch the blood that +flowed from his wounds. The knight recovering his speech, said, in a +faint and faltering voice, "Generous foe, we have both been in an error: +I took thee for an instrument of the tyrant: I perceive thou hast made +the like mistake: it is too late for excuses--I faint--if Isabella is at +hand, call her; I have important secrets to----" + +"He is dying," said one of the attendants; "has nobody a crucifix about +them? Andrea, do thou pray over him." + +"Fetch some water," said Theodore, "and pour it down his throat, while I +hasten to the princess." Saying this, he flew to Isabella, and in few +words told her modestly, that he had been so unfortunate by mistake as +to wound a gentleman from her father's court, who wished, ere he died, +to impart something of consequence to her. The princess, who had been +transported at hearing the voice of Theodore, as he called to her to +come forth, was astonished at what she heard. Suffering herself to be +conducted by Theodore, the new proof of whose valour recalled her +dispersed spirits, she came where the bleeding knight lay speechless on +the ground--but her fears returned when she beheld the domestics of +Manfred. She would again have fled, if Theodore had not made her observe +that they were unarmed, and had not threatened them with instant death +if they should dare to seize the princess. The stranger, opening his +eyes, and beholding a woman, said, "Art thou--pray tell me truly--art +thou Isabella of Vicenza?" + +"I am," said she. "Good Heaven restore thee!" + +"Then thou----then thou----" said the knight, struggling for utterance, +"seest--thy father. Give me one----" + +"Oh, amazement! horror! what do I hear? what do I see?" cried Isabella. +"My father! you my father! how came you here, sir? for Heaven's sake +speak!--Oh, run for help, or he will expire!" + +"'Tis most true," said the wounded knight, exerting all his force; "I am +Frederic thy father--yes, I came to deliver thee--it will not be--give +me a parting kiss, and take----" + +"Sir," said Theodore, "do not exhaust yourself: suffer us to convey you +to the castle." + +"To the castle!" said Isabella; "is there no help nearer than the +castle? would you expose my father to the tyrant? if he goes thither, I +cannot accompany him--and yet, can I leave him?" + +"My child," said Frederic, "it matters not to me whither I am carried: +a few minutes will place me beyond danger--but while I have eyes to dote +on thee, forsake me not, dear Isabella! This brave knight, I know not +who he is, will protect thy innocence.--Sir, you will not abandon my +child, will you?" + +Theodore, shedding tears over his victim, and vowing to guard the +princess at the expense of his life, persuaded Frederic to suffer +himself to be conducted to the castle. They placed him on a horse +belonging to one of the domestics, after binding up his wounds as well +as they were able. Theodore marched by his side, and the afflicted +Isabella, who could not bear to quit him, followed mournfully behind. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +The sorrowful troop no sooner arrived at the castle than they were met +by Hippolita and Matilda, whom Isabella had sent one of the domestics +before to advertise of their approach. The ladies, causing Frederic to +be conveyed into the nearest chamber, retired, while the surgeons +examined his wounds. Matilda blushed at seeing Theodore and Isabella +together; but endeavoured to conceal it by embracing the latter, and +condoling with her on her father's mischance. The surgeons soon came to +acquaint Hippolita that none of the marquis's wounds were dangerous, and +that he was desirous of seeing his daughter and the princesses. +Theodore, under pretence of expressing his joy at being freed from his +apprehensions of the combat being fatal to Frederic, could not resist +the impulse of following Matilda. Her eyes were so often cast down on +meeting his, that Isabella, who regarded Theodore as attentively as he +gazed on Matilda, soon divined who the object was that he had told her +in the cave engaged his affections. While this mute scene passed, +Hippolita demanded of Frederic the cause of his having taken that +mysterious course for reclaiming his daughter; and threw in various +apologies to excuse her lord for the match contracted between their +children. Frederic, however incensed against Manfred, was not insensible +to the courtesy and benevolence of Hippolita; but he was still more +struck with the lovely form of Matilda. Wishing to detain them by his +bedside, he informed Hippolita of his story. He told her, that, while +prisoner to the infidel, he had dreamed that his daughter, of whom he +had learned no news since his captivity, was detained in a castle, +where she was in danger of the most dreadful misfortunes; and that if he +obtained his liberty, and repaired to a wood near Joppa, he would learn +more. Alarmed at this dream, and incapable of obeying the direction +given by it, his chains became more grievous than ever. But while his +thoughts were occupied on the means of obtaining his liberty, he +received the agreeable news that the confederate princes, who were +warring in Palestine, had paid his ransom. He instantly set out for the +wood that had been marked in his dream. For three days he and his +attendants had wandered in the forest without seeing a human form; but +on the evening of the third they came to a cell, in which they found a +venerable hermit in the agonies of death. Applying rich cordials, they +brought the saint-like man to his speech. "My sons," said he, "I am +bounden to your charity--but it is in vain--I am going to my eternal +rest--yet I die with the satisfaction of performing the will of Heaven. +When first I repaired to this solitude, after seeing my country become a +prey to unbelievers--it is, alas! above fifty years since I was witness +to that dreadful scene--St. Nicholas appeared to me, and revealed a +secret, which he bade me never disclose to mortal man, but on my +death-bed. This is that tremendous hour, and ye are no doubt the chosen +warriors to whom I was ordered to reveal my trust. As soon as ye have +done the last offices to this wretched corse, dig under the seventh tree +on the left hand of this poor cave, and your pains will---- Oh, good +Heaven, receive my soul!" With those words the devout man breathed his +last. + +"By break of day," continued Frederic, "when we had committed the holy +relics to earth, we dug according to direction; but what was our +astonishment, when, about the depth of six feet, we discovered an +enormous sabre--the very weapon yonder in the court. On the blade, which +was then partly out of the scabbard, though since closed by our efforts +in removing it, were written the following lines--no; excuse me, madam," +added the marquis, turning to Hippolita, "if I forbear to repeat them: I +respect your sex and rank, and would not be guilty of offending your ear +with sounds injurious to aught that is dear to you." + +He paused--Hippolita trembled. She did not doubt but Frederic was +destined by Heaven to accomplish the fate that seemed to threaten her +house. Looking with anxious fondness at Matilda, a silent tear stole +down her cheek; but recollecting herself, she said, "Proceed, my lord, +Heaven does nothing in vain; mortals must receive its divine behests +with lowliness and submission. It is our part to deprecate its wrath, or +bow to its decrees. Repeat the sentence, my lord; we listen resigned." + +Frederic was grieved that he had proceeded so far. The dignity and +patient firmness of Hippolita penetrated him with respect; and the +tender, silent affection with which the princess and her daughter +regarded each other melted him almost to tears. Yet apprehensive that +his forbearance to obey would be more alarming, he repeated, in a +faltering and low voice, the following lines: + + Where'er a casque that suits this sword is found, + With perils is thy daughter compass'd round; + Alfonso's blood alone can save the maid, + And quiet a long-restless prince's shade. + +"What is there in these lines," said Theodore, impatiently, "that +affects these princesses? Why were they to be shocked by a mysterious +delicacy, that has so little foundation?" + +"Your words are rude, young man," said the marquis; "and though fortune +has favoured you once----" + +"My honoured lord," said Isabella, who resented Theodore's warmth, which +she perceived was dictated by his sentiments for Matilda, "discompose +not yourself for the glozing of a peasant's son: he forgets the +reverence he owes you; but he is not accustomed----" + +Hippolita, concerned at the heat that had arisen, checked Theodore for +his boldness, but with an air acknowledging his zeal; and changing the +conversation, demanded of Frederic where he had left her lord? + +As the marquis was going to reply, they heard a noise without, and +rising to inquire the cause, Manfred, Jerome, and part of the troop, who +had met an imperfect rumour of what had happened, entered the chamber. +Manfred advanced hastily towards Frederic's bed to condole with him on +his misfortune, and to learn the circumstances of the combat, when, +starting in an agony of terror and amazement, he cried: + +"Ah! what art thou? Thou dreadful spectre! Is my hour come?" + +"My dearest, gracious lord," cried Hippolita, clasping him in her arms, +"what is it you see? Why do you fix your eyeballs thus?" + +"What," cried Manfred, breathless, "dost thou see nothing, Hippolita? +Is this ghastly phantom sent to me alone--to me, who did not----" + +"For mercy's sweetest self, my lord," said Hippolita, "resume your soul, +command your reason; there are none here, but us, your friends." + +"What, is not that Alfonso?" cried Manfred; "dost thou not see him? Can +it be my brain's delirium?" + +"This! my lord," said Hippolita: "this is Theodore, the youth who has +been so unfortunate." + +"Theodore," said Manfred mournfully, and striking his +forehead--"Theodore, or a phantom, he has unhinged the soul of Manfred. +But how comes he here? and how comes he in armour?" + +"I believe he went in search of Isabella," said Hippolita. + +"Of Isabella," said Manfred, relapsing into rage. "Yes, yes, that is not +doubtful--but how did he escape from durance, in which I left him? Was +it Isabella, or this hypocritical old friar, that procured his +enlargement?" + +"And would a parent be criminal, my lord," said Theodore, "if he +meditated the deliverance of his child?" + +Jerome, amazed to hear himself in a manner accused by his son, and +without foundation, knew not what to think. He could not comprehend how +Theodore had escaped--how he came to be armed, and to encounter +Frederic. Still he would not venture to ask any questions that might +tend to inflame Manfred's wrath against his son. Jerome's silence +convinced Manfred that he had contrived Theodore's release. + +"And is it thus, thou ungrateful old man," said the prince, addressing +himself to the friar, "that thou repayest mine and Hippolita's bounties? +And not content with traversing my heart's nearest wishes, thou armest +thy bastard, and bringest him into my own castle to insult me!" + +"My lord," said Theodore, "you wrong my father: nor he nor I are capable +of harbouring a thought against your peace. Is it insolence thus to +surrender myself to your highness's pleasure?" added he, laying his +sword respectfully at Manfred's feet. "Behold my bosom; strike, my lord, +if you suspect that a disloyal thought is lodged there. There is not a +sentiment engraven on my heart that does not venerate you and yours." + +The grace and fervour with which Theodore uttered these words interested +every person present in his favour. Even Manfred was touched; yet still +possessed with his resemblance to Alfonso, his admiration was dashed +with secret horror. + +"Rise," said he; "thy life is not my present purpose. But tell me thy +history, and how thou camest connected with this old traitor here." + +"My lord----" said Jerome, eagerly. + +"Peace! impostor," said Manfred; "I will not have him prompted." + +"My lord," said Theodore, "I want no assistance: my story is very brief. +I was carried at five years of age to Algiers with my mother, who had +been taken by corsairs from the coast of Sicily. She died of grief in +less than a twelvemonth." The tears gushed from Jerome's eyes, on whose +countenance a thousand anxious passions stood expressed. "Before she +died," continued Theodore, "she bound a writing about my arm under my +garments, which told me I was the son of the Count Falconara." + +"It is most true," said Jerome; "I am that wretched father." + +"Again I enjoin thee silence," said Manfred. "Proceed." + +"I remained in slavery," said Theodore, "until within these two years; +when, attending on my master in his cruises, I was delivered by a +Christian vessel which overpowered the pirate; and discovering myself to +the captain, he generously put me on shore in Sicily:--but, alas! +instead of finding a father, I learned that his estate, which was +situated on the coast, had, during his absence, been laid waste by the +rover, who had carried my mother and me into captivity; that his castle +had been burnt to the ground, and that my father, on his return, had +sold what remained, and was retired into religion in the kingdom of +Naples, but where, no man could inform me. Destitute and friendless, +hopeless almost of attaining the transport of a parent's embrace, I took +the first opportunity of setting sail for Naples; from whence, within +these six days, I wandered into this province, still supporting myself +by the labour of my hands: nor until yester-morn did I believe that +Heaven had reserved any lot for me but peace of mind and contented +poverty. This, my lord, is Theodore's story. I am blessed beyond my hope +in finding a father; I am unfortunate beyond my desert in having +incurred your highness's displeasure." + +He ceased. A murmur of approbation gently arose from the audience. + +"This is not all," said Frederic: "I am bound in honour to add what he +suppresses. Though he is modest, I must be generous--he is one of the +bravest youths on Christian ground. He is warm too; and from the short +knowledge I have of him, I will pledge myself for his veracity; if what +he reports of himself were not true, he would not utter it.--And for me, +youth, I honour a frankness which becomes thy birth. But now, and thou +didst offend me; yet the noble blood which flows in thy veins may well +be allowed to boil out, when it has so recently traced itself to its +source.--Come, my lord," turning to Manfred, "if I can pardon him, +surely you may: it is not the youth's fault, if you took him for a +spectre." + +This bitter taunt galled the soul of Manfred. "If beings from another +world," replied he haughtily, "have power to impress my mind with awe, +it is more than living man can do: nor could a stripling's arm----" + +"My lord," interrupted Hippolita, "your guest has occasion for repose: +shall we not leave him to his rest?" Saying this, and taking Manfred by +the hand, she took leave of Frederic, and led the company forth. The +prince, not sorry to quit a conversation which recalled to mind the +discovery he had made of his most secret sensations, suffered himself to +be conducted to his own apartment, after permitting Theodore, though +under engagement to return to the castle on the morrow (a condition the +young man gladly accepted), to retire with his father to the convent. +Matilda and Isabella were too much occupied with their own reflections, +and too little content with each other, to wish for farther converse +that night. They separated, each to her chamber, with more expressions +of ceremony and fewer of affection than had passed between them since +their childhood. + +If they parted with small cordiality, they did but meet with greater +impatience, as soon as the sun was risen. Their minds were in a +situation that excluded sleep, and each recollected a thousand questions +which she wished she had put to the other overnight. Matilda reflected +that Isabella had been twice delivered by Theodore in very critical +situations, which she could not believe accidental. His eyes, it was +true, had been fixed on her in Frederic's chamber; but that might have +been to disguise his passion for Isabella from the fathers of both. It +were better to clear this up. She wished to know the truth, lest she +should wrong her friend by entertaining a passion for Isabella's lover. +Thus jealousy prompted, and at the same time borrowed, an excuse from +friendship to justify its curiosity. + +Isabella, not less restless, had better foundation for her suspicions. +Both Theodore's tongue and eyes had told her his heart was engaged--it +was true--yet perhaps Matilda might not correspond to his passion; she +had ever appeared insensible to love: all her thoughts were set on +heaven. "Why did I dissuade her?" said Isabella to herself: "I am +punished for my generosity; but when did they meet? where? It cannot be. +I have deceived myself; perhaps last night was the first time they +beheld each other; it must be some other object that has prepossessed +his affections. If it is, I am not so unhappy as I thought; if it is not +my friend Matilda--how! can I stoop to wish for the affection of a man +who rudely and unnecessarily acquainted me with his indifference? and +that at the very moment in which common courtesy demanded at least +expressions of civility? I will go to my dear Matilda, who will confirm +me in this becoming pride--man is false--I will advise with her on +taking the veil: she will rejoice to find me in this disposition; and I +will acquaint her that I no longer oppose her inclination for the +cloister." In this frame of mind, and determined to open her heart +entirely to Matilda, she went to that princess's chamber, whom she found +already dressed, and leaning pensively on her arm. This attitude, so +correspondent to what she felt herself, revived Isabella's suspicions, +and destroyed the confidence she had purposed to place in her friend. +They blushed at meeting, and were too much novices to disguise their +sensations with address. After some unmeaning questions and replies, +Matilda demanded of Isabella the cause of her flight. The latter, who +had almost forgotten Manfred's passion, so entirely was she occupied by +her own, concluding that Matilda referred to her last escape from the +convent, which had occasioned the events of the preceding evening, +replied, "Martelli brought word to the convent that your mother was +dead----" + +"Oh!" said Matilda, interrupting her, "Bianca has explained that mistake +to me: on seeing me faint, she cried, 'The princess is dead'; and +Martelli, who had come for the usual dole to the castle----" + +"And what made you faint?" said Isabella, indifferent to the rest. + +Matilda blushed, and stammered, "My father--he was sitting in judgment +on a criminal." + +"What criminal?" said Isabella, eagerly. + +"A young man," said Matilda:--"I believe--I think it was that young man +that----" + +"What, Theodore?" said Isabella. + +"Yes," answered she; "I never saw him before; I do not know how he had +offended my father--but as he has been of service to you, I am glad my +lord has pardoned him." + +"Served me!" replied Isabella; "do you term it serving me, to wound my +father, and almost occasion his death? Though it is but since yesterday +that I am blessed with knowing a parent, I hope Matilda does not think I +am such a stranger to filial tenderness as not to resent the boldness of +that audacious youth, and that it is impossible for me ever to feel any +affection for one who dared to lift his arm against the author of my +being. No, Matilda, my heart abhors him; and if you still retain the +friendship for me that you have vowed from your infancy, you will detest +the man who has been on the point of making me miserable for ever." + +Matilda held down her head, and replied, "I hope my dearest Isabella +does not doubt her Matilda's friendship: I never beheld that youth until +yesterday; he is almost a stranger to me: but as the surgeons have +pronounced your father out of danger, you ought not to harbour +uncharitable resentment against one, who, I am persuaded, did not know +the marquis was related to you." + +"You plead his cause very pathetically," said Isabella, "considering he +is so much a stranger to you! I am mistaken, or he returns your +charity." + +"What mean you?" said Matilda. + +"Nothing," said Isabella, repenting that she had given Matilda a hint of +Theodore's inclination for her. Then, changing the discourse, she asked +Matilda what occasioned Manfred to take Theodore for a spectre? + +"Bless me," said Matilda, "did you not observe his extreme resemblance +to the portrait of Alfonso in the gallery? I took notice of it to Bianca +even before I saw him in armour; but with the helmet on he is the very +image of that picture." + +"I do not much observe pictures," said Isabella: "much less have I +examined this young man so attentively as you seem to have done. Ah, +Matilda, your heart is in danger; but let me warn you as a friend--he +has owned to me that he is in love; it cannot be with you, for yesterday +was the first time you ever met--was it not?" + +"Certainly," replied Matilda; "but why does my dearest Isabella conclude +from anything I have said, that"--she paused--then continuing: "he saw +you first, and I am far from having the vanity to think that my little +portion of charms could engage a heart devoted to you--may you be happy, +Isabella, whatever is the fate of Matilda!" + +"My lovely friend," said Isabella, whose heart was too honest to resist +a kind expression, "it is you that Theodore admires; I saw it; I am +persuaded of it; nor shall a thought of my own happiness suffer me to +interfere with yours." This frankness drew tears from the gentle +Matilda; and jealousy, that for a moment had raised a coolness between +these amiable maidens, soon gave way to the natural sincerity and +candour of their souls. Each confessed to the other the impression that +Theodore had made on her; and this confidence was followed by a struggle +of generosity, each insisting on yielding her claim to her friend. At +length the dignity of Isabella's virtue reminding her of the preference +which Theodore had almost declared for her rival, made her determine to +conquer her passion, and cede the beloved object to her friend. + +During this contest of amity, Hippolita entered her daughter's chamber. + +"Madam," said she to Isabella, "you have so much tenderness for Matilda, +and interest yourself so kindly in whatever affects our wretched house, +that I can have no secrets with my child which are not proper for you to +hear." The princesses were all attention and anxiety. + +"Know then, madam," continued Hippolita, "and you, my dearest Matilda, +that being convinced by all the events of these two last ominous days +that Heaven purposes the sceptre of Otranto should pass from Manfred's +hands into those of the Marquis Frederic; I have been perhaps inspired +with the thought of averting our total destruction by the union of our +rival houses. With this view I have been proposing to Manfred, my lord, +to tender this dear, dear child to Frederic your father." + +"Me to Lord Frederic!" cried Matilda. "Good heavens! my gracious mother, +and have you named it to my father?" + +"I have," said Hippolita: "he listened benignly to my proposal, and is +gone to break it to the marquis." + +"Ah! wretched princess," cried Isabella, "what hast thou done? what ruin +has thy inadvertent goodness been preparing for thyself, for me, and for +Matilda!" + +"Ruin from me, to you, and to my child!" said Hippolita; "what can this +mean?" + +"Alas!" said Isabella, "the purity of your own heart prevents your +seeing the depravity of others. Manfred, your lord, that impious +man----" + +"Hold!" said Hippolita, "you must not, in my presence, young lady, +mention Manfred with disrespect; he is my lord and husband, and----" + +"Will not long be so," said Isabella, "if his wicked purposes can be +carried into execution." + +"This language amazes me," said Hippolita. "Your feeling, Isabella, is +warm: but until this hour I never knew it betray you into intemperance. +What deed of Manfred authorizes you to treat him as a murderer, an +assassin?" + +"Thou virtuous, and too credulous princess!" replied Isabella; "it is +not thy life he aims at--it is to separate himself from thee! to divorce +thee! to----" + +"To divorce me!"--"To divorce my mother!" cried Hippolita and Matilda at +once. + +"Yes," said Isabella; "and, to complete his crime, he meditates--I +cannot speak it!" + +"What can surpass what thou hast already uttered?" said Matilda. + +Hippolita was silent. Grief choked her speech; and the recollection of +Manfred's late ambiguous discourses confirmed what she heard. + +"Excellent, dear lady!--madam! mother!" cried Isabella, flinging herself +at Hippolita's feet in a transport of passion; "trust me, believe me, I +will die a thousand deaths sooner than consent to injure you, than yield +to so odious----" + +"Oh, this is too much!" cried Hippolita. "What crimes does one crime +suggest! Rise, dear Isabella; I do not doubt your virtue. Oh, Matilda, +this stroke is too heavy for thee! weep not, my child; and not a murmur, +I charge thee. Remember, he is _thy_ father still!" + +"But you are my mother, too," said Matilda, fervently; "and _you_ are +virtuous, _you_ are guiltless! Oh, must not I, must not I complain?" + +"You must not," said Hippolita; "come, all will be well. Manfred, in the +agony for the loss of thy brother, knew not what he said; perhaps +Isabella misunderstood him: his heart is good--and, my child, thou +knowest not all. There is a destiny hangs over us: the hand of +Providence is stretched out. Oh, could I but save thee from the +wreck.