Alroy
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Benjamin Disraeli >> Alroy
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'Alas! there is no one to guard my name. 'Twill be reviled; or worse,
'twill be forgotten.'
'Never! the memory of great actions never dies. The sun of glory, though
awhile obscured, will shine at last. And so, sweet brother, perchance
some poet, in some distant age, within whose veins our sacred blood may
flow, his fancy fired with the national theme, may strike his harp to
Alroy's wild career, and consecrate a name too long forgotten?'
'May love make thee a prophetess!' exclaimed Alroy, as he bent down his
head and embraced her. 'Do not tarry,' he whispered. ''Tis better that
we should part in this firm mood.'
She sprang from him, she clasped her hands. 'We will not part,' she
exclaimed, with energy; 'I will die with thee.'
'Blessed girl, be calm! Do not unman me.'
'I am calm. See! I do not weep. Not a tear, not a tear. They are all in
my heart.'
'Go, go, my Miriam, angel of light. Tarry no longer; I pray thee go. I
would not think of the past. Let all my mind be centred in the present.
Thy presence calls back our bygone days, and softens me too much. My
duty to my uncle. Go, dear one, go!'
'And leave thee, leave thee to----Oh! my David, thou hast seen, thou
hast heard----Honain?'
'No more; let not that accursed name profane those holy lips. Raise not
the demon in me.'
'I am silent. Yet 'tis madness! Oh! my brother, thou hast a fearful
trial.'
'The God of Israel is my refuge. He saved our fathers in the fiery
furnace. He will save me.'
'I am full of faith. I pray thee let me stay.'
'I would be silent; I would be alone. I cannot speak, Miriam. I ask one
favour, the last and dearest, from her who has never had a thought but
for my wishes; blessed being, leave me.'
'I go. O Alroy, farewell! Let me kiss you. Again, once more! Let me
kneel and bless you. Brother, beloved brother, great and glorious
brother, I am worthy of you: I will not weep. I am prouder in this dread
moment of your love than all your foes can be of their hard triumph!'
Beruna and Bathsheba received their mistress when she returned to her
chamber. They marked her desolate air. She was silent, pale, and cold.
They bore her to her couch, whereon she sat with a most listless and
unmeaning look; her quivering lips parted, her eyes fixed upon the
ground in vacant abstraction, and her arms languidly folded before
her. Beruna stole behind her, and supported her back with pillows, and
Bathsheba, unnoticed, wiped the slight foam from her mouth. Thus Miriam
remained for several hours, her faithful maidens in vain watching for
any indication of her self-consciousness.
Suddenly a trumpet sounded.
'What is that?' exclaimed Miriam, in a shrill voice, and looking up with
a distracted glance.
Neither of them answered, since they were aware that it betokened the
going forth of Alroy to his trial.
Miriam remained in the same posture, and with the same expression of
wild inquiry. Another trumpet sounded, and after that a shout of the
people. Then she raised up her arms to heaven, and bowed her head, and
died.
'Has the second trumpet sounded?'
'To be sure: run, run for a good place. Where is Abdallah?'
'Selling sherbet in the square. We shall find him. Has Alroy come
forth?'
'Yes! he goes the other way. We shall be too late. Only think of
Abdallah selling sherbet!'
'Father, let me go?'
'You will be in the way; you are too young; you will see nothing. Little
boys should stay at home.'
'No, they should not. I will go. You can put me on your shoulders.'
'Where is Ibrahim? Where is Ali? We must all keep together. We shall
have to fight for it. I wish Abdallah were here. Only think of his
selling sherbet!'
'Keep straight forward. That is right. It is no use going that way. The
bazaar is shut. There is Fakreddin, there is Osman Effendi. He has got a
new page.'
'So he has, I declare; and a very pretty boy too.'
'Father, will they impale Alroy alive?'
'I am sure I do not know. Never ask questions, my dear. Little boys
never should.'
