XCVI THE PRIESTESSES OF ASTARTE
Mitchell S. (Mitchell Starrett) Buck translation
THE priestesses of Astarte make love at the rising of the moon; then they arise and bathe in a vast basin with a marge of silver.
With their curved fingers, they comb their hair, and their hands, tinted with crimson, blended with their black curls, seem like branches of coral in a sombre and wavering sea.
They never depilate themselves, so that the triangle of die goddess is marked on their belly as on a temple; but they paint themselves with brushes and perfume themselves deeply.
The priestesses of Astarte make love at the setting of the moon; then, in a carpeted hall where burns a tall lamp of gold, they lie down at random.