Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1871-12-07

and almost transparent marble pillars. In
the center of this court resting upon the
backs of twelve lions is an immense ala
baster vase, in the center of which is the
fountain. I want the words to describe
the perfection of grace end the refnemen'
of elegance which marks the Court of the
Lions. You must see it to appreciate it
and even Irving's pen, thrilling to its nit
with the inspiration of genius, can convey
but an inadequate idea of the transcend
ant beauty and matchless grace of this
peerless court. Words of Arabic about
The fountain, translated, read as follows
BLESSED be he who gave the Imam No
BANNED a mansion which, in beauty, ex'
ceeds all other mansions; and, if not so,
here is a garden containing the wonders
of art, the like of which God forbids
should elsewhere be found. Look at this
solid mass of pearl, glistening all round
and spreading through the air its showers
of prismatic bubbles, which fall within a
circle of silvery froth, and flow amid other
Jewels surprising everything in beauty"
The court of the Lions has been pro-
nouuced "the pearl of the Alhambra -
solemn as cloister, and charming as q
picture from the Arabian Nights. Quo
tations from the Koran are inscribed del
icately on the arches, and Joseph points
us to a scroll which he'says may be read.
"No conuueror but God" We are 10th to
leave the court, but pass from it under the
pavilion to the Hall of Abenoerages, an
other marvel of elegance. The story goea
that Boabdil became aware of an undue
| intimacy between one of his court and q
choice beauty of the Harem. The SO of
his courtiers were assembled in this hall
and the guilty one of the number was
commanded to confess the crime. Certsin
death the penalty, with no hope for mercy,
Boabdil, heated with anger, then infuriat-
ed to rage, ordered that the entire 36 lose
their heads. Joseph points TO reddish
stains on the marble fountein, saying :
"Geut1emer, see the blood, this the same
blood what come from the So; blood AL
ways keeps on marble, gentlemen, see,
gentlemen ! Indeed this be the blood" II
| required long stretch of credulity to ao-
cept Joseph's repeated assurance, but we
| looked Mortified and nodded evasively
which seemed to passify our anxious
l. ~ t. I'll
ffty by eighteen feet in dimension, and
marked by the same engaging richness.
A number of rude pictures, painted in the
rotunda of this hall, are the work OF
Spanish captives. It is q strange fact in
connection with the Moors, so gifted in
architecture and 30 refined of taste, that
they have left no pictures OF any descrip-
ton, either painting or rude sketching.
la this Judgment Hall sits huge vase
which the emisaries of Charles V. found
buried under the winter palace and COM
pletely filled with gold. Joseph recited
the story of the vase in al Ineligible
manner, but with fearful butchery of
of "Kiug's English he concluded it as
follows: Gentlemen, them Frenohnen
want everything in Paris, everything but
the Prussians, and think they get them,
but they don't have this largest Moorish
vase in the world. No, gentlemen, not
for twenty thousand francs, which one of
them French chaps offered for it." 1t has,
since time immemorial, been a custom
with the Moors to wash the corpse of
their dead before burial, then to sew it
up in strong cloth, and If it be female,
to wrap her sash about the bier. I saw
in Tangier, in the street, a body sewn and
sashed, while the bereaved were in the
house, mourning. A most exquisitely
carved marble trough, which has been the
admiration Of every visitor to the AL
hambra, stands here in the Judgment
Hall, and Joseph assures US that it was
used for cleansing the dead bodies
Through modern door of carved cedar
we pass over the marble floor TO the foun-
tain of the two sisters, SO called, from q
pair of immense twin slabs of marble on
the floor. This was the sleeping apartment
OF the Sultan and Sultana, and surely
never was one more magnificent OF it's
kind. Over the fountain in the center,
dome fifty feet high is fashioned after
snow drift, with pendants and pinnscles.
Jets and ioicles, the paragons of beauty
and extreme of novelty. A story is told
of that wondrous dome, and as a oonclu-
SION to this letter, must trespass upon
your overborne patience to repeat it.
Don't ask me for "the papers" to verify
its statements. Translated from Arabic
the story reads; "The great architect,
Ibn Aser, had rooted out the burning blue
sky and the lightning heat with plain
bell dome, after the manner of the Ro
mans; but his soul was not satisfied, and
he sat cross legged on his prayer carpet
between the palm pillars, looking up and
praying to Allah for more light of divine
wisdom. At that moment came dancing
in, with shell-shapsd csstinets, cslabash
guitars, Moorish cymbals, and the nose
flutes Of Barbary, band of Christian
and negro slaves, waiting for their fair
mistress, ,Nourhamal.t the light of the world.
Wanton in their Joy they flung about
their arms which, mingling together,
black and white, looked like night when
it is chaging into day and they began
to pelt each other with handsfull OF
snow which lay in huge matted baskets,
brought that morning on mules from the
bosom.olefts of the Sierra Nevada; and
the snow on the black faces fell as swans
down, but on the fairer faces it was as ice
dew on the early roses then, tired OF
this amusement. they began to toss hun
dreds of snow-balls aloft, up at the domed
roof, seeing which could make most snow
adhere to the hollow globe and when
one obtained the victNry, she laughed with
laugh that was peal OF silver bells /;
then came the loud clapping OF black