o king of the western island (said eean, the boy apprenticed to an enchanter), i was there in babylon for the whole of a moon before the danger that was greater than my present danger overtook me. often zabulun, my master, went to the palace of the king, bringing me with him. and the king would now receive us in his cool chamber, and he would permit my master to seat himself on a purple cushion in his presence. the king would ask him about the ways of governing a kingdom, or he would tell him of his wonderful gardens, and of the strange and terrible beasts he had there. or else he would talk about a mighty treasure that was to be found, and of the beasts he would buy for his gardens when that treasure came into his hands. zabulun would tell the king of beasts he had seen or heard of—of the aurochs with its mighty horns, of the uni[pg 55]corn that was so white and so swift, of the satyr that is so marvelous that no one knew whether it was a wonderful beast or a wild man. and often, as they sat there talking, the king would have his servants stir up the beasts in his gardens so that their roarings might be heard by those in the palace.
over the king and the king’s ancient dwarf there had come a change, i thought. for the dwarf with the crown of crimson feathers on his head would stand silent before the throne, silent even though the king spoke to him, silent as if listening to the sound that the spades and mattocks made on the ground around the tower of babylon. and the king no longer had the look of a ruler on his face, but had the look of a watcher and a waiter. there had come a change over my master also. zabulun the enchanter had eyes like yellow lamps, and they had become wider and more gleaming as the digging and delving around the tower of babylon went on. i could see his eyes widening in the dark when i could hardly see his face. and i began to have a great fear of zabulun,[pg 56] even though he was kind to me, and had taught me many things.
and now i come to the day when that danger beset me that was greater than my present danger. that morning i had walked in the king’s gardens with zabulun, my master. i saw the great palm trees that grew there. so high and so shapely they grew that i was made to think again of the tower of babylon, and i was shaken by my thought. i looked along the great avenue of palms, and i saw down to the lake where the king’s blue herons flew. and from the lake coming toward us i saw a young girl. she had laid the long blue feathers of the heron across her breast, and i saw her white forehead and her white knees, for her dress was the dress of a woman of the mountains. but she, seeing zabulun and i, sprang as a young deer springs, and went amongst the palm trees. i kept thinking of that girl, and how free she was, and how no terror of a falling tower beset her as she went by the lake where the king’s blue herons flew or rested.
again zabulun, my master, sat in the king’s[pg 57] presence, and the ancient dwarf and i attended on them. the dwarf’s head hung down where he stood, and he muttered. the king’s voice was low when he spoke, but zabulun spoke loudly. also his yellow eyes shone as he twisted around his finger a purple strip that had been torn off the king’s robe.
and suddenly there came the mighty roaring of beasts in the king’s gardens. the dwarf looked at the king, and the king spoke to the dwarf, and there was astonishment on both their countenances, for no command had been given to have the beasts stirred up. the king rose from where he sat and went to the doorway. i, too, saw what he saw. the doorkeepers, and even the soldiers who had naked swords in their hands, were fleeing as before some terror. the king shouted his commands, but no one heeded them. i looked upon the king, and the king’s wrath was terrible to behold.
and then i saw the king himself draw back in fear. what was it that approached? i, too, looked, and there, o king manus, as i declare[pg 58] to you, i saw harut and marut, the giant guardians of babylon, come through the outer courts and toward the chamber where the king stood.
they were naked but for their great beards and their flowing hair. they came with great strides, but their heads and their hands were swaying about like the heads and hands of men suddenly waked out of a deep slumber. the ancient dwarf saw them approach, and he screamed out and fled.
the king went out of the chamber and into the hall where the great pillars were. i called to my master, and he arose from the cushions where he sat, and he looked upon the two who came nearer. along the line of the pillars harut and marut came, but zabulun the enchanter looked upon them without fear.
the king fell upon his knees as they came near him. my master’s face did not become fearful, but he, too, went down on his knees as if powerful and unseen hands had forced him down. his eyes did not lose their look of scorn, but he knelt even as the king knelt. the king and the enchanter were both princes of babylon, and when[pg 59] harut and marut showed themselves in their might, there was that within them that forced them to sink down on their knees.
and nearer and nearer harut and marut came, their heads swaying about and their arms hanging down. nearer and nearer they drew. they touched the head of the king, and the king lay prone on the ground as though the life had left him. they came to where zabulun the enchanter knelt. but not on zabulun’s head did they lay their hands. they took him by the arms and they held him. turning around they dragged him along the line of the pillars. i saw him being drawn across the outer court and through one of the great doorways of the king’s palace.
and then it seemed that i was the only one left in the palace of the kings of babylon. the king did not stir where he lay prone, and the dwarf did not return, and the doorkeepers did not show themselves any more. i ran from the chamber, and out through one of the great doors, and into a place where branches of trees seemed to shield me from the terror that had fallen upon the palace.[pg 60] and i did not know then that i was running from terror clear into the mouth of danger.
for dire things had happened outside as well as within the palace of the king. the beasts that were in the gardens had broken out of their pits and their cages. i saw the beasts and i felt them all around me. i saw the hippopotami as they lay with their backs against the crimson wall of the palace. i saw the zebras stamp between the yellow wall and the blue wall, and ostriches run between the black and the white walls. and when i looked back from where i was in the gardens i saw monkeys climb on the golden and silver walls, frightened by the lions that went roaring through the courts of the palace. i ran on and on, down the great avenue of palms and toward the lake where the king’s blue herons flew or rested.
i ran on. but i had gone aside from the avenue of the palms, seeing a great buffalo that stood in my way. something caught at my feet as i ran on the clear ground, and being pitched i fell into a deep pit. i lay there, and i looked to the sky, and i[pg 61] saw that the pit narrowed to the top, and for that reason was hard to climb out of. it was higher again by my own height, as i saw when i stood upward thinking of a way that might get me out.
but then there came a sound that made me look downward, a hissing sound. and when i looked down i saw into what place i had fallen—into the pit of the serpent. in the shadow of the pit there was a dreadful snake. it was still in its coils, but its head was raised, and it was swaying toward me.
then, o king of the western island, i was in a danger greater than i am in now. this snake was mighty enough to crush a man, and from that pit there was no escape without help, and at that moment there was no help. the snake raised itself higher, and its eyes fastened my eyes. judge, then, of my danger, and whether it was not greater than the danger i am in now as i sit here with the gleam of the slaying sword before my eyes.
and then i heard a whisper that seemed to come to me from the sky. i drew my eyes from the[pg 62] snake’s eyes and i looked to the top of the pit. one was bending from the opening—a girl, and she had in her hands a little drum. she began to beat on the drum, and the snake’s head that was swaying toward me began to sway sideways. the girl beat again on the drum, and the snake’s head swayed and swayed and went down upon its coils. at last the dreadful head was at rest, and the eyes of the snake no longer fastened themselves upon my eyes.
the girl who stood above the pit put down a board for me to climb up by. i climbed, and i stood outside the pit, and i looked upon the girl, and i saw the blue heron’s feathers laid across her breast. then i sank down on the ground, and for a while i knew no more of the world’s happenings.
