The old invalid sentinels who mount guard at the gate hear the
strains occasionally in the summer nights; and, yielding to their
soporific power, doze quietly at their posts. Nay, so drowsy an
influence pervades the place, that even those who watch by day may
generally be seen nodding on the stone benches of the barbican, or
sleeping under the neighboring trees, so that in fact it is the
drowsiest military post in all Christendom. All this, say the
ancient legends, will endure from age to age. The princess will remain
captive to the astrologer; and the astrologer, bound up in magic
slumber by the princess, until the last day, unless the mystic hand
shall grasp the fated key, and dispel the whole charm of this
enchanted mountain.
Note to "The Arabian Astrologer"
Al Makkari, in his history of the Mahommedan dynasties in Spain,
cites from another Arabian writer an account of a talismanic effigy
somewhat similar to the one in the foregoing legend.
In Cadiz, says he, there formerly stood a square tower upwards of
one hundred cubits high, built of huge blocks of stone, fastened
together with clamps of brass. On the top was the figure of a man,
holding a staff in his right hand, his face turned to the Atlantic,
and pointing with the forefinger of his left hand to the Straits of
Gibraltar. It was said to have been set up in ancient times by the
Gothic kings of Andalus, as a beacon or guide to navigators.
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