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Full text of "The story of Alexander"

THE STORY OF 
ALEXANDER RE 
TOLD FROM THE 
ORIGINALS BY 
ROBERT STEEI.E 
DRAWN BY FRED 
MASON * AND 
PUBLISHED BY 
DAVID NU'I 




LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY OF 

CALIFORNIA 

SAN DIEGO 




THE STORY OF ALEXANDER 



M. M. S. 



A TOKEN OF 
FRIENDSHIP AND ADMIRATION 



AN OPEN LETTER 


MY DEAR GRACIE 

When I promised some months ago to tell you a 
fairy story, I did not remember that most of them have been 
so well told by my friend Mr. Jacobs, and others, that it would 
be difficult to find any fresh ones worth telling you. 

Then I remembered that there was a time, hundreds of years 
ago, when folk here in England were fond of hearing and telling 
stories, and when, in the long winter evenings, people gathered 
round the castle-fire in the great hall, lord and lady, squires and 
dames, pages, varlets, children, even the dogs, all of them listen- 
ing to the old chaplain who read them a never-ending tale of a 
brave knight and a wicked enchanter; or, better still, to a travelling 
tale-teller who brought the last story from France and Italy. 
"Now" thought 7, "the tales that pleased these folk so well 
would perhaps suit young people of to-day.' 1 For the men who 
lived then were large hearted and simple souled, and if it is true, 
as our great English poet said, " Men are but children of a 
larger growth " and it was true of that time perhaps the 
vii stories 



stories of the men of those days would still have the power to 
please the children of ours. 

Well, I began to turn over some of those big books you have 
seen in my room, and to read their stories again to choose one 
for you, and the first story I read was the History of Alexander 
the Great. You must not be frightened about the tale, however; 
there are no dates and summaries at the ends of the chapters to 
learn, and, though I believe every word of it myself, I am afraid 
that if you were to put some of it in your examination paper on 
Greek History, the mistress who marked it would be annoyed, 
and I am certain that you will not find the pictures like those of 
the Greeks in your other books. This is only a tale, and the 
Alexander and Darius, the Greeks and the Jews, it tells about, are 
not the ones you have read of, but different people with the same 
names. 

The reason for choosing the story of Alexander to tell you is 
this : it was the earliest and one of the most interesting of the 
stories of the Middle Age. Everyone liked it, everyone knew 
something about it, and everyone told it his own way. Even the 
animals (in a tale of Reynard the Fox) liked it, and one of them 
told it to the lion. All the English poets of those days knew and 
loved it. If, then, you could read any of the Middle Age tales, 
you could read this one. 

So you must now fancy that times are changed; you are 
sitting in some great castle-hall, and all the people round you are 
in dresses like those that Mr. Mason has drawn for you; perhaps 
you are sitting on a throne like the queen in the picture, and I 
am sitting on the stool before you, and I begin to tell you a 
viii story 



story of the bravest knight in the world, his wars, and the 
wonderful things he saw and did. And as all the young folk 
gather round and listen, if the older folk come with them and 
bring the great Latin book to see if I tell the story right, when 
they can get it (for it is very rare) they will find that 7 have 
taken the story-teller's privilege / have left out much that was 
not interesting, and I have told you some things the old story- 
tellers used to leave out. 

Perhaps you will fond that there is too much fighting in the 
story : if so, remember that it was nearly the only game people 
played at in those days, so that it took the place of rowing or 
tennis, cycling or cricket among the young people then. But the 
fighting had this serious side to it that a young lady might wake 
any morning and find an army besieging her home, ready to 
burn it down and carry her away prisoner. So, you see, every- 
one understood about fighting and took an interest in hearing 
of it. 

And now I leave you with your story. If it pleases you, 
and shows you who were the heroes of our ancestors, and what 
were the stories they delighted in, it will have reached the 
object of 

Your loving liegeman 

R.S. 



IX 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

CHAPTER I. HOW ANECTANABUS WAS KING OF EGYPT, 
AND WHY HE FLED INTO THE LAND OF MACEDON . . i 

CHAPTER II. OF OLYMPIAS AND ANECTANABUS, OF THE 
MAGIC HE WROUGHT, AND OF THE BIRTH OF ALEX- 
ANDER . . . ...... . . . . 9 

CHAPTER III. HOW ALEXANDER TAMED THE HORSE 
BUCEPHALUS, AND HOW HE DID HIS FIRST DEED OF 
ARMS ...'*.... . . . . . : . 21 

CHAPTER IV. TELLS OF THE EMBASSY OF DARIUS, 
OF THE DEATH OF PHILIP, AND THE CROWNING OF 
ALEXANDER . ... . 30 

CHAPTER V. HOW ALEXANDER GATHERED AN ARMY 
TOGETHER: HOW HE BUILT ALEXANDRIA AND LAID 
SIEGE TO THE CITY OF TYRE 39 

CHAPTER VI. TELLS OF THE FORAY OF KADESH, AND 
OF ITS ENDING, AND OF THE TAKING OF THE CITY OF 
TYRE 47 

xi 



PAGE 

CHAPTER VII. HOW ALEXANDER CAME TO JERUSALEM, 
HOW THE BISHOP MET HIM, AND WHAT THERE BEFELL 
HIM. . 55 

CHAPTER VIII. TELLS HOW DARIUS THE EMPEROR 
SENT PRESENTS TO ALEXANDER, AND WHAT WAS THE 
PRESENT SENT BACK TO HIM ...'.... 63 

CHAPTER IX. TELLS HOW ALEXANDER DESTROYED 
THEBES AND HOW IT WAS REBUILT, AND OF HIS 
RETURN TO PERSIA 73 

CHAPTER X. HOW ALEXANDER DEFEATED THE PER- 
SIANS. AND HOW HE WENT TO THE FEAST OF DARIUS. 82 

CHAPTER XI. TELLS OF THE BATTLE BETWEEN ALEX- 
ANDER AND DARIUS, AND OF THE SLAYING OF DARIUS 94 

CHAPTER XII. HOW ALEXANDER MARRIED ROXANA, 
THE DAUGHTER OF THE EMPEROR, AND HOW HE 
DEFEATED PORUS THE KING OF INDIA . ... . .102 

CHAPTER XIII. HOW ALEXANDER AND HIS MEN PASSED 
THE NIGHT OF FEAR, AND HOW HE SAW THE GREATEST 
AND THE LEAST THING ON EARTH m 

CHAPTER XIV. HOW ALEXANDER AND HIS ARMY 
PASSED THROUGH THE VALLEY OF TERROR AND 
SOUGHT THE WELLS OF LIFE 124 

CHAPTER XV. HOW THE BRAHMANS CAME TO KING 
ALEXANDER AND WHAT HE LEARNT FROM THEM : AND 
OF THE COMING OF THE AMAZONS 138 

CHAPTER XVI. HOW ALEXANDER PASSED THROUGH 
THE LAND OF DARKNESS AND SLEW THE BASILISK . 148 
xii 



PAGE 

CHAPTER XVII. HOW ALEXANDER CAME TO THE TREES 
OF THE SUN AND THE MOON, AND WHAT THEY TOLD 
HIM 159 

CHAPTER XVIII. HOW ALEXANDER SLEW PORUS AND 
WON BACK THE WIFE OF CANDOYL AND WAS KNOWN 
OF CANDACE WHEN HE CAME TO HER 171 

CHAPTER XIX. TELLS HOW ALEXANDER DEFEATED 
GOG AND MAGOG, HOW HE WENT UP INTO THE AIR 
AND DOWN INTO THE SEA 188 

CHAPTER XX. HOW ALEXANDER CAME TO HIS LIFE'S 
END AND WAS BURIED, AND WHAT THEREON BEFELL . 204 



Xlll 





CHAPTER I. HOW ANECTANABUS WAS 
KING OF EGYPT, AND WHY HE FLED 
INTO THE LAND OF MACEDON. 

