This he
found to be the state congenial to his soul; remote from the inquietudes
of earth, the impertinence of harems, the brutality of eunuchs, and the
lubricity of women: in this peacable society, his days, months, and years
glided on; nor was he less happy than the rest of his companions; for the
Genius, instead of burthening his pupils with perishable riches and the
vain sciences of the world, conferred upon them the boon of perpetual
childhood.
Carathis, unaccustomed to the loss of her prey, vented a thousand
execrations on her negresses for not seizing the child, instead of
amusing themselves with pinching to death the dwarfs, from which they
could gain no advantage. She returned into the valley murmuring, and
finding that her son was not risen from the arms of Nouronihar,
discharged her ill-humour upon both. The idea, however, of departing
next day for Istakar, and cultivating, through the good offices of the
Giaour, an intimacy with Eblis himself, at length consoled her chagrin.
But Fate had ordained it otherwise.
In the evening, as Carathis was conversing with Dilara, who, through her
contrivance, had become of the party, and whose taste resembled her own,
Bababalouk came to acquaint her "that the sky towards Samarah looked of a
fiery red, and seemed to portend some alarming disaster.
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