The caliph and Nouronihar assented to the proposal; and Vathek began, not without tears and lamentations, a sincere recital of every circumstance that had passed. When the afflicting narrative was closed, the young man entered on his own. Each person proceeded in order; and, when the third prince had reached the midst of his adventures, a sudden noise interrupted him, which caused the vault to tremble and to open.
Immediately a cloud descended, which, gradually dissipating, discovered Carathis on the back of an afrit,*who grievously complained of his burden. She, instantly springing to the ground, advanced towards her son, and said, “What dost thou here, in this little square chamber? As the dives are become subject to thy beck, I expected to have found thee on the throne of the pre-Adamite kings.”
“Execrable woman!” answered the caliph; “cursed be the day thou gavest me birth! Go, follow this afrit; let him conduct thee to the hall of the prophet Soliman: there thou wilt learn to what these palaces are destined, and how much I ought to abhor the impious knowledge thou hast taught me.”
“Has the height of power, to which thou art arrived, turned thy brain?” answered Carathis; “but I ask no more than permission to show my respect for Soliman the prophet. It is, however, proper thou shouldst know that (as the afrit has informed me neither of us shall return to Samarah) I requested his permission to arrange my affairs, and he politely consented. Availing myself, therefore, of the few moments allowed me, I set fire to the tower, and consumed in it the mutes, negresses, and serpents, which have rendered me so much good service; nor should I have been less kind to Morakanabad, had he not prevented me, by deserting at last to thy brother. As for Bababalouk, who had the folly to return to Samarah, to provide husbands for thy wives, I undoubtedly would have put him to the torture; but being in a hurry, I only hung him, after having decoyed him in a snare, with thy wives, whom I buried alive by the help of my negresses, who thus spent their last moments greatly to their satisfaction. With respect to Dilara, who ever stood high in my favour, she hath evinced the greatness of her mind, by fixing herself near, in the service of one of the magi; and, I think, will soon be one of our society.”
Vathek, too much cast down to express the indignation excited by such a discourse, ordered the afrit to remove Carathis from his presence, and continued immersed in thoughts which his companions durst not disturb.
Carathis, however, eagerly entered the dome of Soliman, and without regarding in the least the groans of the prophet, undauntedly removed the covers of the vases and violently seized on the talismans. Then, with a voice more loud than had hitherto been heard within these mansions, she compelled the dives to disclose to her the most secret treasures, the most profound stores, which the afrit himself had not seen. She passed, by rapid descents, known only to Eblis and his most favoured potentates; and thus penetrated the very entrails of the earth, where breathes the sansar, or the icy wind of death. Nothing appalled her dauntless soul. She perceived, however, in all the inmates who bore their hands on their heart, a little singularity not much to her taste.
As she was emerging from one of the abysses, Eblis stoodforth to her view; but notwithstanding he displayed the full effulgence of his infernal majesty, she preserved her countenance unaltered, and even paid her compliments with considerable firmness.
This superb monarch thus answered: “Princess, whose knowledge and whose crimes have merited a conspicuous rank in my empire, thou dost well to avail thyself of the leisure that remains; for the flames and torments, which are ready to seize on thy heart, will not fail to provide thee soon with full employment.” He said, and was lost in the curtains of his tabernacle.
Carathis paused for a moment with surprise; but, resolved to follow the advice of Eblis, she assembled all the choirs of genii, and all the dives, to pay her homage. Thus marched she, in triumph, through a vapour of perfumes, amidst the acclamations of all the malignant spirits, with most of whom she had formed a previous acquaintance. She even attempted to dethrone one of the Solimans, for the purpose of usurping his place; when a voice, proceeding from the abyss of death, proclaimed, “All is accomplished!” Instantaneously the haughty forehead of the intrepid princess became corrugated with agony; she uttered a tremendous yell, and fixed, no more to be withdrawn, her right hand upon her heart, which was become a receptacle of eternal fire.
In this delirium, forgetting all ambitious projects, and her thirst for that knowledge which should ever be hidden from mortals, she overturned the offerings of the genii; and, having execrated the hour she was begotten and the womb that had borne her, glanced off in a rapid whirl that rendered her invisible,*and continued to revolve without intermission.
Almost at the same instant, the same voice announced to the caliph, Nouronihar, the four princes, and the princess, the awful and irrevocable decree. Their hearts immediately took fire, and they, at once, lost the most precious gift of heaven—HOPE. These unhappy beings recoiled, with looks of the most furious distraction. Vathek beheld in the eyes of Nouronihar nothing but rage and vengeance; nor could she discern aught in his but aversion and despair. The two princes who were friends, and, till that moment, had preserved their attachment, shrunk back, gnashing their teeth with mutual and unchangeable hatred. Kahlah and his sister made reciprocal gestures of imprecation; all testified their horror for each other by the most ghastly convulsions, and screams that could not be smothered.All severally plunged themselves into the accursed multitude, there to wander in an eternity of unabating anguish.
Such was, and such should be, the punishment of unrestrained passions and atrocious deeds! Such shall be the chastisement of that blind curiosity, which would transgress those bounds the wisdom of the Creator has prescribed to human knowledge; and such the dreadful disappointment of that restless ambition, which, aiming at discoveries reserved for beings of a supernatural order, perceives not, through its infatuated pride, that the condition of man upon earth is to be—humble and ignorant.