INCE UPON A TIME a king reigned 
over the land of Egypt, whose name was 
Anectanabus. In his time that land was 
the richest in the world, and its people 
were wise and happy ; but Anectanabus 
was the wisest and the noblest of them, and under 
his rule all men, both great and small, prospered. 
The field-workers ploughed and reaped, the mer- 
chants travelled and chaffered, the wise men studied 
and wrote and taught, and the great lords watched 
over the land, helped the poor, and guarded all men. 
Shortly to say, the land of Egypt was in those days 
the home of plenty and of peace, of mirth and of game. 
Now Anectanabus was, above all men, skilled in 
the arts of magic, for he had learned the secrets of 
Egypt that were not written down in books, but cut 
i A in 



in the stone on the sides of the great temples, and 
on the Pillars of the Sun : and when he was a young 
man he had been taken into the secret chambers of 
the Pyramids, and had been laid in the stone coffin 
of the gods, and there the secrets had been whispered 
to him which the kings and priests of Egypt had 
discovered for a thousand years. And chief of all 
his crafts, he had the power of making images of 
men to do what he would, and whatever the images 
did, that the men they were like to, did : and he used 
this art to save his land from war. For if a fleet of 
ships came to attack his land he would make images 
of them in wax to float on water, and images of his 
own ships, and then he would cause the ships of the 
enemy to turn and flee before his ships or ever a 
blow was struck, and as he did, so it happened in 
the war. Or if an army came against him, he caused 
it to flee in the same way, so that no king of the 
countries about dared to come out and make war on 
Egypt. And many other arts he used, but all for 
the good of his land, so that men loved him and 
served him with joy. 

It fell upon a day that Anectanabus was sitting in 
his palace hall on his dais, and round him were his 
dukes and princes, and the great hall of the palace 
was filled with men in rich array. In that land, the 
king showed himself to men but rarely, and when he 
did so he was clothed in his noblest and fairest 
dress, with his crown on his head, and his nobles 
2 and 



and all men were dressed in their best, so that the 
hall shone with gold, and sparkled and dazzled with 
gems and stones, and the blue and scarlet and purple 
and green of the nobles filled the place with a flood 
of colour. The chief men of a certain city had peti- 
tioned the king about a certain matter, and a great 
duke had just risen from his seat to speak about it, 
when a cry was heard outside, and through the open 
doors, past the great screen, a man in half armour 
covered with dust and foam rushed into the presence 
of the king. Then the heralds hurried up to him, 
and crossing their wands before him, asked of him 
his errand, and why he entered the hall of the king 
in such unseemly dress. But he, heeding their 
words never a whit, pressed forward, called out with 
a loud voice, " O King, the Persians are on us," and 
straightway staggered, and fell down lifeless, for he 
had ridden hard without rest and sleep with the 
message of the lord warden of the sea. 

A great silence fell on the hall, men looked on 
each other's faces but none spoke or moved ; then 
the silence was broken by the shuffle of the heralds 
bearing away the body of the messenger, and the 
dukes drew up nearer to one another, but still no 
man spoke ; for the king's face was dark and 
troubled, and he had asked none for counsel. Now 
Anectanabus was troubled, not because he feared the 
enemy, but because he had never before been taken 
by surprise, for ever he knew by his magic art the 
3 words 



words of the message before they were uttered. So 
he sat silent for a while, but at last he bethought 
himself, and rose and left the hall, going to a little 
room behind the dais, where he could be alone, for 
he sought to know by his magic art who, and how 
many, and where were his foes. But the great lords 
sat on in silence in the king's hall, waiting till some 
of them should be sent against the foe, and silently 
and noiselessly the people passed out of the hall. 

As soon as Anectanabus was alone in his room, 
he went to a coffer of oak covered with broad bands 
of steel, and opened it with a golden key which he 
drew from his breast. Then he drew out a robe of 
fair white linen, and putting off his rich attire he 
clothed himself in it, keeping on his golden crown. 
Taking some spices, he threw them on a brazier of 
burning embers, and opened the casements of the 
room, and round and round the brazier he went till 
a heavy smoke filled the room, and hung over a 
great copper bowl of water on the table in the middle 
of it. This done, Anectanabus took a short wand of 
polished steel in his hand and pointing it across the 
bowl to the four quarters of the earth North, East, 
South, West he began to utter spells. And now 
it seemed as if the smoke from the room gathered 
over the water, and disappeared, leaving the room 
full of light, and the outside day darkened, and 
looking on the surface of the water the king saw a 
fleet of ships coming in full sail towards him. But 
4 what 



what an endless number of them there seemed to 
be, ships large and small, beating the waves with 
their oars, over their sides hanging the shields of 
dukes and earls and knights, the sun shining from 
their weapons, the masts and pennons rising like a 
forest, and high over all the banner of Persia flying, 
the rising sun conquering the night. Then Aneo 
tanabus touched the water 'with his wand, and all 
the ships vanished, and the air of the room was clear 
and bright. 

With a grave face and a heavy heart Anectanabus 
returned to his lords, and ordered them to meet in 
arms on the sea-coast in seven days, there to keep 
the land from Persians or any other foes, and he 
dismissed them each to his place, after he had spoken 
brave words to them, and reminded them of the 
victories they had won, " and," he said, " though the 
enemy be many, one lion puts many deer to flight, 
and we may well destroy our foes as we have done 
before." But ever in his heart he feared, for that 
the foe had come upon him by surprise, and his 
magic art had told him nothing of it. 

