Alroy
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Benjamin Disraeli >> Alroy
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The stranger reached the landing-place, and unfastening a golden grate,
proceeded along a gallery, and entered a beautiful saloon of white and
green marble, opening into gardens. No one was in the apartment; the
stranger threw himself upon a silver couch, placed at the side of
a fountain that rose from the centre of the chamber and fell into a
porphyry basin. A soft whisper roused the stranger from his reverie, a
soft whisper that faintly uttered the word 'Honain.' The stranger looked
up, a figure, enveloped in a veil, that touched the ground, advanced
from the gardens.
'Honain!' said the advancing figure, throwing off the veil. 'Honain! Ah!
the beautiful mute returned!'
A woman more lovely than the rosy morn, beheld an unexpected guest. They
stood, the lady and the stranger, gazing on each other in silence.
A man, with a light, entered the extremity of the hall. Carefully
he closed the portal, slowly he advanced, with a subdued step; he
approached the lady and the stranger.
'Alroy!' said the astonished Honain, the light fell from his hand.
'Alroy!' exclaimed the lady, with a bewildered air: she turned pale, and
leant against a column.
'Daughter of the caliph!' said the leader of Israel; and he advanced,
and fell upon his knee, and stole her passive hand. 'I am indeed that
Alroy to whom destiny has delivered the empire of thy sire; but the
Princess Schirene can have nothing to fear from one who values above
all his victories this memorial of her goodwill;' and he took from his
breast a rosary of pearls and emeralds, and, rising slowly, left it in
her trembling hand.
The princess turned and hid her face in her arm, which reclined against
the column.
'My kind Honain,' said Alroy, 'you thought me forgetful of the past; you
thought me ungrateful. My presence here proves that I am not so. I come
to enquire all your wishes. I come to gratify and to fulfil them, if
that be in my power.'
'Sire,' replied Honain, who had recovered from the emotion in which
he rarely indulged, and from the surprise which seldom entrapped him,
'Sire, my wishes are slight. You see before you the daughter of my
master. An interview, for which I fear I shall not easily gain that
lady's pardon, has made you somewhat acquainted with her situation and
her sentiments. The Princess Schirene seized the opportunity of the
late convulsions to escape from a mode of life long repugnant to all
her feelings, and from a destiny at which she trembled. I was her only
counsellor, and she may feel assured, a faithful, although perhaps an
indiscreet one. The irresistible solicitation of the inhabitants that I
should become their deputy to their conqueror prevented us from escaping
as we had intended. Since then, from the movement of the troops, I have
deemed it more prudent that we should remain at present here, although
I have circulated the intelligence of my departure. In the kiosk of my
garden, the princess is now a willing prisoner. At twilight she
steals forth for the poor relaxation of my society, to listen to the
intelligence which I acquire during the day in disguise. The history,
sire, is short and simple. We are in your power: but instead of
deprecating your interference, I now solicit your protection.'
'Dear Honain, 'tis needless. The Princess Schirene has only to express
a wish that it may be fulfilled. I came to speak with you on weighty
matters, Honain, but I retire, for I am an intruder now. Tomorrow, if
it please you, at this hour, and in this disguise, I will again repair
hither. In the meantime, this lady may perchance express to you her
wishes, and you will bear them to me. If an escort to any country, if
any palace or province for her rule and residence---- But I will not
offer to one who should command. Lady! farewell. Pardon the past!
Tomorrow, good Honain! prythee let us meet. Good even!'
'The royal brow was clouded,' said Ithamar to Asriel, as, departing from
the council, they entered their magnificent barque.
'With thought; he has so much upon his mind, 'tis wondrous how he bears
himself.'
'I have seen him gay on the eve of battle, and lively though calm, with
weightier matters than now oppress him. His brow was clouded, but not,
me-thinks, with _thought_; one might rather say with _temper_. Mark you,
how he rated Jabaster?'
'Roundly! The stern priest writhed under it; and as he signed the
ordinance, shivered his reed in rage. I never saw a man more pale.'
