The Talisman

  CHAPTER XXIII.

  'Mid these wild scenes Enchantment waves her hand, To change the face of the mysterious land; Till the bewildering scenes around us seem The Vain productions of a feverish dream. ASTOLPHO, A ROMANCE.

  When the Knight of the Leopard awoke from his long and profound repose,he found himself in circumstances so different from those in whichhe had lain down to sleep, that he doubted whether he was not stilldreaming, or whether the scene had not been changed by magic. Instead ofthe damp grass, he lay on a couch of more than Oriental luxury; andsome kind hands had, during his repose, stripped him of the cassock ofchamois which he wore under his armour, and substituted a night-dress ofthe finest linen and a loose gown of silk. He had been canopied only bythe palm-trees of the desert, but now he lay beneath a silken pavilion,which blazed with the richest colours of the Chinese loom, while aslight curtain of gauze, displayed around his couch, was calculated toprotect his repose from the insects, to which he had, ever since hisarrival in these climates, been a constant and passive prey. He lookedaround, as if to convince himself that he was actually awake; and allthat fell beneath his eye partook of the splendour of his dormitory.A portable bath of cedar, lined with silver, was ready for use, andsteamed with the odours which had been used in preparing it. On a smallstand of ebony beside the couch stood a silver vase, containing sherbetof the most exquisite quality, cold as snow, and which the thirst thatfollowed the use of the strong narcotic rendered peculiarly delicious.Still further to dispel the dregs of intoxication which it had leftbehind, the knight resolved to use the bath, and experienced in doingso a delightful refreshment. Having dried himself with napkins of theIndian wool, he would willingly have resumed his own coarse garments,that he might go forth to see whether the world was as much changedwithout as within the place of his repose. These, however, werenowhere to be seen, but in their place he found a Saracen dress ofrich materials, with sabre and poniard, and all befitting an emirof distinction. He was able to suggest no motive to himself for thisexuberance of care, excepting a suspicion that these attentions wereintended to shake him in his religious profession--as indeed it was wellknown that the high esteem of the European knowledge and courage madethe Soldan unbounded in his gifts to those who, having become hisprisoners, had been induced to take the turban. Sir Kenneth, therefore,crossing himself devoutly, resolved to set all such snares at defiance;and that he might do so the more firmly, conscientiously determined toavail himself as moderately as possible of the attentions and luxuriesthus liberally heaped upon him. Still, however, he felt his headoppressed and sleepy; and aware, too, that his undress was not fit forappearing abroad, he reclined upon the couch, and was again locked inthe arms of slumber.

  But this time his rest was not unbroken, for he was awakened by thevoice of the physician at the door of the tent, inquiring after hishealth, and whether he had rested sufficiently. "May I enter your tent?"he concluded, "for the curtain is drawn before the entrance."

  "The master," replied Sir Kenneth, determined to show that he was notsurprised into forgetfulness of his own condition, "need demand nopermission to enter the tent of the slave."

  "But if I come not as a master?" said El Hakim, still without entering.

  "The physician," answered the knight, "hath free access to the bedsideof his patient."

  "Neither come I now as a physician," replied El Hakim; "and therefore Istill request permission, ere I come under the covering of thy tent."

  "Whoever comes as a friend," said Sir Kenneth, "and such thou hasthitherto shown thyself to me, the habitation of the friend is ever opento him."

  "Yet once again," said the Eastern sage, after the periphrastical mannerof his countrymen, "supposing that I come not as a friend?"

  "Come as thou wilt," said the Scottish knight, somewhat impatient ofthis circumlocution; "be what thou wilt--thou knowest well it is neitherin my power nor my inclination to refuse thee entrance."

  "I come, then," said El Hakim, "as your ancient foe, but a fair and agenerous one."

  He entered as he spoke; and when he stood before the bedside ofSir Kenneth, the voice continued to be that of Adonbec, the Arabianphysician, but the form, dress, and features were those of Ilderimof Kurdistan, called Sheerkohf. Sir Kenneth gazed upon him as ifhe expected the vision to depart, like something created by hisimagination.

  "Doth it so surprise thee," said Ilderim, "and thou an approved warrior,to see that a soldier knows somewhat of the art of healing? I say tothee, Nazarene, that an accomplished cavalier should know how to dresshis steed, as well as how to ride him; how to forge his sword upon thestithy, as well as how to use it in battle; how to burnish his arms, aswell as how to wear them; and, above all, how to cure wounds, as well ashow to inflict them."