--Yes," continued she, in a firmer tone, "perhaps the sacrifice +of myself may atone for all; I will go and offer myself to this +divorce--it boots not what becomes of me. I will withdraw into the +neighbouring monastery, and waste the remainder of life in prayers and +tears for my child and--the prince." + +"Thou art as much too good for this world," said Isabella, "as Manfred +is execrable--but think not, lady, that thy weakness shall determine for +me. I swear, hear me all ye angels----" + +"Stop, I adjure thee," cried Hippolita: "remember thou dost not depend +on thyself; thou hast a father----" + +"My father is too pious, too noble," interrupted Isabella, "to command +an impious deed. But should he command it; can a father enjoin a cursed +act? I was contracted to the son, can I wed the father?--No, madam, no; +force should not drag me to Manfred's hated bed. I loathe him, I abhor +him: divine and human laws forbid; and, my friend, my dearest Matilda, +would I wound her tender soul by injuring her adored mother? my own +mother--I never have known another." + +"Oh, she is the mother of both," cried Matilda: "can we, can we, +Isabella, adore her too much?" + +"My lovely children," said the touched Hippolita, "your tenderness +overpowers me; but I must not give way to it. It is not ours to make +election for ourselves; Heaven, our fathers, and our husbands, must +decide for us. Have patience until you hear what Manfred and Frederic +have determined. If the marquis accepts Matilda's hand, I know she will +readily obey. Heaven may interpose and prevent the rest. What means my +child?" continued she, seeing Matilda fall at her feet with a flood of +speechless tears.--"But no; answer me not, my daughter; I must not hear +a word against the pleasure of thy father." + +"Oh, doubt not my obedience, my dreadful obedience to him and to you!" +said Matilda. "But can I, most respected of women, can I experience all +this tenderness, this world of goodness, and conceal a thought from the +best of mothers?" + +"What art thou going to utter?" said Isabella, trembling. "Recollect +thyself, Matilda." + +"No, Isabella," said the princess, "I should not deserve this +incomparable parent, if the inmost recesses of my soul harboured a +thought without her permission--nay, I have offended her; I have +suffered a passion to enter my heart without her avowal; but here I +disclaim it; here I vow to Heaven and her----" + +"My child! my child!" said Hippolita, "what words are these? what new +calamities has fate in store for us? Thou, a passion! Thou, in this hour +of destruction!" + +"Oh, I see all my guilt," said Matilda. "I abhor myself, if I cost my +mother a pang: she is the dearest thing I have on earth. Oh, I will +never, never behold him more!" + +"Isabella," said Hippolita, "thou art conscious to this unhappy secret, +whatever it is. Speak!" + +"What!" cried Matilda, "have I so forfeited my mother's love, that she +will not permit me even to speak my own guilt? Oh, wretched, wretched +Matilda!" + +"Thou art too cruel," said Isabella to Hippolita; "canst thou behold +this anguish of a virtuous mind, and not commiserate it?" + +"Not pity my child!" said Hippolita, catching Matilda in her arms. "Oh, +I know she is good; she is all virtue, all tenderness and duty. I do +forgive thee, my excellent, my only hope!" + +The princesses then revealed to Hippolita their mutual inclination for +Theodore, and the purpose of Isabella to resign him to Matilda. +Hippolita blamed their imprudence, and showed them the improbability +that either father would consent to bestow his heiress on so poor a man, +though nobly born. Some comfort it gave her to find their passion of so +recent a date, and that Theodore had had but little cause to suspect it +in either. She strictly enjoined them to avoid all correspondence with +him. This Matilda fervently promised; but Isabella, who flattered +herself that she meant no more than to promote his union with her +friend, could not determine to avoid him, and made no reply. + +"I will go to the convent," said Hippolita, "and order new masses to be +said for a deliverance from these calamities." + +"Oh, my mother," said Matilda, "you mean to quit us: you mean to take +sanctuary, and to give my father an opportunity of pursuing his fatal +intentions. Alas! on my knees I supplicate you to forbear: will you +leave me a prey to Frederic? I will follow you to the convent." + +"Be at peace, my child," said Hippolita; "I will return instantly. I +will never abandon thee, until I know it is the will of Heaven, and for +thy benefit." + +"Do not deceive me," said Matilda. "I will not marry Frederic until thou +commandest it. Alas! what will become of me?" + +"Why that exclamation?" said Hippolita. "I have promised thee to +return." + +"Ah, my mother," replied Matilda; "stay and save me from myself. A +frown from thee can do more than all my father's severity. I have given +away my heart, and you alone can make me recall it." + +"No more," said Hippolita: "thou must not relapse, Matilda." + +"I can quit Theodore," said she, "but must I wed another? Let me attend +thee to the altar, and shut myself from the world for ever." + +"Thy fate depends on thy father," said Hippolita: "I have ill bestowed +my tenderness, if it has taught thee to revere aught beyond him. Adieu! +my child, I go to pray for thee." + +Hippolita's real purpose was to demand of Jerome, whether in conscience +she might not consent to the divorce. She had oft urged Manfred to +resign the principality, which the delicacy of her conscience rendered +an hourly burden to her. These scruples concurred to make the separation +from her husband appear less dreadful to her, than it would have seemed +in any other situation. + +Jerome, at quitting the castle overnight, had questioned Theodore +severely why he had accused him to Manfred of being privy to his escape. +Theodore owned it had been with design to prevent Manfred's suspicion +from alighting on Matilda; and added, the holiness of Jerome's life and +character secured him from the tyrant's wrath. Jerome was heartily +grieved to discover his son's inclination for that princess; and leaving +him to his rest, promised in the morning to acquaint him with important +reasons for conquering his passion. Theodore, like Isabella, was too +recently acquainted with parental authority to submit to its decisions +against the impulse of his heart. He had little curiosity to learn the +friar's reasons, and less disposition to obey them. The lovely Matilda +had made stronger impressions on him than filial affection. All night he +pleased himself with visions of love; and it was not till late after the +morning office that he recollected the friar's commands to attend him at +Alfonso's tomb. + +"Young man," said Jerome, when he saw him, "this tardiness does not +please me. Have a father's commands already so little weight?" + +Theodore made awkward excuses, and attributed his delay to having +overslept himself. + +"And on whom were thy dreams employed?" said the friar sternly. His son +blushed. "Come, come," resumed the friar, "inconsiderate youth, this +must not be; eradicate this guilty passion from thy breast." + +"Guilty passion!" cried Theodore: "can guilt dwell with innocent beauty +and virtuous modesty?" + +"It is sinful," replied the friar, "to cherish those whom Heaven has +doomed to destruction. A tyrant's race must be swept from the earth to +the third and fourth generation." + +"Will Heaven visit the innocent for the crimes of the guilty?" said +Theodore. "The fair Matilda has virtues enough----" + +"To undo thee," interrupted Jerome. "Hast thou so soon forgotten that +twice the savage Manfred has pronounced thy sentence?" + +"Nor have I forgotten, sir," said Theodore, "that the charity of his +daughter delivered me from his power. I can forget injuries, but never +benefits." + +"The injuries thou hast received from Manfred's race," said the friar, +"are beyond what thou canst conceive. Reply not, but view this holy +image! Beneath this marble monument rest the ashes of the good Alfonso; +a prince adorned with every virtue; the father of his people; the +delight of mankind! Kneel, headstrong boy, and list, while a father +unfolds a tale of horror, that will expel every sentiment from thy soul, +but sensations of sacred vengeance. Alfonso! much injured prince! let +thy unsatisfied shade sit awful on the troubled air, while these +trembling lips----Ha! who comes there?" + +"The most wretched of women," said Hippolita, entering the choir. "Good +father, art thou at leisure? but why this kneeling youth? What means the +horror imprinted on each countenance? Why at this venerable tomb?--alas! +hast thou seen aught?" + +"We were pouring forth our orisons to Heaven," replied the friar, with +some confusion, "to put an end to the woes of this deplorable province. +Join with us, lady: thy spotless soul may obtain an exemption from the +judgments which the portents of these days but too speakingly denounce +against thy house." + +"I pray fervently to Heaven to divert them," said the pious princess. +"Thou knowest it has been the occupation of my life to wrest a blessing +for my lord and my harmless children. One, alas! is taken from me; would +Heaven but hear me for my poor Matilda! Father, intercede for her." + +"Every heart will bless her!" cried Theodore with rapture. + +"Be dumb, rash youth," said Jerome. "And thou, fond princess, contend +not with the powers above. The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away: +bless His holy name, and submit to His decrees." + +"I do most devoutly," said Hippolita; "but will He not spare my only +comfort? Must Matilda perish too?--Ah, father, I came--but dismiss thy +son. No ear but thine must hear what I have to utter." + +"May Heaven grant thy every wish, most excellent princess!" said +Theodore, retiring. Jerome frowned. + +Hippolita then acquainted the friar with a proposal she had suggested to +Manfred, his approbation of it, and the tender of Matilda that he was +gone to make to Frederic. Jerome could not conceal his dislike of the +motion, which he covered under pretence of the improbability that +Frederic, the nearest of blood to Alfonso, and who was come to claim his +succession, would yield to an alliance with the usurper of his right. +But nothing could equal the perplexity of the friar, when Hippolita +confessed her readiness not to oppose the separation, and demanded his +opinion on the legality of her acquiescence. The friar catched eagerly +at her request of his advice; and without explaining his aversion to the +proposed marriage of Manfred and Isabella, he painted to Hippolita, in +the most alarming colours, the sinfulness of her consent, denounced +judgments against her if she complied, and enjoined her, in the severest +terms, to treat any such proposition with every mark of indignation and +refusal. + +Manfred, in the meantime, had broken his purpose to Frederic, and +proposed the double marriage. That weak prince, who had been struck with +the charms of Matilda, listened but too eagerly to the offer. He forgot +his enmity to Manfred, whom he saw but little hope of dispossessing by +force; and flattering himself that no issue might succeed from the union +of his daughter with the tyrant, he looked upon his own succession to +the principality as facilitated by wedding Matilda. He made faint +opposition to the proposal; affecting, for form only, not to acquiesce +unless Hippolita should consent to the divorce. Manfred took that upon +himself. Transported with his success, and impatient to see himself in a +situation to expect sons, he hastened to his wife's apartment, +determined to extort her compliance. He learned with indignation that +she was absent at the convent. His guilt suggested to him that she had +probably been informed by Isabella of his purpose. He doubted whether +her retirement to the convent did not import an intention of remaining +there, until she could raise obstacles to their divorce; and the +suspicions he had already entertained of Jerome made him apprehend that +the friar would not only traverse his views, but might have inspired +Hippolita with the resolution of taking sanctuary. Impatient to unravel +this clue, and to defeat its success, Manfred hastened to the convent, +and arrived there, as the friar was earnestly exhorting the princess +never to yield to the divorce. + +"Madam," said Manfred, "what business drew you hither? why did you not +await my return from the marquis?" + +"I came to implore a blessing on your councils," replied Hippolita. + +"My councils do not need a friar's intervention," said Manfred; "and of +all men living is that hoary traitor the only one whom you delight to +confer with?" + +"Profane prince!" said Jerome; "is it at the altar thou choosest to +insult the servants of the altar?--but, Manfred, thy impious schemes are +known. Heaven and this virtuous lady know them:--nay, frown not, prince. +The Church despises thy menaces. Her thunders will be heard above thy +wrath. Dare to proceed in thy cursed purpose of a divorce, until her +sentence be known, and here I launch her anathema at thy head." + +"Audacious rebel!" said Manfred, endeavouring to conceal the awe with +which the friar's words inspired him; "dost thou presume to threaten thy +lawful prince?" + +"Thou art no lawful prince," said Jerome; "thou art no prince:--go, +discuss thy claim with Frederic; and when that is done----" + +"It is done," replied Manfred: "Frederic accepts Matilda's hand, and is +content to waive his claim, unless I have no male issue."--As he spoke +those words, three drops of blood fell from the nose of Alfonso's +statue. Manfred turned pale, and the princess sunk on her knees. + +"Behold!" said the friar; "mark this miraculous indication that the +blood of Alfonso will never mix with that of Manfred!" + +"My gracious lord," said Hippolita, "let us submit ourselves to Heaven. +Think not thy ever obedient wife rebels against thy authority. I have no +will but that of my lord and the Church. To that revered tribunal let us +appeal. It does not depend on us to burst the bonds that unite us. If +the Church shall approve the dissolution of our marriage, be it so--I +have but few years, and those of sorrow, to pass. Where can they be worn +away so well as at the foot of this altar, in prayers for thine and +Matilda's safety?" + +"But thou shalt not remain here until then," said Manfred. "Repair with +me to the castle, and there I will advise on the proper measures for a +divorce. But this meddling friar comes not thither: my hospitable roof +shall nevermore harbour a traitor--and for thy reverence's offspring," +continued he, "I banish him from my dominions. He, I ween, is no sacred +personage, nor under the protection of the Church. Whoever weds +Isabella, it shall not be Father Falconara's started-up son." + +"They start up," said the friar, "who are suddenly beheld in the seat of +lawful princes; but they wither away like the grass, and their place +knows them no more." + +Manfred, casting a look of scorn at the friar, led Hippolita forth; but +at the door of the church whispered one of his attendants to remain +concealed about the convent, and bring him instant notice if any one +from the castle should repair thither. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +Every reflection which Manfred made on the friar's behaviour conspired +to persuade him that Jerome was privy to an amour between Isabella and +Theodore. But Jerome's new presumption, so dissonant from his former +meekness, suggested still deeper apprehensions. The prince even +suspected that the friar depended on some secret support from Frederic, +whose arrival coinciding with the novel appearance of Theodore seemed to +bespeak a correspondence. Still more was he troubled with the +resemblance of Theodore to Alfonso's portrait. The latter he knew had +unquestionably died without issue. Frederic had consented to bestow +Isabella on him. These contradictions agitated his mind with numberless +pangs. He saw but two methods of extricating himself from his +difficulties. The one was to resign his dominions to the +marquis.--Pride, ambition, and his reliance on ancient prophecies, which +had pointed out a possibility of his preserving them to his posterity, +combated that thought. The other was to press his marriage with +Isabella. After long ruminating on these anxious thoughts, as he marched +silently with Hippolita to the castle, he at last discoursed with that +princess on the subject of his disquiet, and used every insinuating and +plausible argument to extract her consent to, even her promise of +promoting, the divorce. Hippolita needed little persuasions to bend her +to his pleasure. She endeavoured to win him over to the measure of +resigning his dominions; but finding her exhortations fruitless she +assured him, that, as far as her conscience would allow, she would raise +no opposition to a separation, though without better founded scruples +than what he yet alleged she would not engage to be active in demanding +it. + +This compliance, though inadequate, was sufficient to raise Manfred's +hopes. He trusted that his power and wealth would easily advance his +suit at the court of Rome, whither he resolved to engage Frederic to +take a journey on purpose. That prince had discovered so much passion +for Matilda, that Manfred hoped to obtain all he wished by holding out +or withdrawing his daughter's charms, according as the marquis should +appear more or less disposed to co-operate in his views. Even the +absence of Frederic would be a material point gained, until he could +take further measures for his security. + +Dismissing Hippolita to her apartment, he repaired to that of the +marquis; but crossing the great hall, through which he was to pass, he +met Bianca. The damsel he knew was in the confidence of both the young +ladies. It immediately occurred to him to sift her on the subject of +Isabella and Theodore. Calling her aside into the recess of the oriel +window of the hall, and soothing her with many fair words and promises, +he demanded of her whether she knew aught of the state of Isabella's +affections. + +"I! my lord! no, my lord--yes, my lord--poor lady! she is wonderfully +alarmed about her father's wounds! but I tell her he will do well; don't +your highness think so?" + +"I do not ask you," replied Manfred, "what she thinks about her father; +but you are in her secrets. Come, be a good girl, and tell me; is there +any young man--ha!--you understand me." + +"Lord bless me! understand your highness, no, not I: I told her a few +vulnerary herbs and repose----" + +"I am not talking," replied the prince, impatiently, "about her father; +I know he will do well." + +"Bless me, I rejoice to hear your highness say so; for though I thought +it not right to let my young lady despond, methought his greatness had a +wan look, and a something--I remember when young Ferdinand was wounded +by the Venetian----" + +"Thou answerest from the point," interrupted Manfred; "but here, take +this jewel, perhaps that may fix thy attention; nay, no reverences: my +favour shall not stop here:--come, tell me truly, how stands Isabella's +heart." + +"Well, your highness has such a way!" said Bianca, "to be sure; but can +your highness keep a secret? if it should ever come out of your +lips----" + +"It shall not, it shall not," cried Manfred. + +"Nay, but swear, your highness. By my halidame, if it should ever be +known that I said it--why, truth is truth, I do not think my Lady +Isabella ever much affectioned my young lord, your son--yet he was a +sweet youth, as one should see. I am sure, if I had been a princess--but +bless me! I must attend my Lady Matilda; she will marvel what is become +of me." + +"Stay!" cried Manfred, "thou hast not satisfied my question. Hast thou +ever carried any message, any letter?" + +"I! good gracious!" cried Bianca; "I carry a letter? I would not to be a +queen. I hope your highness thinks, though I am poor, I am honest--did +your highness never hear what Count Marsigli offered me when he came +a-wooing to my Lady Matilda?" + +"I have not leisure," said Manfred, "to listen to thy tales. I do not +question thy honesty; but it is thy duty to conceal nothing from me. How +long has Isabella been acquainted with Theodore?" + +"Nay, there is nothing can escape your highness," said Bianca: "not that +I know anything of the matter. Theodore, to be sure, is a proper young +man, and, as my Lady Matilda says, the very image of good Alfonso: has +not your highness remarked it?" + +"Yes, yes,--no,--thou torturest me," said Manfred: "where did they meet? +when?" + +"Who? my Lady Matilda?" said Bianca. + +"No, no, not Matilda; Isabella. When did Isabella first become +acquainted with this Theodore?" + +"Virgin Mary!" said Bianca, "how should I know?" + +"Thou dost know," said Manfred, "and I must know; I will." + +"Lord! your highness is not jealous of young Theodore!" said Bianca. + +"Jealous! no, no: why should I be jealous? perhaps I mean to unite them, +if I were sure Isabella would have no repugnance." + +"Repugnance! no, I'll warrant her," said Bianca: "he is as comely a +youth as ever trod on Christian ground. We are all in love with him; +there is not a soul in the castle but would be rejoiced to have him for +our prince--I mean, when it shall please Heaven to call your highness to +itself." + +"Indeed," said Manfred, "has it gone so far? oh, this cursed friar! but +I must not lose time:--go, Bianca, attend Isabella; but I charge thee, +not a word of what has passed. Find out how she is affected towards +Theodore: bring me good news, and that ring has a companion. Wait at the +foot of the winding staircase: I am going to visit the marquis, and will +talk further with thee at my return." + +Manfred, after some general conversation, desired Frederic to dismiss +the two knights his companions, having to talk with him on urgent +affairs. As soon as they were alone, he began, in artful guise, to sound +the marquis on the subject of Matilda; and finding him disposed to his +wish, he let drop hints on the difficulties that would attend the +celebration of their marriage, unless--At that instant Bianca burst into +the room with a wildness in her look and gestures that spoke the utmost +terror. + +"Oh, my lord, my lord!" cried she; "we are all undone! it is come again! +it is come again!" + +"What is come again?" cried Manfred, amazed. + +"Oh, the hand! the giant! the hand!--support me! I am terrified out of +my senses," cried Bianca; "I will not sleep in the castle to-night. +Where shall I go? my things may come after me to-morrow--would I had +been content to wed Francesco!--this comes of ambition." + +"What has terrified thee thus, young woman?" said the marquis. "Thou art +safe here; be not alarmed." + +"Oh, your greatness is wonderfully good," said Bianca, "but I dare +not--no, pray let me go. I had rather leave everything behind me, than +stay another hour under this roof." + +"Go to, thou hast lost thy senses," said Manfred. "Interrupt us not; we +were communing on important matters. My lord, this wench is subject to +fits. Come with me, Bianca." + +"Oh, the saints, no," said Bianca; "for certain it comes to warn your +highness: why should it appear to me else? I say my prayers morning and +evening. Oh, if your highness had believed Diego! 'Tis the same hand +that he saw the foot to in the gallery chamber. Father Jerome has often +told us the prophecy would be out one of these days. 