It is enough, that concealed in this darkness, I have
overheard the specious guile, which some evil demon has practised upon
thee.' 'Is it then certain,' said HAMET, 'that this being is evil?' 'Is
not that being evil, said ALMORAN,' 'who proposes evil, as the condition
of good?' 'Shall I then,' said HAMET, 'renounce my liberty and life? The
rack is now ready; and, perhaps, the next moment, its tortures will be
inevitable.' 'Let me ask thee then,' said ALMORAN, 'to preserve thy
life, wilt thou destroy thy soul?' 'O! stay,' said HAMET--'Let me not be
tried too far! Let the strength of Him who is Almighty, be manifest in
my weakness!' HAMET then paused a few moments; but he was no longer in
doubt: and ALMORAN, who disbelieved and despised the arguments, by which
he intended to persuade him to renounce what, upon the same condition,
he was impatient to secure for himself, conceived hopes that he should
succeed; and those hopes were instantly confirmed.' 'Take then,' said
HAMET, this unholy charm; and remove it far from me, as the sands of
Alai from the trees of Oman; lest, in some dreadful hour, my virtue may
fail me, and thy counsel may be wanting!' 'Give it me then,' said
ALMORAN; and feeling for the hands of each other, he snatched it from
him in an extasy of joy, and instantly resuming his own voice and
figure, he cried out, 'At length I have prevailed: and life and love,
dominion and revenge, are now at once in my hand!'
HAMET heard and knew the voice of his brother, with astonishment; but it
was too late to wish that he had withheld the charm, which his virtue
would not permit him to use.
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