Thus the caliph Vathek, who, for the sake of empty pomp and forbidden power, had sullied himself with a thousand crimes, became a prey to grief without end, and remorse without mitigation; whilst the humble, the despised Gulchenrouz passed whole ages in undisturbed tranquillity, and in the pure happiness of childhood.
This title, amongst the Mahometans, comprehends the concrete character of Prophet, Priest, and King, and is used to signifythe Vicar of God on Earth. It is, at this day, one of the titles of the Grand Signior, as successor of Mahomet; and of the Sophi of Persia, as successor of Ali.—Habesci’sState of the Ottoman Empire, p. 9.D’Herbelot, p. 985.
This caliph was eminent above all others for temperance and self-denial, insomuch that he is believed to have been raised to Mahomet’s bosom, as a reward for his abstinence in an age of corruption.—D’Herbelot, p. 690.
A city of the Babylonian Irak; supposed to have stood on the site where Nimrod erected his tower. Khondemir relates, in his life of Motassem, that this prince, to terminate the disputes which were perpetually happening between the inhabitants of Bagdat and his Turkish slaves, withdrew from thence, and having fixed on a situation in the plain of Catoul, there founded Samarah. He is said to have had, in the stables of this city, a hundred and thirty thousandpied horses, each of which carried, by his order, a sack of earth to a place he had chosen. By this accumulation an elevation was formed that commanded a view of all Samarah, and served for the foundation of his magnificent palace.—D’Herbelot, pp. 752, 808, 985.Anecdotes Arabes, p. 413.
The great men of the East have been always fond of music. Though forbidden by the Mahometan religion, it commonly makes a part of every entertainment.Nitimur in vetitum semper.Female slaves are generally kept to amuse them and the ladies of their harems. The Persian Khanyagere seems nearly to have resembled our old English minstrel; as he usually accompanied his barbut, or lute, with heroic songs.—Richardson’sDissertation on the Languages, etc., of Eastern Nations, p. 211.
This artist, whom Inatulla of Delhi stylesthe far-famed, lived in the reign of Schabur, or Sapor, the son of Ardschir Babegan, was founder of the sect of Manichæans, and was, by profession, a painter and sculptor. His pretensions, supported by an uncommon skill inmechanical contrivances, induced the ignorant to believe that his powers were more than human. After having secluded himself from his followers, under the pretence of passing a year in heaven, he produced a wonderful volume, which he affirmed to have brought from thence; containing images and figures of a marvellous nature.—D’Herbelot, p. 458. It appears, from theArabian Nights, that Haroun al Raschid, Vathek’s grandfather, had adorned his palace and furnished his magnificent pavilion with the most capital performances of the Persian artists.
The virgins of Paradise, called, from their large black eyes,Hur al oyun. An intercourse with these, according to the institution of Mahomet, is to constitute the principal felicity of the faithful. Not formed of clay, like mortal women, they are deemed in the highest degree beautiful, and exempt from every inconvenience incident to the sex.—Al Koran;passim.
Vathek persecuted, with extreme rigour, all who defended the eternity of the Koran; which the Sonnites, or orthodox, maintained to be uncreated, and the Motazalites and Schiites as strenuously denied.—D’Herbelot, p. 85, etc.
In this heaven, the paradise of Mahomet is supposed to be placed, contiguous to the throne of Alla. Hagi Khalfah relates, that Ben Iatmaiah, a celebrated doctor of Damascus, had the temerity to assert that, when the Most High erected his throne, he reserved a vacant place for Mahomet upon it.
Genn, orGinn, in the Arabic, signifies a Genius or Demon, a being of a higher order, and formed of more subtile matter than man. According to Oriental mythology, the Genii governed the world long before the creation of Adam. The Mahometans regarded them as an intermediate race between angels and men, and capable of salvation; whence Mahomet pretended a commission to convert them. Consonant to this, we read that,when theServant of Godstood up to invoke him, it wanted little but that theGeniihad pressed on him in crowds, to hear him rehearse the Koran.—D’Herbelot, p. 375.Al Koran, ch. 72. It is asserted, and not without plausible reasons, that the wordsGenn,Ginn—Genius,Genie,Gian,Gigas,Giant,Géant—proceed from the same themes, viz.Γὴ,the earth, andγάω,to produce; as if these supernatural agents had been an early production of the earth, long before Adam was modelled out from a lump of it. TheΩντεςandΕωντεςof Plato bear a close analogy to these supposed intermediate creatures between God and man. From these premises arose the consequence that, boasting a higher order, formed of more subtle matter, and possessed of much greater knowledge, than man, they lorded over this planet, and invisiblygoverned it with superior intellect. From this last circumstance they obtained in Greece the title ofΔαίμονες, Demons, fromδαήμων,sciens, knowing. The Hebrew word,נפלים, Nephilim (Gen. vi, 4), translated byGigantes, giants, claiming the same etymon withνεφέλη, a cloud, seems also to indicate that these intellectual beings inhabited the void expanse of the terrestrial atmosphere. Hence the very ancient fable of men of enormous strength and size revolting against the gods, and all the mythological lore relating to that mighty conflict; unless we trace the origin of this important event to the ambition of Satan, his revolt against the Almighty, and his fall with the angels.
The Genii, who were styled by the PersiansPerisandDives, were famous for their architectural skill. The pyramids of Egypt have been ascribed to them.
