Chapter V (7)

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 {kirkos}, 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 \SHR\, 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.

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Transcriber's Note, continued:

Inconsistent or obsolete spelling has not been corrected.

The following changes were 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. 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 (to hêdiston tou EAROS.)

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: \HBR\ to \HBL\

p. 306: kirchos to kirkos

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