Tales of the Alhambra

Tales of the Alhambra
by Washington Irving

Table of Contents
Preface to the Revised Edition.
The Journey.
Palace of the Alhambra.
Note on Morisco Architecture
Important Negotiations. The Author Succeeds to the Throne of
Boabdil.
Inhabitants of the Alhambra.
The Hall of Ambassadors.
The Jesuits Library.
Alhamar. The Founder of the Alhambra.
Yusef Abul Hagig. The Finisher of the Alhambra.
The Mysterious Chambers.
Panorama from the Tower of Comares.
The Truant.
The Balcony.

The Adventure of the Mason.
The Court of Lions.
The Abencerrages.
Mementos of Boabdil.
Public Fetes of Granada.
Local Traditions.
The House of the Weathercock.
Legend of the Arabian Astrologer.
Note to "The Arabian Astrologer"
Visitors to the Alhambra.
Relics and Genealogies.
The Generalife.
Legend of Prince Ahmed al Kamel, or, The Pilgrim of Love.
A Ramble Among the Hills.
Legend of the Moors Legacy.
The Tower of Las Infantas.
Legend of the Three Beautiful Princesses.
Legend of the Rose of the Alhambra.
The Veteran.
The Governor and the Notary.

Governor Manco and the Soldier.
A Fete in the Alhambra.
Legend of the Two Discreet Statues.
The Crusade of the Grand Master of Alcantara.
Spanish Romance.
Legend of Don Munio Sancho de Hinojosa.
Poets and Poetry of Moslem Andalus.
An Expedition in Quest of a Diploma.
The Legend of the Enchanted Soldier.
Notes to "The Enchanted Soldier".
The Author's Farewell to Granada.

Preface to the Revised Edition.
Rough draughts of some of the following tales and essays were actually
written during a residence in the Alhambra; others were subsequently
added, founded on notes and observations made there. Care was taken
to maintain local coloring and verisimilitude; so that the whole might
present a faithful and living picture of that microcosm, that singular
little world into which I had been fortuitously thrown; and about which
the external world had a very imperfect idea. It was my endeavor
scrupulously to depict its half Spanish, half Oriental character; its
mixture of the heroic, the poetic, and the grotesque; to revive the traces
of grace and beauty fast fading from its walls; to record the regal and
chivalrous traditions concerning those who once trod its courts; and the
whimsical and superstitious legends of the motley race now burrowing
among its ruins.

The papers thus roughly sketched out lay for three or four years in my
portfolio, until I found myself in London, in 1832, on the eve of
returning to the United States. I then endeavored to arrange them for
the press, but the preparations for departure did not allow sufficient
leisure. Several were thrown aside as incomplete; the rest were put
together somewhat hastily and in rather a crude and chaotic manner.
In the present edition I have revised and re-arranged the whole work,
enlarged some parts, and added others, including the papers originally
omitted; and have thus endeavored to render it more complete and more
worthy of the indulgent reception with which it has been favored.
W. I.
Sunnyside, 1851.

The Journey.
IN THE spring of 1829, the author of this work, whom curiosity had
brought into Spain, made a rambling expedition from Seville to
Granada in company with a friend, a member of the Russian Embassy
at Madrid. Accident had thrown us together from distant regions of the
globe, and a similarity of taste led us to wander together among the
romantic mountains of Andalusia. Should these pages meet his eye,
wherever thrown by the duties of his station, whether mingling in the
pageantry of courts, or meditating on the truer glories of nature, may
they recall the scenes of our adventurous companionship, and with
them the recollection of one, in whom neither time nor distance will
obliterate the remembrance of his gentleness and worth.
And here, before setting forth, let me indulge in a few previous remarks
on Spanish scenery and Spanish travelling. Many are apt to picture
Spain to their imaginations as a soft southern region, decked out with
the luxuriant charms of voluptuous Italy. On the contrary, though there
are exceptions in some of the maritime provinces, yet, for the greater
part, it is a stern, melancholy country, with rugged mountains, and long

sweeping plains, destitute of trees, and indescribably silent and
lonesome, partaking of the savage and solitary character of Africa.
What adds to this silence and loneliness, is the absence of singing birds,
a natural consequence of the want of groves and hedges. The vulture
and the eagle are seen wheeling about the mountain-cliffs, and soaring
over the plains, and groups of shy bustards stalk about the heaths; but
the myriads of smaller birds, which animate the whole face of other
countries, are met with in but few provinces in Spain, and in those
chiefly among the orchards and gardens which surround the habitations
of man.
In the interior provinces the traveller occasionally traverses