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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/9758.txt b/9758.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4e6899e --- /dev/null +++ b/9758.txt @@ -0,0 +1,908 @@ +Project Gutenberg EBook, Leila by Edward Bulwer Lytton, Volume 3 +#198 in our series by Edward Bulwer Lytton + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**EBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These EBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers***** + + + +Title: Leila or, The Siege of Granada, Book III. + +Author: Edward Bulwer Lytton + +Release Date: January 2006 [EBook #9758] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on October 9, 2003] + + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + + + + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, LEILA, BY LYTTON, V3 *** + + + + +This eBook was produced by David Widger + + + +Corrected and updated text and HTML PG Editions of the complete +5 volume set may be found at: + +https://www.gutenberg.org/files/9761s/9761.txt + +https://www.gutenberg.org/files/9761/9761-h/9761-h.htm + + + + + + LEILA + + OR, + + THE SIEGE OF GRANADA + + BY + + EDWARD BULWER LYTTON + + + Book III. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +ISABEL AND THE JEWISH MAIDEN. + +While this scene took place before the tribunal of Torquemada, Leila had +been summoned from the indulgence of fears, which her gentle nature and +her luxurious nurturing had ill-fitted her to contend against, to the +presence of the queen. That gifted and high-spirited princess, whose +virtues were her own, whose faults were of her age, was not, it is true, +without the superstition and something of the intolerant spirit of her +royal spouse: but, even where her faith assented to persecution, her +heart ever inclined to mercy; and it was her voice alone that ever +counteracted the fiery zeal of Torquemada, and mitigated the sufferings +of the unhappy ones who fell under the suspicion of heresy. She had, +happily, too, within her a strong sense of justice, as well as the +sentiment of compassion; and often, when she could not save the accused, +she prevented the consequences of his imputed crime falling upon the +innocent members of his house or tribe. + +In the interval between his conversation with Ferdinand and the +examination of Almamen, the Dominican had sought the queen; and had +placed before her, in glowing colours, not only the treason of Almamen, +but the consequences of the impious passion her son had conceived for +Leila. In that day, any connection between a Christian knight and a +Jewess was deemed a sin, scarce expiable; and Isabel conceived all that +horror of her son's offence which was natural in a pious mother and a +haughty queen. But, despite all the arguments of the friar, she could +not be prevailed upon to render up Leila to the tribunal of the +Inquisition; and that dread court, but newly established, did not dare, +without her consent, to seize upon one under the immediate protection +of the queen. + +"Fear not, father," said Isabel, with quiet firmness, "I will take upon +myself to examine the maiden; and, at least, I will see her removed from +all chance of tempting or being tempted by this graceless boy. But she +was placed under the charge of the king and myself as a hostage and a +trust; we accepted the charge, and our royal honor is pledged to the +safety of the maiden. Heaven forbid that I should deny the existence of +sorcery, assured as we are of its emanation from the Evil One; but I +fear, in this fancy of Juan's, that the maiden is more sinned against +than sinning: and yet my son is, doubtless, not aware of the unhappy +faith of the Jewess; the knowledge of which alone will suffice to cure +him of his error. You shake your head, father; but, I repeat, I will act +in this affair so as to merit the confidence I demand. Go, good Tomas. +We have not reigned so long without belief in our power to control and +deal with a simple maiden." + +The queen extended her hand to the monk, with a smile so sweet in its +dignity, that it softened even that rugged heart; and, with a reluctant +sigh, and a murmured prayer that her counsels might be guided for the +best, Torquemada left the royal presence. + +"The poor child!" thought Isabel, "those tender limbs, and that fragile +form, are ill fitted for yon monk's stern tutelage. She seems gentle: +and her face has in it all the yielding softness of our sex; doubtless by +mild means, she may be persuaded to abjure her wretched creed; and the +shade of some holy convent may hide her alike from the licentious gaze of +my son and the iron zeal of the Inquisitor. I will see her." + +When