Budge_Ethiopic_Alexander

ALEXANDER AND CANDACE. 1 99
saw her beauty, and her noble stature, and her
royal bearing, he was fain to compare her unto
his mother, and he wept with a mighty weeping.
Then the queen said to him, "What is it that
"maketh thee weep, O my beloved one? for I
"swear by God Almighty that we will do thee
"[p. 113] no harm, and that we will do good unto
"thee even as thou hast done good unto us." And
he said unto her, "I weep' because of thy joy,
"and because of what I have seen oP thee and
"of thy beauty. And as for the similitude of thy
"habitation, it could not be described by reason
"of its beauty, and the manner in which it hath Description
"been built, and the form thereof" Now the";..^ throne
pavement of the chamber was [made] of red gold ''''^"'''^'•
in which there was no alloy; and its walls were
ornamented with all kinds of precious stones, and
the cushions were likewise worked in gold, and
the couches were of gold [set] with precious stones.
And there were in this house pillars of stone which
seemed to the beholder to emit rays of light,
because they were decorated with a light green
stone like unto crystal wrought with gold and set
with precious stones, many of which were of great
price; and the beholder saw himself reflected in
them. When Alexander saw these things he mar-
velled at what he saw, for he had never before
seen such royal state maintained by any king.
Now when the feast was over— for she had brought
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