volume dictated by the blessed Intelligence, and, kneeling by the light

of the fire that surrounded us, we recited the verse which says: ‘Put no

trust in anything but the mercy of Heaven; there is no help save in the

holy Prophet; the mountain of Kaf itself may tremble, it is the power of

Allah only that cannot be moved.’ After having pronounced these words we

felt consolation, and our minds were hushed into a sacred repose; silence

ensued, and our ears clearly distinguished a voice in the air, saying:

‘Servants of my faithful servant! go down to the happy valley of

Fakreddin; tell him that an illustrious opportunity now offers to satiate

the thirst of his hospitable heart. The Commander of true believers is

this day bewildered amongst these mountains, and stands in need of thy

aid.’ We obeyed with joy the angelic mission, and our master, filled

with pious zeal, hath culled with his own hands these melons, oranges,

and pomegranates; he is following us with a hundred dromedaries laden

with the purest waters of his fountains, and is coming to kiss the fringe

of your consecrated robe, and implore you to enter his humble habitation,

which, placed amidst these barren wilds, resembles an emerald set in

lead.” The dwarfs, having ended their address, remained still standing,

and, with hands crossed upon their bosoms, preserved a respectful

silence.

Vathek in the midst of this curious harangue, seized the basket, and long

before it was finished the fruits had dissolved in his mouth; as he

continued to eat his piety increased, and in the same breath which

recited his prayers he called for the Koran and sugar.

Such was the state of his mind when the tablets, which were thrown by at

the approach of the dwarfs, again attracted his eye; he took them up, but

was ready to drop on the ground when he beheld, in large red characters,

these words inscribed by Carathis, which were indeed enough to make him

tremble:

“Beware of thy old doctors, and their puny messengers of but one cubit

high; distrust their pious frauds, and, instead of eating their melons,

impale on a spit the bearers of them. Shouldst thou be such a fool as to

visit them, the portal of the subterranean palace will be shut in thy

face, and with such force as shall shake thee asunder; thy body shall be

spit upon, and bats will engender in thy belly.”

“To what tends this ominous rhapsody?” cries the Caliph. “And must I

then perish in these deserts with thirst, whilst I may refresh myself in

the valley of melons and cucumbers! Accursed be the Giaour, with his

portal of ebony! he hath made me dance attendance too long already.

Besides, who shall prescribe laws to me? I forsooth must not enter any

one’s habitation! Be it so; but what one can I enter that is not my

own?”

Bababalouk, who lost not a syllable of this soliloquy, applauded it with

all his heart, and the ladies for the first time agreed with him in

opinion.

The dwarfs were entertained, caressed, and seated with great ceremony on

little cushions of satin. The symmetry of their persons was the subject

of criticism; not an inch of them was suffered to pass unexamined;

knick-knacks and dainties were offered in profusion, but all were

declined with respectful gravity. They clambered up the sides of the

Caliph’s seat, and, placing themselves each on one of his shoulders,

began to whisper prayers in his ears; their tongues quivered like the

leaves of a poplar, and the patience of Vathek was almost exhausted, when

the acclamations of the troops announced the approach of Fakreddin, who

was come with a hundred old grey-beards and as many Korans and

dromedaries; they instantly set about their ablutions, and began to

repeat the Bismillah; Vathek, to get rid of these officious monitors,

followed their example, for his hands were burning.

The good Emir, who was punctiliously religious, and likewise a great

dealer in compliments, made an harangue five times more prolix and

insipid than his harbingers had already delivered. The Caliph, unable

any longer to refrain, exclaimed—

“For the love of Mahomet, my dear Fakreddin, have done! let us proceed to

your valley, and enjoy the fruits that Heaven hath vouchsafed you.”

The hint of proceeding put all into motion; the venerable attendants of

the Emir set forward somewhat slowly, but Vathek, having ordered his

little pages in private to goad on the dromedaries, loud fits of laughter

broke forth from the cages, for the unwieldy curvetting of these poor

beasts, and the ridiculous distress of their superannuated riders,

afforded the ladies no small entertainment.

They descended, however, unhurt into the valley, by the large steps which

the Emir had cut in the rock; and already the murmuring of streams and

the rustling of leaves began to catch their attention. The cavalcade

soon entered a path which was skirted by flowering shrubs, and extended

to a vast wood of palm-trees, whose branches overspread a building of

hewn stone. This edifice was crowned with nine domes, and adorned with

as many portals of bronze, on which was engraven the following

inscription: “This is the asylum of pilgrims, the refuge of travellers,

and the depository of secrets for all parts of the world.”

Nine pages, beautiful as the day, and clothed in robes of Egyptian linen,

very long and very modest, were standing at each door. They received the

whole retinue with an easy and inviting air. Four of the most amiable

placed the Caliph on a magnificent taktrevan, four others, somewhat less

graceful, took charge of Bababalouk, who capered for joy at the snug

little cabin that fell to his share; the pages that remained waited on

the rest of the train.

When everything masculine was gone out of sight the gate of a large

enclosure on the right turned on its harmonious hinges and a young female

of a slender form came forth; her light brown hair floated in the hazy

breeze of the twilight; a troop of young maidens, like the Pleiades,

attended her on tip-toe. They hastened to the pavilions that contained

the sultanas, and the young lady, gracefully bending, said to them:

“Charming Princesses, everything is ready; we have prepared beds for your

repose, and strewed your apartments with jasmine; no insects will keep

off slumber from visiting your eyelids, we will dispel them with a

thousand plumes; come then, amiable ladies! refresh your delicate feet

and your ivory limbs in baths of rose water; and, by the light of

perfumed lamps your servants will amuse you with tales.”

The sultanas accepted with pleasure these obliging offers, and followed

the young lady to the Emir’s harem, where we must for a moment leave

them, and return to the Caliph.

Vathek found himself beneath a vast dome, illuminated by a thousand lamps

of rock crystal; as many vases of the same material, filled with

excellent sherbet, sparkled on a large table, where a profusion of viands

were spread; amongst others were sweetbreads stewed in milk of almonds,

saffron soups, and lamb _à la crême_, of all which the Caliph was

amazingly fond. He took of each as much as he was able, testified his

sense of the Emir’s friendship by the gaiety of his heart, and made the

dwarfs dance against their will, for these little devotees durst not

refuse the Commander of the Faithful; at last he spread himself on the

sofa, and slept sounder than he had ever before.

Beneath this dome a general silence prevailed, for there was nothing to

disturb it but the jaws of Bababalouk, who had untrussed himself to eat

with greater advantage, being anxious to make amends for his fast in the

mountains. As his spirits were too high to admit of his sleeping, and

not loving to be idle, he proposed with himself to visit the harem, and

repair to his charge of the ladies, to examine if they had been properly

lubricated with the balm of Mecca, if their eyebrows and tresses were in

order, and, in a word, to perform all the little offices they might need.

He sought for a long time together, but without being able to find out

the door; he durst not speak aloud, for fear of disturbing the Caliph,

and not a soul was stirring in the precincts of the palace; he almost

despaired of effecting his purpose, when a low whispering just reached

his ear; it came from the dwarfs who were returned to their old

occupation, and for the nine hundred and ninety-ninth time in their

lives, were reading over the Koran. They very politely invited

Bababalouk to be of their party, but his head was full of other concerns.

The dwarfs, though scandalised at his dissolute morals, directed him to

the apartments he wanted to find; his way thither lay through a hundred

dark corridors, along which he groped as he went, and at last began to

catch from the extremity of a passage the charming gossiping of the

women, which not a little delighted his heart. “Ah, ha! what, not yet

asleep!” cried he; and, taking long strides as he spoke. “Did you not

suspect me of abjuring my charge? I stayed but to finish what my master

had left.”

Two of the black eunuchs, on hearing a voice so loud, detached a party in

haste, sabre in hand, to discover the cause; but presently was repeated

on all sides: “’Tis only Bababalouk! no one but Bababalouk!” This

circumspect guardian, having gone up to a thin veil of carnation-coloured

silk that hung before the doorway, distinguished, by means of the

softened splendour that shone through it, an oval bath of dark porphyry,

surrounded by curtains festooned in large folds; through the apertures

between them, as they were not drawn close, groups of young slaves were

visible, amongst whom Bababalouk perceived his pupils, indulgingly

expanding their arms, as if to embrace the perfumed water and refresh

themselves after their fatigues. The looks of tender languor, their

confidential whispers, and the enchanting smiles with which they were

imparted, the exquisite fragrance of the roses, all combined to inspire a

voluptuousness, which even Bababalouk himself was scarce able to

withstand.

He summoned up, however, his usual solemnity, and, in the peremptory tone

of authority, commanded the ladies instantly to leave the bath. Whilst

he was issuing these mandates the young Nouronihar, daughter of the Emir,

who was sprightly as an antelope, and full of wanton gaiety, beckoned one

of her slaves to let down the great swing, which was suspended to the

ceiling by cords of silk, and whilst this was doing, winked to her

companions in the bath, who, chagrined to be forced from so soothing a

state of indolence, began to twist it round Bababalouk, and tease him

with a thousand vagaries.

When Nouronihar perceived that he was exhausted with fatigue, she

accosted him with an arch air of respectful concern, and said: “My lord,

it is not by any means decent that the chief eunuch of the Caliph, our

Sovereign, should thus continue standing; deign but to recline your

graceful person upon this sofa, which will burst with vexation if it have

not the honour to receive you.”

Caught by these flattering accents, Bababalouk gallantly replied:

“Delight of the apple of my eye! I accept the invitation of thy honeyed

lips; and, to say truth, my senses are dazzled with the radiance that

beams from thy charms.”

“Repose, then, at your ease,” replied the beauty, and placed him on the

pretended sofa, which, quicker than lightning, gave way all at once. The

rest of the women, having aptly conceived her design, sprang naked from

the bath, and plied the swing with such unmerciful jerks, that it swept

through the whole compass of a very lofty dome, and took from the poor

victim all power of respiration; sometimes his feet rased the surface of

the water, and at others the skylight almost flattened his nose; in vain

did he pierce the air with the cries of a voice that resembled the

ringing of a cracked basin, for their peals of laughter were still more

predominant.

Nouronihar, in the inebriety of youthful spirits, being used only to

eunuchs of ordinary harems, and having never seen anything so royal and

disgusting, was far more diverted than all of the rest; she began to

parody some Persian verses, and sang with an accent most demurely

piquant:

“O gentle white dove, as thou soar’st through the air,

Vouchsafe one kind glance on the mate of thy love;

Melodious Philomel, I am thy rose;

Warble some couplet to ravish my heart!”

The sultanas and their slaves, stimulated by these pleasantries,

persevered at the swing with such unremitted assiduity, that at length

the cord which had secured it snapped suddenly asunder, and Bababalouk

fell floundering like a turtle to the bottom of the bath. This accident

occasioned a universal shout; twelve little doors, till now unobserved,

flew open at once, and the ladies in an instant made their escape, after

throwing all the towels on his head, and putting out the lights that

remained.

The deplorable animal, in water to the chin, overwhelmed with darkness,

and unable to extricate himself from the wrap that embarrassed him, was

still doomed to hear for his further consolation the fresh bursts of

merriment his disaster occasioned. He bustled, but in vain, to get from

the bath, for the margin was become so slippery with the oil spilt in

breaking the lamps, that at every effort he slid back with a plunge,

which resounded aloud through the hollow of the dome. These cursed peals

of laughter at every relapse were redoubled; and he, who thought the

place infested rather by devils than women, resolved to cease groping,

and abide in the bath, where he amused himself with soliloquies,

interspersed with imprecations, of which his malicious neighbours

reclining on down suffered not an accent to escape. In this delectable

plight the morning surprised him. The Caliph, wondering at his absence,

had caused him to be everywhere sought for. At last he was drawn forth,

almost smothered from the wisp of linen, and wet even to the marrow.

Limping and chattering his teeth, he appeared before his master, who

inquired what was the matter, and how he came soused in so strange a

pickle.

“And why did you enter this cursed lodge?” answered Bababalouk, gruffly.

“Ought a monarch like you to visit with his harem the abode of a

grey-bearded Emir, who knows nothing of life? And with what gracious

damsels doth the place, too, abound! Fancy to yourself how they have

soaked me like a burnt crust, and made me dance like a jack-pudding the

live-long night through, on their damnable swing! What an excellent

lesson for your sultanas to follow, into whom I have instilled such

reserve and decorum!”

Vathek, comprehending not a syllable of all this invective, obliged him

to relate minutely the transaction; but instead of sympathising with the

miserable sufferer, he laughed immoderately at the device of the swing,

and the figure of Bababalouk mounting upon it. The stung eunuch could

scarcely preserve the semblance of respect.

“Ay, laugh, my lord! laugh,” said he; “but I wish this Nouronihar would

play some trick on you; she is too wicked to spare even majesty itself.”

