valley, whose opposite side was closed in by a steep acclivity, the
Caliph and his attendants were apprehensive lest the ball should bound
into the chasm, and to prevent it, redoubled their efforts, but in vain.
The Indian persevered in his onward direction, and as had been
apprehended, glancing from the precipice with the rapidity of lightning,
was lost in the gulph below.
Vathek would have followed the perfidious Giaour, had not an invisible
agency arrested his progress. The multitude that pressed after him were
at once checked in the same manner, and a calm instantaneously ensued.
They all gazed at each other with an air of astonishment; and
notwithstanding that the loss of veils and turbans, together with torn
habits, and dust blended with sweat, presented a most laughable
spectacle, there was not one smile to be seen; on the contrary, all with
looks of confusion and sadness returned in silence to Samarah, and
retired to their inmost apartments, without ever reflecting that they had
been impelled by an invisible power into the extravagance for which they
reproached themselves: for it is but just, that men who so often arrogate
to their own merit the good of which they are but instruments, should
attribute to themselves the absurdities which they could not prevent.
The Caliph was the only person that refused to leave the valley. He
commanded his tents to be pitched there, and stationed himself on the
very edge of the precipice, in spite of the representations of Carathis
and Morakanabad, who pointed out the hazard of its brink giving way, and
the vicinity to the magician that had so severely tormented him. Vathek
derided all their remonstrances; and having ordered a thousand flambeaus
to be lighted, and directed his attendants to proceed in lighting more,
lay down on the slippery margin, and attempted, by the help of this
artificial splendour, to look through that gloom which all the fires of
the empyrean had been insufficient to pervade. One while he fancied to
himself voices arising from the depth of the gulph, at another he seemed
to distinguish the accents of the Indian, but all was no more than the
hollow murmur of waters, and the din of the cataracts that rushed from
steep to steep, down the sides of the mountain.
Having passed the night in this cruel perturbation, the Caliph at
day-break retired to his tent, where, without taking the least
sustenance, he continued to doze till the dusk of evening began to come
on; he then resumed his vigils as before, and persevered in observing
them for many nights together. At length, fatigued with so successless
an employment, he sought relief from change. To this end he sometimes
paced with hasty strides across the plain; and as he wildly gazed at the
stars, reproached them with having deceived him; but lo! on a sudden the
clear blue sky appeared streaked over with streams of blood, which
reached from the valley even to the city of Samarah. As this awful
phenomenon seemed to touch his tower, Vathek at first thought of
repairing thither to view it more distinctly, but feeling himself unable
to advance, and being overcome with apprehension, he muffled up his face
in his robe.
Terrifying as these prodigies were, this impression upon him was no more
than momentary, and served only to stimulate his love of the marvellous.
Instead, therefore, of returning to his palace, he persisted in the
resolution of abiding where the Indian vanished from his view. One
night, however, while he was walking as usual on the plain, the moon and
the stars at once were eclipsed, and a total darkness ensued. The earth
trembled beneath him, and a voice came forth, the voice of the Giaour,
who in accents more sonorous than thunder, thus addressed him:
“Would’st thou devote thyself to me? adore then the terrestrial
influences, and abjure Mahomet. On these conditions I will bring thee to
the palace of subterranean fire: there shalt thou behold, in immense
depositories, the treasures which the stars have promised thee, and which
will be conferred by those intelligences whom thou shalt thus render
propitious. It was from thence I brought my sabres; and it is there that
Soliman Ben Daoud reposes, surrounded by the talismans that control the
world.”
The astonished Caliph trembled as he answered, yet in a style that showed
him to be no novice in preternatural adventures:
“Where art thou? Be present to my eyes; dissipate the gloom that
perplexes me, and of which I deem thee the cause. After the many
flambeaus I have burnt to discover thee, thou mayest at least grant a
glimpse of thy horrible visage.”
“Abjure then Mahomet,” replied the Indian, “and promise me full proofs of
thy sincerity; otherwise thou shalt never behold me again.”