'Bianca,' said he, +'mark my words----'" + +"Thou ravest," said Manfred in a rage! "begone, and keep these fooleries +to frighten thy companions." + +"What, my lord!" cried Bianca, "do you think I have seen nothing? Go to +the foot of the great stairs yourself--as I live I saw it." + +"Saw what? Tell us, fair maid, what thou hast seen," said Frederic. + +"Can your highness listen," said Manfred, "to the delirium of a silly +wench, who has heard stories of apparitions until she believes them?" + +"This is more than fancy," said the marquis; "her terror is too natural +and too strongly impressed to be the work of imagination. Tell us, fair +maiden, what it is has moved thee thus." + +"Yes, my lord, thank your greatness," said Bianca. "I believe I look +very pale; I shall be better when I have recovered myself. I was going +to my Lady Isabella's chamber by his highness's order----" + +"We do not want the circumstances," interrupted Manfred. "Since his +highness will have it so, proceed; but be brief." + +"Lord! your highness thwarts one so!" replied Bianca. "I fear my hair--I +am sure I never in my life--well, as I was telling your greatness, I was +going, by his highness's order, to my Lady Isabella's chamber. She lies +in the watchet-coloured chamber, on the right hand, one pair of stairs. +So when I came to the great stairs, I was looking on his highness's +present here----" + +"Grant me patience!" said Manfred; "will this wench never come to the +point? What imports it to the marquis, that I gave thee a bauble for thy +faithful attendance on my daughter; we want to know what thou sawest." + +"I was going to tell your highness," said Bianca, "if you would permit +me. So as I was rubbing the ring--I am sure I had not gone up three +steps, but I heard the rattling of armour; for all the world such a +clatter, as Diego says he heard when the giant turned him about in the +gallery-chamber." + +"What does she mean, my lord?" said the marquis: "is your castle haunted +by giants and goblins?" + +"Lord, what, has not your greatness heard the story of the giant in the +gallery-chamber?" cried Bianca. "I marvel his highness has not told +you--mayhap you do not know there is a prophecy----" + +"This trifling is intolerable," interrupted Manfred. "Let us dismiss +this silly wench, my lord; we have more important affairs to discuss." + +"By your favour," said Frederic, "these are no trifles. The enormous +sabre I was directed to in the wood, yon casque, its fellow--are these +visions of this poor maiden's brain?" + +"So Jaquez thinks, may it please your greatness," said Bianca. "He says +this moon will not be out without our seeing some strange revolution. +For my part, I should not be surprised if it was to happen to-morrow; +for, as I was saying, when I heard the clattering of armour, I was all +in a cold sweat: I looked up, and, if your greatness will believe me, I +saw upon the uppermost banister of the great stairs a hand in armour, as +big, as big--I thought I should have swooned--I never stopped until I +came hither. Would I were well out of this castle! My Lady Matilda told +me but yester-morning that her highness Hippolita knows something." + +"Thou art an insolent!" cried Manfred. "Lord Marquis, it much misgives +me that this scene is concerted to affront me. Are my own domestics +suborned to spread tales injurious to my honour? Pursue your claim by +manly daring; or let us bury our feuds, as was proposed, by the +intermarriage of our children. But trust me, it ill becomes a prince of +your bearing to practise on mercenary wenches." + +"I scorn your imputation," said Frederic: "until this hour I never set +eyes on this damsel. I have given her no jewel! My lord, my lord, your +conscience, your guilt accuses you, and would throw the suspicion on me; +but keep your daughter, and think no more of Isabella. The judgments +already fallen on your house forbid me matching into it." + +Manfred, alarmed at the resolute tone in which Frederic delivered these +words, endeavoured to pacify him. Dismissing Bianca, he made such +submissions to the marquis, and threw in such artful encomiums on +Matilda, that Frederic was once more staggered. However, as his passion +was of so recent a date, it could not at once surmount the scruples he +had conceived. He had gathered enough from Bianca's discourse to +persuade him that Heaven declared itself against Manfred. The proposed +marriages, too, removed his claim to a distance; and the principality of +Otranto was a stronger temptation than the contingent reversion of it +with Matilda. Still he would not absolutely recede from his engagements; +but purposing to gain time, he demanded of Manfred if it was true in +fact that Hippolita consented to the divorce. The prince, transported to +find no other obstacle, and depending on his influence over his wife, +assured the marquis it was so, and that he might satisfy himself of the +truth from her own mouth. + +As they were thus discoursing, word was brought that the banquet was +prepared. Manfred conducted Frederic to the great hall, where they were +received by Hippolita and the young princesses. Manfred placed the +marquis next to Matilda, and seated himself between his wife and +Isabella. Hippolita comported herself with an easy gravity; but the +young ladies were silent and melancholy. Manfred, who was determined to +pursue his point with the marquis in the remainder of the evening, +pushed on the feast until it waxed late; affecting unrestrained gaiety, +and plying Frederic with repeated goblets of wine. The latter, more upon +his guard than Manfred wished, declined his frequent challenges, on +pretence of his late loss of blood; while the prince, to raise his own +disordered spirits, and to counterfeit unconcern, indulged himself in +plentiful draughts, though not to the intoxication of his senses. + +The evening being far advanced, the banquet concluded. Manfred would +have withdrawn with Frederic; but the latter, pleading weakness and want +of repose, retired to his chamber, gallantly telling the prince, that +his daughter should amuse his highness until himself could attend him. +Manfred accepted the party, and, to the no small grief of Isabella, +accompanied her to her apartment. Matilda waited on her mother, to enjoy +the freshness of the evening on the ramparts of the castle. + +Soon as the company were dispersed their several ways, Frederic, +quitting his chamber, inquired if Hippolita was alone, and was told by +one of her attendants, who had not noticed her going forth, that at that +hour she generally withdrew to her oratory, where he probably would find +her. The marquis, during the repast, had beheld Matilda with increase of +passion. He now wished to find Hippolita in the disposition her lord had +promised. The portents that had alarmed him were forgotten in his +desires. Stealing softly and unobserved to the apartment of Hippolita, +he entered it with a resolution to encourage her acquiescence to the +divorce, having perceived that Manfred was resolved to make the +possession of Isabella an unalterable condition, before he would grant +Matilda to his wishes. + +The marquis was not surprised at the silence that reigned in the +princess's apartment. Concluding her, as he had been advertised, in her +oratory, he passed on. The door was ajar; the evening gloomy and +overcast. Pushing open the door gently, he saw a person kneeling before +the altar. As he approached nearer, it seemed not a woman, but one in a +long woollen weed, whose back was towards him. The person seemed +absorbed in prayer. The marquis was about to return, when the figure, +rising, stood some moments fixed in meditation, without regarding him. +The marquis, expecting the holy person to come forth, and meaning to +excuse his uncivil interruption, said: + +"Reverend father, I sought the Lady Hippolita." + +"Hippolita!" replied a hollow voice; "camest thou to this castle to seek +Hippolita?" And then the figure, turning slowly round, discovered to +Frederic the fleshless jaws and empty sockets of a skeleton, wrapt in a +hermit's cowl. + +"Angels of peace protect me!" cried Frederic, recoiling. + +"Deserve their protection," said the spectre. + +Frederic, falling on his knees, adjured the phantom to take pity on him. + +"Dost thou not remember me?" said the apparition. "Remember the wood of +Joppa!" + +"Art thou that holy hermit?" cried Frederic, trembling; "can I do aught +for thy eternal peace?" + +"Wast thou delivered from bondage," said the spectre, "to pursue carnal +delights? Hast thou forgotten the buried sabre, and the behest of Heaven +engraven on it?" + +"I have not, I have not," said Frederic; "but say, blest spirit, what is +thy errand to me? what remains to be done?" + +"To forget Matilda," said the apparition, and vanished. + +Frederick's blood froze in his veins. For some minutes he remained +motionless. Then falling prostrate on his face before the altar, he +besought the intercession of every saint for pardon. A flood of tears +succeeded to this transport; and the image of the beauteous Matilda +rushing, in spite of him, on his thoughts, he lay on the ground in a +conflict of penitence and passion. Ere he could recover from this agony +of his spirits, the Princess Hippolita, with a taper in her hand, +entered the oratory alone. Seeing a man without motion on the floor, she +gave a shriek, concluding him dead. Her fright brought Frederic to +himself. Rising suddenly, his face bedewed with tears, he would have +rushed from her presence; but Hippolita, stopping him, conjured him, in +the most plaintive accents, to explain the cause of his disorder, and by +what strange chance she had found him there in that posture. + +"Ah, virtuous princess!" said the marquis, penetrated with grief, and +stopped. + +"For the love of Heaven, my lord," said Hippolita, "disclose the cause +of this transport! What mean these doleful sounds, this alarming +exclamation on my name? What woes has Heaven still in store for the +wretched Hippolita?--yet silent! By every pitying angel I adjure thee, +noble prince," continued she, falling at his feet, "to disclose the +purport of what lies at thy heart. I see thou feelest for me; thou +feelest the sharp pangs that thou inflictest. Speak, for pity! Does +aught thou knowest concern my child!" + +"I cannot speak," cried Frederic, bursting from her. "Oh, Matilda!" + +Quitting the princess thus abruptly, he hastened to his own apartment. +At the door of it he was accosted by Manfred, who, flushed by wine and +love, had come to seek him, and to propose to waste some hours of the +night in music and revelling. Frederic, offended at an invitation so +dissonant from the mood of his soul, pushed him rudely aside, and, +entering his chamber, flung the door intemperately against Manfred, and +bolted it inwards. The haughty prince, enraged at this unaccountable +behaviour, withdrew in a frame of mind capable of the most fatal +excesses. As he crossed the court, he was met by the domestic whom he +planted at the convent as a spy on Jerome and Theodore. This man, almost +breathless with the haste he had made, informed his lord, that Theodore +and some lady from the castle were at that instant in private conference +at the tomb of Alfonso, in St. Nicholas's church. He had dogged Theodore +thither; but the gloominess of the night had prevented his discovering +who the woman was. + +Manfred, whose spirits were inflamed, and whom Isabella had driven from +her on his urging his passion with too little reserve, did not doubt but +the inquietude she had expressed had been occasioned by her impatience +to meet Theodore. Provoked by this conjecture, and enraged at her +father, he hastened secretly to the great church. Gliding softly between +the aisles, and guided by an imperfect gleam of moonshine that shone +faintly through the illuminated windows, he stole towards the tomb of +Alfonso, to which he was directed by indistinct whispers of the person +she sought. The first sounds he could distinguish were: + +"Does it, alas! depend on me? Manfred will never permit our union." + +"No, this shall prevent it!" cried the tyrant, drawing his dagger, and +plunging it over her shoulder into the bosom of the person that spoke. + +"Ah me, I am slain!" cried Matilda, sinking: "good Heaven, receive my +soul!" + +"Savage, inhuman monster, what hast thou done?" cried Theodore, rushing +on him and wrenching his dagger from him. + +"Stop, stop thy impious hand!" cried Matilda: "it is my father!" + +Manfred, waking as from a trance, beat his breast, twisted his hands in +his locks, and endeavoured to recover his dagger from Theodore to +dispatch himself. Theodore, scarce less distracted, and only mastering +the transports of his grief to assist Matilda, had now by his cries +drawn some of the monks to his aid. While part of them endeavoured, in +concert with the afflicted Theodore, to stop the blood of the dying +princess, the rest prevented Manfred from laying violent hands on +himself. + +Matilda, resigning herself patiently to her fate, acknowledged, with +looks of grateful love, the zeal of Theodore. Yet oft, as her faintness +would permit her speech its way, she begged the assistants to comfort +her father. + +Jerome, by this time, had learnt the fatal news, and reached the church. +His looks seemed to reproach Theodore; but turning to Manfred, he said, +"Now, tyrant, behold the completion of woe fulfilled on thy impious and +devoted head! The blood of Alfonso cried to Heaven for vengeance; and +Heaven has permitted its altar to be polluted by assassination, that +thou mightest shed thy own blood at the foot of that prince's +sepulchre!" + +"Cruel man," cried Matilda, "to aggravate the woes of a parent! may +Heaven bless my father, and forgive him as I do! My lord, my gracious +sire, dost thou forgive thy child? Indeed I came not hither to meet +Theodore. I found him praying at this tomb, whither my mother sent me to +intercede for thee, for her--dearest father, bless your child, and say +you forgive her." + +"Forgive thee, murderous monster," cried Manfred, "can assassins +forgive? I took thee for Isabella; but Heaven directed my bloody hand to +the heart of my child--oh, Matilda, I cannot utter it: canst thou +forgive the blindness of my rage?" + +"I can, I do, and may Heaven confirm it," said Matilda; "but while I +have life to ask it--oh, my mother, what will she feel! will you comfort +her, my lord, will you not put her away? indeed she loves you--oh, I am +faint; bear me to the castle--can I live to have her close my eyes?" + +Theodore and the monks besought her earnestly to suffer herself to be +borne into the convent; but her instances were so pressing to be carried +to the castle, that, placing her on a litter, they conveyed her thither +as she requested. Theodore, supporting her head with his arm, and +hanging over her in an agony of despairing love, still endeavoured to +inspire her with hopes of life. Jerome on the other side comforted her +with discourses of heaven; and holding a crucifix before her, which she +bathed with innocent tears, prepared her for her passage to immortality. +Manfred, plunged in the deepest affliction, followed the litter in +despair. + +Ere they reached the castle, Hippolita, informed of the dreadful +catastrophe, had flown to meet her murdered child; but when she saw the +afflicted procession, the mightiness of her grief deprived her of her +senses, and she fell lifeless to the earth in a swoon. Isabella and +Frederic, who attended her, were overwhelmed in almost equal sorrow. +Matilda alone seemed insensible to her own situation: every thought was +lost in tenderness for her mother. Ordering the litter to stop, as soon +as Hippolita was brought to herself, she asked for her father. He +approached, unable to speak. Matilda, seizing his hand and her mother's, +locked them in her own, and then clasped them to her heart. Manfred +could not support this act of pathetic piety. He dashed himself on the +ground, and cursed the day he was born. Isabella, apprehensive that +these struggles of passion were more than Matilda could support, took +upon herself to order Manfred to be borne to his apartment, while she +caused Matilda to be conveyed to the nearest chamber. Hippolita, scarce +more alive than her daughter, was regardless of everything but her; but +when the tender Isabella's care would have likewise removed her, while +the surgeons examined Matilda's wound, she cried: + +"Remove me! never! never! never! I lived but in her, and will expire +with her." Matilda raised her eyes at her mother's voice, but closed +them again without speaking. Her sinking pulse and the damp coldness of +her hand soon dispelled all hopes of recovery. Theodore followed the +surgeons into the outer chamber, and heard them pronounce the fatal +sentence with a transport equal to frenzy. + +"Since she cannot live mine," cried he, "at least she shall be mine in +death! Father! Jerome! will you not join our hands?" cried he to the +friar, who with the marquis had accompanied the surgeons. + +"What means thy distracted rashness?" said Jerome; "is this an hour for +marriage?" + +"It is, it is," cried Theodore: "alas! there is no other!" + +"Young man, thou art too unadvised," said Frederic: "dost thou think we +are to listen to thy fond transports in this hour of fate? what +pretensions hast thou to the princess?" + +"Those of a prince," said Theodore, "of the sovereign of Otranto. This +reverend man, my father, has informed me who I am." + +"Thou ravest," said the marquis: "there is no prince of Otranto but +myself, now Manfred, by murder, by sacrilegious murder, has forfeited +all pretensions." + +"My lord," said Jerome, assuming an air of command, "he tells you true. +It was not my purpose the secret should have been divulged so soon; but +fate presses onward to its work. What his hot-headed passion has +revealed, my tongue confirms. Know, prince, that when Alfonso set sail +for the Holy Land----" + +"Is this a season for explanations?" cried Theodore. "Father, come and +unite me to the princess; she shall be mine--in every other thing I will +dutifully obey you. My life; my adored Matilda!" continued Theodore, +rushing back into the inner chamber, "will you not be mine? will you not +bless your----" Isabella made signs to him to be silent, apprehending +the princess was near her end. "What, is she dead?" cried Theodore; "is +it possible?" The violence of his exclamations brought Matilda to +herself. Lifting up her eyes, she looked around for her mother. + +"Life of my soul! I am here," cried Hippolita; "think not I will quit +thee!" + +"Oh, you are too good," said Matilda; "but weep not for me, my mother! I +am going where sorrow never dwells;--Isabella, thou hast loved me: wo't +thou not supply my fondness to this dear, dear woman?--Indeed I am +faint!" + +"Oh, my child, my child!" said Hippolita, in a flood of tears, "can I +not withhold thee a moment?" + +"It will not be," said Matilda: "commend me to Heaven--where is my +father? Forgive him, dearest mother--forgive him my death; it was an +error. Oh, I had forgotten, dearest mother, I vowed never to see +Theodore more--perhaps that has drawn down this calamity, but it was not +intentional--can you pardon me?" + +"Oh, wound not my agonizing soul," said Hippolita; "thou never couldst +offend me. Alas! she faints! help! help!" + +"I would say something more," said Matilda, struggling, "but it wonnot +be--Isabella--Theodore--for my sake--oh!" She expired. Isabella and her +women tore Hippolita from the corse; but Theodore threatened destruction +to all who attempted to remove him from it. He printed a thousand +kisses on her clay-cold hands, and uttered every expression that +despairing love could dictate. + +Isabella, in the meantime, was accompanying the afflicted Hippolita to +her apartment; but in the middle of the court they were met by Manfred, +who, distracted with his own thoughts, and anxious once more to behold +his daughter, was advancing towards the chamber where she lay. As the +moon was now at its height, he read in the countenances of this unhappy +company the event he dreaded. + +"What! is she dead?" cried he in wild confusion: a clap of thunder at +that instant shook the castle to its foundations; the earth rocked, and +the clank of more than mortal armour was heard behind. Frederic and +Jerome thought the last day was at hand. The latter, forcing Theodore +along with them, rushed into the court. The moment Theodore appeared, +the walls of the castle behind Manfred were thrown down with a mighty +force, and the form of Alfonso, dilated to an immense magnitude, +appeared in the centre of the ruins. + +"Behold in Theodore the true heir of Alfonso!" said the vision; and +having pronounced those words, accompanied by a clap of thunder, it +ascended solemnly towards heaven, where the clouds parting asunder, the +form of St. Nicholas was seen, and receiving Alfonso's shade, they were +soon wrapt from mortal eyes in a blaze of glory. + +The beholders fell prostrate on their faces, acknowledging the divine +will. The first that broke silence was Hippolita. + +"My lord," said she to the desponding Manfred, "behold the vanity of +human greatness! Conrad is gone! Matilda is no more! in Theodore we view +the true Prince of Otranto. By what miracle he is so, I know +not--suffice it to us, our doom is pronounced! Shall we not--can we +but--dedicate the few deplorable hours we have to live, in deprecating +the further wrath of Heaven? Heaven ejects us: whither can we fly, but +to yon holy cells that yet offer us a retreat?" + +"Thou guiltless but unhappy woman! unhappy by my crimes!" replied +Manfred, "my heart at last is open to thy devout admonitions. Oh, +could--but it cannot be--ye are lost in wonder,--let me at last do +justice on myself! To heap shame on my own head is all the satisfaction +I have left to offer to offended Heaven. My story has drawn down these +judgments: let my confession atone--but ah! what can atone for +usurpation and a murdered child; a child murdered in a consecrated +place? List, sirs, and may this bloody record be a warning to future +tyrants! + +"Alfonso, ye all know, died in the Holy Land--ye would interrupt me--ye +would say he came not fairly to his end--it is most true--why else this +bitter cup which Manfred must drink to the dregs? Ricardo, my +grandfather, was his chamberlain--I would draw a veil over my ancestor's +crimes, but it is in vain! Alfonso died by poison. A fictitious will +declared Ricardo his heir. His crimes pursued him. Yet he lost no +Conrad, no Matilda! I pay the price of usurpation for all. A storm +overtook him. Haunted by his guilt, he vowed to St. Nicholas to found a +church and two convents, if he lived to reach Otranto. The sacrifice was +accepted: the saint appeared to him in a dream, and promised that +Ricardo's posterity should reign in Otranto, until the rightful owner +should be grown too large to inhabit the castle, and as long as +issue-male from Ricardo's loins should remain to enjoy it. Alas! alas! +nor male nor female, except myself, remains of all his wretched race!--I +have done--the woes of these three days speak the rest. How this young +man can be Alfonso's heir, I know not--yet I do not doubt it. His are +these dominions: I resign them--yet I knew not Alfonso had an heir--I +question not the will of Heaven--poverty and prayer must fill up the +woeful space, until Manfred shall be summoned to Ricardo." + +"What remains is my part to declare," said Jerome. "When Alfonso set +sail for the Holy Land, he was driven by a storm to the coast of Sicily. +The other vessel, which bore Ricardo and his train, as your _lordship_ +must have heard, was separated from him." + +"It is most true," said Manfred; "and the title you give me is more than +an outcast can claim--well! be it so--proceed." + +Jerome blushed, and continued. + +"For three months Lord Alfonso was wind-bound in Sicily. There he became +enamoured of a fair virgin, named Victoria. He was too pious to tempt +her to forbidden pleasures. They were married. Yet deeming this amour +incongruous with the holy vow of arms by which he was bound, he +determined to conceal their nuptials, until his return from the crusado, +when he purposed to seek and acknowledge her for his lawful wife. He +left her pregnant. During his absence she was delivered of a daughter; +but scarce had she felt a mother's pangs, ere she heard the fatal rumour +of her lord's death, and the succession of Ricardo. What could a +friendless, helpless woman do? would her testimony avail?--yet, my lord, +I have an authentic writing----" + +"It needs not," said Manfred; "the horrors of these days, the vision we +have but now seen, all corroborate thy evidence beyond a thousand +parchments. Matilda's death and my expulsion----" + +"Be composed, my lord," said Hippolita; "this holy man did not mean to +recall your griefs." + +Jerome proceeded. + +"I shall not dwell on what is needless. The daughter of which Victoria +was delivered was, at her maturity, bestowed in marriage on me. Victoria +died; and the secret remained locked in my breast. Theodore's narrative +has told the rest." + +The friar ceased. The disconsolate company retired to the remaining part +of the castle. In the morning, Manfred signed his abdication of the +principality, with the approbation of Hippolita, and each took on them +the habit of religion in the neighbouring convents. Frederic offered his +daughter to the new prince, which Hippolita's tenderness for Isabella +concurred to promote. But Theodore's grief was too fresh to admit the +thought of another love; and it was not until after frequent discourses +with Isabella of his dear Matilda, that he was persuaded he could know +no happiness, but in the society of one with whom he could for ever +indulge the melancholy that had taken possession of his soul. + + + + +VATHEK: + +AN ARABIAN TALE + +BY + +WILLIAM BECKFORD + + + + +WILLIAM BECKFORD + + +William Beckford was born at Fonthill on 29 September, 1759. He was +educated by a private tutor and grew up with many of the qualities of +his own caliph Vathek. He received musical instruction under Mozart. +Chatham pronounced him "all fire and air," and warned him against +reading _The Arabian Nights_. At seventeen he wrote an elaborate +mystification, _Memoirs of Extraordinary Painters_, a satire on the +biographies in the _Vies des Peintres Flamands_. His mother disliking +English universities, he went to complete his education at Geneva, where +he remained for a year and a half. From 1780-2 he travelled in the Low +Countries and Italy. An account of these travels was published +anonymously in 1783 as _Dreams, Waking Thoughts, and Incidents, in a +series of letters from various parts of Europe_. The work was almost +immediately destroyed with the exception of six copies. At one time a +legend existed that he wrote _Vathek_ in three days and two nights at a +single sitting! This feat has since been disproved by the publication of +the author's own correspondence. At any rate, the book was written +between 1781-2 in French, and the English version, made by the Rev. +Henley, was published surreptitiously by that gentleman as a translation +from the Arabic in 1784. In protest, Beckford published the original, +long before he had intended, at Paris and Lausanne, in 1787. In 1783 he +had married Lady Margaret Gordon, the daughter of the Earl of Aboyne, +and lived with her in Switzerland until her death three years later. He +had two daughters by her. In 1787 he visited Portugal, and his +Portuguese letters are the most valuable he ever wrote. At Lausanne he +bought Gibbon's library and shut himself up to read it. He was elected +M.P. for Wells (1784-90) and Hindon (1790-4), to which seat he was +re-elected in 1806. But during this time he had become more and more +absorbed in collecting. He wrote two burlesques on the sentimental +novels of his time, _The Elegant Enthusiast_ (1796) and _Azemia_ (1797). +But he had already settled down at Fonthill and was giving himself up to +all kinds of artistic and architectural extravagances. With his enormous +wealth he was able to rebuild the old family mansion on a grand scale, +pull it down and rebuild it again yet more sumptuously on a different +site. But unfortunately a tower, three hundred feet high, he had erected +fell from the very haste of its construction. It was succeeded by +another which, later, also fell down. Beckford now shut himself up in +his palace with a physician, a majordomo, and a French abbe, and in this +seclusion he spent twenty years, still collecting books and works of +art. His expenditure for sixteen years is stated by himself to be +upwards of a quarter of a million. In 1822 he was forced to dispose of +Fonthill and the greater part of the contents, the sale of which lasted +thirty-seven days. When the public were admitted, Hazlitt described +Fonthill as "a desert of magnificence, a glittering waste of laborious +idleness, a cathedral turned into a toyshop...." After the sale Beckford +removed to Bath where he created a miniature Fonthill. He died there on +2 May, 1844, his face showing scarcely a trace of age. + +Bibliography: _Memoirs of Extraordinary Painters_, 1780. _Dreams, Waking +Thoughts, and Incidents, in a series of letters from various parts of +Europe_, 1783. _Vathek_ (Henley's translation), 1784. _Vathek_ (in +Beckford's French), 1787. _Letters from Italy, with Sketches of Spain +and Portugal_, 1835. See also memoirs by Cyrus Redding and Lockhart's +review of Beckford's letters in Vol. II of the _Quarterly Review_. + + + + +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 did not 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 +Alkoremi, 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 +the 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, of all men, he was 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 alleviated +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 Mirth, 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 and enjoy a few hours of their +company. + +Notwithstanding the sensuality in which Vathek indulged, he experienced +no abatement in the love of his people, who thought that a sovereign +giving himself up to pleasure was as able to govern as one who declared +himself an enemy to it. 