Many years had yet to elapse before the princesses would arrive at
that period of danger- the marriageable age: "It is good, however,
to be cautious in time," said the shrewd monarch; so he determined
to have them reared in the royal castle of Salobrena. This was a
sumptuous palace, incrusted, as it were, in a powerful Moorish
fortress on the summit of a hill overlooking the Mediterranean sea. It
was a royal retreat, in which the Moslem monarchs shut up such of
their relatives, as might endanger their safety; allowing them all
kinds of luxuries and amusements, in the midst of which they passed
their lives in voluptuous indolence.
Here the princesses remained, immured from the world, but surrounded
by enjoyment, and attended by female slaves who anticipated their
wishes. They had delightful gardens for their recreation, filled
with the rarest fruits and flowers, with aromatic groves and
perfumed baths. On three sides the castle looked down upon a rich
valley, enamelled with all kinds of culture, and bounded by the lofted
Alpuxarra mountains; on the other side it overlooked the broad sunny
sea.
In this delicious abode, in a propitious climate, and under a
cloudless sky, the three princesses grew up into wondrous beauty; but,
though all reared alike, they gave early tokens of diversity of
character. Their names were Zayda, Zorayda, and Zorahayda; and such
was their order of seniority, for there had been precisely three
minutes between their births.
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