"Ay, laugh, my lord! laugh," said he; "but I wish this Nouronihar would
play some trick on you; she is too wicked to spare even majesty itself."
Those words made for the present but a slight impression on the Caliph;
but they not long after recurred to his mind.
This conversation was cut short by Fakreddin, who came to request that
Vathek would join in the prayers and ablutions to be solemnised on a
spacious meadow, watered by innumerable streams. The Caliph found the
waters refreshing, but the prayers abominably irksome; he diverted
himself, however, with the multitude of Calenders, Santons, and Dervises,
who were continually coming and going, but especially with the Brahmins,
Fakirs, and other enthusiasts, who had travelled from the heart of India,
and halted on their way with the Emir. These latter had, each of them,
some mummery peculiar to himself. One dragged a huge chain wherever he
went, another an ouranoutang, whilst a third was furnished with scourges,
and all performed to a charm; some clambered up trees, holding one foot
in the air; others poised themselves over a fire, and without mercy
filliped their noses.
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