In the night, when all men slept, he rose and went 
to the room in which he wrought all his magic, and 
clothed himself in the white robes, and brought forth 
his instruments from the oaken box, and cast a 
yellow powder on the brazier. Then he filled the 
great copper bowl with water, looking black in the 
dim light of the room, and taking wax he moulded 
5 ships, 



ships, some white, some black, and set them to float 
on the water in the vessel. Next he drew from the 
box a rod of palm-wood and touched them one by one, 
and as he did so they separated and gathered into 
two fleets at either side of the bowl. Then throwing 
some incense on the brazier, Anectanabus began to 
mutter his magic words, and round and round the 
bowl he walked, and the first time he threw in some 
gold, and the second time a stone, and the third 
time some dust. Soon the two fleets began to move 
towards one another, and Anectanabus began to in- 
voke destruction on the enemy as he was wont to 
do ; but when the battle was joined, he saw that the 
ships of Egypt were one by one destroyed or taken, 
nor could any of his mightiest spells turn the battle. 
So he saw that the gods had forsaken him, and that 
there was no hope for him ; and he deemed it better 
to go away and let his kingdom fall into the hands 
of the Persians, than to resist them without hope of 
victory, and to be made a slave at the end ; and his 
heart was great, and he had no son or daughter for 
whom to fight. 

The next day he rose and went about with a light 
heart and a merry cheer, and did the things that 
were to be done, and when night fell he laid off the 
royal robes and the crown of Egypt, and dressed 
him as one of the wise clerks of the land, and went 
to the barber and caused him to shave off his beard, 
and cut his hair, so that no man should know him, 
6 and 



and he gathered store of gold and jewels, such as he 
could carry, and his instruments of magic and of 
star-reading, and called to him three of his servants 
who had served him all his life, and when they were 
loaded with his gear, he slipped out at a postern 
gate of the palace, and set off on foot into the world, 
not knowing where he should go. Long would it 
be to tell what lands he passed through, how he 
went from Egypt into Ethiopia, and from thence he 
passed through many countries till at the last he 
came to Macedon, where it fell that he settled and 
ended his days. But no one ever thought him to 
be anything but some diviner or soothsayer, nor wist 
the folk that he had been a mighty king of men. 

The tale tells of the care he left behind him in his 
palace when men found that he had gone. The 
princes sought their lord in his private chambers, 
and when he was not to be seen there, knights and 
barons ran about with tears on their cheeks, their 
ladies swooned, and all men cursed the day. At the 
last, when they could get no news, they joined in 
procession to the temple of Serapis, the greatest of 
their gods, to ask his aid and counsel in their sore 
strait, and there they burned rich incense, and offered 
many noble gifts and sacrifices. Then the god gave 
them this answer : " Fear not, O folk, for your king 
is safe. Ye shall be subject to the Persians, nor 
may ye any way escape. But cease your sorrow; 
the son of his works shall return, he shall avenge 
7 your 



your defeat, he shall destroy Persia, he shall be the 
noblest Emperor of the world." 

So this people made an image of Anectanabus in 
black marble, dressed in his royal robes, sceptre in 
hand, and crown on head, and beneath the statue 
was graved in golden letters the prophecy of their 
god Serapis, that men might have it in mind in 
the evil days that were on them. For the Persians 
conquered them, and year by year they treated them 
more hardly, and life was bitter to them, and the 
Egyptians looked back year after year to the happy 
days of Anectanabus, the last king of Egypt, and 
waited in hope till he should come back again. 






CHAPTER II. OF OLYMPIAS AND ANEC- 
TANABUS, OF THE MAGIC HE WROUGHT, 
AND OF THE BIRTH OF ALEXANDER. 

IT FELL ON A DAY that as Anec- 
tanabus was travelling through the land 
of Macedon, he came to the chief city of 
the land, and there his yeomen took 
lodging for him, and he thought to dwell 
there some days, for the city was fair and well placed 
on a fertile plain, and it was in the month of May. 
And when he talked to the men of the town he heard 
say that Philip, the king of the land, had gone out 
to war, but that he had left there his queen Olympias 
to govern the folk, and that the next day was, as it 
happened, the feast of her birthday. Now this queen 
had custom on feast days to ride out into the country 
near, and there sports and tournaments were held, 
and all folk rejoiced before her. So Anectanabus 
thought in his mind that he would go out and look 
9 upon 



upon her, for he had heard that Olympias was the 
fairest woman in Greece, nay, in all the world. 

Early next day after meat, the queen mounted a 
white mule and rode through the city to the plain, 
with her wise men and her maids about her, and 
much she joyed to see the fair show that the city 
made, for everywhere that she came the town was 
hung with rich hangings and embroidery, and every 
man was eager to see the queen, and at all corners 
were bands of maidens singing and beating drums 
and timbrels. So the queen rode through the city, 
and when she came to the plain, each man did his 
best in the sports, if by any means he could gain a 
prize from her hands. Among the crowd of men on 
the plain was Anectanabus, and he looked not at 
one thing or another but only at the queen, so that 
at the last she turned and saw him, and because he 
was unlike all other there in clothing and in bearing 
she took notice of him and saw at once that he was 
a stranger : and since he looked ever at her face nor 
looked away when she turned to him, at the end 
she sent men to him to know who he was. So 
he came and did her reverence, and she asked him 
who he was and what he would, and he told her 
that he was a clerk, and that he went from place to 
place, doing the will of the great gods : and Olym- 
pias bade him come to her at the palace. 

Now every day the queen sat on the royal seat in 
the great hall of the palace, and men came to her 
10 and 



and spoke before her of good and bad, and among 
the rest next day came Anectanabus. And as the 
queen looked upon him, he bowed him down, and 
said, "Hail, fair Queen of Macedon ;" and the queen 
noted his speech, for he spoke as one that was a king 
and not as a clerk, though he were clothed in weeds 
of drab and went with shaven crown. So she made 
him to sit down before her on a silk-covered seat, 
and she began to question him full fairly, whether 
he were of Egypt, and what manner of folk were in 
that land, and what was the learning of its wise men 
for she knew by his tongue that he was an out- 
lander, and belike an Egyptian. And Anectanabus 
answered her and told her of the land of Egypt, and 
of its wonders, and of its wisdom, how some men 
told the meaning of dreams, and whether they were 
true or false, and when they should come to pass ; 
some men understood the song of the birds and the 
voice of beasts ; some could tell of the birth of 
children, and of the length of life ; some could de- 
clare the secret counsels of men, which never were 
spoken to any one ; and some could read the course 
of the stars and the signs of heaven, and say what 
shall come to pass in few years' time "and, fair 
Queen," continued he, " I have so clear a knowledge 
of all these arts, that I can prove myself a master in 
each of them." So saying, he leaned forward from 
his seat, and stared in a study, still as a stone, at her 
face. Then said the queen, " What art thou musing 
ii on, 



on, Master; why dost thou sit so still?" "I am 
thinking, O Queen," said he, " on the words of my 
god, who long ago told me that I should sit in a 
strange land an exile, and see the fairest queen on 
earth." Then the queen prayed him to show her 
how he sought out these things, and he drew out of 
his bosom a little box with seven pieces of ivory in 
it, and he showed her how by casting these he could 
tell what should happen to men, and answer ques- 
tions about their deeds. And he showed her seven 
precious stones, on each of which a wondrous figure 
was carved, which preserved men who wore them 
from all harm. And then he drew out his table of 
ivory with three rings upon it, by which he read the 
stars : the first ring was of brass, and on it were 
marked the twelve houses of fate ; the second was 
of bright silver, and on it were marked wondrous 
beasts, the twelve signs of the heavens ; and the 
third was of red gold, and on it were marked the 
sun and the moon ; and as he showed them he told 
her the course of the stars, and how they governed 
the life of men. 

