'
'Beruna, gentle girl, give me thy arm. I'll rise.'
The maidens advanced, and gently raising their mistress, supported her
to the window.
'Since our calamities,' said Miriam, 'I have never enjoyed such tranquil
slumber. My dreams were slight, but soothing. I saw him, but he smiled.
Have I slept long, sweet girls? Ye are very watchful.'
'Dear lady, let me bring thy shawl. The air is fresh----'
'But sweet; I thank thee, no. My brow is not so cool as to need a
covering. 'Tis a fair night!'
Miriam gazed upon the wide prospect of the moonlit capital. The elevated
position of the citadel afforded an extensive view of the mighty groups
of buildings-each in itself a city, broken only by some vast and hooded
cupola, the tall, slender, white minarets of the mosques, or the black
and spiral form of some lonely cypress--through which the rushing
Tigris, flooded with light, sent forth its broad and brilliant torrent.
All was silent; not a single boat floated on the fleet river, not a
solitary voice broke the stillness of slumbering millions. She gazed
and, as she gazed, she could not refrain from contrasting the present
scene, which seemed the sepulchre of all the passions of our race,
with the unrivalled excitement of that stirring spectacle which Bagdad
exhibited on the celebration of the marriage of Alroy.
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