Vathek and Other Stories

by William Beckford

  The Bramin with a smile of complacency that seemed to bode no revengeful intent, answered; ‘This is no evil one nor could he have passed the gulphs that encompass our residence had he the mind of a Firengui. His soul has not been yet torn with the avaricious thirst of riches, the malignity and the ferocity of those nations amongst whom he was born; no; had he such passions, he could not have possessed that equal temperature without which the narrow ridge is inaccessible. We will pardon his innocent intrusion; but as his ear has caught the music in the spheres2 and the harmony with which we invoke the spirits of Æther, he must sustain a reverse purification or venture back ignorant and unbenefited by our converse.’

  I had now but one method of proceeding and that my curiosity urged with the greater vivacity, (to return along the forests, encounter the horrid darkness that would shortly prevail and traverse the precipices was rejected as impracticable with safety). Summoning all my resolution, I ventured towards the Bramin and Nouronihar who were seated on the margin of the black river and when I approached, the character of wisdom so strongly expressed on the aged visage of the seer, his garb and the uncouthness of his whole appearance struck me with such awe that I fell to the ground. He raised me up and with an affable benignity bade me be of good cheer. ‘No doubt,’ continued he, ‘the sounds you heard and to which mortals are so unaccustomed, have thrilled your heart; perhaps our foreign habits, our conversation and the appearance of the cave we live in, may have occasioned the sensations that seem to overpower you; but let the gaze of wonder give way to the calmness of attention. Mark me, do you find yourself sufficiently bold to perform some ceremonies? Nay, start not! be assured they are no evil tendency;

  on the contrary leading to instructions that may then and only then be given. They must be the consequence of a discipline which in truth you will find severe; but if, young man, your soul is desirous of expanding itself, if the acquisition of more than worldly knowledge be alluring, I will answer you will prefer a momentary pain to lasting enjoyments; but still if human frailty, wavering doubts, and the cases of thy mortal body triumph over the pure delights of the mind, speak, use no disguise and I will discover to you a path which will conduct you in security to your world below and there grovel like the herd that are universally spread over its surface. Never shall you behold us more and should you uncautiously disclose what you have hitherto seen, depend, you will never be credited, you will be despised as a raving dreamer and despised with the contempt of those whose sorry imaginations could never rise to even what you have as yet beheld. Now behold your alternative.’

  A piercing look from Nouronihar, a look that at once encouraged my enterprize and despised me if I feared it, proved determinative. I fired at the idea of being held dastardly in such eyes and exclaimed with some violence: ‘Lead me to the trial; whatever the task I am ready to execute it.’

  ‘Young man,’ answered the Bramin, ‘this sudden compliance must not be the result of passionate vehemence nor of wanton curiosity. If from the bottom of your heart you can declare a sincere desire of being initiated into the sacred mysteries of the Shastah1 that fountain of knowledge, your request shall be granted; you shall enter our abode and I will unfold a scene which never before has been displayed to European sight. A story shall be revealed which will appal every sense with wonder and experience shall demonstrate its truth. But before you resign yourself to my power, let me apprize you that the purification you are about to undergo is sufficient to make the most courageous shudder. You must in a manner be committed to the flames and then to a raging torrent; your body must receive the most severe shocks and your mind for some instants distracted with a dreadful suspense. Thus I paint the enterprize you are willing to undertake; if it appears in its most gloomy colouring you have still the power of abandoning it; but if the constancy and firmness of your mind triumphs over the frailty and weakness of your body be assured that glory, refreshment both spiritual and corporeal will follow in a degree so sublime, so superior to mortality in general that you will exult in the remembrance of your sufferings. Be seated on that stone and ponder well your resolution.’

  I obeyed; it was utterly impossible to retract. An enthusiasm that did not admit of fear had long possessed me. I was resolved and convincing the Bramin of the sincerity of my desire beseeched him to order me instantaneously to the trial. He complied and turning to Nouronihar said, ‘Haste, my daughter, to the interior grot; see that fuel be supplied to the consecrated hearth. Call Malich and Terminga.’ She arose and casting on me a gracious glance cried, ‘Adieu, stranger: Nouronihar will ever interest herself for one who defies so terrifying a prospect. We shall meet in the halls of the glorious’The Persian language sounded inexpressibly melodious on her tongue.1 She plunged into the darkness of the cave and left me immersed in thought. The Bramin favoured my mood and did not break the silence till in the fullness of my heart I begged him to believe the confidence I placed in him. ‘Nothing,’ continued I, ‘can affright me; the opinion I entertain of the benevolence of your tribe has entirely banished suspicion; but, O my Father, pray that I may sustain the severity of this trial. May it please heaven to grant me strength to endure the shocks.’