And Olympias said to him, "O Master, tell me 
the day on which my lord that I love was born, and 
then I shall know thy skill." "Small skill were 
that," said Anectanabus, " to tell the past ; is there 
naught of the future you would learn?" "Yea," 
said the Queen, " tell me what shall part Philip and 
me, for it is told me by my wise women that if 
12 he 



Bwctanabus telletbtfre Queens fate. 




he returns from battle he shall take another wife, 
and send me away for ever." " Nay, not for ever," 
said the Egyptian, " not for ever, nor for long shall 
he put thee away, for will he nill he, he must have 
thee for his queen." Then Olympias wondered 
greatly, and she asked Anectanabus how this should 
be, and the wise man answered and told her, how 
that the great god of her country, Ammon, should 
give her a fair son who should help her all his life, 
and how that the god would protect her till her son 
was grown. Then was the queen right glad, and 
she promised Anectanabus that when these things 
should happen she would honour him all her life. 
Then the wise man rose from his seat, and after 
looking on the queen for a while, went from the hall 
to make his enchantments as at other times. 

Now that night the moon was at full, when all herbs 
have their strongest might, so Anectanabus got him 
forth from the city into a wild place, where no man 
might see him, and there he drew up herbs for his 
enchantments, marking the fairest and best, and 
when the hour of the moon was come he plucked 
them out by the roots, and washed the earth from 
them in running water. Then he ground them 
together in a mortar, and wrung out the juice, and 
he made an image of the queen in white wax, and 
anointed it with the juice of the plants he had 
gathered, and calling on the powers of the air with 
his conjurations, he made a dream for the queen. 
13 So 



So she, lying in her palace alone, saw a huge 
dragon enter and circle the room three times then 
it came and stood before her, and, lo! it was a man, 
but a man in shape like to her god ; and the man 
told her that she should have a son who should 
defend her in all her cares, and override all her foes. 
Then the queen woke from her dream, and stretched 
out her hands to the god she had seen, but the room 
was dark, so, springing from her bed, she ran to the 
door, but that was safely fast, and groping round 
she found naught in the room ; and sad that her 
dream was false, she fell asleep again thinking of 
the wise Egyptian, who, mayhap, should tell her what 
it meant. 

Early on the morrow the queen rose from her 
sleep, and sent her housecarles for Anectanabus in 
haste ; then when he came she took him apart and 
told him all her dream. Then said he to the queen : 
" If thou art willing, and not afraid, I can show thee 
this god face to face, and thou waking ; but thine 
eyes must be opened to see him." 

So was the queen glad, and she assigned him a 
room in her palace ; and the next night did 
Anectanabus, by his art magic, change himself 
into a dragon such as the queen had seen in her 
dream, and flying through the air with his heavy 
wings he came into the place of the queen. Then 
she rose up to meet him, but the sight was so 
terrible to her that she covered her face with her 
14 hands ; 



hands ; but soon she heard a voice bidding her look 
up, and lo ! before her was the figure of her god 
Ammon a strong, fair man, bearing on his head 
two horns. Then was she glad of her life, that she 
alone of all living women had seen this thing ; and 
he spoke to her of all the things that Anectanabus 
had told her, and of how her son should ride through 
the world. 

So fell she to sleep, and when she woke in the 
morning light there was none there, and the doors 
of the palace were fast, and great thanks she gave to 
Anectanabus for his magic, for she wist not that her 
god was but a show of the wise Egyptian. 

But in that same night that the queen had dreamed, 
the Egyptian had so wrought his enchantments 
that in the hour of Philip's star he too had fallen 
asleep, and he dreamed that a dragon had taken him 
up through the air, and had borne him off to his own 
palace, and to the room in which Olympias, his 
queen, lay sleeping. Then tried he to draw near 
her, but she felt not his touch nor heard his voice ; 
and suddenly he was ware of a god in the room in 
the shape of Ammon, and the god came to the queen 
and laid his hand on her, and waked her, and sealed 
her with a gold seal. So Philip drew near, and saw 
that on this seal were three things graved the head 
of a mighty lion, the burst of the morning sun rising 
over the world, and a sharp, keen blade of a sword ; 
and he heard the god say: "Woman, thy son that 
15 I give 



I give thee shall be thy defender." Now Philip 
when he woke, was so sore troubled by his dream 
that he called on his diviners to say to him what it 
should mean. Then said the chief of the magicians: 
" O King, this thy dream means that thy wife shall 
give thee a son fair and mighty. And because on 
the seal thou sawest a lion's head, as the lion is the 
chief of all beasts, this son shall be a chief and a 
master among all chieftains. And since on the seal 
was the burst of the sunrise, so shall this son ride 
through the world, and everywhere shall he be 
exalted till he comes to the Land of the East ; and 
the biting brand showeth that by his sword shall 
nations out of number be conquered and bow to 
him. But for the dragon that bore thee from hence 
to thy own land, he shall be to thee for an aid, and 
that right soon." And then was the king glad in his 
heart. 

But Anectanabus knew by his box of stones how 
that Philip should be sore beset on a certain day, 
and so, going out into a desert place, he called up to 
him by art magic a great bird from the sea, with 
broad wings, great beak, and strong claws like iron. 
And as it drew near him it circled him seven times, 
and then sunk down at his feet. Then the Egyptian 
took and rubbed him with the juice of the plants he 
had gathered, from wingtip to wingtip, and from 
head to tail, and then with his mightiest spells he 
sent him forth over land and sea. And lo! he 
1 6 seemed 



seemed no more a sea bird, but a mighty dragon 
flying through the air. But far away Philip was in 
deadly battle, for he had been all day fighting, and 
now was he wearied, and a great stone had struck 
him, so that he reeled to the ground, and his men 
were at point to fly, and his foes were clamouring 
with joy, and their eyes were burning to slay, when 
the great dragon flew towards them, and men paused 
to see what should happen, and lo! it fell on the 
foemen, and first on him who had struck down 
Philip, and men's swords fell on it and were 
shivered, and none dared to see its face, and the 
men of Macedon took fresh heart, and Philip 
sprang up shouting, " The God, the Gods for us ! " 
and the foe were routed and their king slain, and far 
away the great dragon rose in the air and disap- 
peared, no man knowing whither. 

So Philip came home with much joy, honoured 
of men, and when he met his queen he kissed her 
fair, and they spoke of their dreams, and of what the 
god had promised them. And it fell that two 
wonders happened to them. For one day as they 
sat at meat in the hall, and folk around them great 
and small, a great dragon came into the palace, and 
men fled, save some that drew sword and turned 
pale, but the king cried out : " Faith, but this is the 
noble dragon that turned the fight for us that other 
even." Then the king was glad, but the great worm 
came slowly up the hall till it reached the queen, and 
17 B there 



there it raised its head on her knees, and she knew 
it for the dragon that had come to her, and lifted 
its head and kissed it, and all men looked for some 
change ; but the dragon turned and went its way out 
as it came in, and those outside saw nought save 
the Egyptian diviner standing at the gate. 

