 | THE TOWER OF LAS INFANTS. The Alhambra |  |
THE TOWER OF LAS INFANTS.
In an evening's stroll up a narrow glen, overshadowed
by fig-trees, pomegranates and myrtles,
that divides the land of the fortress from those of
the Generaliffe, I was struck with the romantic
appearance of a Moorish tower in the outer wall
of the Alhambra, that rose high above the tree-tops,
and caught the ruddy rays of the setting sun.
A solitary window, at a great height, commanded
a view of the glen, and as I was regarding it a
young female looked out, with her head adorned
with flowers. She was evidently superior to the
usual class of people that inhabit the old towers
of the fortress; and this sudden and picturesque
glimpse of her, reminded me of the descriptions of
captive beauties in fairy tales. The fanciful associations
of my mind were increased on being informed
by my attendant, Mateo, that this was the tower of
from having been, according to tradition, the residence
of the daughters of the Moorish kings. I
have since visited the tower. It is not generally
shown to strangers, though well worthy attention,
for the interior is equal for beauty of architecture
and delicacy of ornament, to any part of the palace.
The elegance of its central hall with its
marble fountain, its lofty arches and richly fretted
dome; the arabesques and stucco work of the small,
but well proportioned chambers, though injured by
time and neglect, all accord with the story of its
being anciently the abode of royal beauty.
The little old fairy queen who lives under the
staircase of the Alhambra, and frequents the evening
tertulias of Dame Antonia, tells some fanciful
traditions about three Moorish princesses who were
once shut up in this tower by their father, a tyrant
king of Granada, and were only permitted to
ride out at night about the hills, when no one was
permitted to come in their way, under pain of
death. They still, according to her account, may
be seen occasionally when the moon is in the full,
riding in lonely places along the mountain side, on
palfreys richly caparisoned, and sparkling with
jewels, but they vanish on being spoken to.
—But before I relate any thing farther respecting
know something about the fair inhabitant of the
tower with her head drest with flowers, who looked
out from the lofty window. She proved to be the
newly married spouse of the worthy adjutant of invalids;
who, though well stricken in years, had had
the courage to take to his bosom a young and buxom
Andalusian damsel. May the good old cavalier
be happy in his choice, and find the tower of
the Princesses a more secure residence for female
beauty than it seems to have proved in the time
of the Moslems, if we may believe the following
legend.
| THE TOWER OF LAS INFANTS. The Alhambra | |