ed into my presence as I sat between the columns of
my court. A blue veil was spread above to shut out the heat of the sun,
and rather twilight than light shone on the painted walls, and the
wonderful colours of the pavement, and the images of Love and the Mother
of Love. The men who brought the boy gave him over to my girls, who
undressed him before me, one drawing gently away his robe, another
stroking his brown and flowing hair, another praising the whiteness of
his limbs, and another caressing him, and speaking loving words in his
hear. But the boy looked sullenly at them all, striking away their hands,
and pouting with his lovely and splendid lips, and I saw a blush, like
the rosy veil of dawn, reddening his body and his cheeks. Then I made
them bathe him, and anoint him with scented oils from head to foot, till
his limbs shone and glistened with the gentle and mellow glow of an ivory
statue. Then I said: 'You are bashful, because you shine alone amongst us
all; see, we too will be your fellows.' The girls began first of all,
fondling and kissing one another, and doing for each other the offices of
waiting-maids. They drew out the pins and loosened the bands of their
hair, and I never knew before that they were so lovely. The soft and
shining tresses flowed down, rippling like sea-waves; some had hair
golden and radiant as this wine in my cup, the faces of others appeared
amidst the blackness of ebony; there were locks that seemed of burnished
and scintillating copper, some glowed with hair of tawny splendor, and
others were crowned with the brightness of the sardonyx. Then, laughing,
and without the appearance of shame, they unfastened the brooches and
bands which sustained their robes, and so allowed silk and linen to flow
swiftly to the stained floor, so that one would have said there was a
sudden apparition of the fairest nymphs. With many festive and jocose
words they began to incite each other to mirth, praising the beauties
that shone on every side, and calling the boy by a girl's name, they
invited him to be their playmate. But he refused, shaking his head, and
still standing dumb-founded and abashed, as if he saw a forbidden and
terrible spectacle. Then I ordered the women to undo my hair and my
clothes, making them caress me with the tenderness of the fondest lover,
but without avail, for the foolish boy still scowled and pouted out his
lips, stained with an imperial and glorious scarlet."

She poured out