And one other day, as Philip sat in his great hall, 
with all his nobles and chief men round him, there 
came a singing-bird into the hall and sang a sweet 
song, and circled his head, and came and sat on his 
knee, and there dropped an egg and flew away. Then 
as the king sat and looked, the egg rolled from his 
knee and fell to the ground, and there it broke, and 
a little worm came out and crawled about, but soon 
it died. Then a great clerk near him said : " This 
signifieth, O king, that thy blithe lady's son shall 
walk the world and win it, and die a bitter death 
before he may return." These were the wonders 
that happened ere the birth of Alexander. 

Now drew on the time when this noble child 
was to be born, and as he came to earth temples and 
towers tumbled on heaps, thunder rang through the 
welkin, darkness fell over the earth, the wind rose 
and blew, the lightning flashed over the land, and 
great stones fell from the sky. Then Philip feared, 
and said : " Surely this son that is born shall do 
great things, and men will call me the father of this 
child " ; and with that he went to Olympias and 
1 8 comforted 



comforted her. But the child grew, nor was he like 
to father nor mother. His hair was yellow-tawny, 
like a lion's, his eyes were bright and glistening, 
piercing like blazing stars ; grim and fierce was his 
look, one of his eyes black as a coal, the other yellow 
like gold ; his voice was loud, even from his first 
cry, nor could any hear it without inward fear. 
Alexander was his name, and the wisest man of all 
the world, Aristotle, was his tutor, nor would he 
learn of other. Clever and wise was he, nor did he 
sit with the crowd of boys, but on a bench beside his 
master, for it became not a king's son to sit down 
undistinguished from other boys. In four or five 
years he learnt more than many scholars learn in 
seventy winters. And when he was eleven years old 
he set him to learn the art and craft of battle, to 
wield a spear and a lance, to ride a noble steed in 
armour, so that in a few years was none equal to 
him, and in adventures of arms he surpassed all men. 
It fell on a day that Philip the king was with him, 
and greatly did he praise him for his deeds, and 
much was his heart moved towards him ; but he 
said : " Sorely my mind is troubled that nought of 
me hast thou in look, nor height, nor colour, whereby 
men may know that thou art my son " : for Philip 
was tall and black and dark-eyed. Then was the 
noble queen Olympias grieved when she heard tell 
of the king's saying, and she sent for Anectanabus, 
the Egyptian, and he came, but with little speed, 
19 for 



for he was now old and grey. And when he was 
before her, she asked him what should fall of the 
king's speech, for ever she had feared the doom that 
was to come ; but he comforted her, and bade her 
fear not, for he read day and night the stars for her, 
and none of the king's thoughts were against her. 

So he went out, and Alexander with him, and as 
they went, ever the Egyptian looked at the stars, 
and down at the ground, and sighed. So Alexander 
asked him at what planet was he looking, and 
Anectanabus showed it him. Then he asked him 
why he sighed, and the Egyptian said : " My hour 
draws near, the son of my works shall slay me ! 
Look over our heads and see that red star shine 
the star of Hercules, how bitterly it moves, but 
noble Mercury shines ever, and great Jove, how 
jollily he shines the doom of my destiny is on me." 
And as he said the word, Alexander stumbled for- 
ward, and pushing the unhappy Egyptian, he fell from 
the wall of the town where they were walking into 
the ditch which surrounded it, and with a cry sank. 
The youth plunged in after him, but when he found 
his body the old man was dead, and with what 
grief we cannot tell, Alexander carried home the 
body of Anectanabus to the palace of his mother. 
Let others tell the story of her grief, of her tears, 
and of the splendid tomb of the exiled king I 
cannot. 

20 CHAP. III. 





CHAPTER III. HOW ALEXANDER TAMED 
THE HORSE BUCEPHALUS, AND HOW 
HE DID HIS FIRST DEED OF ARMS. 

O IT WAS THAT there was at this 
time a certain prince in the land of 
Cappadocia, and in the night as he lay 
sleeping a vision came to him, and it 
seemed that his room was filled with a 
shimmering blaze of light, and while he looked a great 
dragon came into the room, and he shut his eyes for 
fear. Then there came a voice, saying, " Fear 
not, O king, but look up, and hearken to my 
words," and when he raised his head he saw 
an exceeding fair man standing in the room, and 
he had two horns on his head, and a golden crown 
like one of the gods. Then the vision bade him 
convey the horse Bucephalus to the land of Mace- 
donia to king Philip ; and tell him that he who 
should tame this horse should rule the land after 
21 him. 



him. The prince answered, " Where is this horse 
Bucephalus that I may take him ? " and the vision 
said that on the morrow the horse should be 
brought him. And suddenly the room was dark, 
but the prince lay turning this matter in his mind 
till the grey of the first dawn, and he slept. 

On the morrow as he sat on his seat under the 
oak of judgment, there came to him some of the 
country folk bringing with them a fair white colt, 
and his mouth was bound with iron chains. As 
they came near the king asked them whose was the 
foal and why they brought him in chains ; and the 
men answered that this colt was so wild that no 
man dare go near him to mount him, and that he 
would take no food since he had left his mother but 
the flesh of men. Then they consulted the priest of 
the temple, and he bade them carry the young horse 
to the king, for he would never be tamed but by a 
great king's son, nor could any other man mount 
him. So the king gave them a great reward and 
they went their way. Now the horse had on his 
forehead two bones like small horns, and the men 
called him for that Bucephalus. 

Now when the horse was brought to Philip the 
king of Macedonia he was fain of him, for he was of 
noble form, and it seemed as if he would be the best 
horse in the world, so he thanked the prince greatly, 
and made men build a stable for the horse of iron 
bars, strong and good. Therein was he put, and 
22 men 



men doomed to death were brought to that place 
and thrown to him, and he tore them to pieces, and 
fed on them. And no man willingly went near the 
stable in which he was. 

It fell on a day when Alexander was come to 
youth, that he chanced to stand at a window of the 
palace while this wild horse was being led by in iron 
chains, and the prince wondered at the sight, for it 
seemed to him that this was the noblest of horses, 
and he could not tell why he was kept in chains. 
But when he had come down to the courtyard the 
grooms had gone, so he followed them searching for 
the horse's stable, and at the last he came upon the 
iron house, and looking into it he wondered at the 
horrible things he saw there. Then one of the 
grooms came up to him and told him how the horse 
fed on man's flesh, and how that should be till he 
was tamed and ridden by a great king's son. Hear- 
ing this Alexander went up to the bars and called 
the horse, and the wild animal came up to them, 
and laid out his neck. Then the prince put his 
hand through the bars and Bucephalus licked it, 
and folded his feet and fell to the ground, looking 
up into Alexander's face. 

