. One of Cleopatra's nights, and other fantastic romances . in its divinenudity; he views it with the eyes of theCorinthian statuary or the Pompeiian fresco-painter; he idealizes even the ideal ofbeauty: under his treatment flesh becomesdiaphanous, eyes are transformed to orbs ofprismatic light, features take tints of celes-tial loveliness. Like the Hellenic sculptor,he is not satisfied with beauty of form alone,but must add a vital glow of delicate color-ing to the white limbs and snowy bosom ofmarble. It is the artist, therefore, who must judgeof Gautiers creations. To the lovers of thelovel
. One of Cleopatra's nights, and other fantastic romances . in its divinenudity; he views it with the eyes of theCorinthian statuary or the Pompeiian fresco-painter; he idealizes even the ideal ofbeauty: under his treatment flesh becomesdiaphanous, eyes are transformed to orbs ofprismatic light, features take tints of celes-tial loveliness. Like the Hellenic sculptor,he is not satisfied with beauty of form alone,but must add a vital glow of delicate color-ing to the white limbs and snowy bosom ofmarble. It is the artist, therefore, who must judgeof Gautiers creations. To the lovers of theloveliness of the antique world, the loversof physical beauty and artistic truth, of thecharm of youthful dreams and young passionin its blossoming, of poetic ambitions and XVI TO THE READER the sweet pantheism that finds all Naturevitalized by the Spirit of the Beautiful—tosuch the first English version of these grace-ful fantasies is offered in the hope that itmay not be found wholly unworthy of theoriginal. L. Orleans, 1883. One of Cleopatras Nights. ONE OF CLEOPATCAS NIGHTS CHAPTER I Nineteen hundred years ago from thedate of this writing, a magnificently gildedand painted cangia was descending the Nileas rapidly as fifty long, flat oars, whichseemed to crawl over the furrowed waterlike the legs of a gigantic scarabaeus, couldimpel it. This cangia was narrow, long, elevated atboth ends in the form of a new moon, ele-gantly proportioned, and admirably builtfor speed; the figure of a rams head, sur-mounted by a golden globe, armed the pointof the prow, showing that the vessel be-longed to some personage of royal blood. 4 ONE OF CLEOPATRAS NIGHTS In the centre of the vessel arose a flat-roofed cabin—a sort of naos, or tent ofhonor—colored and gilded, ornamented withpalm-leaf mouldings, and lighted by fourlittle square windows. Two chambers, both decorated with hiero-glyphic paintings, occupied the horns of thecrescent. One of them, the larger, had asecond story of lesse
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