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 did not allow them to push +their opposition with warmth. He stopped with presents the mouths of +those 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 daytime, 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 fifteen hundred 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 intruding and unwelcome +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 extort from 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 becoming an adept in the mysteries of +astrology, he 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 his displeasure, should either lodge or detain +a traveller, but forthwith bring him to the palace. + +Not long after this proclamation, arrived in his metropolis a man so +abominably 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, by spontaneous springs, enabled the feet to walk; +knives, that cut without motion of the hand; sabres, that dealt the blow +at the person they were wished to strike; and the whole enriched with +gems that were hitherto unknown. + +The sabres especially, the blades of which emitted a dazzling radiance, +fixed, more than all the rest, 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 obeyed, took little, and +remained silent. + +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, wretch, 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, "but to no purpose."--"Let +him speak then again," 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." + +This menace was accompanied by one of the caliph's 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 would have continued in the same abject posture, had not 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, and bound 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 dishes that were +daily placed before him, he 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 grates burst asunder, and his guards lying lifeless +around him. In the paroxysm of his passion he fell furiously on the poor +carcasses, and kicked them till evening without intermission. His +courtiers and viziers 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 reached the ears of Carathis, his mother, who 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, had him put to bed; +and, seating herself by him, endeavoured by her conversation to appease +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 the sciences and systems of her country, +which all good Mussulmans hold in such thorough abhorrence. + +Judicial astrology was one of those sciences 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!" said the caliph as soon as he could +speak, "what a fool I have been! not for having bestowed forty thousand +kicks on my guards, who so tamely submitted to death; but for never +considering that this extraordinary man was the same that 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 coloured 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, my 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 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 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, whether one +translates or 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 vizier, 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 that 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 what had become of the stranger. + +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 to make it +necessary that this new occupation of their guardians should be +transferred to 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, oh! what a great pity that 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 is well 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 man 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 such a giddiness and debility that he could +hardly support himself. 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 congruous 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 any 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 excellent husband, his wives, overwhelmed with grief +at his deplorable situation, incessantly supplied him with prayers for +his health, and water for his thirst. + +In the mean time the Princess Carathis, whose affliction no words can +describe, instead of confining herself to sobbing and tears, was +closeted daily with the vizier 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 have been 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, +entwined with 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, harebells, and +pansies; in the midst of which numerous tufts of jonquils, hyacinths, +and carnations perfumed the air. Four fountains, not less clear than +deep, and so abundant as to slake the thirst of ten armies, seemed +purposely placed here to make the scene more resemble the garden of Eden +watered by 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 dove deplored the loss of more +substantial pleasures; and the wakeful lark hailed the rising light that +reanimates the whole creation. Here, more than anywhere, the mingled +melodies of birds expressed the various passions which inspired them; +and the exquisite fruits which they pecked at pleasure seemed to have +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. +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 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 dost thou +assimilate thyself to a dog, O caliph, proud as thou art of thy dignity +and power?" At this apostrophe, he raised up 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 a water budget? Perceivest thou not, that I may perish by +drinking to excess, as well as by thirst?" + +"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. + +Nor would these transports have ceased had not the eloquence of Carathis +repressed them. Having prevailed upon him to return to Samarah, she +caused a herald 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 on this interesting subject. + +The caliph, in the meanwhile, caused the palaces of the senses to be +again set open; and, as he found himself naturally 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 was blessed with 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-two 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 are in every way; 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 was announced. Vathek, in gratitude to his subjects having +promised to attend, immediately arose from table and repaired thither, +leaning upon his vizier, who could scarce 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 viziers, 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 he had +been fasting, sat down without ceremony on one of the steps 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 whose head was +embarrassed, went on administering justice at haphazard; till at length +the prime vizier, 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, the operation of +which will be sudden. 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 vizier, 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 was compounded +the liquor you enjoined me to take, for it is suspected to be poison: +give also that 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 he 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 up and 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 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. + +After having traversed the halls, galleries, chambers, kitchens, +gardens, and stables of the palace, the Indian 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 a few which his competitors, in their eagerness, +designed for the ball. + +Carathis, Morakanabad, and two or three old viziers, 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, and terrified +lest their charge should escape from their sight; the execrations of +husbands, urging forward and menacing each other; 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 entered 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, yet 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 also attribute to themselves absurdities which they could not +prevent. + +The caliph was the only person who 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 cruelly 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 the 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 +fruitless 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 repairing thither to view it more distinctly; but, feeling himself +unable to advance, and being overcome with apprehension, he muffled up +his face in the folds of 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 had vanished from his view. One +night, however, while he was walking as usual on the plain, the moon and +stars were eclipsed at once, 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 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 he answered 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 mayest 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, holding in his hand a golden key +which he sounded against the lock. + +"How," cried Vathek, "can I descend to thee? 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 children. Take them from among the most beautiful sons of thy +viziers 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 suggestions 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 fatal ball, which +no tongue had hitherto ventured to mention, was 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, +who perceived how much it conduced to his project. He put on the +appearance of affability to every one; but especially to his viziers and +the grandees of his court, whom he failed not to regale with a sumptuous +banquet; during which he insensibly directed the conversation to the +children of his guests. Having asked, with a good-natured air, which 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 as 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 lately +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 heard, save the murmurs of the four fountains, and +the reeds and voices of shepherds, calling to each other from different +eminences. + +The lovely innocents, destined for the 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, unwilling that 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 the rings for the arrows of the young +archers. 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 contests of these amiable and innocent victims. + +The caliph, availing 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!" answerd 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 no 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 meanwhile, 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 sprung 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 him, 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 ground 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 till his +strength failed him, and then fell on the earth like one void of sense. +His viziers 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, and I should have experienced their fate, +had I not suddenly started 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 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: "Vizier, 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 +vizier, "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 having been spared the +cares as well as the honour of paternity, obeyed the mandate of the +vizier; 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 a powerful 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 against 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, contrived within the thickness of the wall, and known +only to herself and her son, she first repaired to the mysterious +recesses in which were deposited the mummies that had been wrested 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 subtile 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 presentiment 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 familiarize 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; all of them making the most frightful contortions, and +uttering such shrill chatterings, that the princess, stunned by them and +suffocated by the potency of the exhalations, was forced to quit the +gallery, after stripping it of a part of its abominable treasures. + +Whilst she was thus occupied, the caliph, who, instead of the visions he +expected, had acquired in these unsubstantial regions a voracious +appetite, was greatly provoked at the mutes. 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 bite +them, till Carathis arrived to terminate a scene so indecent, to the +great content of these miserable creatures. "Son! what means all this?" +said she, panting for breath. "I thought I heard as I came up the +shrieks of a thousand bats, torn 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 +brought."--"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 ought to be 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 twenty cubits high. At length darkness +approached, and Carathis, having stripped herself to her inmost garment, +clapped her hands in an impulse of ecstasy; 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 took shelter under 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 for +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 familiarized 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 styled 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 north-east wind drove an immense volume of flame against them. +At first they recoiled, but soon came back with redoubled zeal. At the +same time, the stench of the horns and mummies increasing, most of the +crowd fell backwards 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, every one 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 dispatch 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 fifteen hundred 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 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 the most faithful of his subjects; all +which were thrown on the top of the pile. Carathis, whose presence of +mind never forsook her, perceiving that she had carcasses sufficient to +complete her oblation, commanded the chains to be stretched across the +staircase, and the iron doors barricadoed, 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 +grumbling to their cells. + +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 reposing 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 timbals, 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 loaden camels--and set forward on thy way to Istakhar. There I +await thy coming: that is the region of wonders: there shalt thou +receive the diadem of Gian Ben Gian, the talismans of Soliman, and the +treasures of the pre-Adamite sultans: there shalt thou be solaced with +all kinds of delight.--But beware how thou enterest any dwelling on thy +route; or thou shalt feel the effects of my anger." + +The caliph, notwithstanding his habitual luxury, had never before dined +with so much satisfaction. He 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 pledge him at every +bumper he 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 fifteen hundred stairs, diverting themselves, as they +went, at the anxious faces they saw on the square, through the barbacans +and loopholes 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 not to 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 Masulipatan, a single piece of chintz; +and so much muslin had been brought up to dress out Bababalouk and the +other black eunuchs, that there remained not an ell of it 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 vipers amongst +them, and to break pots of scorpions under the table. They all bit to a +wonder; and Carathis would have left her friends to die, 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 +mullahs, 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. He heard the voice of +Bababalouk, calling out from between the door and the tapestry that +hung before it, "Here are the excellent Edris al Shafei, and the +seraphic Al Mouhateddin, who have brought the besom from Mecca, and, +with tears of joy, entreat they may present it to your majesty in +person."--"Let them bring the besom hither; it may be of use," said +Vathek.--"How!" answered 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 came and +went 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 Edris al Shafei in a +low voice to his companion.--"I rather think he is in his oratory," +answered Al Mouhateddin. Vathek, who heard the dialogue, cried out, +"What imports it you, how I am employed? approach without delay." They +advanced, 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 from the ceiling, gravely brushed +them away till not a single one remained. The old men, overpowered with +amazement, were unable to lift their beards from the ground; for, as +Vathek had carelessly left the tapestry between them half drawn, they +were witnesses of the whole transaction. Their tears bedewed the marble. +Al Mouhateddin 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 Schiraz, since they can boast of having seen more of my palace than +any one besides." 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 delighted 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 at least three dozen of pretty faces +which Bababalouk has 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 the way to the +mineral kingdoms and the centre of the earth itself, fail not to +dispatch some trusty genius to take me and my cabinet; for the oil of +the serpents I have pinched to death will be a pretty present to the +Giaour, who cannot but be charmed with such dainties." + +Scarcely had Carathis ended this edifying discourse, when the sun, +setting behind the mountain of the four fountains, gave place to the +rising moon. This planet, being that evening at full, appeared of +unusual beauty and magnitude in the eyes of the women, the eunuchs, and +the pages, who were all impatient to set forward. The city re-echoed +with shouts of joy and flourishing of trumpets. Nothing was visible but +plumes nodding on pavilions, and aigrets shining in the mild lustre of +the moon. The spacious square resembled an immense parterre variegated +with the most stately tulips of the East. + +Arrayed in the robes which were only worn at the most distinguished +ceremonials, and supported by his vizier and Bababalouk, the caliph +descended the great 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, and +consigned them, with good commendations, to the surgeons of the serail. +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 viziers and 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-bass, 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 royally +on the cloth of gold which had been spread for his feet, ascended his +litter amidst the general acclamations of 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, they made full six leagues +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 +Ghulchissar, 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 expectation 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 +their maps of the different countries, spoiled by the rain, were in a +still worse plight than themselves. As no long journey had been +undertaken since the time of Haroun al Raschid, every one was ignorant +which way to turn; and 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. + +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 apprised 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 a dead +ass, have beset your camels and their drivers; thirty of the most richly +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 hurlyburly 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 hast 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, whilst such as had more +boldness flew at Bababalouk; but he, well apprised of their humour, and +not wanting in shrewdness, betook himself to his heels along with his +comrades, all dropping their torches and striking their timbals. + +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 learned 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, but which they had too much good sense not to leave at the +approaching of the tumult, having made besides a most luxurious supper. +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 having proceeded so far from the conflagration +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 much 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 phials 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 Vathek, at length +disturbed his repose. He awoke terrified, and stung to the quick by +wormwood-colour flies, which emitted 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 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 briars 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 torrent; 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 +their abode in this place?" + +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 had 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 water for the 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 as 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, 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 timbals. Chilled with terror, we concluded that the Deggial, +with his exterminating angels, had sent forth his 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 any thing 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, he +recited his prayers and 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, inscribed by Carathis, these words--which were, indeed, +enough to make him tremble: "Beware of 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. +Shouldest thou be such a fool as to visit them, the portal of the +subterranean palace will shut in thy face, with such force as shall +shake thee asunder: thy body shall be spit upon, and bats will nestle 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 delicious 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 a subject +of admiration; 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 climbed 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 aspen +leaves; 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 little 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 easy slopes +which the emir had ordered to be 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 vast building of freestone. 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 from +all parts of the world." + +Nine pages, beautiful as the day, and decently clothed in robes of +Egyptian linen, 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 tecthtrevan; 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. + +Every man being 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 +tiptoe. 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 rice boiled 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 ever had 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 +hating 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 not a little scandalized 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?" Two +of the black eunuchs, on hearing a voice so loud, left their 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-colour +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 as 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 and entangle their hair +to plague and detain Bababalouk, and teased him, besides, with a +thousand vagaries. + +Nouronihar, perceiving that he was nearly out of patience, 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 your honeyed lips; and, to say truth, my senses are +dazzled with the radiance that beams from your charms."