The Koran relates, that the Genii were employed by Solomon in the erection of his magnificent temple.—Bailly,Sur l’Atlantide, p. 146.D’Herbelot, p. 8.Al Koran, ch. 34.
In theTales of Inatulla, we meet with a traveller who, like this, was furnished with trinkets and curiosities of an extraordinary kind. That such were much sought after in the days of Vathek, may be concluded from the encouragement which Haroun al Raschid gave to the mechanic arts, and the present he sent by his ambassadors to Charlemagne. This consisted of a clock, which, when put into motion, by means of a clepsydra, not only pointed out the hours in their round, but also, by dropping small balls on a bell, struck them, and, at the same instant, threw open as many little doors, to let out an equal number of horsemen. Besides these, the clock displayed various other contrivances.—Ann. Reg. Franc. Pip. Caroli, etc.,ad ann.807.Weidler, p. 205.
Such inscriptions often occur in Eastern romances. We find, in theArabian Nights, a cornelian, on whichunknown characterswere engraven; and, also, a sabre, like those here described. In the French king’s library is a curious treatise, entitledSefat Alaclam; containing a variety of alphabets, arranged under different heads; such as theprophetic, themystical, thephilosophic, themagical, thetalismanic, etc., which seems to have escaped the research of the indefatigable Mr. Astle.—Arabian Nights, vol. ii, p. 246; vol. i, p. 143.D’Herbelot, p. 797.
The loss of the beard, from the earliest ages, was accounted highly disgraceful. An instance occurs, in theTales of Inatulla, of one beingsinged off, as a mulct on the owner, for having failed to explain a question propounded; and, in theArabian Nights, a proclamation may be seen similar to this of Vathek.—Vol. i, p. 268; vol. ii, p. 228.
This is an apparent anachronism; but such frequently occur in reading the Arabian writers. It should be remembered, the difficulty of ascertaining facts and fixing the dates of inventions must be considerable in a vast extent of country, where books are comparatively few, and the art of printing unpractised. Though the origin ofspectaclescan be traced back, with certainty, no higher than the thirteenth century, yet the observation of Seneca—that letters appeared of an increased magnitude when viewed through the medium of convex glass—might have been noted also by others, anda sort of spectaclescontrived, in consequence of it. But, however this might have been, the art of staining glass is sufficiently ancient, to have suggested in the days of Vathek the use ofgreen, as a protection to the eye from a glare of light.
Divesof this kind are frequently mentioned by Eastern writers. Consult their tales in general; and especially those of the Fishermen, Aladdin, and the Princess of China.
As it was the employment of theblack eunuchsto wait upon and guard the sultanas; so the general superintendence of the harem was particularly committed to their chief.—Habesci’sState of the Ottoman Empire, pp. 155, 156.
This was both the supreme council and court of justice, at which the caliphs of the race of the Abassides assisted in person, to redress the injuries of every appellant.—D’Herbelot, p. 298.
Such was the etiquette, constantly observed, on entering the divan.—Arabian Nights, vol. iv, p. 36.D’Herbelot, p. 912.
Vazir, vezir, or, as we express it, vizier, literally signifies aporter; and, by metaphor, the minister who bears the principal burden of the state, generally called the Sublime Porte.
Valid, the son of Abdalmalek, was the first who erected aminaret, or turret; and this he placed on the grand mosque at Damascus, for themuezzin, or crier, to announce from it the hour of prayer. This practice has constantly been kept to this day.—D’Herbelot, p. 576.
The name ofDavidin Hebrew is composed of the letterוVaubetween twoדDalethsדוד; and, according to the Masoretic points,ought to be pronouncedDavid. Having noUconsonant in their tongue, the Septuagint substituted the letterBforV, and wroteΔαβιδ,Dabid. The Syriac readsDadorDod; and the Arabs articulateDaoud.
Amongst the infatuated votaries of the powers of darkness, the most acceptable offering wasthe blood of their children. If the parents were not at hand to make an immediate offer,the magistrates did not fail to select those who were most fair and promising, that the demon might not be defrauded of his dues. On one occasion,two hundred of the prime nobility were sacrificed together.—Bryant’sObservations, p. 279, etc.
The bracelet, in the East, was an emblem of royalty.—D’Herbelot, p. 541. For want of a more proper term to denominate the ornamentserkhooj, the wordaigretis here used.
It has been usual, in Eastern courts, from time immemorial, to retain a number of mutes. These are not only employed to amuse the monarch, but also to instruct his pages in an art to us little known, of communicating everything by signs, lest the sounds of their voices should disturb the sovereign.—Habesci’sState of the Ottoman Empire, p. 164. The mutes are also the secret instruments of his private vengeance, in carrying the fatal string.
The stated seasons of public prayer, in the twenty-four hours, were five: daybreak, noon, midtime between noon and sunset, immediately as the sun leaves the horizon, and an hour and a half after it is down.
Both were usually added to the ingredients already mentioned. These magic rites sufficiently resemble the witch scenes of Middleton, Shakespeare, etc., to show their Oriental origin. Nor is it to be wondered if, amongst the many systems adopted from the East, this should have been in the number. It may be seen, from the Arabian Tales, that magic was an art publicly taught; and Father Angelo relates of a rich enchanter, whom he knew at Bassora, that his pupils were so numerous as to occupy an entire quarter of the city.
