Barrels Barrels

THE PERSIAN'S NARRATIVE CONTINUED

I have said that the room in which M. le Vicomte de Chagny and I were
imprisoned was a regular hexagon, lined entirely with mirrors. Plenty
of these rooms have been seen since, mainly at exhibitions: they are
called "palaces of illusion," or some such name. But the invention
belongs entirely to Erik, who built the first room of this kind under
my eyes, at the time of the rosy hours of Mazenderan. A decorative
object, such as a column, for instance, was placed in one of the
corners and immediately produced a hall of a thousand columns; for,
thanks to the mirrors, the real room was multiplied by six hexagonal
rooms, each of which, in its turn, was multiplied indefinitely. But
the little sultana soon tired of this infantile illusion, whereupon
Erik altered his invention into a "torture-chamber." For the
architectural motive placed in one corner, he substituted an iron tree.
This tree, with its painted leaves, was absolutely true to life and was
made of iron so as to resist all the attacks of the "patient" who was
locked into the torture-chamber. We shall see how the scene thus
obtained was twice altered instantaneously into two successive other
scenes, by means of the automatic rotation of the drums or rollers in
the corners. These were divided into three sections, fitting into the
angles of the mirrors and each supporting a decorative scheme that came
into sight as the roller revolved upon its axis.