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 hispalace.”
Bababalouk and his fraternity, felicitating each other in a low voice ontheir disability of ever being fathers, obeyed the mandate of the Vizier;who, seconding their exertions to the utmost of his power, at lengthaccomplished his generous enterprise, and retired, as he resolved, tolament at his leisure.
No sooner had the Caliph re-entered his palace, than Carathis commandedthe doors to be fastened; but perceiving the tumult to be still violent,and hearing the imprecations which resounded from all quarters, she saidto her son:
“Whether the populace be right or wrong, it behoves you to provide foryour safety: let us retire to your own apartment, and from thence,through the subterranean passage known only to ourselves, into yourtower; there, with the assistance of the mutes who never leave it, we maybe able to make some resistance. Bababalouk, supposing us to be still inthe palace, will guard its avenues for his own sake; and we shall soonfind, without the counsels of that blubberer Morakanabad, what expedientmay be the best to adopt.”
Vathek, without making the least reply, acquiesced in his mother’sproposal, and repeated as he went:
“Nefarious Giaour! where art thou? hast thou not yet devoured those poorchildren? where are thy sabres? thy golden key? thy talismans?”
Carathis, who guessed from these interrogations a part of the truth, hadno difficulty to apprehend in getting at the whole, as soon as he shouldbe a little composed in his tower. This Princess was so far from beinginfluenced by scruples that she was as wicked as woman could be, which isnot saying a little, for the sex pique themselves on their superiority inevery competition. The recital of the Caliph therefore occasionedneither terror nor surprise to his mother; she felt no emotion but fromthe 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 theone has promised and the others can confer, will prove a sufficientindemnification. No crimes should be thought too dear for such a reward.Forbear then to revile the Indian: you have not fulfilled the conditionsto which his services are annexed. For instance, is not a sacrifice tothe subterranean Genii required? and should we not be prepared to offerit 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, asthere are now so many others in store, may without fear be exhausted.”
Accordingly, the Princess, who possessed the most consummate skill in theart of persuasion, went immediately back through the subterraneanpassage, and presenting herself to the populace from a window of thepalace, began to harangue them with all the address of which she wasmistress, whilst Bababalouk showered money from both hands amongst thecrowd, who by these united means were soon appeased. Every personretired to his home, and Carathis returned to the tower.
Prayer at break of day was announced, when Carathis and Vathek ascendedthe steps which led to the summit of the tower, where they remained forsome time, though the weather was lowering and wet. This impending gloomcorresponded with their malignant dispositions; but when the sun began tobreak through the clouds, they ordered a pavilion to be raised as ascreen from the intrusion of his beams. The Caliph, overcome withfatigue, sought refreshment from repose, at the same time hoping thatsignificant dreams might attend on his slumbers; whilst the indefatigableCarathis, followed by a party of her mutes, descended to prepare whatevershe judged proper for the oblation of the approaching night.
By secret stairs, known only to herself and her son, she first repairedto the mysterious recesses in which were deposited the mummies that hadbeen brought from the catacombs of the ancient Pharaohs. Of these sheordered several to be taken. From thence she resorted to a gallery,where, under the guard of fifty female negroes, mute, and blind of theright eye, were preserved the oil of the most venomous serpents,rhinoceros’ horns, and woods of a subtle and penetrating odour, procuredfrom the interior of the Indies, together with a thousand other horriblerarieties. This collection had been formed for a purpose like thepresent, by Carathis herself, from a presentiment that she might one dayenjoy some intercourse with the infernal powers, to whom she had everbeen passionately attached, and to whose taste she was no stranger.
To familiarize herself the better with the horrors in view, the Princessremained in the company of her negresses, who squinted in the mostamiable manner from the only eye they had, and leered with exquisitedelight at the skulls and skeletons which Carathis had drawn forth fromher cabinets, whose key she entrusted to no one; all of them makingcontortions, and uttering a frightful jargon, but very amusing to thePrincess till at last, being stunned by their gibbering, and suffocatedby 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 heexpected, had acquired in these insubstantial regions a voraciousappetite, was greatly provoked at the negresses: for, having totallyforgotten their deafness, he had impatiently asked them for food; andseeing them regardless of his demand, he began to cuff, pinch, and pushthem, till Carathis arrived to terminate a scene so indecent, to thegreat content of these miserable creatures, who having been brought up byher, understood all her signs, and communicated in the same way theirthoughts in return.
“Son! what means all this?” said she, panting for breath. “I thought Iheard as I came up, the shrieks of a thousand bats, tearing from theircrannies in the recesses of a cavern, and it was the outcry only of thesepoor mutes, whom you were so unmercifully abusing. In truth you but illdeserve the admirable provision I have brought you.”
“Give it me instantly!” exclaimed the Caliph: “I am perishing forhunger!”
“As to that,” answered she, “you must have an excellent stomach if it candigest what I have been preparing.”
“Be quick,” replied the Caliph. “But oh, heavens! what horrors! What doyou intend?”
“Come, come,” returned Carathis, “be not so squeamish, but help me toarrange every thing properly, and you shall see that what you reject withsuch symptoms of disgust will soon complete your felicity. Let us getready the pile for the sacrifice of to-night, and think not of eatingtill that is performed. Know you not that all solemn rites are precededby a rigorous abstinence?”
The Caliph, not daring to object, abandoned himself to grief, and thewind that ravaged his entrails, whilst his mother went forward with therequisite operations. Phials of serpents’ oil, mummies, and bones, weresoon set in order on the balustrade of the tower. The pile began torise; and in three hours was as many cubits high. At length, darknessapproached, and Carathis having stripped herself to her inmost garment,clapped her hands in an impulse of ecstasy, and struck light with all herforce. The mutes followed her example: but Vathek, extenuated withhunger and impatience, was unable to support himself, and fell down in aswoon. The sparks had already kindled the dry wood; the venomous oilburst into a thousand blue flames; the mummies, dissolving, emitted athick dun vapour; and the rhinoceros’ horns beginning to consume; alltogether diffused such a stench, that the Caliph, recovering, startedfrom 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, whosupplied it without intermission, united their cries to those of thePrincess. At last the fire became so violent, and the flames reflectedfrom the polished marble so dazzling, that the Caliph, unable towithstand the heat and the blaze, effected his escape, and clambered upthe imperial standard.
In the mean time, the inhabitants of Samarah, scared at the light whichshone over the city, arose in haste, ascended their roofs, beheld thetower on fire, and hurried half-naked to the square. Their love to theirsovereign immediately awoke; and apprehending him in danger of perishingin his tower, their whole thoughts were occupi
ed with the means of hissafety. Morakanabad flew from his retirement, wiped away his tears, andcried out for water like the rest. Bababalouk, whose olfactory nerveswere more familiarized to magical odours, readily conjecturing thatCarathis was engaged in her favourite amusements, strenuously exhortedthem not to be alarmed. Him, however, they treated as an old poltroon;and forbore not to style him a rascally traitor. The camels anddromedaries were advancing with water, but no one knew by which way toenter the tower. Whilst the populace was obstinate in forcing the doors,a violent east wind drove such a volume of flame against them, as atfirst forced them off; but afterwards, rekindled their zeal. At the sametime, the stench of the horns and mummies increasing, most of the crowdfell backward in a state of suffocation. Those that kept their feetmutually wondered at the cause of the smell, and admonished each other toretire. Morakanabad, more sick than the rest, remained in a piteouscondition. Holding his nose with one hand, he persisted in his effortswith the other to burst open the doors,