VATHEK: AN ARABIAN TALE BY WILLIAM BECKFORD (continued 3)
Reading edition
Page 265. Asses in bridles of riband inscribed from the Koran
As the judges of Israel in ancient days rode on white asses, so, amongst the Mahometans, those that affect an extraordinary sanctity use the same animal in preference to the horse. Sir John Chardin observed, in various parts of the East, that their reins, as here represented, were of silk, with the name of God, or other inscriptions, upon them.—Ludeke, Expos. brevis, p. 49. Chardin’s MS. cited by Harmer.
Page 266. One of these beneficent genii, assuming the exterior of a shepherd, etc., began to pour from his flute, etc.
The flute was considered as a sacred instrument, which Jacob and other holy shepherds had sanctified by using.—Religious Ceremonies, vol. vii, p. 110.
Page 266. ... involuntarily drawn towards the declivity of the hill
A similar instance of attraction may be seen in the Story of Prince Ahmed and the Peri Parabanou.—Arabian Nights, vol. iv, p. 243.
Page 267. Eblis
D’Herbelot supposes this title to have been a corruption of the Greek Διαβολος, diabolos. It was the appellation conferred by the Arabians upon the prince of the apostate angels, whom they represent as exiled to the infernal regions, for refusing to worship Adam at the command of the Supreme, and appears more likely to originate from the Hebrew הבל hebel, vanity, pride.—See below, the note, p. 305, “Creatures of clay.”
Page 267. ... compensate for thy impieties by an exemplary life
It is an established article of the Mussulman creed, that the actions of mankind are all weighed in a vast unerring balance, and the future condition of the agents determined according to the preponderance of evil or good. This fiction, which seems to have been borrowed from the Jews, had probably its origin in the figurative language of Scripture. Thus, Psalm lxii, 9: “Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity”; and in Daniel, the sentence against the King of Babylon, inscribed on the wall, “Thou art weighed in the balance, and found wanting.”
Page 268. Balkis
This was the Arabian name of the Queen of Sheba, who went from the south to hear the wisdom and admire the glory of Solomon. The Koran represents her as a worshipper of fire. Solomon is said not only to have entertained her with the greatest magnificence, but also to have raised her to his bed and his throne.—Al Koran, ch. xxvii, and Sale’s notes. D’Herbelot, p. 182.
Page 270. The pavement, strewed over with saffron
There are several circumstances in the Story of the Third Calender, that resemble those here mentioned; particularly a pavement strewed with saffron, and the burning of ambergris and aloes-wood.
Page 271. Ouranbad
This monster is represented as a fierce-flying hydra, and belongs to the same class with the rakshe, whose ordinary food was serpents and dragons; the soham, which had the head of a horse, with four eyes, and the body of a flame-coloured dragon; the syl, a basilisk with a face resembling the human, but so tremendous that no mortal could bear to behold it; the ejder, and others. See these respective titles in Richardson’s Persian, Arabic, and English Dictionary.
Page 272. Creatures of clay
Nothing could have been more appositely imagined than this compellation. Eblis, according to Arabian mythology, had suffered a degradation from his primeval rank, and was consigned to these regions, for having refused to worship Adam in obedience to the supreme command; alleging, in justification of his refusal, that himself had been formed of ethereal fire, whilst Adam was only a creature of clay.—Al Koran, c. lv, etc.
Page 272. ... the fortress of Aherman
In the mythology of the Easterns, Aherman was accounted the Demon of Discord. The ancient Persian romances abound in descriptions of this fortress, in which the inferior demons assemble, to receive the behests of their prince; and from whom they proceed to exercise their malice in every part of the world.—D’Herbelot, p. 71.
Page 272. ... the halls of Argenk
The halls of this mighty dive, who reigned in the mountains of Kaf, contained the statues of the seventy-two Solimans, and the portraits of the various creatures subject to them; not one of which bore the slightest similitude to man. Some had many heads, others many arms, and some consisted of many bodies. Their heads were all very extraordinary, some resembling the elephant’s, the buffalo’s, and the boar’s; whilst others were still more monstrous.—D’Herbelot, p. 820. Some of the idols worshipped to this day in Hindostan answer to this description.