Those words made for the present but a slight impression on the Caliph;

but they not long after recurred to his mind.

This conversation was cut short by Fakreddin, who came to request that

Vathek would join in the prayers and ablutions to be solemnised on a

spacious meadow, watered by innumerable streams. The Caliph found the

waters refreshing, but the prayers abominably irksome; he diverted

himself, however, with the multitude of Calenders, Santons, and Dervises,

who were continually coming and going, but especially with the Brahmins,

Fakirs, and other enthusiasts, who had travelled from the heart of India,

and halted on their way with the Emir. These latter had, each of them,

some mummery peculiar to himself. One dragged a huge chain wherever he

went, another an ouranoutang, whilst a third was furnished with scourges,

and all performed to a charm; some clambered up trees, holding one foot

in the air; others poised themselves over a fire, and without mercy

filliped their noses. There were some amongst them that cherished

vermin, which were not ungrateful in requiting their caresses. These

rambling fanatics revolted the hearts of the Dervises, the Calenders, and

Santons; however, the vehemence of their aversion soon subsided, under

the hope that the presence of the Caliph would cure their folly, and

convert them to the Mussulman faith; but, alas! how great was their

disappointment! for Vathek, instead of preaching to them, treated them as

buffoons, bade them present his compliments to Visnow and Ixhora, and

discovered a predilection for a squat old man from the isle of Serendib,

who was more ridiculous than any of the rest.

“Come!” said he, “for the love of your gods bestow a few slaps on your

chops to amuse me.”

The old fellow, offended at such an address, began loudly to weep; but,

as he betrayed a villainous drivelling in his tears, the Caliph turned

his back and listened to Bababalouk, who whispered, whilst he held the

umbrella over him: “Your Majesty should be cautious of this odd assembly

which hath been collected I know not for what. Is it necessary to

exhibit such spectacles to a mighty potentate, with interludes of

Talapoins more mangy than dogs? Were I you, I would command a fire to be

kindled, and at once purge the earth of the Emir, his harem, and all his

menagerie.”

“Tush, dolt!” answered Vathek; “and know that all this infinitely charms

me; nor shall I leave the meadow till I have visited every hive of these

pious mendicants.”

Wherever the Caliph directed his course objects of pity were sure to

swarm round him: the blind, the purblind, smarts without noses, damsels

without ears, each to extol the munificence of Fakreddin, who, as well as

his attendant grey-beards, dealt about gratis plasters and cataplasms to

all that applied. At noon a superb corps of cripples made its

appearance, and soon after advanced by platoons on the plain, the

completest association of invalids that had ever been embodied till then.

The blind went groping with the blind, the lame limped on together, and

the maimed made gestures to each other with the only arm that remained;

the sides of a considerable waterfall were crowded by the deaf, amongst

whom were some from Pegû with ears uncommonly handsome and large, but

were still less able to hear than the rest; nor were there wanting others

in abundance with humpbacks, wenny necks, and even horns of an exquisite

polish.

The Emir, to aggrandise the solemnity of the festival in honour of his

illustrious visitant, ordered the turf to be spread on all sides with

skins and table-cloths, upon which were served up for the good Mussulmans

pilaus of every line, with other orthodox dishes; and, by the express

order of Vathek, who was shamefully tolerant, small plates of

abominations for regaling the rest. This prince, on seeing so many

mouths put in motion, began to think it time for employing his own; in

spite, therefore, of every remonstrance from the chief of his eunuchs, he

resolved to have a dinner dressed on the spot. The complaisant Emir

immediately gave orders for a table to be placed in the shade of the

willows. The first service consisted of fish, which they drew from a

river flowing over sands of gold at the foot of a lofty hill; these were

broiled as fast as taken, and served up with a sauce of vinegar, and

small herbs that grow on Mount Sinai; for everything with the Emir was

excellent and pious.

The dessert was not quite set on when the sound of lutes from the hill

was repeated by the echoes of the neighbouring mountains. The Caliph,

with an emotion of pleasure and surprise, had no sooner raised up his

head than a handful of jasmine dropped on his face; an abundance of

tittering succeeded the frolic, and instantly appeared through the bushes

the elegant forms of several young females, skipping and bounding like

roes. The fragrance diffused from their hair struck the sense of Vathek,

who, in an ecstasy, suspending his repast, said to Bababalouk:

“Are the Peris come down from their spheres? Note her in particular

whose form is so perfect, venturously running on the brink of the

precipice, and turning back her head, as regardless of nothing but the

graceful flow of her robe; with what captivating impatience doth she

contend with the bushes for her veil! could it be she who threw the

jasmine at me?”

“Ay! she it was; and you too would she throw from the top of the rock,”

answered Bababalouk; “for that is my good friend Nouronihar, who so

kindly lent me her swing; my dear lord and master,” added he, twisting a

twig that hung by the rind from a willow, “let me correct her for want of

respect; the Emir will have no reason to complain, since (bating what I

owe to his piety) he is much to be censured for keeping a troop of girls

on the mountains, whose sharp air gives their blood too brisk a

circulation.”

“Peace, blasphemer!” said the Caliph; “speak not thus of her who over her

mountains leads my heart a willing captive; contrive rather that my eyes

may be fixed upon hers, that I may respire her sweet breath, as she

bounds panting along these delightful wilds!” On saying these words,

Vathek extended his arms towards the hill, and directing his eyes with an

anxiety unknown to him before, endeavoured to keep within view the object

that enthralled his soul; but her course was as difficult to follow as

the flight of one of those beautiful blue butterflies of Cashmere, which

are at once so volatile and rare.

The Caliph, not satisfied with seeing, wished also to hear Nouronihar,

and eagerly turned to catch the sound of her voice; at last he

distinguished her whispering to one of her companions behind the thicket

from whence she had thrown the jasmine: “A Caliph, it must be owned, is a

fine thing to see, but my little Gulchenrouz is much more amiable; one

lock of his hair is of more value to me than the richest embroidery of

the Indies; I had rather that his teeth should mischievously press my

finger than the richest ring of the imperial treasure. Where have you

left him, Sutlememe? and why is he now not here?”

The agitated Caliph still wished to hear more, but she immediately

retired, with all her attendants; the fond monarch pursued her with his

eyes till she was gone out of sight, and then continued like a bewildered

and benighted traveller, from whom the clouds had obscured the

constellation that guided his way; the curtain of night seemed dropped

before him; everything appeared discoloured; the falling waters filled

his soul with dejection, and his tears trickled down the jasmines he had

caught from Nouronihar, and placed in his inflamed bosom; he snatched up

a shining pebble, to remind him of the scene where he felt the first

tumults of love. Two hours were elapsed, and evening drew on before he

could resolve to depart from the place; he often, but in vain, attempted

to go; a soft languor enervated the powers of his mind; extending himself

on the brink of the stream, he turned his eyes towards the blue summits

of the mountain, and exclaimed: “What concealest thou behind thee? what

is passing in thy solitudes? Whither is she gone? O Heaven! perhaps she

is now wandering in thy grottos, with her happy Gulchenrouz!”

In the meantime the damps began to descend, and the Emir, solicitous for

the health of the Caliph, ordered the imperial litter to be brought.

Vathek, absorbed in his reveries, was imperceptibly removed, and conveyed

back to the saloon that received him the evening before.

But let us leave the Caliph, immersed in his new passion, and attend

Nouronihar beyond the rocks, where she had again joined her beloved

Gulchenrouz. This Gulchenrouz was the son of Ali Hassan, brother to the

Emir, and the most delicate and lovely creature in the world. Ali

Hassan, who had been absent ten years on a voyage to the unknown seas,

committed at his departure this child, the only survivor of many, to the

care and protection of his brother. Gulchenrouz could write in various

characters with precision, and paint upon vellum the most elegant

arabesques that fancy could devise; his sweet voice accompanied the lute

in the most enchanting manner, and when he sang the loves of Megnoun and

Leileh, or some unfortunate lovers of ancient days, tears insensibly

overflowed the cheeks of his auditors; the verses he composed (for, like

Megnoun, he too was a poet) inspired that unresisting languor so

frequently fatal to the female heart; the women all doted upon him; for

though he had passed his thirteenth year, they still detained him in the

harem; his dancing was light as the gossamer waved by the zephyrs of

spring, but his arms, which twined so gracefully with those of the young

girls in the dance, could neither dart the lance in the chase, nor curb

the steeds that pastured his uncle’s domains. The bow, however, he drew

with a certain aim, and would have excelled his competitors in the race,

could he have broken the ties that bound him to Nouronihar.

The two brothers had mutually engaged their children to each other, and

Nouronihar loved her cousin more than her eyes; both had the same tastes

and amusements, the same long, languishing looks, the same tresses, the

same fair complexions, and when Gulchenrouz appeared in the dress of his

cousin he seemed to be more feminine than even herself. If at any time

he left the harem to visit Fakreddin, it was with all the bashfulness of

a fawn, that consciously ventures from the lair of its dam; he was

however, wanton enough to mock the solemn old grey-beards to whom he was

subject, though sure to be rated without mercy in return; whenever this

happened he would plunge into the recesses of the harem, and sobbing,

take refuge in the arms of Nouronihar, who loved even his faults beyond

the virtues of others.

It fell out this evening that, after leaving the Caliph in the meadow,

she ran with Gulchenrouz over the green sward of the mountain that

sheltered the vale where Fakreddin had chosen to reside. The sun was

dilated on the edge of the horizon; and the young people, whose fancies

were lively and inventive, imagined they beheld in the gorgeous clouds of

the west the domes of Shadukiam and Amberabad, where the Peris have fixed

their abode. Nouronihar, sitting on the slope of the hill, supported on

her knees the perfumed head of Gulchenrouz; the air was calm, and no

sound stirred but the voices of other young girls, who were drawing cool

water from the streams below. The unexpected arrival of the Caliph, and

the splendour that marked his appearance, had already filled with emotion

the ardent soul of Nouronihar; her vanity irresistibly prompted her to

pique the prince’s attention, and this she before took good care to

effect whilst he picked up the jasmine she had thrown upon him. But when

Gulchenrouz asked after the flowers he had culled for her bosom,

Nouronihar was all in confusion; she hastily kissed his forehead, arose

in a flutter, and walked with unequal steps on the border of the

precipice. Night advanced, and the pure gold of the setting sun had

yielded to a sanguine red, the glow of which, like the reflection of a

burning furnace, flushed Nouronihar’s animated countenance. Gulchenrouz,

alarmed at the agitation of his cousin, said to her with a supplicating

accent:

“Let us be gone; the sky looks portentous, the tamarisks tremble more

than common, and the raw wind chills my very heart; come! let us be gone;

’tis a melancholy night!”

Then, taking hold of her hand, he drew it towards the path he besought

her to go. Nouronihar unconsciously followed the attraction, for a

thousand strange imaginations occupied her spirit; she passed the large

round of honeysuckles, her favourite resort, without ever vouchsafing it

a glance, yet Gulchenrouz could not help snatching off a few shoots in

his way, though he ran as if a wild beast were behind.

The young females seeing him approach in such haste, and according to

custom expecting a dance, instantly assembled in a circle, and took each

other by the hand; but Gulchenrouz, coming up out of breath, fell down at

once on the grass. This accident struck with consternation the whole of

this frolicsome party; whilst Nouronihar, half distracted, and overcome,

both by the violence of her exercise and the tumult of her thoughts, sunk

feebly down at his side, cherished his cold hands in her bosom, and

chafed his temples with a fragrant unguent. At length he came to

himself, and, wrapping up his head in the robe of his cousin, entreated

that she would not return to the harem; he was afraid of being snapped at

by Shaban, his tutor, a wrinkled old eunuch of a surly disposition; for

having interrupted the stated walk of Nouronihar, he dreaded lest the

churl should take it amiss. The whole of this sprightly group, sitting

round upon a mossy knoll, began to entertain themselves with various

pastimes, whilst their superintendents the eunuchs were gravely

conversing at a distance. The nurse of the Emir’s daughter, observing

her pupil sit ruminating with her eyes on the ground, endeavoured to

amuse her with diverting tales, to which Gulchenrouz, who had already

forgotten his inquietudes, listened with a breathless attention; he

laughed, he clapped his hands, and passed a hundred little tricks on the

whole of the company, without omitting the eunuchs, whom he provoked to

run after him, in spite of their age and decrepitude.

During these occurrences the moon arose, the wind subsided, and the

evening became so serene and inviting, that a resolution was taken to sup

on the spot. Sutlememe, who excelled in dressing a salad, having filled

large bowls of porcelain with eggs of small birds, curds turned with

citron juice, slices of cucumber, and the inmost leaves of delicate

herbs, handed it round from one to another, and gave each their shares in

a large spoon of Cocknos. Gulchenrouz, nestling as usual in the bosom of

Nouronihar, pouted out his vermilion little lips against the offer of

Sutlememe, and would take it only from the hand of his cousin, on whose

mouth he hung like a bee inebriated with the quintessence of flowers.