  As he spoke, the Christian knight repeatedly shut his eyes, and whilethey remained closed, the idea of the Hakim, with his long, flowingdark robes, high Tartar cap, and grave gestures was present tohis imagination; but so soon as he opened them, the graceful andrichly-gemmed turban, the light hauberk of steel rings entwisted withsilver, which glanced brilliantly as it obeyed every inflection of thebody, the features freed from their formal expression, less swarthy, andno longer shadowed by the mass of hair (now limited to a well-trimmedbeard), announced the soldier and not the sage.

  "Art thou still so much surprised," said the Emir, "and hast thou walkedin the world with such little observance, as to wonder that men are notalways what they seem? Thou thyself--art thou what thou seemest?"

  "No, by Saint Andrew!" exclaimed the knight; "for to the whole Christiancamp I seem a traitor, and I know myself to be a true though an erringman."

  "Even so I judged thee," said Ilderim; "and as we had eaten salttogether, I deemed myself bound to rescue thee from death and contumely.But wherefore lie you still on your couch, since the sun is high inthe heavens? or are the vestments which my sumpter-camels have affordedunworthy of your wearing?"

  "Not unworthy, surely, but unfitting for it," replied the Scot. "Giveme the dress of a slave, noble Ilderim, and I will don it with pleasure;but I cannot brook to wear the habit of the free Eastern warrior withthe turban of the Moslem."

  "Nazarene," answered the Emir, "thy nation so easily entertain suspicionthat it may well render themselves suspected. Have I not told thee thatSaladin desires no converts saving those whom the holy Prophet shalldispose to submit themselves to his law? violence and bribery arealike alien to his plan for extending the true faith. Hearken to me,my brother. When the blind man was miraculously restored to sight, thescales dropped from his eyes at the Divine pleasure. Think'st thou thatany earthly leech could have removed them? No. Such mediciner might havetormented the patient with his instruments, or perhaps soothed him withhis balsams and cordials, but dark as he was must the darkened man haveremained; and it is even so with the blindness of the understanding. Ifthere be those among the Franks who, for the sake of worldly lucre, haveassumed the turban of the Prophet, and followed the laws of Islam, withtheir own consciences be the blame. Themselves sought out the bait; itwas not flung to them by the Soldan. And when they shall hereafter besentenced, as hypocrites, to the lowest gulf of hell, below Christianand Jew, magician and idolater, and condemned to eat the fruit of thetree Yacoun, which is the heads of demons, to themselves, not to theSoldan, shall their guilt and their punishment be attributed. Whereforewear, without doubt or scruple, the vesture prepared for you, since, ifyou proceed to the camp of Saladin, your own native dress will exposeyou to troublesome observation, and perhaps to insult."

  "IF I go to the camp of Saladin?" said Sir Kenneth, repeating the wordsof the Emir; "alas! am I a free agent, and rather must I NOT go whereveryour pleasure carries me?"

  "Thine own will may guide thine own motions," said the Emir, "as freelyas the wind which moveth the dust of the desert in what direction itchooseth. The noble enemy who met and well-nigh mastered my sword cannotbecome my slave like him who has crouched beneath it. If wealth andpower would tempt thee to j
oin our people, I could ensure thy possessingthem; but the man who refused the favours of the Soldan when the axe wasat his head, will not, I fear, now accept them, when I tell him he hashis free choice."

  "Complete your generosity, noble Emir," said Sir Kenneth, "by forbearingto show me a mode of requital which conscience forbids me to complywith. Permit me rather to express, as bound in courtesy, my gratitudefor this most chivalrous bounty, this undeserved generosity."

  "Say not undeserved," replied the Emir Ilderim. "Was it not through thyconversation, and thy account of the beauties which grace the courtof the Melech Ric, that I ventured me thither in disguise, and therebyprocured a sight the most blessed that I have ever enjoyed--that I evershall enjoy, until the glories of Paradise beam on my eyes?"

  "I understand you not," said Sir Kenneth, colouring alternately, andturning pale, as one who felt that the conversation was taking a tone ofthe most painful delicacy.

  "Not understand me!" exclaimed the Emir. "If the sight I saw in the tentof King Richard escaped thine observation, I will account it duller thanthe edge of a buffoon's wooden falchion. True, thou wert under sentenceof death at the time; but, in my case, had my head been dropping fromthe trunk, the last strained glances of my eyeballs had distinguishedwith delight such a vision of loveliness, and the head would have rolleditself towards the incomparable houris, to kiss with its quiveringlips the hem of their vestments. Yonder royalty of England, who forher superior loveliness deserves to be Queen of the universe--whattenderness in her blue eye, what lustre in her tresses of dishevelledgold! By the tomb of the Prophet, I scarce think that the houri whoshall present to me the diamond cup of immortality will deserve so warma caress!"

