A STAR IN HELL.
Let the gentle shadows of night descend which guard them that sleep from
the eyes of evil spectres! Let the weary errant bee rest in the fragrant
chalice of the closed flower. Everything sleeps, all is quiet, only the
stars and burning hearts are still awake.
What a gentle, mystical song resounds from among the willows, as of a
nightingale endowed with a human voice in order to sing to the listening
night in coherent rhymes the song of his love and his melancholy
rapture. It is the poet Hariri whom, sword in hand, they call Feriz Beg,
"The Lion of Combat," but who, when evening descends, and the noise and
tumult of the camp are still, discards his coat of mail, puts on a light
grey _burnush_, and, lute in hand, strolls through the listening groves
and by the side of the murmuring streams and calls forth languishing
songs from the depths of his heart and the strings of his lute,
uninterrupted by the awakening appeals of the trumpet.
Many a pale maid opens her window to the night at the sound of these
magic songs--and becomes all the paler from listening to them.
The eunuchs steal softly along the banks of the Margaret Island with
their long muskets, and stop still and watch for any suspicious skiff
drawing near to the island; and the most wakeful of them is old Majmun,
who, even when he is asleep, has one eye open, and in happier times was
the guardian of the harem. He sits down on a hillock, and even a
carrier-pigeon with a letter under its wings could not have eluded his
vigilance. He has only just arrived on the island, having previously
accompanied Yffim Beg into Transylvania, and therefore has only seen
Azrael once.
His eyes roam constantly around, and his sharp ears detect even the
flight of a moth or a beetle, yet suddenly he feels--some one tapping
him on the shoulder.
He turns terrified, and behold Azrael standing behind him.
"Accursed be that singing over yonder. I was listening to it, so did not
hear thee approach. What dost thou want? Why dost thou come hither in
the darkness of night? How didst thou escape from the harem?"
"I prythee be quiet!" said the odalisk. "This evening I went a-boating
with my master, and a gold ring dropped from my finger into the water;
it was a present from him, and if to-morrow he asks: 'Where is that
ornament?' and I cannot show it him, he will slay me. Oh, let me seek
for it here in the water."
"Foolish damsel, the water here is deep; it will go over thy head, and
thou wilt perish."
"I care not; I must look for it. I must find the ring, or lose my life
for it."
And the odalisk said the words in such an agony of despair that the
eunuch was quite touched by it.
"Thou shouldst entrust the matter to another."
"If only I could find someone who can dive under the water, I would give
him three costly bracelets for it; I would give away all my treasures."
"I can dive," said Majmun, seized by avarice.
"Oh, descend then into the water for me," implored the damsel, falling
on her knees before him and covering the horny hand of the slave with
her kisses. "But art thou not afraid of being suffocated? For then in
the eyes of the governor I should be twice guilty."
"Fear not on my account. In my youth I was a pearl-fisher in the Indian
Ocean, and I can remain under water and look about me like a fish, even
at night, while thou dost count one hundred. Only show me the place
where the ring fell from thy finger."
Azrael drew a pearl necklace from her arm and casting it into the water,
pointed at the place where it fell.
"It was on the very spot where I have cast that; if thou dost fetch up
both of them for me, the second one shall be thine."
Majmun perceived that this was not exactly a joke, and laying aside his
garment and his weapon, bade the damsel look after them, and quickly
slipped beneath the water.
In a few seconds the eunuch's terrified face emerged above the water and
he struck out for the shore with a horrified expression.
"This is an evil spot," said he; "at the bottom of the water is a heap
of human heads."
"I know it," said the odalisk calmly.
The eunuch was puzzled. He gazed up at her, and was astounded to observe
that in the place of the sensitive, supplicating figure so lately there,
there now stood a haughty, awe-inspiring woman, who looked down upon him
like a queen.
"Those heads there are the heads of thy comrades," said Azrael to the
astounded eunuch, "whom last night and the preceding nights I asked to
do me a service, which they refused to do. Next day I accused them to
the governor and he instantly had their heads cut off without letting
them speak."
"And what service didst thou require?"
"To swim to the opposite shore and give this bunch of flowers to that
youth yonder."
"Ha! thou art a traitor."
"No such thing. All I ask of thee is this: dost thou hear those songs in
that grove yonder? Very well, swim thither and give him this posy. If
thou dost not, thy head also will be under the water among the heap of
the others. But if thou dost oblige me I will make thee rich for the
remainder of thy life. It is in thine own power to choose whether thou
wilt live happily or die miserably."
