matter; for the carved work of it is so
magnificent that twill be no marvel if I fail. And yet I will
apply all my diligence to say what I think of it. The notch and
the feathers together are so close that if a man looks well at
them there is but one dividing line like a narrow parting in the
hair; but this line is so polished and straight, that without
question there is nought in the notch which can be improved. The
feathers are of such a hue as if they were gold or gilded; but
gilding can add nothing; for the feathers, this know I well, were
brighter still than gold. The feathers are the blonde tresses
that I saw the other day at sea. This is the arrow that makes me
love. God! What a priceless boon! If a man could have such a
treasure, why should he desire any other wealth all his life? For
my part, I could swear that I should desire nothing more; for
merely the feathers and the notch would I not give away in
exchange for Antioch. And since I prize these two things so much,
who could duly appraise the value of the rest which is so fair
and lovable, and so dear and so precious, that I am desirous and
eager to behold myself mirrored again in the brow that God has
made so bright that nor mirror nor emerald nor topaz would make
any show beside it. But of all this, he who gazes at the
brightness of the eyes has not a word to say; for to all those
who behold them they seem two glowing candles. And who has so
glib a tongue that he could describe the fashion of the
well-shaped nose, and of the bright countenance where the rose
overlays the lily so that it eclipses something of the lily in
order the better to illuminate the face, and of the smiling
little mouth which God made such on purpose that no one should
see it and not think that it is laughing? And what of the teeth
in her mouth? One is so close to the other that it seems that
they all touch, and so that they might the better achieve this,
Nature bestowed special pains, so that whoever should see them
when the mouth opens would never dream that they were not of
ivory or silver. So much there is to say and to recount in the
describing of each thing--both of the chin and of the ears--that
it would be no great marvel if I were to leave out something. Of
the throat, I tell you, that in comparison with it, crystal is
but dim. And the neck beneath her tresses is four times whiter
than ivory. As much as is disclosed from the hem of the vest
behind, to the clasp of the openin