The unhappy Caliph, instigated by insatiable curiosity, lavished his
promises in the utmost profusion. The sky immediately brightened; and by
the light of the planets, which seemed almost to blaze, Vathek beheld the
earth open, and at the extremity of a vast black chasm a portal of ebony,
before which stood the Indian, still blacker, holding in his hand a
golden key, that caused the lock to resound.
“How,” cried Vathek, “can I descend to thee, without the certainty of
breaking my neck? Come take me, and instantly open the portal.”
“Not so fast,” replied the Indian, “impatient Caliph! Know that I am
parched with thirst, and cannot open this door till my thirst be
thoroughly appeased. I require the blood of fifty of the most beautiful
sons of thy viziers and great men, or neither can my thirst nor thy
curiosity be satisfied. Return to Samarah; procure for me this necessary
libation; come back hither; throw it thyself into this chasm; and then
shalt thou see!”
Having thus spoken, the Indian turned his back on the Caliph, who,
incited by the suggestion of demons, resolved on the direful sacrifice.
He now pretended to have regained his tranquillity, and set out for
Samarah amidst the acclamations of a people who still loved him, and
forbore not to rejoice when they believed him to have recovered his
reason. So successfully did he conceal the emotion of his heart, that
even Carathis and Morakanabad were equally deceived with the rest.
Nothing was heard of but festivals and rejoicings. The ball, which no
tongue had hitherto ventured to mention, was again brought on the tapis.
A general laugh went round; though many, still smarting under the hands
of the surgeon, from the hurts received in that memorable adventure, had
no great reason for mirth.
The prevalence of this gay humour was not a little grateful to Vathek, as
perceiving how much it conduced to his project. He put on the appearance
of affability to every one; but especially to his viziers, and the
grandees of his court, whom he failed not to regale with a sumptuous
banquet, during which he insensibly inclined the conversation to the
children of his guests. Having asked, with a good-natured air, who of
them were blessed with the handsomest boys, every father at once asserted
the pretensions of his own; and the contest imperceptibly grew so warm,
that nothing could have with-holden them from coming to blows but their
profound reverence for the person of the Caliph. Under the pretence,
therefore, of reconciling the disputants, Vathek took upon him to decide;
and with this view commanded the boys to be brought.
It was not long before a troop of these poor children made their
appearance, all equipped by their fond mothers with such ornaments as
might give the greatest relief to their beauty, or most advantageously
display the graces of their age. But whilst this brilliant assemblage
attracted the eyes and hearts of every one besides, the Caliph
scrutinized each in his turn with a malignant avidity that passed for
attention, and selected from their number the fifty whom he judged the
Giaour would prefer.
With an equal show of kindness as before, he proposed to celebrate a
festival on the plain, for the entertainment of his young favourites, who
he said ought to rejoice still more than all at the restoration of his
health, on account of the favours he intended for them.
The Caliph’s proposal was received with the greatest delight, and soon
published through Samarah. Litters, camels, and horses were prepared.
Women and children, old men and young—every one placed himself in the
station he chose. The cavalcade set forward, attended by all the
confectioners in the city and its precincts. The populace, following on
foot, composed an amazing crowd, and occasioned no little noise. All was
joy; nor did any one call to mind what most of them had suffered when
they first travelled the road they were now passing so gaily.
The evening was serene, the air refreshing, the sky clear, and the
flowers exhaled their fragrance. The beams of the declining sun, whose
mild splendour reposed on the summit of the mountain, shed a glow of
ruddy light over its green declivity, and the white flocks sporting upon
it. No sounds were audible, save the murmurs of the four fountains, and
the reeds and voices of shepherds, calling to each other from different
eminences.
The lovely innocents, proceeding to the destined sacrifice, added not a
little to the hilarity of the scene. They approached the plain full of
sportiveness; some coursing butterflies, others culling flowers, or
picking up the shining little pebbles that attracted their notice. At
intervals, they nimbly started from each other, for the sake of being
caught again, and mutually imparting a thousand caresses.