"But I have a third choice, and that is to kill thee," cried the eunuch,
gnashing his teeth.
Azrael laughed.
"Thou blockhead! Whilst thou wert still under the water it occurred to
me to fill thy musket with earth and gird thy dagger to my side. Utter
but a cry and thou wilt have no need to wait for to-morrow to lay thy
head at thy feet."
At these words the damsel squeezed the eunuch's arm so emphatically that
he bent down before her.
"What dost thou command?"
"I have already told thee."
"I am playing with my own head."
"That is not as bad as if I were playing with it."
"What dost thou want of me?"
"I want thee to row me across to the opposite shore."
"There is only one skiff on the island, and in that Yffim Beg is wont to
fish."
"Oh, why have I never learnt to swim!" cried Azrael, collapsing in
despair.
"What! wouldst thou swim across this broad stream?"
"Yes, and I'll swim across it now, this instant."
"Those are idle words. If thou art not a devil thou wilt drown in this
river if thou canst not swim."
"Thou shalt swim with me. I will put one hand on thy shoulder to keep me
up."
"Thou art mad, surely! Only just now thou didst threaten me with death,
and now thou wouldst trust thy life to me! I need only hold thee under
for a second or two to be rid of thee for ever. Water is a terrible
element to him who cannot rule over it, the dwellers beneath the waves
are merciless."
"By putting my life into thy hands I show thee that I fear thee not.
Lead me through the water!"
"Thou art mad, but I still keep my senses. Go back to the Vizier's kiosk
while he hath not noticed thy absence. I will not betray thee."
"Then thou wilt not go with me?" said the odalisk darkly.
"May I never see thee again if I do so," said Majmun resolutely, sitting
down on a hillock.
"Wretched slave!" cried Azrael in despair, "then I will go myself."
And with that she cast herself into the water from the high bank.
Majmun, unable to prevent her leap, plunged in after her and soon
emerged with her again on the surface of the water, holding the woman by
her long hair.
She suddenly embraced the eunuch with both arms, turned in the water so
as to come uppermost and raising her head from the waves, cried fiercely
to the submerged eunuch:
"Go to the opposite shore, or we'll drown together."
The eunuch, after a short, desperate struggle, becoming convinced that
he could not free himself from the arms of the damsel who held him fast
like a gigantic serpent, with a tremendous wrench contrived to bring his
head above the water and cried unwillingly:
"I'll lead thee thither."
"Hasten then!" cried Azrael, releasing him from her arms and grasping
the woolly pate of the swimmer with one hand; "hasten!"
The eunuch swam onwards. Nothing was to be seen but a white and a black
head moving closely together in the darkness and the long tresses of the
damsel floating on the surface of the waves.
"Is the bank far?" she presently asked the slave, for she was somewhat
behind and could not see in front of her.
"Art thou afraid?"
"I fear that I may not be able to see it."
"We shall be at the other side directly. The stream is broad just now,
for the Danube is in flood."
A few minutes later the negro felt firm ground beneath his feet, and the
odalisk perceived the branch of a willow drooping above her face.
Quickly seizing it, she drew herself out of the water.
Softly and tremulously she ran towards the grove of trees which
concealed what she sought, and on perceiving the singer, whose
enchanting tones had enticed her across the water, she stood there all
quivering, holding back her breath, and with one hand pressed against
her bosom.
The young singer was sitting on a silver linden-tree. He had just
finished his song, and had placed the lute by his side, and was gazing
sadly before him with his handsome head resting against his hand as if
he would have summoned back the spirit which had flown far far away on
the wings of his melody.
"Now thou canst speak to him," said Majmun to the damsel.
Azrael stood there, leaning against a weeping willow and gazing,
motionless, at the youth.
"Hasten, I say. The night is drawing to an end and we have to get back
again. Wherefore dost thou hesitate when thou hast come so far for this
very thing?"
The odalisk sighed softly, and leant her head against the mossy tree
trunk.
"Thou saidst thou wouldst rush to him, embrace his knees, and greet him
with thy lips, and now thou dost stand as if rooted to the spot by
spells."
The damsel slowly sank upon her knees and hid her face in her garment.
"The girl is really crazy," murmured the negro; "if thou hast come
hither only to weep, thou couldst have done that just as well on the
other side."