Thus was the horse tamed, and Alexander lifted 
up the gate-bolts and entered the stable boldly, and 
stroked Bucephalus on his back with his hand, 
while the horse turned his head round and watched 
him fondly. Then he got a bridle and saddle, and 
23 girt 



girt him round and loosed his chains, and leaping 
on his back rode him off, while the good white 
horse obeyed the rein as if he had been ridden ten 
years. Now, while Alexander was riding him round 
the courtyard, men had run to king Philip and had 
told him how the prince had gone into the cage of 
the fierce man-eating horse, and the king came down 
to see what should hap, and found Alexander master 
of the horse. Then Philip the fierce remembered 
the saying of the gods, and he greeted him with 
words of praise, and said, " Son, of a truth thou 
shalt reign in my stead when I am gone, and the 
land shall wax great. Ask now a gift of me, and I 
will give it." "Then," said Alexander, "make me 
a knight, and a chief with men-at-arms to follow me." 
Great was the joy of Philip that his son's first 
wish was to be a leader of men in war, and that he 
had done this great thing, so he granted it with 
good will. " I give thee, O son," said he, " one 
hundred of my best horses, and sixty thousand gold 
pieces from my coffers, and the best of my chieftains 
and proved princes to be thy men, and free of my 
house shalt thou be, to abide there in peace, or to 
go from it to seek adventure in war. Thou hast 
done a man's deed, and man shalt thou be called." 
Then the prince gave him lowly thanks, and sped 
off to gather together a little band of twelve chief- 
tains, picked and proved leaders of men, whom he 
had chosen to lead his men, and when this was 
24 done 



done each got together tried men to follow them till 
the number of the band was made up. 

Now when Alexander had got together his band, 
he made ready to go out in search of his first 
adventure, and in few days he rode out into the 
world in knightly array into a land unknown, nor 
did he stay until he came into the land of Pelo- 
ponnesus. Now the king of this land was called 
Nicholas, and when tidings were brought him that 
a band of strange knights had come into his land, he 
ordered that a host should be gathered together, and 
he with a few knights rode out far before his 
following, and came to the men of Alexander and 
gan question them in his wrath and anger, " Oh, ye 
knights, who is your leader, and why come you here 
in my land?" Then the courteous knight Alex- 
ander came to the front : " Sir knight," said he, 
" Philip the fierce, king of Macedon, is my father, 
and I am his heir Alexander." And the king stood 
up in his stirrups, and sternly looking at him, said, 
" Whom think you that I am ? " " Sir," said Alex- 
ander, "you are as now king of this folk, nor do I 
grudge your honour, but beware of pride, for wise 
men tell that the highest thing falls soonest, and 
that which is least of all is ofttimes brought to the 
stars." 

"True is thy word," said the king, "and soon 
shalt thou prove its truth it may be ; look well to 
thyself lest thy speech come home to thee." 
25 Then 



Then Alexander burst into rage, and with bitter 
words ordered him to return to his following if he 
wished safety, and Nicholas the king, flaming with 
bitter wasplike anger, took up a handful of mud 
and threw it in the face of Alexander, and swore by 
the heart of his father that he would put him to 
death with his own hands if he fled not. But the 
noble Alexander controlled his rage at the foul 
insult, and keeping his face by a mighty effort, 
though his hands were gripping each other through, 
said, "As thou hast wronged me causelessly, 
Nicholas, I swear by my father and by my god that 
thou shalt see me ere long for this cause, and that I 
shall take thy land from thee, or thou my life from 
me." So a day was set for them to meet in fight, 
and they parted on either side. 

Now were men on both parts getting them ready 
for the fight. Alexander hurried home into Macedon 
and assembled a mighty host of knights and archers, 
men proved and skilled in arms. And when the 
host was assembled, with his princes and captains, 
he sought the presence of Philip and took his leave, 
and mounting Bucephalus his brave white horse, he 
led, first of all, his army out of the broad gates of 
the town. So on the appointed day the field is 
covered with the array of either host, and now men 
lift up the banners and shake them out to the wind, 
and the clarions sound out till the whole field rings 
with the music, and the woods and the hills answer 
26 them 



them again. Then each noble prepares for battle, 
his helm on his head he strides to his horse, and 
jumps on his steel-clad saddle, he hangs round his 
throat his bright shimmering shield, and handles 
his lance. Then is the stamping of steeds, the 
stripping of banners, the clouds of dust rise in the 
air, and suddenly the crowds meet with a shock in 
the middle of the plain. Now the steeds rear up 
against each other, and the spears break through 
the blazoned shields and through the helmet bars, 
while the cypress lance shafts splinter into frag- 
ments, and down fall knights and dukes from their 
steeds. 

Well and nobly did the young Alexander fight 
his first battle. Sir Nicholas took him a spear, 
and rushed on the young knight to get him a name, 
and to keep his oath that he had sworn. Then 
Alexander took another lance from his squire, for 
the first one was strained in the fight by this time 
and might betray him, and they met one another in 
the field, and men stayed to see this fight. So sore 
were their strokes that the long lances split, even 
from point to handgrip, so that there was not an ell 
long piece in either man's hand. Then each threw 
the fragment away, and out flashed their swords 
from the sheaths, and they hacked and hewed at 
each other through mail-coat and helmet. But mail 
and helm were good and gave not way, till Alex- 
ander grew mad with rage, and with one full stroke 
27 he 



he struck off the head of King Nicholas clear through 
the neck and helm, and he fell down to the earth. 
So it was that Alexander got him great worship by 
this victory, for all the men of that country and 
their lords came to him, and falling on their knees 
put them in his mercy, and acknowledged him as 
ruler of the land. Thus he defeated his enemy, and 
revenged the insult of King Nicholas, and returned 
home with fame and good to his father. 

The tale tells that as he entered Macedon he 
found the town at feast, and his father at his high 
table ; but another woman sat in the seat of the 
queen, for Philip had put away Olympias, as the seers 
had told her years before. So Alexander bowed 
him down meekly in seeming, and said, " Father, I 
pray thee receive the fruits of my first victory ere I 
go hence to the wedding." "And whose wedding 
dost thou go to?" said the king. " To my mother's," 
said he, " for I will marry her to some noble king, 
and I will make him the greatest king on earth, for 
it likes me not to stay here while she is in disgrace, 
and I know not for what." Then Philip grew white 
with wrath, but one Lysias, a knight at the table, 
said, " O king, heed not his talk, for this fair queen 
shall bring thee a son greater than him." Turning 
to him, Alexander with his truncheon struck him a 
blow so that he fell dead to the ground, and men said 
that in truth he had deserved it ; but Philip started 
up at the deed, and snatching a blade rushed on 
28 Alexander, 



Alexander, aiming a fierce blow at him, for the gods 
had blinded his eyes so that he knew not wisdom 
from folly, or right-doing from wrong. But as he 
came on, his feet failed him, and ere he reached 
Alexander the king staggered, stumbled, and fell to 
the ground, though no man saw cause for it. Then 
Alexander laughed out loud, and said, " Does the 
Governor of Greece fear one youth? What ails 
thee to fall ? " and he struck over the tables of the 
feast, and dragging the bride out of the hall by her 
hair he brought her to his mother, for his heart was 
full of wrath at the wrong done to her, while Philip 
was carried away stricken with sore sickness. Thus 
was his mother avenged, and the marriage feast 
disturbed. 

