"How I enjoy this!" answered Gongora with a peal of laughter. "Cheer up now; come and be persuaded that the world has not been deceived: let us enter this rubbish-pile."
We entered by a little door, crossed a corridor, and found ourselves in a court. With a sudden cry I seized Gongora's hand, and he asked with a tone of triumph,
"Are you persuaded?"
I did not answer, I did not see him: I was already far away; the Alhambra had already begun to exercise upon me that mysterious and powerful fascination which no one can avoid nor any one express.
We were in the Patio de los Arrayanes, the Court of the Myrtles, which is the largest in the edifice, and presents at once the appearance of a room, a courtyard, and a garden. A great rectangular basin full of water, surrounded by a myrtle hedge, extends from one side of the patio to the other, and like a mirror reflects the arches, arabesques, and the mural inscriptions.
To the right of the entrance there extend two orders of Moorish arches, one above the other, supported by slender columns, and on the opposite side of the court rises a tower with a door through which one sees the inner rooms in semi-darkness and the mullioned windows, and through the windows the blue sky and the summits of the distant mountains. The walls are ornamented to a certain height from the pavement with brilliant mosaics, and above the mosaics with arabesques of very intricate design that seem to tremble and change at every step, and here and there among the arabesques and along the arches they stretch and creep and intertwine, like garlands, Moorish inscriptions containing greetings, proverbs, and legends.
Beside the door of entrance is written in Cufic characters: Eternal Happiness!—Blessing!—Prosperity!—Felicity!—Praised be God for the blessing of Islam!
In another place it is written: I seek my refuge in the Lord of the Morning.