  "Saracen," said Sir Kenneth sternly, "thou speakest of the wife ofRichard of England, of whom men think not and speak not as a woman to bewon, but as a Queen to be revered."

  "I cry you mercy," said the Saracen. "I had forgotten your superstitiousveneration for the sex, which you consider rather fit to be wondered atand worshipped than wooed and possessed. I warrant, since thou exactestsuch profound respect to yonder tender piece of frailty, whose everymotion, step, and look bespeaks her very woman, less than absoluteadoration must not be yielded to her of the dark tresses and noblyspeaking eye. SHE indeed, I will allow, hath in her noble port andmajestic mien something at once pure and firm; yet even she, whenpressed by opportunity and a forward lover, would, I warrant thee, thankhim in her heart rather for treating her as a mortal than as a goddess."

  "Respect the kinswoman of Coeur de Lion!" said Sir Kenneth, in a tone ofunrepressed anger.

  "Respect her!" answered the Emir in scorn; "by the Caaba, and if I do,it shall be rather as the bride of Saladin."

  "The infidel Soldan is unworthy to salute even a spot that has beenpressed by the foot of Edith Plantagenet!" exclaimed the Christian,springing from his couch.

  "Ha! what said the Giaour?" exclaimed the Emir, laying his hand on hisponiard hilt, while his forehead glowed like glancing copper, and themuscles of his lips and cheeks wrought till each curl of his beardseemed to twist and screw itself, as if alive with instinctive wrath.But the Scottish knight, who had stood the lion-anger of Richard, wasunappalled at the tigerlike mood of the chafed Saracen.

  "What I have said," continued Sir Kenneth, with folded arms anddauntless look, "I would, were my hands loose, maintain on foot orhorseback against all mortals; and would hold it not the most memorabledeed of my life to support it with my good broadsword against a scoreof these sickles and bodkins," pointing at the curved sabre and smallponiard of the Emir.

  The Saracen recovered his composure as the Christian spoke, so far asto withdraw his hand from his weapon, as if the motion had been withoutmeaning, but still continued in deep ire.

  "By the sword of the Prophet," he said, "which is the key both of heavenand hell, he little values his own life, brother, who uses the languagethou dost! Believe me, that were thine hands loose, as thou term'st it,one single true believer would find them so much to do that thou wouldstsoon wish them fettered again in manacles of iron."

  "Sooner would I wish them hewn off by the shoulder-blades!" replied SirKenneth.

  "Well. Thy hands are bound at present," said the Saracen, in a moreamicable tone--"bound by thine own gentle sense of courtesy; nor haveI any present purpose of setting them at liberty. We have proved eachother's strength and courage ere now, and we may again meet in a fairfield--and shame befall him who shall be the first to part from hisfoeman! But now we are friends, and I look for aid from thee rather thanhard terms or defiances."

  "We ARE friends," repeated the knight; and there was a pause, duringwhich the fiery Saracen paced the tent, like the lion, who, afterviolent irritation, is said to take that method of cooling thedistemperature of his blood, ere he stretches himself to repose in hisden. The colder European remained unaltered in posture and aspect; yethe, doubtless, was also engaged in subduing the angry feelings which hadbeen so unexpectedly awakened.

  "Let us reason of this calmly," said the Saracen. "I am a physician, asthou knowest, and it is written that he who would have his wound curedmust not shrink when the leech probes and tests it. Seest thou, I amabout to lay my finger on the sore. Thou lovest this kinswoman of theMelech Ric. Unfold the veil that shrouds thy thoughts--or unfold it notif thou wilt, for mine eyes see through its coverings."

  "I LOVED her," answered Sir Kenneth, after a pause, "as a man lovesHeaven's grace, and sued for her favour like a sinner for Heaven'spardon."

  "And you love her no longer?" said the Saracen.

  "Alas," answered Sir Kenneth, "I am no longer worthy to love her. I praythee cease this discourse--thy words are poniards to me."

  "Pardon me but a moment," continued Ilderim. "When thou, a poor andobscure soldier, didst so boldly and so highly fix thine affection, tellme, hadst thou good hope of its issue?"

  "Love exists not without hope," replied the knight; "but mine was asnearly allied to despair as that of the sailor swimming for his life,who, as he surmounts billow after billow, catches by intervals somegleam of the distant beacon, which shows him there is land in sight,though his sinking heart and wearied limbs assure him that he shallnever reach it."

