"In the first ebullition of his fury, Vathek had resolved to rip open the body of Alboufaki and to stuff it with those of the negresses and of Carathis herself, but the remembrance of the Giaour, the palace of Istakar, the sabres, and the talismans, flashing before his imagination, with the simultaneousness of lightning, he became more moderate, and said to his mother, in a civil, but decisive tone; 'Dread lady! you shall be obeyed; but I will not drown Nouronihar.'"
— Beckford, William (1760-1844)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
J. Johnson
Date
w. 1782, 1786, 1816
Metaphor
"In the first ebullition of his fury, Vathek had resolved to rip open the body of Alboufaki and to stuff it with those of the negresses and of Carathis herself, but the remembrance of the Giaour, the palace of Istakar, the sabres, and the talismans, flashing before his imagination, with the simultaneousness of lightning, he became more moderate, and said to his mother, in a civil, but decisive tone; 'Dread lady! you shall be obeyed; but I will not drown Nouronihar.'"
Metaphor in Context
In the first ebullition of his fury, Vathek had resolved to rip open the body of Alboufaki and to stuff it with those of the negresses and of Carathis herself, but the remembrance of the Giaour, the palace of Istakar, the sabres, and the talismans, flashing before his imagination, with the simultaneousness of lightning, he became more moderate, and said to his mother, in a civil, but decisive tone; "Dread lady! you shall be obeyed; but I will not drown Nouronihar. She is sweeter to me than a Myrabolan comfit; and is enamoured of carbuncles; especially that, of Giamschid; which hath also been promised to be conferred upon her: she, therefore, shall go along with us; for, I intend to repose with her upon the sofas of Soliman: I can sleep no more without her."---"Be it so!" replied Carathis, alighting; and, at the same time, committing Alboufaki to the charge of her black women.
(pp. 177-8)
(pp. 177-8)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
2 entries in ESTC (1786, 1791).
First published anonymously as An Arabian Tale, from an Unpublished Manuscript: with Notes Critical and Explanatory (London: J. Johnson, 1786). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO>
Text from William Beckford, Vathek: Translated from the original French, 3rd edition (London: Printed for W. Clarke 1816).
First published anonymously as An Arabian Tale, from an Unpublished Manuscript: with Notes Critical and Explanatory (London: J. Johnson, 1786). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO>
Text from William Beckford, Vathek: Translated from the original French, 3rd edition (London: Printed for W. Clarke 1816).
Date of Entry
06/05/2013