'Or more silent. He looked like an embodied storm. I tell you what,
Asriel, that stern priest loves not us.'
'Have you just discovered that secret, Ithamar? We are not of his
school. Nor, in good faith, is our ruler. I am glad to see the king is
so staunch about Abidan. Were he in council he would support Jabaster.'
'Oh! his mere tool. What think you of Scherirah?'
'I would not trust him. As long as there is fighting, he will meddle
with nothing else; but, mark my words, Ithamar: in quiet times he will
support the priest.'
'Medad will have a place in council. He is with us.'
'Heart and soul. I would your brother were here, Asriel: he alone could
balance Jabaster. Alroy loves your brother like himself. Is it true that
he marries the Lady Miriam?'
'So the king wishes. 'Twill be a fine match for Abner.'
'The world is all before us. I wonder who will be viceroy of Syria.'
'When we conquer it. Not Scherirah. Mark my words, Ithamar: he never
will have a government. You or I perchance. For my own part, I would
rather remain as I am.'
'Yours is a good post; the best.'
'With the command of the city. It should go with the guard.'
'Well, then, help me in getting Syria, and you can ask for my command.'
'Agreed. Jabaster will have it that, in a Hebrew monarchy, the chief
priest is in fact the grand vizir.'
'Alroy will be his own minister.'
'I am not so sure of that. He may choose to command the Syrian
expedition in person; he must leave some head at Bagdad. Jabaster is no
general.'
'Oh! none at all. Alroy will be glad to leave him at home. The Sultan of
Roum may not be always so merciful.'
'Hah! hah! that was an escape!'
'By heavens! I thought it was all over. You made a fine charge.'
'I shall never forget it. I nearly ran over Jabaster.'
'Would that you had!'
It is the tender twilight hour when maidens in their lonely bower sigh
softer than the eve! The languid rose her head upraises, and listens to
the nightingale, while his wild and thrilling praises from his trembling
bosom gush: the languid rose her head upraises, and listens with a
blush.
In the clear and rosy air, sparkling with a single star, the sharp
and spiry cypress-tree rises like a gloomy thought, amid the flow
of revelry. A singing bird, a single star, a solemn tree, an odorous
flower, are dangerous in the tender hour, when maidens in their twilight
bower sigh softer than the eve!
The daughter of the caliph comes forth to breathe the air: her lute her
only company. She sits her down by a fountain's side, and gazes on the
waterfall. Her cheek reclines upon her arm, like fruit upon a graceful
bough. Very pensive is the face of that bright and beauteous lady. She
starts; a warm voluptuous lip presses her soft and idle hand. It is her
own gazelle. With his large and lustrous eyes, more eloquent than many
a tongue, the fond attendant mutely asks the cause of all her
thoughtfulness.
'Ah! bright gazelle! Ah! bright gazelle!' the princess cried, the
princess cried; 'thy lips are softer than the swan, thy lips are softer
than the swan; but his breathed passion when they pressed, my bright
gazelle! my bright gazelle!
'Ah! bright gazelle! Ah! bright gazelle!' the princess cried, the
princess cried; 'thine eyes are like the stars of night, thine eyes are
like the stars of night; but his glanced passion when they gazed, my
bright gazelle! my bright gazelle!'
She seized her lute, she wildly threw her fingers o'er its thrilling
strings, and, gazing on the rosy sky, to borrow all its poetry, thus,
thus she sang--thus, thus she sang:
He rose in beauty like the morn
That brightens in bur Syrian skies;
Dark passion glittered in his eyes,
And Empire sparkled in his form!
My soul! thou art the dusky earth,
On which his sunlight fell;
The dusky earth, that dim no longer,
Now breathes with light, now beams with love!
He rose in beauty, like the morn
That brightens in our Syrian skies;
Dark passion glittered in his eyes,
And Empire sparkled in his form!
[Illustration: page174]
'Once more, once more! Ah! sing that strain once more!'
