Page:Life in Java Volume 1.djvu/240

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LIFE IN JAVA.

from dirt and less broken than that of most of the other figures and sculpture. The entrance on the right side of the temple must also have been adorned in a similar manner, but the head has fallen from its former exalted position, and now lies on its occiput, staring up at the throne of eminence it once occupied. The second story is a counterpart of the first, but smaller. The arched recesses have been elaborately finished with leaves and flowers—emblematic, I daresay, of the name of the temple, Singa-sari, meaning Lion-flower—and the niches have been filled with figures, of which, however, so effectually has the unsparing hand of time done its work, little that is perfect now remains. The recess on the right side of the temple contains a recumbent figure, about which the Javanese have a tradition. Their legend says it was formerly a young prince, who came to this temple to carry away a lovely princess serving in it as a vestal virgin. His attempt, however,