Vathek would join in the prayers and ablutions to be solemnized 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, {79a} Santons, {79b} and
Dervises {79c} who were continually coming and going, but especially with
the Brahmins, {79d} Faquirs, {79e} 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 where ever he went, another an ourang-outang, 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 fillipped 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 menagery.”
“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.”
Where ever the Caliph directed his course, objects of pity were sure to
swarm round him: the blind, the purblind, smarts without noses, damsels
without ears, each to extol the munificence of Fakreddin, who, as well as
his attendant grey-beards, dealt about gratis plasters and cataplasms to
all that applied. At noon a superb corps of cripples made its
appearance; and soon after advanced by platoons on the plain the
completest association of invalids that had ever been embodied till then.
The blind went groping with the blind; the lame limped on together; and
the maimed made gestures to each other with the only arm that remained.
The sides of a considerable waterfall were crowded by the deaf, amongst
whom were some from Pegu, with ears uncommonly handsome and large, but
were still less able to hear than the rest. Nor were there wanting
others in abundance with hump backs, wenny necks, and even horns of an
exquisite polish.
The emir, to aggrandize 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 hue, 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 grew 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 jasamine dropped on his face. An abundance of
tittering succeeded this 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 Peries {82} 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
jasamine at me?”
“Aye, 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 her
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 Cachmere, 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 jasamine:
“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 jasamines 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 the
grottoes with her happy Gulchenrouz!”
In the mean time 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 sung 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 doated 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 Ambreabad, where the Peries 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 jasamine 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 portentious: 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 knole, 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 vermillion 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 any thing 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, except that at
a considerable distance a faint spark glimmered by fits. She stopped a
second time: the sound of waterfalls 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 Goules 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 preadimite 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 aggrandize 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 picklock? I will try the
extent of your power; come, to your chamber! through the two sky-lights,
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 pomegranite, 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.”