stars had made him, and intimated an intention of consulting them again.

"Alas!" sighed the Caliph, as soon as he could speak, "what a fool have I
been! not for the kicks bestowed on my guards who so tamely submitted to
death, but for never considering that this extraordinary man was the same
the planets had foretold, whom, instead of ill-treating, I should have
conciliated by all the arts of persuasion."

"The past," said Carathis, "cannot be recalled, but it behoves us to
think of the future; perhaps you may again see the object you so much
regret; it is possible the inscriptions on the sabres will afford
information. Eat, therefore, and take thy repose, my dear son; we will
consider to-morrow in what manner to act."

Vathek yielded to her counsel as well as he could, and arose in the
morning with a mind more at ease. The sabres he commanded to be
instantly brought, and poring upon them through a green glass, that their
glittering might not dazzle, he set himself in earnest to decipher the
inscriptions; but his reiterated attempts were all of them nugatory; in
vain did he beat his head and bite his nails, not a letter of the whole
was he able to ascertain. So unlucky a disappointment would have undone
him again had not Carathis by good fortune entered the apartment.

"Have patience, son!" said she; "you certainly are possessed of every
important science, but the knowledge of languages is a trifle at best,
and the accomplishment of none but a pedant. Issue forth a proclamation
that you will confer such rewards as become your greatness upon any one
that shall interpret what you do not understand, and what it is beneath
you to learn; you will soon find your curiosity gratified."