fromwhence he came, and where he procured these singular curiosities, or Iswear, by the ass of Balaam, that I will make him rue his pertinacity.”
This menace was accompanied by the Caliph with one of his angry andperilous glances, which the stranger sustained without the slightestemotion, although his eyes were fixed on the terrible eye of the prince.
No words can describe the amazement of the courtiers, when they beheldthis rude merchant withstand the encounter unshocked. They all fellprostrate with their faces on the ground, to avoid the risk of theirlives, and continued in the same abject posture till the Caliph exclaimedin a furious tone:
“Up, cowards! seize the miscreant! see that he be committed to prison,and guarded by the best of my soldiers! Let him, however, retain themoney I gave him; it is not my intent to take from him his property, Ionly want him to speak.”
No sooner had he uttered these words than the stranger was surrounded,pinioned with strong fetters, and hurried away to the prison of the greattower, which was encompassed by seven empalements of iron bars, and armedwith spikes in every direction, longer and sharper than spits.
The Caliph, nevertheless, remained in the most violent agitation. He satdown indeed to eat, but of the three hundred covers that were dailyplaced before him, could taste of no more than thirty-two.
A diet to which he had been so little accustomed, was sufficient ofitself to prevent him from sleeping, what then must be its effect whenjoined to the anxiety that prayed upon his spirits? At the first glimpseof dawn he hastened to the prison, again to importune this intractablestranger; but the rage of Vathek exceeded all bounds on finding theprison empty, the gates burst asunder, and his guards lying lifelessaround him. In the paroxysm of his passion he fell furiously on the poorcarcases, and kicked them till evening without intermission. Hiscourtiers and viziers exerted their efforts to soothe his extravagance,but finding every expedient ineffectual, they all united in onevociferation:
“The Caliph is gone mad! the Caliph is out of his senses!”
This outcry, which was soon resounded through the streets of Samarah, atlength reached the ears of Carathis, his mother: she flew in the utmostconsternation to try her ascendency on the mind of her son. Her tearsand caresses called off his attention; and he was prevailed upon by herentreaties to be brought back to the palace.
Carathis, apprehensive of leaving Vathek to himself, caused him to be putto bed; and seating herself by him, endeavoured by her conversation toheal and compose him. Nor could any one have attempted it with bettersuccess; for the Caliph not only loved her as a mother but respected heras a person of superior genius. It was she who had induced him, being aGreek herself, to adopt all the sciences and systems of her country,which good Mussulmans hold in such thorough abhorrence.
Judicial astrology was one of those systems in which Carathis was aperfect adept. She began, therefore, with reminding her son of thepromise which the stars had made him; and intimated an intention ofconsulting them again.
“Alas!” sighed the Caliph, as soon at he could speak, “what a fool have Ibeen! not for the kicks bestowed on my guards, who so tamely submitted todeath, but for never considering that this extraordinary man was the samethe planets had foretold; whom, instead of ill-treating, I should haveconciliated by all the arts of persuasion.”
“The past,” said Carathis, “cannot be recalled; but it behoves us tothink of the future: perhaps you may again see the object you so muchregret: it is possible the inscriptions on the sabres will affordinformation. Eat, therefore, and take thy repose, my dear son. We willconsider, to-morrow, in what manner to act.”
Vathek yielded to her counsel as well as he could, and arose in themorning with a mind more at ease. The sabres he commanded to beinstantly brought; and poring upon them through a green glass, that theirglittering might not dazzle, he set himself in earnest to decipher theinscriptions; but his reiterated attempts were all of them nugatory: invain did he beat his head and bite his nails; not a letter of the wholewas he able to ascertain. So unlucky a disappointment would have undonehim again, had not Carathis, by good fortune, entered the apartment.
“Have patience, son!” said she. “You certainly are possessed of everyimportant science, but the knowledge of languages is a trifle, at best;and the accomplishment of none but a pedant. Issue forth a proclamationthat you will confer such rewards as become your greatness upon any onethat shall interpret what you do not understand, and what it is beneathyou to learn. You will soon find your curiosity gratified.”
