The Rival Brothers.
CHAPTER I.
Gheias-ood-Deen, a young and handsome youth in his eighteenth year, was attended by a slave who was scattering perfume round the spot upon which his master sat. This youth had just ascended the throne of his father, late king of the Deccan, and gave promise of being a popular sovereign. In conformity with the practice of his predecessor, he behaved very graciously to all the members of his court, remembering the zealous supporters of his family, and distinguishing them with especial marks of favour. He raised several of his most deserving nobles to places of distinction, and rewarded his late father’s faithful domestics with offices of trust. This greatly excited the jealousy of Lallcheen, principal Toorky slave of the household, who not only aspired to obtain his freedom, but to be advanced to some post of honour. He was now in the presence of his young sovereign, towards whom he had frequently evinced his dissatisfaction by certain marks which, though they apparently expressed nothing, were nevertheless sufficiently intelligible.
“Lallcheen,” said the young king, “why do you appear thus dissatisfied? My conduct, since my accession to the throne of my father, seems to have diffused general content, and why should you be an exception?”
“Slaves have no great cause for satisfaction under any condition of bondage; but when faithful servants are not rewarded, they have just grounds for complaint.”
“They can have none whatever, so long as the master is not unjust. Slaves cannot expect to be treated like princes.”
“But they can expect to be treated like men who have minds to appreciate, and hearts to feel the difference between justice and tyranny.”
“But I think it an act of injustice to place a slave upon a level with a free man. By the condition of his destiny, the fetters of slavery have been cast upon him, and he must wear them. I do not approve of elevating bondmen to posts of honour.”
“Has the sovereign forgotten that the queen-mother was originally one of that degraded class which the king thinks it unjust to dignify?”
“No woman is degraded by her condition, because she is the mere instrument in the Deity’s hands for perpetuating the human race. The son derives neither rank nor degradation from the mother;—it therefore matters not whether she be a slave or a princess.”
“The king reasons like a profound casuist,” said Lallcheen, with an ill-disguised sneer; “and I feel how utterly impossible it is for a slave to beat down the lofty fences of royal logic.”
“You do not, however, seem very heartily convinced by it; but of this I would have you in future assured—that it will be one of the principles of my government not to place my bondmen upon a level with free men.”
Lallcheen had been a favourite with the late king, whose memory his son held in great reverence; he therefore bore with the liberty of the servitor who during the last reign had received a sort of licence to express his thoughts without reserve, being a person of considerable intelligence and of an active inquisitive mind.
Lallcheen was exceedingly mortified at the sentiments expressed by the young king. They were scored upon his mind with literal fidelity, and he secretly meditated revenge, though he did not show it openly. He had sprung from a race of bold haughty barbarians, who held freedom to be the pole-star in the firmament of human glory; and the friction from the fetters of bondage seemed to rub against the very core of his heart. He panted for liberty as adrowning man does for the air which the waters exclude from his lips; and the disappointment with which the sovereign’s definitive resolution was charged came over his spirit with a crushing burden that for a moment seemed to weigh it down to the lowest level of degradation. His fierce passions, however, which had long slumbered under the assuasive kindness of his late master, rose to his relief, casting off the burden from his soul as with an arm of might and lifting it where it could soar unincumbered from the trammels of its griefs, devise new motives of action, and nerve itself to high and important resolves.
The slave had a daughter, the fame of whose beauty had reached the ears of Gheias-ood-Deen. She was as celebrated for her wit as for her personal attractions, and her skill in music was so perfect that she eclipsed all the regular professors of the capital. There was not an accomplishment of which she was not mistress. Her celebrity had already gained her many admirers, and the king expressed a desire to see her.
Lallcheen was not sorry at the opportunity which this circumstance might afford him of mortifying the sovereign, or of punishing him more effectually, and therefore determined to throw the lovely Agha in his master’s way in the palace gardens, to which the slave had free access.
The king was one morning walking in the gardens with his brother Shums-ood-Deen, a remarkably beautiful boy in his sixteenth year.
“Who is that yonder, brother,” asked the latter, “by the marble tank?”
“I know not; but, by the gait and figure, something to admire.”
“She retires: I fear we shall lose the opportunity of ascertaining who she may be, for handsome strangers are not wont to visit the private gardens of the palace.”
“Go quickly and bid her stop;—say the king desires a word with her.”
Shums-ood-Deen bounded forward, and overtook the stranger as she was retiring behind an arbour through a path which led to a back entrance into the gardens.
“Stay, damsel,” said the prince; “the king desires a word with you.”
The stranger turned, and exhibited to the wondering eyes of the royal youth features and a form of such extraordinary beauty that he gazed in speechless admiration. Agha, for it was she, stood before him with a demeanour of undisturbed modesty without uttering a word, awaiting the sovereign’s approach. Gheias-ood-Deen was no less amazed than his brother with the houri form upon which his eyes, as he approached, instantly became riveted.
“Do I,” said he, “behold the marvel of my capital, to whom report has ascribed such unrivalled perfections?”
