He must not expect here the same laws of
probability that govern commonplace scenes and everyday life; he
must remember that he treads the halls of an enchanted palace, and
that all is "haunted ground."
The House of the Weathercock.
ON THE brow of the lofty hill of the Albaycin, the highest part of
Granada, and which rises from the narrow valley of the Darro, directly
opposite to the Alhambra, stands all that is left of what was once a
royal palace of the Moors. it has, in fact, fallen into such
obscurity, that it cost me much trouble to find it; though aided in my
researches, by the sagacious and all-knowing Mateo Ximenes. This
edifice has borne for centuries the name of "The House of the
Weathercock" (La Casa del Gallo de Viento), from a bronze figure on
one of its turrets, in ancient times, of a warrior on horseback, and
turning with every breeze. This weathercock was considered by the
Moslems of Granada a portentous talisman. According to some
traditions, it bore the following Arabic inscription:
Calet et Bedici Aben Habuz,
Quidat ehahet Lindabuz.
Which has been rendered into Spanish:
Dice el sabio Aben Habuz,
Que asi se defiende el Andaluz.
And into English:
In this way, says, Aben Habuz the wise,
Andaluz guards against surprise.
This Aben Habuz, according to some of the old Moorish chronicles,
was a captain in the invading army of Taric, one of the conquerors
of Spain, who left him as Alcayde of Granada.
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