  ‘Doubtless heaven will,’ answered the sage, ‘and I will strive by my fervent prayers to obtain a consolation that shall sustain your sinking frame and fit you for the horrors of your trial.’

  He prostrated himself before the mouth of the cave. Drops trickled from his aged head; his body seemed convulsed, but in the space of a few seconds it regained its former tranquillity. The clouds seemed to gather over the moon and shortly an entire gloom overspread the face of the heavens. It was then that I heard an aweful sound from above like thunder: to this succeeded the shrill sound of unknown instruments borne on the blasts of wind, violent gusts that sung in the cave. Next a full choir of clear loud harmony seemed to join in breathing an inspiration unfelt before and then to roll away in Æther. As I felt the influence of this musick, my senses were revived and strengthened in a tone of heroism.

  A feeble glimmer at a vast distance in the cave attracted my sight. It augmented till I beheld two tall lucid forms advancing hand in hand; their white vesture was resplendent apparently without a cause and diffused a moonish lustre on the craggy arches which bent over the Grots.2 They glided along till they stopped right opposite to the Bramin, who at that moment arose from the ground. ‘Terminga,’ (addressing himself to that which shone next me) ‘is all prepared?’

  ‘All waits the stranger,’ replied the form with a faint voice like a distant flute.

  ‘Malich,’ (to the other) ‘hast thou opened the iron portal?’

  ‘The sacred grot may now be approached,’ answered Malich.

  ‘Nothing remains, my son,’ said the Bramin, ‘but the performance of your resolution. Follow these freely; commit yourself to them. Silently they must execute their orders. Silently they must be obeyed. I must retire. Expect no further encouragement. Rely on no supernatural interposition; seek consolation in our own bosom and you will find it. We shall meet again in splendour; think of that moment. Direct your thoughts to that point; let them dwell on expectation and repose on hope. Everything now depends on your conduct. Should you reluctantly linger on the brink of initiation or hesitate one instant the performance of what these will point out to you, never hope to behold the light of the sun. I will not mistrust my son,’ continued the Bramin and retiring into a recess of the cavern left me between Malich and Terminga.

  There was nothing ghastly in the countenances of my guides but the luminous quality with which their bodies was invested occasioned me to shrink back from them. My resolution soon returned and fluctuating between hope and fear I sincerely resigned myself to them. The moment I had inwardly determined this I found myself moving along with the same imperceptible motion as my guides whose feet did not seem to touch the pavement. In this manner we skimmed along the immense hollow space where the most uninterrupted silence prevailed. Now and then, indeed, I could just disting
uish drops clear as crystals, dripping one by one from the icicles that hung over my head. The light which streamed on all sides from my guides illuminated the concave vault above and nothing perhaps can exceed the splendour of the appearance as we advanced farther and farther. Crystals of every form, of every colour, tinged with the rays from Malich and Terminga grew below, around and above us with the most luxuriant vegetation; minerals and ores of the most vivid hues were studded on the craggy arches which irregularly bent over our passage; some twinkled far, very far on high like stars in the firmament, others like the reflection of those luminaries in water shone on the pavement beneath. How shall I describe the lovely elegance of form with which nature has moulded these, her hidden production. Every grace, every beauty is lavished on the tall, slender wasted pillars of cristalization which cling to the sides and the roof of the cavern and then spread in bowers of web-like texture over the arches. The distance we had gone in the very womb of the mountain seemed prodigious, the time inconsiderable, such was the amazing swiftness of our motion.