--"Repose, then, +at your ease," replied the beauty, as she placed him on the pretended +sofa, which, quicker than lightning, flew up 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 razed the surface of +the water; and, at others, the skylight almost flattened his nose. In +vain did he fill the air with the cries of a voice that resembled the +ringing of a cracked jar; the peals of laughter were still predominant. + +Nouronihar, in the inebriety of youthful spirits, being used only to +eunuchs of ordinary harems, and having never seen anything so eminently +disgusting, was far more diverted than all the rest. She began to parody +some Persian verses, and sang, with an accent most demurely piquant, +"Oh, 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 an universal shout. Twelve little doors, till now +unobserved, flew open at once; and the ladies, in an instant, made their +escape; but not before having heaped all the towels on his head, and put +out the lights that remained. + +The deplorable animal, in water to the chin, overwhelmed with darkness, +and unable to extricate himself from the wrappers 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 were redoubled at every relapse, 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 sought for everywhere. At last he was drawn forth +almost smothered from under the wisp of linen, and wet even to the +marrow. Limping, and his teeth chattering with cold, he approached 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 livelong night through, on their damnable swing. What +an excellent lesson for your sultanas, into whom I had instilled such +reserve and decorum!" Vathek, comprehending not a syllable of all this +invective, obliged him to relate minutely the transaction: but, instead +of sympathizing with the miserable sufferer, he laughed immoderately at +the device of the swing and the figure of Bababalouk mounted 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." +These 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 solemnized 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 +dervishes, 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 orang-outang; whilst a third was furnished +with scourges; and all performed to a charm. Some would climb up trees, +holding one foot in the air; others poise themselves over a fire, and +without mercy fillip 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 dervishes, 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 shedding +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 rid the estates of the emir, +of 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 who were still less able to hear than the rest. Nor were +there wanting others in abundance with hump-backs, wenny necks, and even +horns of an exquisite polish. + +The emir, to aggrandize 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 hue, with other orthodox dishes; and, by the +express order of Vathek, who was shamefully tolerant, small plates of +abominations were prepared, to the great scandal of the faithful. The +holy assembly began to fall to. The caliph, in spite of every +remonstrance from the chief of his eunuchs, 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 grew 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, wresting a twig from a willow, "let me correct her for her +want of respect: the emir will have no reason to complain; since (bating +what I owe to his piety) he is much to be blamed for keeping a troop of +girls on the mountains, where the sharpness of the air gives their blood +too brisk a circulation." + +"Peace! blasphemer," said the caliph; "speak not thus of her, who, over +these 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 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 few shining pebbles, 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, pitiless rock? what is passing in thy solitudes? Whither is +she gone? O heaven! perhaps she is now wandering in thy grottoes 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 +Leilah, 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; and, +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 in 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 own beautiful 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, though sure to be rated without mercy in return. Whenever +this happened, he would hastily plunge into the recesses of the harem; +and, sobbing, take refuge in the fond 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 Shaddukian and Ambreabad, where the Peries +have fixed their abode. Nouronihar, sitting on the slope of the hill, +supported on her knees the perfumed head of Gulchenrouz. 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 spirits. 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 them 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 perfume. 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 wonted 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. One of the eunuchs ran to fetch melons, whilst others +were employed in showering down almonds from the branches that overhung +this amiable party. 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 +with 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 nectar of +flowers. + +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 not the moon 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 by-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, pressing 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 waterfalls mingling their murmurs, +the hollow rustlings among the palm-branches, and the funereal screams +of the birds from their rifted trunks, all conspired to fill her soul +with terror. She imagined, every moment, that she trod on some venomous +reptile. All the stories of malignant dives and dismal ghouls 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!" Thus speaking, she advanced, and coming up to steps hewn in the +rock, ascended them undismayed. The light, which was now gradually +enlarging, appeared above her on the summit of the mountain, and as if +proceeding from a cavern. At length, she distinguished a plaintive and +melodious union of voices, that resembled the dirges which are sung over +tombs. A sound like that which arises from the filling of baths struck +her ear at the same time. She continued ascending, and discovered large +wax torches in full blaze, planted here and there in the fissures of the +rock. This appearance 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, the vapour of which 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 are 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 a pitiful +husband?"--"And can she," rejoined the other voice, "be amused with such +empty toys, 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 love for her? No! she will be wise enough to answer that +passion alone that can aggrandize 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 dispatched 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, "have you +false keys, or are you beloved of some genius that hath given you a +picklock? I will try the extent of your power: come to the dark chamber, +and expect not the company of Gulchenrouz: be expeditious! I will shut +you up, and turn the key twice upon you!" 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." + +Proceeding in the same style, she was interrupted by a sudden +exclamation of "The caliph! the caliph!" All the curtains were thrown +open, the slaves prostrated themselves in double rows, and poor little +Gulchenrouz went to hide beneath the couch 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 overpleased 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 him, as he +went off, a thousand unwelcome caresses. Gulchenrouz cried out, and +resisted till his cheeks became the colour of the blossom of +pomegranates, and his tearful eyes sparkled with 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 a few grey hairs of his beard, "cut short the days of your +faithful servant, rather than force him to depart from his word. +Nouronihar 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 night I devote to the worship 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 rights of hospitality." At his uttering +these words, Nouronihar, unable to support any longer the conflict of +her passions, sunk down into 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 as cold as the damp +of death. + +Gulchenrouz, who had escaped from the hands of Bababalouk, and was at +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 were gone, sent for Shaban and Sutlememe; and said to +them apart, "My friends! violent evils require 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 the grave. +Fetch, then, that narcotic powder which a 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 bower of my dwarfs. When all the +spectators shall be withdrawn, you, Shaban, and four select eunuchs, +shall convey them to the lake; where provision 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 is good," said Sutlememe, "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, that, notwithstanding her fondness for Gulchenrouz, +she will never remain quiet, while she knows him to be here. Let us +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 hastened to seek for the powder, which, being mixed in a sherbet +was immediately administered to 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 upon it, clasped in each other's embraces. +"Cherish me, my dear Nouronihar!" said Gulchenrouz: "put thy hand upon +my heart; 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 cymars 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 the +tragical catastrophe, arrived. He looked not less pale and haggard than +the ghouls that wander at night among the 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 forbade that any one should enter the harem. Every window +was fastened; all instruments of music were broken; and the imans 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 Alla!" reached the caliph, +who was eager to cicatrize 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 cymars, 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 recognize 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 her 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 Nekir who are 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 Alla and +the Prophet, supped very indifferently, and retired to their withered +leaves. Nouronihar and her little cousin consoled themselves on finding +that the dead might lie 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 a few storks that were tired of fishing, was 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, Nouronihar, +who, notwithstanding what had passed, had not yet forgotten her vision, +said, "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 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 basket-making 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."--"And what do you intend to live upon there?" inquired +Bababalouk.--"I hardly know," replied Vathek; "but I will tell you when +I feel hungry--which, I believe, will not soon be the case." + +The arrival of Fakreddin put a stop to this conversation. As soon as +Vathek saw him, he threw his arms around his neck, bedewed his face with +a torrent of tears, and uttered things so affecting, so pious, that the +emir, crying for joy, congratulated himself in his heart upon having +performed so admirable and unexpected a conversion. As for the +pilgrimage to the mountain, Fakreddin had his reasons not to oppose it; +therefore, each ascending his own litter, they started. + +Notwithstanding the vigilance with which his attendants watched the +caliph, they could not prevent his harrowing his cheeks with a few +scratches, when on the place where he was told Nouronihar had been +buried; they were even obliged to drag him away, by force of hands, from +the melancholy spot. However, he swore, with a solemn oath, that he +would return thither every day. This resolution did not exactly please +the emir--yet he flattered himself that the caliph might not proceed +farther, and would merely perform his devotions in the cavern of +Meimoune. Besides, the lake was so completely concealed within the +solitary bosom of those tremendous rocks, that he thought it utterly +impossible any one could ever find it. This security of Fakreddin was +also considerably strengthened by the conduct of Vathek, who performed +his vow most scrupulously, and returned daily from the hill so devout, +and so contrite, that all the grey-beards were in a state of ecstasy on +account of it. + +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, one morning, whilst all +were asleep, she arose 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, the top of +which was accessible, though lofty. This she climbed with considerable +toil; and having reached the summit, set forward in a run, like a doe +before the hunter. Though she skipped 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 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 then come hither to eat +rice and hear sermons with me?"--"Beloved phantom!" cried Vathek, "thou +dost speak; thou hast 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 indifference, answered,--"You know, my lord, that I +died on the very 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 clang 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 (which, indeed, had proceeded pretty far), 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 us, 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 finds 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 by, 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 rights 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 sound 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 +ghoul? have you dug up the dead? Yet hope not to make her your prey; +for, after all she hath caused me to suffer, she is wicked enough to +prey even upon you." + +"Cease to play the fool," said Vathek, "and thou shalt soon be convinced +that it is Nouronihar herself, alive and well, whom I clasp to my +breast. Go 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 his old +grey-beards, to begrime his visage with ashes. A total supineness +ensued; travellers were no longer entertained; no more plasters were +spread; and, instead of the charitable activity that had distinguished +this asylum, the whole of its inhabitants exhibited only faces of half a +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 dispatched immediate instructions 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 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. 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 a 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 many little freedoms in his lifetime 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, white eunuchs went +continually round it with gilt 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 the whole day, and at night they bathed +together in a basin of black marble, which admirably set off 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 of chagrin at the emir's, at finding themselves so neglected, if +Fakreddin, notwithstanding his resentment, had not taken pity upon them. + +The Sultana Dilara, who, till then, had been the favourite, took this +dereliction of the caliph to heart, with a vehemence natural to her +character; for, during her continuance in favour, she had imbibed from +Vathek many of his extravagant fancies, and was fired with impatience to +behold the superb tombs of Istakar, and the palace of forty columns; +besides, having been brought up amongst the magi, she had fondly +cherished the idea of the caliph's devoting himself to the worship of +fire: thus his voluptuous and desultory life with her rival was to her a +double source of affliction. The transient piety of Vathek had +occasioned her some serious alarms; but the present was an evil of far +greater magnitude. She resolved, therefore, without hesitation, to write +to Carathis, and acquaint her that all things went ill; that they had +eaten, slept, and revelled at an old emir's, whose sanctity was very +formidable; and that, after all, the prospect of possessing the +treasures of the pre-Adamite sultans was no less remote than before. +This letter was entrusted to the care of two woodmen, who were at work +in one of the great forests of the mountains, and who, 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 woodfellers 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, which 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, of course, 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 blew from 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 woodfellers, 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 with delight. 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 have." The poor +peasants, who were not overpleased 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 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 dusk Alboufaki, making a sudden stop, stamped with his foot; which, +to Carathis, who knew his ways, 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 taste 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. Carathis was too eager to +execute her plan to stop at the view, charming as it appeared in her +eyes. Pondering the advantages that might accrue from her present +situation, she said to herself, "So beautiful a cemetery must be haunted +by ghouls! they never want for intelligence: having heedlessly suffered +my stupid 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 wise 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." + +The negresses, full of joy at the behests of their mistress, and +promising themselves much pleasure from the society of the ghouls, went +with an air of conquest, and began their knockings at the tombs. As +their strokes were repeated, a hollow noise was made in the earth; the +surface hove up into heaps; and the ghouls, on all sides, protruded +their noses to inhale the effluvia which the carcasses of the woodmen +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, +supper being ended, they talked of business. Carathis soon learned from +them everything she wanted to discover; and, without loss of time, +prepared to set forward on her journey. Her negresses, who were forming +tender connections with the ghouls, importuned her, with all their +fingers, to wait at least till the dawn. But Carathis, being chastity in +the abstract, and an implacable enemy to love intrigues and sloth, at +once rejected their prayer, mounted Alboufaki, and commanded them to +take their seats instantly. Four days and four nights she continued her +route without interruption. On the fifth, she traversed craggy 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 had resolved to rip open the +body of Alboufaki, and to stuff it with those of the negresses and of +Carathis herself; but the remembrance 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 upon +the sofas 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 black 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 +beings."--"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 +thought of regret upon the graces of her little Gulchenrouz, and the +days of tender endearments she had participated with him. She even +dropped a few tears, which the caliph observed; and inadvertently +breathed out with a sigh, "Alas! my gentle cousin, what will become of +thee?" 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 within 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 grey 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 stripped themselves naked, and 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 +are not used to 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 and +climbed an old fig-tree that rose against the acclivity of the rocks; +from thence he gained their summits, and ran for two hours without once +looking back. At last, exhausted with fatigue, he fell senseless into +the arms of a good old genius, whose fondness for the company of +children had made it his sole occupation to protect them. Whilst +performing his wonted rounds through the air, he had pounced on the +cruel Giaour, at the instant of his growling in the horrible chasm, and +had rescued the fifty little victims which the impiety of Vathek had +devoted to his voracity. 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 rocs 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 Alla 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. Remote +from the inquietudes of the world, the impertinence of harems, the +brutality of eunuchs, and the inconstancy of women, there he found a +place truly congenial to the delights of his soul. In this peaceable +society his days, months, and years glided on; nor was he less happy +than the rest of his companions: for the genius, instead of burdening +his pupils with perishable riches and vain sciences, 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 two insignificant 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 of 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, the +favourite resort of my nightly lucubrations, without knowing, at least, +if my hare-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 pour grape-shot in the faces of the +assailants, and shafts of red-hot iron on their heads. I will let loose +my stores of hungry serpents and torpedoes from beneath them; and we +shall soon see the stand they will make against such an explosion!" + +Having thus spoken, Carathis hasted 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 mere commander of savoury 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 a few 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 signalize 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 at the door." + +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 +timbals, to overpower the blubbering of the emir and his grey-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 with hyacinths and +jonquils, breathed forth a delightful fragrance. 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 +these oratories might be deemed by the Giaour an 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 offered to their dear masters the santons, assembled +so zealously to do it with good 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 +imans 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 presence 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 one another, in the most ludicrous manner +imaginable. + +Nouronihar and the caliph mutually contended who should most enjoy so +degrading a sight. They burst out in peals 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 Schiraz 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 dervishes 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, wakening 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 listening 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 illume 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 horses +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 powers 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 the extremity of +which 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 the 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 deathlike 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 number could not be counted, were covered by no roof; and their +capitals, of an architecture unknown in the records of the earth, served +as an asylum for the birds of night, 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 blade of grass 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, +and which possessed the same virtue of changing every moment. These, +after vacillating for some time, fixed at last 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 of which ascended and gathered itself +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 recognized. +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 +dependents. I will now usher 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 flew open with a +noise still louder than the thunder of the dog-days, 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 +surrounding objects, 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 either sex danced +lasciviously 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 where 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 with so much at once," replied he bluntly; "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 solemn +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 hung round 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 Ouranbad, the afrits, and all the powers of the abyss to +tremble. At his presence, the heart of the caliph sunk within him; and +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 penetrated the soul and filled it with +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 +fulminating 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 objects to gratify it. You shall possess the exclusive +privilege of entering the fortresses 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 one another 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, called 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 cataract visible in part through one +of the grated portals. This was the only sound that intruded on the +silence of these doleful mansions. A range of brazen cases 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 vase 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 +lifetime 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, hovering over +me, served as a canopy against 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 +beings 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 were unable to flow, and 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, of 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! it is but right she +should have her share of it." 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, four young men of goodly figure, and a lovely female, +who were 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 made room for them. 