Page 272. ... holding his right hand, motionless, on his heart
Sandys observes that the application of the right hand to the heart is the customary mode of Eastern salutation; but the perseverance of the votaries of Eblis in this attitude was intended to express their devotion to him both heart and hand.
Page 273. In my lifetime I filled, etc.
This recital agrees perfectly with those in the Koran, and other Arabian legends.
Page 274. ... an unrelenting fire preys on my heart
Hariri, to convey the most forcible idea of extreme anxiety, represents the heart as tormented by fierce burning coals. This form of speech, it is observed, is proverbial; but do we not see whence the proverb arose?—Chappelow’s Six Assemblies, p. 106.
Page 275. Carathis on the back of an afrit
The expedition of the afrit in fetching Carathis is characteristic of this order of dives. We read in the Koran that another of the fraternity offered to bring the Queen of Sheba’s throne to Solomon before he could rise from his place.—Ch. xxvii.
Page 277. ... glanced off in a rapid whirl that rendered her invisible
It was not ill conceived to punish Carathis by a rite, and one of the principal characteristics of that science in which she so much delighted, and which was the primary cause of Vathek’s perdition and of her own. The circle, the emblem of eternity, and the symbol of the sun, was held sacred in the most ancient ceremonies of incantations; and the whirling round deemed as a necessary operation in magical mysteries. Was not the name of the greatest enchantress in fabulous antiquity, Circe, derived from κιρκος, a circle, on account of her magical revolutions, and of the circular appearance and motion of the sun, her father? The fairies and elves used to arrange themselves in a ring on the grass; and even the augur, in the liturgy of the Romans, whirled round to encompass the four cardinal points of the world. It is remarkable, that a derivative of the verb, rendered, to whirl in a magical manner (see page 257), which corresponds to the Hebrew סחר, and is interpreted scindere, secare se in orbem, inde notio circinandi, mox gyrandi, et hinc à motu versatili, fascinavit, incantavit, signifies in the Koran the glimmering of twilight: a sense deducible from the shapeless glimpses of objects when hurried round with the velocity here described, and very applicable to the sudden disappearance of Carathis, who, like the stone in a sling, by the progressive and rapid increase of the circular motion, soon ceased to be perceptible. Nothing can impress a greater awe upon the mind than does this passage in the original.
Inconsistent or obsolete spelling has not been changed.
Asterisks indicating notes to Vathek were added by the transcriber.
The following changes were also made to the text:
Title Page: missing round bracket added (after “d. 1946”)
p. 15: happy valley to Happy Valley (his design to leave the Happy Valley)
p. 51: f to if (and, if it were possible)
p. 75: double quote to single quote (to devolve it upon thee.’)
p. 80: thyself.” to thyself.’” (so worthy as thyself.’”)
p. 88: bu to but (but they are soon disentangled)
p. 116: melanchoy to melancholy (a grave and melancholy air.)
p. 136: marrriage to marriage (in suitable marriage.)
p. 157: by to be (Heaven be thy guide!)
p. 161: af to of (but an enemy of Manfred.)
p. 176: H to He (He learned with indignation)
p. 194: were to was (An account of these travels was published)
p. 194: Amezia to Azemia
p. 256: duing to during (during her continuance in favour,)
p. 263: missing close quote added (such an explosion!”)
p. 266: then to than (clearer than crystal)
p. 273: ominious to ominous (this ominous preliminary)
p. 281: δάημων to δαήμων
p. 286: east to west (from east to west)
p. 286: Delavel’s to Delaval’s (Delaval’s Inquiry concerning the Changes of Colours, etc.)
p. 292: extra period deleted (το ἡδιστον του ΕΑΡΟΣ.)
p. 300: missing close quote added (y atónito estava.”)
p. 302: wood-fellers to woodfellers (The employment of woodfellers)
p. 303: missing space added (Page 264.)
p. 304: הבר to הבל
p. 306: κιρχος to κιρκος