Although open to all comers, so great and rapid was the
supply, that these banqueting tables seemed ever laden; and that the
joys of the people might be complete, they were allowed to pursue
whatever pleasures they thought fit without any restraint, by
proclamation, in these terms.
'_This is the time of feasting, pleasure, and rejoicing. Let no person
reprimand or complain of another: let not the rich insult the poor, or
the strong the weak: let no one ask another, "why have you done this
_?"'
Millions of people were collected in this Paradise. They rejoiced, they
feasted, they frolicked, they danced, they sang. They listened to the
tales of the Arabian story-teller, at once enchanted and enchanting,
or melted to the strain of the Persian poet as he painted the moon-lit
forehead of his heroine and the wasting and shadowy form of his
love-sick hero; they beheld with amazement the feats of the juggler of
the Ganges, or giggled at the practised wit and the practical buffoonery
of the Syrian mime. And the most delighted could still spare a
fascinating glance to the inviting gestures and the voluptuous grace of
the dancing girls of Egypt.[68] Everywhere reigned melody and merriment,
rarity and beauty.
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