‘Oftentimes in a glittering train they issue from the very womb of the mountain and summoning a synod of the Peruvian sages lead them to the pinnacle of Catopaxi at the hour of midnight. From this elevation they point out the worlds that roll thro’ the heavens, describe the track of planets and notice remote moons that revolve around stars of whose magnitude your astronomers are ignorant. The faculties of vision are enjoyed with an infinite superiority on such an elevation. No fogs, no vapours obstruct the sight. It is these lofty regions which the moon enlightens with all her splendour. A perfect tranquillity prevails on the peak of Catopaxi. The air never vexed by tempests enjoys a continual serenity free from change except when a mild dew descends and diffuses a refreshing coolness. Altho’ the dense atmosphere which envelops the world beneath generally screens the prospects presented on its surface, yet what can be more glorious than the extent of the skies, those azure plains where myriads of objects offer themselves to view, all beaming with a radiance of which they seem divested when gazed at from the empires below. The moon and the luminary girdle which enlightens Saturn shine confest without the aid of mechanical instruments and in the same manner the satellites of various planets and others of which ye have no conception are discernible at the first glance. Wonder not therefore that sages are ambitious of such a residence; but an experienced age must have stamped their characters with wisdom before our beings conduct them to the highest pitch of exaltation. When this glorious period arrives, they quit their kindred in the vallies never to return and abandon themselves solely to divine contemplation. Nor ever more do they behold the habitations they have quitted unless the clouds and vapours as they fleet present a transitory gleam of the grove, the verdure and the charms of the regions below.
‘Methinks at this moment I view them seated on the mountain brow under the serene expanse of Æther. At their feet many fathom down, the empire of the winds raging amongst the atmosphere of your world. Aweful thunders that roll for hours reecho along the precipices. Lightnings, flashing from the ocean of vapours and darting in forked streams, till lost amongst eternal fogs, precipitate their fire on the valleys. Now I perceive them stretched on the ground, hanging over the volumes of our sciences. Now I behold them encircled by forms far superior in every excellence to….But let me cease nor crowd your senses with farther subjects of astonishment. Your frame has occasion for sustenance.
‘Let us enter the recesses of my habitation. What you have as yet seen is but the portal….’ My attention had been so earnestly fixed by the conversation of the Bramin that I did not perceive for some time after he had finished speaking, the solitude of the immense dome. The forms had all left us and Nouronihar and the Bramin were the only beings visible in the vast space around. They were both reclined on the purple steps and seemed ruminating in silence. For my part I took advantage of the profound stillness to contemplate my present situation. ‘And I am then sunk into the centre of the globe. Have I the prodigious chain of Alps piled over my head? Is it possible that I am awake? Can a mortal have penetrated thro’ such spacious grottos? How can I have sustained the flames, the whirlpool and all their attendant horrors? Surely my frame must have been overcome by such repeated attacks and from such formidable elements? Yet all these circumstances seem fresh in my memory; my sense of feeling has been most uncommonly exquisite; I have seen, I have heard, I have tasted; and could I dream of these senses with like perfection? Is it possible that I could reason and reflect as I do at this very moment in my sleep? With what distinctness I survey this stupendous dome studded with glittering gems, that orb which flashes so clear a light, that pavement of agate with all its mazy veins, those steps, this purple carpet and more than all that elegant female and that venerable seer; and are they illusions? Do I not hear that rill which falls from one shell to another? Certainly I can distinguish the leaping of fish in its clear waters. Do I not also inhale the incense of those spice trees which are placed in vases on the edges of the steps? Can I enjoy these faculties and dream?’
VATHEK
AN ARABIAN TALE, 1786
Text established by Kenneth W. Graham as part of a doctoral thesis in the University of London, 1971. The editor’s notes and the notes prepared by Kenneth Graham run in a single series at the foot of the page, Graham’s notes distinguished by [K.G.]. AB in the text indicates a note approved by Beckford. Since Beckford always intended these notes to be read as part of the text, they are gathered at the end of it. The running head of the first edition was ‘A History of the Caliph Vathek’.