Sir John Chardin speaks of a wine much admired in the East, and particularly in Persia, calledroubnar; which is made from the juice of the pomegranate, and sent abroad in large quantities. TheOriental sherbets, styled by St. Jerome,sorbitiunculæ delicatæ, consisted of various syrups (such as lemon, liquorice, capillaire, etc.) mixed with water. To these, Hasselquist adds several others, and observes, that the sweet-scented violet is a flower greatly esteemed, not only for its smell and colour, but, especially, for its use insherbet; which, when the Easterns intend to entertain their guests in an elegant manner, is made of a solution of violet-sugar. Snow, in therinfrescosof a hot climate, is almost a constant ingredient. Thus, in theArabian Nights, Bedreddin Hassan, having filled a large porcelain bowl with sherbet of roses, put snow into it.
Parchments of the like mysterious import are frequent in the writings of the Easterns. One in particular, amongst the Arabians, is held in high veneration. It was written by Ali, and Giafar Sadek, in mystic characters, and is said to contain the destiny of the Mahometan religion, and the great events which are to happen previous to the end of the world. This parchment is ofcamel’s skin; but it was usual with Catherine of Medicis to carry about her person, a legend, in cabalistic characters, inscribed on the skin of a dead-born infant.—D’Herbelot, p. 366.Wraxall’sHouse of Valois.
This city was the ancient Persepolis, and capital of Persia, under the kings of the three first races. The author ofLebtarikhwrites, that Kischtab there established his abode, erected several temples to the element of fire, and hewed out for himself and his successors sepulchres in the rocks of the mountain contiguous to the city. The ruins of columns and broken figures which still remain, defaced as they were by Alexander and mutilated by time, plainly evince that those ancient potentates had chosen it for the place of their interment. Their monuments, however, must not be confounded with the superb palace reared by Queen Homai, in the midst of Istakhar; which the Persians distinguish by the name ofTchilminar, or the forty watch-towers. The origin of this city is ascribed by some to Giamschid, and others carry it higher; but the Persian tradition is, that it was built by thePeris, or Fairies, when the world was governed by Gian Ben Gian.—D’Herbelot, p. 327.
By this appellation was distinguished the monarch of that species of beings, whom the Arabians denominateGianorGinn; that is,Genii; and the Tarikh Thabari,Peris,Feez, orFairies. He was renowned for his warlike expeditions and stupendous structures. According to Oriental writers, the pyramids of Egypt were amongst the monuments of his power. The buckler of this mighty sovereign, no less famous than that of Achilles, was employed by three successive Solimans, to achieve their marvellous exploits. From them, it descended to Tahamurath, surnamedDivbend, orConqueror of theGiants. This buckler was endowed with most wonderfulqualities, having been fabricated by talismanic art; and was alone sufficient to destroy all the charms and enchantments of demons or giants; which, on the contrary, were wrought by magic. Hence we are no longer at a loss for the origin of the wonderful shield of Atlante.
The reign of Gian Ben Gian over the Peris is said to have continued for two thousand years; after which,Ebliswas sent by the Deity to exile them, on account of their disorders, and confine them in the remotest region of the earth.—D’Herbelot, p. 396.Bailly,Sur l’Atlantide, p. 147.
The most famoustalismanof the East, and which could control even the arms and magic of the dives or giants, wasMohur Solimani, the seal or ring of Soliman Jared, fifth monarch of the world after Adam. By means of it the possessor had the entire command, not only of the elements, but also of demons and every created being.—Richardson’sDissertation on the Languages, etc., of Eastern Nations, p. 272.D’Herbelot, p. 820.
These monarchs, which were seventy-two in number, are said to have governed each a distinct species of rational beings, prior to the existence of Adam. Amongst the most renowned of them wereSoliman Raad,Soliman Daki, andSoliman Di Gian Ben Gian.—D’Herbelot, p. 820.
Strange as this injunction may seem, it is by no means incongruous to the customs of the country. Dr. Pocock mentions his travelling with the train of the governor of Faiume, who, instead of lodging in a village that was near, passed the night in a grove of palm-trees.—Travels, vol. i, p. 56.
It was a tenet of the Mussulman creed, that all animals would be raised again, and many of them honoured with admission to paradise. The story of the seven sleepers, borrowed from Christian legends, was this: In the days of the Emperor Decius, there were certain Ephesian youths of a good family, who, to avoid the flames of persecution, fled to a secret cavern, and there slept for a number of years. In their flight towards the cave, they were followed by a dog, which, when they attempted to drive back, said, “I love those who are dear unto God; go sleep, therefore, and I will guard you.” For this dog the Mahometans retain so profound a reverence, that their harshest sarcasm against a covetous person is, “He would not throw a bone to the dog of the seven sleepers.” It is even said that their superstition induces them to write his name upon the letters they send to a distance, as a kind of talisman, to securethem a safe conveyance.—Religious Ceremonies, vol. vii, p. 74 n.Sale’sKoran, chap. xviii and notes.
The stream thus denominated flows near the city of Schiraz. Its waters are uncommonly pure and limpid, and their banks swarded with the finest verdure.
Females in the East were not anciently excluded from power. In the Story of Zeyn Alasnam and the King of the Genii, the mother of Zeyn undertakes, with the aid of his viziers, to govern Bassora during his absence on a similar expedition.
