replied the Indian, "impatient Caliph! Know that I am
parched with thirst, and cannot open this door till my thirst be
thoroughly appeased. I require the blood of fifty of the most beautiful
sons of thy vizirs and great men, or neither can my thirst nor thy
curiosity be satisfied. Return to Samarah, procure for me this necessary
libation, come back hither, throw it thyself into this chasm, and then
shalt thou see!"

Having thus spoken, the Indian turned his back on the Caliph, who,
incited by the suggestion of demons, resolved on the direful sacrifice.
He now pretended to have regained his tranquillity, and set out for
Samarah amidst the acclamations of a people who still loved him, and
forbore not to rejoice when they believed him to have recovered his
reason. So successfully did he conceal the emotion of his heart, that
even Carathis and Morakanabad were equally deceived with the rest.
Nothing was heard of but festivals and rejoicings; the ball, which no
tongue had hitherto ventured to mention, was again brought on the tapis;
a general laugh went round, though many, still smarting under the hands
of the surgeon from the hurts received in that memorable adventure, had
no great reason for mirth.

The prevalence of this gay humour was not a little grateful to Vathek, as
perceiving how much it conduced to his project. He put on the appearance
of affability to every one, but especially to his vizirs and the grandees
of his court, whom he failed not to regale with a sumptuous banquet,
during which he insensibly inclined the conversation to the children of
his guests. Having asked with a good-natured air who of them were
blessed with the handsomest boys, every father at once asserted the
pretensions of his own, and the contest imperceptibly grew so warm that
nothing could have withholden them from coming to blows but their
profound reverence for the person of the Caliph. Under the pretence,
therefore, of reconciling the disputants, Vathek took upon him to decide;
and with this view commanded the boys to be brought.

It was not long before a troop of these poor children made their
appearance, all equipped by their fond mothers with such ornaments as
might give the greatest relief to their beauty or most advantageously
display the graces of their age. But whilst this brilliant assemblage
attracted the eyes and hearts of every one besides, the Caliph
scrutinized each in his turn with a malignant avidity that passed fo