VATHEK
Vathek,1 ninth CaliphB of the race of the Abassides, was the son of Motassem, and the grandson of Haroun al Raschid. From an early accession to the throne, and the talents he possessed to adorn it, his subjects were induced to expect that his reign would be long and happy. His figure was pleasing and majestic; but when he was angry, one of his eyes became so terrible, B that no person could bear to behold it; and the wretch upon whom it was fixed, instantly fell backward, and sometimes expired. For fear, however, of depopulating his dominions and making his palace desolate, he but rarely gave way to his anger.
Being much addicted to women and the pleasures of the table, he sought by his affability, to procure agreeable companions; and he succeeded the better as his generosity was unbounded and his indulgencies unrestrained: for he did not think, with the Caliph Omar Ben AbdalazizB that it was necessary to make a hell of this world to enjoy paradise in the next.
He surpassed in magnificence all his predecessors. The palace of Alkoremi, which his father, Motassem, had erected on the hill of Pied Horses, and which commanded the whole city of Samarah, B was, in his idea far too scanty: he added, therefore, five wings, or rather other palaces, which he destined for the particular gratification of each of the senses.
In the first of these were tables continually covered with the most exquisite dainties; which were supplied both by night and by day, according to their constant consumption; whilst the most delicious wines and the choicest cordials flowed forth from a hundred fountains that were never exhausted. This palace was called The Eternal or unsatiating Banquet.
The second was styled, The Temple of Melody, or The Nectar of the Soul. It was inhabited by the most skilful musicians and admired poets of the time; who not only displayed their talents within, but dispersing in bands without, caused every surrounding scene to reverberate their songs; which were continually varied in the most delightful succession.B
The palace named The Delight of the Eyes, or The Support of Memory, was one entire enchantment. Rarities, collected from every corner of the earth were there found in such profusion as to dazzle and confound, but for the order in which they were arranged. One gallery exhibited the pictures of the celebrated Mani, B and statues, that seemed to be alive. Here a well-managed perspective attracted the sight; there the magic of optics agreeably deceived it: whilst the naturalist on his part, exhibited in their several classes the various gifts that Heaven had bestowed on our globe. In a word, Vathek omitted nothing in this palace, that might gratify the curiosity of those who resorted to it, although he was not able to satisfy his own; for, of all men, he was the most curious.
The Palace of Perfumes, which was termed likewise The Incentive to Pleasure, consisted of various halls, where the different perfumes which the earth produces were kept perpetually burning in censers of gold. Flambeaux and aromatic lamps were here lighted in open day. But the too powerful effects of this agreeable delirium might be alleviated by descending into an immense garden, where an assemblage of every fragrant flower diffused through the air the purest odours.
The fifth1 palace, denominated The Retreat of Mirth, or The Dangerous, was frequented by troops of young females beautiful as the Houris, B and not less seducing; who never failed to receive with caresses, all whom the Caliph allowed to approach them, and enjoy a few hours of their company.
Notwithstanding the sensuality in which Vathek indulged, he experienced no abatement in the love of his people, who thoug
ht that a sovereign giving himself up to pleasure, was as able to govern, as one who declared himself an enemy to it. But the unquiet and impetuous disposition of the Caliph would not allow him to rest there. He had studied so much for his amusement in the life-time of his father, as to acquire a great deal of knowledge, though not a sufficiency to satisfy himself; for he wished to know every thing; even sciences that did not exist. He was fond of engaging in disputes with the learned, but did not allow them to push their opposition with warmth. He stopped with presents the mouths of those whose mouths could be stopped; whilst others, whom his liberality was unable to subdue, he sent to prison to cool their blood; a remedy that often succeeded.