The dreadful chasm, at whose bottom the portal of ebony was placed, began
to appear at a distance. It looked like a black streak that divided the
plain. Morakanabad and his companions took it for some work which the
Caliph had ordered. Unhappy men! little did they surmise for what it was
destined.
Vathek, not liking that they should examine it too nearly, stopped the
procession, and ordered a spacious circle to be formed on this side, at
some distance from the accursed chasm. The body-guard of eunuchs was
detached, to measure out the lists intended for the games, and prepare
ringles for the lines to keep off the crowd. The fifty competitors were
soon stripped, and presented to the admiration of the spectators the
suppleness and grace of their delicate limbs. Their eyes sparkled with a
joy which those of their fond parents reflected. Every one offered
wishes for the little candidate nearest his heart, and doubted not of his
being victorious. A breathless suspense awaited the contest of these
amiable and innocent victims.
The Caliph, availing himself of the first moment to retire from the
crowd, advanced towards the chasm, and there heard, yet not without
shuddering, the voice of the Indian; who, gnashing his teeth, eagerly
demanded:
“Where are they? Where are they? perceivest thou not how my mouth
waters?”
“Relentless Giaour!” answered Vathek, with emotion, “can nothing content
thee but the massacre of these lovely victims? Ah! wert thou to behold
their beauty, it must certainly move thy compassion.”
“Perdition on thy compassion, babbler!” cried the Indian. “Give them me!
instantly give them, or my portal shall be closed against thee for ever!”
“Not so loudly,” replied the Caliph, blushing.
“I understand thee,” returned the Giaour, with the grin of an ogre: “thou
wantest to summon up more presence of mind. I will for a moment
forbear.”
During this exquisite dialogue the games went forward with all alacrity,
and at length concluded, just as the twilight began to overcast the
mountains. Vathek, who was still standing on the edge of the chasm,
called out with all his might:
“Let my fifty little favourites approach me, separately; and let them
come in the order of their success. To the first I will give my diamond
bracelet; to the second my collar of emeralds; to the third my aigret of
rubies; to the fourth my girdle of topazes; and to the rest, each a part
of my dress, even down to my slippers.”
This declaration was received with reiterated acclamations; and all
extolled the liberality of a prince who would thus strip himself for the
amusement of his subjects and the encouragement of the rising generation.
The Caliph in the mean while undressed himself by degrees; and raising
his arm as high as he was able, made each of the prizes glitter in the
air; but, whilst he delivered it with one hand to the child, who sprang
forward to receive it, he with the other pushed the poor innocent into
the gulph, where the Giaour, with a sullen muttering, incessantly
repeated “More! more!”
This dreadful device was executed with so much dexterity, that the boy
who was approaching him remained unconscious of the fate of his
forerunner; and as to the spectators, the shades of evening, together
with their distance, precluded them from perceiving any object
distinctly. Vathek, having in this manner thrown in the last of the
fifty, and expecting that the Giaour on receiving him would have
presented the key, already fancied himself as great as Soliman, and
consequently above being amenable for what he had done; when, to his
utter amazement, the chasm closed, and the ground became as entire as the
rest of the plain.
No language could express his rage and despair. He execrated the perfidy
of the Indian; loaded him with the most infamous invectives; and stamped
with his foot as resolving to be heard. He persisted in this demeanour
till his strength failed him, and then fell on the earth like one void of
sense. His viziers and grandees, who were nearer than the rest, supposed
him at first to be sitting on the grass at play with their amiable
children; but at length, prompted by doubt, they advanced towards the
spot, and found the Caliph alone, who wildly demanded what they wanted.
“Our children! our children!” cried they.
“It is assuredly pleasant,” said he, “to make me accountable for
accidents. Your children, while at play, fell from the precipice that
was here; and I should have experienced their fate had I not been saved
by a sudden start back.”