Leila entered the queen's pavilion, Isabel, who was alone, marked +her trembling step with a compassionate eye; and, as Leila, in obedience +to the queen's request, threw up her veil, the paleness of her cheek and +the traces of recent tears appealed to Isabel's heart with more success +than had attended all the pious invectives of Torquemada. + +"Maiden," said Isabel, encouragingly, "I fear thou hast been strangely +harassed by the thoughtless caprice of the young prince. Think of it no +more. But, if thou art what I have ventured to believe, and to assert +thee to be, cheerfully subscribe to the means I will suggest for +preventing the continuance of addresses which cannot but injure thy fair +name." + +"Ah, madam!" said Leila, as she fell on one knee beside the queen, "most +joyfully, most gratefully, will I accept any asylum which proffers +solitude and peace." + +"The asylum to which I would fain lead thy steps," answered Isabel, +gently, "is indeed one whose solitude is holy--whose peace is that of +heaven. But of this hereafter. Thou wilt not hesitate, then, to quit +the camp, unknown to the prince, and ere he can again seek thee?" + +"Hesitate, madam? Ah rather, how shall I express my thanks?" + +"I did not read that face misjudgingly," thought the queen, as she +resumed. "Be it so; we will not lose another night. Withdraw yonder, +through the inner tent; the litter shall be straight prepared for thee; +and ere midnight thou shalt sleep in safety under the roof of one of the +bravest knights and noblest ladies that our realm can boast. Thou shalt +bear with thee a letter that shall commend thee specially to the care of +thy hostess--thou wilt find her of a kindly and fostering nature. And, +oh, maiden!" added the queen, with benevolent warmth, "steel not thy +heart against her--listen with ductile senses to her gentle ministry; and +may God and His Son prosper that pious lady's counsel, so that it may win +a new strayling to the Immortal Fold!" + +Leila listened and wondered, but made no answer; until, as she gained the +entrance to the interior division of the tent, she stopped abruptly, and +said, "Pardon me, gracious queen, but dare I ask thee one question?--it +is not of myself." + +"Speak, and fear not." + +"My father--hath aught been heard of him? He promised, that ere the +fifth day were past, he would once more see his child; and, alas! that +date is past, and I am still alone in the dwelling of the stranger." + +"Unhappy child!" muttered Isabel to herself; "thou knowest not his +treason nor his fate--yet why shouldst thou? Ignorant of what would +render thee blest hereafter, continue ignorant of what would afflict thee +here. Be cheered, maiden," answered the queen, aloud. "No doubt, there +are reasons sufficient to forbid your meeting. But thou shalt not lack +friends in the dwelling-house of the stranger." + +"Ah, noble queen, pardon me, and one word more! There hath been with me, +more than once, a stern old man, whose voice freezes the blood within my +veins; he questions me of my father, and in the tone of a foe who would +entrap from the child something to the peril of the sire. That man--thou +knowest him, gracious queen--he cannot have the power to harm my father?" + +"Peace, maiden! the man thou speakest of is the priest of God, and the +innocent have nothing to dread from his reverend zeal. For thyself, I +say again, be cheered; in the home to which I consign thee thou wilt see +him no more. Take comfort, poor child--weep not: all have their cares; +our duty is to bear in this life, reserving hope only for the next." + +The queen, destined herself to those domestic afflictions which pomp +cannot soothe, nor power allay, spoke with a prophetic sadness which yet +more touched a heart that her kindness of look and tone had already +softened; and, in the impulse of a nature never tutored in the rigid +ceremonials of that stately court, Leila suddenly came forward, and +falling on one knee, seized the hand of her protectress, and kissed it +warmly through her tears. + +"Are you, too, unhappy?" she said. "I will pray for you to _my_ God!" + +The queen, surprised and moved at an action which, had witnesses been +present, would only perhaps (for such is human nature) have offended her +Castilian prejudices, left her hand in Leila's grateful clasp; and laying +the other upon the parted and luxuriant ringlets of the kneeling maiden, +said, gently,--"And thy prayers shall avail thee and me when thy God and +mine are the same. Bless thee, maiden! I am a mother; thou art +motherless--bless thee!" + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE TEMPTATION OF THE JEWESS,--IN WHICH THE HISTORY PASSES FROM THE +OUTWARD TO THE