Aben-Hamet

“ In that short space of time, fourteen Abencerrages had perished, by the effects of a new climate, the accidents of a wandering life, and principally through grief, which imperceptibly undermines the strength of man. One single descendant was the sole hope of that illustrious family. Aben-Hamet bore the name of that Abencerrage, who was accused by the Zegris of having seduced the sultana Alfayma. In him were united the beauty, the valour, the courtesy and the generosity of his ancestors, with that mild lustre and slight tinge of melancholy which adversity, nobly supported, inspires. ”

“ Aben-Hamet, in passing under one of the porticoes, perceived a female about to enter the church. Although she was wrapped up in a veil, the Abencerrage recognized the daughter of the Duke of Santa Fé; he stopped her, and said to her: “Dost thou come to seek Lautrec in this temple?”
“Dismiss this vulgar jealousy,” replied Blanca, “if I no longer loved thee, I would tell thee so: I would scorn to deceive thee. I come here to pray for thee. Thou alone art now the object of my wishes. I forget my own soul for thine. ”

“ That any one should love an infidel, a Moor, an unknown stranger, appeared to her so extraordinary, that she took no precaution against the malady which began to insinuate itself into her veins. But no sooner did she become sensible of its inroads, than she accepted this malady like a true Spaniard. The dangers and troubles, which she foresaw, neither made her draw back when on the brink of the precipice, nor deliberate long with her heart. She said to herself: “Let Aben-Hamet become a Christian, let him love me, and I will follow him to the extremity of the earth.” ”

“ Aben-Hamet was much less skilful than Don Carlos in combat, but the excellence of his arms, which had been tempered at Damascus, and the fleetness of his Arabian steed, gave him an advantage over his enemy. He gave the reins to his courser in the Moorish manner, and with his large sharp stirrup cut the right leg of Don Carlos’s horse under the knee. The wounded animal fell to the ground, and Don Carlos, dismounted by this fortunate blow, marched against Aben-Hamet, bearing his sword aloft. Aben-Hamet sprang to the ground, and met Don Carlos with intrepidity ”

“ If all-powerful love pleaded strongly in the heart of the Abencerrage; on the other hand, he could not think but with terror of uniting the blood of the persecutors with that of the persecuted. He fancied he saw the shade of his ancestor rising from the tomb, and reproaching him with this sacrilegious alliance. With a heart torn by grief, Aben-Hamet exclaimed: “Ah! why do I here meet with souls so [Pg 55] sublime, characters so generous, to make me feel more bitterly the value of what I lose! Let Blanca pronounce; let her say what I must do, in order to render myself more worthy of her love!” ”

“ Naisen äänen, kasvonsävyjen ja katseiden välillä on sellainen sopusuhtaisuus, joka ei petä milloinkaan sitä ihmistä, jonka rakkaus on vallannut. "Siellä on huurini", virkkoi Aaben-Hamet. Hän kuunteli sykkivin sydämin, mutta kun hän kuuli useamman kerran mainittavan Aabenserraagin nimeä, niin vielä voimakkaammin tykytti hänen sydämensä. ”

“ Sinun hameesi kahinakin näitä marmoreja vastaan saa minut ilosta värisemään. Ilmaan leviää suloinen lemu, kun sinun hiuksesi ovat sitä koskettaneet. Sinä olet kaunis kuin isänmaani hengetär keskellä näitä jäännöksiä. Mutta voiko Aaben-Haamet toivoa saavansa sinun sydäntäsi? Isänsä kanssa hän on kulkenut vuoret lävitse, hän tuntee erämaan kasvit... mutta voi! niissä ei ole ainoatakaan, joka voi parantaa sen haavan, jonka sinä olet tehnyt! Hänellä on aseet yllään, vaan ritari ei hän ole. ”

“ Almeida beheld him with an earnest yet steady countenance, till he vowed to revenge the indignity he had suffered, upon Hamet. At the name of Hamet, her fortitude forsook her; the pride of virtue gave way to the softness of love; her cheeks became pale, her lips trembled, and taking hold of the robe of Almoran, she threw herself at his feet. ”