At these words, the fathers of the fifty boys cried out aloud: the
mothers repeated their exclamations an octave higher; whilst the rest,
without knowing the cause, soon drowned the voices of both, with still
louder lamentations of their own.
“Our Caliph,” said they, and the report soon circulated, “Our Caliph has
played us this trick, to gratify his accursed Giaour. Let us punish him
for his perfidy! let us avenge ourselves! let us avenge the blood of the
innocent! let us throw this cruel Prince into the gulph that is near, and
let his name be mentioned no more!”
At this rumour, and these menaces, Carathis, full of consternation,
hastened to Morakanabad, and said:
“Vizier, you have lost two beautiful boys, and must necessarily be the
most afflicted of fathers; but you are virtuous; save your master!”
“I will brave every hazard,” replied the Vizier, “to rescue him from his
present danger; but afterwards will abandon him to his fate.
Bababalouk,” continued he, “put yourself at the head of your Eunuchs,
disperse the mob, and if possible bring back this unhappy Prince to his
palace.”
Bababalouk and his fraternity, felicitating each other in a low voice on
their disability of ever being fathers, obeyed the mandate of the Vizier;
who, seconding their exertions to the utmost of his power, at length
accomplished his generous enterprise, and retired, as he resolved, to
lament at his leisure.
No sooner had the Caliph re-entered his palace, than Carathis commanded
the doors to be fastened; but perceiving the tumult to be still violent,
and hearing the imprecations which resounded from all quarters, she said
to her son:
“Whether the populace be right or wrong, it behoves you to provide for
your safety: let us retire to your own apartment, and from thence,
through the subterranean passage known only to ourselves, into your
tower; there, with the assistance of the mutes who never leave it, we may
be able to make some resistance. Bababalouk, supposing us to be still in
the palace, will guard its avenues for his own sake; and we shall soon
find, without the counsels of that blubberer Morakanabad, what expedient
may be the best to adopt.”
Vathek, without making the least reply, acquiesced in his mother’s
proposal, and repeated as he went:
“Nefarious Giaour! where art thou? hast thou not yet devoured those poor
children? where are thy sabres? thy golden key? thy talismans?”
Carathis, who guessed from these interrogations a part of the truth, had
no difficulty to apprehend in getting at the whole, as soon as he should
be a little composed in his tower. This Princess was so far from being
influenced by scruples that she was as wicked as woman could be, which is
not saying a little, for the sex pique themselves on their superiority in
every competition. The recital of the Caliph therefore occasioned
neither terror nor surprise to his mother; she felt no emotion but from
the promises of the Giaour; and said to her son:
“This Giaour, it must be confessed, is somewhat sanguinary in his taste,
but the terrestrial powers are always terrible: nevertheless, what the
one has promised and the others can confer, will prove a sufficient
indemnification. No crimes should be thought too dear for such a reward.
Forbear then to revile the Indian: you have not fulfilled the conditions
to which his services are annexed. For instance, is not a sacrifice to
the subterranean Genii required? and should we not be prepared to offer
it as soon as the tumult is subsided? This charge I will take on myself,
and have no doubt of succeeding by means of your treasures; which, as
there are now so many others in store, may without fear be exhausted.”
Accordingly, the Princess, who possessed the most consummate skill in the
art of persuasion, went immediately back through the subterranean
passage, and presenting herself to the populace from a window of the
palace, began to harangue them with all the address of which she was
mistress, whilst Bababalouk showered money from both hands amongst the
crowd, who by these united means were soon appeased. Every person
retired to his home, and Carathis returned to the tower.
Prayer at break of day was announced, when Carathis and Vathek ascended
the steps which led to the summit of the tower, where they remained for
some time, though the weather was lowering and wet. This impending gloom
corresponded with their malignant dispositions; but when the sun began to
break through the clouds, they ordered a pavilion to be raised as a
screen from the intrusion of his beams. The Caliph, overcome with
fatigue, sought refreshment from repose, at the same time hoping that
significant dreams might attend on his slumbers; whilst the indefatigable
Carathis, followed by a party of her mutes, descended to prepare whatever
she judged proper for the oblation of the approaching night.
