It contained beautiful apartments, and commanded an
almost boundless prospect, but was elevated far above that
atmosphere of sweets and those witching bowers so dangerous to the
feelings of the too susceptible Ahmed.
What was to be done, however, to reconcile him to this restraint and
to beguile the tedious hours? He had exhausted almost all kinds of
agreeable knowledge; and algebra was not to be mentioned.
Fortunately Eben Bonabben had been instructed, when in Egypt, in the
language of birds, by a Jewish Rabbin, who had received it in lineal
transmission from Solomon the wise, who had been taught it by the
queen of Sheba. At the very mention of such a study, the eyes of the
prince sparkled with animation, and he applied himself to it with such
avidity, that he soon became as great an adept as his master.
The tower of the Generalife was no longer a solitude; he had
companions at hand with whom he could converse. The first acquaintance
he formed was with a hawk, who built his nest in a crevice of the
lofty battlements, whence he soared far and wide in quest of prey. The
prince, however, found little to like or esteem in him. He was a
mere pirate of the air, swaggering and boastful, whose talk was all
about rapine and carnage, and desperate exploits.
His next acquaintance was an owl, a mighty wise looking bird, with a
huge head and staring eyes, who sat blinking and goggling all day in a
hole in the wall, but roamed forth at night.
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