One of the eunuchs ran to fetch melons, whilst others were employed in

showering down almonds from the branches that overhung this amiable

party.

In the midst of this festive scene there appeared a light on the top of

the highest mountain, which attracted the notice of every eye; this light

was not less bright than the moon when at full, and might have been taken

for her, had it not been that the moon was already risen. The phenomenon

occasioned a general surprise, and no one could conjecture the cause; it

could not be a fire, for the light was clear and bluish, nor had meteors

ever been seen of that magnitude or splendour. This strange light faded

for a moment, and immediately renewed its brightness; it first appeared

motionless at the foot of the rock, whence it darted in an instant to

sparkle in a thicket of palm-trees; from thence it glided along the

torrent, and at last fixed in a glen that was narrow and dark. The

moment it had taken its direction, Gulchenrouz, whose heart always

trembled at anything sudden or rare, drew Nouronihar by the robe, and

anxiously requested her to return to the harem; the women were

importunate in seconding the entreaty, but the curiosity of the Emir’s

daughter prevailed; she not only refused to go back, but resolved at all

hazards to pursue the appearance. Whilst they were debating what was

best to be done, the light shot forth so dazzling a blaze, that they all

fled away shrieking; Nouronihar followed them a few steps, but, coming to

the turn of a little bye-path, stopped, and went back alone; as she ran

with an alertness peculiar to herself, it was not long before she came to

the place where they had just been supping. The globe of fire now

appeared stationary in the glen, and burned in majestic stillness.

Nouronihar, compressing her hands upon her bosom, hesitated for some

moments to advance; the solitude of her situation was new, the silence of

the night awful, and every object inspired sensations which till then she

never had felt: the affright of Gulchenrouz recurred to her mind, and she

a thousand times turned to go back, but this luminous appearance was

always before her; urged on by an irresistible impulse, she continued to

approach it, in defiance of every obstacle that opposed her progress.

At length she arrived at the opening of the glen; but, instead of coming

up to the light, she found herself surrounded by darkness, excepting that

at a considerable distance a faint spark glimmered by fits. She stopped

a second time; the sound of water-falls mingling their murmurs, the

hollow rustlings amongst the palm-branches, and the funereal screams of

the birds from their rifted trunks, all conspired to fill her with

terror; she imagined every moment that she trod on some venomous reptile;

all the stories of malignant Dives and dismal Gouls thronged into her

memory; but her curiosity was, notwithstanding, more predominant than her

fears; she therefore firmly entered a winding track that led towards the

spark, but, being a stranger to the path, she had not gone far till she

began to repent of her rashness.

“Alas!” said she, “that I were but in those secure and illuminated

apartments where my evenings glided on with Gulchenrouz! Dear child! how

would thy heart flutter with terror wert thou wandering in these wild

solitudes like me!” At the close of this apostrophe she regained her

road, and, coming to steps hewn out in the rock, ascended them

undismayed; the light, which was now gradually enlarging, appeared above

her on the summit of the mountain; at length she distinguished a

plaintive and melodious union of voices, proceeding from a sort of

cavern, that resembled the dirges which are sung over tombs; a sound,

likewise, like that which arises from the filling of baths, at the same

time struck her ear; she continued ascending, and discovered large wax

torches in full blaze planted here and there in the fissures of the rock;

this preparation filled her with fear, whilst the subtle and potent odour

which the torches exhaled caused her to sink almost lifeless at the

entrance of the grot.

Casting her eyes within in this kind of trance, she beheld a large

cistern of gold filled with a water, whose vapour distilled on her face a

dew of the essence of roses; a soft symphony resounded through the grot;

on the sides of the cistern she noticed appendages of royalty, diadems,

and feathers of the heron, all sparkling with carbuncles; whilst her

attention was fixed on this display of magnificence, the music ceased,

and a voice instantly demanded:

“For what monarch were these torches kindled, this bath prepared, and

these habiliments, which belong, not only to the sovereigns of the earth,

but even to the Talismanic Powers?”

To which a second voice answered: “They are for the charming daughter of

the Emir Fakreddin.”

“What,” replied the first, “for that trifler, who consumes her time with

a giddy child, immersed in softness, and who at best can make but an

enervated husband?”

“And can she,” rejoined the other voice, “be amused with such empty

trifles, whilst the Caliph, the sovereign of the world, he who is

destined to enjoy the treasures of the pre-adamite Sultans, a prince six

feet high, and whose eyes pervade the inmost soul of a female, is

inflamed with the love of her. No! she will be wise enough to answer

that passion alone that can aggrandise her glory; no doubt she will, and

despise the puppet of her fancy. Then all the riches this place

contains, as well as the carbuncle of Giamschid, shall be hers.”

“You judge right,” returned the first voice, “and I haste to Istakar to

prepare the palace of subterranean fire for the reception of the bridal

pair.”

The voices ceased, the torches were extinguished, the most entire

darkness succeeded, and Nouronihar, recovering with a start, found

herself reclined on a sofa in the harem of her father. She clapped her

hands, and immediately came together Gulchenrouz and her women, who, in

despair at having lost her, had despatched eunuchs to seek her in every

direction; Shaban appeared with the rest, and began to reprimand her with

an air of consequence:

“Little impertinent,” said he, “whence got you false keys? or are you

beloved of some Genius that hath given you a pick-lock? I will try the

extent of your power; come, to your chamber! through the two skylights;

and expect not the company of Gulchenrouz; be expeditious! I will shut

you up in the double tower.”

At these menaces Nouronihar indignantly raised her head, opened on Shaban

her black eyes, which, since the important dialogue of the enchanted

grot, were considerably enlarged, and said: “Go, speak thus to slaves,

but learn to reverence her who is born to give laws, and subject all to

her power.”

She was proceeding in the same style, but was interrupted by a sudden

exclamation of “The Caliph! The Caliph!” The curtains at once were

thrown open, and the slaves prostrate in double rows, whilst poor little

Gulchenrouz hid himself beneath the elevation of a sofa. At first

appeared a file of black eunuchs, trailing after them long trains of

muslin embroidered with gold, and holding in their hands censers, which

dispensed as they passed the grateful perfume of the wood of aloes; next

marched Bababalouk with a solemn strut, and tossing his head as not

over-pleased at the visit; Vathek came close after, superbly robed; his

gait was unembarrassed and noble, and his presence would have engaged

admiration, though he had not been the sovereign of the world; he

approached Nouronihar with a throbbing heart, and seemed enraptured at

the full effulgence of her radiant eyes, of which he had before caught

but a few glimpses; but she instantly depressed them, and her confusion

augmented her beauty.

Bababalouk, who was a thorough adept in coincidences of this nature, and

knew that the worst game should be played with the best face, immediately

made a signal for all to retire; and no sooner did he perceive beneath

the sofa the little one’s feet, than he drew him forth without ceremony,

set him upon his shoulders, and lavished on him as he went off a thousand

odious caresses; Gulchenrouz cried out, and resisted till his cheeks

became the colour of the blossom of the pomegranate, and the tears that

started into his eyes shot forth a gleam of indignation; he cast a

significant glance at Nouronihar, which the Caliph noticing, asked: “Is

that then your Gulchenrouz?”

“Sovereign of the world?” answered she, “spare my cousin, whose innocence

and gentleness deserve not your anger.”

“Take comfort,” said Vathek, with a smile; “he is in good hands.

Bababalouk is fond of children, and never goes without sweetmeats and

comfits.”

The daughter of Fakreddin was abashed, and suffered Gulchenrouz to be

borne away without adding a word. The tumult of her bosom betrayed her

confusion; and Vathek, becoming still more impassioned, gave a loose to

his frenzy, which had only not subdued the last faint strugglings of

reluctance, when the Emir, suddenly bursting in, threw his face upon the

ground at the feet of the Caliph, and said:

“Commander of the Faithful! abase not yourself to the meanness of your

slave.”

“No, Emir,” replied Vathek; “I raise her to an equality with myself; I

declare her my wife, and the glory of your race shall extend from one

generation to another.”

“Alas! my lord,” said Fakreddin, as he plucked off the honours of his

beard, “cut short the days of your faithful servant, rather than force

him to depart from his word. Nouronihar, as her hands evince, is

solemnly promised to Gulchenrouz, the son of my brother Ali Hassan; they

are united also in heart, their faith is mutually plighted, and affiances

so sacred cannot be broken.”

“What then!” replied the Caliph, bluntly, “would you surrender this

divine beauty to a husband more womanish than herself? and can you

imagine that I will suffer her charms to decay in hands so inefficient

and nerveless? No! she is destined to live out her life within my

embraces: such is my will; retire, and disturb not the time I devote to

the homage of her charms.”

The irritated Emir drew forth his sabre, presented it to Vathek, and

stretching out his neck, said in a firm tone of voice: “Strike your

unhappy host, my lord! he has lived long enough, since he hath seen the

Prophet’s Vicegerent violate the rites of hospitality.”

At his uttering these words Nouronihar, unable to support any longer the

conflict of her passions, sank down in a swoon. Vathek, both terrified

for her life and furious at an opposition to his will, bade Fakreddin

assist his daughter, and withdrew, darting his terrible look at the

unfortunate Emir, who suddenly fell backward, bathed in a sweat cold as

the damp of death.

Gulchenrouz, who had escaped from the hands of Bababalouk, and was that

instant returned, called out for help as loudly as he could, not having

strength to afford it himself. Pale and panting, the poor child

attempted to revive Nouronihar by caresses; and it happened that the

thrilling warmth of his lips restored her to life. Fakreddin beginning

also to recover from the look of the Caliph, with difficulty tottered to

a seat, and after warily casting round his eye to see if this dangerous

prince was gone, sent for Shaban and Sutlememe, and said to them apart:

“My friends! violent evils require as violent remedies; the Caliph has

brought desolation and horror into my family, and how shall we resist his

power? another of his looks will send me to my grave. Fetch then that

narcotic powder which the Dervish brought me from Aracan; a dose of it,

the effect of which will continue three days, must be administered to

each of these children; the Caliph will believe them to be dead, for they

will have all the appearance of death; we shall go as if to inter them in

the cave of Meimoune, at the entrance of the great desert of sand, and

near the cabin of my dwarfs. When all the spectators shall be withdrawn,

you, Shaban, and four select eunuchs, shall convey them to the lake,

where provisions shall be ready to support them a month; for one day

allotted to the surprise this event will occasion, five to the tears, a

fortnight to reflection, and the rest to prepare for renewing his

progress, will, according to my calculation, fill up the whole time that

Vathek will tarry, and I shall then be freed from his intrusion.”

“Your plan,” said Sutlememe, “is a good one, if it can but be effected.

I have remarked that Nouronihar is well able to support the glances of

the Caliph, and that he is far from being sparing of them to her; be

assured, therefore, notwithstanding her fondness for Gulchenrouz, she

will never remain quiet while she knows him to be here, unless we can

persuade her that both herself and Gulchenrouz are really dead, and that

they were conveyed to those rocks for a limited season to expiate the

little faults of which their love was the cause; we will add that we

killed ourselves in despair, and that your dwarfs, whom they never yet

saw, will preach to them delectable sermons. I will engage that

everything shall succeed to the bent of your wishes.”

“Be it so!” said Fakreddin. “I approve your proposal; let us lose not a

moment to give it effect.”

They forthwith hastened to seek for the powder, which, being mixed in a

sherbet, was immediately drank by Gulchenrouz and Nouronihar. Within the

space of an hour both were seized with violent palpitations, and a

general numbness gradually ensued; they arose from the floor, where they

had remained ever since the Caliph’s departure, and, ascending to the

sofa, reclined themselves at full length upon it, clasped in each other’s

embraces.

“Cherish me, my dear Nouronihar!” said Gulchenrouz; “put thy hand upon my

heart, for it feels as if it were frozen. Alas! thou art as cold as

myself! Hath the Caliph murdered us both with his terrible look?”

“I am dying!” cried she in a faltering voice; “press me closer; I am

ready to expire!”

“Let us die then together,” answered the little Gulchenrouz, whilst his

breast laboured with a convulsive sigh; “let me at least breathe forth my

soul on thy lips!” They spoke no more, and became as dead.

Immediately the most piercing cries were heard through the harem, whilst

Shaban and Sutlememe personated with great adroitness the parts of

persons in despair. The Emir, who was sufficiently mortified to be

forced into such untoward expedients, and had now for the first time made

a trial of his powder, was under no necessity of counterfeiting grief.