The princess started and looked round. Before her stood Alroy. She rose,
she would have retired; but, advancing, the conqueror stole her hand.
'Fair princess,' said Alroy, 'let it not be said that my presence
banished at once beauty and music.'
'Sire, I doubt not that Honain awaits you. Let me summon him.'
'Lady, it is not with Honain that I would speak.'
He seated himself by her side. His countenance was pale, his heart
trembled.
'This garden,' at length he observed in a low voice, 'this garden, a
brief, brief space has glided away since first I wandered within its
beauteous limits, and yet those days seem like the distant memory of
another life.'
'It is another life,' said the princess. 'Ourselves, the world, all
forms and usages, all feelings and all habits, verily they have changed,
as if we had breathed within another sphere.'
''Tis a great change.'
'Since first you visited my bright kiosk. Pretty bauble! I pray it may
be spared.'
'It is sacred, like yourself.'
'You are a courteous conqueror.'
'I am no conqueror, fair Schirene, but a slave more lowly than when I
first bowed humbly in your presence.'
'And bore away a token not forgotten. Your rosary is here.'
'Let me claim it. It has been my consolation in much peril, beauteous
lady. On the eve of battle I wound it round my heart.'
She held forth the rosary, and turned away her head. Her hand remained
in his; he pressed it to his lips. His right arm retained her hand; he
wound the other round her waist, as he fell upon his knee.
'O beautiful! O more than beautiful! for thou to me art like a dream
unbroken,' exclaimed the young leader of Israel, 'let me, let me breathe
my adoration. I offer thee not empire: I offer thee not wealth; I offer
thee not all the boundless gratification of magnificent fancy,--these
may be thine, but all these thou hast proved; but, if the passionate
affections of a spirit which never has yielded to the power of woman or
the might of man, if the deep devotion of the soul of Alroy, be deemed
an offering meet for the shrine of thy surpassing loveliness, I worship
thee, Schirene. I worship thee, I worship thee!
'Since I first gazed upon thee, since thy beauty first rose upon my
presence like a star bright with my destiny, in the still sanctuary
of my secret love, thy idol has ever rested. Then, then, I was a thing
whose very touch thy creed might count a contumely. I have avenged the
insults of long centuries in the best blood of Asia; I have returned,
in glory and in pride, to claim my ancient sceptre; but sweeter far than
vengeance, sweeter far than the quick gathering of my sacred tribes, the
rush of triumph and the blaze of empire, is this brief moment of adoring
love, wherein I pour the passion of my life!
'O my soul, my life, my very being! thou art silent, but thy silence is
sweeter than others' speech. Yield, yield thee, dear Schirene, yield to
thy suppliant! Thy faith, thy father's faith, thy native customs, these,
these shall be respected, beauteous lady! Pharaoh's daughter yielded her
dusky beauty to my great ancestor. Thy face is like the bright inspiring
day! Let it not be said that the daughter of the Nile shared Israel's
crown, the daughter of the Tigris spurned our sceptre. I am not Solomon,
but I am one that, were Schirene the partner of my throne, would
make his glowing annals read like a wearisome and misty tale to our
surpassing lustre!'
He ceased, the princess turned her hitherto hidden countenance, and
bowed it on his heart. 'O Alroy!' she exclaimed, 'I have no creed, no
country, no life, but thee!'
'The king is late to-day.'
'Is it true, Asriel, there is an express from Hamadan?'
'Of no moment, Ithamar. I have private letters from Abner. All is
quiet.'
''Tis much past the hour. When do you depart, Scherirah?'
'The troops are ready. I wait orders. This morning's council will
perchance decide.'
'This morning's council is devoted to the settlement of the civil
affairs of the capital,' remarked Jabaster.
'Indeed!' said Asriel. 'Is your report prepared, Jabaster?'
''Tis here,' replied the high priest. 'The Hebrew legislator requires
but little musing to shape his order. He has a model which time cannot
destroy, nor thought improve.'
Ithamar and Asriel exchanged significant glances. Scherirah looked
solemn. There was a pause, which was broken by Asriel.
