which we always sink when smoking excellent tobacco, which seems to
remove with its fume all the troubles of the mind, and to give the
smoker in exchange all the visions of the soul. Ali brought in the
coffee. "How do you take it?" inquired the unknown; "in the French
or Turkish style, strong or weak, sugar or none, cool or boiling?
As you please; it is ready in all ways."
"I will take it in the Turkish style," replied Franz.
"And you are right," said his host; "it shows you have a
tendency for an Oriental life. Ah, those Orientals; they are the
only men who know how to live. As for me," he added, with one of
those singular smiles which did not escape the young man, "when I
have completed my affairs in Paris, I shall go and die in the East;
and should you wish to see me again, you must seek me at Cairo,
Bagdad, or Ispahan."
"Ma foi," said Franz, "it would be the easiest thing in the
world; for I feel eagle's wings springing out at my shoulders, and
with those wings I could make a tour of the world in four and
twenty hours."
"Ah, yes, the hashish is beginning its work. Well, unfurl your
wings, and fly into superhuman regions; fear nothing, there is a
watch over you; and if your wings, like those of Icarus, melt
before the sun, we are here to ease your fall." He then said
something in Arabic to Ali, who made a sign of obedience and
withdrew, but not to any distance. As to Franz a strange
transformation had taken place in him. All the bodily fatigue of
the day, all the preoccupation of mind which the events of the
evening had brought on, disappeared as they do at the first
approach of sleep, when we are still sufficiently conscious to be
aware of the coming of slumber. His body seemed to acquire an airy
lightness, his perception brightened in a remarkable manner, his
senses seemed to redouble their power, the horizon continued to
expand; but it was not the gloomy horizon of vague alarms, and
which he had seen before he slept, but a blue, transparent,which he had seen before he slept, but a blue, transparent,
unbounded horizon, with all the blue of the ocean, all the spangles
of the sun, all the perfumes of the summer breeze; then, in the
midst of the songs of his sailors, — songs so clear and sonorous,
that they would have made a divine harmony had their notes been
taken down, — he saw the Island of Monte Cristo, no longer as a
threatening rock in the midst of the waves, but as an oasis in the
desert; then, as his boat drew nearer, the songs became louder, for
an enchanting and mysterious harmony rose to heaven, as if some
Loreley had decreed to attract a soul thither, or Amphion, the
enchanter, intended there to build a city.
At length the boat touched the shore, but without effort,
without shock, as lips touch lips; and he entered the grotto amidst
continued strains of most delicious melody. He descended, or rather
seemed to descend, several steps, inhaling the fresh and balmy air,
like that which may be supposed to reign around the grotto of
Circe, formed from such perfumes as set the mind a dreaming, and
such fires as burn the very senses; and he saw again all he had
seen before his sleep, from Sinbad, his singular host, to Ali, the
mute attendant; then all seemed to fade away and become confused
before his eyes, like the last shadows of the magic lantern before
it is extinguished, and he was again in the chamber of statues,
lighted only by one of those pale and antique lamps which watch in
the dead of the night over the sleep of pleasure. They were the
same statues, rich in form, in attraction. and poesy, with eyes of
fascination, smiles of love, and bright and flowing hair. They were
Phryne, Cleopatra, Messalina, those three celebrated courtesans.
Then among them glided like a pure ray, like a Christian angel in
the midst of Olympus, one of those chaste figures, those calm
shadows, those soft visions, which seemed to veil its virgin brow
before these marble wantons. Then the three statues advancedbefore these marble wantons. Then the three statues advanced
towards him with looks of love, and approached the couch on which
he was reposing, their feet hidden in their long white tunics,
their throats bare, hair flowing like waves, and assuming attitudes
which the gods could not resist, but which saints withstood, and
looks inflexible and ardent like those with which the serpent
charms the bird; and then he gave way before looks that held him in
a torturing grasp and delighted his senses as with a voluptuous
kiss. It seemed to Franz that he closed his eyes, and in a last
look about him saw the vision of modesty completely veiled; and
then followed a dream of passion like that promised by the Prophet
to the elect. Lips of stone turned to flame, breasts of ice became
like heated lava, so that to Franz, yielding for the first time to
the sway of the drug, love was a sorrow and voluptuousness a
torture, as burning mouths were pressed to his thirsty lips, and he
was held in cool serpent-like embraces. The more he strove against
this unhallowed passion the more his senses yielded to its thrall,
and at length, weary of a struggle that taxed his very soul, he
gave way and sank back breathless and exhausted beneath the kisses
of these marble goddesses, and the enchantment of his marvellous
dream.When Franz returned to himself, he seemed still to be in a
dream. He thought himself in a sepulchre, into which a ray of
sunlight in pity scarcely penetrated. He stretched forth his hand,
and touched stone; he rose to his seat, and found himself lying on
his bournous in a bed of dry heather, very soft and odoriferous.
The vision had fled; and as if the statues had been but shadows
from the tomb, they had vanished at his waking. He advanced several
paces towards the point whence the light came, and to all the
excitement of his dream succeeded the calmness of reality. He found
that he was in a grotto, went towards the opening, and through a
kind of fanlight saw a blue sea and an azure sky. The air and water
were shining in the beams of the morning sun; on the shore the
sailors were sitting, chatting and laughing; and at ten yards from
them the boat was at anchor, undulating gracefully on the water.
There for some time he enjoyed the fresh breeze which played on his
brow, and listened to the dash of the waves on the beach, that left
against the rocks a lace of foam as white as silver. He was for
some time without reflection or thought for the divine charm which
is in the things of nature, specially after a fantastic dream; then
gradually this view of the outer world, so calm, so pure, so grand,
reminded him of the illusiveness of his vision, and once more
awakened memory. He recalled his arrival on the island, his
presentation to a smuggler chief, a subterranean palace full of
splendor, an excellent supper, and a spoonful of hashish. It
seemed, however, even in the very face of open day, that at least a
year had elapsed since all these things had passed, so deep was the
impression made in his mind by the dream, and so strong a hold had
it taken of his imagination. Thus every now and then he saw in
fancy amid the sailors, seated on a rock, or undulating in the
vessel, one of the shadows which had shared his dream with looks
and kisses. Otherwise, his head was perfectly clear, and his body