Before us is the famous fountain. Its lower basin is supported by twelve carved lions. As if in obedience to the Moslem injunction against the creation of the likeness of any living thing, the Arabic sculptor has not slavishly imitated nature's forms, and these are likenesses of no beast known to Natural History. And still they are highly decorative, possessing benign expressions,—expressions which render unnecessary the assurances contained in the closing line of the long inscription carved upon the fountain: "Fear not in thy contemplation while gazing upon these rampant lions, they are without life and without ferocity."
 | An image should appear at this position in the text. To use the entire page scan as a placeholder, edit this page and replace "{{missing image}}" with "{{raw image|The Burton Holmes lectures; (IA burtonholmeslect04holm).pdf/354}}". Otherwise, if you are able to provide the image then please do so. For guidance, see Wikisource:Image guidelines and Help:Adding images. |  |
DARK CORRIDORS AND SUNNY COURTS Photograph by D. F. McGillicuddy
Word pictures of the various interiors of the Alhambra would be superfluous even were it possible to paint in phrase its beautiful apartments, corridors, and courts. Who does not know the famous Hall of the Ambassadors, high-ceiled, noble of proportion? Who has not lingered in imagination at the windows of the Mirador of Lindaraja, or feasted the eyes upon the arabesques of the Hall of the Two Sisters?