For many curious particulars relative to these articles, consult Mr. Delaval’sInquiry concerning the Changes of Colours, etc.; to which may be added,Lucretius, lib. iv, 5.Petronius, c. 37.Martial, viii, Ep. 28, 17; xiv, Ep. 150.Plutarch, inVita Catonis.Pliny, viii, 48.
Those amongst the Mahometans who were bred to the law had this title; and from their order the judges of cities and provinces were taken.
That part of the temple at Mecca which is chiefly revered, and, indeed, gives a sanctity to the rest, is a square stone building called the Caaba, probably from its quadrangular form. The length of this edifice, from north to south, is twenty-four cubits, and its breadth, from east to west, twenty-three. The door is on the east side, and stands about four cubits from the ground, the floor being level with the threshold. The Caaba has a double roof, supported internally by three octangular pillars of aloes wood, between which, on a bar of iron, hangs a row of silver lamps. The outside is covered with rich black damask, adorned with an embroidered band of gold. This hanging, which is changed every year, was formerly sent by the caliphs.—Sale’sPreliminary Discourse, p. 152.
The dishonouring such places as had an appearance of being devoted to religious purposes, by converting them to the most abject offices of nature, was an Oriental method of expressing contempt, and hath continued from remote antiquity.—Harmer’sObservations, vol. ii, p. 493.
The prohibition of wine in the Koran is so rigidly observed by the conscientious, especially if they have performed the pilgrimage toMecca, that they deem it sinful to press grapes for the purpose of making it, and even to use the money arising from its sale.—Chardin,Voy. de Perse, tom. ii, p. 212.Schirazwas famous in the East for its wines of different sorts, but particularly for itsred, which was esteemed more highly than even the white wine ofKismische.
The tulip is a flower of Eastern growth, and there held in great estimation. Thus, in an ode of Mesihi: “The edge of the bower is filled with the light of Ahmed; among the plants the fortunatetulipsrepresent his companions.”
There are many passages of theMoallakatin which thesecagesare fully described. Thus, in the poem of Lebeid:
“How were thy tender affections raised, when the damsels of the tribe departed; when they hid themselves in carriages of cotton, like antelopes in their lair, and the tents as they were struck gave a piercing sound!
“They were concealed in vehicles, whose sides were well covered with awnings and carpets, with fine-spun curtains and pictured veils.”—Moallakat, bySir W. Jones, pp. 46, 35. See alsoLady M. W. Montagu, Let. xxvi.
Our language wants a verb, equivalent to the Frenchdénicher, to convey, in this instance, the precise sense of the author.
It is observable that, in the fifth verse of the Ninety-first Psalm, “the terror by night,” is rendered, in the old English version, “the bugge by night.”[1]In the first settled parts of North America, every nocturnal fly of a noxious quality is still generically named a bug; whence the term bugbear signifies one that carries terror wherever he goes. Beelzebub, or the Lord of Flies, was an Eastern appellative given to the Devil; and the nocturnal sound called by the Arabiansazifwas believed to be the howling of demons.
[1]Instances are not wanted, both in the English and Greek versions, where the translators have modified the sense of the original by their own preconceived opinions. To this source may be ascribed theBuggeof our old Bible.
[1]Instances are not wanted, both in the English and Greek versions, where the translators have modified the sense of the original by their own preconceived opinions. To this source may be ascribed theBuggeof our old Bible.
[1]Instances are not wanted, both in the English and Greek versions, where the translators have modified the sense of the original by their own preconceived opinions. To this source may be ascribed theBuggeof our old Bible.
The insects here mentioned are of the same species with theτεττιξof the Greeks, and thecicadaof the Latins. The locusts are mentioned in Pliny, b. xi, 29. They were so called, fromloco usto, because the havoc they made wherever they passed left behind the appearance of a place desolated by fire. How could then thecommentators of Vathek say that they are calledlocusts, from their having been so denominated by the first English settlers in America?
“All the pages of the seraglio are sons of Christians made slaves in time of war, in their most tender age. The incursions of robbers in the confines of Circassia afford the means of supplying the seraglio, even in times of peace.”—Habesci’sState of the Ottoman Empire, p. 157. That the pages here mentioned wereCircassians, appears from the description of their complexion—more fair than the enamel of Franguestan.
What their precise number might have been in Vathek’s establishment it is not now easy to determine; but in the household of the present Grand Signior there are not fewer than a hundred and ninety.—Habesci’sState of the Ottoman Empire, p. 145.
“I was informed,” writes Dr. Cooke, “that the Persian women, in general, would sooner expose to public view any part of their bodies than their faces.”—Voyages and Travels, vol. ii, p. 443.
It was customary in Eastern climates, and especially in the sultry season, to carry, when journeying, supplies of snow. Theseæstivæ nives(as Mamertinus styles them) being put into separate vases, were, by that means, better kept from the air, as no more was opened at once than might suffice for immediate use. To preserve the whole from solution, the vessels that contained it were secured in packages of straw.—Gesta Dei, p. 1098. Vathek’s ancestor, theCaliph Mahadi, in the pilgrimage to Mecca, which he undertook from ostentation rather than devotion, loaded upon camels so prodigious a quantity, as was not only sufficient for himself and his attendants amidst the burning sands of Arabia, but also to preserve, in their natural freshness, the various fruits he took with him, and to ice all their drink whilst he stayed at Mecca, the greater part of whose inhabitants had never seen snow till then.—Anecdotes Arabes, p. 326.
