Some typographical errors have been corrected;a list follows the text. (In certain versions of this etext [in certain browsers]clicking on this symbol (etext transcriber's note) |
,or directly on the image,will bring up a larger version of the illustration.)THE ALHAMBRA
TOWER OF THE PRINCESSES.
PREFACE TO THE REVISED EDITION
ROUGH draughts of some of the following tales and essays were actuallywritten during a residence in the Alhambra; others were subsequentlyadded, founded on notes and observations made there. Care was taken tomaintain local coloring and verisimilitude; so that the whole mightpresent a faithful and living picture of that microcosm, that singularlittle world into which I had been fortuitously thrown; and about whichthe external world had a very imperfect idea. It was my endeavorscrupulously to depict its half Spanish, half Oriental character; itsmixture of the heroic, the poetic, and the grotesque; to revive thetraces of grace and beauty fast fading from its walls; to record theregal and chivalrous traditions concerning those who once trod itscourts; and the whimsical and superstitious legends of the motley racenow burrowing among its ruins.
The papers thus roughly sketched out lay for three or four years in myportfolio, until I found myself in London, in 1832, on the eve ofreturning to the United States. I then endeavored to arrange them forthe press, but the preparations for departure did not allow sufficientleisure. Several were thrown aside as incomplete; the rest were