The Boy Apprenticed to an Enchanter

the market we would go through the streets of the[Pg 46] city and toward the great market place. Throngs of people would be there, gathered together for buying or selling, or fo

“Great and terrible he seems when he sits upon his throne in his palace,” Zabulun would say, “but for all that he is f

he sits in the market place and talks with all comers, which is against the customs of the Ki

burning styrax could they drive the serpents from the trees. And others had cassia that is found in a shallow lake guarded by fierce, bat-like creatures. To gather it men have to cover themselves all over with the hides of cattle, leaving openings for their eyes only. And there are the merchants who have the ladanum that settles on low bushes, and that sticks to the beards of he-goats that go amongst the bushes. Others have the cinnamon that is used by

me the King of Babylon as h

g seated himself in a special place, and he drank wine and ate honey cakes, and talked with the strangers that were brought before him, and let himself be gaped

e, and the second dream was of a ram-headed man[Pg 49] with golden horns, and the third dream was of a soldier in a black cloak. All those dreams, according to those in the palace who considered dreams, were of a treasure. Zabulun,

er of Babylon. The King and the ancient dwarf became very silent when my master spoke of the tower. It was then that the Enchanter took the staff that was made of two serpents twistin

master and I drank, and this time

ere given permission to go,

ging with him a black cock for the sacrifice. Harut and Marut, the sleeping guardians of Babylon, they looked on, but they wen

happens to the King, no matter how great it may be, he will speak of it in the market.

n a very light board in the floor. The cock, fluttering upward, lifted the board. Looking down they saw a chamber beneath. They went down into that chamber, the[P

ted himself in his special place and drank wine and ate cakes of honey. My master, watching him from afar, knew that he talked about the trea

ith them the memory of the wonder they had been told about. A treasure was hidden beneath the tower—that was the thought that now possessed every one. And when dusk had fallen[Pg 53] upon the city companies of men made their way towa

amber where the treasure of silver pieces had been found, and

ng and delving. He forbade them to do this, and he set guards around the t

e King, and foolish are the people of Babylon,” he said. “What I have told you will befall them. Very soon they will strike at the foundations of the tow