their confidence at first, they were not sufficiently composed to
examine with attention the various perspectives of halls and of
galleries that opened on the right hand and left, which were all
illuminated by torches and braziers, whose flames rose in pyramids to
the centre of the vault. At length they came to a place where long
curtains, brocaded with crimson and gold, fell from all parts in
striking confusion; here the choirs and dances were heard no longer, the
light which glimmered came from afar.

After some time Vathck and Nouronihar perceived a gleam brightening
through the drapery, and entered a vast tabernacle carpeted with the
skins of leopards; an infinity of elders with streaming beards, and
Afrits in complete armor, had prostrated themselves before the ascent of
a lofty eminence, on the top of which, upon a globe of fire, sat the
formidable Eblis. His person was that of a young man, whose noble and
regular features seemed to have been tarnished by malignant vapors; in
his large eyes appeared both pride and despair; his flowing hair
retained some resemblance to that of an angel of light; in his hand,
which thunder had blasted, he swayed the iron sceptre that causes the
monster Ouranabad, the Afrits, and all the powers of the abyss to
tremble; at his presence the heart of the Caliph sunk within him, and
for the first time he fell prostrate on his face. Nouronihar, however,
though greatly dismayed, could not help admiring the person of Eblis;
for she expected to have seen some stupendous giant. Eblis, with a voice
more mild than might be imagined, but such as transfused through the
soul the deepest melancholy, said:--

"Creatures of clay, I receive you into mine empire; ye are numbered
amongst my adorers. Enjoy whatever this palace affords: the treasures of
the pre-Adamite Sultans, their bickering sabres, and those talismans
that compel the Dives to open the subterranean expanses of the mountain
of Kaf, which communicate with these. There, insatiable as your
curiosity may be, shall you find sufficient to gratify it; you shall
possess the exclusive privilege of entering the fortress of Aherman, and
the halls of Argenk, where are portrayed all creatures endowed with
intelligence, and the various animals that inhabited the earth prior to
the creation of that contemptible being whom ye denominate the Father
of Mankind."

Vathek and Nouronihar, feeling themselves revived and encouraged by
this harangue, eager