“ When you remember the pain of thirst, do not forget the danger of suffocation. Now, Hamet, tell me your request.”
“O Being, kind and beneficent,” says Hamet, “let thine eye pardon my confusion. I entreat a little brook, which in summer shall never be dry, and in winter never overflow.” “It is [14] granted,” replies the Genius; and immediately he opened the ground with his sabre, and a fountain bubbling up under their feet, scattered its rills over the meadows; the flowers renewed their fragrance, the trees spread a greener foilage, and the flocks and herds quenched their thirst. ”

“ He ceased to wonder at the indifference, the passivity, the fatalism, of these mysterious men amongst whom he lived; for he felt something of that fatalism invading himself.
He continued his search, northwards from the Atlas, escaping here a band of robbers, there struggling in the whirl of a swollen stream, listening at night to the cries of the jackals, and yielding to the witchery of a monotonous Arab flute into which one servant blew a few yards away, while Hamet, in a high strident voice, chanted a no less monotonous song. ”

“ Indeed, upon the whole, he gave promise of as much good with as little alloy, as could possibly have been expected in a sovereign of Tripoli.
Hamet, the second son of the Pasha, inherited the weakness of his father, without his better qualities, and exhibited throughout life the utmost want of decision; in prosperity ever stupidly insolent; in adversity the most abject and degraded of beings, the slave of any one who was pleased to employ him. ”

“ Accordingly he went to him the next day, and, observing him for some time in silence, was struck with the extraordinary appearance of mildness and honesty which his countenance discovered. At length he said to him, 'Are you that Hamet of whom my son is so fond, and of whose gentleness and courtesy I have so often heard him talk?' 'Yes,' said the Turk, 'I am that unfortunate Hamet, who have now been for three years a captive; during that space of time your son (if you are his father) is the only human being that seems to have felt any compassion for my sufferings ”

“ It is enough, that concealed in this darkness, I have overheard the specious guile, which some evil demon has practised upon thee.' 'Is it then certain,' said Hamet, 'that this being is evil?' 'Is not that being evil, said Almoran,' 'who proposes evil, as the condition of good?' 'Shall I then,' said Hamet, 'renounce my liberty and life? ”

“ Let him secretly obtain admittance to Hamet, as if by stealth; let him profess an abhorrence of thy reign, and compassion for his misfortunes; let him pretend that the rack is even now preparing for him; that death is inevitable, but that torment may be avoided: let him then give him a poignard, as the instrument of deliverance; and, perhaps, his own hand may strike the blow, that shall give thee peace.' 'But who,' said Almoran, shall go upon this important errand?' 'Who,' replied the Genius, but thyself? ”

“ Abouzaid heard their murmurs and dismissed them, and from that hour continued blind to colours, and deaf to panegyrick.
As the sons of art departed, muttering threats of perpetual infamy, Abouzaid, who stood at the gate, called to him Hamet the poet. "Hamet," said he, "thy ingratitude has put an end to my hopes and experiments: I have now learned the vanity of those labours that wish to be rewarded by human benevolence; I shall henceforth do good, and avoid evil, without respect to the opinion of men ”

“ I have in this city an inveterate foe, who has heaped upon me every injury which can most bitterly sting the heart of man. This man is brave as he is haughty; and I must confess that the dread of his strength and valour has hitherto deterred me from resenting his insults as they deserve. Now, Hamet, your look, your form, your words, convince me that you were born for manly daring. ”

“ Hamet reflected with pleasure, that he had prepared the way for a more explicit declaration; and as his impatience increased with his passion every hour, he sent for Abdallah the next morning, and told him, that he wished to be more acquainted with his daughter, with a view to make her his wife: 'As neither you nor your daughter are my subjects,' says Hamet, 'I cannot command you; and if you were, upon this occasion I would not. I do not want a slave, but a friend; not merely a woman, but a wife. If I find Almeida such as my fancy has feigned her ”

“ Many of the warriors, roused by his words and his example, spurred resolutely after his banner. The people of Coin, being prepared for this attempt, sallied forth as they saw the white banner and made an attack upon the Christian camp, and in the confusion of the moment Hamet and his followers galloped into the gates. This reinforcement animated the besieged, and Hamet exhorted them to hold out obstinately in defence of life and town. As the Gomeres were veteran warriors, the more they were attacked the harder they fought. ”

