nd
there is Ong Zwarba, of which I shall tell thee also. And the
wonders at the gates are these. At the eastern gate Neb. And at the
northern gate the wonder of the river and the arches, for the River
of Myth, which becomes one with the Waters of Fable in the desert
outside the city, floats under a gate of pure gold, rejoicing, and
under many arches fantastically carven that are one with either
bank. The marvel at the western gate is the marvel of Annolith and
the dog Voth. Annolith sits outside the western gate facing towards
the city. He is higher than any of the towers or palaces, for his
head was carved from the summit of the old hill; he hath two eyes of
sapphire wherewith he regards Babbulkund, and the wonder of the eyes
is that they are today in the same sockets wherein they glowed when
first the world began, only the marble that covered them has been
carven away and the light of day let in and the sight of the envious
stars. Larger than a lion is the dog Voth beside him; every hair is
carven upon the back of Voth, his war hackles are erected and his
teeth are bared. All the Nehemoths have worshipped the god Annolith,
but all their people pray to the dog Voth, for the law of the land
is that none but a Nehemoth may worship the god Annolith. The marvel
at the southern gate is the marvel of the jungle, for he comes with
all his wild untravelled sea of darkness and trees and tigers and
sunward-aspiring orchids right through a marble gate in the city
wall and enters the city, and there widens and holds a space in its
midst of many miles across. Moreover, he is older than the City of
Marvel, for he dwelt long since in one of the valleys of the
mountain which Nehemoth, first of Pharaohs, carved into Babbulkund.

'Now the opal alcove in which the King sits at evening by the lake
stands at the edge of the jungle, and the climbing orchids of the
jungle have long since crept from their homes through clefts of the
opal alcove, lured by the lights of the lake, and now bloom there
exultingly. Near to this alcove are the hareems of Nehemoth.

'The King hath four hareems--one for the stalwart women from the
mountains to the north, one for the dark and furtive jungle women,
one for the desert women that have wandering souls and pine in
Babbulkund, and one for the princesses of his own kith, whose brown
cheeks blush with the blood of ancient Pharaohs and who exult with
Babbulkund in her surpassing beauty, and who kno