THREE:The old palace of the kings is now yellow-ochre, coated with plaster and lime-wash over the splendid antique marble walls.
THREE:Over the gate and the door of the house light garlands, made of single flowers threaded like beads, swing in the breeze and scent the air.Last year he and his brother had gone into the mausoleum of a Moslem saint with their shoes on; both had gone mad. The other brother died in a madhouse, where he was cared for; this one, incurable but harmless, went about the highways, followed by the dogs.
THREE:And so, on both sides of the way there are rice-fields without end; those that were reaped yesterday are ploughed again to-day.
TWO:Suddenly there was a panic among the horses; they shied, reared, and bolted across the fields, and the road being cleared, the elephants belonging to the Ameer of Cabul went by, to march at the head of the caravan. Next came a thousand camels, also the Ameer's; like the elephants, they carried no baggage, but on the back of one female was a young one, tied into a basket, born only the day before, all white and woolly.
TWO:At the back of the shops, which lie lower than the street, we could see men trampling in vats all[Pg 261] day long; they were stamping and treading on old woollen shawls, fulling them to take off the shiny traces of wear, to sell them again as new goods.












