blage are women.
Their black hair tastefully braided into various forms, and adorned
with flowers or precious stones, contrasts elegantly with the brilliant
whiteness of the robes in which they are for the most part clothed.
Some of them are occupied in listlessly watching the movements of the
birds in the aviaries; others hold a languid and whispered conversation
with such of the courtiers as happen to be placed near them. The men
exhibit in their dresses a greater variety of colour, and in their
occupations a greater fertility of resource, than the women. Their
garments, of the lightest rose, violet, or yellow tints, diversify
fantastically the monotonous white robes of their gentle companions.
Of their employments, the most conspicuous are playing on the lute,
gaming with dice, teasing their lapdogs, and insulting their parasites.
Whatever their occupation, it is performed with little attention, and
less enthusiasm. Some recline on their couches with closed eyes, as if
the heat made the labour of using their organs of vision too much for
them; others, in the midst of a conversation, suddenly leave a sentence
unfinished, apparently incapacitated by lassitude from giving
expression to the simplest ideas. Every sight in the apartment that
attracts the eye, every sound that gains the ear, expresses a luxurious
repose. No brilliant light mars the pervading softness of the
atmosphere; no violent colour materialises the light, ethereal hues of
the dresses; no sudden noises interrupt the fitful and plaintive notes
of the lute, jar with the soft twittering of the birds in the aviaries,
or drown the still, regular melody of the ladies' voices. All objects,
animate and inanimate, are in harmony with each other. It is a scene
of spiritualised indolence--a picture of dreamy beatitude in the inmost
sanctuary of unruffled repose.

Amid this assemblage of beauty and nobility, the members of which were
rather to be generally noticed than particularly observed, there was,
however, one individual who, both by the solitary occupation he had
chosen and his accidental position in the room, was personally
remarkable among the listless patricians around him.

His couch was placed nearer the window than that of any other occupant
of the chamber. Some of his indolent neighbours--especially those of
the gentler sex--occasionally regarded him with mingled looks of
admiration and curiosity; but no one approached him, or attempted to
enga