The slaves, who had flocked together from all quarters, stood motionless

at the spectacle before them; all lights were extinguished save two

lamps, which shed a wan glimmering over the faces of these lovely

flowers, that seemed to be faded in the spring-time of life; funeral

vestments were prepared, their bodies were washed with rose-water, their

beautiful tresses were braided and incensed, and they were wrapped in

simars whiter than alabaster. At the moment that their attendants were

placing two wreaths of their favourite jasmines on their brows, the

Caliph, who had just heard of the tragical catastrophe, arrived; he

looked not less pale and haggard than the Gouls, that wander at night

among graves; forgetful of himself and every one else, he broke through

the midst of the slaves, fell prostrate at the foot of the sofa, beat his

bosom, called himself “atrocious murderer!” and invoked upon his head a

thousand imprecations; with a trembling hand he raised the veil that

covered the countenance of Nouronihar, and, uttering a loud shriek, fell

lifeless on the floor. The chief of the eunuchs dragged him off with

horrible grimaces, and repeated as he went: “Ay, I foresaw she would play

you some ungracious turn!”

No sooner was the Caliph gone than the Emir commanded biers to be

brought, and forbad that any one should enter the harem. Every window

was fastened, all instruments of music were broken, and the Imams began

to recite their prayers; towards the close of this melancholy day Vathek

sobbed in silence, for they had been forced to compose with anodynes his

convulsions of rage and desperation.

At the dawn of the succeeding morning the wide folding doors of the

palace were set open, and the funeral procession moved forward for the

mountain. The wailful cries of “La Ilah illa Allah!” reached to the

Caliph, who was eager to cicatrise himself and attend the ceremonial; nor

could he have been dissuaded, had not his excessive weakness disabled him

from walking; at the few first steps he fell on the ground, and his

people were obliged to lay him on a bed, where he remained many days in

such a state of insensibility, as excited compassion in the Emir himself.

When the procession was arrived at the grot of Meimoune, Shaban and

Sutlememe dismissed the whole of the train, excepting the four

confidential eunuchs who were appointed to remain. After resting some

moments near the biers, which had been left in the open air, they caused

them to be carried to the brink of a small lake, whose banks were

overgrown with a hoary moss; this was the great resort of herons and

storks, which preyed continually on little blue fishes. The dwarfs,

instructed by the Emir, soon repaired thither, and, with the help of the

eunuchs, began to construct cabins of rushes and reeds, a work in which

they had admirable skill; a magazine also was contrived for provisions,

with a small oratory for themselves, and a pyramid of wood neatly piled,

to furnish the necessary fuel, for the air was bleak in the hollows of

the mountains.

At evening two fires were kindled on the brink of the lake, and the two

lovely bodies, taken from their biers, were carefully deposited upon a

bed of dried leaves within the same cabin. The dwarfs began to recite

the Koran with their clear shrill voices, and Shaban and Sutlememe stood

at some distance, anxiously waiting the effects of the powder. At length

Nouronihar and Gulchenrouz faintly stretched out their arms, and

gradually opening their eyes, began to survey with looks of increasing

amazement every object around them; they even attempted to rise, but for

want of strength fell back again; Sutlememe on this administered a

cordial, which the Emir had taken care to provide.

Gulchenrouz, thoroughly aroused, sneezed out aloud, and raising himself

with an effort that expressed his surprise, left the cabin, and inhaled

the fresh air with the greatest avidity.

“Yes,” said he, “I breathe again! again do I exist! I hear sounds! I

behold a firmament spangled over with stars!”

Nouronihar, catching these beloved accents, extricated herself from the

leaves, and ran to clasp Gulchenrouz to her bosom. The first objects she

remarked were their long simars, their garlands of flowers, and their

naked feet; she hid her face in her hands to reflect; the vision of the

enchanted bath, the despair of her father, and, more vividly than both,

the majestic figure of Vathek recurred to her memory; she recollected

also that herself and Gulchenrouz had been sick and dying; but all these

images bewildered her mind. Not knowing where she was, she turned her

eyes on all sides, as if to recognise the surrounding scene; this

singular lake, those flames reflected from its glassy surface, the pale

hues of its banks, the romantic cabins, the bulrushes that sadly waved

their drooping heads, the storks whose melancholy cries blended with the

shrill voices of the dwarfs, everything conspired to persuade them that

the Angel of Death had opened the portal of some other world.

Gulchenrouz on his part, lost in wonder, clung to the neck of his cousin:

he believed himself in the region of phantoms, and was terrified at the

silence she preserved; at length addressing her:

“Speak,” said he, “where are we? do you not see those spectres that are

stirring the burning coals? are they Monker and Nakir, come to throw us

into them? does the fatal bridge cross this lake, whose solemn stillness

perhaps conceals from us an abyss, in which for whole ages we shall be

doomed incessantly to sink?”

“No, my children!” said Sutlememe, going towards them, “take comfort! the

exterminating Angel, who conducted our souls hither after yours, hath

assured us that the chastisement of your indolent and voluptuous life

shall be restricted to a certain series of years, which you must pass in

this dreary abode, where the sun is scarcely visible, and where the soil

yields neither fruits nor flowers. These,” continued she, pointing to

the dwarfs, “will provide for our wants, for souls so mundane as ours

retain too strong a tincture of their earthly extraction; instead of

meats your food will be nothing but rice, and your bread shall be

moistened in the fogs that brood over the surface of the lake.”

At this desolating prospect the poor children burst into tears, and

prostrated themselves before the dwarfs, who perfectly supported their

characters, and delivered an excellent discourse of a customary length

upon the sacred camel, which after a thousand years was to convey them to

the paradise of the faithful.

The sermon being ended, and ablutions performed, they praised Allah and

the Prophet, supped very indifferently, and retired to their withered

leaves. Nouronihar and her little cousin consoled themselves on finding

that, though dead, they yet lay in one cabin. Having slept well before,

the remainder of the night was spent in conversation on what had befallen

them, and both, from a dread of apparitions, betook themselves for

protection to one another’s arms.

In the morning, which was lowering and rainy, the dwarfs mounted high

poles like minarets, and called them to prayers; the whole congregation,

which consisted of Sutlememe, Shaban, the four eunuchs, and some storks,

were already assembled. The two children came forth from their cabin

with a slow and dejected pace; as their minds were in a tender and

melancholy mood, their devotions were performed with fervour. No sooner

were they finished, than Gulchenrouz demanded of Sutlememe and the rest,

“how they happened to die so opportunely for his cousin and himself.”

“We killed ourselves,” returned Sutlememe, “in despair at your death.”

On this, said Nouronihar, who, notwithstanding what was past, had not yet

forgotten her vision: “And the Caliph! is he also dead of his grief? and

will he likewise come hither?”

The dwarfs, who were prepared with an answer, most demurely replied:

“Vathek is damned beyond all redemption!”

“I readily believe so,” said Gulchenrouz, “and I am glad from my heart to

hear it; for I am convinced it was his horrible look that sent us hither

to listen to sermons and mess upon rice.”

One week passed away on the side of the lake unmarked by any variety;

Nouronihar ruminating on the grandeur of which death had deprived her,

and Gulchenrouz applying to prayers and to panniers, along with the

dwarfs, who infinitely pleased him.

Whilst this scene of innocence was exhibiting in the mountains, the

Caliph presented himself to the Emir in a new light; the instant he

recovered the use of his senses, with a voice that made Bababalouk quake,

he thundered out: “Perfidious Giaour! I renounce thee for ever! it is

thou who hast slain my beloved Nouronihar! and I supplicate the pardon of

Mahomet, who would have preserved her to me had I been more wise; let

water be brought to perform my ablutions, and let the pious Fakreddin be

called to offer up his prayers with mine, and reconcile me to him;

afterwards we will go together and visit the sepulchre of the unfortunate

Nouronihar; I am resolved to become a hermit, and consume the residue of

my days on this mountain, in hope of expiating my crimes.”

Nouronihar was not altogether so content, for though she felt a fondness

for Gulchenrouz, who, to augment the attachment, had been left at full

liberty with her, yet she still regarded him as but a bauble, that bore

no competition with the carbuncle of Giamschid. At times she indulged

doubts on the mode of her being, and scarcely could believe that the dead

had all the wants and the whims of the living. To gain satisfaction,

however, on so perplexing a topic, she arose one morning whilst all were

asleep, with a breathless caution, from the side of Gulchenrouz, and,

after having given him a soft kiss, began to follow the windings of the

lake till it terminated with a rock, whose top was accessible, though

lofty; this she clambered up with considerable toil, and having reached

the summit, set forward in a run, like a doe that unwittingly follows her

hunter; though she skipped along with the alertness of an antelope, yet

at intervals she was forced to desist, and rest beneath the tamarisks to

recover her breath. Whilst she, thus reclined, was occupied with her

little reflections on the apprehension that she had some knowledge of the

place, Vathek, who, finding himself that morning but ill at ease, had

gone forth before the dawn, presented himself on a sudden to her view;

motionless with surprise, he durst not approach the figure before him,

which lay shrouded up in a simar, extended on the ground, trembling and

pale, but yet lovely to behold. At length Nouronihar, with a mixture of

pleasure and affliction, raising her fine eyes to him, said: “My lord,

are you come hither to eat rice and hear sermons with me?”

“Beloved phantom!” cried Vathek; “dost thou speak? hast thou the same

graceful form? the same radiant features? art thou palpable likewise?”

and, eagerly embracing her, added: “here are limbs and a bosom animated

with a gentle warmth! what can such a prodigy mean?”

Nouronihar with diffidence answered: “You know, my lord, that I died on

the night you honoured me with your visit; my cousin maintains it was

from one of your glances, but I cannot believe him; for to me they seem

not so dreadful. Gulchenrouz died with me, and we were both brought into

a region of desolation, where we are fed with a wretched diet. If you be

dead also, and are come hither to join us, I pity your lot; for you will

be stunned with the noise of the dwarfs and the storks; besides, it is

mortifying in the extreme that you, as well as myself, should have lost

the treasures of the subterranean palace.”

At the mention of the subterranean palace the Caliph suspended his

caresses, to seek from Nouronihar an explanation of her meaning. She

then recapitulated her vision, what immediately followed, and the history

of her pretended death, adding also a description of the place of

expiation from whence she had fled, and all in a manner that would have

extorted his laughter, had not the thoughts of Vathek been too deeply

engaged. No sooner, however, had she ended, than he again clasped her to

his bosom, and said:

“Light of my eyes! the mystery is unravelled; we both are alive! your

father is a cheat, who, for the sake of dividing, hath deluded us both;

and the Giaour, whose design, as far as I can discover, is that we shall

proceed together, seems scarce a whit better; it shall be some time at

least before he find us in his palace of fire. Your lovely little person

in my estimation is far more precious than all the treasures of the

pre-adamite Sultans, and I wish to possess it at pleasure, and in open

day, for many a moon, before I go to burrow underground like a mole.

Forget this little trifler, Gulchenrouz, and—”

“Ah! my lord!” interposed Nouronihar, “let me entreat that you do him no

evil.”

“No, no!” replied Vathek, “I have already bid you forbear to alarm

yourself for him; he has been brought up too much on milk and sugar to

stimulate my jealousy; we will leave him with the dwarfs, who, by the

bye, are my old acquaintances; their company will suit him far better

than yours. As to other matters, I will return no more to your father’s;

I want not to have my ears dinned by him and his dotards with the

violation of the rites of hospitality; as if it were less an honour for

you to espouse the sovereign of the world than a girl dressed up like a

boy!”

Nouronihar could find nothing to oppose in a discourse so eloquent; she

only wished the amorous monarch had discovered more ardour for the

carbuncle of Giamschid; but flattered herself it would gradually

increase, and therefore yielded to his will with the most bewitching

submission.

When the Caliph judged it proper, he called for Bababalouk, who was

asleep in the cave of Meimoune, and dreaming that the phantom of

Nouronihar, having mounted him once more on her swing, had just given him

such a jerk, that he one moment soared above the mountains, and the next

sunk into the abyss; starting from his sleep at the voice of his master,

he ran gasping for breath, and had nearly fallen backward at the sight,

as he believed, of the spectre by whom he had so lately been haunted in

his dream.

“Ah, my lord!” cried he, recoiling ten steps, and covering his eyes with

both hands: “do you then perform the office of a Goul? ’tis true you have

dug up the dead, yet hope not to make her your prey; for after all she

hath caused me to suffer, she is even wicked enough to prey upon you.”

“Cease thy folly,” said Vathek, “and thou shalt soon be convinced that it

is Nouronihar herself, alive and well, whom I clasp to my breast; go only

and pitch my tents in the neighbouring valley; there will I fix my abode

with this beautiful tulip, whose colours I soon shall restore; there

exert thy best endeavours to procure whatever can augment the enjoyments

of life, till I shall disclose to thee more of my will.”

