The History of Rasselas, XIII–XVIII

THE

HISTORY OF RASSELAS. PRINCE OF ABYSSINIA. BY SA.MUEL JOHNSON, LL. D, CHAPTER XIII. RASSELAS DISCOVERS MEANS OP ESCAPE. The prince now dismissed his favorite to rest, but the narra- tive of wonders and novelties filled his mind with perturbation. He revolved all that he had heard, and prepared innumerable ques- tions for the morning. Much of his uneasiness was now removed. He had a friend to whom he could impart his thoughts, and whose experience could assist him in his designs. His heart was no longer condemned to swell in silent vexation. He thought that even the happy valley might be endured with such a companion; and that if they could range the world together, he should have nothing further to desire. In a few days the water was discharged and the ground dried. The prince and Imlac then walked out together to converse with- out the notice of the rest. The prince, whose thoughts were always on the wing, as he passed by the gate, said, with a count- enance of sorrow, "Why art thou so strong, and why is man so weak?" ''Man is not weak," answered his companion; "knowledge is more than equivalent to force. The master of mechanics laughs at strength. I can burst the gate, but cannot do it secretly. Some other expedient must be tried." As they were walking on the side of the mountain, they

THE HISTORY OF RASSELAS. 275 observed that the eonies which the rain had driven from their bur- rows, had taken shelter among the bushes, and formed holes behind them, tending upwards in an oblique line. "It has been the opinion of antiquity," said Imlac, "that human reason bor- rowed many arts from the instinct of animals; let us, therefore, not think oarselvc^s degraded by learning from the coney. We may escape by piercing the mountain in the same direction. We will begin where the summit hangs over the middle part, and labor upward till we shall issue up beyond the prominence." The eyes of the prince, when he heard this proposal, spar- kled with joy. The execution was easy, and the success certain. No time was now lost. They hastened, early in the morning, to choose a place proper for their mind. They clambered with great fatigue among crags and brambles, and returned without having discovered any part that favored their designs. The sec- ond and third day were spent in the same manner, and with the same frustration. But, on the fourth, they found a sraiall cavern, concealed by a thicket, where they resolved to make their experi- ment. Imlac procured instruments proper to hew stone and remove earth, and they fell to their work the next day with more eager- ness than vigor. They were presently exhausted by their efforts, and sat down to pant upon the grass. The prince, for a moment, appeared to be discouraged. "Sir," said his companion, "practice will enable us to continue our labor for a longer time;' mark, how- ever, how far we have advanced, and you will find that our toil will some time have an end. Great works are performed, not by strength, but by perseverance; yonder palace was raised by single stones, yet you see its height and spaciousness. He that shall walk with vigor three hours a day, will pass in seven years a space equal to the circumference of the globe." They returned to their work day after day; and, in a shoi t time, found a fissure in the rock, which enabled them to pass far with very little obstruction. This Rasselas considered as a good omen. "Do not disturb your mind," said Imlac, "with other hopes and fears than reason may suggest: if you are pleased with prognostics of gocd, you will be terrified likewise with tokens of •evil, and your whole life will be a prey to superstition. Whatever

276 IMPROVEMENT ERA. facilitates our work is more than an omen, it is a cause of success. This is one of those pleasing surprises which often happen to active resolution. Many things difficult to design prove easy to performance." CHAPTER XIV. RASSELAS AND IMLAC RECEIVE AN UNEXPECTED VISIT. They had now wrought their way to the middle, and solaced tlieir thoughts with the approach of liberty, when the prince com- ir.ig down to afresh himself with air, found his sister Nekayah s!.anding before the mouth of the cavity. He started and stood confused, afraid to tell his design, yet hopeless to conceal it. A few moments determined him to repose on her fidelity, and secure her secrecy by a declaration without reserve. "Do not imagine," said the princess, "that I came hither as a spy: I had long observed from my window, that you and Imlac directed your walk every day towards the same point, but I did not suppose you had any better reason for the preference than a cooler shade, or more fragrant bank; nor followed you with any other design than to partake of your conversation. Since, then, not suspicion, but fondness has detected you, let me not lose the advantage of my discovery. I am equally weary of confinement with yourself, and not less desirous of knowing what is done or suffered in the world. Permit me to fly with you from this taste- less tranquility, which will yet grow more loathsome when you have left me. You may deny me to accompany you, but cannot hinder me from following." The prince, who loved Nekayah above his other sisters, had no inclination to refuse her request, and grieved that he had lost an opportunity of showing his confidence by a voluntary communi- cation. It was therefore agreed that she should leave the valley with them: and that, in the meantime, she should watch lest any other straggler should by chance or curiosit}'-, follow them to the mountain. At length their labor was at an end: they saw light beyond the prominence, and issuing to the top of the mountain, behind the Nile yet a narrow current, wandering beneath them.

