THE LURE OF THE GARDEN 



the plain, rather desolate hall opens on a colonnade in 

 whose graceful arches hang baskets of flowers alterna- 

 ting with bird-cages where brilliant parrakeets or sing- 

 ing-birds disport themselves, according to the way of 

 birds. A mass of roses blooms beyond, through which 

 a red-tiled broad path descends by slow degrees toward 

 the main portion of the garden, thickly bowered in trees 

 and ending in an artificial lake of great beauty. This 

 kind of entrance makes a sort of frame through which 

 the garden gleams and shimmers, and is very effective ; 

 but it is only possible where it is private, where the gar- 

 den is more of an inner court appertaining to the house 

 and not exposed to the public gaze. Gardens like this 

 are common in Persia, the flower-planted space, the pool, 

 the tesselated pavements and alleys of slender trees all 

 visible from the house through high arches on slim col- 

 umns, but entirely guarded from outside view by the 

 building itself or a high, forbidding wall. In India, too, 

 the wall and gate are usually designed with the idea of 

 entirely hiding the garden behind. The wall is com- 

 monly pierced with a high, beautifully decorated arch, 

 and closely shut with thick wooden doors ; these might 

 open into a desert for all the hint of green growth they 

 permit of escaping. 



The Japanese fashion is utterly different, however. 

 Here the garden is meant to be looked at; it is a glory 

 to be shared with a world that loves it, and which, pass- 

 ing by happily, looks but never intrudes, experiencing 



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