Pagina 446 van 1116

Presently I espied an open door for which I made straight and

found leading to it a flight of seven steps. So I walked up and

came upon a place pargetted with marble and spread and hung with

gold-worked carpets and tapestry, amiddlemostof which stood a

throne of juniper wood inlaid with pearls and precious stones and

set with bosses of emeralds. In the further wall was an alcove

whose curtains, bestrung with pearls, were let down and I saw a

light issuing therefrom; so I drew near and perceived that the

light came from a precious stone as big as an ostrich egg, set at

the upper end of the alcove upon a little chryselephantine couch

of ivory and gold; and this jewel, blazing like the sun, cast its

rays wide and side. The couch also was spread with all manner of

silken stuffs amazing the gazer with their richness and beauty.