The news of so unlucky an event soon reached the ears of the Emir, who

abandoned himself to grief and despair, and began, as did all his old

grey-beards, to begrime his visage with ashes. A total supineness

ensued, travellers were no longer entertained, no more plaisters were

spread, and, instead of the charitable activity that had distinguished

this asylum, the whole of its inhabitants exhibited only faces of a half

cubit long, and uttered groans that accorded with their forlorn

situation.

Though Fakreddin bewailed his daughter as lost to him for ever, yet

Gulchenrouz was not forgotten. He despatched immediate instruction to

Sutlememe, Shaban, and the dwarfs, enjoining them not to undeceive the

child in respect to his state, but, under some pretence, to convey him

far from the lofty rock at the extremity of the lake, to a place which he

should appoint, as safer from danger; for he suspected that Vathek

intended him evil.

Gulchenrouz in the meanwhile was filled with amazement at not finding his

cousin; nor were the dwarfs at all less surprised; but Sutlememe, who had

more penetration, immediately guessed what had happened. Gulchenrouz was

amused with the delusive hope of once more embracing Nouronihar in the

interior recesses of the mountains, where the ground, strewed over with

orange blossoms and jasmines, offered beds much more inviting than the

withered leaves in their cabin, where they might accompany with their

voices the sounds of their lutes, and chase butterflies in concert.

Sutlememe was far gone in this sort of description, when one of the four

eunuchs beckoned her aside to apprise her of the arrival of a messenger

from their fraternity, who had explained the secret of the flight of

Nouronihar, and brought the commands of the Emir. A council with Shaban

and the dwarfs was immediately held; their baggage being stowed in

consequence of it, they embarked in a shallop, and quietly sailed with

the little one, who acquiesced in all their proposals; their voyage

proceeded in the same manner till they came to the place where the lake

sinks beneath the hollow of the rock; but as soon as the bark had entered

it, and Gulchenrouz found himself surrounded with darkness, he was seized

with a dreadful consternation, and incessantly uttered the most piercing

outcries; for he now was persuaded he should actually be damned for

having taken too much freedom in his life-time with his cousin.

But let us return to the Caliph and her who ruled over his heart.

Bababalouk had pitched the tents, and closed up the extremities of the

valley with magnificent screens of India cloth, which were guarded by

Ethiopian slaves with their drawn sabres; to preserve the verdure of this

beautiful enclosure in its natural freshness, the white eunuchs went

continually round it with their red water-vessels. The waving of fans

was heard near the imperial pavilion, where, by the voluptuous light that

glowed through the muslins, the Caliph enjoyed at full view all the

attractions of Nouronihar. Inebriated with delight, he was all ear to

her charming voice, which accompanied the lute; while she was not less

captivated with his descriptions of Samarah and the tower full of

wonders, but especially with his relation of the adventure of the ball,

and the chasm of the Giaour, with its ebony portal.

In this manner they conversed for a day and a night; they bathed together

in a basin of black marble, which admirably relieved the fairness of

Nouronihar. Bababalouk, whose good graces this beauty had regained,

spared no attention that their repasts might be served up with the

minutest exactness; some exquisite rarity was ever placed before them;

and he sent even to Schiraz for that fragrant and delicious wine which

had been hoarded up in bottles prior to the birth of Mahomet; he had

excavated little ovens in the rock to bake the nice manchets which were

prepared by the hands of Nouronihar, from whence they had derived a

flavour so grateful to Vathek, that he regarded the ragouts of his other

wives as entirely mawkish; whilst they would have died at the Emir’s of

chagrin at finding themselves so neglected, if Fakreddin, notwithstanding

his resentment, had not taken pity upon them.

The Sultana Dilara, who till then had been the favourite, took this

dereliction of the Caliph to heart with a vehemence natural to her

character, for during her continuance in favour she had imbibed from

Vathek many of his extravagant fancies, and was fired with impatience to

behold the superb tombs of Istakar, and the palace of forty columns;

besides, having been brought up amongst the Magi, she had fondly

cherished the idea of the Caliph’s devoting himself to the worship of

fire; thus his voluptuous and desultory life with her rival was to her a

double source of affliction. The transient piety of Vathek had

occasioned her some serious alarms, but the present was an evil of far

greater magnitude; she resolved, therefore, without hesitation, to write

to Carathis, and acquaint her that all things went ill; that they had

eaten, slept, and revelled at an old Emir’s, whose sanctity was very

formidable, and that after all, the prospect of possessing the treasures

of the pre-adamite Sultans was no less remote than before. This letter

was entrusted to the care of two wood-men, who were at work on one of the

great forests of the mountains, and, being acquainted with the shortest

cuts, arrived in ten days at Samarah.

The Princess Carathis was engaged at chess with Morakanabad, when the

arrival of these wood-fellers was announced. She, after some weeks of

Vathek’s absence, had forsaken the upper regions of her tower, because

everything appeared in confusion among the stars, whom she consulted

relative to the fate of her son. In vain did she renew her fumigations,

and extend herself on the roof to obtain mystic visions; nothing more

could she see in her dreams than pieces of brocade, nosegays of flowers,

and other unmeaning gewgaws. These disappointments had thrown her into a

state of dejection, which no drug in her power was sufficient to remove;

her only resource was in Morakanabad, who was a good man, and endowed

with a decent share of confidence, yet whilst in her company he never

thought himself on roses.

No person knew aught of Vathek, and a thousand ridiculous stories were

propagated at his expense. The eagerness of Carathis may be easily

guessed at receiving the letter, as well as her rage at reading the

dissolute conduct of her son. “Is it so?” said she; “either I will

perish, or Vathek shall enter the palace of fire. Let me expire in

flames, provided he may reign on the throne of Soliman!” Having said

this, and whirled herself round in a magical manner, which struck

Morakanabad with such terror as caused him to recoil, she ordered her

great camel Alboufaki to be brought, and the hideous Nerkes with the

unrelenting Cafour to attend. “I require no other retinue,” said she to

Morakanabad; “I am going on affairs of emergency; a truce therefore to

parade! Take you care of the people; fleece them well in my absence; for

we shall expend large sums, and one knows not what may betide.”

The night was uncommonly dark, and a pestilential blast ravaged the plain

of Catoul that would have deterred any other traveller, however urgent

the call; but Carathis enjoyed most whatever filled others with dread.

Nerkes concurred in opinion with her, and Cafour had a particular

predilection for a pestilence. In the morning this accomplished caravan,

with the wood-fellers who directed their route, halted on the edge of an

extensive marsh, from whence so noxious a vapour arose as would have

destroyed any animal but Alboufaki, who naturally inhaled these malignant

fogs. The peasants entreated their convoy not to sleep in this place.

“To sleep,” cried Carathis; “what an excellent thought! I never sleep

but for visions; and, as to my attendants, their occupations are too many

to close the only eye they each have.”

The poor peasants, who were not over-pleased with their party, remained

open-mouthed with surprise.

Carathis alighted, as well as her negresses, and severally stripping off

their outer garments, they all ran in their drawers, to cull from those

spots where the sun shone fiercest the venomous plants that grew on the

marsh; this provision was made for the family of the Emir, and whoever

might retard the expedition to Istakar. The wood-men were overcome with

fear when they beheld these three horrible phantoms run, and, not much

relishing the company of Alboufaki, stood aghast at the command of

Carathis to set forward, notwithstanding it was noon, and the heat fierce

enough to calcine even rocks. In spite, however, of every remonstrance,

they were forced implicitly to submit.

Alboufaki, who delighted in solitude, constantly snorted whenever he

perceived himself near a habitation; and Carathis, who was apt to spoil

him with indulgence, as constantly turned him aside, so that the peasants

were precluded from procuring subsistence; for the milch goats and ewes,

which Providence had sent towards the district they traversed, to refresh

travellers with their milk, all fled at the sight of the hideous animal

and his strange riders. As to Carathis, she needed no common aliment,

for her invention had previously furnished her with an opiate to stay her

stomach, some of which she imparted to her mutes.

At the fall of night Alboufaki, making a sudden stop, stamped with his

foot, which to Carathis, who understood his paces, was a certain

indication that she was near the confines of some cemetery. The moon

shed a bright light on the spot, which served to discover a long wall,

with a large door in it standing ajar, and so high that Alboufaki might

easily enter. The miserable guides, who perceived their end approaching,

humbly implored Carathis, as she had now so good an opportunity, to inter

them, and immediately gave up the ghost. Nerkes and Cafour, whose wit

was of a style peculiar to themselves, were by no means parsimonious of

it on the folly of these poor people, nor could anything have been found

more suited to their tastes than the site of the burying-ground, and the

sepulchres which its precincts contained; there were at least two

thousand of them on the declivity of a hill: some in the form of

pyramids, others like columns, and, in short, the variety of their shapes

was endless. Carathis was too much immersed in her sublime

contemplations to stop at the view, charming as it appeared in her eyes;

pondering the advantages that might accrue from her present situation,

she could not forbear to exclaim:

“So beautiful a cemetery must be haunted by Gouls! and they want not for

intelligence; having heedlessly suffered my guides to expire, I will

apply for directions to them, and as an inducement will invite them to

regale on these fresh corpses.”

After this short soliloquy she beckoned to Nerkes and Cafour, and made

signs with her fingers, as much as to say, “Go, knock against the sides

of the tombs, and strike up your delightful warblings, that are so like

to those of the guests whose company I wish to obtain.”

The negresses, full of joy at the behests of their mistress, and

promising themselves much pleasure from the society of the Gouls, went

with an air of conquest, and began their knockings at the tombs; as their

strokes were repeated a hollow noise was heard in the earth, the surface

hove up into heaps, and the Gouls on all sides protruded their noses, to

inhale the effluvia which the carcases of the wood-men began to emit.

They assembled before a sarcophagus of white marble, where Carathis was

seated between the bodies of her miserable guides; the princess received

her visitants with distinguished politeness, and, when supper was ended,

proceeded with them to business. Having soon learnt from them everything

she wished to discover, it was her intention to set forward forthwith on

her journey, but her negresses, who were forming tender connections with

the Gouls, importuned her with all their fingers to wait at least till

the dawn. Carathis, however, being chastity in the abstract, and an

implacable enemy to love and repose, at once rejected their prayer,

mounted Alboufaki, and commanded them to take their seats in a moment;

four days and four nights she continued her route, without turning to the

right hand or left; on the fifth she traversed the mountains and

half-burnt forests, and arrived on the sixth before the beautiful screens

which concealed from all eyes the voluptuous wanderings of her son.

It was daybreak, and the guards were snoring on their posts in careless

security, when the rough trot of Alboufaki awoke them in consternation.

Imagining that a group of spectres ascended from the abyss was

approaching, they all without ceremony took to their heels. Vathek was

at that instant with Nouronihar in the bath, hearing tales, and laughing

at Bababalouk, who related them; but no sooner did the outcry of his

guards reach him, than he flounced from the water like a carp, and as

soon threw himself back at the sight of Carathis, who, advancing with her

negresses upon Alboufaki, broke through the muslin awnings and veils of

the pavilion; at this sudden apparition Nouronihar (for she was not at

all times free from remorse) fancied that the moment of celestial

vengeance was come, and clung about the Caliph in amorous despondence.

Carathis, still seated on her camel, foamed with indignation at the

spectacle which obtruded itself on her chaste view; she thundered forth

without check or mercy: “Thou double-headed and four-legged monster! what

means all this winding and writhing? art thou not ashamed to be seen

grasping this limber sapling, in preference to the sceptre of the

pre-adamite Sultans? is it then for this paltry doxy that thou hast

violated the conditions in the parchment of our Giaour? is it on her thou

hast lavished thy precious moments? is this the fruit of the knowledge I

have taught thee? is this the end of thy journey? tear thyself from the

arms of this little simpleton, drown her in the water before me, and

instantly follow my guidance.”

In the first ebullition of his fury Vathek resolved to make a skeleton of

Alboufaki, and to stuff the skins of Carathis and her blacks; but the

ideas of the Giaour, the palace of Istakar, the sabres and the talismans,

flashing before his imagination with the simultaneousness of lightning,

he became more moderate, and said to his mother, in a civil but decisive

tone: “Dread lady! you shall be obeyed, but I will not drown Nouronihar;

she is sweeter to me than a Myrabolan comfit, and is enamoured of

carbuncles, especially that of Giamschid, which hath also been promised

to be conferred upon her; she therefore shall go along with us, for I

intend to repose with her beneath the canopies of Soliman; I can sleep no

more without her.”

“Be it so!” replied Carathis, alighting, and at the same time committing

Alboufaki to the charge of her women.

Nouronihar, who had not yet quitted her hold, began to take courage, and

said, with an accent of fondness to the Caliph: “Dear Sovereign of my

soul! I will follow thee, if it be thy will, beyond the Kaf in the land

of the Afrits; I will not hesitate to climb for thee the nest of the

Simurgh, who, this lady excepted, is the most awful of created

existences.”

