L'Esplendente [part 5]

In vain he gazed & looked [ILLEGIBLE] around - the lovely Visions were disappeared he leaned on his arm & contemplating the Skies flattered himself he should discover the fair forms - which had enchanted him - still hovering in its expanse - but all was desert in those aerial plains - & silent. - They are gone - for ever gone exclaimed the young Enthusiast the stars have received them - I see the fair Rocks of the light still streaming across the Horizon - 'tis the lucid path which leads to the [26] Pavillions of the Just - by that they ascended - O that I could traverse the air with the same facility & discover the cristal walls of our prophets abode - that I could attain once more those Bounds where so lately I was entranced - O that they had never appeared - my heart would not then have been distracted with restless Hopes & this Solitude might then have been torn; - but now it drives me to despair - I am resolved to set myself at Liberty or perish in the attempt - Activated by a kind of Frenzy Mehmed ran to the cliffs & began to climb - with his wonted alertness; but [ILLEGIBLE WORDS] to a crumbling pinnacle of Rock - gave way & precipitated him violently down - the branches of a shrub luckily intangling his garments broke the fall - or else he would have been dashed into a thousand peices [sic]. - providence however watched over him - & he found himself no worse than at the foot of the Cliffs - bruized & covered with sand. - [27] - This shock may easily be conceived to have abated his ardour & he now thought of nothing but gaining the shed by the mosque - & stretching himself out upon the carpets - With pain & difficulty he crawled along & reaching one of the jars poured some of its contents upon his mangled limbs. - Then stanching the blood which flowed copious from his arm - which the branch had torn & bathing his wound with milk - he rolled himself up in the carpet & forgot all his cares in sleep. - Upon waking he found himself refresh'd but so sore & stiff from his bruizes that to move was almost impossible - He was forced then to remain inactive - happily the Koran - was at hand - & in the folds of the carpet he found some blank leaves & a pencil his Father had accidentally left. - With these beguile the tedious Hours & the circumstances of this Dream being full in his memory he tried to sketch out upon the paper. - This invention - as he thought it - enraptured him - the happiness of his Genius for the art - began to shew itself tho' in the rudest manner. - By combining innumerous strokes together - & boldly attempting to [28] execute his ideas - he succeeded in forming certain figures that reminded him of those visionary groups - which had enlivened his slumbers. - Observing how the Sun casts its shadows - that bright lights shone - on one place & darkness prevailed on the other - he imitated these appearances & produced effect. - 'Twas amasing to see how every hour developed his talents & how rapid was the progress that he made - He now thought of nothing but committing his imagination to paper & imitated the surrounding Objects with sucess. - He drew the Rocks - so that they might easily be known - by his sketches & seized the shapes of the Trees in a manner that convinced he was destined to be one day the greatest Painter that ever existed. - This new source of entertainment kept him employed till he was recovered of his bruizes. - As soon as he found himself perfectly able to walk he repaired to the Orange grove & feasted luxuriously on the fruit His spirits being exhilerated by the salutary juice prompted him to resume his tools. but as he was not yet quite strong enough to expose himself to the Sun on the Cliffs [29] he remained in the shade by the Bath - Some weeds had overgrown the turf with which it was edged & Mehmed preparing to root them up - struck his spade against something which made a resistance. - Moving the Earth he discovered the silver Vase his Father had concealed - He opened - it slightly - remarked the gold & closed it again, covering it over with mound as before - This being done he thought no further about it for the present - The next day in the Evening - as he was watering some flowers - he saw the shrubs agitated under one of the cliffs - & presently Abdoulrahman appeared. - O my Father - do I once more behold thee - where hast thou been & what circumstance has caused this long delay - Unforseen Events my dearest Mehmed - much trouble have I had since I saw thee last - Thy Uncle was attacked by some Villains at his Garden near the great City who plundered & would have destroyed him - had not a venerable Israelite - rushed out upon them & driven them away. - This brave old Man is possessed of immense wealth - but for some particular reasons [30] just at this period the avarice & persecution of the Xstians. -

[Continued in Part 6]