This mountain, which, in reality, is no other than Caucasus, was supposed to surround the earth, like a ring encompassing a finger. The sun was believed to rise from one of its eminences (as over Œta, by the Latin poets), and to set on the opposite; whence,from Kaf to Kaf, signified, from one extremity of the earth to the other. The fabulous historians of the East affirm, that this mountain was founded upon a stone, calledsakhrat, one grain of which, according to Lokman, would enable the possessor to work wonders. This stone is further described as the pivot of the earth, and saidto be one vast emerald, from the refraction of whose beams the heavens derive their azure. It is added, that whenever God would excite an earthquake, he commands the stone to move one of its fibres (which supply in it the office of nerves), and, that being moved, the part of the earth connected with it quakes, is convulsed, and sometimes expands. Such is the philosophy of the Koran!
TheTarikh Tabari, written in Persian, analogous to the same tradition, relates, that, were it not for this emerald, the earth would be liable to perpetual commotions, and unfit for the abode of mankind.
To arrive at the Kaf, a vast region,
“Far from the sun and summer gale,”
must be traversed. Over this dark and cheerless desert, the way is inextricable without the direction of supernatural guidance. Here the dives or giants were confined, after their defeat by the first heroes of the human race; and here, also, the peris, or fairies, are supposed in ordinary to reside. Sukrage, the giant, was king of Kaf, and had Rucail, one of the children of Adam, for his prime minister. The giant Argenk, likewise, from the time that Tahamurath made war upon him, reigned here, and reared a superb palace in the city of Aherman, with galleries, on whose walls were painted the creatures that inhabited the world prior to the formation of Adam.—D’Herbelot, p. 230, etc.
This is that wonderful bird of the East, concerning which so many marvels are told: it was not only endowed with reason, but possessed also the knowledge of every language. Hence it may be concluded to have been a dive in a borrowed form. This creature relates of itself that it had seen the great revolution of seven thousand years twelve times commence and close; and that, in its duration, the world had been seven times void of inhabitants, and as often replenished. The Simurgh is represented as a great friend to the race of Adam, and not less inimical to the dives. Tahamurath and Aherman were apprised by its predictions of all that was destined to befall them, and from it they obtained the promise of assistance in every undertaking. Armed with the buckler of Gian Ben Gian, Tahamurath was borne by it through the air, over the dark desert, to Kaf. From its bosom his helmet was crested with plumes, which the most renowned warriors have ever since worn. In every conflict the Simurgh was invulnerable, and the heroes it favoured never failed of success. Though possessed of power sufficient to exterminate its foes, yet the exertion of that power was supposed to be forbidden. Sadi, a serious author, gives it as an instance of the universality of Providence, that the Simurgh, notwithstanding its immense bulk, is at no loss for sustenance on the mountain of Kaf. Inatulla hath described Getiafrose, queen of the Genii, as seated on a golden chariot, drawn by ten simurghs; whose wings extended wide as the earth-shading bir, and whose talons resembled the proboscis of mighty elephants: but it does not appear from any other writer, that there ever was more thanone, which is frequentlycalled themarvellous gryphon, and said to be like that imaginary monster.—D’Herbelot, p. 1017, 810, etc.Tales of Inatulla, vol. ii, pp. 71, 72.
As themagic shield of Atlanteresembles thebuckler of Gian Ben Gian, sohis Ippogrifapparently came from theSimurgh, notwithstanding the reference of Ariosto to the veridical Archbishop:
“Non ho veduto mai, nè letto altrove,Fuor che in Turpin, d’un si fatto animale.”
“Non ho veduto mai, nè letto altrove,Fuor che in Turpin, d’un si fatto animale.”
These elegant productions, which abound in all parts of the East, were of very remote antiquity. Not only areσινδονας ΕΥΑΝΘΕΙΣ,finely flowered linens, noticed by Strabo; but Herodotus relates, that the nations of Caucasusadornedtheirgarmentswithfigures of various creatures, by means of the sap of certain vegetables; which, when macerated and diluted with water, communicate colours that cannot be washed out, and are no less permanent than the texture itself.—Strabo, l. xv, p. 709.Herodotus, l. i, p. 96. The Arabian Tales repeatedly describe these “fine linens of India, painted in the most lively colours, and representingbeasts,trees,flowers, etc.”—Arabian Nights, vol. iv, p. 217, etc.
These were a kind of Medusæ, or Lamiæ, supposed to be the most terrible and cruel of all the orders of the dives.—D’Herbelot, p. 66.
Mr. Richardson observes, “that in the East men of rank in general carried with them pocket astronomical tables, which they consulted on every affair of moment.” These tablets, however, were of themagicalkind, and such as often occur in works of romance. Thus, in Boiardo, Orlando receives, from the father of the youth he had rescued, “a book that would solve all doubts”; and, in Ariosto, Logistilla bestows upon Astolpho a similar directory. The books which Carathis turned over with Morakanabad were imagined to have possessed the like virtues.
Such unfortunate beings as are thus “curtailed of fair proportion,” have been, for ages, an appendage of Eastern grandeur. One part of their office consists in the instruction of the pages; but their principal duty is the amusement of their master. If a dwarf happen to be a mute, he is much esteemed; but if he be also an eunuch, he is regarded as a prodigy, and no pains or expense are spared to obtain him.—Habesci’sState of the Ottoman Empire, p. 164, etc.