''Tis a noble city, this Bagdad. I have not yet visited your quarters,
Jabaster. You are well placed.'
'As it may be. I hope we shall not tarry here long. The great point is
still not achieved.'
'How far is it to the holy city?' enquired Scherirah.
'A month's march,' replied Jabaster.
'And when you get there?' enquired Ithamar.
'You may fight with the Franks,' replied Asriel.
'Jabaster, how large is Jerusalem?' enquired Ithamar. 'Is it true, as
I have sometimes heard, that it is not bigger than the serail here,
gardens and all?'
'Its glory hath departed,' replied the high priest; 'the bricks have
fallen, but we will rebuild with marble; and Zion, that is now without
the Christian walls, shall yet sparkle, as in the olden time, with
palaces and pavilions.'
A flourish of trumpets, the portals flew open, and Alroy entered,
leaning on the arm of the Envoy of Bagdad.
'Valiant leaders,' said Alroy to the astonished chieftains, 'in this
noble stranger, you see one like yourselves entrusted with my unbounded
confidence. Jabaster, behold thy brother!'
'Honain! art _thou_ Honain?' exclaimed the pontiff starting from his
seat. 'I have a thousand messengers after thee.' With a countenance
alternately pallid with surprise and burning with affection, Jabaster
embraced his brother, and, overpowered with emotion, hid his face on his
shoulder.
'Sire,' at length exclaimed the high priest, in a low and tremulous
voice, 'I must pray your pardon that for an instant in this character
I have indulged in any other thoughts than those that may concern your
welfare. Tis past: and you, who know all, will forgive me.'
'All that respects Jabaster must concern my welfare. He is the pillar of
my empire;' and holding forth his hand, Alroy placed the high priest on
his right. 'Scherirah, you depart this eve.'
The rough captain bowed in silence.
'What is this?' continued Alroy, as Jabaster offered him a scroll. 'Ah!
your report. "Order of the Tribes," "Service of the Levites," "Princes
of the People," "Elders of Israel!" The day may come when this may
be effected. At present, Jabaster, we must be moderate, and content
ourselves with arrangements which may ensure that order shall be
maintained, property respected, and justice administered. Is it true
that a gang has rifled a mosque?'
'Sire! of that I would speak. They are no plunderers, but men, perhaps
too zealous, who have read and who have remembered that "Ye shall
utterly destroy all the places wherein the nations which ye shall
possess, served their gods upon the high mountains, and upon the
hill, and under every green tree. And ye shall overthrow their altars,
and----"'
'Jabaster, is this a synagogue? Come I to a council of valiant statesmen
or dreaming Rabbis? For a thousand years we have been quoting the laws
we dared not practise. Is it with such aid that we captured Nishapur and
crossed the Tigris? Valiant, wise Jabaster, thou art worthy of better
things, and capable of all. I entreat thee, urge such matters for the
last time. Are these fellows in custody?'
'They were in custody. I have freed them.'
'Freed them! Hang them! Hang them in the most public grove. Is this the
way to make the Moslem a duteous subject? Jabaster! Israel honours
thee; and I, its chief, know that one more true, more valiant, or more
learned, crowds not around our standard; but I see, the caverns of the
Caucasus are not a school for empire.'
'Sire, I had humbly deemed the school for empire was the law of Moses.'
'Ay! adapted to these times.'
'Can aught divine be changed?'
'Am I as tall as Adam? If man, the crown, the rose of all this fair
creation, the most divine of all divine inventions, if Time have altered
even this choicest of all godlike works, why shall it spare a law made
but to rule his conduct? Good Jabaster, we must establish the throne of
Israel, that is my mission, and for the means, no matter how, or where.
Asriel, what news of Medad?'
'All is quiet between the Tigris and Euphrates. It would be better
to recall his division, which has been much harassed. I thought of
relieving him by Abidan.'
'I think so, too. We may as well keep Abidan out of the city. If the
truth were known, I'll wager some of his company plundered the mosque.
