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