  The reflection of light glancing from crystal to crystal, streaming from arch to arch and from one brilliant mineral or spar to another, was exquisitely agreeable. The majestic roll of two distinct rivers, the one black, the other clear and receiving the play of the glittering ceiling above, added not a little to the enchantment of the scene. To give you an idea how I felt at seeing these objects would be without the circle of description. Let it suffice then to assure you that the outward appearance of the cave, its situation and the circumstances that attended my viewing it however striking were mean in comparison. The delight I experienced was very greatly tempered by the fears, the doubts, the apprehensions that continually tormented me with the idea of where I was going. This unpleasant thought was, as may easily be conceived, sufficient to check the perfection of my happiness nor indeed do I believe that there exists upon earth the circumstance of perfect enjoyment. Never in my life did I breathe with so much freedom or inhale such life as in the breezes of this cavern. I am convinced I was lifted above the rest of mortals. My motion, my sight that at once took in such extent and the spirit that invigorated my whole frame forced me to entertain that opinion. Thus was I wafted along to a spot where the grot extended and lengthening into aisles that looked boundless, all adorned in the same glittering manner, all producing groves of vegetable crystal and all glistening with rills of pure water trickling and oozing from every spar. The waters which flowed from every quarter formed labyrinths continually intersecting one another, would utterly have impeded or at least perplexed in a great degree the route of an unprotected mortal, were no obstructions to my way. We glided over them with the facility and elasticity of a feather borne up by the stream and advanced on their surface till we came to the edge of a torrent, a torrent of a magnitude that would have astonished an inhabitant of the banks of Niagara. Had I not been supported by extraordinary power, I should never have ventured a mere look down on this formidable deep from which arose a spray, at first sight like particles of rasped1 diamonds, but on examination proved innumerable myriads of shining insects which the water dashes from its bosom. I found myself involved in this brilliant mist, when I recollected how we were to descend to the depths beneath as my guides directed their course apparently to that quarter, but before the recollection of an instant we shot down with the swiftness of a star beam and darkness for a moment screened my eye from the splendours that had dazzled them. During this period my sense of hearing2 was powerfully moved by the roar and complicated murmur of many waters, nor do I believe there is any sound on earth equal in loudness, the very echo was sufficient to deafen and when that echo was repeated again and again thro’ the hollow caverns, grots and recesses of the mountain, imagine, if you dare, the sound. I cannot exactly tell how long my senses remained numbed. When they were unlocked I could distinguish, notwithstanding the winds and torrents that holloed in my ears, the hum and buzz of some sort of monstrous moths that whizzed by my ears; monstrous I call them, for surely the great noise they made could not proceed from small organs, and besides they were every second flapping full in my face and banging against my body with a violence that was far from inconsiderable. The light which had before proceeded from Malich and Terminga was extinguished the moment we entered these gloomy regions and as they observed the strictest silence I knew not whether they were with me or no; but I was grown callous with the wonders that had befallen me and, finding the supernatural motion I acquired in these caverns continue, supported myself with entire confidence. By degrees I proceeded till the noise of the waterfalls gradually lessened and my ears admitted the least sounds with the nicest exactitude. The flutter of some sort of wings, very high above, the cries and growling of animals that proceeded, I suppose, from the crevices in the rock and the very crawl and creeping of some kinds of reptiles underneath was plainly discernible. They seemed to swarm in great multitudes as I perceived a clammy crackling sound as they turned about one another, from this reason I conjectured them to be of the