“We have here then,” subjoined Carathis, “a girl both of courage and

science!”

Nouronihar had certainly both; but, notwithstanding all her firmness, she

could not help casting back a look of regret upon the graces of her

little Gulchenrouz, and the days of tenderness she had participated with

him; she even dropped a few tears, which Carathis observed, and

inadvertently breathed out with a sigh: “Alas! my gentle cousin! what

will become of him!”

Vathek at this apostrophe knitted up his brows, and Carathis inquired

what it could mean.

“She is preposterously sighing after a stripling with languishing eyes

and soft hair, who loves her,” said the Caliph.

“Where is he?” asked Carathis. “I must be acquainted with this pretty

child; for,” added she, lowering her voice, “I design before I depart to

regain the favour of the Giaour; there is nothing so delicious in his

estimation as the heart of a delicate boy, palpitating with the first

tumults of love.”

Vathek, as he came from the bath, commanded Bababalouk to collect the

women and other movables of his harem, embody his troops, and hold

himself in readiness to march in three days; whilst Carathis retired

alone to a tent, where the Giaour solaced her with encouraging visions;

but at length waking, she found at her feet Nerkes and Cafour, who

informed her by their signs that, having led Alboufaki to the borders of

a lake, to browse on some moss that looked tolerably venomous, they had

discovered certain blue fishes of the same kind with those in the

reservoir on the top of the tower.

“Ah! ha!” said she, “I will go thither to them; these fish are past doubt

of a species that, by a small operation, I can render oracular; they may

tell me where this little Gulchenrouz is, whom I am bent upon

sacrificing.” Having thus spoken, she immediately set out with her

swarthy retinue.

It being but seldom that time is lost in the accomplishment of a wicked

enterprise, Carathis and her negresses soon arrived at the lake, where,

after burning the magical drugs with which they were always provided,

they, stripping themselves naked, waded to their chins, Nerkes and Cafour

waving torches around them, and Carathis pronouncing her barbarous

incantations. The fishes with one accord thrust forth their heads from

the water, which was violently rippled by the flutter of their fins, and,

at length finding themselves constrained by the potency of the charm,

they opened their piteous mouths, and said: “From gills to tail we are

yours; what seek ye to know?”

“Fishes,” answered she, “I conjure you, by your glittering scales, tell

me where now is Gulchenrouz?”

“Beyond the rock,” replied the shoal in full chorus; “will this content

you? for we do not delight in expanding our mouths.”

“It will,” returned the princess; “I am not to learn that you like not

long conversations; I will leave you therefore to repose, though I had

other questions to propound.” The instant she had spoken the water

became smooth, and the fishes at once disappeared.

Carathis, inflated with the venom of her projects, strode hastily over

the rock, and found the amiable Gulchenrouz asleep in an arbour, whilst

the two dwarfs were watching at his side, and ruminating their accustomed

prayers. These diminutive personages possessed the gift of divining

whenever an enemy to good Mussulmans approached; thus they anticipated

the arrival of Carathis, who, stopping short, said to herself: “How

placidly doth he recline his lovely little head! how pale and languishing

are his looks! it is just the very child of my wishes!”

The dwarfs interrupted this delectable soliloquy by leaping instantly

upon her, and scratching her face with their utmost zeal. But Nerkes and

Cafour, betaking themselves to the succour of their mistress, pinched the

dwarfs so severely in return, that they both gave up the ghost, imploring

Mahomet to inflict his sorest vengeance upon this wicked woman and all

her household.

At the noise which this strange conflict occasioned in the valley,

Gulchenrouz awoke, and, bewildered with terror, sprung impetuously upon

an old figtree that rose against the acclivity of the rocks; from thence

gained their summits, and ran for two hours without once looking back.

At last, exhausted with fatigue, he fell as if dead into the arms of a

good old Genius, whose fondness for the company of children had made it

his sole occupation to protect them, and who, whilst performing his

wonted rounds through the air, happening on the cruel Giaour at the

instant of his growling in the horrible chasm, rescued the fifty little

victims which the impiety of Vathek had devoted to his maw; these the

Genius brought up in nests still higher than the clouds, and himself

fixed his abode in a nest more capacious than the rest, from which he had

expelled the possessors that had built it.

These inviolable asylums were defended against the Dives and the Afrits

by waving streamers, on which were inscribed, in characters of gold that

flashed like lightning, the names of Allah and the Prophet. It was there

that Gulchenrouz, who as yet remained undeceived with respect to his

pretended death, thought himself in the mansions of eternal peace, he

admitted without fear the congratulations of his little friends, who were

all assembled in the nest of the venerable Genius, and vied with each

other in kissing his serene forehead and beautiful eyelids. This he

found to be the state congenial to his soul; remote from the inquietudes

of earth, the impertinence of harems, the brutality of eunuchs, and the

lubricity of women: in this peacable society, his days, months, and years

glided on; nor was he less happy than the rest of his companions; for the

Genius, instead of burthening his pupils with perishable riches and the

vain sciences of the world, conferred upon them the boon of perpetual

childhood.

Carathis, unaccustomed to the loss of her prey, vented a thousand

execrations on her negresses for not seizing the child, instead of

amusing themselves with pinching to death the dwarfs, from which they

could gain no advantage. She returned into the valley murmuring, and

finding that her son was not risen from the arms of Nouronihar,

discharged her ill-humour upon both. The idea, however, of departing

next day for Istakar, and cultivating, through the good offices of the

Giaour, an intimacy with Eblis himself, at length consoled her chagrin.

But Fate had ordained it otherwise.

In the evening, as Carathis was conversing with Dilara, who, through her

contrivance, had become of the party, and whose taste resembled her own,

Bababalouk came to acquaint her “that the sky towards Samarah looked of a

fiery red, and seemed to portend some alarming disaster.” Immediately,

recurring to her astrolabes and instruments of magic, she took the

altitude of the planets, and discovered by her calculations, to her great

mortification, that a formidable revolt had taken place at Samarah; that

Motavakel, availing himself of the disgust which was inveterate against

his brother, had incited commotions amongst the populace, made himself

master of the palace, and actually invested the great tower, to which

Morakanabad had retired, with a handful of the few that still remained

faithful to Vathek.

“What!” exclaimed she; “must I lose then my tower! my mutes! my

negresses! my mummies! and, worse than all, the laboratory in which I

have spent so many a night, without knowing at least if my hair-brained

son will complete his adventure? No! I will not be the dupe!

Immediately will I speed to support Morakanabad; by my formidable art the

clouds shall sleet hailstones in the faces of the assailants, and shafts

of red-hot iron on their heads; I will spring mines of serpents and

torpedos from beneath them, and we shall soon see the stand they will

make against such an explosion!”

Having thus spoken, Carathis hastened to her son, who was tranquilly

banqueting with Nouronihar in his superb carnation-coloured tent.

“Glutton that thou art!” cried she, “were it not for me, thou wouldst

soon find thyself the commander only of pies. Thy faithful subjects have

abjured the faith they swore to thee; Motavakel, thy brother, now reigns

on the hill of pied horses, and had I not some slight resources in the

tower, would not be easily persuaded to abdicate; but, that time may not

be lost, I shall only add four words: Strike tent to-night, set forward,

and beware how thou loiterest again by the way; though thou hast

forfeited the conditions of the parchment, I am not yet without hope; for

it cannot be denied that thou hast violated to admiration the laws of

hospitality, by seducing the daughter of the Emir, after having partaken

of his bread and his salt. Such a conduct cannot but be delightful to

the Giaour; and if on thy march thou canst signalise thyself by an

additional crime, all will still go well, and thou shalt enter the palace

of Soliman in triumph. Adieu! Alboufaki and my negresses are waiting.”

The Caliph had nothing to offer in reply; he wished his mother a

prosperous journey, and ate on till he had finished his supper. At

midnight the camp broke up, amidst the flourishing of trumpets and other

martial instruments; but loud indeed must have been the sound of the

tymbals to overpower the blubbering of the Emir and his long-beards, who,

by an excessive profusion of tears, had so far exhausted the radical

moisture, that their eyes shrivelled up in their sockets, and their hairs

dropped off by the roots. Nouronihar, to whom such a symphony was

painful, did not grieve to get out of hearing; she accompanied the Caliph

in the imperial litter, where they amused themselves with imagining the

splendour which was soon to surround them. The other women, overcome

with dejection, were dolefully rocked in their cages, whilst Dilara

consoled herself with anticipating the joy of celebrating the rites of

fire on the stately terraces of Istakar.

In four days they reached the spacious valley of Rocnabad. The season of

spring was in all its vigour, and the grotesque branches of the almond

trees in full blossom fantastically chequered the clear blue sky; the

earth, variegated with hyacinths and jonquils, breathed forth a fragrance

which diffused through the soul a divine repose; myriads of bees, and

scarce fewer of Santons, had there taken up their abode; on the banks of

the stream hives and oratories were alternately ranged, and their

neatness and whiteness were set off by the deep green of the cypresses

that spired up amongst them. These pious personages amused themselves

with cultivating little gardens that abounded with flowers and fruits,

especially musk-melons of the best flavour that Persia could boast;

sometimes dispersed over the meadow, they entertained themselves with

feeding peacocks whiter than snow, and turtles more blue than the

sapphire; in this manner were they occupied when the harbingers of the

imperial procession began to proclaim: “Inhabitants of Rocnabad!

prostrate yourselves on the brink of your pure waters, and tender your

thanksgivings to Heaven, that vouchsafeth to show you a ray of its glory;

for lo! the Commander of the Faithful draws near.”

The poor Santons, filled with holy energy, having bustled to light up wax

torches in their oratories and expand the Koran on their ebony desks,

went forth to meet the Caliph with baskets of honeycomb, dates, and

melons. But, whilst they were advancing in solemn procession and with

measured steps, the horses, camels, and guards wantoned over their tulips

and other flowers, and made a terrible havoc amongst them. The Santons

could not help casting from one eye a look of pity on the ravages

committing around them, whilst the other was fixed upon the Caliph and

heaven. Nouronihar, enraptured with the scenery of a place which brought

back to her remembrance the pleasing solitudes where her infancy had

passed, entreated Vathek to stop; but he, suspecting that each oratory

might be deemed by the Giaour a distinct habitation, commanded his

pioneers to level them all; the Santons stood motionless with horror at

the barbarous mandate, and at last broke out into lamentations; but these

were uttered with so ill a grace, that Vathek bade his eunuchs to kick

them from his presence. He then descended from the litter with

Nouronihar; they sauntered together in the meadow, and amused themselves

with culling flowers, and passing a thousand pleasantries on each other.

But the bees, who were staunch Mussulmans, thinking it their duty to

revenge the insult on their dear masters the Santons, assembled so

zealously to do it with effect, that the Caliph and Nouronihar were glad

to find their tents prepared to receive them.

Bababalouk, who in capacity of purveyor had acquitted himself with

applause as to peacocks and turtles, lost no time in consigning some

dozens to the spit, and as many more to be fricasseed. Whilst they were

feasting, laughing, carousing, and blaspheming at pleasure on the banquet

so liberally furnished, the Moullahs, the Sheiks, the Cadis and Imams of

Schiraz (who seemed not to have met the Santons) arrived, leading by

bridles of riband inscribed from the Koran, a train of asses, which were

loaded with the choicest fruits the country could boast; having presented

their offerings to the Caliph, they petitioned him to honour their city

and mosques with his presence.

“Fancy not,” said Vathek, “that you can detain me; your presents I

condescend to accept, but beg you will let me be quiet, for I am not

over-fond of resisting temptation; retire, then; yet, as it is not decent

for personages so reverend to return on foot, and as you have not the

appearance of expert riders, my eunuchs shall tie you on your asses, with

the precaution that your backs be not turned towards me, for they

understand etiquette.”

In this deputation were some high-stomached Sheiks, who, taking Vathek

for a fool, scrupled not to speak their opinion. These Bababalouk girded

with double cords, and, having well disciplined their asses with nettles

behind, they all started with a preternatural alertness, plunging,

kicking, and running foul of each other in the most ludicrous manner

imaginable.

Nouronihar and the Caliph mutually contended who should most enjoy so

degrading a sight; they burst out in volleys of laughter to see the old

men and their asses fall into the stream; the leg of one was fractured,

the shoulder of another dislocated, the teeth of a third dashed out, and

the rest suffered still worse.

Two days more, undisturbed by fresh embassies, having been devoted to the

pleasures of Rocnabad, the expedition proceeded, leaving Shiraz on the

right, and verging towards a large plain, from whence were discernible on

the edge of the horizon the dark summits of the mountains of Istakar.