Amongst the indispensable rules of the Mahometan faith, ablution is one of the chief. This rite is divided into three kinds. The first,performed before prayers, is calledAbdest. It begins with washing both hands, and repeating these words: “Praised be Alla, who created clean water, and gave it the virtue to purify: he also hath rendered our faith conspicuous.” This done, water is taken in the right hand thrice, and the mouth being washed, the worshipper subjoins: “I pray thee, O Lord, to let me taste of that water which thou hast given to thy prophet Mahomet in paradise, more fragrant than musk, whiter than milk, sweeter than honey; and which has the power to quench for ever the thirst of him that drinks it.” This petition is accompanied with sniffing a little water into the nose. The face is then three times washed, and behind the ears; after which water is taken with both hands, beginning with the right, and thrown to the elbow. The washing of the crown next follows, and the apertures of the ear with the thumbs; afterward the neck with all the fingers, and, finally, the feet. In this last operation, it is held sufficient to wet the sandal only. At each ceremonial a suitable petition is offered, and the whole concludes with this: “Hold me up firmly, O Lord! and suffer not my foot to slip, that I may not fall from the bridge into hell.” Nothing can be more exemplary than the attention with which these rites are performed. If an involuntary cough or sneeze interrupt them, the whole service is begun anew, and that as often as it happens.—Habesci, p. 91, etc.
The Mahometans have a book of stops or pauses in reading the Koran, which divides it intoseventeensections, and allows of no more.—D’Herbelot, p. 915.
A cafila, or caravan, according to Pitts, is divided into distinct companies, at the head of which an officer, or person of distinction, is carried in a kind of horse-litter, and followed by a sumpter camel, loaded with his treasure. This camel hath a bell fastened to either side, the sound of which may be heard at a considerable distance. Others have bells on their necks and their legs, to solace them when drooping with heat and fatigue. Inatulla also, in his tales, hath a similar reference: “The bells of the cafila may be rung in the thirsty desert.” Vol. ii, p. 15. These small bells were known at Rome from the earliest times, and called from their soundstintinnabulum. Phædrus gives us a lively description of the mule carrying the fiscal moneys:clarumque collo jactans tintinnabulum.—Bk. ii, fabl. vii.
This word signifies properly a liar and impostor, but is applied by Mahometan writers to theirAntichrist. He is described as having but one eye and eyebrow, and on his forehead the radicals ofcaferorinfidelare said to be impressed. According to the traditions of the faithful, his first appearance will be between Irak and Syria, mounted on an ass. Seventy thousand Jews from Ispahan areexpected to follow him. His continuance on earth is to be forty days. All places are to be destroyed by him and his emissaries, exceptMeccaorMedina, which will be protected by angels from the general overthrow. At last, however, he will be slain by Jesus, who is to encounter him at the gate of Lud.—D’Herbelot, p. 282.Sale’sPreliminary Discourse, p. 106.
That is, the angelGabriel. The Mahometans deny that the Koran was composed by their prophet; it being their general and orthodox belief, that it is of divine original; nay, even eternal and uncreated, remaining in the very essence of God; that the first transcript has been from everlasting by his throne, written on a table of immense size, called thepreserved table; on which are also recorded the divine decrees, past and future: that a copy was by the ministry of the angelGabrielsent down to the lowest heaven, in the month ofRamadan, on the night ofpower: from whenceGabrielrevealed it to Mahomet by parcels, some at Mecca, and some at Medina.—Al Koran, ch. ii, etc.Sale’sPreliminary Discourse, p. 85.
This observance was an act of the most profound reverence.—Arabian Nights, vol. iv, p. 236, etc.
It has long been customary for the Arabs to change their habitations with the seasons. Thus Antara:
“Thou hast possessed thyself of my heart; thou hast fixed thy abode, and art settled there, as a beloved and cherished inhabitant.
“Yet how can I visit my fair one, whilst her family have theirvernal mansionin Oneizatain, and mine are stationed in Ghailem?”
Xenophon relates, in his Anabasis, that it was customary for the kings of Persiaθεριζειν και εριζειν, to pass thesummerandspringin Susa and Ecbatana; and Plutarch observes further, that their winters were spent in Babylon, their summers in Media (that is,Ecbatana), and the pleasantest part ofspringin Susa:Καιτοι τουσγε Περσων βασιλεας εμακαριζον εν βαβυλωνι τον χειμωνα διαγονιας· εν δε Μηδιᾳ το θερος· εν δε Σουσοις, το ἡδιστον του ΕΑΡΟΣ.—De Exil., p. 604.
The laws of Draco are recorded by Plutarch, in hisLife of Solon, to have been written in blood. If more were meant by this expression, than that those laws were of a sanguinary nature, they will furnish the earliest instance of the use ofred characters, which were afterwards considered as appropriate to supreme authority, and employed to denounce some requisition or threatening design to strike terror. According to Suidas, this manner of writing was, likewise, practised inmagic rites. Hence their application to the instance here mentioned.Trotz,In Herm. Hugonem, pp. 106, 307.Suidassub voc.Θετταλη γυνη.
There was no mark of contempt amongst the Easterns so ignominious as this.—Arabian Nights, vol. i, p. 115.; vol. iv, p. 275. It was the same in the days of Job. Herodotus relates of the Medes,ΠΤΥΕΙΝ αντιον ΑΙΣΧΡΟΝ εστι, and Xenophon relates,ΑΙΣΧΡΟΝ εστι Περσαις το ΑΠΟΠΤΥΕΙΝ. Hence the reason is evident for spitting on our Saviour.