INTERNAL. + +It was about the very hour, almost the very moment, in which Almamen +effected his mysterious escape from the tent of the Inquisition, that the +train accompanying the litter which bore Leila, and which was composed of +some chosen soldiers of Isabel's own body-guard, after traversing the +camp, winding along that part of the mountainous defile which was in the +possession of the Spaniards, and ascending a high and steep acclivity, +halted before the gates of a strongly fortified castle renowned in the +chronicles of that memorable war. The hoarse challenge of the sentry, +the grating of jealous bars, the clanks of hoofs upon the rough pavement +of the courts, and the streaming glare of torches--falling upon stern and +bearded visages, and imparting a ruddier glow to the moonlit buttresses +and battlements of the fortress--aroused Leila from a kind of torpor +rather than sleep, in which the fatigue and excitement of the day had +steeped her senses. An old seneschal conducted her, through vast and +gloomy halls (how unlike the brilliant chambers and fantastic arcades of +her Moorish home) to a huge Gothic apartment, hung with the arras of +Flemish looms. In a few moments, maidens, hastily aroused from slumber, +grouped around her with a respect which would certainly not have been +accorded had her birth and creed been known. They gazed with surprise at +her extraordinary beauty and foreign garb, and evidently considered the +new guest a welcome addition to the scanty society of the castle. Under +any other circumstances, the strangeness of all she saw, and the frowning +gloom of the chamber to which she was consigned, would have damped the +spirits of one whose destiny had so suddenly passed from the deepest +quiet into the sternest excitement. But any change was a relief to the +roar of the camp, the addresses of the prince, and the ominous voice and +countenance of Torquemada; and Leila looked around her, with the feeling +that the queen's promise was fulfilled, and that she was already amidst +the blessings of shelter and repose. It was long, however, before sleep +revisited her eyelids, and when she woke the noonday sun streamed broadly +through the lattice. By the bedside sat a matron advanced in years, but +of a mild and prepossessing countenance, which only borrowed a yet more +attractive charm from an expression of placid and habitual melancholy. +She was robed in black; but the rich pearls that were interwoven in the +sleeves and stomacher, the jewelled cross that was appended from a chain +of massive gold, and, still more, a certain air of dignity and command,-- +bespoke, even to the inexperienced eye of Leila, the evidence of superior +station. + +"Thou hast slept late, daughter," said the lady, with a benevolent smile; +"may thy slumbers have refreshed thee! Accept my regrets that I knew not +till this morning of thine arrival, or I should have been the first to +welcome the charge of my royal mistress." + +There was in the look, much more than in the words of the Donna Inez de +Quexada, a soothing and tender interest that was as balm to the heart of +Leila; in truth, she had been made the guest of, perhaps, the only lady +in Spain, of pure and Christian blood, who did not despise or execrate +the name of Leila's tribe. Donna Inez had herself contracted to a Jew a +debt of gratitude which she had sought to return to the whole race. Many +years before the time in which our tale is cast, her husband and herself +had been sojourning at Naples, then closely connected with the politics +of Spain, upon an important state mission. They had then an only son, a +youth of a wild and desultory character, whom the spirit of adventure +allured to the East. In one of those sultry lands the young Quexada was +saved from the hands of robbers by the caravanserai of a wealthy +traveller. With this stranger he contracted that intimacy which +wandering and romantic men often conceive for each other, without any +other sympathy than that of the same pursuits. Subsequently, he +discovered that his companion was of the Jewish faith; and, with the +usual prejudice of his birth and time, recoiled from the friendship he +had solicited, and shrank from the sense of the obligation he had +incurred he--quitted his companion. Wearied, at length, with travel, he +was journeying homeward, when he was seized with a sudden and virulent +fever, mistaken for plague: all fled from the contagion of the supposed +pestilence--he was left to die. One man discovered his condition-- +watched, tended, and, skilled in the deeper secrets of the healing art, +restored him to life and health: it was the same Jew who had preserved +him from the robbers. At this second