At this prospect the Caliph and Nouronihar were unable to repress their

transports; they bounded from their litter to the ground, and broke forth

into such wild exclamations, as amazed all within hearing. Interrogating

each other, they shouted, “Are we not approaching the radiant palace of

light? or gardens more delightful than those of Sheddad?” Infatuated

mortals! they thus indulged delusive conjecture, unable to fathom the

decrees of the Most High!

The good Genii, who had not totally relinquished the superintendence of

Vathek, repairing to Mahomet in the seventh heaven, said: “Merciful

Prophet! stretch forth thy propitious arms towards thy Vicegerent, who is

ready to fall irretrievably into the snare which his enemies, the Dives,

have prepared to destroy him; the Giaour is awaiting his arrival in the

abominable palace of fire, where, if he once set his foot, his perdition

will be inevitable.”

Mahomet answered with an air of indignation: “He hath too well deserved

to be resigned to himself, but I permit you to try if one effort more

will be effectual to divert him from pursuing his ruin.”

One of these beneficent Genii, assuming without delay the exterior of a

shepherd, more renowned for his piety than all the Dervises and Santons

of the region, took his station near a flock of white sheep on the slope

of a hill, and began to pour forth from his flute such airs of pathetic

melody as subdued the very soul, and, awakening remorse, drove far from

it every frivolous fancy. At these energetic sounds the sun hid himself

beneath a gloomy cloud, and the waters of two little lakes, that were

naturally clearer than crystal, became of a colour like blood. The whole

of this superb assembly was involuntarily drawn towards the declivity of

the hill; with downcast eyes they all stood abashed, each upbraiding

himself with the evil he had done; the heart of Dilara palpitated, and

the chief of the eunuchs with a sigh of contrition implored pardon of the

women, whom for his own satisfaction he had so often tormented.

Vathek and Nouronihar turned pale in their litter, and, regarding each

other with haggard looks, reproached themselves—the one with a thousand

of the blackest crimes, a thousand projects of impious ambition—the other

with the desolation of her family, and the perdition of the amiable

Gulchenrouz. Nouronihar persuaded herself that she heard in the fatal

music the groans of her dying father, and Vathek the sobs of the fifty

children he had sacrificed to the Giaour. Amidst these complicated pangs

of anguish they perceived themselves impelled towards the shepherd, whose

countenance was so commanding, that Vathek for the first time felt

overawed, whilst Nouronihar concealed her face with her hands.

The music paused, and the Genius, addressing the Caliph, said: “Deluded

Prince! to whom Providence hath confided the care of innumerable

subjects, is it thus that thou fulfillest thy mission? Thy crimes are

already completed, and art thou now hastening towards thy punishment?

Thou knowest that beyond these mountains Eblis and his accursed Dives

hold their infernal empire; and, seduced by a malignant phantom, thou art

proceeding to surrender thyself to them! This moment is the last of

grace allowed thee; abandon thy atrocious purpose; return; give back

Nouronihar to her father, who still retains a few sparks of life; destroy

thy tower with all its abominations; drive Carathis from thy councils; be

just to thy subjects; respect the ministers of the Prophet; compensate

for thy impieties by an exemplary life; and, instead of squandering thy

days in voluptuous indulgence, lament thy crimes on the sepulchres of thy

ancestors. Thou beholdest the clouds that obscure the sun; at the

instant he recovers his splendour, if thy heart be not changed, the time

of mercy assigned thee will be past for ever.”

Vathek, depressed with fear, was on the point of prostrating himself at

the feet of the shepherd, whom he perceived to be of a nature superior to

man; but, his pride prevailing, he audaciously lifted his head, and,

glancing at him one of his terrible looks, said: “Whoever thou art,

withhold thy useless admonitions; thou wouldst either delude me, or art

thyself deceived. If what I have done be so criminal as thou pretendest,

there remains not for me a moment of grace; I have traversed a sea of

blood to acquire a power which will make thy equals tremble; deem not

that I shall retire when in view of the port, or that I will relinquish

her who is dearer to me than either my life or thy mercy. Let the sun

appear! let him illumine my career! it matters not where it may end.” On

uttering these words, which made even the Genius shudder, Vathek threw

himself into the arms of Nouronihar, and commanded that his horse should

be forced back to the road.

There was no difficulty in obeying these orders, for the attraction had

ceased; the sun shone forth in all his glory, and the shepherd vanished

with a lamentable scream.

The fatal impression of the music of the Genius remained,

notwithstanding, in the heart of Vathek’s attendants; they viewed each

other with looks of consternation; at the approach of night almost all of

them escaped, and of this numerous assemblage there only remained the

chief of the eunuchs, some idolatrous slaves, Dilara and a few other

women, who, like herself, were votaries of the religion of the Magi.

The Caliph, fired with the ambition of prescribing laws to the

Intelligences of Darkness, was but little embarrassed at this

dereliction; the impetuosity of his blood prevented him from sleeping,

nor did he encamp any more as before. Nouronihar, whose impatience, if

possible, exceeded his own, importuned him to hasten his march, and

lavished on him a thousand caresses to beguile all reflection; she

fancied herself already more potent than Balkis, and pictured to her

imagination the Genii falling prostrate at the foot of her throne. In

this manner they advanced by moonlight, till they came within view of the

two towering rocks that form a kind of portal to the valley, at whose

extremity rose the vast ruins of Istakar. Aloft on the mountain

glimmered the fronts of various royal mausoleums, the horror of which was

deepened by the shadows of night. They passed through two villages

almost deserted, the only inhabitants remaining being a few feeble old

men, who, at the sight of horses and litters, fell upon their knees and

cried out:

“O Heaven! is it then by these phantoms that we have been for six months

tormented? Alas! it was from the terror of these spectres and the noise

beneath the mountains, that our people have fled, and left us at the

mercy of maleficent spirits!”

The Caliph, to whom these complaints were but unpromising auguries, drove

over the bodies of these wretched old men, and at length arrived at the

foot of the terrace of black marble; there he descended from his litter,

handing down Nouronihar; both with beating hearts stared wildly around

them, and expected with an apprehensive shudder the approach of the

Giaour; but nothing as yet announced his appearance.

A death-like stillness reigned over the mountain and through the air; the

moon dilated on a vast platform the shades of the lofty columns, which

reached from the terrace almost to the clouds; the gloomy watch-towers,

whose numbers could not be counted, were veiled by no roof, and their

capitals, of an architecture unknown in the records of the earth, served

as an asylum for the birds of darkness, which, alarmed at the approach of

such visitants, fled away croaking.

The chief of the eunuchs, trembling with fear, besought Vathek that a

fire might be kindled.

“No!” replied he, “there is no time left to think of such trifles; abide

where thou art, and expect my commands.”

Having thus spoken, he presented his hand to Nouronihar, and, ascending

the steps of a vast staircase, reached the terrace, which was flagged

with squares of marble, and resembled a smooth expanse of water, upon

whose surface not a leaf ever dared to vegetate; on the right rose the

watch-towers, ranged before the ruins of an immense palace, whose walls

were embossed with various figures; in front stood forth the colossal

forms of four creatures, composed of the leopard and the griffin; and,

though but of stone, inspired emotions of terror; near these were

distinguished by the splendour of the moon, which streamed full on the

place, characters like those on the sabres of the Giaour, that possessed

the same virtue of changing every moment; these, after vacillating for

some time, at last fixed in Arabic letters, and prescribed to the Caliph

the following words:

“Vathek! thou hast violated the conditions of my parchment, and deservest

to be sent back; but, in favour to thy companion, and as the meed for

what thou hast done to obtain it, EBLIS permitteth that the portal of his

palace shall be opened, and the subterranean fire will receive thee into

the number of its adorers.”

He scarcely had read these words before the mountain against which the

terrace was reared trembled, and the watch-towers were ready to topple

headlong upon them; the rock yawned, and disclosed within it a staircase

of polished marble that seemed to approach the abyss; upon each stair

were planted two large torches, like those Nouronihar had seen in her

vision, the camphorated vapour ascending from which gathered into a cloud

under the hollow of the vault.

This appearance, instead of terrifying, gave new courage to the daughter

of Fakreddin. Scarcely deigning to bid adieu to the moon and the

firmament, she abandoned without hesitation the pure atmosphere to plunge

into these infernal exhalations. The gait of those impious personages

was haughty and determined; as they descended by the effulgence of the

torches they gazed on each other with mutual admiration, and both

appeared so resplendent, that they already esteemed themselves spiritual

Intelligences; the only circumstance that perplexed them was their not

arriving at the bottom of the stairs; on hastening their descent with an

ardent impetuosity, they felt their steps accelerated to such a degree,

that they seemed not walking, but falling from a precipice. Their

progress, however, was at length impeded by a vast portal of ebony, which

the Caliph without difficulty recognised; here the Giaour awaited them

with the key in his hand.

“Ye are welcome,” said he to them, with a ghastly smile, “in spite of

Mahomet and all his dependants. I will now admit you into that palace

where you have so highly merited a place.”

Whilst he was uttering these words he touched the enamelled lock with his

key, and the doors at once expanded, with a noise still louder than the

thunder of mountains, and as suddenly recoiled the moment they had

entered.

The Caliph and Nouronihar beheld each other with amazement, at finding

themselves in a place which, though roofed with a vaulted ceiling, was so

spacious and lofty that at first they took it for an immeasurable plain.

But their eyes at length growing familiar to the grandeur of the objects

at hand, they extended their view to those at a distance, and discovered

rows of columns and arcades, which gradually diminished till they

terminated in a point, radiant as the sun when he darts his last beams

athwart the ocean; the pavement, strewed over with gold dust and saffron,

exhaled so subtle an odour as almost overpowered them; they, however,

went on, and observed an infinity of censers, in which ambergris and the

wood of aloes were continually burning; between the several columns were

placed tables, each spread with a profusion of viands, and wines of every

species sparkling in vases of crystal. A throng of Genii and other

fantastic spirits of each sex danced in troops, at the sound of music

which issued from beneath.

In the midst of this immense hall a vast multitude was incessantly

passing, who severally kept their right hands on their hearts, without

once regarding anything around them; they had all the livid paleness of

death; their eyes, deep sunk in their sockets, resembled those phosphoric

meteors that glimmer by night in places of interment. Some stalked

slowly on, absorbed in profound reverie; some, shrieking with agony, ran

furiously about, like tigers wounded with poisoned arrows; whilst others,

grinding their teeth in rage, foamed along, more frantic than the wildest

maniac. They all avoided each other, and, though surrounded by a

multitude that no one could number, each wandered at random, unheedful of

the rest, as if alone on a desert which no foot had trodden.

Vathek and Nouronihar, frozen with terror at a sight so baleful, demanded

of the Giaour what these appearances might mean, and why these ambulating

spectres never withdrew their hands from their hearts.

“Perplex not yourselves,” replied he bluntly, “with so much; at once you

will soon be acquainted with all; let us haste and present you to Eblis.”

They continued their way through the multitude but, notwithstanding their

confidence at first, they were not sufficiently composed to examine with

attention the various perspectives of halls and of galleries that opened

on the right hand and left, which were all illuminated by torches and

braziers, whose flames rose in pyramids to the centre of the vault. At

length they came to a place where long curtains, brocaded with crimson

and gold, fell from all parts in striking confusion; here the choirs and

dances were heard no longer; the light which glimmered came from afar.

After some time Vathek and Nouronihar perceived a gleam brightening

through the drapery, and entered a vast tabernacle carpeted with the

skins of leopards; an infinity of elders with streaming beards, and

Afrits in complete armour, had prostrated themselves before the ascent of

a lofty eminence, on the top of which, upon a globe of fire, sat the

formidable Eblis. His person was that of a young man, whose noble and

regular features seemed to have been tarnished by malignant vapours; in

his large eyes appeared both pride and despair; his flowing hair retained

some resemblance to that of an angel of light; in his hand, which thunder

had blasted, he swayed the iron sceptre that causes the monster

Ouranabad, the Afrits, and all the powers of the abyss to tremble; at his

presence the heart of the Caliph sank within him, and for the first time

he fell prostrate on his face. Nouronihar, however, though greatly

dismayed, could not help admiring the person of Eblis; for she expected

to have seen some stupendous giant. Eblis, with a voice more mild than

might be imagined, but such as transfused through the soul the deepest

melancholy, said:

“Creatures of clay, I receive you into mine empire; ye are numbered

amongst my adorers; enjoy whatever this palace affords; the treasures of

the pre-adamite Sultans, their bickering sabres, and those talismans that

compel the Dives to open the subterranean expanses of the mountain of

Kaf, which communicate with these; there, insatiable as your curiosity

may be, shall you find sufficient to gratify it; you shall possess the

exclusive privilege of entering the fortress of Aherman, and the halls of

Argenk, where are portrayed all creatures endowed with intelligence, and

the various animals that inhabited the earth prior to the creation of

that contemptible being whom ye denominate the Father of Mankind.”

