lightly on the carpet and advances towards Antony. Her
robe of gold brocade, regularly divided by furbelows of pearls, jet and
sapphires, is drawn tightly round her waist by a close-fitting corsage,
set off with a variety of colours representing the twelve signs of the
Zodiac. She wears high-heeled pattens, one of which is black and strewn
with silver stars and a crescent, whilst the other is white and is
covered with drops of gold, with a sun in their midst.

Her loose sleeves, garnished with emeralds and birds' plumes, exposes to
view her little, rounded arms, adorned at the wrists with bracelets of
ebony; and her hands, covered with rings, are terminated by nails so
pointed that the ends of her fingers are almost like needles.

A chain of plate gold, passing under her chin, runs along her cheeks
till it twists itself in spiral fashion around her head, over which blue
powder is scattered; then, descending, it slips over her shoulders and
is fastened above her bosom by a diamond scorpion, which stretches out
its tongue between her breasts. From her ears hang two great white
pearls. The edges of her eyelids are painted black. On her left
cheek-bone she has a natural brown spot, and when she opens her mouth
she breathes with difficulty, as if her bodice distressed her.

As she comes forward, she swings a green parasol with an ivory handle
surrounded by vermilion bells; and twelve curly negro boys carry the
long train of her robe, the end of which is held by an ape, who raises
it every now and then.

She says:

"Ah! handsome hermit! handsome hermit! My heart is faint! By dint of
stamping with impatience my heels have grown hard, and I have split one
of my toe-nails. I sent out shepherds, who posted themselves on the
mountains, with their bands stretched over their eyes, and searchers,
who cried out your name in the woods, and scouts, who ran along the
different roads, saying to each passer-by: 'Have you seen him?'

"At night I shed tears with my face turned to the wall. My tears, in the
long run, made two little holes in the mosaic-work--like pools of water
in rocks--for I love you! Oh! yes; very much!"

She catches his beard.

"Smile on me, then, handsome hermit! Smile on me, then! You will find I
am very gay! I play on the lyre, I dance like a bee, and I can tell many
stories, each one more diverting than the last.

"You cannot imagine what a long journey we have made. Look at the wild
asses of the green-clad