and more inestimable obligation the +prejudices of the Spaniard vanished: he formed a deep and grateful +attachment for his preserver; they lived together for some time, and the +Israelite finally accompanied the young Quexada to Naples. Inez retained +a lively sense of the service rendered to her only son, and the +impression had been increased not only by the appearance of the +Israelite, which, dignified and stately, bore no likeness to the cringing +servility of his brethren, but also by the singular beauty and gentle +deportment of his then newly-wed bride, whom he had wooed and won in that +holy land, sacred equally to the faith of Christian and of Jew. The +young Quexada did not long survive his return: his constitution was +broken by long travel, and the debility that followed his fierce disease. +On his deathbed he had besought the mother whom he left childless, and +whose Catholic prejudices were less stubborn than those of his sire, +never to forget the services a Jew had conferred upon him; to make the +sole recompense in her power--the sole recompense the Jew himself had +demanded--and to lose no occasion to soothe or mitigate the miseries to +which the bigotry of the time often exposed the oppressed race of his +deliverer. Donna Inez had faithfully kept the promise she gave to the +last scion of her house; and, through the power and reputation of her +husband and her own connections, and still more through an early +friendship with the queen, she had, on her return to Spain, been enabled +to ward off many a persecution, and many a charge on false pretences, to +which the wealth of some son of Israel made the cause, while his faith +made the pretext. Yet, with all the natural feelings of a rigid +Catholic, she had earnestly sought to render the favor she had thus +obtained amongst the Jews minister to her pious zeal for their more than +temporal welfare. She had endeavored, by gentle means, to make the +conversions which force was impotent to effect; and, in some instances, +her success had been signal. The good senora had thus obtained high +renown for sanctity; and Isabel thought rightly that she could not select +a protectress for Leila who would more kindly shelter her youth, or more +strenuously labor for her salvation. It was, indeed, a dangerous +situation for the adherence of the maiden to that faith which it had cost +her fiery father so many sacrifices to preserve and to advance. + +It was by little and little that Donna Inez sought rather to undermine +than to storm the mental fortress she hoped to man with spiritual allies; +and, in her frequent conversation with Leila, she was at once perplexed +and astonished by the simple and sublime nature of the belief upon which +she waged war. For whether it was that, in his desire to preserve Leila +as much as possible from contact even with Jews themselves, whose general +character (vitiated by the oppression which engendered meanness, and the +extortion which fostered avarice) Almamen regarded with lofty though +concealed repugnance; or whether it was, that his philosophy did not +interpret the Jewish formula of belief in the same spirit as the herd,-- +the religion inculcated in the breast of Leila was different from that +which Inez had ever before encountered amongst her proselytes. It was +less mundane and material--a kind of passionate rather than metaphysical +theism, which invested the great ONE, indeed, with many human sympathies +and attributes, but still left Him the August and awful God of the +Genesis, the Father of a Universe though the individual Protector of a +fallen sect. Her attention had been less directed to whatever appears, +to a superficial gaze, stern and inexorable in the character of the +Hebrew God, and which the religion of Christ so beautifully softened and +so majestically refined, than to those passages in which His love watched +over a chosen people, and His forbearance bore with their transgressions. +Her reason had been worked upon to its belief by that mysterious and +solemn agency, by which--when the whole world beside was bowed to the +worship of innumerable deities, and the adoration of graven images,--in a +small and secluded portion of earth, amongst a people far less civilised +and philosophical than many by which they were surrounded, had been alone +preserved a pure and sublime theism, disdaining a likeness in the things +of heaven or earth. Leila knew little of the more narrow and exclusive +tenets of her brethren; a Jewess in name, she was rather a deist in +belief; a deist of such a creed as Athenian schools might have taught to +the imaginative pupils of Plato, save only that too dark a shadow had +been cast over the hopes of