faith, and become, like me, a worshipper of the sacred
fire, in which case thou shalt be my son, and I will
teach thee the art of making gold.” “Cursed
be thou, thy religion, and thy art,” exclaimed
the enraged Mazin: “God forbid that for
the pleasures of this world I should apostatize from
our holy prophet, and give up the glorious rewards
reserved in certain store for his faithful disciples.
Thou mayest indeed destroy my body, but my soul despises
thy torments” “Vile dog!” roared
out the now furious sorcerer,” I will try thy
constancy.” He then called in his slaves,
who held Mazin on the floor of the cabin while their
abominable master beat him with a knotted whip till
he was covered with a gore of blood, but the resolute
youth, instead of complaining, uttered only prayers
to Heaven for divine support under his pangs, and
strength of fortitude to acquire the glory of martyrdom.
At length the magician, exhausted by his cruel exercise,
desisted, and making his slaves load his unfortunate
victim with heavy fetters, chained him down with only
a coarse mat to lie upon in a dark closet, in which
was placed some stinking water and coarse bread, just
sufficient to keep up his miserable existence.
Mazm’s courage was not to be overcome He washed
his wounds, and comforted himself with the hope that
if he died he should enjoy the blisses of Paradise,
or if Providence had decreed his continuance in life,
that the same Providence would present a mode of relief
from his present and future afflictions. In this
assurance he took a little of his wretched fare, and
in spite of the agony of his wounds fell asleep, but
only to awake to fresh misery In the morning he was
again persecuted by his cruel tormentor, who for three
months daily harassed him with blows, with rcvilings,
and every sort of insult that malice could invent
or cruelty devise.
Hitherto the wind had been fair, and the vessel had
nearly reached the desired haven, when suddenly it
changed, and a most tremendous storm arose The waves
threatened to swallow up or dash the vessel in pieces,
so that all gave themselves over for lost. At
this crisis the sailors, who believed that the tempest
was sent by Heaven as a judgment for their suffering
the unfortunate Mazin to be so cruelly tormented,
went in a body to the accursed Bharam, and accused
him of having brought down the wrath of God upon the
crew by his persecution of the young Mussulmaun; at
the same time threatening to cast him overboard if
he did not instantly release the youth from his confinement.
To show the seriousness of their resolves, the sailors
seized the slaves who had been the instruments of
the magician’s cruelty, and threw them into
the sea, which so alarmed the treacherous Bharam that
he immediately released Mazin from his chains, fell
at his feet, begging pardon for his hard usage, and
promising if they escaped the storm to conduct him
safely to his own country, and fulfil his promise
of instruct ing him in the secret of making gold.
Wonderful to relate! But no sooner was Mazin freed
from his fetters than the violence of the tempest
lessened, by degrees the winds subsided, the waves
abated their swell, and the sea no longer threatened
to overwhelm them: in a few hours all was calm
and security, and a prosperous gale enabled the shattered
vessel to resume her course.