OMAR obeyed without reply; and ALMORAN being again alone, the conflict
in his mind was renewed with greater violence than before. He felt all
that he had disguised to OMAR, with the keenest sensibility; and
anticipated the effects of his detection, with unutterable anguish and
regret. He walked backward and forward with a hasty but interrupted
pace; sometimes stopping short, and pressing his hand hard upon his
brow; and sometimes by violent gestures showing the agitation of his
mind: he sometimes stood silent with his eyes, fixed upon, the ground,
and his arms folded together; and sometimes a sudden agony of thought
forced him into loud and tumultuous exclamations: he cursed the
impotence of mind that had suffered his thoughts to escape from him
unawares; without reflecting that he was even then repeating the folly;
and while he felt himself the victim of vice, he could not suppress his
contempt of virtue: 'If I must perish,' said he, 'I will at least perish
unsubdued: I will quench no wish that nature kindles in my bosom; nor
shall my lips utter any prayer, but for new powers to feed the flame.'

As he uttered this expression, he felt the palace shake; he heard a
rushing, like a blast in the desart; and a being of more than human
appearance stood before him. ALMORAN, though he was terrified, was not
humbled; and he stood expecting the event, whether evil or good, rather
with obduracy than courage.

'Thou seest,' says the Appearance, 'a Genius, whom the daring purpose of
thy mind has convoked from the middle region, where he was appointed to
wait the signal; and who is now permitted to act in concert with thy
will. Is not this the language of thy heart?--"Whatever pleasure I can
snatch from the hand of time, as he passes by me, I will secure for
myself: my passions shall be strong, that my enjoyments may be great;
for what is the portion allotted to man, but the joyful madness that