another world. Without the absolute denial +of the Sadducee, Almamen had, probably, much of the quiet scepticism +which belonged to many sects of the early Jews, and which still clings +round the wisdom of the wisest who reject the doctrine of Revelation; and +while he had not sought to eradicate from the breast of his daughter any +of the vague desire which points to a Hereafter, he had never, at least, +directed her thoughts or aspirations to that solemn future. Nor in the +sacred book which was given to her survey, and which so rigidly upheld +the unity of the Supreme Power, was there that positive and unequivocal +assurance of life beyond "the grave where all things are forgotten," that +might supply the deficiencies of her mortal instructor. Perhaps, sharing +those notions of the different value of the sexes, prevalent, from the +remotest period, in his beloved and ancestral East, Almamen might have +hopes for himself which did not extend to his child. And thus she grew +up, with all the beautiful faculties of the soul cherished and unfolded, +without thought, without more than dim and shadowy conjectures, of the +Eternal Bourne to which the sorrowing pilgrim of the earth is bound. It +was on this point that the quick eye of Donna Inez discovered her faith +was vulnerable: who would not, if belief were voluntary, believe in the +world to come? Leila's curiosity and interest were aroused: she +willingly listened to her new guide--she willingly inclined to +conclusions pressed upon her, not with menace, but persuasion. Free from +the stubborn associations, the sectarian prejudices, and unversed in the +peculiar traditions and accounts of the learned of her race, she found +nothing to shock her in the volume which seemed but a continuation of the +elder writings of her faith. The sufferings of the Messiah, His sublime +purity, His meek forgiveness, spoke to her woman's heart; His doctrines +elevated, while they charmed, her reason: and in the Heaven that a Divine +hand opened to all,--the humble as the proud, the oppressed as the +oppressor, to the woman as to the lords of the earth,--she found a haven +for all the doubts she had known, and for the despair which of late had +darkened the face of earth. Her home lost, the deep and beautiful love +of her youth blighted,--that was a creed almost irresistible which told +her that grief was but for a day, that happiness was eternal. Far, too, +from revolting such of the Hebrew pride of association as she had formed, +the birth of the Messiah in the land of the Israelites seemed to +consummate their peculiar triumph as the Elected of Jehovah. And while +she mourned for the Jews who persecuted the Saviour, she gloried in those +whose belief had carried the name and worship of the descendants of David +over the furthest regions of the world. Often she perplexed and startled +the worthy Inez by exclaiming, "This, your belief, is the same as mine, +adding only the assurance of immortal life--Christianity is but the +Revelation of Judaism." + +The wise and gentle instrument of Leila's conversion did not, however, +give vent to those more Catholic sentiments which might have scared away +the wings of the descending dove. She forbore too vehemently to point +out the distinctions of the several creeds, and rather suffered them to +melt insensibly one into the other: Leila was a Christian, while she +still believed herself a Jewess. But in the fond and lovely weakness of +mortal emotions, there was one bitter thought that often and often came +to mar the peace that otherwise would have settled on her soul. That +father, the sole softener of whose stern heart and mysterious fates she +was, with what pangs would he receive the news of her conversion! And +Muza, that bright and hero-vision of her youth--was she not setting the +last seal of separation upon all hope of union with the idol of the +Moors? But, alas! was she not already separated from him, and had not +their faiths been from the first at variance? From these thoughts she +started with sighs and tears; and before her stood the crucifix already +admitted into her chamber, and--not, perhaps, too wisely--banished so +rigidly from the oratories of the Huguenot. For the representation of +that Divine resignation, that mortal agony, that miraculous sacrifice, +what eloquence it hath for our sorrows! what preaching hath the symbol +to the vanities of our wishes, to the yearnings of our discontent! + +By degrees, as her new faith grew confirmed, Leila now inclined herself +earnestly to those pictures of the sanctity and calm of the conventual +life which Inez delighted to draw. In the reaction of her thoughts, and +her despondency of all worldly happiness, there