“ Almeida, from whose mind the image of Hamet had not been absent a moment since she first saw him, received this order with a mixture of pain and pleasure; of wishes, hopes, and apprehensions, that filled her bosom with emotion, and covered her face with blushes. She had not courage to ask the reason of the command, which she instantly prepared to obey; but the tenderness of Abdallah, who perceived and pitied her distress, anticipated her wish. In a short time, therefore, he returned to the chamber of presence, and having received permission, he entered with Almeida in his hand. ”

“ If I am the messenger of evil, impute it to him only by whom it is devised. The rack is now preparing to receive thee; and every art of ingenious cruelty will be exhausted to protract and to increase the agonies of death.' 'And what,' said Hamet, 'can thy friendship offer me?' 'I can offer thee,' said Almoran, 'that which will at once dismiss thee to those regions, where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary rest for ever.' He then produced the poignard from his bosom ”

“ When he came in, Hamet, who always watched his countenance as a mariner the stars of heaven, perceived that it was obscured with perplexity and grief. 'Tell me,' said Hamet, 'whence is the sorrow that I discover in thy face?' 'I am sorrowful,' said Omar, 'not for myself, but for thee.' At these words Hamet stept backward, and fixed his eyes upon Omar, without power to speak. 'Consider, said Omar, 'that thou art not a man only, but a prince: consider also, that immortality is before thee ”

“ Then you must, sir, as a British officer, working for your country’s good. I presume you don’t know that I have it on trustworthy authority that Rajah Hamet has been for some little time past strengthening his position and gathering his men, like the savage he is, to go out on the war-path? And all the time he has been educated in England! A young fool! Well, this news is splendid, but it comes at a horrible time. Here is Suleiman hanging about, dodging our men; Hamet in all probability waiting for us to be in a dilemma, and then he will come down ”

“ In the mean time, the multitude was increasing every moment; and the troops that lay in and near the city, having taken arms, fell in with the stream: they were secretly attached to Hamet, under whose eye they had been formed, and of whose bounty they had often partaken; and their fear being removed by the general cry, which left them no room to apprehend an opposition in favour of Almoran, they were now at full liberty to follow their inclinations. ”

“ This proposition Osmyn rejected, not only from principle, but from interest: 'Now we have accepted of a trust,' said he, 'we ought not to betray it. If we had gone over to Hamet, when he first declared against his brother, he would have received us with joy, and probably have rewarded our service; but I know, that his virtue will abhor us for treachery, though practised in his favour: treachery, under the dominion of Hamet, will not only cover us with dishonour, but will probably devote us to death.'
In this reasoning, Caled could not but acquiesce ”

“ Of a sudden a sickness struck him, and in the hush which is sometimes before death, he summoned to him his sons. "Off away am I to the Palace," he said.
"Large will be the shout of joy among the angels," Aben told him.
[p 122] "And much weeping there will be in Sion," said Dan. "Speak you a little verse for a funeral preach."
"Cease you your babblings, now, indeed," Sheremiah demanded. "Born first you were, Aben, and you get Rhydwen. And you, Dan, Penlan."
"Father bach," Aben cried, "not right that you leave more to me than Dan."
"Crow you do like a cuckoo," Dan admonished his brother. ”

“ Hamet, not reflecting upon the cause of this behaviour, was offended, and reproached him with the want of that friendship he had so often professed: the vehemence, of his expression and demeanor, suited well with the appearance of Almoran; and Omar, as the best proof of that friendship which had been impeached, took this opportunity to repeat his admonitions in the behalf of Hamet: 'What ever evil,' said he, 'thou canst bring upon Hamet, will be doubled to thyself: to his virtues, the Power that fills infinitude is a friend, and he can be afflicted only till they are perfect ”

“ Moreover, he had promised to show the queen the hidden treasure the next day.
As Aben Hassen, like a man in a dream, walked towards his own house, he met an old man standing at the corner of the street. The old man had a talisman that hung dangling from a chain, and which he offered for sale. When Aben Hassen saw the talisman he knew very well what it was—that it was the famous talisman of King Solomon the Wise. If he who possessed the talisman asked it to speak, it would tell that man both what to do and what not to do. ”