THE HISTORY OF RASSELAS. 277 The prince looked around with rapture, anticipated all the pleasures of travel, and in thought was already transported beyond his father's dominions. Irnlac, though very joyful at his escape; had less expectation of pleasure in the world, which he had before tried, and of which he had been weary. Rasselas was so much delij:hted with a wider horizon that he could not soon be persuaded to return into the valley. He informed his sister that the way was open, and that nothing now remained but to prepare for their departure. CHAPTER XV. THE PRINCE AND PRINCESS LEAVE THE VALLEY, AND SEE MANY WONDERS. The prince and princess had jewels sufficient to make them rich whenever they came into a place of commerce, which, by Imlac's direction, they might hide in their clothes; and on the night of the next full moon, all left the valley. The princess was followed only by a single favorite, who did not know whither she was going. They clambered through the cavity, and began to go down on the other side. The princess and her maid turned their eyes towards every part, and seeing nothing to bound their prospect, considered themselves as in danger of being lost in a dreary vacu- ity. They stopped and trembled. "I am almost afraid," said the princess, "to begin a journey of which I cannot perceive an end, and to venture into this immense plain, where I may be approached on every side by men whom I nev'er saw." The prince felt nearly the same emotions, though he thought it more manly to conceal them. Imlac smiled at their terrors, and encouraged them to pro- ceed; but the princess continued irresolute till she had been im- perceptibly drawn forward too far to return. In the morning they found some shepherds in the field, who set milk and fruits before them. The princess wondered that she did not see a palace ready for her reception, and a table spread with delicacies; but, being faint and hungry, she drank the milk and ate the fruits, and thought them of a higher flavor than the products of the valley. They traveled forivard by easy journeys, being all unaccus-

278 IMPROVEMENT ERA. tomed to toil or difficulty, and knowing that, though they might be missed, they could not be pursued. In a few days they came into a more populous region, where Imlac was diverted with the admiration which his companions expressed at the diversity of manners, stations and employments. Their dress was such as might not bring upon them the suspicion of having anything to conceal; yet the prince wherever he came ex- pected to be obeyed, and the princess was triglited because those who came into her presence did not prostrate themselves before her. Im- lac was forced to observe them with great vigilance, lest they should betray their rank by their unusaal behavior, and detained them several weeks in the first village; to accustom them to the sight of common mortals. By degrees the royal wanderers were taught to understand^ that they had for a time laid aside their dignity, and were to ex- pect only such regard as liberality and courtesy could procure. And Imlac, having, by many admonitions, prepared them to endure the tumults of a port, and the ruggedness of the commercial race, brought them down to the sea-coast. The prince and his sister, to whom everything was new, were gratified equally at all places, and therefore remained for some- months at the port without any inclination to pass further. Imlac was content with their stay, because he did not think it safe to expose them, unpracticed in the world, to the hazards of a foreign country. At last he began to fear lest they should be discovered, and proposed to fix a day for their departure. They had no preten- sions to judge for themselves, and referred the whole scheme to- his direction. He therefore took passage in a ship to Suez, and, when the time came, with great difiiculty prevailed on the princess to enter the vessel. They had a quick and prosperous voyage; and from Suez traveled by land to Cairo. CHAPTER XVI. THEY ENTER CARIO, AND FIND EVERY MAN HAPPY. As they approached the city, which filled the strangers with astonishment, "This," said Imlac to the prince, "is the place where