seemed, to the young +maiden, an inexpressible charm in a solitude which was to release her for +ever from human love, and render her entirely up to sacred visions and +imperishable hopes. And with this selfish, there mingled a generous and +sublime sentiment. The prayers of a convert might be heard in favour of +those yet benighted: and the awful curse upon her outcast race be +lightened by the orisons of one humble heart. In all ages, in all +creeds, a strange and mystic impression has existed of the efficacy of +self-sacrifice in working the redemption even of a whole people: this +belief, so strong in the old orient and classic religions, was yet more +confirmed by Christianity--a creed founded upon the grandest of historic +sacrifices; and the lofty doctrine of which, rightly understood, +perpetuates in the heart of every believer the duty of self-immolation, +as well as faith in the power of prayer, no matter how great the object, +how mean the supplicator. On these thoughts Leila meditated, till +thoughts acquired the intensity of passions, and the conversion of the +Jewess was completed. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE HOUR AND THE MAN + +It was on the third morning after the King of Granada, reconciled to his +people, had reviewed his gallant army in the Vivarrambla; and Boabdil, +surrounded by his chiefs and nobles, was planning a deliberate and +decisive battle, by assault on the Christian camp,--when a scout suddenly +arrived, breathless, at the gates of the palace, to communicate the +unlooked-for and welcome intelligence that Ferdinand had in the night +broken up his camp, and marched across the mountains towards Cordova. In +fact, the outbreak of formidable conspiracies had suddenly rendered the +appearance of Ferdinand necessary elsewhere; and, his intrigues with +Almamen frustrated, he despaired of a very speedy conquest of the city. +The Spanish king resolved, therefore, after completing the devastation of +the Vega, to defer the formal and prolonged siege, which could alone +place Granada within his power, until his attention was no longer +distracted to other foes, and until, it must be added, he had replenished +an exhausted treasury. He had formed, with Torquemada, a vast and wide +scheme of persecution, not only against Jews, but against Christians +whose fathers had been of that race, and who were suspected of relapsing +into Judaical practices. The two schemers of this grand design were +actuated by different motives; the one wished to exterminate the crime, +the other to sell forgiveness for it. And Torquemada connived at the +griping avarice of the king, because it served to give to himself, and to +the infant Inquisition, a power and authority which the Dominican foresaw +would be soon greater even than those of royalty itself, and which, he +imagined, by scourging earth, would redound to the interests of Heaven. + +The strange disappearance of Almamen, which was distorted and +exaggerated, by the credulity of the Spaniards, into an event of the most +terrific character, served to complete the chain of evidence against the +wealthy Jews, and Jew-descended Spaniards, of Andalusia; and while, in +imagination, the king already clutched the gold of their redemption here, +the Dominican kindled the flame that was to light them to punishment +hereafter. + +Boabdil and his chiefs received the intelligence of the Spanish retreat +with a doubt which soon yielded to the most triumphant delight. Boabdil +at once resumed all the energy for which, though but by fits and starts, +his earlier youth had been remarkable. + +"Alla Achbar! God is great!" cried he; "we will not remain here till it +suit the foe to confine the eagle again to his eyrie. They have left us +--we will burst on them. Summon our alfaquis, we will proclaim a holy +war! The sovereign of the last possessions of the Moors is in the field. +Not a town that contains a Moslem but shall receive our summons, and we +will gather round our standard all the children of our faith!" + +"May the king live for ever!" cried the council, with one voice. + +"Lose not a moment," resumed Boabdil--"on to the Vivarrambla, marshal the +troops--Muza heads the cavalry; myself our foot. Ere the sun's shadow +reach yonder forest, our army shall be on its march." + +The warriors, hastily and in joy, left the palace; and when he was alone, +Boabdil again relapsed into his wonted irresolution. After striding to +and fro for some minutes in anxious thought, he abruptly quitted the hall +of council, and passed in to the more private chambers of the palace, +till he came to a door strongly guarded by plates of iron. It yielded +easily, however, to a small key which