serpent or lizard species. I may declare to have passed a great variety of climates, some hot, some wet, some cold, vapours strongly impregnated with sulphur and vitriol1 wrapped round me like garments causing momentary pains and achings dreadfully acute. Others again conveyed the most heady foetid smells and others grateful refreshing odours that restored me to life and vigour. The vapours continued for some time increasing in heat till they became so intense that I breathed with difficulty. They were clogged with a rich spicy perfume that made my head so giddy that I should have sunk under the oppression, had not I found myself sustained by something dense and soft. By this time I lamented with vehemence the privation of light, when suddenly a breeze of pure air restored me to every enjoyment. A vivid blaze of light flashed once more from the forms of Malich and Terminga who shone on each side of me with redoubled lustre. A heavenly radiance bright as the moon in full illuminated the spot I discovered with a silver light. I again regarded with pleasure the two rivers I observed before rolling along under an arched concave space blooming with groves of shining plants unlike any I had seen, some shooting in tall spires from the water, others bending in bowers over a little island formed by the streams and carpeted with a soft purple moss, spangled with innumerable white flowers, of a form, a texture and a delicacy you have no idea of on earth. These subterraneous productions have a finish, an elegance you can scarce conceive, much less execute. The roof seemed many hundred fathom high and towards the summit hovered several golden coloured clouds shot with vivid light and airy as muslin veils floating on the winds. Every gale (for many ranged thro’out this grot) shook the blossoms from the plants on the margin of the rivers and these blew about as the vehicles of insects that sucked their nourishment from their leaves. Conceive these clouds, these flowers, these insects in motion and surely you will delight in the brilliant flutter. When my eye had roved over these beautiful objects it directed itself to the termination of the scene where the arches, bowing down, seemed to touch the surface of the rivers which joining on the opposite side of the island looked as if they derived their common source from that quarter; but I had no time to observe, for my motion, which had subsided the instant I spent at gazing around, continued with repeated swiftness and brought me with my guides to the island. Here we once more stopped and my guides, reclining on the soft turf under the shade of a tall plant with broad leaves something like the banana, cropped some fruit and flowers with which it was braided at the same time and graciously presented them to me. I laid myself down at a respectful distance from them and with great humility received the present they tendered me. The smell of the flowers was reviving and the taste of the fruit and its effects exhilarating in a great degree. As I lay along the turf, I observed by the bright light which my guides cast immediately around them, various little animals of a beautiful form and covered with a soft down moving from flower to flower and tending their young which they concealed in the white glossy leaves; they were so gentle and tame, that they suffered me to
drop into their mouths, grain by grain, the seeds of the fruit I ate and expressed their gratitude by a low melodious sound accompanied by many little actions that expressed their confidence in me, such as uncovering their young and displaying to my sight their little magazines where they hoarded their provisions of seeds. I could observe also the broad leaves of the plant which waved over my head crowded with little beings so different from any you ever beheld that I despair of conveying an idea of them. The roots too of these plants which twisting together in fantastic forms hung over the water were not destitute of inhabitants. Here I discovered the nests of gigantic water fowl lined with their own feathers and teeming with a young brood as large and as white as swans. Their parents on the most distant shore of the river stalked about stately as ostriches and moved the sovereigns of their species. A variety of birds something like our swans, ducks and geese, but far more beautiful in their plumage swimming along the water brought roots, flowers and fruits to their respective young.