“The king beholds the daughter of his slave,” said Agha, with her eye fixed somewhat proudly on the youthful monarch.
“He is henceforward free for the daughter’s sake,” said the sovereign, approaching and offering to take her hand.
She retired, and said gravely, “I am an intruder here; may I be permitted to withdraw? It shall be my care not to intrude again upon the king’s privacy.”
“Such intrusions are blessings for which the proudest monarchs of the earth would barter their sceptres. Talk not of intruding, Queen of the Graces!—not only these gardens are henceforth free to thee, but every part of the palace. The sunshine of thy smile will produce a harvest of delight wherever it glows.”
“The daughter of a slave is but an abject thing at best; but the king’s mockery tends to remind her how complete is her abjection.”
Saying this, she withdrew, leaving the two brothers in a state of blended admiration and amazement. Shums-ood-Deen, in the ardour of youthful enthusiasm, had he a throne to offer, felt that he would willingly make her the partner of it on the instant; but Gheias-ood-Deen was influenced by a less sanctified passion. He thought that the offspring of a slave could not for a moment object to be the concubine of a king; nor did he imagine that the slightest impediment would be raised to the proposal, which he contemplated the instant he saw the exquisite beauty of Lallcheen’s daughter.
“What think you, brother, of this girl?” asked Gheias-ood-Deen.
“That until now I had no idea of the beautiful inhabitants of Paradise. I feel my soul elated! Oh! with such a creature I could enjoy more than happiness in this lower world! Had I a throne, she should be my queen.”
“Silly boy!” said the brother, pettishly; “the daughters of slaves do not become thrones.”
“But, brother, the daughter of a slave is at this moment the mother of a king.”
“A bad precedent is not to be followed; therefore no more of this. You must discourage your raptures for the child of Lallcheen; she must become part of my household. I love her, but as monarchs love menials—for their pleasures, and my purpose must not be crossed, Shums-ood-Deen.”
This was said with a deliberate emphasis of tone that implied a threat, if obedience did not follow the injunction. It greatly mortified the prince. He was silent, but nevertheless resolved to contravene the designs of his brother, whose impure intentions towards Agha were to him like a profanation of the sanctuary. His youthful enthusiasm was on fire, and he determined, if possible, to counteract the king’s purposes by immediately making honourable love to the slave’s daughter; for he could not associate the idea of degradation with anything so perfect. It seemed to him as if the finger of Allah were especially to be traced in that fair work of his creation, and that therefore she ought to be elevated to the highest earthly dignities, instead of being allowed to wither in an atmosphere of social degradation. He lost no time in seeking Lallcheen, whom he found a ready listener to his sallies of enthusiastic admiration for the beautiful girl who had that morning captivated his youthful heart. The slave’s hostility towards his master made him attend with greater readiness to the proposals of the prince, who at once declared his readiness to marry the lovely Agha.
“But, prince,” said Lallcheen, “what will the king say to such a connexion as you propose? He thinks that bondmen ought tolive in their fetters; he will never, therefore, sanction your alliance with slaves.”
“I am free,” said Shums-ood-Deen, “to marry whom I will; he has no right to control me in that which essentially regards my domestic happiness. I have resolved to choose for myself, and only await your consent to make me happy.”
“Prince, it will not appear flattery to say that I honour your liberal sentiments—that is a matter of course. If you can secure my child’s consent, you have mine upon one condition, that I obtain my freedom; for it would ill become the dignity of Shums-ood-Deen to be the son-in-law of a slave.”
“This I promise. Your freedom is a boon which the king will scarcely fail to grant to a brother’s supplication. Your daughter would be cheaply purchased at the price of an empire.”
The wily father saw that the greatest advantage was to be drawn from the boyish enthusiasm of Shums-ood-Deen; and his hopes of casting back upon the king the odium which he had made to fall so heavily upon his bond-servant, rose rapidly to their meridian as he listened to the declarations of attachment towards his daughter from the lips of his master’s brother. He sought his child, and prepared her for the visit of Shums-ood-Deen, at the same time relating to her his earnest professions of honourable attachment. She received the communication with undisguised pleasure, for she had beheld the prince with more than common satisfaction. His youthful beauty, untainted by the habitual exercise of gross passion, had made a favourable impression upon her; and she felt gratified by the undisguised expression of delight which passed over his glowing countenance the moment he beheld her.
“Now, my child,” said the father, “you have made a flattering conquest. It is no common thing to find a prince entertaining honourable intentions towards those looked upon by the world as excluded from all society but the lowest: appreciate this as it deserves.”
“I shall, my father; but withal, flattering as such approbation is, it may prove the mere effervescence of passion in a youthful bosom, that will pass away with the occasion. At all events, be assuredI shall never give my consent to a union with any man upon whom I have not first bestowed my heart.”
With this understanding Lallcheen prepared to introduce the prince, who had declared his intention of visiting her father’s house that evening.
The lovers met in Agha’s apartments, and were mutually charmed with each other.