THE HISTORY OF RASSELAS. 279 travelers and merchants assemble from all the corners of the earth. You will find men of every character and every occupation. Com- merce is here honorable. I will act as a merchant who has no other end of travel than curiosity; it will soon be observed that we are rich; our reputation will procure us access to all whom we shall desire to know, you will see all the conditions of humanity, and enable yourself at leisure to make your choice of life. They now entered the town, stunned by the noise, and offended by the crowds. Instruction had not yet so prevailed over habit, but that they wondered to see themselves pass undistin- guished along the street, and met by the lowest of the people without reverence or notice. The princess could not at first bear the thought of being leveled with the vulgar, and for some days con- tinued in her chamber, where she was served by her favorite Pekuah as in the palace of the valley. Imlac, who understood traffie, sold part of the jewels the next day, and hired a house, which he adorned with such magnificence, that he was immediately considered as a merchant of great wealth. His politeness attracted many acquaintances, and his generosity made him courted by many dependents. His table was crowded by men of every nation, who all admired his knowledge, and solicited his favor. His companions not being able to mix in the conversation, could make no discovery of their ignorance or surprise, and were gradually initiated in the world as they gained knowledge of the language. The prince had, by frequent lectures, been taught the use- and nature of money; but the ladies could not, for a long time, comprehend what the merchants did with small pieces of gold and silver, or why things of so little use should be received as equivalent to the necessaries of life. They studied the language two years, while Imlac was prepar- ing to set before them the various ranks and conditions of man- kind. He grew acquaint':;d with all who had anything uncommon in their fortune or conduct. He frequented the voluptuous and the frugal, the idle and the busy, the merchants and the men of learning. The prince being now able to converse with fluency, and having learned the caution necessary to be observed in his inter-

280 IMPROVEMENT ERA. course with strangers, began to accompany Iralac to places of resort, and enter into all assemblies, that he might make his choice of life. For some time he thought choice needless, because all appeared to him equally happy. Wherever he went he met gayety and kindness, and heard the song of joy or laughter of careless- ness. He began to believe that the world overilowed with univer- sal plenty, and that nothing was withheld either from want or merit; that every hand showered liberality, and every heart melted with benevolence; "and who then," says he, "will be suffered to be wretched?" Imlac permitted the pleasing delusion, and was unwilling to crush the hope of inexperience, till one day, having sat awhile sil- ent, "I know not," said the prince, "what can be the reason that I am more unhappy than any of our friends. I see them perpetu- ally and unalterably cheerful, but feel my own mind restless and uneasy. I am unsatisfied with those pleasures which I seem most to court. I live in the crowds of jollity, not so much to enjoy company as to shun myself, and am only loud and merry to con- ceal my sadness." "Every man," said Imlac, "may by examining his own mind guess what passes in the minds of others: when you feel that your own gayety is counterfeit, it may justly lead you to suspect that of your companions not to be sincere. Envy is commonly recipro- cal. We are long before we are convinced that happiness is never to be found, and each believes it possessed by others to keep alive the hope of obtaining it for himself. In the assembly where you passed the last night, there appeared such sprightliness of air and volatility of fancy as might have suited beings of a higher order, formed to inhabit serener regions, inaccessible to care or sorrow; yet believe me, prince, there was not one who did not dread the moment when solitude should deliver him to the tyranny of reflection. " "This," said the prince, "may be true of others, since it is true of me, yet whatever be the general infelicity of man, one condition is more happy than another, and wisdom surely directs us to take the least evil in the choice of life." "The causes of good and evil," answered Imlac, "are so var-

THE HISTORY OF RASSELAS. 281 ious and uncertain, so often entangled with each other, so diver- sified by various relations, and so much subject to accidents which cannot be foreseen, that he who would fix his condition upon incontestible reasons of preference must live and die inquiring and deliberating." ''But, surely," said Rasselas, "the wi.se men to whom we lis- ten with reverence and wonder, chose that mode of life for them- selves which they thought most likely to make them happy." "Very few, " said the poet, "live by choice. Every man is placed in his present condition by causes which acted without his foresight, and with which he did not always willingly co-operate; and therefore you will rarely meet one who does not think the lot of his neighbor better than his own." "I am pleased to think," said the prince, "that my birth has given me at least one advantage over others, by enabling me to determine for myself. I have here the world before me; I will review it at leisure; surely happiness is somewhere to be found." CHAPTER XVII. THE PRINCE ASSOCIATES WITH YOUNG MEN OF SPIRIT AND GAYETY. Rasselas rose next day, and resolved to begin his experi- ments apon life. "Youth," cried he, "is the time of gladness: I will join myself to the young men, whose only business is to grati- fy their desires, and whose time is all spent in a succession of en- joyments." To such societies he was readily admitted; but a few days brought him back weary and disgusted. Their mirth was without image; their laughter without motive; their pleasures were gross and sensual, in which the mind had no part; their conduct was at once wild and mean; they laughed at order and law: but the frown of power dejected, and the eye of wisdom abashed them. The prince soon concluded that he should never be happy in a course of life of which he was ashamed. He thought it unsuit- able to a reasonable being to act without a plan, and to be sad or cheerful only by chance. "Happiness," said he, "must be some- thing solid and permanent, without fear and without uncertainty." But h's young companions had gained so much of his regard

