The morning was as fresh and fair as the maid on whose nuptials it rose,
and the shining lake, all covered with boats, the minstrels playing upon
the shores of the islands, and the crowded summer-houses on the green
hills around, with shawls and banners waving from their roofs, presented
such a picture of animated rejoicing, as only she, who was the object of
it all, did not feel with transport. To LALLA ROOKH alone it was a
melancholy pageant; nor could she have even borne to look upon the scene,
were it not for a hope that among the crowds around, she might once more
perhaps catch a glimpse of FERAMORZ. So much was her imagination haunted
by this thought that there was scarcely an islet or boat she passed on the
way at which her heart did not flutter with the momentary fancy that he
was there. Happy, in her eyes, the humblest slave upon whom the light of
his dear looks fell!--In the barge immediately after the Princess sat
FADLADEEN, with his silken curtains thrown widely apart, that all might
have the benefit of his august presence, and with his head full of the
speech he was to deliver to the King, "concerning FERAMORZ and literature
and the Chabuk as connected therewith."
They now had entered the canal which leads from the Lake to the splendid
domes and saloons of the Shalimar and went gliding on through the gardens
that ascended from each bank, full of flowering shrubs that made the air
all perfume; while from the middle of the canal rose jets of water, smooth
and unbroken, to such a dazzling height that they stood like tall pillars
of diamond in the sunshine.
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