Around him rose the matchless memorials of antique art; immortal
columns whose symmetry baffles modern proportion, serene Caryatides,
bearing with greater grace a graceful burthen, carvings of delicate
precision, and friezes breathing with heroic life. Apparently the
stranger, though habited as a Moslemin, was not insensible to the
genius of the locality, nor indeed would his form and countenance have
misbecome a contemporary of Pericles and Phidias. In the prime of life
and far above the common stature, but with a frame the muscular power
of which was even exceeded by its almost ideal symmetry, white
forehead, his straight profile, his oval countenance, and his curling
lip, exhibited the same visage that had inspired the sculptor of the
surrounding demigods.
The dress of the stranger, although gorgeous, was, however, certainly
not classic. A crimson shawl was wound round his head and glittered
with a trembling aigrette of diamonds. His vest which set tight to his
form, was of green velvet, richly embroidered with gold and pearls.
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