tumble on the beach, the dazzling pair whirled away in a giddy waltz
like two bright flames blown suddenly together by the wind. No language
could give an adequate idea of the marvelous bewitchment and beauty of
their united movements, and as they flew over the dark smooth turf,
with the flower-laden trees drooping dewily about them, and the yellow
moonbeams like melted amber beneath their noiseless feet, ... while the
pale sapphire and white radiations from the dome, sparkling upon them
aureole-wise, gave them the appearance of glittering birds circling
through a limitless space of luminous and never-clouded ether. On, on!
... and they scarcely touched the earth as they spun dizzily round and
round, their gracefully entwined limbs shining like polished ivory in
the light, ... on, on!--with ever-increasing swiftness they sped, till
their two forms seemed to merge into one, ... when as though oppressed
by their own abandonment of joy they paused hoveringly, their embracing
arms closing round one another, their lips almost touching, ... their
eyes reflecting each other's ardent looks, ... then, ... their figures
grew less and less distinct, ... they appeared to melt mysteriously
into the azure, pearly light that surrounded them, and finally, like
faint clouds fading on the edge of a sea-horizon, they vanished! The
effect of this brief voluptuous dance, and its equally voluptuous end,
was simply indescribable,--the young men, who had watched it through in
silence and flushed ecstasy, now sprang from their couches with shouts
of rapture and unrestrained excitement, and seizing the other
dancing-maidens who had till now remained in clustered, half-hidden
groups behind the crystalline columns of the hall, whirled them off
into the inviting pleasaunce beyond, where the little white and gold
pavilions peeped through the heavy foliage,--and before Theos, in the
picturesque hurry and confusion of the scene, could quite realize what
had happened, the great globe in the dome was suddenly extinguished,
... a firm hand closed imperiously on his own, and he was drawn along
swiftly, he knew not whither!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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