  Malich roused me from my contemplations by kindly offering some liquid dew which was gathered in the ample flower of a large aloe1 which sprouted out of the turf by his side. I quaffed the draught with great pleasure and soon after sunk into a profound repose. The time I slept, I am totally ignorant of, but when I awoke, judge of my surprize, when instead of the cheerful light, the busy animated scene, the lovely vegetation, the mild breeze and the soft moss, I found myself extended on the rough surface of a rugged rock in an immense gloomy cavern lofty but obscured by volumes of dark thick smoke rising in waving curls from an hearth of red hot iron on which burnt a tremendous fire fed with minerals distilling an oil which catching flame rolled its burning waves with a sullen fury along the hearth and then distilled in drops on the pavement. The red angry light which the fire diffused was just sufficient to shew the horrors which surrounded it, the black dingy vault, the uncouth crags of bare rock and the boiling waters of a rapid torrent which forming a frightful whirlpool in a gulph at the farther end of this dismal grot was there confounded with a darkness that looked substantial. I had every reason to imagine that I was in the neighbourhood of some volcano; the heat was more excessive than could be derived from the fire alone and in the channels and fissures of the rocks, down horrible chasms, flowed a fiery stream of molten gold, silver and other minerals indiscriminately mingled with ore and lava which sent forth black vapours that tinged the roof and the pavement with an infernal hue. My two companions, one at my head and the other at my feet, seemed to guard me as I lay on the sullied ground; their white raiment still retained its purity, but the glory which formerly played around them was obscured by the murky air of the place. The first reflection that entered my mind was how I was conveyed to this grot; no outlet, no entrance was visible, but after much search I perceived an iron grated door by which I imagine I was brought in, which I recollected the Bramin had mentioned before. ‘What means this fire?’ (cried I to myself) ‘Surely the Bramin is an idolater and means to sacrifice me to his barbarous god.’ As soon as I had thought those words, the countenances of my Malich and Terminga glowed with a flush of indignation. I saw my error and thought of the last words of the Sage. ‘I will not mistrust my son.’ ‘And what! shall I withdraw my confidence from him who reposed so much on me? shall I shrink? shall I doubt? shall I hesitate? Rather let me perish in the flames I dread. Yes, I behold the necessity of purification and I will meet it joyfully. It shall explode these vile mistrusts, these ungenerous fears.’ The smile of approbation again returned and graced the features of my guides who instantly divesting me of my garments poured over me a balsamic oil which was to protect me in some measure from the fury of the flames. The struggle I own was violent. My arteries beat, my heart panted with unknown violence, my limbs refused to sustain me. I sought consolation in the countenances of the forms and found it. When I ventured to lift up my eyes, O horror of horrors! what objects did I behold on the farther side of the blazing hearth? Two ranks of ghastly spectres rose like exhalations from the vapours and formed a continued line from the fireside to the foaming whirlpool. Their tall meagre forms wrapped round with robes of a misty grey were calculated to inspire wonder, disgust and dread; their withered arms scarcely held the taper wands of steel with which they struck a multitude of sculls that sent forth a lamentable murmur that rung amongst the arches, and to this dire cadence they joined a mournful song that pierced my heart with despair and froze the current of my blood. Could you conceive all them at once opening their lank1 wide mouths and from their scrannel2 jaws sending forth dismal grating complaints in an unknown language and to a tune like the sound of an ancient portal which the winds turn on its hinges, you would shudder in a circle of the gayest pleasures. And yet there was sometimes a plaintive tone in their measures that inclined me to weep with compassion. Now they turned on me their hollow sockets, where their eyes gleamed feebly like expiring lamps and now they stretched forth their pale arms as if to implore that I would not pass. What this meant I could not well determine but a tremulous horror again threatened to overturn the resolute sentiments that had just before ruled. A look from Terminga that seemed to say ‘And wilt thou then…’ made the scale of resolution again preponderate. The forms took advantage of this favourite moment and snatching me like a whirlwind wafted me thro’ the flames. It would be vain to attempt describing the anguish that fired every pore; my blood seemed shrivelled; I felt…. Enough of these horrors! enough! more remain. The spectres vanished soon as I passed the hearth, but in what manner I cannot tell. I could distinguish or feel nothing but the present pain; every thing seemed fire and myself too, when by a violent and sudden transition I found myself committed to the whirlpool. Its eddies in an instant almost totally deprived me of my senses, the waters seemed everywhere to overpower me and with a gush that is inconceivable hurried me away seeming ten fathom deep and as precipitately dashed me against the low craggy roof that impended. How I escaped death is astonishing; at least I suffered all the horrors of its approach during the period before my senses were entirely gone. The current was bearing me away when the stupefaction1 came on and what then became of me I cannot tell. When I awakened once more to life, I was cast upon a beach which felt like sand without the least glimmer of light. Here I lay a prey to every misery, my patience entirely exhausted, and for some moments destitute of every consolation, freezing with wet cold, covered with sharp pointed sands that some violent wind blew furiously against me and trickling with foetid unwholesome dews that fell one by one in large drops on my head. Yet, tho’ attacked by a complication of calamities, the words of the Bramin shot into my mind; this dismal situation was perhaps the suspense I was to expect and that the happiness promised would soon follow was the hope that solaced the dreary hour, for so long do I imagine was the time I shivered on the beach. I could not help thinking my situation a little similar to that of the poor ghosts whom the ancients represented hovering on the banks of the Styx2 whilst their bodies remained neglected and unhonoured with the rites of sepulchre.3 Thank heaven I had not long to make any more reflections; an immense flow of water returned like the tides of the sea and washed me away under narrow craggy channels till at length the full blaze of that silver light which had delighted me before burst forth and a wave laid me gently on a shore which was carpeted with mossy herbage. A delicious refreshing slumber again made me sink down and reunited my wearied frame. Soon after I was called by a melodious voice. I looked up and beheld Malich and Terminga in all their radiance. These forms with looks of ineffable beneficence poured over me a balm which cast around a delicious odour. I arose, firm and unshaken, my mind clear, every sense restored and in a perfection I had never experienced, not even in the luminous cavern. Malich threw over me a robe of the purest white and shining with the same brilliancy as those which gleamed on him and his comrade. Terminga placed on my head a circle of light and with joy beaming in his eyes declared all performed.