'Yes, they should. I hope they will impale him alive. I shall be so
disappointed if they do not.'
'Keep to the left. Dash through the Butchers' bazaar: that is open. All
right, all right. Did you push me, sir?'
'Suppose I did push you, sir, what then, sir?'
'Come along, don't quarrel. That is a Karasmian. They think they are to
do what they like. We are five to one, to be sure, but still there is
nothing like peace and quiet. I wish Abdallah were here with his stout
shoulders. Only think of his selling sherbet!'
The Square of the Grand Mosque, the same spot where Jabaster met Abidan
by appointment, was the destined scene of the pretended trial of Alroy.
Thither by break of day the sight-loving thousands of the capital had
repaired. In the centre of the square, a large circle was described by
a crimson cord, and guarded by Karasmian soldiers. Around this the
swelling multitude pressed like the gathering waves of ocean, but,
whenever the tide set in with too great an impulse, the savage
Karasmians appeased the ungovernable element by raising their
battle-axes, and brutally breaking the crowns and belabouring the
shoulders of their nearest victims. As the morning advanced, the
terraces of the surrounding houses, covered with awnings, were crowded
with spectators. All Bagdad was astir. Since the marriage of Alroy,
there had never been such a merry morn as the day of his impalement.
At one end of the circle was erected a magnificent throne. Half way
between the throne and the other end of the circle, but further back,
stood a company of negro eunuchs, hideous to behold, who, clothed in
white, and armed with various instruments of torture, surrounded the
enormous stakes, tall, thin, and sharp, that were prepared for the final
ceremony.
The flourish of trumpets, the clash of cymbals, and the wild beat of the
tambour, announced the arrival of Alp Arslan from the Serail. An avenue
to the circle had been preserved through the multitude. The royal
procession might be traced as it wound through the populace, by the
sparkling and undulating line of plumes of honour, and the dazzling
forms of the waving streamers, on which were inscribed the names of
Allah and the Prophet. Suddenly, amid the bursts of music, and
the shouts of the spectators, many of whom on the terraces humbled
themselves on their knees, Alp Arslan mounted the throne, around which
ranged themselves his chief captains, and a deputation of the Mullahs,
and Imams, and Cadis, and other principal personages of the city.
The King of Karasme was tall in stature, and somewhat meagre in form. He
was fair, or rather sandy-coloured, with a red beard, and blue eyes,
and a flat nose. The moment he was seated, a trumpet was heard in the
distance from an opposite quarter, and it was soon understood throughout
the assembly that the great captive was about to appear.
A band of Karasmian guards first entered the circle, and ranged
themselves round the cord, with their backs to the spectators. After
them came fifty of the principal Hebrew prisoners, with their hands
bound behind them, but evidently more for form than security. To these
succeeded a small covered wagon drawn by mules, and surrounded by
guards, from which was led forth, his legs relieved from their manacles,
but his hands still in heavy chains, David Alroy!
A universal buzz of blended sympathy, and wonder, and fear, and triumph
arose, throughout the whole assembly. Each man involuntarily stirred.
The vast populace moved to and fro in agitation. His garments soiled and
tattered, his head bare, and his long locks drawn off his forehead, pale
and thin, but still unsubdued, the late conqueror and Caliph of Bagdad
threw around a calm and imperial glance upon those who were but recently
his slaves.
The trumpets again sounded, order was called, and a crier announced that
his Highness Alp Arslan, the mighty Sovereign of Karasme, their Lord,
Protector, and King, and avenger of Allah and the Prophet, against all
rebellious and evil-minded Jews and Giaours, was about to speak. There
was a deep and universal silence, and then sounded a voice high as the
eagle's in a storm.
'David Alroy!' said his conqueror, 'you are brought hither this day
neither for trial nor for judgment. Captured in arms against your
rightful sovereign, you are of course prepared, like other rebels, for
your doom. Such a crime alone deserves the most avenging punishments.
