The Beggar's Banquet
Having asked the old, the ill, the
lame, the poor, the blind, and the vagabonds to a large dining hall
in Tirgoviste, Dracula ordered that a feast be prepared for them.
On the appointed day, Tirgoviste groaned under the
weight of the large number of beggars who had come. The prince's
servants passed out a batch of clothes to each one, then they led
the beggars to a large mansion where tables had been set. The beggars
marveled at the prince's generosity, and they spoke among themselves:
"Truly it is a prince's kind of grace." Then they started eating. And
what do you think they saw before them: a meal such as one would find
on the prince's own table, wines and all the best things to eat which
weigh you down. The beggars had a feast that became legendary.
They ate and drank greedily. Most of them became
dead drunk. As they became unable to communicate with one another, and
became incoherent, they were suddenly faced with fire and smoke on all
sides. The prince had ordered his servants to set the house on fire.
They rushed to the doors to get out, but the doors
were locked. The fire progressed. The blaze rose high like inflamed
dragons. Shouts, shreiks, and moans arose from the lips of all the poor
enclosed there. But why should a fire be moved by the entreaties of
men? They fell upon each other. They embraced each other. They sought
help, but there was no human ear left to listen to them. They began to
twist in the torments of the fire that was destroying them. The fire
stifled some, the embers reduced others to ashes, the flames grilled
most of them. When the fire finally abated, there was no trace of any
living soul.
From Dracula: Prince of Many Faces
, by Radu Florescu and Raymond McNally (Little, Brown and Company, 1989).
