and streamers, fluttering in the breeze, completed the charm of the prospect.
"Ye gods!—ye just gods!" exclaimed the Princess, "what do I behold? Where am I? What an astounding tranformation! What has become of the terrible rock, that seemed to threaten the skies with its lofty pinnacles? Can I be she who was shipwrecked last night, and saved by a serpent?" She continued thus talking to herself—walking about, then stopping, perfectly bewildered. At length, she heard a noise in her apartment. She re-entered it, and saw advancing towards her a hundred Pagods,[1] formed and dressed in a hundred different fashions. The tallest were about a cubit in height, and the shortest not above four inches,—some beautiful, graceful, and agreeable; others hideous, alarmingly ugly. Their bodies were of diamonds, emeralds, rubies, pearls, crystal, amber, coral, porcelain, gold, silver, brass, bronze, iron, wood, and clay; some without arms, others without feet, others had mouths extending to their ears, eyes all askew, broken noses; in a word, there is not more variety amongst all the creatures that inhabit the world than there was amongst these pagods.
Those who presented themselves before the Princess were the deputies of the kingdom. After an oration, which contained some very judicious reflections, they entertained her by the information, that for some time past they had travelled about the world; but that, in order to obtain their sovereign's permission to do so, they took an oath not to speak during their absence; that some there were, indeed, so scrupulous, they would not even shake their heads, or move their hands or feet, but that the majority of them could not help it. That in this way they traversed the universe; and when they returned, they amused the king by telling him everything that had occurred, even the most secret transactions and adventures in all the courts they had visited. "A pleasure, Madam," added one of the deputies, "which we shall have the honour of occasionally affording you; for we are commanded to neglect nothing which can entertain you. In lieu of bringing you presents, we now come to amuse you with our
- ↑ Pagodes, the French name not only for Indian or Chinese temples, but for those figures, whether idols or not, which have movable heads. "Il remue la tête comme une Pagode," is a popular saying in the language.