What then do you merit, who are loaded with a thousand infamies, who
have blasphemed Allah and the Prophet, and, by the practice of magic
arts and the aid of the infernal powers, have broken the peace of
kingdoms, occasioned infinite bloodshed, outraged all law, religion, and
decency, misled the minds of your deluded votaries, and especially by a
direct compact with Eblis, by horrible spells and infamous incantations,
captivated the senses of an illustrious Princess, heretofore famous for
the practice of every virtue, and a descendant of the Prophet himself.
'Behold these stakes of palm-wood, sharper than a lance! The most
terrible retribution that human ingenuity has devised for the guilty
awaits you. But your crimes baffle all human vengeance. Look forward
for your satisfactory reward to those infernal powers by whose dark
co-operation you have occasioned such disasters. Your punishment is
public, that all men may know that the guilty never escape, and that,
if your heart be visited by the slightest degree of compunction for
your numerous victims, you may this day, by the frank confession of the
irresistible means by which you seduced them, exonerate your victims
from the painful and ignominious end with which, through your influence
they are now threatened. Mark, O assembled people, the infinite mercy
of the Vicegerent of Allah! He allows the wretched man to confess his
infamy, and to save by his confession, his unfortunate victims. I have
said it. Glory to Allah!'
And the people shouted, 'He has said it, he has said it! Glory to Allah!
He is great, he is great! and Mahomed is his prophet!'
'Am I to speak?' enquired Alroy, when the tumult had subsided. The
melody of his voice commanded universal attention.
Alp Arslan nodded his head in approbation.
'King of Karasme! I stand here accused of many crimes. Now hear my
answers. 'Tis said I am a rebel. My answer is, I am a Prince as thou
art, of a sacred race, and far more ancient. I owe fealty to no one but
to my God, and if I have broken that I am yet to learn that Alp Arslan
is the avenger of His power. As for thy God and Prophet, I know not
them, though they acknowledge mine. 'Tis well understood in every
polity, my people stand apart from other nations, and ever will, in
spite of suffering. So much for blasphemy; I am true to a deep faith
of ancient days, which even the sacred writings of thy race still
reverence. For the arts magical I practised, and the communion with
infernal powers 'tis said I held, know, King, I raised the standard of
my faith by the direct commandment of my God, the great Creator of the
universe. What need of magic, then? What need of paltering with petty
fiends, when backed by His omnipotence? My magic was His inspiration.
Need I prove why, with such aid, my people crowded round me? The time
will come when from out our ancient seed, a worthier chief will rise,
not to be quelled even by thee, Sire.
'For that unhappy Princess of whom something was said (with no great
mercy, as it seemed to me), that lady is my wife, my willing wife; the
daughter of a Caliph, still my wife, although your stakes may make her
soon a widow. I stand not here to account for female fancies. Believe
me, Sire, she gave her beauty to my raptured arms with no persuasions
but such as became a soldier and a king. It may seem strange to thee
upon thy throne that the flower of Asia should be plucked by one so vile
as I am. Remember, the accidents of Fortune are most strange. I was not
always what I am. We have met before. There was a day, and that too
not long since, when, but for the treachery of some knaves I mark here,
Fortune seemed half inclined to reverse our fates. Had I conquered, I
trust I should have shown more mercy.'
The King of Karasme was the most passionate of men. He had made a speech
according to the advice and instructions of his councillors, who had
assured him that the tone he adopted would induce Alroy to confess all
that he required, and especially to vindicate the reputation of the
Princess Schirene, who had already contrived to persuade Alp Arslan that
she was the most injured of her sex. The King of Karasme stamped thrice
on the platform of his throne, and exclaimed with great fire, 'By my
beard, ye have deceived me! The dog has confessed nothing!'