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 hand on your heart, if you +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. To trace back our +crimes to their source, though we are not permitted to repent, 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 third 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." + +"Has the height of power, to which thou art arrived, turned thy brain?" +answered Carathis; "but I ask no more than permission to show my respect +for Soliman the prophet. It is, however, proper thou shouldst 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, to provide husbands for thy wives, I undoubtedly would have put +him to the torture; but being in a hurry, I only hung him, after having +decoyed him in a snare, with thy wives, whom 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 one of our +society." + +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 thoughts which his companions 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 the icy wind of death. Nothing appalled +her dauntless soul. She perceived, however, in all the inmates who bore +their hands on their heart, 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 +avail thyself of the leisure that remains; for the flames and torments, +which are ready to seize on thy heart, will not fail to provide thee +soon with full employment." He said, 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 became 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 rapid whirl +that rendered her invisible, and continued to revolve without +intermission. + +Almost at the same instant, the same voice announced to the caliph, +Nouronihar, the four princes, and the princess, the awful and +irrevocable decree. Their hearts immediately took fire, and they, at +once, lost the most precious gift 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, shrunk +back, gnashing their teeth with mutual and unchangeable hatred. Kahlah +and his sister made reciprocal gestures of imprecation; all 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 deeds! Such shall be the chastisement of that blind +curiosity, which would transgress those bounds the wisdom of the Creator +has prescribed to human knowledge; and such the dreadful disappointment +of that restless ambition, which, aiming at discoveries reserved for +beings of a supernatural order, perceives not, through its infatuated +pride, that the condition of man upon earth is to be--humble and +ignorant. + +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, +the despised Gulchenrouz passed whole ages in undisturbed tranquillity, +and in the pure happiness of childhood. + + + + +NOTES + + +PAGE 195. _Caliph_ + +This title, amongst the Mahometans, comprehends the concrete character +of Prophet, Priest, and King, and is used to signify _the Vicar of God +on Earth_. It is, at this day, one of the titles of the Grand Signior, +as successor of Mahomet; and of the Sophi of Persia, as successor of +Ali.--HABESCI'S _State of the Ottoman Empire_, p. 9. D'HERBELOT, p. 985. + + +PAGE 195. _Omar Ben Abdalaziz_ + +This caliph was eminent above all others for temperance and self-denial, +insomuch that he is believed to have been raised to Mahomet's bosom, as +a reward for his abstinence in an age of corruption.--D'HERBELOT, p. +690. + + +PAGE 195. _Samarah_ + +A city of the Babylonian Irak; supposed to have stood on the site where +Nimrod erected his tower. Khondemir relates, in his life of Motassem, +that this prince, to terminate the disputes which were perpetually +happening between the inhabitants of Bagdat and his Turkish slaves, +withdrew from thence, and having fixed on a situation in the plain of +Catoul, there founded Samarah. He is said to have had, in the stables of +this city, a hundred and thirty thousand _pied horses_, each of which +carried, by his order, a sack of earth to a place he had chosen. By this +accumulation an elevation was formed that commanded a view of all +Samarah, and served for the foundation of his magnificent +palace.--D'HERBELOT, pp. 752, 808, 985. _Anecdotes Arabes_, p. 413. + + +PAGE 195. _... in the most delightful succession_ + +The great men of the East have been always fond of music. Though +forbidden by the Mahometan religion, it commonly makes a part of every +entertainment. _Nitimur in vetitum semper._ Female slaves are generally +kept to amuse them and the ladies of their harems. The Persian +Khanyagere seems nearly to have resembled our old English minstrel; as +he usually accompanied his barbut, or lute, with heroic +songs.--RICHARDSON'S _Dissertation on the Languages, etc., of Eastern +Nations_, p. 211. + + +PAGE 196. _Mani_ + +This artist, whom Inatulla of Delhi styles _the far-famed_, lived in the +reign of Schabur, or Sapor, the son of Ardschir Babegan, was founder of +the sect of Manichaeans, and was, by profession, a painter and sculptor. +His pretensions, supported by an uncommon skill in mechanical +contrivances, induced the ignorant to believe that his powers were more +than human. After having secluded himself from his followers, under the +pretence of passing a year in heaven, he produced a wonderful volume, +which he affirmed to have brought from thence; containing images and +figures of a marvellous nature.--D'HERBELOT, p. 458. It appears, from +the _Arabian Nights_, that Haroun al Raschid, Vathek's grandfather, had +adorned his palace and furnished his magnificent pavilion with the most +capital performances of the Persian artists. + + +PAGE 196. _Houris_ + +The virgins of Paradise, called, from their large black eyes, _Hur al +oyun_. An intercourse with these, according to the institution of +Mahomet, is to constitute the principal felicity of the faithful. Not +formed of clay, like mortal women, they are deemed in the highest degree +beautiful, and exempt from every inconvenience incident to the sex.--_Al +Koran_; _passim_. + + +PAGE 196. _... it was not with the orthodox that he usually held_ + +Vathek persecuted, with extreme rigour, all who defended the eternity of +the Koran; which the Sonnites, or orthodox, maintained to be uncreated, +and the Motazalites and Schiites as strenuously denied.--D'HERBELOT, p. +85, etc. + + +PAGE 197. _Mahomet in the seventh heaven_ + +In this heaven, the paradise of Mahomet is supposed to be placed, +contiguous to the throne of Alla. Hagi Khalfah relates, that Ben +Iatmaiah, a celebrated doctor of Damascus, had the temerity to assert +that, when the Most High erected his throne, he reserved a vacant place +for Mahomet upon it. + + +PAGE 197. _Genii_ + +_Genn_, or _Ginn_, in the Arabic, signifies a Genius or Demon, a being +of a higher order, and formed of more subtile matter than man. According +to Oriental mythology, the Genii governed the world long before the +creation of Adam. The Mahometans regarded them as an intermediate race +between angels and men, and capable of salvation; whence Mahomet +pretended a commission to convert them. Consonant to this, we read that, +_when the |Servant of God| stood up to invoke him, it wanted little but +that the |Genii| had pressed on him in crowds, to hear him rehearse the +Koran_.--D'HERBELOT, p. 375. _Al Koran_, ch. 72. It is asserted, and not +without plausible reasons, that the words _Genn_, _Ginn_--_Genius_, +_Genie_, _Gian_, _Gigas_, _Giant_, _Geant_--proceed from the same +themes, viz. {Ge}, _the earth_, and {gao}, _to produce_; as if these +supernatural agents had been an early production of the earth, long +before Adam was modelled out from a lump of it. The {Ontes} and {Eontes} +of Plato bear a close analogy to these supposed intermediate creatures +between God and man. From these premises arose the consequence that, +boasting a higher order, formed of more subtle matter, and possessed of +much greater knowledge, than man, they lorded over this planet, and +invisibly governed it with superior intellect. From this last +circumstance they obtained in Greece the title of {Daimones}, Demons, +from {daemon}, _sciens_, knowing. The Hebrew word, \NFLIM\, Nephilim +(Gen. vi, 4), translated by _Gigantes_, giants, claiming the same etymon +with {nephele}, a cloud, seems also to indicate that these intellectual +beings inhabited the void expanse of the terrestrial atmosphere. Hence +the very ancient fable of men of enormous strength and size revolting +against the gods, and all the mythological lore relating to that mighty +conflict; unless we trace the origin of this important event to the +ambition of Satan, his revolt against the Almighty, and his fall with +the angels. + + +PAGE 197. _Assist him to complete the tower_ + +The Genii, who were styled by the Persians _Peris_ and _Dives_, were +famous for their architectural skill. The pyramids of Egypt have been +ascribed to them. + +The Koran relates, that the Genii were employed by Solomon in the +erection of his magnificent temple.--BAILLY, _Sur l'Atlantide_, p. 146. +D'HERBELOT, p. 8. _Al Koran_, ch. 34. + + +PAGE 198. _... the stranger displayed such rarities as he had never +before seen_ + +In the _Tales of Inatulla_, we meet with a traveller who, like this, was +furnished with trinkets and curiosities of an extraordinary kind. That +such were much sought after in the days of Vathek, may be concluded from +the encouragement which Haroun al Raschid gave to the mechanic arts, and +the present he sent by his ambassadors to Charlemagne. This consisted of +a clock, which, when put into motion, by means of a clepsydra, not only +pointed out the hours in their round, but also, by dropping small balls +on a bell, struck them, and, at the same instant, threw open as many +little doors, to let out an equal number of horsemen. Besides these, the +clock displayed various other contrivances.--_Ann. Reg. Franc. Pip. +Caroli, etc._, _ad ann._ 807. WEIDLER, p. 205. + + +PAGE 198. _... characters on the sabres_ + +Such inscriptions often occur in Eastern romances. We find, in the +_Arabian Nights_, a cornelian, on which _unknown characters_ were +engraven; and, also, a sabre, like those here described. In the French +king's library is a curious treatise, entitled _Sefat Alaclam_; +containing a variety of alphabets, arranged under different heads; such +as the _prophetic_, the _mystical_, the _philosophic_, the _magical_, +the _talismanic_, etc., which seems to have escaped the research of the +indefatigable Mr. Astle.--_Arabian Nights_, vol. ii, p. 246; vol. i, p. +143. D'HERBELOT, p. 797. + + +PAGE 201. _... beards burnt off_ + +The loss of the beard, from the earliest ages, was accounted highly +disgraceful. An instance occurs, in the _Tales of Inatulla_, of one +being _singed off_, as a mulct on the owner, for having failed to +explain a question propounded; and, in the _Arabian Nights_, a +proclamation may be seen similar to this of Vathek.--Vol. i, p. 268; +vol. ii, p. 228. + + +PAGE 202. _The old man put on his green spectacles_ + +This is an apparent anachronism; but such frequently occur in reading +the Arabian writers. It should be remembered, the difficulty of +ascertaining facts and fixing the dates of inventions must be +considerable in a vast extent of country, where books are comparatively +few, and the art of printing unpractised. Though the origin of +_spectacles_ can be traced back, with certainty, no higher than the +thirteenth century, yet the observation of Seneca--that letters appeared +of an increased magnitude when viewed through the medium of convex +glass--might have been noted also by others, and _a sort of spectacles_ +contrived, in consequence of it. But, however this might have been, the +art of staining glass is sufficiently ancient, to have suggested in the +days of Vathek the use of _green_, as a protection to the eye from a +glare of light. + + +PAGE 204. _Accursed Giaour!_ + +_Dives_ of this kind are frequently mentioned by Eastern writers. +Consult their tales in general; and especially those of the Fishermen, +Aladdin, and the Princess of China. + + +PAGE 206. _Bababalouk, the chief of his eunuchs_ + +As it was the employment of the _black eunuchs_ to wait upon and guard +the sultanas; so the general superintendence of the harem was +particularly committed to their chief.--HABESCI'S _State of the Ottoman +Empire_, pp. 155, 156. + + +PAGE 206. _... the divan_ + +This was both the supreme council and court of justice, at which the +caliphs of the race of the Abassides assisted in person, to redress the +injuries of every appellant.--D'HERBELOT, p. 298. + + +PAGE 206. _The officers arranged themselves in a semicircle_ + +Such was the etiquette, constantly observed, on entering the +divan.--_Arabian Nights_, vol. iv, p. 36. D'HERBELOT, p. 912. + + +PAGE 206. _... the prime vizier_ + +Vazir, vezir, or, as we express it, vizier, literally signifies a +_porter_; and, by metaphor, the minister who bears the principal burden +of the state, generally called the Sublime Porte. + + +PAGE 207. _The muezzins and their minarets_ + +Valid, the son of Abdalmalek, was the first who erected a _minaret_, or +turret; and this he placed on the grand mosque at Damascus, for the +_muezzin_, or crier, to announce from it the hour of prayer. This +practice has constantly been kept to this day.--D'HERBELOT, p. 576. + + +PAGE 210. _Soliman Ben Daoud_ + +The name of _David_ in Hebrew is composed of the letter \V\ _Vau_ +between two \D\ _Daleths_ \DVD\; and, according to the Masoretic points, +ought to be pronounced _David_. Having no U consonant in their tongue, +the Septuagint substituted the letter B for V, and wrote {Dabid}, +_Dabid_. The Syriac reads _Dad_ or _Dod_; and the Arabs articulate +_Daoud_. + + +PAGE 210. _I require the blood of fifty of the most beautiful sons of +the viziers_ + +Amongst the infatuated votaries of the powers of darkness, the most +acceptable offering was _the blood of their children_. If the parents +were not at hand to make an immediate offer, _the magistrates did not +fail to select those who were most fair and promising_, that the demon +might not be defrauded of his dues. On one occasion, _two hundred of the +prime nobility were sacrificed together_.--BRYANT'S _Observations_, p. +279, etc. + + +PAGE 213. _... bracelet_ + +The bracelet, in the East, was an emblem of royalty.--D'HERBELOT, p. +541. For want of a more proper term to denominate the ornament +_serkhooj_, the word _aigret_ is here used. + + +PAGE 214. _... mutes_ + +It has been usual, in Eastern courts, from time immemorial, to retain a +number of mutes. These are not only employed to amuse the monarch, but +also to instruct his pages in an art to us little known, of +communicating everything by signs, lest the sounds of their voices +should disturb the sovereign.--HABESCI'S _State of the Ottoman Empire_, +p. 164. The mutes are also the secret instruments of his private +vengeance, in carrying the fatal string. + + +PAGE 215. _Prayer announced at break of day_ + +The stated seasons of public prayer, in the twenty-four hours, were +five: daybreak, noon, midtime between noon and sunset, immediately as +the sun leaves the horizon, and an hour and a half after it is down. + + +PAGE 216. _Skulls and skeletons_ + +Both were usually added to the ingredients already mentioned. These +magic rites sufficiently resemble the witch scenes of Middleton, +Shakespeare, etc., to show their Oriental origin. Nor is it to be +wondered if, amongst the many systems adopted from the East, this should +have been in the number. It may be seen, from the Arabian Tales, that +magic was an art publicly taught; and Father Angelo relates of a rich +enchanter, whom he knew at Bassora, that his pupils were so numerous as +to occupy an entire quarter of the city. + + +PAGE 219. _Flagons of wine and vases of sherbet reposing on snow_ + +Sir John Chardin speaks of a wine much admired in the East, and +particularly in Persia, called _roubnar_; which is made from the juice +of the pomegranate, and sent abroad in large quantities. The Oriental +sherbets, styled by St. Jerome, _sorbitiunculae delicatae_, consisted of +various syrups (such as lemon, liquorice, capillaire, etc.) mixed with +water. To these, Hasselquist adds several others, and observes, that the +sweet-scented violet is a flower greatly esteemed, not only for its +smell and colour, but, especially, for its use in _sherbet_; which, when +the Easterns intend to entertain their guests in an elegant manner, is +made of a solution of violet-sugar. Snow, in the _rinfrescos_ of a hot +climate, is almost a constant ingredient. Thus, in the _Arabian Nights_, +Bedreddin Hassan, having filled a large porcelain bowl with sherbet of +roses, put snow into it. + + +PAGE 219. _... a parchment_ + +Parchments of the like mysterious import are frequent in the writings of +the Easterns. One in particular, amongst the Arabians, is held in high +veneration. It was written by Ali, and Giafar Sadek, in mystic +characters, and is said to contain the destiny of the Mahometan +religion, and the great events which are to happen previous to the end +of the world. This parchment is of _camel's skin_; but it was usual with +Catherine of Medicis to carry about her person, a legend, in cabalistic +characters, inscribed on the skin of a dead-born infant.--D'HERBELOT, p. +366. WRAXALL'S _House of Valois_. + + +PAGE 219. _Istakar_ + +This city was the ancient Persepolis, and capital of Persia, under the +kings of the three first races. The author of _Lebtarikh_ writes, that +Kischtab there established his abode, erected several temples to the +element of fire, and hewed out for himself and his successors sepulchres +in the rocks of the mountain contiguous to the city. The ruins of +columns and broken figures which still remain, defaced as they were by +Alexander and mutilated by time, plainly evince that those ancient +potentates had chosen it for the place of their interment. Their +monuments, however, must not be confounded with the superb palace reared +by Queen Homai, in the midst of Istakhar; which the Persians distinguish +by the name of _Tchilminar_, or the forty watch-towers. The origin of +this city is ascribed by some to Giamschid, and others carry it higher; +but the Persian tradition is, that it was built by the _Peris_, or +Fairies, when the world was governed by Gian Ben Gian.--D'HERBELOT, p. +327. + + +PAGE 219. _Gian Ben Gian_ + +By this appellation was distinguished the monarch of that species of +beings, whom the Arabians denominate _Gian_ or _Ginn_; that is, _Genii_; +and the Tarikh Thabari, _Peris_, _Feez_, or _Fairies_. He was renowned +for his warlike expeditions and stupendous structures. According to +Oriental writers, the pyramids of Egypt were amongst the monuments of +his power. The buckler of this mighty sovereign, no less famous than +that of Achilles, was employed by three successive Solimans, to achieve +their marvellous exploits. From them, it descended to Tahamurath, +surnamed _Divbend_, or _Conqueror of the_ GIANTS. This buckler was +endowed with most wonderful qualities, having been fabricated by +talismanic art; and was alone sufficient to destroy all the charms and +enchantments of demons or giants; which, on the contrary, were wrought +by magic. Hence we are no longer at a loss for the origin of the +wonderful shield of Atlante. + +The reign of Gian Ben Gian over the Peris is said to have continued for +two thousand years; after which, EBLIS was sent by the Deity to exile +them, on account of their disorders, and confine them in the remotest +region of the earth.--D'HERBELOT, p. 396. BAILLY, _Sur l'Atlantide_, p. +147. + + +PAGE 219. _... the talismans of Soliman_ + +The most famous _talisman_ of the East, and which could control even the +arms and magic of the dives or giants, was _Mohur Solimani_, the seal or +ring of Soliman Jared, fifth monarch of the world after Adam. By means +of it the possessor had the entire command, not only of the elements, +but also of demons and every created being.--RICHARDSON'S _Dissertation +on the Languages, etc., of Eastern Nations_, p. 272. D'HERBELOT, p. 820. + + +PAGE 219. _... pre-Adamite sultans_ + +These monarchs, which were seventy-two in number, are said to have +governed each a distinct species of rational beings, prior to the +existence of Adam. Amongst the most renowned of them were SOLIMAN RAAD, +SOLIMAN DAKI, and SOLIMAN DI GIAN BEN GIAN.--D'HERBELOT, p. 820. + + +PAGE 219. _... beware how thou enterest any dwelling_ + +Strange as this injunction may seem, it is by no means incongruous to +the customs of the country. Dr. Pocock mentions his travelling with the +train of the governor of Faiume, who, instead of lodging in a village +that was near, passed the night in a grove of palm-trees.--_Travels_, +vol. i, p. 56. + + +PAGE 220. _... the ass of Balaam, the dog of the seven sleepers, and the +other animals admitted into the paradise of Mahomet_ + +It was a tenet of the Mussulman creed, that all animals would be raised +again, and many of them honoured with admission to paradise. The story +of the seven sleepers, borrowed from Christian legends, was this: In the +days of the Emperor Decius, there were certain Ephesian youths of a good +family, who, to avoid the flames of persecution, fled to a secret +cavern, and there slept for a number of years. In their flight towards +the cave, they were followed by a dog, which, when they attempted to +drive back, said, "_I love those who are dear unto God; go sleep, +therefore, and I will guard you._" For this dog the Mahometans retain so +profound a reverence, that their harshest sarcasm against a covetous +person is, "He would not throw a bone to the dog of the seven sleepers." +It is even said that their superstition induces them to write his name +upon the letters they send to a distance, as a kind of talisman, to +secure them a safe conveyance.--_Religious Ceremonies_, vol. vii, p. 74 +n. SALE'S _Koran_, chap. xviii and notes. + + +PAGE 220. _Rocnabad_ + +The stream thus denominated flows near the city of Schiraz. Its waters +are uncommonly pure and limpid, and their banks swarded with the finest +verdure. + + +PAGE 220. _Do you, with the advice of my mother, govern_ + +Females in the East were not anciently excluded from power. In the Story +of Zeyn Alasnam and the King of the Genii, the mother of Zeyn +undertakes, with the aid of his viziers, to govern Bassora during his +absence on a similar expedition. + + +PAGE 221. _Chintz and muslin_ + +For many curious particulars relative to these articles, consult Mr. +Delaval's _Inquiry concerning the Changes of Colours, etc._; to which +may be added, LUCRETIUS, lib. iv, 5. PETRONIUS, c. 37. MARTIAL, viii, +Ep. 28, 17; xiv, Ep. 150. PLUTARCH, in _Vita Catonis_. PLINY, viii, 48. + + +PAGE 221. _Moullahs_ + +Those amongst the Mahometans who were bred to the law had this title; +and from their order the judges of cities and provinces were taken. + + +PAGE 221. _... the sacred Caaba_ + +That part of the temple at Mecca which is chiefly revered, and, indeed, +gives a sanctity to the rest, is a square stone building called the +Caaba, probably from its quadrangular form. The length of this edifice, +from north to south, is twenty-four cubits, and its breadth, from east +to west, twenty-three. The door is on the east side, and stands about +four cubits from the ground, the floor being level with the threshold. +The Caaba has a double roof, supported internally by three octangular +pillars of aloes wood, between which, on a bar of iron, hangs a row of +silver lamps. The outside is covered with rich black damask, adorned +with an embroidered band of gold. This hanging, which is changed every +year, was formerly sent by the caliphs.--SALE'S _Preliminary Discourse_, +p. 152. + + +PAGE 222. _... the supposed oratory_ + +The dishonouring such places as had an appearance of being devoted to +religious purposes, by converting them to the most abject offices of +nature, was an Oriental method of expressing contempt, and hath +continued from remote antiquity.--HARMER'S _Observations_, vol. ii, p. +493. + + +PAGE 223. _... regale these pious poor souls with my good wine from +Schiraz_ + +The prohibition of wine in the Koran is so rigidly observed by the +conscientious, especially if they have performed the pilgrimage to +Mecca, that they deem it sinful to press grapes for the purpose of +making it, and even to use the money arising from its sale.--CHARDIN, +_Voy. de Perse_, tom. ii, p. 212. _Schiraz_ was famous in the East for +its wines of different sorts, but particularly for its _red_, which was +esteemed more highly than even the white wine of _Kismische_. + + +PAGE 224. _... the most stately tulips of the East_ + +The tulip is a flower of Eastern growth, and there held in great +estimation. Thus, in an ode of Mesihi: "The edge of the bower is filled +with the light of Ahmed; among the plants the fortunate _tulips_ +represent his companions." + + +PAGE 224. _... certain cages of ladies_ + +There are many passages of the _Moallakat_ in which these _cages_ are +fully described. Thus, in the poem of Lebeid: + +"How were thy tender affections raised, when the damsels of the tribe +departed; when they hid themselves in carriages of cotton, like +antelopes in their lair, and the tents as they were struck gave a +piercing sound! + +"They were concealed in vehicles, whose sides were well covered with +awnings and carpets, with fine-spun curtains and pictured +veils."--_Moallakat_, by SIR W. JONES, pp. 46, 35. See also LADY M. W. +MONTAGU, Let. xxvi. + + +PAGE 224. _... dislodged_ + +Our language wants a verb, equivalent to the French _denicher_, to +convey, in this instance, the precise sense of the author. + + +PAGE 225. _... those nocturnal insects which presage evil_ + +It is observable that, in the fifth verse of the Ninety-first Psalm, +"the terror by night," is rendered, in the old English version, "the +bugge by night."[1] In the first settled parts of North America, every +nocturnal fly of a noxious quality is still generically named a bug; +whence the term bugbear signifies one that carries terror wherever he +goes. Beelzebub, or the Lord of Flies, was an Eastern appellative given +to the Devil; and the nocturnal sound called by the Arabians _azif_ was +believed to be the howling of demons. + +[1] Instances are not wanted, both in the English and Greek versions, +where the translators have modified the sense of the original by their +own preconceived opinions. To this source may be ascribed the BUGGE of +our old Bible. + + +PAGE 225. _... the locusts were heard from the thickets on the plain of +Catoul_ + +The insects here mentioned are of the same species with the {tettix} of +the Greeks, and the _cicada_ of the Latins. The locusts are mentioned in +Pliny, b. xi, 29. They were so called, from _loco usto_, because the +havoc they made wherever they passed left behind the appearance of a +place desolated by fire. How could then the commentators of Vathek say +that they are called _locusts_, from their having been so denominated by +the first English settlers in America? + + +PAGE 226. _Vathek ... with two little pages_ + +"All the pages of the seraglio are sons of Christians made slaves in +time of war, in their most tender age. The incursions of robbers in the +confines of Circassia afford the means of supplying the seraglio, even +in times of peace."