like a huge sapphire, is set in a bowl-shaped valley. At the valley’s northern end, fringed in rich green grasses and reeds. Sheep and goats drift across the dune hillsides, eating the sagebrush-like artemisia that grows on them. Camels and a few horses graze near the lakeshore. And at the far end of the lake, all alone, sits a pair of small square blockhouse.
         In the evening, you may lie on the warm sand,   which is sunlit in the daytime:

           “I have the largest house in the World
            Under the young moon.
            My house has no doors and no windows.  
            It has no walls and no locks.
            Its ceiling is painted with stars.
            Its floor is embroidered with sand.
            My cozy and comfortable place.”

| 1 | 2 |