All the councillors and chief captains, and the Mullahs, and the
Imams, and the Cadis, and the principal personages of the city were
in consternation. They immediately consulted together, and, after much
disputation, agreed that, before they proceeded to extremities, it was
expedient to prove what the prisoner would not confess. A venerable
Sheikh, clothed in flowing robes of green, with a long white beard,
and a turban like the tower of Babel, then rose. His sacred reputation
procured silence while he himself delivered a long prayer, supplicating
Allah and the Prophet to confound all blaspheming Jews and Giaours, and
to pour forth words of truth from the mouths of religious men. And
then the venerable Sheikh summoned all witnesses against David Alroy.
Immediately advanced Kisloch the Kourd, to whom, being placed in an
eminent position, the Cadi of Bagdad drawing forth a scroll from his
velvet bag, read a deposition, wherein the worthy Kisloch stated that he
first became acquainted with the prisoner, David Alroy, in some ruins in
the desert, the haunt of banditti, of whom Alroy was the chief; that
he, Kisloch, was a reputable merchant, and that his caravan had been
plundered by these robbers, and he himself captured; that, on the second
night of his imprisonment, Alroy appeared to him in the likeness of a
lion, and on the third, of a bull with fiery eyes; that he was in the
habit of constantly transforming himself; that he frequently raised
spirits; that, at length, on one terrible night, Eblis himself came in
great procession, and presented Alroy with the sceptre of Solomon Ben
Daoud; and that the next day Alroy raised his standard, and soon after
massacred Hassan Subah and his Seljuks, by the visible aid of many
terrible demons.
Calidas the Indian, the Guebre, and the Negro, and a few congenial
spirits, were not eclipsed in the satisfactory character of their
evidence by the luminous testimony of Kisloch the Kourd. The
irresistible career of the Hebrew conqueror was undeniably accounted
for, and the honour of Moslem arms and the purity of Moslem faith were
established in their pristine glory and all their unsullied reputation.
David Alroy was proved to be a child of Eblis, a sorcerer, and a dealer
in charms and magical poisons. The people listened with horror and with
indignation. They would have burst through the guards and torn him in
pieces, had not they been afraid of the Karasmian battle-axes. So they
consoled themselves with the prospect of his approaching tortures.
The Cadi of Bagdad bowed himself before the King of Karasme, and
whispered at a respectful distance in the royal ear. The trumpets
sounded, the criers enjoined silence, and the royal lips again moved.
'Hear, O ye people, and be wise. The chief Cadi is about to read
the deposition of the royal Princess Schirene, chief victim of the
sorcerer.'
And the deposition was read, which stated that David Alroy possessed,
and wore next to his heart, a talisman, given him by Eblis, the virtue
of which was so great that, if once it were pressed to the heart of any
woman, she was no longer mistress of her will. Such had been the unhappy
fate of the daughter of the Commander of the Faithful.
'Is it so written?' enquired the captive.
'It is so written,' replied the Cadi, 'and bears the imperial signature
of the Princess.'
'It is a forgery.'
The King of Karasme started from his throne, and in his rage nearly
descended its steps. His face was like scarlet, his beard was like a
flame. A favourite minister ventured gently to restrain the royal robe.
'Kill the dog on the spot,' muttered the King of Karasme.
'The Princess is herself here,' said the Cadi, 'to bear witness to the
spells of which she was a victim, but from which, by the power of Allah
and the Prophet, she is now released.'
Alroy started!
'Advance, royal Princess,' said the Cadi, 'and, if the deposition thou
hast heard be indeed true, condescend to hold up the imperial hand that
adorned it with thy signature.'
A band of eunuchs near the throne gave way; a female figure veiled to
her feet appeared. She held up her hand amid the breathless agitation of
the whole assembly; the ranks of the eunuchs again closed; a shriek was
heard, and the veiled figure disappeared.
'I am ready for thy tortures, King,' said Alroy, in a tone of deep
depression. His firmness appeared to have deserted him. His eyes were
cast upon the ground. Apparently he was buried in profound thought, or
had delivered himself up to despair.