But when Alexander's wrath cooled it came into 
his heart to make peace between Philip and his 
mother, and rising up he went to the bed of Philip, 
and there he spoke words as a friend might speak, 
and the gods put in the king's heart to forgive the 
death of Lysias, and to reconcile him to his wife ; 
and so the king rose up, and leaning on Alexander's 
shoulder, went with him to Olympias, and there he 
took her in his arms and kissed her, and forgave 
all her faults, and she was made queen again, and 
reigned in Macedon to her life's end. 



29 CHAP. IV. 





CHAPTER IV. TELLS OF THE EMBASSY 
OF DARIUS, OF THE DEATH OF PHILIP, 
AND THE CROWNING OF ALEXANDER. 
[HE TALE TELLS that on a day men 
told inMacedon that an embassy from the 
Emperor of the World, Darius of Persia, 
was drawing near ; and the whole city 
came out, men, women, and children, to 
see them enter. But there was doubt and fear in the 
court of Philip, for they were coming to demand 
from him the tribute which he had not paid for the 
last three years, and the king had made up his 
mind to be no more subject to the Persians, and 
Alexander had sworn to conquer them in war if his 
father would raise an army against them, but Philip 
would not, for he knew that no man could count the 
armies of Darius, spent he his whole life to that end. 
And so the heralds came riding up to the gate of 
the town mounted on their high steeds, and there 
30 were 



were three of them, and each of them was a king, 
and wore armour of proof. On each man's head was 
a golden crown, and their pages bore before them 
their helmets. The herald who was on the right 
wore bright silver armour; his surcoat was dark 
green, and on it was worked a fierce tiger rushing 
on his prey, and he was the herald of Media. The 
herald riding on the left wore black armour from 
head to foot, and his surcoat was of scarlet, and on 
it was a wild boar turning to face his foe, and this 
was the herald of Persia. But the herald in the 
middle was clad from head to foot in bright gold, 
and his surcoat was of a deep clear blue, and on 
it shone the sun high over all the world, and all 
men shouted when they saw him, for he was a head 
taller than common men, and he was the herald of 
the Emperor of the World. 

When they reached the gate the trumpeters blew 
three long calls on their trumpets with a silence 
between each, and the drawbridge, which had been 
raised, slowly fell, and the great gate of the city 
opened, and the herald of the King of Macedon came 
forth and greeted them fair, and offered them rest 
and hostage till such time as they should see the 
king. But they said, " O dear brother and friend, 
it is not fitting that we eat or drink in this town till 
we have done the errand of our lord, or till we know 
whether we harbour with friends and servants, or 
with foes and traitors of the Master of the World. 
31 Wherefore 



Wherefore we pray you, dear brother, that you will 
lead us to the hall of your prince that we may do 
our errand, not doubting that after it we shall be 
beholden to your love for rest and comfort." So 
the heralds dismounted, and their men remained 
without with their horses, while they went into the 
town and through the streets up to the palace hall 
of Philip. 

Now the king was sitting on his throne under the 
dais at the upper end of the hall, and on his right 
hand sat the noble Alexander, and round the king 
on his right and his left were the nobles of the land, 
greybeards and youth. And when the coming of 
the heralds was told them the king rose from his 
seat, and as they stepped forward so did he, and he 
came to the middle of the hall and three steps 
further, for all men did reverence in those days to 
the herald. And he greeted them, and on the neck 
of each man he threw a chain of gold, and much he 
praised them for their fame. But the heralds spoke 
and said, " O king, we have a message for thee, nor 
may we delay." And he said, " Speak on." 

So the Wild Boar of Persia spake : " O Philip, for 
three years thou hast not sent thy accustomed tribute 
to Persia, nor a part of it. Now, therefore, pay it 
at once, or fear the wrath of Persia." Then the 
Tiger of Darius the Mede, spake : " O king, foras- 
much as in past years thou hast served the king, 
and as perchance thy land has suffered from famine 
32 and 



and war, thy king and friend, Darius, forgives thee 
freely thy past tribute by my mouth." But the 
herald of the Empire of the World added : " On 
this condition only, that thou payest over to me 
three sacks full of Grecian earth in token of thy 
obedience to the great Emperor, and to show that 
hereafter thy tribute shall not fail." 

For a short time there was silence in the great 
hall, and then Alexander spake out : " Fair father 
and lord, suffer me to answer for thee/' Then 
turning to the heralds, " Return," said he, " return 
to your people and to your master, and bid him to 
send no more messages here of this matter, for 
know that Philip hath a son grown that yields to 
no man, and obeys no lord. Tell him that the land 
of Macedon which in times past yielded him wealth 
so freely is now barren, and will give him hence- 
forth no tribute, come what may." These words 
and more he said, yet he departed not from the 
courtesy that beseemeth great lords, and the heralds 
wondered at his speech, and greatly they praised 
him to his father. But Alexander sought out the 
herald of the Sun and gave him a fair jewel, and 
said to him that it was to retain him against the day 
when he should be emperor in his turn. 

It must be said that these heralds had gone 
through all the lands subject to the Emperor of 
Persia, for they had a secret errand from Darius. 
Now Darius had no son, and but one fair daughter, 
33 c Roxana 



Roxana by name, and he was minded to marry her 
to one of the king's sons of the lands, so the heralds 
were straitly charged to get the portraits of the 
princes and kings, and in their train was a skilled 
painter. Thus it fell that during the three days of 
guesting the painter drew a likeness of the prince 
exactly nis height and size, and it was taken back 
to Darius with the other portraits, that the Emperor 
might choose the prince who should marry his 
daughter, and succeed him in the empire. And 
after the three days of hostage the heralds took 
their leave of King Philip, and went their way, and 
in due time they arrived at the court of Darius, the 
proud king of Persia, and there they told him how 
his tribute was lost, and how Philip's son had 
spoken. 

In Macedon meanwhile many things had hap- 
pened, for it was told Philip that all the land of 
Armenia had revolted against him, and that the 
earls and princes were in arms, so Alexander 
gathered a host and marched against them, and, 
shortly to tell, he laid waste all the land of the 
rebels. But while he had marched away a worse 
thing fell to Philip, for a prince of the land, Pau- 
sanius, son of Cerastes, who dwelt in the marches of 
Macedon, and was one of his noblest knights, rose 
against him. And this was the reason of his re- 
bellion : For many years this lord had loved the 
queen Olympias, and when Philip put her away he 

34 



had come to the feast of the king's new marriage to 
defy him and to take her away, but when Alexander 
restored her to her place he departed sorrowful, and 
the love in his heart burned up, till at the last he 
summoned all his friends to make war on Philip, if 
by any means he might kill him, and carry off the 
fair queen to be his wife. 