--HABESCI'S _State of the Ottoman Empire_, p. 157. +That the pages here mentioned were _Circassians_, appears from the +description of their complexion--_more fair than the enamel of +Franguestan_. + + +PAGE 226. _... confectioners and cooks_ + +What their precise number might have been in Vathek's establishment it +is not now easy to determine; but in the household of the present Grand +Signior there are not fewer than a hundred and ninety.--HABESCI'S _State +of the Ottoman Empire_, p. 145. + + +PAGE 227. _... hath seen some part of our bodies; and, what is worse, +our very faces_ + +"I was informed," writes Dr. Cooke, "that the Persian women, in general, +would sooner expose to public view any part of their bodies than their +faces."--_Voyages and Travels_, vol. ii, p. 443. + + +PAGE 228. _... vases of snow, and grapes from the banks of the Tigris_ + +It was customary in Eastern climates, and especially in the sultry +season, to carry, when journeying, supplies of snow. These _aestivae +nives_ (as Mamertinus styles them) being put into separate vases, were, +by that means, better kept from the air, as no more was opened at once +than might suffice for immediate use. To preserve the whole from +solution, the vessels that contained it were secured in packages of +straw.--_Gesta Dei_, p. 1098. Vathek's ancestor, the CALIPH MAHADI, in +the pilgrimage to Mecca, which he undertook from ostentation rather than +devotion, loaded upon camels so prodigious a quantity, as was not only +sufficient for himself and his attendants amidst the burning sands of +Arabia, but also to preserve, in their natural freshness, the various +fruits he took with him, and to ice all their drink whilst he stayed at +Mecca, the greater part of whose inhabitants had never seen snow till +then.--_Anecdotes Arabes_, p. 326. + + +PAGE 229. _... horrible Kaf_ + +This mountain, which, in reality, is no other than Caucasus, was +supposed to surround the earth, like a ring encompassing a finger. The +sun was believed to rise from one of its eminences (as over Oeta, by the +Latin poets), and to set on the opposite; whence, _from Kaf to Kaf_, +signified, from one extremity of the earth to the other. The fabulous +historians of the East affirm, that this mountain was founded upon a +stone, called _sakhrat_, one grain of which, according to Lokman, would +enable the possessor to work wonders. This stone is further described as +the pivot of the earth, and said to be one vast emerald, from the +refraction of whose beams the heavens derive their azure. It is added, +that whenever God would excite an earthquake, he commands the stone to +move one of its fibres (which supply in it the office of nerves), and, +that being moved, the part of the earth connected with it quakes, is +convulsed, and sometimes expands. Such is the philosophy of the Koran! + +The _Tarikh Tabari_, written in Persian, analogous to the same +tradition, relates, that, were it not for this emerald, the earth would +be liable to perpetual commotions, and unfit for the abode of mankind. + +To arrive at the Kaf, a vast region, + + "Far from the sun and summer gale," + +must be traversed. Over this dark and cheerless desert, the way is +inextricable without the direction of supernatural guidance. Here the +dives or giants were confined, after their defeat by the first heroes of +the human race; and here, also, the peris, or fairies, are supposed in +ordinary to reside. Sukrage, the giant, was king of Kaf, and had Rucail, +one of the children of Adam, for his prime minister. The giant Argenk, +likewise, from the time that Tahamurath made war upon him, reigned here, +and reared a superb palace in the city of Aherman, with galleries, on +whose walls were painted the creatures that inhabited the world prior to +the formation of Adam.--D'HERBELOT, p. 230, etc. + + +PAGE 229. _... the Simurgh_ + +This is that wonderful bird of the East, concerning which so many +marvels are told: it was not only endowed with reason, but possessed +also the knowledge of every language. Hence it may be concluded to have +been a dive in a borrowed form. This creature relates of itself that it +had seen the great revolution of seven thousand years twelve times +commence and close; and that, in its duration, the world had been seven +times void of inhabitants, and as often replenished. The Simurgh is +represented as a great friend to the race of Adam, and not less inimical +to the dives. Tahamurath and Aherman were apprised by its predictions of +all that was destined to befall them, and from it they obtained the +promise of assistance in every undertaking. Armed with the buckler of +Gian Ben Gian, Tahamurath was borne by it through the air, over the dark +desert, to Kaf. From its bosom his helmet was crested with plumes, which +the most renowned warriors have ever since worn. In every conflict the +Simurgh was invulnerable, and the heroes it favoured never failed of +success. Though possessed of power sufficient to exterminate its foes, +yet the exertion of that power was supposed to be forbidden. Sadi, a +serious author, gives it as an instance of the universality of +Providence, that the Simurgh, notwithstanding its immense bulk, is at no +loss for sustenance on the mountain of Kaf. Inatulla hath described +Getiafrose, queen of the Genii, as seated on a golden chariot, drawn by +ten simurghs; whose wings extended wide as the earth-shading bir, and +whose talons resembled the proboscis of mighty elephants: but it does +not appear from any other writer, that there ever was more than _one_, +which is frequently called the _marvellous gryphon_, and said to be +like that imaginary monster.--D'HERBELOT, p. 1017, 810, etc. _Tales of +Inatulla_, vol. ii, pp. 71, 72. + +As the _magic shield of Atlante_ resembles the _buckler of Gian Ben +Gian_, so _his Ippogrif_ apparently came from the _Simurgh_, +notwithstanding the reference of Ariosto to the veridical Archbishop: + + "Non ho veduto mai, ne letto altrove, + Fuor che in Turpin, d'un si fatto animale." + + +PAGE 229. _... palampores, etc._ + +These elegant productions, which abound in all parts of the East, were +of very remote antiquity. Not only are {sindonas EUANTHEIS}, _finely +flowered linens_, noticed by Strabo; but Herodotus relates, that the +nations of Caucasus _adorned_ their _garments_ with _figures of various +creatures_, by means of the sap of certain vegetables; which, when +macerated and diluted with water, communicate colours that cannot be +washed out, and are no less permanent than the texture itself.--STRABO, +l. xv, p. 709. HERODOTUS, l. i, p. 96. The Arabian Tales repeatedly +describe these "_fine linens of India, painted in the most lively +colours_, and representing _beasts_, _trees_, _flowers_, etc."--_Arabian +Nights_, vol. iv, p. 217, etc. + + +PAGE 229. _... afrits_ + +These were a kind of Medusae, or Lamiae, supposed to be the most terrible +and cruel of all the orders of the dives.--D'HERBELOT, p. 66. + + +PAGE 229. _... tablets fraught with preternatural qualities_ + +Mr. Richardson observes, "that in the East men of rank in general +carried with them pocket astronomical tables, which they consulted on +every affair of moment." These tablets, however, were of the _magical_ +kind, and such as often occur in works of romance. Thus, in Boiardo, +Orlando receives, from the father of the youth he had rescued, "a book +that would solve all doubts"; and, in Ariosto, Logistilla bestows upon +Astolpho a similar directory. The books which Carathis turned over with +Morakanabad were imagined to have possessed the like virtues. + + +PAGE 230. _... dwarfs_ + +Such unfortunate beings as are thus "curtailed of fair proportion," have +been, for ages, an appendage of Eastern grandeur. One part of their +office consists in the instruction of the pages; but their principal +duty is the amusement of their master. If a dwarf happen to be a mute, +he is much esteemed; but if he be also an eunuch, he is regarded as a +prodigy, and no pains or expense are spared to obtain him.--HABESCI'S +_State of the Ottoman Empire_, p. 164, etc. + + +PAGE 230. _... a small spring supplies us with water for the Abdest, and +we daily repeat prayers, etc._ + +Amongst the indispensable rules of the Mahometan faith, ablution is one +of the chief. This rite is divided into three kinds. The first, +performed before prayers, is called _Abdest_. It begins with washing +both hands, and repeating these words: "Praised be Alla, who created +clean water, and gave it the virtue to purify: he also hath rendered our +faith conspicuous." This done, water is taken in the right hand thrice, +and the mouth being washed, the worshipper subjoins: "I pray thee, O +Lord, to let me taste of that water which thou hast given to thy prophet +Mahomet in paradise, more fragrant than musk, whiter than milk, sweeter +than honey; and which has the power to quench for ever the thirst of him +that drinks it." This petition is accompanied with sniffing a little +water into the nose. The face is then three times washed, and behind the +ears; after which water is taken with both hands, beginning with the +right, and thrown to the elbow. The washing of the crown next follows, +and the apertures of the ear with the thumbs; afterward the neck with +all the fingers, and, finally, the feet. In this last operation, it is +held sufficient to wet the sandal only. At each ceremonial a suitable +petition is offered, and the whole concludes with this: "Hold me up +firmly, O Lord! and suffer not my foot to slip, that I may not fall from +the bridge into hell." Nothing can be more exemplary than the attention +with which these rites are performed. If an involuntary cough or sneeze +interrupt them, the whole service is begun anew, and that as often as it +happens.--HABESCI, p. 91, etc. + + +PAGE 230. _... reading the holy Koran_ + +The Mahometans have a book of stops or pauses in reading the Koran, +which divides it into _seventeen_ sections, and allows of no +more.--D'HERBELOT, p. 915. + + +PAGE 230. _... the bells of a cafila_ + +A cafila, or caravan, according to Pitts, is divided into distinct +companies, at the head of which an officer, or person of distinction, is +carried in a kind of horse-litter, and followed by a sumpter camel, +loaded with his treasure. This camel hath a bell fastened to either +side, the sound of which may be heard at a considerable distance. Others +have bells on their necks and their legs, to solace them when drooping +with heat and fatigue. Inatulla also, in his tales, hath a similar +reference: "The bells of the cafila may be rung in the thirsty desert." +Vol. ii, p. 15. These small bells were known at Rome from the earliest +times, and called from their sounds _tintinnabulum_. Phaedrus gives us a +lively description of the mule carrying the fiscal moneys: _clarumque +collo jactans tintinnabulum_.--Bk. ii, fabl. vii. + + +PAGE 230. _Deggial_ + +This word signifies properly a liar and impostor, but is applied by +Mahometan writers to their _Antichrist_. He is described as having but +one eye and eyebrow, and on his forehead the radicals of _cafer_ or +_infidel_ are said to be impressed. According to the traditions of the +faithful, his first appearance will be between Irak and Syria, mounted +on an ass. Seventy thousand Jews from Ispahan are expected to follow +him. His continuance on earth is to be forty days. All places are to be +destroyed by him and his emissaries, except _Mecca_ or _Medina_, which +will be protected by angels from the general overthrow. At last, +however, he will be slain by Jesus, who is to encounter him at the gate +of Lud.--D'HERBELOT, p. 282. SALE'S _Preliminary Discourse_, p. 106. + + +PAGE 230. _... dictated by the blessed Intelligence_ + +That is, the angel _Gabriel_. The Mahometans deny that the Koran was +composed by their prophet; it being their general and orthodox belief, +that it is of divine original; nay, even eternal and uncreated, +remaining in the very essence of God; that the first transcript has been +from everlasting by his throne, written on a table of immense size, +called the _preserved table_; on which are also recorded the divine +decrees, past and future: that a copy was by the ministry of the angel +_Gabriel_ sent down to the lowest heaven, in the month of _Ramadan_, on +the night of _power_: from whence _Gabriel_ revealed it to Mahomet by +parcels, some at Mecca, and some at Medina.--_Al Koran_, ch. ii, etc. +SALE'S _Preliminary Discourse_, p. 85. + + +PAGE 231. _... to kiss the fringe of your consecrated robe_ + +This observance was an act of the most profound reverence.--_Arabian +Nights_, vol. iv, p. 236, etc. + + +PAGE 231. _... and implore you to enter his humble habitation_ + +It has long been customary for the Arabs to change their habitations +with the seasons. Thus Antara: + +"Thou hast possessed thyself of my heart; thou hast fixed thy abode, and +art settled there, as a beloved and cherished inhabitant. + +"Yet how can I visit my fair one, whilst her family have their _vernal +mansion_ in Oneizatain, and mine are stationed in Ghailem?" + +Xenophon relates, in his Anabasis, that it was customary for the kings +of Persia {therizein kai erizein}, to pass the _summer_ and _spring_ in +Susa and Ecbatana; and Plutarch observes further, that their winters +were spent in Babylon, their summers in Media (that is, _Ecbatana_), and +the pleasantest part of _spring_ in Susa: {Kaitoi tousge Person basileas +emakarizon en babyloni ton cheimona diagonias; en de Media to theros; en +de Sousois, to hediston tou EAROS.}--_De Exil._, p. 604. + + +PAGE 231. _... red characters_ + +The laws of Draco are recorded by Plutarch, in his _Life of Solon_, to +have been written in blood. If more were meant by this expression, than +that those laws were of a sanguinary nature, they will furnish the +earliest instance of the use of _red characters_, which were afterwards +considered as appropriate to supreme authority, and employed to denounce +some requisition or threatening design to strike terror. According to +Suidas, this manner of writing was, likewise, practised in _magic +rites_. Hence their application to the instance here mentioned. TROTZ, +_In Herm. Hugonem_, pp. 106, 307. SUIDAS _sub voc._ {Thettale gyne}. + + +PAGE 231. _... thy body shall be spit upon_ + +There was no mark of contempt amongst the Easterns so ignominious as +this.--_Arabian Nights_, vol. i, p. 115.; vol. iv, p. 275. It was the +same in the days of Job. Herodotus relates of the Medes, {PTUEIN antion +AISCHRON esti}, and Xenophon relates, {AISCHRON esti Persais to +APOPTUEIN}. Hence the reason is evident for spitting on our Saviour. + + +PAGE 231. _... bats will nestle in thy belly_ + +Bats in these countries were very abundant, and, both from their numbers +and nature, held in abhorrence. See what is related of them by THEVENOT, +part i, pp. 132, 133, EGMONT and HAYMAN, vol. ii, p. 87, and other +travellers in the East. + + +PAGE 232. _... the Bismillah_ + +This word (which is prefixed to every chapter of the Koran except the +ninth) signifies, "in the name of the most merciful God." It became not +the initiatory formula of prayer till the time of Moez the Fatimite. +D'HERBELOT, p. 326. + + +PAGE 232. _... inscription_ + +Inscriptions of this sort are still retained. Thus Ludeke: "Interni non +solum Divani pluriumque conclavium parietes, sed etiam frontispicia +super portas inscriptiones habent."--_Expositio_, p. 54. In the History +of Amine, we find an inscription over a gate, in letters of gold, +analogous to this of Fakreddin: "Here is the abode of everlasting +pleasures and content."--_Arabian Nights_, vol. i, p. 193. + + +PAGE 232. _... a magnificent tecthtrevan_ + +This kind of _moving throne_, though more common at present than in the +days of Vathek, is still confined to persons of the highest rank. + + +PAGE 233. _... your ivory limbs_ + +The Arabians compare the skin of a beautiful woman to the egg of the +ostrich, when preserved unsullied. Thus Amriolkais: + +"Delicate was her shape; fair her skin; and her body well proportioned: +her bosom was as smooth as a mirror,-- + +"Or like the pure egg of an ostrich, of a yellowish tint blended with +white." + +Also the Koran: "Near them shall lie the virgins of Paradise, refraining +their looks from beholding any besides their spouses, having large black +eyes, and resembling the eggs of an ostrich, covered with feathers from +dust."--_Moallakat_, p. 8. _Al Koran_, ch. 27. + +But though the Arabian epithet be taken from thence, yet the word ivory +is substituted, as more analogous to European ideas, and not foreign +from the Eastern. Thus Amru: + +"And two sweet breasts, smooth and white as vessels of ivory, modestly +defended from the hand of those who presume to touch +them."--_Moallakat_, p. 77. + + +PAGE 233. _... baths of rose-water_ + +The use of perfumed waters for the purpose of bathing is of an early +origin in the East, where every odoriferous plant sheds a richer +fragrance than is known to our more humid climates. The rose which +yields this lotion is, according to Hasselquist, of a beautiful pale +blush colour, double, large as a man's fist, and more exquisite in scent +than any other species. The quantities of this water distilled annually +at Fajhum, and carried to distant countries, is immense. The mode of +conveying it is in vessels of copper coated with wax.--_Voyag._, p. 248. +Ben Jonson makes Volpone say to Celia: + + "Their bath shall be the juyce of gillyflowres, + Spirit of roses, and of violets." + + +PAGE 233. _... lamb a la creme_ + +No dish among the Easterns was more generally admired. The caliph +Abdolmelek, at a splendid entertainment, to which whoever came was +welcome, asked Amrou, the son of Hareth, what kind of meat he preferred +to all others. The old man answered, "An ass's neck, well seasoned and +roasted."--"But what say you," replied the caliph, "to the leg or +shoulder of a LAMB _a la creme_?" and added: + + "How sweetly we live if a shadow would last!" + +--_MS. Laud._ No. 161. S. OCKLEY'S _History of the Saracens_, vol. ii, +p. 277. + + +PAGE 233. _... made the dwarfs dance against their will_ + +Ali Chelebi al Moufti, in a treatise on the subject, held that dancing +after the example of the dervishes, who made it a part of their +devotion, was allowable. But in this opinion he was deemed to be +heterodox; for Mahometans, in general, place dancing amongst the things +that are forbidden.--D'HERBELOT, p. 98. + + +PAGE 233. _... durst not refuse the commander of the faithful_ + +The mandates of Oriental potentates have ever been accounted +irresistible. Hence the submission of these devotees to the will of the +caliph.--Esther, i, 19. Daniel, vi, 8. LUDEKE, _Expos. brevis_, p. 60. + + +PAGE 233. _... the nine hundred and ninety-ninth time_ + +The Mahometans boast of a doctor who is reported to have read over the +Koran not fewer than twenty thousand times.--D'HERBELOT, p. 75. + + +PAGE 234. _... black eunuchs, sabre in hand_ + +In this manner the apartments of the ladies were constantly guarded. +Thus, in the Story of the Enchanted Horse, Firouz Schah, traversing a +strange palace by night, entered a room, "and by the light of a lantern +saw that the persons he had heard snoring were black eunuchs with naked +sabres by them, which was enough to inform him that this was the +guard-chamber of some queen or princess."--_Arabian Nights_, vol. iv, p. +189. + + +PAGE 234. _... to let down the great swing_ + +The swing was an exercise much used in the apartments of the Eastern +ladies, and not only contributed to their health, but also to their +amusement.--_Tales of Inatulla_, vol. i, p. 259. + + +PAGE 235. _... melodious Philomel, I am thy rose_ + +The passion of the nightingale for the rose is celebrated over all the +East. Thus Mesihi, as translated by Sir W. Jones: + + "Come, charming maid, and hear thy poet sing, + Thyself the rose, and he the bird of spring: + Love bids him sing, and love will be obey'd, + Be gay; too soon the flowers of spring will fade." + + +PAGE 236. _... calenders_ + +These were a sort of men amongst the Mahometans who abandoned father and +mother, wife and children, relations and possessions, to wander through +the world, under a pretence of religion, entirely subsisting on the +fortuitous bounty of those they had the address to dupe.--D'HERBELOT, +_Suppl._, p. 204. + + +PAGE 236. _... santons_ + +A body of religionists, who were also called abdals, and pretended to be +inspired with the most enthusiastic raptures of divine love. They were +regarded by the vulgar as _saints_.--OLEARIUS, tom. i, p. 971. +D'HERBELOT, p. 5. + + +PAGE 236. _... dervishes_ + +The term _dervish_ signifies a _poor man_, and is the general +appellation by which a religious amongst the Mahometans is named. There +are, however, discriminations that distinguish this class from the +others already mentioned. They are bound by no vow of poverty, they +abstain not from marriage, and, whenever disposed, they may relinquish +both their blue shirt and profession.--D'HERBELOT, _Suppl._, 214. It is +observable, that these different orders, though not established till the +reign of Nasser al Samani, are notwithstanding mentioned by our author +as coeval with Vathek, and by the author of the _Arabian Nights_ as +existing in the days of Haroun al Raschid; so that the Arabian fabulists +appear as inattentive to chronological exactness in points of this sort +as our immortal dramatist himself. + + +PAGE 236. _... Brahmins_ + +These constituted the principal caste of the Indians, according to whose +doctrine _Brahma_, from whom they are called, is the first of the three +created beings by whom the world was made. This Brahma is said to have +communicated to the Indians four books, in which all the sciences and +ceremonies of their religion are comprised. The word Brahma, in the +Indian language, signifies _pervading all things_. The Brahmins lead a +life of most rigid abstinence refraining not only from the use, but even +the touch, of animal food; and are equally exemplary for their contempt +of pleasures and devotion to philosophy and religion.--D'HERBELOT, p. +212. BRUCKERI _Hist. Philosoph._, tom. i, p. 194. + + +PAGE 236. _... fakirs_ + +This sect were a kind of religious anchorets, who spent their whole +lives in the severest austerities and mortification. It is almost +impossible for the imagination to form an extravagance that has not been +practised by some of them, to torment themselves. As their reputation +for sanctity rises in proportion to their sufferings, those amongst them +are reverenced the most, who are most ingenious in the invention of +tortures, and persevering in enduring them. Hence some have persisted in +sitting or standing for years together in one unvaried posture, +supporting an almost intolerable burden, dragging the most cumbrous +chains, exposing their naked bodies to the scorching sun, and hanging +with the head downward before the fiercest fires.--_Relig. Ceremon._, +vol. iii, p. 264, etc. WHITE'S _Sermons_, p. 504. + + +PAGE 237. _... Visnow and Ixhora_ + +Two deities of the East Indians, concerning whose history and adventures +more nonsense is related than can be found in the whole compass of +mythology besides. The traditions of their votaries are, no doubt, +allegorical; but without a key to disclose their mystic import, they are +little better than senseless jargon. + + +PAGE 237. _... talapoins_ + +This order, which abounds in Siam, Laos, Pegu, and other countries, +consists of different classes, and both sexes, but chiefly of +men.--_Relig. Ceremon._, vol. iv, p. 62, etc. + + +PAGE 237. _... small plates of abominations_ + +The Koran hath established several distinctions relative to different +kinds of food, in imitation of the Jewish prescriptions; and many +Mahometans are so scrupulous as not to touch the flesh of any animal +over which, _in articulo mortis_, the butcher had omitted to pronounce +the _Bismillah_.--_Relig. Ceremon._, vol. vii, p. 110. + + +PAGE 238. _... fish which they drew from a river_ + +According to Le Bruyn, the Oriental method of fishing with a line, is by +winding it round the finger, and when the fisherman feels that the bait +is taken, he draws in the string with alternate hands: in this way, he +adds, a good dish of fish is soon caught. Tom. i, p. 564. It appears, +from a circumstance related by Galand, that Vathek was fond of this +amusement.--D'HERBELOT, _Suppl._, p. 210. + + +PAGE 238. _Sinai_ + +This mountain is deemed by Mahometans the noblest of all others, and +even regarded with the highest veneration, because the divine law was +promulgated from it.--D'HERBELOT, p. 812. + + +PAGE 238. _Peris_ + +The word _Peri_, in the Persian language, signifies that beautiful race +of creatures which constitutes the link between angels and men. The +Arabians call them _Ginn_, or genii, and we (from the Persian, perhaps) +_Fairies_: at least, the peris of the Persian romance correspond to that +imaginary class of beings in our poetical system. The Italians +denominate them _Fata_, in allusion to their power of charming and +enchanting; thus the _Manto fatidica_ of Virgil is rendered in _Orlando_, +_La Fata Manto_. The term ginn being common to both peris and dives, some +have erroneously fancied that the peris were female dives. This +appellation, however, served only to discriminate their common nature +from the angelic and human, without respect to their qualities, moral or +personal. Thus, the dives are hideous and wicked, whilst the peris are +beautiful and good. Amongst the Persian poets, the beauty of the peris +is proverbial: insomuch that a woman superlatively handsome, is styled +by them, _the offspring of a Peri_. + + +PAGE 239. _... butterflies of Cashmere_ + +The same insects are celebrated in an unpublished poem of Mesihi. Sir +Anthony Shirley relates, that it was customary in Persia, "to hawke +after butterflies with sparrows, made to that use, and stares." It is, +perhaps, to this amusement that our author alludes in the context. + + +PAGE 240. _Megnoun and Leilah_ + +These personages are esteemed amongst the Arabians as the most +beautiful, chaste, and impassioned of lovers; and their amours have been +celebrated with all the charms of verse, in every Oriental language. The +Mahometans regard them, and the poetical records of their love, in the +same light as the Bridegroom and Spouse, and the Song of Songs, are +regarded by the Jews.