Vathek discovered also a predilection for theological controversy; but it was not with the orthodox that he usually held. By this means he induced the zealots to oppose him, and then persecuted them in return; for he resolved, at any rate, to have reason on his side.
The great prophet, Mahomet, whose vicars the caliphs are, beheld with indignation from his abode in the seventh heaven, B the irreligious conduct of such a vicegerent. ‘Let us leave him to himself,’ said he to the Genii, B who are always ready to receive his commands: ‘let us see to what lengths his folly and impiety will carry him: if he run into excess, we shall know how to chastise him. Assist him, therefore, to complete the tower, B which, in imitation of Nimrod,1 he hath begun; not, like that great warrior, to escape being drowned, but from the insolent curiosity of penetrating the secrets of heaven: – he will not divine the fate that awaits him.’
The Genii obeyed; and, when the workmen had raised their structure a cubit in the day time, two cubits more were added in the night. The expedition, with which the fabric arose, was not a little flattering, to the vanity of Vathek: he fancied, that even insensible matter shewed a forwardness to subserve his designs; not considering, that the successes of the foolish and wicked form the first rod of their chastisement.
His pride arrived at its height, when having ascended, for the first time, the fifteen hundred stairs of his tower, he cast his eyes below, and beheld men not larger than pismires;2 mountains, than shells; and cities, than bee-hives. The idea, which such an elevation inspired of his own grandeur, completely bewildered him: he was almost ready to adore himself; till, lifting his eyes upward, he saw the stars as high above him as they appeared when he stood on the surface of the earth. He consoled himself, however, for this intruding and unwelcome perception of his littleness, with the thought of being great in the eyes of others; and flattered himself that the light of his mind would extend beyond the reach of his sight, and extort from the stars the decrees of his destiny.
With this view, the inquisitive Prince passed most of his nights on the summit of his tower, till becoming an adept in the mysteries of astrology, he imagined that the planets had disclosed to him the most marvellous adventures, which were to be accomplished by an extraordinary personage, from a country altogether unknown. Prompted by motives of curiosity, he had always been courteous to strangers; but, from this instant, he redoubled his attention, and ordered it to be announced, by sound of trumpet through all the streets of Samarah, that no one of his subjects, on peril of his displeasure, should either lodge or detain a traveller, but forthwith bring him to the palace.
Not long after this proclamation, arrived in his metropolis a man so abominably hideous that the very guards, who arrested him, were forced to shut their eyes, as they led him along: the Caliph himself appeared startled at so horrible a visage; but joy succeeded to this emotion of terror, when the stranger displayed to his view such rarities as he had never before seen, B and of which he had no conception.
In reality, nothing was ever so extraordinary as the merchandize3 this stranger produced; most of his curiosities, which were not less admirable for their workmanship than splendour, had, besides, their several virtues described on a parchment fastened to each. There were slippers, which, by spontaneous springs, enabled the feet to walk; knives, that cut without motion of the hand; sabres, that dealt the blow at the person they were wished to strike; and the whole enriched with gems, that were hitherto unknown.
The sabres, especially, the blades of which, emitted a dazzling radiance, fixed, more than all the rest, the Caliph’s attention; who promised himself to decipher, at his leisure, the uncouth characters engraven on their sides. Without, therefore, demanding their price, he ordered all the coined gold to be brought from his treasury, and commanded the merchant to take what he pleased. The stranger obeyed, took little, and remained silent.
Vathek, imagining that the merchant’s taciturnity was occasioned by the awe which his presence inspired, encouraged him to advance; and asked him, with an air of condescension, who he was? whence he came? and where he obtained such beautiful commodities? The man, or rather monster, instead of making a reply, thrice rubbed his forehead, which, as well as his body, was blacker than ebony; four times clapped his paunch, the projection of which was enormous; opened wide his huge eyes, which glowed like firebrands; began to laugh with a hideous noise, and discovered his long amber-coloured teeth, bestreaked with green.
Vathek and Other Stories Page 9