By secret stairs, known only to herself and her son, she first repaired
to the mysterious recesses in which were deposited the mummies that had
been brought from the catacombs of the ancient Pharaohs. Of these she
ordered several to be taken. From thence she resorted to a gallery,
where, under the guard of fifty female negroes, mute, and blind of the
right eye, were preserved the oil of the most venomous serpents,
rhinoceros’ horns, and woods of a subtle and penetrating odour, procured
from the interior of the Indies, together with a thousand other horrible
rarieties. This collection had been formed for a purpose like the
present, by Carathis herself, from a presentiment that she might one day
enjoy some intercourse with the infernal powers, to whom she had ever
been passionately attached, and to whose taste she was no stranger.
To familiarize herself the better with the horrors in view, the Princess
remained in the company of her negresses, who squinted in the most
amiable manner from the only eye they had, and leered with exquisite
delight at the skulls and skeletons which Carathis had drawn forth from
her cabinets, whose key she entrusted to no one; all of them making
contortions, and uttering a frightful jargon, but very amusing to the
Princess till at last, being stunned by their gibbering, and suffocated
by the potency of their exhalations, she was forced to quit the gallery,
after stripping it of a part of its treasures.
Whilst she was thus occupied, the Caliph, who instead of the visions he
expected, had acquired in these insubstantial regions a voracious
appetite, was greatly provoked at the negresses: for, having totally
forgotten their deafness, he had impatiently asked them for food; and
seeing them regardless of his demand, he began to cuff, pinch, and push
them, till Carathis arrived to terminate a scene so indecent, to the
great content of these miserable creatures, who having been brought up by
her, understood all her signs, and communicated in the same way their
thoughts in return.
“Son! what means all this?” said she, panting for breath. “I thought I
heard as I came up, the shrieks of a thousand bats, tearing from their
crannies in the recesses of a cavern, and it was the outcry only of these
poor mutes, whom you were so unmercifully abusing. In truth you but ill
deserve the admirable provision I have brought you.”
“Give it me instantly!” exclaimed the Caliph: “I am perishing for
hunger!”
“As to that,” answered she, “you must have an excellent stomach if it can
digest what I have been preparing.”
“Be quick,” replied the Caliph. “But oh, heavens! what horrors! What do
you intend?”
“Come, come,” returned Carathis, “be not so squeamish, but help me to
arrange every thing properly, and you shall see that what you reject with
such symptoms of disgust will soon complete your felicity. Let us get
ready the pile for the sacrifice of to-night, and think not of eating
till that is performed. Know you not that all solemn rites are preceded
by a rigorous abstinence?”
The Caliph, not daring to object, abandoned himself to grief, and the
wind that ravaged his entrails, whilst his mother went forward with the
requisite operations. Phials of serpents’ oil, mummies, and bones, were
soon set in order on the balustrade of the tower. The pile began to
rise; and in three hours was as many cubits high. At length, darkness
approached, and Carathis having stripped herself to her inmost garment,
clapped her hands in an impulse of ecstasy, and struck light with all her
force. The mutes followed her example: but Vathek, extenuated with
hunger and impatience, was unable to support himself, and fell down in a
swoon. The sparks had already kindled the dry wood; the venomous oil
burst into a thousand blue flames; the mummies, dissolving, emitted a
thick dun vapour; and the rhinoceros’ horns beginning to consume; all
together diffused such a stench, that the Caliph, recovering, started
from his trance and gazed wildly on the scene in full blaze around him.
The oil gushed forth in a plentitude of streams; and the negresses, who
supplied it without intermission, united their cries to those of the
Princess. At last the fire became so violent, and the flames reflected
from the polished marble so dazzling, that the Caliph, unable to
withstand the heat and the blaze, effected his escape, and clambered up
the imperial standard.