not taken pity upon them.

The Sultana Dilara, who till then had been the favourite, took this
dereliction of the Caliph to heart with a vehemence natural to her
character, for during her continuance in favour she had imbibed from
Vathek many of his extravagant fancies, and was filed with impatience to
behold the superb tombs of Istakar, and the palace of forty columns;
besides, having been brought up amongst the Magi, she had fondly
cherished the idea of the Caliph's devoting himself to the worship of
fire; thus his voluptuous and desultory life with her rival was to her a
double source of affliction. The transient piety of Vathek had
occasioned her some serious alarms, but the present was an evil of far
greater magnitude; she resolved, therefore, without hesitation, to write
to Carathis, and acquaint her that all things went ill; that they had
eaten, slept, and revelled at an old Emir's, whose sanctity was very
formidable, and that after all, the prospect of possessing the treasures
of the pre-adamite Sultans was no less remote than before. This letter
was entrusted to the care of two wood-men, who were at work on one of the
great forests of the mountains, and, being acquainted with the shortest
cuts, arrived in ten days at Samarah.

The Princess Carathis was engaged at chess with Morakanabad, when the
arrival of these wood-fellers was announced. She, after some weeks of
Vathek's absence, had forsaken the upper regions of her tower, because
everything appeared in confusion among the stars, whom she consulted
relative to the fate of her son. In vain did she renew her fumigations,
and extend herself on the roof to obtain mystic visions; nothing more
could she see in her dreams than pieces of brocade, nosegays of flowers,
and other unmeaning gewgaws. These disappointments had thrown her into a
state of dejection, which no drug in her power was sufficient to remove;
her only resource was in Morakanabad, who was a good man, and endowed
with a decent share of confidence, yet whilst in her company he never
thought himself on roses.

No person knew aught of Vathek, and a thousand ridiculous stories were
propagated at his expense. The eagerness of Carathis may be easily
guessed at receiving the letter, as well as her rage at reading the
dissolute conduct of her son. "Is it so?" said she; "either I will
perish, or Vathek shall enter the palace of fire. Let me expire in
flames, provided he may reign on the throne of S