We must issue a proclamation on that subject. My good Jabaster, we'll
talk over these matters alone. At present I will leave you with your
brother. Scherirah, sup with me to-night; before you quit Asriel, come
with me to my cabinet.'
'I must see the king!'
'Holy priest, his highness has retired. It is impossible.'
'I must see the king. Worthy Pharez, I take all peril on myself.'
'Indeed his highness' orders are imperative. You cannot see him.'
'Knowest thou who I am?'
'One whom all pious Hebrews reverence.'
'I say I must see the king.'
'Indeed, indeed, holy Jabaster, it cannot be.'
'Shall Israel perish for a menial's place? Go to; I _will_ see him.'
'Nay! if you _will_, I'll struggle for my duty.'
'Touch not the Lord's anointed. Dog, you shall suffer for this!'
So saying, Jabaster threw aside Pharez, and, with the attendant clinging
to his robes, rushed into the royal chamber.
'What is all this?' exclaimed Alroy, starting from the divan. 'Jabaster!
Pharez, withdraw! How now, is Bagdad in insurrection?'
'Worse, much worse, Israel soon will be.'
'Ay!'
'My fatal brother has told me all, nor would I sleep, until I lifted up
my voice to save thee.'
'Am I in danger?'
'In the wilderness, when the broad desert quivered beneath thy trembling
feet, and the dark heavens poured down their burning torrents, thou wert
less so. In that hour of death, One guarded thee, who never forgets His
fond and faithful offspring, and now, when He has brought thee out of
the house of bondage; now, when thy fortunes, like a noble cedar, swell
in the air and shadow all the land; thou, the very leader of His people,
His chosen one, for whom He hath worked such marvels, thy heart is
turned from thy fathers' God, and hankers after strange abominations.'
Through the broad arch that led into the gardens of the serail, the
moonlight fell upon the tall figure and the upraised arm of the priest;
Alroy stood with folded arms at some distance, watching Jabaster as he
spoke, with a calm but searching glance. Suddenly he advanced with a
quick step, and, placing his hand upon Jabaster's arm, said, in a low,
enquiring tone, 'You are speaking of this marriage?'
'Of that which ruined Solomon.'
'Listen to me, Jabaster,' said Alroy, interrupting him, in a calm but
peremptory tone, 'I cannot forget that I am speaking to my master, as
well as to my friend. The Lord, who knoweth all things, hath deemed me
worthy of His mission. My fitness for this high and holy office was not
admitted without proof. A lineage, which none else could offer, mystic
studies shared by few, a mind that dared encounter all things, and a
frame that could endure most, these were my claims. But no more of this.
I have passed the great ordeal; the Lord of Hosts hath found me not
unworthy of His charge; I have established His ancient people; His
altars blaze with sacrifices; His priests are honoured, bear witness
thou, Jabaster, His omnipotent unity is declared. What wouldst thou
more?'
'All!'
'Then Moses knew you well. It is a stiff-necked people.'
'Sire, bear with me. If I speak in heat, I speak in zeal. You ask me
what I wish: my answer is, a national existence, which we have not. You
ask me what I wish: my answer is, the Land of Promise. You ask me what I
wish: my answer is, Jerusalem. You ask me what I wish: my answer is, the
Temple, all we have forfeited, all we have yearned after, all for
which we have fought, our beauteous country, our holy creed, our simple
manners, and our ancient customs.'
'Manners change with time and circumstances; customs may be observed
everywhere. The ephod on thy breast proves our faith; and, for a
country, is the Tigris less than Siloah, or the Euphrates inferior to
the Jordan?'
'Alas! alas! there was a glorious prime when Israel stood aloof from
other nations, a fair and holy thing that God had hallowed. We were
then a chosen family, a most peculiar people, set apart for God's entire
enjoyment. All about us was solemn, deep, and holy. We shunned the
stranger as an unclean thing that must defile our solitary sanctity,
and, keeping to ourselves and to our God, our lives flowed on in one
great solemn tide of deep religion, making the meanest of our multitude
feel greater than the kings of other lands. It was a glorious time: I
thought it had returned; but I awake from this, as other dreams.'