--D'HERBELOT, p. 573. + + +PAGE 240. _... they still detained him in the harem_ + +Noureddin, who was as old as Gulchenrouz, had a similar indulgence of +resorting to the harem, and no less availed himself of it.--_Arabian +Nights_, vol. iii, pp. 9, 10. + + +PAGE 240. _... dart the lance in the chase_ + +Throwing the lance was a favourite pastime with the young Arabians; and +so expert were they in this practice (which prepared them for the +mightier conflicts, both of the chase and of war), that they could bear +off a ring on the points of their javelins.--RICHARDSON'S _Dissertation +on the Languages, etc., of Eastern Nations_, pp. 198, 281. + + +PAGE 240. _Shaddukian and Ambreabad_ + +These were two cities of the peris, in the imaginary region of +_Ginnistan_: the former signifies _pleasure_ and _desire_, the latter, +_the city of Ambergris_.--See RICHARDSON'S _Dissertation on the +Languages, etc., of Eastern Nations_, p. 169. + + +PAGE 242. _... a spoon of cocknos_ + +The cocknos is a bird whose beak is much esteemed for its beautiful +polish, and sometimes used as a spoon. Thus, in the _History of +Atalmulck and Zelica Begum_, it was employed for a similar purpose: +"Zelica having called for refreshment, six old slaves instantly brought +in and distributed _Mahramas_, and then served about in a great basin of +Martabam, a salad _made of herbs of various kinds, citron juice, and the +pith of cucumbers_. They served it first to the Princess in a _cocknos +beak_: she took a beak of the salad, ate it, and gave another to the +next slave that sat by her on her right hand; which slave did as her +mistress had done." + + +PAGE 243. _Ghouls_ + +Ghoul, or _ghul_, in Arabic, signifies any terrifying object, which +deprives people of the use of their senses. Hence it became the +appellative of that species of monster which was supposed to haunt +forests, cemeteries, and other lonely places; and believed not only to +tear in pieces the living, but to dig up and devour the +dead.--RICHARDSON'S _Dissertation on the Languages, etc., of Eastern +Nations_, pp. 174, 274. + +That kind of insanity called by the Arabians _Kutrub_ (a word signifying +not only a _wolf_, but likewise a _male Ghoul_), which incites such as +are afflicted with it to roam howling amidst those melancholy haunts, +may cast some light on the nature of the possession recorded by St. +Mark, ch. v, I, etc. + + +PAGE 244. _... feathers of the heron, all sparkling with carbuncles_ + +Panaches of this kind are amongst the attributes of Eastern +royalty.--_Tales of Inatulla_, vol. ii, p. 205. + + +PAGE 244. _... whose eyes pervade the inmost soul of a female_ + +The original in this instance, as in the others already noticed, is more +analogous to the French than the English idiom: "_Dont l'oeil penetre +jusqu'a la moelle des jeunes filles._" + + +PAGE 244. _... the carbuncle of Giamschid_ + +This mighty potentate was the fourth sovereign of the dynasty of the +Pischadians, and brother or nephew to Tahamurath. His proper name was +_Giam_ or _Gem_, and _Schid_, which in the language of the ancient +Persians denominated the sun: an addition ascribed by some to the +majesty of his person, and by others to the splendour of his actions. +One of the most magnificent monuments of his reign was the city of +Istakhar, of which Tahamurath had laid the foundations. This city, at +present called _Gihil-_, or _Tchil-minar_, from the forty columns reared +in it by Homai, or (according to our author and others) by Soliman Ben +Daoud, was known to the Greeks by the name of Persepolis; and there is +still extant in the East a tradition, that, when Alexander burnt the +edifices of the Persian kings, seven stupendous structures of Giamschid +were consumed with his palace. This prince, after having subjected to +his empire seven vast provinces of Upper Asia, and enjoyed in peace a +long reign (which some authors have protracted to 700 years), became +intoxicated with his greatness; and, foolishly fancying it would have no +end, arrogated to himself divine honours. But the Almighty raised up, +even in his own house, a terrible instrument to abase his pride, by whom +he was easily overcome, and driven into exile. + +The author of _Giame al tavatikh_ mentions the cup, or concave mirror of +Giamschid, formed of a gem, and called the cup of the sun. To this +vessel the Persian poets often refer, and allegorize it in different +ways. They attribute to it the property of exhibiting everything in the +compass of nature, and even some things that are preternatural. The gem +it consisted of appears to be the carbuncle or oriental ruby; which, +from its resemblance to a burning coal, and the splendour it was +supposed to emit in the dark, was called Schebgerag, or, the torch of +the night. According to Strabo, it obtained its high estimation amongst +the Persians, who were worshippers of fire, from its igneous qualities; +and perhaps those virtues for which it hath been styled "the first of +stones." + +Milton had a learned retrospect to its fabulous powers, in describing +the Old Serpent: + + ... his head + Crested aloft, and carbuncle his eyes-- + +D'HERBELOT, pp. 392, 395, 780, etc. BRIGHTE, _On Melancholie_, p. 321. +_Paradise Lost_, IX, 499. + + +PAGE 244. _... have you false keys? Come to the dark chamber_ + +It was the office of Shaban, as chief eunuch, to keep the key of the +ladies' apartment. In the Story of Ganem, Haroun al Raschid commands +Mesrour, the chief of the eunuchs, "to take the perfidious Fetnah, and +shut her up in the dark tower." That tower was within the inclosure of +the palace, and commonly served as a prison for the favourites who might +chance to disgust the caliph. + + +PAGE 246. _... their faith is mutually plighted_ + +When females in the East are betrothed, their palms and fingers are +tinged of a crimson colour, with the herb hinnah. This is called "the +crimson of consent."--_Tales of Inatulla_, vol. ii, p. 15. + + +PAGE 246. _... violate the rights of hospitality_ + +So high an idea of these rights prevails amongst the Arabians, that "a +bread and salt traitor," is the most opprobrious invective with which +one person can reproach another.--RICHARDSON'S _Dissertation on the +Languages, etc., of Eastern Nations_, p. 219. See also the Story of Ali +Baba and The Forty Thieves, in the _Arabian Nights_, vol. iv, p. 166. + + +PAGE 246. _... narcotic powder_ + +A drug of the same quality, mixed in lemonade, is given to Zobeide, in +the Story of Ganem. + + +PAGE 248. _Funeral vestments were prepared; their bodies washed, etc._ + +The rites here practised had obtained from the earliest ages. Most of +them may be found in Homer and the other poets of Greece. Lucian +describes the dead in his time as washed, perfumed, vested, and crowned, +{horaios anthesin}, with the flowers most in season; or, according to +other writers, those in particular which the deceased were wont to +prefer. The elegant editor of the _Ruins of Palmyra_ mentions the +fragments of a mummy found there, the hair of which was plaited exactly +in the manner as worn at present by the women of Arabia. + +The burial dress from the days of Homer hath been commonly white, and +amongst Mahometans is made without a seam, that it may not impede the +ceremonial of kneeling in the grave, when the dead person undergoes +examination.--HOMER, EURIPIDES, etc., _passim_. LUCIAN, tom. ii, p. 927. +PASCHAL, _De Coron._, p. 225. _Ruins of Palmyra_, pp. 22, 23. _Iliad_, +xviii, 352. _Relig. Cerem._, vol. vii, p. 117. + + +PAGE 248. _... all instruments of music were broken_ + +Thus, in the _Arabian Nights_: "Haroun al Raschid wept over +Schemselnihar, and, before he left the room, ordered all the musical +instruments to be broken."--Vol. ii, p. 196. + + +PAGE 248. _... imans began to recite their prayers_ + +An iman is the principal priest of a mosque. It was the office of the +imans to precede the bier, praying as the procession moved on.--_Relig. +Cerem._, vol. vii, p. 117. + + +PAGE 248. _The wailful cries of La Ilah illa Alla!_ + +This exclamation, which contains the leading principle of Mahometan +belief, and signifies _there is no God but God_, was commonly uttered +under some violent emotion of mind. The Spaniards adopted it from their +Moorish neighbours, and Cervantes hath used it in _Don Quixote_: "En +esto llegaron corriendo con grita, LILILIES (literally _professions of +faith in Alla_), y algazara los de las libreas adonde Don Quixote +suspenso y atonito estava."--_Parte segunda_, cap. lxi, tom. iv, p. 241. + +The same expression is sometimes written by the Spaniards, _Lilaila_, +and _Hila hilahaila_. + + +PAGE 249. _... the angel of death had opened the portal of some other +world_ + +The name of this exterminating angel is _Azrael_, and his office is to +conduct the dead to the abode assigned them; which is said by some to be +near the place of their interment. Such was the office of Mercury in the +Grecian mythology.--SALE'S _Preliminary Discourse_, p. 101. HYDE, _in +notis ad Bobov._, p. 19. R. ELIAS, in _Tishbi_. BUXTORF, _Synag. Jud. et +Lexic. Talmud_. HOMER, _Odyssey_. + + +PAGE 250. _Monker and Nakir_ + +These are two black angels of a tremendous appearance, who examine the +departed on the subject of his faith: by whom, if he give not a +satisfactory account, he is sure to be cudgelled with maces of red-hot +iron, and tormented more variously than words can describe.--_Religious +Ceremonies_, vol. vii, pp. 59, 68-118; vol. v, p. 290. SALE'S +_Preliminary Discourse_, p. 101. + + +PAGE 250. _... the fatal bridge_ + +This bridge, called in Arabic _al Sirat_, and said to extend over the +infernal gulf, is represented as narrower than a spider's web, and +sharper than the edge of a sword. Though the attempt to cross it be-- + + "More full of peril, and advent'rous spirit, + Than to o'erwalk a current, roaring loud, + On the unsteadfast footing of a spear;" + +yet the paradise of Mahomet can be entered by no other avenue. Those, +indeed, who have behaved well need not be alarmed; mixed characters will +find it difficult; but the wicked soon miss their standing, and plunge +headlong into the abyss.--POCOCKE in _Port. Mos._, p. 282, etc. Milton +apparently copied from this well-known fiction, and not, as Dr. Warton +conjectured, from the poet Sadi, his way-- + + "Over the dark abyss, whose boiling gulf + Tamely endured a bridge of wond'rous length, + From hell continued, reaching the utmost orb + Of this frail world." + + +PAGE 250. _... a certain series of years_ + +According to the tradition from the prophet, not less than nine hundred, +nor more than seven thousand. + + +PAGE 250. _... the sacred camel_ + +It was an article of the Mahometan creed, that all animals would be +raised again, and some of them admitted into paradise. The animal here +mentioned appears to have been one of those _white-winged_ CAMELS +_caparisoned with gold_, which Ali affirmed had been provided to convey +the faithful.--_Religious Ceremonies_, vol. vii, p. 70. SALE'S +_Preliminary Discourse_, p. 112. AL JAUHERI. EBNO'L ATHIR, etc. + + +PAGE 251. _... basket-making_ + +This sort of basket work hath been long used in the East, and consists +of the leaves of the date-bearing palm. Panniers of this texture are of +great utility in conveying fruits, bread, etc., whilst heavier articles, +or such as require a more compact covering, are carried in bags of +leather, or skin.--HASSELQUIST'S _Voyage_, p. 26. + + +PAGE 251. _... the caliph presented himself to the emir in a new light_ + +The propensity of a vicious person, in affliction, to seek consolation +from the ceremonies of religion, is an exquisite trait in the character +of Vathek. + + +PAGE 255. _... the waving of fans_ + +These fans consisted of the trains of peacocks or ostriches, whose +quills were set in a long stem, so as to imbricate the plumes in the +gradations of their natural growth. Fans of this fashion were formerly +used in England. + + +PAGE 256. _... wine hoarded up in bottles, prior to the birth of +Mahomet_ + +The prohibition of wine by the Prophet materially diminished its +consumption within the limits of his own dominions. Hence a reserve of +it might be expected of the age here specified. The custom of hoarding +wine was not unknown to the Persians, though not so often practised by +them as by the Greeks and the Romans. + +"I purchase" (says Lebeid) "the old liquor, at a dear rate, in dark +leathern bottles, long reposited; or in casks black with pitch, whose +seals I break, and then fill the cheerful goblet."--_Moallakat_, p. 53. + + +PAGE 256. _... excavated ovens in the rock_ + +As substitutes for the portable ovens, which were lost. + + +PAGE 257. _... her great camel Alboufaki_ + +There is a singular and laboured description of a camel in the poem of +_Tarafa_; but Alboufaki possessed qualities appropriate to himself, and +which rendered him but little less conspicuous than the deformed dun +camel of Aad. + + +PAGE 257. _... to set forward, notwithstanding it was noon_ + +The employment of woodfellers was accounted of all others the most +toilsome, as those occupied in it were compelled to forgo that mid-day +cessation with which other labourers were indulged. Inatulla speaks +proverbially of "woodmen in the meridian hour, scarce able to raise the +arms of languor." The guides of Carathis being of this occupation, she +adroitly availed herself of it to urge them forward, without allowing +them that repose during the mid-day fervour which travellers in these +climates always enjoyed, and which was deemed so essential to the +preservation of their health. + + +PAGE 258. _... the confines of some cemetery_ + +Places of interment in the East were commonly situated in scenes of +solitude. We read of one in the History of the First Calender, abounding +with so many monuments, that four days were successively spent in it +without the inquirer being able to find the tomb he looked for; and, +from the story of Ganem, it appears that the doors of these cemeteries +were often left open.--_Arabian Nights_, vol. ii, p. 112; vol. iii, p. +135. + + +PAGE 260. _... a Myrabolan comfit_ + +The invention of this confection is attributed by M. Cardonne to +Avicenna, but there is abundant reason, exclusive of our author's +authority, to suppose it of a much earlier origin. Both the Latins and +Greeks were acquainted with the balsam, and the tree that produced it +was indigenous in various parts of Arabia. + + +PAGE 261. _... blue fishes_ + +Fishes of the same colour are mentioned in the _Arabian Nights_; and, +like these, were endowed with the gift of speech. + + +PAGE 262. _... waving streamers on which were inscribed the names of +Allah and the Prophet_ + +The position that "there is no God but God, and Mahomet is his Prophet," +pervades every part of the Mahometan religion. Banners, like those here +described, are preserved in the several mosques; and, on the death of +extraordinary persons, are borne before the bier in solemn +state.--_Religious Ceremonies_, vol. vii, pp. 119, 120. + + +PAGE 263. _... astrolabes_ + +The mention of the astrolabe may be deemed incompatible, at first view, +with chronological exactness, as there is no instance of any being +constructed by a Mussulman, till after the time of Vathek. It may, +however, be remarked, to go no higher, that Sinesius, bishop of +Ptolemais, invented one in the fifth century; and that Carathis was not +only herself a Greek, but also cultivated those sciences which the good +Mussulmans of her time all held in abhorrence.--BAILLY, _Hist. de +l'Astronom. Moderne_, tom, i, pp. 563, 573. + + +PAGE 264. _On the banks of the stream, hives and oratories_ + +The bee is an insect held in high veneration amongst the Mahometans, it +being pointed out in the Koran, "for a sign unto the people that +understand." It has been said, in the same sense, "Go to the ant, thou +sluggard."--Proverbs, vi, 6. The santons, therefore, who inhabit the +fertile banks of Rocnabad, are not less famous for their hives than +their oratories.--D'HERBELOT, p. 717. + + +PAGE 265. _... sheiks ... cadis_ + +Sheiks are the chiefs of the societies of dervishes; cadis are the +magistrates of a town or city. + +PAGE 265. _Asses in bridles of riband inscribed from the Koran_ + +As the judges of Israel in ancient days rode on white asses, so, amongst +the Mahometans, those that affect an extraordinary sanctity use the same +animal in preference to the horse. Sir John Chardin observed, in various +parts of the East, that their reins, as here represented, were of silk, +with the name of God, or other inscriptions, upon them.--LUDEKE, _Expos. +brevis_, p. 49. CHARDIN'S MS. cited by Harmer. + + +PAGE 266. _One of these beneficent genii, assuming the exterior of a +shepherd, etc., began to pour from his flute, etc._ + +The flute was considered as a sacred instrument, which Jacob and other +holy shepherds had sanctified by using.--_Religious Ceremonies_, vol. +vii, p. 110. + + +PAGE 266. _... involuntarily drawn towards the declivity of the hill_ + +A similar instance of attraction may be seen in the Story of Prince +Ahmed and the Peri Parabanou.--_Arabian Nights_, vol. iv, p. 243. + + +PAGE 267. _Eblis_ + +D'Herbelot supposes this title to have been a corruption of the Greek +{Diabolos}, _diabolos_. It was the appellation conferred by the Arabians +upon the prince of the apostate angels, whom they represent as exiled to +the infernal regions, for refusing to worship Adam at the command of the +Supreme, and appears more likely to originate from the Hebrew \HBL\ +_hebel_, vanity, pride.--See below, the note, p. 305, "_Creatures of +clay._" + + +PAGE 267. _... compensate for thy impieties by an exemplary life_ + +It is an established article of the Mussulman creed, that the actions of +mankind are all weighed in a vast unerring balance, and the future +condition of the agents determined according to the preponderance of +evil or good. This fiction, which seems to have been borrowed from the +Jews, had probably its origin in the figurative language of Scripture. +Thus, Psalm lxii, 9: "Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of +high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether +lighter than vanity"; and in Daniel, the sentence against the King of +Babylon, inscribed on the wall, "Thou art weighed in the balance, and +found wanting." + + +PAGE 268. _Balkis_ + +This was the Arabian name of the Queen of Sheba, who went from the south +to hear the wisdom and admire the glory of Solomon. The Koran represents +her as a worshipper of fire. Solomon is said not only to have +entertained her with the greatest magnificence, but also to have raised +her to his bed and his throne.--_Al Koran_, ch. xxvii, and SALE'S notes. +D'HERBELOT, p. 182. + + +PAGE 270. _The pavement, strewed over with saffron_ + +There are several circumstances in the Story of the Third Calender, that +resemble those here mentioned; particularly a pavement strewed with +saffron, and the burning of ambergris and aloes-wood. + + +PAGE 271. _Ouranbad_ + +This monster is represented as a fierce-flying hydra, and belongs to the +same class with the _rakshe_, whose ordinary food was serpents and +dragons; the _soham_, which had the head of a horse, with four eyes, and +the body of a flame-coloured dragon; the _syl_, a basilisk with a face +resembling the human, but so tremendous that no mortal could bear to +behold it; the _ejder_, and others. See these respective titles in +RICHARDSON'S _Persian, Arabic, and English Dictionary_. + + +PAGE 272. _Creatures of clay_ + +Nothing could have been more appositely imagined than this compellation. +Eblis, according to Arabian mythology, had suffered a degradation from +his primeval rank, and was consigned to these regions, for having +refused to worship Adam in obedience to the supreme command; alleging, +in justification of his refusal, that himself had been formed of +ethereal fire, whilst Adam was only a creature of clay.--_Al Koran_, c. +lv, etc. + + +PAGE 272. _... the fortress of Aherman_ + +In the mythology of the Easterns, Aherman was accounted _the Demon of +Discord_. The ancient Persian romances abound in descriptions of this +fortress, in which the inferior demons assemble, to receive the behests +of their prince; and from whom they proceed to exercise their malice in +every part of the world.--D'HERBELOT, p. 71. + + +PAGE 272. _... the halls of Argenk_ + +The halls of this mighty dive, who reigned in the mountains of Kaf, +contained the statues of the seventy-two Solimans, and the portraits of +the various creatures subject to them; not one of which bore the +slightest similitude to man. Some had many heads, others many arms, and +some consisted of many bodies. Their heads were all very extraordinary, +some resembling the elephant's, the buffalo's, and the boar's; whilst +others were still more monstrous.--D'HERBELOT, p. 820. Some of the idols +worshipped to this day in Hindostan answer to this description. + + +PAGE 272. _... holding his right hand, motionless, on his heart_ + +Sandys observes that the application of the right hand to the heart is +the customary mode of Eastern salutation; but the perseverance of the +votaries of Eblis in this attitude was intended to express their +devotion to him both heart and hand. + + +PAGE 273. _In my lifetime I filled, etc._ + +This recital agrees perfectly with those in the Koran, and other Arabian +legends. + + +PAGE 274. _... an unrelenting fire preys on my heart_ + +Hariri, to convey the most forcible idea of extreme anxiety, represents +the heart as tormented by fierce burning coals. This form of speech, it +is observed, is _proverbial_; but do we not see whence the proverb +arose?--CHAPPELOW'S _Six Assemblies_, p. 106. + + +PAGE 275. _Carathis on the back of an afrit_ + +The expedition of the afrit in fetching Carathis is characteristic of +this order of dives. We read in the Koran that another of the fraternity +offered to bring the Queen of Sheba's throne to Solomon before he could +rise from his place.--Ch. xxvii. + + +PAGE 277. _... glanced off in a rapid whirl that rendered her invisible_ + +It was not ill conceived to punish Carathis by a rite, and one of the +principal characteristics of that science in which she so much +delighted, and which was the primary cause of Vathek's perdition and of +her own. The circle, the emblem of eternity, and the symbol of the sun, +was held sacred in the most ancient ceremonies of incantations; and the +whirling round deemed as a necessary operation in magical mysteries. Was +not the name of the greatest enchantress in fabulous antiquity, Circe, +derived from {kirkos}, a circle, on account of her magical revolutions, +and of the circular appearance and motion of the sun, her father? The +fairies and elves used to arrange themselves in a ring on the grass; and +even the augur, in the liturgy of the Romans, whirled round to encompass +the four cardinal points of the world. It is remarkable, that a +derivative of the verb, rendered, _to whirl in a magical manner_ (see +page 257), which corresponds to the Hebrew \SHR\, and is interpreted +_scindere, secare se in orbem, inde notio circinandi, mox gyrandi, et +hinc a motu versatili, fascinavit, incantavit_, signifies in the Koran +_the glimmering of twilight_: a sense deducible from the shapeless +glimpses of objects when hurried round with the velocity here described, +and very applicable to the sudden disappearance of Carathis, who, like +the stone in a sling, by the progressive and rapid increase of the +circular motion, soon ceased to be perceptible. Nothing can impress a +greater awe upon the mind than does this passage in the original. + + + + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Transcriber's Note, continued: + + +Inconsistent or obsolete spelling has not been corrected. + +The following changes were made to the text: + +Title Page: missing round bracket added (after "d. 1946") + +p. 15: happy valley to Happy Valley (his design to leave the Happy +Valley) + +p. 51: f to if (and, if it were possible) + +p. 75: double quote to single quote (to devolve it upon thee.') + +p. 80: thyself." to thyself.'" (so worthy as thyself.'") + +p. 88: bu to but (but they are soon disentangled) + +p. 116: melanchoy to melancholy (a grave and melancholy air.) + +p. 136: marrriage to marriage (in suitable marriage.) + +p. 157: by to be (Heaven be thy guide!) + +p. 161: af to of (but an enemy of Manfred.) + +p. 176: H to He (He learned with indignation) + +p. 194: were to was (An account of these travels was published) + +p. 194: _Amezia_ to _Azemia_ + +p. 256: duing to during (during her continuance in favour,) + +p. 263: missing close quote added (such an explosion!") + +p. 266: then to than (clearer than crystal) + +p. 273: ominious to ominous (this ominous preliminary) + +p. 286: east to west (from east to west) + +p. 286: Delavel's to Delaval's (Delaval's _Inquiry concerning the +Changes of Colours, etc._) + +p. 292: extra period deleted (to hediston tou EAROS.) + +p. 300: missing close quote added (y atonito estava.") + +p. 302: wood-fellers to woodfellers (The employment of woodfellers) + +p. 303: missing space added (PAGE 264.) + +p. 304: \HBR\ to \HBL\ + +p. 306: kirchos to kirkos + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Shorter Novels, Eighteenth Century, by +Samuel Johnson and Horace Walpole and William Beckford + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SHORTER NOVELS, EIGHTEENTH CENTURY *** + +***** This file should be named 34766.txt or 34766.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/7/6/34766/ + +Produced by Suzanne Lybarger, Brian Janes, S.D., and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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