At that moment the voice of a bugle horn rang out from a distance
through the silent night, whereupon the singer, suddenly transformed
into a warrior, sprang to his feet. It was the first _reveille_ from the
camp of Buda to awake the sleepers, and Hariri disappeared to become
Feriz Beg again, who, drawing his sword, quickly hastened away from
among the willow-trees, and in his hurry forgot his lute beneath a
silver birch.
"Thou seest he has departed from thee," cried the negro malevolently,
seizing the damsel's hand. "Hasten back with me while yet there is
time."
The girl arose--holding her breath as she gazed after the youth--and
waited till he had disappeared among the bushes; then she drew forth the
wreath of flowers which she had hidden in her bosom, and took a step
forward, listening till the retreating footsteps had died away, and then
suddenly rushed towards the abandoned lute, pressed it to her heart,
covered it with kisses, and fell down beside it filled with agony and
rapture.
Then she took the wreath and cast it round the lute, and the wreath was
composed of these flowers: A rose. What does a rose signify in the
language of love?--"I love thee, I am happy." Then a pomegranate-flower,
which signifies: "I love none but thee!" Then a pink, which signifies:
"I wither for love of thee." Then a balsam, which signifies: "I dare not
approach thee." And, finally, a forget-me-not, which signifies: "Let us
live or die together."
This wreath the odalisk fastened together with a lock of her own hair,
which signifies: "I surrender my life into thy hands!" For a Turkish
woman never allows a lock of her hair to pass into the hand of a
stranger, believing, as she does, that whoever possesses it has the
power to ruin or slay her, to deprive her either of her reason or her
life.
Majmun gazed at her in astonishment. Was this all she had come for
through so many terrible dangers?
"Hasten, damsel, with thine incantations," said he, "the camp is now
aroused and the dawn is at hand."
Azrael cast a burning kiss with her hand in the direction whither Feriz
had disappeared; then returning to the slave, she said, with her usual
commanding voice:
"Remain here and count up to six hundred without looking after me, and
by that time I shall have come back."
Majmun counted up to six hundred with a loud voice.
Meanwhile, Azrael ran along the dam of the river bank till she came to
the sluice, which she raised by the exertion of her full strength. The
liberated water began to flow through the opening with a mighty roar.
Then Azrael hastened back to the negro.
"And now for the island," said she.
And once more they traversed the dangerous way, Azrael lying on her back
with a hand on the negro's head. In her bosom was a poplar leaf, which
afforded her great satisfaction.
On reaching the island Azrael richly recompensed the negro, and said to
him:
"To-morrow morning, at dawn, thy master, Yffim Beg, will seek thee and
command thee to accompany him and Hassan Pasha across the bridge to the
other side where stands the camp of Feriz Beg. Thou wilt find no one
there, but look at the place where we were this night, and if thou
shouldst find there a nosegay or a wreath, bring it to me!"
Majmun listened with amazement. How could Azrael have found out all
about these things?
Azrael returned to the kiosk, where Hassan Pasha was still sleeping the
deep sleep of opium. He awoke in the arms of his favourite, and he could
not understand why her hands were so cold and her kisses so burning.
The odalisk told him she had been dreaming. She had dreamt that she swam
across the river enticed by the singing of the Peris.
Hassan smiled.
"Go on sleeping, and continue thy dream," said he.
The sun was high in the heaven when Hassan Pasha quitted the kiosk.
Yffim Beg was awaiting him.
"Wilt thou not ride to Pesth there to mark out the place for the camp of
Feriz Beg, who has just arrived?"
Azrael shrewdly guessed that Yffim Beg was for leading the Governor to
the Pesth shore to satisfy him as to the peasant girls whom he was said
to have mistaken for soldiers by some evil enchantment. She also thought
how convenient it would be for her that they should take Majmun with
them for the whole day.
Hassan accordingly accepted Yffim's invitation, and galloped with him
and Majmun over to the opposite shore, where Yffim was amazed to
discover that not a soul of Feriz Beg's host was visible.
In the night the suddenly released water had covered the whole ground of
their camp, and they had been obliged to retire farther away from the
river and seek another encampment beyond Pesth.
Yffim Beg would have liked to have torn out his beard in his wrath if he
had not been restrained by the general's presence.
But Majmun, under the pretext of clearing the way, reconnoitred the
scene of yesterday's interview, and there, in the roots of the silver
birch, he found that a wreath had been deposited. He concealed it
beneath his _burnush_, and carried it home to Azrael.
The wreath was composed of two pieces--a branch of laurel and a spray of
thorn.
The damsel bowed her head before this answer. She knew that it
signified: "Suffer if thou wouldst prevail!"