Vathek and Nouronihar, feeling themselves revived and encouraged by this

harangue, eagerly said to the Giaour:

“Bring us instantly to the place which contains these precious

talismans.”

“Come!” answered this wicked Dive, with his malignant grin, “come! and

possess all that my sovereign hath promised, and more.”

He then conducted them into a long aisle adjoining the tabernacle,

preceding them with hasty steps, and followed by his disciples with the

utmost alacrity. They reached, at length, a hall of great extent, and

covered with a lofty dome, around which appeared fifty portals of bronze,

secured with as many fastenings of iron; a funereal gloom prevailed over

the whole scene; here, upon two beds of incorruptible cedar, lay

recumbent the fleshless forms of the pre-adamite kings, who had been

monarchs of the whole earth; they still possessed enough of life to be

conscious of their deplorable condition; their eyes retained a melancholy

motion; they regarded each other with looks of the deepest dejection;

each holding his right hand motionless on his heart; at their feet were

inscribed the events of their several reigns, their power, their pride,

and their crimes; Soliman Raad, Soliman Daki, and Soliman Di Gian Ben

Gian, who, after having chained up the Dives in the dark caverns of Kaf,

became so presumptuous as to doubt of the Supreme Power; all these

maintained great state, though not to be compared with the eminence of

Soliman Ben Daoud.

This king, so renowned for his wisdom, was on the loftiest elevation, and

placed immediately under the dome; he appeared to possess more animation

than the rest; though from time to time he laboured with profound sighs,

and, like his companions, kept his right hand on his heart; yet his

countenance was more composed, and he seemed to be listening to the

sullen roar of a vast cataract, visible in part through the grated

portals: this was the only sound that intruded on the silence of these

doleful mansions. A range of brazen vases surrounded the elevation.

“Remove the covers from these cabalistic depositories,” said the Giaour

to Vathek, “and avail thyself of the talismans, which will break asunder

all these gates of bronze; and not only render thee master of the

treasures contained within them, but also of the spirits by which they

are guarded.”

The Caliph, whom this ominous preliminary had entirely disconcerted,

approached the vases with faltering footsteps, and was ready to sink with

terror when he heard the groans of Soliman. As he proceeded a voice from

the livid lips of the Prophet articulated these words:

“In my life-time I filled a magnificent throne, having on my right hand

twelve thousand seats of gold, where the patriarchs and the prophets

heard my doctrines; on my left the sages and doctors, upon as many

thrones of silver, were present at all my decisions. Whilst I thus

administered justice to innumerable multitudes, the birds of the air

librating over me served as a canopy from the rays of the sun; my people

flourished, and my palace rose to the clouds; I erected a temple to the

Most High, which was the wonder of the universe; but I basely suffered

myself to be seduced by the love of women, and a curiosity that could not

be restrained by sublunary things; I listened to the counsels of Aherman

and the daughter of Pharaoh, and adored fire and the hosts of heaven; I

forsook the holy city, and commanded the Genii to rear the stupendous

palace of Istakar, and the terrace of the watch-towers, each of which was

consecrated to a star; there for a while I enjoyed myself in the zenith

of glory and pleasure; not only men, but supernatural existences were

subject also to my will. I began to think, as these unhappy monarchs

around had already thought, that the vengeance of Heaven was asleep; when

at once the thunder burst my structures asunder and precipitated me

hither; where, however, I do not remain, like the other inhabitants,

totally destitute of hope, for an angel of light hath revealed that, in

consideration of the piety of my early youth, my woes shall come to an

end when this cataract shall for ever cease to flow; till then I am in

torments, ineffable torments! an unrelenting fire preys on my heart.”

Having uttered this exclamation, Soliman raised his hands towards heaven,

in token of supplication, and the Caliph discerned through his bosom,

which was transparent as crystal, his heart enveloped in flames. At a

sight so full of horror Nouronihar fell back, like one petrified, into

the arms of Vathek, who cried out with a convulsive sob:

“O Giaour! whither hast thou brought us? Allow us to depart, and I will

relinquish all thou hast promised. O Mahomet! remains there no more

mercy?”

“None! none!” replied the malicious Dive. “Know, miserable prince! thou

art now in the abode of vengeance and despair; thy heart also will be

kindled, like those of the other votaries of Eblis. A few days are

allotted thee previous to this fatal period; employ them as thou wilt;

recline on these heaps of gold; command the Infernal Potentates; range at

thy pleasure through these immense subterranean domains; no barrier shall

be shut against thee; as for me, I have fulfilled my mission; I now leave

thee to thyself.” At these words he vanished.

The Caliph and Nouronihar remained in the most abject affliction; their

tears unable to flow, scarcely could they support themselves. At length,

taking each other despondingly by the hand, they went faltering from this

fatal hall, indifferent which way they turned their steps; every portal

opened at their approach; the Dives fell prostrate before them; every

reservoir of riches was disclosed to their view; but they no longer felt

the incentives of curiosity, pride, or avarice. With like apathy they

heard the chorus of Genii, and saw the stately banquets prepared to

regale them; they went wandering on from chamber to chamber, hall to

hall, and gallery to gallery, all without bounds or limit, all

distinguishable by the same lowering gloom, all adorned with the same

awful grandeur, all traversed by persons in search of repose and

consolation, but who sought them in vain; for every one carried within

him a heart tormented in flames: shunned by these various sufferers, who

seemed by their looks to be upbraiding the partners of their guilt, they

withdrew from them to wait in direful suspense the moment which should

render them to each other the like objects of terror.

“What!” exclaimed Nouronihar; “will the time come when I shall snatch my

hand from thine!”

“Ah!” said Vathek; “and shall my eyes ever cease to drink from thine long

draughts of enjoyment! Shall the moments of our reciprocal ecstasies be

reflected on with horror? It was not thou that broughtest me hither; the

principles by which Carathis perverted my youth have been the sole cause

of my perdition!” Having given vent to these painful expressions, he

called to an Afrit, who was stirring up one of the braziers, and bade him

fetch the Princess Carathis from the palace of Samarah.

After issuing these orders, the Caliph and Nouronihar continued walking

amidst the silent crowd, till they heard voices at the end of the

gallery; presuming them to proceed from some unhappy beings, who, like

themselves, were awaiting their final doom, they followed the sound, and

found it to come from a small square chamber, where they discovered

sitting on sofas five young men of goodly figure, and a lovely female,

who were all holding a melancholy conversation by the glimmering of a

lonely lamp; each had a gloomy and forlorn air, and two of them were

embracing each other with great tenderness. On seeing the Caliph and the

daughter of Fakreddin enter, they arose, saluted, and gave them place;

then he who appeared the most considerable of the group addressed himself

thus to Vathek:

“Strangers! who doubtless are in the same state of suspense with

ourselves, as you do not yet bear your hands on your hearts, if you are

come hither to pass the interval allotted previous to the infliction of

our common punishment, condescend to relate the adventures that have

brought you to this fatal place, and we in return will acquaint you with

ours, which deserve but too well to be heard; we will trace back our

crimes to their source, though we are not permitted to repent; this is

the only employment suited to wretches like us!”

The Caliph and Nouronihar assented to the proposal, and Vathek began, not

without tears and lamentations, a sincere recital of every circumstance

that had passed. When the afflicting narrative was closed, the young man

entered on his own. Each person proceeded in order, and when the fourth

prince had reached the midst of his adventures, a sudden noise

interrupted him, which caused the vault to tremble and to open.

Immediately a cloud descended, which gradually dissipating, discovered

Carathis on the back of an Afrit, who grievously complained of his

burden. She, instantly springing to the ground, advanced towards her

son, and said:

“What dost thou here in this little square chamber? As the Dives are

become subject to thy beck, I expected to have found thee on the throne

of the pre-adamite kings.”

“Execrable woman!” answered the Caliph; “cursed be the day thou gavest me

birth! go, follow this Afrit; let him conduct thee to the hall of the

Prophet Soliman, there thou wilt learn to what these palaces are

destined, and how much I ought to abhor the impious knowledge thou hast

taught me.”

“The height of power to which thou art arrived has certainly turned thy

brain,” answered Carathis; “but I ask no more than permission to show my

respect for the Prophet. It is, however, proper thou shouldest know,

that (as the Afrit has informed me neither of us shall return to Samarah)

I requested his permission to arrange my affairs, and he politely

consented; availing myself, therefore, of the few moments allowed me, I

set fire to the tower, and consumed in it the mutes, negresses, and

serpents which have rendered me so much good service; nor should I have

been less kind to Morakanabad, had he not prevented me by deserting at

last to thy brother. As for Bababalouk, who had the folly to return to

Samarah, and all the good brotherhood to provide husbands for thy wives,

I undoubtedly would have put them to the torture, could I but have

allowed them the time; being, however, in a hurry, I only hung him after

having caught him in a snare with thy wives, whilst them I buried alive

by the help of my negresses, who thus spent their last moments greatly to

their satisfaction. With respect to Dilara, who ever stood high in my

favour, she hath evinced the greatness of her mind by fixing herself near

in the service of one of the Magi, and I think will soon be our own.”

Vathek, too much cast down to express the indignation excited by such a

discourse, ordered the Afrit to remove Carathis from his presence, and

continued immersed in thought, which his companion durst not disturb.

Carathis, however, eagerly entered the dome of Soliman, and, without

regarding in the least the groans of the Prophet, undauntedly removed the

covers of the vases, and violently seized on the talismans; then, with a

voice more loud than had hitherto been heard within these mansions, she

compelled the Dives to disclose to her the most secret treasures, the

most profound stores, which the Afrit himself had not seen; she passed by

rapid descents, known only to Eblis and his most favoured potentates, and

thus penetrated the very entrails of the earth, where breathes the

Sansar, or icy wind of death; nothing appalled her dauntless soul; she

perceived, however, in all the inmates who bore their hands on their

hearts a little singularity, not much to her taste. As she was emerging

from one of the abysses, Eblis stood forth to her view; but,

notwithstanding he displayed the full effulgence of his infernal majesty,

she preserved her countenance unaltered, and even paid her compliments

with considerable firmness.

This superb monarch thus answered: “Princess, whose knowledge and whose

crimes have merited a conspicuous rank in my empire, thou dost well to

employ the leisure that remains; for the flames and torments, which are

ready to seize on thy heart, will not fail to provide thee with full

employment.” He said this, and was lost in the curtains of his

tabernacle.

Carathis paused for a moment with surprise; but, resolved to follow the

advice of Eblis, she assembled all the choirs of Genii, and all the

Dives, to pay her homage; thus marched she in triumph through a vapour of

perfumes, amidst the acclamations of all the malignant spirits, with most

of whom she had formed a previous acquaintance; she even attempted to

dethrone one of the Solimans for the purpose of usurping his place, when

a voice, proceeding from the abyss of Death, proclaimed, “All is

accomplished!” Instantaneously the haughty forehead of the intrepid

princess was corrugated with agony; she uttered a tremendous yell, and

fixed, no more to be withdrawn, her right hand upon her heart, which was

become a receptacle of eternal fire.

In this delirium, forgetting all ambitious projects and her thirst for

that knowledge which should ever be hidden from mortals, she overturned

the offerings of the Genii, and, having execrated the hour she was

begotten and the womb that had borne her, glanced off in a whirl that

rendered her invisible, and continued to revolve without intermission.

At almost the same instant the same voice announced to the Caliph,

Nouronihar, the five princes, and the princess, the awful and irrevocable

decree. Their hearts immediately took fire, and they at once lost the

most precious of the gifts of Heaven—Hope. These unhappy beings recoiled

with looks of the most furious distraction; Vathek beheld in the eyes of

Nouronihar nothing but rage and vengeance, nor could she discern aught in

his but aversion and despair. The two princes who were friends, and till

that moment had preserved their attachment, shrank back, gnashing their

teeth with mutual and unchangeable hatred. Kalilah and his sister made

reciprocal gestures of imprecation, whilst the two other princes

testified their horror for each other by the most ghastly convulsions,

and screams that could not be smothered. All severally plunged

themselves into the accursed multitude, there to wander in an eternity of

unabating anguish.

Such was, and such should be, the punishment of unrestrained passions and

atrocious actions! Such is, and such should be, the chastisement of

blind ambition, that would transgress those bounds which the Creator hath

prescribed to human knowledge; and, by aiming at discoveries reserved for

pure Intelligence, acquire that infatuated pride, which perceives not

that the condition appointed to man is to be ignorant and humble.

Thus the Caliph Vathek, who, for the sake of empty pomp and forbidden

power, had sullied himself with a thousand crimes, became a prey to grief

without end, and remorse without mitigation; whilst the humble and

despised Gulchenrouz passed whole ages in undisturbed tranquillity, and

the pure happiness of childhood.