Page:Writings of Oscar Wilde - Volume 03.djvu/124

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98 THE WRITINGS OF OSCAR WILDE.

painted linen from the country of the Ethiops, the purple sponges from Tyre and the blue hang- ings from Sidon, the cups of cold amber and the fine vessels of glass and the curious vessels of burnt clay. From the roof of a house a com- pany of women watched us. One of them wore a mask of gilded leather. "And on the first day the priests came and bartered with us, and on the second day came the nobles, and on the third day came the craftsmen and the slaves. And this is their custom with all merchants as long as they tarry in the city. And we tarried for a moon, and when the moon was waning, I wearied and wandered away through the streets of the city and came to the garden of its god. The priests in their yellow robes moved silently through the green trees, and on a pavement of black marble stood the rose-red house in which the god had his dwelling. Its doors were of powdered lacquer, and bulls and peacocks were wrought on them in raised and polished gold. The tiled roof was of sea green porcelain, and the jutting eaves were festooned with little bells. When the white doves

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