'Prepare the stakes,' said Alp Arslan.
An involuntary, but universal, shudder might be distinguished through
the whole assembly.
A slave advanced and offered Alroy a scroll. He recognised the Nubian
who belonged to Honain. His former minister informed him that he was
at hand, that the terms he offered in the dungeon might even yet be
granted; that if Alroy would, as he doubted not, as he entreated him,
accept them, he was to place the scroll in his bosom, but that if
he were still inexorable, still madly determined on a horrible and
ignominious end, he was to tear the scroll and throw it in to the arena.
Instantly Alroy took the scroll, and with great energy tore it into a
thousand pieces. A puff of wind carried the fragments far and wide.
The mob fought for these last memorials of David Alroy, and this little
incident occasioned a great confusion.
In the meantime the negroes prepared the instruments of torture and of
death.
'The obstinacy of this Jewish dog makes me mad,' said the King of
Karasme to his courtiers. 'I will hold some parley with him before he
dies.' The favourite minister entreated his sovereign to be content;
but the royal beard grew so red, and the royal eyes flashed forth such
terrible sparks of fire, that even the favourite minister at length gave
way.
The trumpet sounded, the criers called silence, and the voice of Alp
Arslan was again heard.
'Thou dog, dost see what is preparing for thee? Dost know what awaits
thee in the halls of thy master Eblis? Can a Jew be influenced even by
false pride? Is not life sweet? Is it not better to be my slipper-bearer
than to be impaled?'
'Magnanimous Alp Arslan,' replied Alroy in a tone of undisguised
contempt; 'thinkest thou that any torture can be equal to the
recollection that I have been conquered by thee?'
'By my beard, he mocks me!' exclaimed the Karasmian monarch, 'he defies
me! Touch not my robe. I will parley with him. Ye see no farther than a
hooded hawk, ye sons of a blind mother. This is a sorcerer; he hath yet
some master spell; he will yet save himself. He will fly into the air,
or sink into the earth. He laughs at our tortures.' The King of Karasme
precipitately descended the steps of his throne, followed by his
favourite minister, and his councillors, and chief captains, and the
Cadis, and the Mullahs, and the Imams, and the principal personages of
the city.
'Sorcerer!' exclaimed Alp Arslan, 'insolent sorcerer! base son of a base
mother! dog of dogs! dost thou defy us? Does thy master Eblis whisper
hope? Dost thou laugh at our punishments? Wilt thou fly into the
air? wilt thou sink into the earth? eh, eh? Is it so, is it so?' The
breathless monarch ceased, from the exhaustion of passion. He tore his
beard out by the roots, he stamped with uncontrollable rage.
'Thou art wiser than thy councillors, royal Arslan; I do defy thee.
My master, although not Eblis, has not deserted me. I laugh at thy
punishments. Thy tortures I despise. I shall both sink into the earth
and mount into the air. Art thou answered?'
'By my beard,' exclaimed the enraged Arslan, 'I am answered. Let Eblis
save thee if he can;' and the King of Karasme, the most famous master
of the sabre in Asia, drew his blade like lightning from its sheath,
and took off the head of Alroy at a stroke. It fell, and, as it fell, a
smile of triumphant derision seemed to play upon the dying features
of the hero, and to ask of his enemies, 'Where now are all your
tortures?'[82]
NOTES TO ALROY.
[Footnote 1: page 4.--_We shall yet see an ass mount a ladder_.--Hebrew
proverb.]
[Footnote 2: page 12.--Our walls are hung with flowers you love. It is
the custom of the Hebrews in many of their festivals, especially in
the feast of the Tabernacle, to hang the walls of their chambers with
garlands of flowers.]
[Footnote 3: page 13.--_The traditionary tomb of Esther and Mordecai_.