Bats in these countries were very abundant, and, both from their numbers and nature, held in abhorrence. See what is related of them byThevenot, part i, pp. 132, 133,EgmontandHayman, vol. ii, p. 87, and other travellers in the East.
This word (which is prefixed to every chapter of the Koran except the ninth) signifies, “in the name of the most merciful God.” It became not the initiatory formula of prayer till the time of Moez the Fatimite.D’Herbelot, p. 326.
Inscriptions of this sort are still retained. Thus Ludeke: “Interni non solum Divani pluriumque conclavium parietes, sed etiam frontispicia super portas inscriptiones habent.”—Expositio, p. 54. In the History of Amine, we find an inscription over a gate, in letters of gold, analogous to this of Fakreddin: “Here is the abode of everlasting pleasures and content.”—Arabian Nights, vol. i, p. 193.
This kind ofmoving throne, though more common at present than in the days of Vathek, is still confined to persons of the highest rank.
The Arabians compare the skin of a beautiful woman to the egg of the ostrich, when preserved unsullied. Thus Amriolkais:
“Delicate was her shape; fair her skin; and her body well proportioned: her bosom was as smooth as a mirror,—
“Or like the pure egg of an ostrich, of a yellowish tint blended with white.”
Also the Koran: “Near them shall lie the virgins of Paradise, refraining their looks from beholding any besides their spouses, having large black eyes, and resembling the eggs of an ostrich, covered with feathers from dust.”—Moallakat, p. 8.Al Koran, ch. 27.
But though the Arabian epithet be taken from thence, yet the word ivory is substituted, as more analogous to European ideas, and not foreign from the Eastern. Thus Amru:
“And two sweet breasts, smooth and white as vessels of ivory, modestly defended from the hand of those who presume to touch them.”—Moallakat, p. 77.
The use of perfumed waters for the purpose of bathing is of an early origin in the East, where every odoriferous plant sheds a richer fragrance than is known to our more humid climates. The rose which yields this lotion is, according to Hasselquist, of a beautiful pale blush colour, double, large as a man’s fist, and more exquisite in scent than any other species. The quantities of this water distilled annually at Fajhum, and carried to distant countries, is immense. The mode of conveying it is in vessels of copper coated with wax.—Voyag., p. 248. Ben Jonson makes Volpone say to Celia:
“Their bath shall be the juyce of gillyflowres,Spirit of roses, and of violets.”
“Their bath shall be the juyce of gillyflowres,Spirit of roses, and of violets.”
No dish among the Easterns was more generally admired. The caliph Abdolmelek, at a splendid entertainment, to which whoever came was welcome, asked Amrou, the son of Hareth, what kind of meat he preferred to all others. The old man answered, “An ass’s neck, well seasoned and roasted.”—“But what say you,” replied the caliph, “to the leg or shoulder of aLAMBà la crême?” and added:
“How sweetly we live if a shadow would last!”
—MS. Laud.No. 161.S. Ockley’sHistory of the Saracens, vol. ii, p. 277.
Ali Chelebi al Moufti, in a treatise on the subject, held that dancing after the example of the dervishes, who made it a part of their devotion, was allowable. But in this opinion he was deemed to be heterodox; for Mahometans, in general, place dancing amongst the things that are forbidden.—D’Herbelot, p. 98.
The mandates of Oriental potentates have ever been accounted irresistible. Hence the submission of these devotees to the will of the caliph.—Esther, i, 19. Daniel, vi, 8.Ludeke,Expos. brevis, p. 60.
The Mahometans boast of a doctor who is reported to have read over the Koran not fewer than twenty thousand times.—D’Herbelot, p. 75.
In this manner the apartments of the ladies were constantly guarded. Thus, in the Story of the Enchanted Horse, Firouz Schah, traversing a strange palace by night, entered a room, “and by the light of a lantern saw that the persons he had heard snoringwere black eunuchs with naked sabres by them, which was enough to inform him that this was the guard-chamber of some queen or princess.”—Arabian Nights, vol. iv, p. 189.
The swing was an exercise much used in the apartments of the Eastern ladies, and not only contributed to their health, but also to their amusement.—Tales of Inatulla, vol. i, p. 259.
The passion of the nightingale for the rose is celebrated over all the East. Thus Mesihi, as translated by Sir W. Jones:
“Come, charming maid, and hear thy poet sing,Thyself the rose, and he the bird of spring:Love bids him sing, and love will be obey’d,Be gay; too soon the flowers of spring will fade.”
“Come, charming maid, and hear thy poet sing,Thyself the rose, and he the bird of spring:Love bids him sing, and love will be obey’d,Be gay; too soon the flowers of spring will fade.”
These were a sort of men amongst the Mahometans who abandoned father and mother, wife and children, relations and possessions, to wander through the world, under a pretence of religion, entirely subsisting on the fortuitous bounty of those they had the address to dupe.—D’Herbelot,Suppl., p. 204.
A body of religionists, who were also called abdals, and pretended to be inspired with the most enthusiastic raptures of divine love. They were regarded by the vulgar assaints.—Olearius, tom. i, p. 971.D’Herbelot, p. 5.