he carried in his girdle; and +Boabdil stood in a small circular room, apparently without other door or +outlet; but, after looking cautiously round, the king touched a secret +spring in the wall, which, giving way, discovered a niche, in which stood +a small lamp, burning with the purest naphtha, and a scroll of yellow +parchment covered with strange letters and hieroglyphics. He thrust the +scroll in his bosom, took the lamp in his hand, and pressing another +spring within the niche, the wall receded, and showed a narrow and +winding staircase. The king reclosed the entrance, and descended: the +stairs led, at last, into clamp and rough passages; and the murmur of +waters, that reached his ear through the thick walls, indicated the +subterranean nature of the soil through which they were hewn. The lamp +burned clear and steady through the darkness of the place; and Boabdil +proceeded with such impatient rapidity, that the distance (in reality, +considerable) which he traversed, before he arrived at his destined +bourne, was quickly measured. He came at last into a wide cavern, +guarded by doors concealed and secret as those which had screened the +entrance from the upper air. He was in one of the many vaults which made +the mighty cemetery of the monarchs of Granada; and before him stood the +robed and crowned skeleton, and before him glowed the magic dial-plate of +which he had spoken in his interview with Muza. + +"Oh, dread and awful image!" cried the king, throwing himself on his +knees before the skeleton,--"shadow of what was once a king, wise in +council, and terrible in war, if in those hollow bones yet lurks the +impalpable and unseen spirit, hear thy repentant son. Forgive, while it +is yet time, the rebellion of his fiery youth, and suffer thy daring soul +to animate the doubt and weakness of his own. I go forth to battle, +waiting not the signal thou didst ordain. Let not the penance for a +rashness, to which fate urges me on, attach to my country, but to me. +And if I perish in the field, may my evil destinies be buried with me, +and a worthier monarch redeem my errors and preserve Granada!" + +As the king raised his looks, the unrelaxed grin of the grim dead, made +yet more hideous by the mockery of the diadem and the royal robe, froze +back to ice the passion and sorrow at his heart. He shuddered, and rose +with a deep sigh; when, as his eyes mechanically followed the lifted arm +of the skeleton, he beheld, with mingled delight and awe, the hitherto +motionless finger of the dial-plate pass slowly on, and rest at the word +so long and so impatiently desired. "ARM!" cried the king; "do I read +aright?--are my prayers heard?" A low and deep sound, like that of +subterranean thunder, boomed through the chamber; and in the same instant +the wall opened, and the king beheld the long-expected figure of Almamen, +the magician. But no longer was that stately form clad in the loose and +peaceful garb of the Eastern santon. Complete armour cased his broad +chest and sinewy limbs; his head alone was bare, and his prominent and +impressive features were lighted, not with mystical enthusiasm, but with +warlike energy. In his right hand, he carried a drawn sword--his left +supported the staff of a snow-white and dazzling banner. + +So sudden was the apparition, and so excited the mind of the king, that +the sight of a supernatural being could scarcely have impressed him with +more amaze and awe. + +"King of Granada," said Almamen, "the hour hath come at last; go forth +and conquer! With the Christian monarch, there is no hope of peace or +compact. At thy request I sought him, but my spells alone preserved the +life of thy herald. Rejoice! for thine evil destinies have rolled away +from thy spirit, like a cloud from the glory of the sun. The genii of +the East have woven this banner from the rays of benignant stars. It +shall beam before thee in the front of battle--it shall rise over the +rivers of Christian blood. As the moon sways the bosom of the tides, +it shall sway and direct the surges and the course of war!" + +"Man of mystery! thou hast given me a new life." + +"And, fighting by thy side," resumed Almamen, "I will assist to carve out +for thee, from the ruins of Arragon and Castile, the grandeur of a new +throne. Arm, monarch of Granada!--arm! I hear the neigh of thy charger, +in the midst of the mailed thousands! Arm!" + + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, LEILA BY LYTTON, V3 *** +By Edward Bulwer Lytton + +**** This file should be named 9758.txt or 9758.zip ***** + +This eBook was produced by David Widger + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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