'I accompanied the priest through the town over much ruin and rubbish
to an enclosed piece of ground, rather more elevated than any in its
immediate vicinity. In the centre was the Jewish tomb-a square building
of brick, of a mosque-like form, with a rather elongated dome at the
top. The door is in the ancient sepulchral fashion of the country, very
small, consisting of a single stone of great thickness, and turning on
its own pivots from one side. Its key is always in possession of
the eldest of the Jews resident at Hamadan. Within the tomb are two
sarcophagi, made of a very dark wood, carved with great intricacy of
pattern and richness of twisted ornament, with a line of inscription in
Hebrew,' &c.--_Sir R. K. Porter's Travels in Persia, vol. ii. p. 107_.]
[Footnote 4: page 16.--_A marble fountain, the richly-carved cupola
supported by twisted columns_. The vast magnificence and elaborate
fancy of the tombs and fountains is a remarkable feature of Oriental
architecture. The Eastern nations devote to these structures the richest
and the most durable materials. While the palaces of Asiatic monarchs
are in general built only of wood, painted in fresco, the rarest marbles
are dedicated to the sepulchre and the spring, which are often richly
gilt, and adorned even with precious stones.]
[Footnote 5: page 17.--_The chorus of our maidens._ It is still the
custom for the women in the East to repair at sunset in company to
the fountain for their supply of water. In Egypt, you may observe at
twilight the women descending the banks of the Nile in procession from
every town and village. Their graceful drapery, their long veils not
concealing their flashing eyes, and the classical forms of their vases,
render this a most picturesque and agreeable spectacle.]
[Footnote 6: page 24.--I describe the salty deserts of Persia, a
locality which my tale required; but I have ventured to introduce here,
and in the subsequent pages, the principal characteristics of the great
Arabian deserts: the mirage, the simoom, the gazelle, the oasis.]
[Footnote 7: page 28.--_Jackals and marten-cat._ At nightfall,
especially in Asia Minor, the lonely horseman will often meet the
jackals on their evening prowl. Their moaning is often heard during the
night. I remember, when becalmed off Troy, the most singular screams
were heard at intervals throughout the night, from a forest on the
opposite shore, which a Greek sailor assured me proceeded from a
marten-cat, which had probably found the carcass of some horse.]
[Footnote 8: page 30. Elburz, or Elborus, the highest range of the
Caucasus.]
[Footnote 9: page 31.--_A circular and brazen table, sculptured with
strange characters and mysterious figures; near it was a couch on which
lay several volumes._ A cabalistic table, perhaps a zodiac. The
books were doubtless _Sepher Happeliah_, the Book of Wonders; _Sepher
Hakkaneh_, the Book of the Pen; and _Sepher Habbahir_, the Book of
Light. This last unfolds the most sublime mysteries.]
[Footnote 10: page 32.--_Answered the Cabalist._ 'Simeon ben Jochai,
who flourished in the second century, and was a disciple of Akibha, is
called by the Jews the Prince of the Cabalists. After the suppression of
the sedition in which his master had been so unsuccessful, he concealed
himself in a cave, where, according to the Jewish historians, he
received revelations, which he after-wards delivered to his disciples,
and which they carefully preserved in the book called Sohar. His master,
Akibha, who lived soon after the destruction of Jerusalem, was the
author of the famous book Jezirah, quoted by the Jews as of Divine
authority. When Akibha was far advanced in life, appeared the famous
impostor Barchochebas, who, under the character of the Messiah, promised
to deliver his countrymen from the power of the Emperor Adrian. Akibha
espoused his cause, and afforded him the protection and support of his
name, and an army of two hundred thousand men repaired to his standard.
The Romans at first slighted the insurrection; but when they found the
insurgents spread slaughter and rapine wherever they came, they sent out
a military force against them. At. first, the issue of the contest
was doubtful. The Messiah himself was not taken until the end of four
years.'--Enfield, _Philosophy of the Jews_, vol. ii.
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