that it will appeal quite as effectually, no
matter how many editions may be its future, to a public perhaps
unsympathetic toward its elliptical satire, its caustic wit, its
fantastic course of narrative, and its incongruous wavering between the
flippant, the grotesque, and the terrific.

THE INCANTATION AND THE SACRIFICE

From 'The History of the Caliph Vathek'

By secret stairs, known only to herself and her son, she [Carathis]
first repaired to the mysterious recesses in which were deposited the
mummies that had been brought from the catacombs of the ancient
Pharaohs. Of these she ordered several to be taken. From thence she
resorted to a gallery, where, under the guard of fifty female negroes,
mute, and blind of the right eye, were preserved the oil of the most
venomous serpents, rhinoceros horns, and woods of a subtle and
penetrating odor, procured from the interior of the Indies, together
with a thousand other horrible rarities. This collection had been formed
for a purpose like the present by Carathis herself, from a presentiment
that she might one day enjoy some intercourse with the infernal powers,
to whom she had ever been passionately attached, and to whose taste she
was no stranger.

To familiarize herself the better with the horrors in view the Princess
remained in the company of her negresses, who squinted in the most
amiable manner from the only eye they had, and leered with exquisite
delight at the skulls and skeletons which Carathis had drawn forth from
her cabinets....

Whilst she was thus occupied, the Caliph, who, instead of the visions he
expected, had acquired in these insubstantial regions a voracious
appetite, was greatly provoked at the negresses: for, having totally
forgotten their deafness, he had impatiently asked them for food; and
seeing them regardless of his demand, he began to cuff, pinch, and push
them, till Carathis arrived to terminate a scene so indecent....

"Son! what means all this?" said she, panting for breath. "I thought I
heard as I came up, the shriek of a thousand bats, tearing from their
crannies in the recesses of a cavern.... You but ill deserve the
admirable provision I have brought you."

"Give it me instantly!" exclaimed the Caliph: "I am perishing for
hunger!"

"As to that," answered she, "you must have an excellent stomach if it
can digest what I have been preparing."

"Be quick," replied the Caliph. "But oh, heavens! what horrors! What do
you intend?"