  "And now," said Ilderim, "these hopes are sunk--that solitary light isquenched for ever?"

  "For ever," answered Sir Kenneth, in the tone of an echo from the bosomof a ruined sepulchre.

  "Methinks," said the Saracen, "if all thou lackest were some suchdistant meteoric glimpse of happiness as thou hadst formerly, thybeacon-light might be rekindled, thy hope fished up from the oceanin which it has sunk, and thou thyself, good knight, restored to theexercise and amusement of nourishing thy fantastic fashion upon a dietas unsubstantial as moonlight; for, if thou stood'st tomorrow fair inreputation as ever thou wert, she whom thou lovest will not be less thedaughter of princes and the elected bride of Saladin."

  "I would it so stood," said the Scot, "and if I did not--"

  He stopped short, like a man who is afraid of boasting undercircumstances which did not permit his being put to the test. TheSaracen smiled as he concluded the sentence.

  "Thou wouldst challenge the Soldan to single combat?" said he.

  "And if I did," said Sir Kenneth haughtily, "Saladin's would neither bethe first nor the best turban that I have couched lance at."

  "Ay, but methinks the Soldan might regard it as too unequal a mode ofperilling the chance of a royal bride and the event of a great war,"said the Emir.

  "He may be met with in the front of battle," said the knight, his eyesgleaming with the ideas which such a thought inspired.

  "He has been ever found there," said Ilderim; "nor is it his wont toturn his horse's head from any brave encounter. But it was not of theSoldan that I meant to speak. In a word, if it will content thee to beplaced in such reputation as may be attained by detection of thethief who stole the Banner of England, I can put thee in a fair way ofachieving this task--that is, if thou wilt be governed; for what saysLokman, 'If the chi
ld would walk, the nurse must lead him; if theignorant would understand, the wise must instruct.'"

  "And thou art wise, Ilderim," said the Scot--"wise though a Saracen, andgenerous though an infidel. I have witnessed that thou art both.Take, then, the guidance of this matter; and so thou ask nothing ofme contrary to my loyalty and my Christian faith, I, will obey theepunctually. Do what thou hast said, and take my life when it isaccomplished."

  "Listen thou to me, then," said the Saracen. "Thy noble hound is nowrecovered, by the blessing of that divine medicine which healeth man andbeast; and by his sagacity shall those who assailed him be discovered."

  "Ha!" said the knight, "methinks I comprehend thee. I was dull not tothink of this!"

  "But tell me," added the Emir, "hast thou any followers or retainers inthe camp by whom the animal may be known?"

  "I dismissed," said Sir Kenneth, "my old attendant, thy patient, with avarlet that waited on him, at the time when I expected to suffer death,giving him letters for my friends in Scotland; there are none other towhom the dog is familiar. But then my own person is well known--my veryspeech will betray me, in a camp where I have played no mean part formany months."

  "Both he and thou shalt be disguised, so as to escape even closeexamination. I tell thee," said the Saracen, "that not thy brother inarms--not thy brother in blood--shall discover thee, if thou be guidedby my counsels. Thou hast seen me do matters more difficult--he that cancall the dying from the darkness of the shadow of death can easily casta mist before the eyes of the living. But mark me: there is still thecondition annexed to this service--that thou deliver a letter of Saladinto the niece of the Melech Ric, whose name is as difficult to ourEastern tongue and lips, as her beauty is delightful to our eyes."

  Sir Kenneth paused before he answered, and the Saracen observing hishesitation, demanded of him, "if he feared to undertake this message?"

  "Not if there were death in the execution," said Sir Kenneth. "I do butpause to consider whether it consists with my honour to bear the letterof the Soldan, or with that of the Lady Edith to receive it from aheathen prince."

  "By the head of Mohammed, and by the honour of a soldier--by the tombat Mecca, and by the soul of my father," said the Emir, "I swear to theethat the letter is written in all honour and respect. The song of thenightingale will sooner blight the rose-bower she loves than will thewords of the Soldan offend the ears of the lovely kinswoman of England."

  "Then," said the knight, "I will bear the Soldan's letter faithfully, asif I were his born vassal--understanding, that beyond this simple actof service, which I will render with fidelity, from me of all men he canleast expect mediation or advice in this his strange love-suit."

  "Saladin is noble," answered the Emir, "and will not spur a generoushorse to a leap which he cannot achieve. Come with me to my tent,"he added, "and thou shalt be presently equipped with a disguise asunsearchable as midnight, so thou mayest walk the camp of the Nazarenesas if thou hadst on thy finger the signet of Giaougi." [Perhaps the samewith Gyges.]