The sun was
dilated on the edge of the horizon; and the young people, whose fancies
were lively and inventive, imagined they beheld in the gorgeous clouds of
the west the domes of Shadukiam and Amberabad, where the Peris have fixed
their abode. Nouronihar, sitting on the slope of the hill, supported on
her knees the perfumed head of Gulchenrouz; the air was calm, and no
sound stirred but the voices of other young girls, who were drawing cool
water from the streams below. The unexpected arrival of the Caliph, and
the splendour that marked his appearance, had already filled with emotion
the ardent soul of Nouronihar; her vanity irresistibly prompted her to
pique the prince's attention, and this she before took good care to
effect whilst he picked up the jasmine she had thrown upon him. But when
Gulchenrouz asked after the flowers he had culled for her bosom,
Nouronihar was all in confusion; she hastily kissed his forehead, arose
in a flutter, and walked with unequal steps on the border of the
precipice. Night advanced, and the pure gold of the setting sun had
yielded to a sanguine red, the glow of which, like the reflection of a
burning furnace, flushed Nouronihar's animated countenance.
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