“That may be,” said the Caliph; “but in the mean time I shall be horriblydisgusted by a crowd of smatterers, who will come to the trial as muchfor the pleasure of retailing their jargon as from the hope of gainingthe reward. To avoid this evil, it will be proper to add that I will putevery candidate to death who shall fail to give satisfaction; for, thankheaven, I have skill enough to distinguish between one that translatesand one that invents.”
“Of that I have no doubt,” replied Carathis, “but to put the ignorant todeath is somewhat severe, and may be productive of dangerous effects.Content yourself with commanding their beards to be burnt: beards, in astate, are not quite so essential as men.”
The Caliph submitted to the reasons of his mother, and sending forMorakanabad, his prime vizier, said:
“Let the common criers proclaim, not only in Samarah, but throughoutevery city in my empire, that whosoever will repair hither, and deciphercertain characters which appear to be inexplicable, shall experience theliberality for which I am renowned; but that all who fail upon trialshall have their beards burnt off to the last hair. Let them add also,that I will bestow fifty beautiful slaves, and as many jars of apricotsfrom the isle of Kirmith, upon any man that shall bring me intelligenceof the stranger.”
The subjects of the Caliph, like their sovereign, being great admirers ofwomen, and apricots from Kirmith, felt their mouths water at thesepromises, but were totally unable to gratify their hankering, for no oneknew which way the stranger had gone.
As to the Caliph’s other requisition the result was different: thelearned, the half-learned, and those who were neither, but fanciedthemselves equal to both, came boldly to hazard their beards, and allshamefully lost them.
The exaction of these forfeitures, which found sufficient employment forthe Eunuchs, gave them such a smell of singed hair as greatly to disgustthe ladies of the seraglio, and make it necessary that this newoccupation of their guardians should be transferred into other hands.
At length, however, an old man presented himself, whose beard was acubit-and-a-half longer than any that had appeared before him. Theofficers of the palace whispered to each other, as they ushered him in:
“What a pity such a beard should be burnt!”
Even the Caliph, when he saw it, concurred with them in opinion; but hisconcern was entirely needless. This venerable personage read thecharacters with facility, and explained them verbatim, as follows:
“We were made where everything good is made; we are the least of thewonders of a place where all is wonderful; and deserving the sight of thefirst potentate on earth.”
“You translate admirably!” cried Vathek. “I know to what thesemarvellous characters allude. Let him receive as many robes of honour,and thousands of sequins of gold, as he hath spoken words. I am in somemeasure relieved from the perplexity that embarrassed me!”
Vathek invited the old man to dine, and even to remain some days in thepalace. Unluckily for him, he accepted the offer; for the Caliph havingordered him next morning to be called, said:
“Read again to me what you have read already; I cannot hear too often thepromise that is made me, the completion of which I languish to obtain.”
The old man forthwith put on his green spectacles; but they instantlydropped from his nose, on perceiving that the characters he had read theday preceding, had given place to others of different import.
“What ails you?” asked the Caliph; “and why these symptoms of wonder?”<
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“Sovereign of the world,” replied the old man, “these sabres hold anotherlanguage to-day, from that they yesterday held.”
“How say you?” returned Vathek. “But it matters not! tell me, if youcan, what they mean.”
“It is this, my lord,” rejoined the old man: “‘Woe to the rash mortal whoseeks to know that of which he should remain ignorant and to undertakethat which surpasseth his power!’”
“And woe to thee!” cried the Caliph, in a burst of indignation: “to-daythou art void of understanding: begone from my presence, they shall burnbut the half of thy beard, because thou wert yesterday fortunate inguessing. My gifts I never resume.”
The old man, wise enough to perceive he had luckily escaped, consideringthe folly of disclosing so disgusting a truth, immediately withdrew, andappeared not again.
But it was not long before Vathek discovered abundant reason to regrethis precipitation; for though he could not decipher the charactershimself, yet, by constantly poring upon them, he plainly perceived thatthey every day changed; and unfortunately no other