Page "Irene Doukaina" Paragraph 5

" She stood upright like some young sapling, erect and evergreen, all her limbs and the other parts of her body absolutely symmetrical and in harmony one with another.

With her lovely appearance and charming voice she never ceased to fascinate all who saw and heard her.

Her face shone with the soft light of the moon ; it was not the completely round face of an Assyrian woman, nor long, like the face of a Scyth, but just slightly oval in shape.

There were rose blossoms on her cheeks, visible a long way off.

Her light-blue eyes were both gay and stern: their charm and beauty attracted, but the fear they caused so dazzled the bystander that he could neither look nor turn away ... Generally she accompanied her words with graceful gestures, her hands bare to the wrists, and you would say it was ivory turned by some craftsman into the form of fingers and hand.

The pupils of her eyes, with the brilliant blue of deep waves, recalled a calm, still sea, while the white surrounding them shone by contrast, so that the whole eye acquired a peculiar lustre and a charm which was inexpressible.