"Alas!" said she, "that I were but in those secure and illuminated
apartments where my evenings glided on with Gulchenrouz! Dear child! how
would thy heart flutter with terror wert thou wandering in these wild
solitudes like me!" At the close of this apostrophe she regained her
road, and, coming to steps hewn out in the rock, ascended them
undismayed; the light, which was now gradually enlarging, appeared above
her on the summit of the mountain; at length she distinguished a
plaintive and melodious union of voices, proceeding from a sort of
cavern, that resembled the dirges which are sung over tombs; a sound,
likewise, like that which arises from the filling of baths, at the same
time struck her ear; she continued ascending, and discovered large wax
torches in full blaze planted here and there in the fissures of the rock;
this preparation filled her with fear, whilst the subtle and potent odour
which the torches exhaled caused her to sink almost lifeless at the
entrance of the grot.
Casting her eyes within in this kind of trance, she beheld a large
cistern of gold filled with a water, whose vapour distilled on her face a
dew of the essence of roses; a soft symphony resounded through the grot;
on the sides of the cistern she noticed appendages of royalty, diadems,
and feathers of the heron, all sparkling with carbuncles; whilst her
attention was fixed on this display of magnificence, the music ceased,
and a voice instantly demanded:
"For what monarch were these torches kindled, this bath prepared, and
these habiliments, which belong, not only to the sovereigns of the earth,
but even to the Talismanic Powers?"
To which a second voice answered: "They are for the charming daughter of
the Emir Fakreddin.
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