'We must leave off dreaming, good Jabaster, we must act. Were I, by any
chance, to fall into one of those reveries, with which I have often lost
the golden hours at Hamadan, or in our old cave, I should hear, some
fine morning, his Sultanship of Roum rattling at my gates.' Alroy smiled
as he spoke; he would willingly have introduced a lighter tone into the
dialogue, but the solemn countenance of the priest was not sympathetic
with his levity.
'My heart is full, and yet I cannot speak: the memory of the past
overpowers my thought. I had vainly deemed that my voice, inspired by
the soul of truth, might yet preserve him; and now I stand here in his
presence, silent and trembling, like a guilty thing. O, my prince! my
pupil!' said the priest, advancing, falling on his knee, and seizing the
robe of Alroy, 'by thy sacred lineage; by the sweet memory of thy ardent
youth, and our united studies, by all thy zealous thoughts, and solemn
musings, and glorious aspirations after fame; by all thy sufferings, and
by all thy triumphs, and chiefly by the name of that great God, who
hath elected thee his favoured child; by all the marvels of thy mighty
mission, I do adjure thee! Arise, Alroy, arise and rouse thyself. The
lure that snared thy fathers may trap thee, this Delilah may shear thy
mystic locks. Spirits like thee act not by halves. Once fall out from
the straight course before thee, and, though thou deemest 'tis but to
saunter 'mid the summer trees, soon thou wilt find thyself in the dark
depths of some infernal forest, where none may rescue thee!'
'What if I do inherit the eager blood of my great ancestor, at least
I hold his sceptre. Shall aught of earthly power prevail against the
supernatural sway of Heaven and Hades?'
'Sire, sire, the legend that came from Sinai is full of high
instruction. But shape thy conduct by its oracles, and all were well. It
says our people can be established only by him who rules them with the
rod of Solomon. Sire, when the Lord offered his pleasure to that mighty
king, thou knowest his deep discretion. Riches and length of days,
empire and vengeance, these were not the choice of one to whom all
accidents were proffered. The legend bears an inward spirit, as well
as an outward meaning. The capture of the prize was a wise test of thy
imperial fitness. Thou hast his sceptre, but, without his wisdom, 'tis
but a staff of cedar.'
'Hah! Art thou there? I am glad to see Jabaster politic. Hear me, my
friend. What my feelings be unto this royal lady, but little matters.
Let them pass, and let us view this question by the light wherein you
have placed it, the flame of policy and not of passion. I am no traitor
to the God of Israel, in whose name I have conquered, and in whose name
I shall rule; but thou art a learned doctor, thou canst inform us.
I have heard no mandate to yield my glorious empire for my meanest
province. I am Lord of Asia, so would I have my long posterity. Our
people are but a remnant, a feeble fraction of the teeming millions that
own my sway. What I hold I can defend; but my children may not inherit
the spirit of their sire. The Moslemin will recognise their rule with
readier hearts, when they remember that a daughter of their caliphs gave
them life. You see I too am politic, my good Jabaster!'
'The policy of the son of Kareah[67], 'twas fatal. He preferred Egypt
to Judah, and he suffered. Sire, the Lord hath blessed Judah: it is
His land. He would have it filled by His peculiar people, so that His
worship might ever flourish. For this He has, by many curious rites and
customs, marked us out from all other nations, so that we cannot, at the
same time, mingle with them and yet be true to Him. We must exist alone.
To preserve that loneliness is the great end and essence of our law.
What have we to do with Bagdad, or its people, where every instant we
must witness some violation of our statutes? Can we pray with them?
Can we eat with them? Alike in the highest duties, and the lowest
occupations of existence, we cannot mingle. From the altar of our God to
our domestic boards, we are alike separated from them. Sire, you may be
King of Bagdad, but you cannot, at the same time, be a Jew.'
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