282 IMPROVEMENl ERA. by their frankness and courtesy that he could not leave them with- out warning and remonstrance. "My friends," he said, "I have seriously considered our manners and our prospects, and find that we have mistaken our own interest. The first years of man must make provision for the laf t. He that never thinks never can be wise. Perpetual levity must end in ignorance; and intemperance, though it may fire the spirits for an hour, will make life short or miserable. Let us consider that youth is of no long duration, and that in maturer age, when the enchantments of fancy shall cease, and phantoms of delight dance no more about us, we shall have no comforts but the esteem of wise men, and the means of doing good. Let us, therefore, stop while to stop is in our power: let us live as men who are some time to grow old, and to whom it will be the most dreadful of all evils not to count their past years by follies, and to be reminded of their former luxuriance of health only by the maladies which riot has produced." They stared awhile in silence one upon another, and at last drove him away by a general chorus of continued laughter. The consciousness that his sentiments were just, and his in- tentions kind, was scarcely sufficient to support him against the horror of derision. But he recovered his tranquility and pursued his search. CHAPTER XVIII. THE PRINCE FINDS A WISE AND HAPPY MAN. As he was one day walking in the street, he saw a spacious building, which all were, by the open doors, invited to enter; he followed the stream of people and found it a hall or school of dec- lamation, in which professors read lectures to their auditory. He fixed his eye upon a sage raised above the rest, who discoursed with great energy on the government of the passions. His look was venerable, his action graceful, his pronunciation clear, and his diction elegant. He showed, with great strength of senti- ment and variety of illustration, that human nature is degraded and debased when the lower faculties predominate over the hi£her; that when fancy, the parent of passion, usurps the dominion of the mind, nothing ensues but the natural effect of unlawful gov-

THE HISTORY OF RASSELAS. 283 ernment, perturbation, and confusion; that she betrays the fort- resses of the intellect to rebels, and excites her children to se- dition against reason, their lawful sovereign. He compared rea- son to the sun, of which the light is constant, uniform, and last- ing; and fancy to a meteor, of bright but transitory luster, irregu- lar in its motion, and delusive in its direction. He then communicated the various precepts given from time to time for the conquest of passion, and displayed the happiness of those who had obtained the important victory, after which man is no longer the slave of fear, nor the fool of hope; is no more emaciated by envy, inflamed by anger, emasculated by ten- derness, or depressed by grief; but walks on calmly through the tumults or privacies of life, as the sun pursues alike his course through the calm or the stormy sky. He enumerated many examples of heroes immovable by pain or pleasure, who looked with indifference on those modes or acci- dents to which the vulgar give the names of good and evil. He exhorted his hearers to lay aside their prejudices, and arm them- selves against the shafts of malice or misfortune, by invulnerable patience; concluding, that this state only was happiness, and that this happiness was in everyone's power. Rasselas listened to him with veneration due to the instruc- tions of a superior being; and, waiting for him at the door, hum- bly implored the liberty of visiting so great a master of true wis- dom. The lecturer hesitated a moment, when Rasselas put a purse of gold into his hand, which he received with a mixture of joy and wonder. "I have found," said the prince, at his return to Imlac, "a man who can teach all that is necessary to be known, who, from the unshaken throne of rational fortitude, looks down on the scenes of life changing beneath him. He speaks, and attention watches his lips. He reasons, and conviction closes his periods. This man shall be my future guide: I will learn his doctrines and imitate his life." "Be not too hasty," said Imlac, "to trust, or to admire, the teachers of morality; they discourse like angels, but they live like men." Rasselas, who could not conceive how any man could reason