Now Philip gathered together all his men and 
went out to war with Pausanius, but the folk that 
were with him were few, and when they met in the 
field fear fell on him, and he turned and fled to his 
castle. Then all men shouted when they saw that 
the great Philip had shewn his back, and Pausanius 
sprung out of the ranks on his proud steed, and 
speeding after the king struck him through the back 
to the breast and bore him to the earth, and there 
he lay on the highway half dead. Then Pausanius 
rode on, and all Philip's men fell back, for they were 
sore troubled when they saw their king wounded to 
death. So the prince came to the castle, and joy was 
in his heart, for he thought to bring out the fair 
queen and to lead her away. But in the heat of his 
joy Alexander returned victorious from Armenia 
with the nobles of Macedon, and when he heard the 
noise of the weapons he spurred into the town. 
Now the queen had shut the door of the castle-keep, 
and when the noise of the host was heard she flew 
to the window at the top, and by the arms and spoil 
she knew it was her son returned victorious. Then 
35 the 



the queen called to her son with a loud voice, " O 
son, who shall never be conquered, avenge and help 
thy mother in her need," and Alexander heard her, 
and wrath rose in his heart. But when Pausanius 
heard that Alexander had come, he came armed out 
of the palace, and with him a host of mighty men, 
and the hosts met in mid-field ; yet short was the 
fight, for Alexander swung out his sharp sword and 
with one blow struck him dead, and all his men 
gave up their weapons to the noble conqueror. 
Then came one and told him that his father lay 
wounded on the highway, and Alexander rushed 
forth and found him as one near death, and he fell 
down by his side and wept bitterly. But the old 
king said, " Ah, son Alexander, now am I near my 
end, but yet am I glad to have lived long enough to 
see my slayer so soon killed. Well be thou that 
thou hast avenged me." Then he raised up his head 
and looked at his son, but the effort was too much 
for him, and with one groan he died. 

The tale tells of how Alexander grieved for the 
death of Philip as one grieves for the loss of his 
father, and of the burial of the old king : how he was 
borne on men's shoulders to bale, how his barons 
and knights followed him as he was laid to rest in 
his own land, and how all men of the land, rich and 
poor, noble and simple, grieved for the loss of the 
great king. The next day Alexander sat on his 
throne, a bright gold crown studded with gems on 
36 his 



his head, and in his hand the sceptre of his father. 
Then the heralds proclaimed that all the court 
should draw near, and that all men should do their 
liege homage to him, and they came at his call, and 
all men acknowledged him as lord on their bended 
knees, and Alexander put off his crown from him 
and laid it on the throne, and rose up and spoke to 
his people in this wise : " Fair lords, I will in no 
wise be contrary to your wills, nor to your deeds. 
But I show to you that I hate frauds and malice, 
and as I have loved you during my father's life, so 
will I do in time to come. And I both counsel and 
pray you that ye dread the gods, and obey them ; 
and that ye choose for king him that shall best 
provide for the good estate of his people, and that 
shall be most courteous and merciful to poor 
folk, him that will best keep justice and the right 
of the feeble against the mighty, and him that 
most boldly shall put him in array to destroy your 
enemies ; for such ought to be chosen king and 
none other." 

Now when the lords of the land had heard his 
reasons abovesaid, and considered his great dis- 
cretion, wit, and understanding, they marvelled 
greatly, and answered him thus : " We have heard 
and understand thy great reasons, and have received 
thy good counsels, and therefore we will and 
beseech thee that thou reign over us, and have the 
lordship upon us. During thy life may there be 
37 none 



none who shall deserve to be our king rather than 
thou." And thus they chose him to be their king, 
and crowned him, and gave him their troth, and 
prayed the gods to bless and maintain him. 

That night as Alexander lay on his bed he 
dreamed, and in his dream he saw Anectanabus, 
the wise Egyptian, come to him ; on his head were 
two ram's horns, and his coat was brown. It 
seemed that he came to him as he lay, and put his 
hand on his shoulder and said, " Stay thou not in 
this land of Macedon, but go forth into all lands, 
for thou shalt conquer them, and they shall be sub- 
ject to thee, and thou shalt not die, except on a soil 
of iron, beneath a sky of gold." Then came to him 
one dressed in robes of blue and purple and gold, 
covered with all manner of embroidered figures, and 
on his head was a strange crown of gold and pearls 
and precious stones, and he said, " The God whom 
I serve shall teach thee to destroy the empire of the 
Persians." And last there came to him a very fair 
lady, tall and graceful, and she looked on him with 
love, and said, "O Alexander, my heart's lord, when 
thou hast overcome the Persians, indeed thou shalt 
reign over them, and I shall be thy queen and lady- 
love. Let this be the sign between thee and me, 
that we meet first at the feast of the Lord of 
Persia." 



38 CHAP. V. 





CHAPTER V. HOW ALEXANDER GATH- 
ERED AN ARMY TOGETHER: HOW HE 
BUILT ALEXANDRIA AND LAID SIEGE 
TO THE CITY OF TYRE. 

S TO THE GIVING in marriage of 
the daughter of Darius, the Emperor 
of Persia, it is to be told that on a set 
day the wise men of the land came 
before him, and the painter brought 
out to them the portraits he had made, and they 
examined them but found none that was worthy to 
rule, for one was covetous, and another quarrel- 
some, and a third given to much speaking, and 
these faults the wise men read in the faces on the 
parchment. Then they came to the likeness of 
Alexander and all men said "This man is born to 
be lord of men " and they brought it before Darius, 
and he sent for his daughter Roxana, and made her 
stand by the picture, and when she did so, she was 
39 taller 



taller than the figure painted thereon. Then Darius 
turned away and said nought, but shook his head, 
and Roxana took with her the cast-away drawing 
and bore it to her own rooms, and kept it safe ; and 
she vowed offerings to the gods if they would make 
this man her lord and husband. 

But Alexander gathered together all the warriors 
of the land, and made them a speech : "Lo, barons 
of Macedon, Thrace, and Thessaly, and all true 
Greeks, how like you now your liege lord : look on 
my face and let fear depart : hold up your hearts, 
and flee from no alien while Alexander lives. The 
gods have granted me that all the barbarians shall 
obey me f and there shall be no nation so rich or 
great under heaven that my name shall not be 
honoured there, for we of Greece shall be praised 
and feared over the wide world. Now, then, prepare 
ye for war ; he who has arms of his own, trusty and 
good, let him take them ; he who has them not, let 
him come to me, and I will furnish him for battle." 

Then answered him with one voice all the old 
knights and peers of his father's army : " Sire, we 
have fought often in hard fields with Sir Philip, 
your father, and many winters have gone over our 
heads ; now our force fails us and our flesh is weak, 
for be the flower never so fresh it fades at the last. 
Sir, all the days of our youth are long past, we are 
over-travelled and tired, our heads are white and too 
weak to bear the helmet or to seek adventures of 
40 arms. 



arms. Excuse us, Lord, we pray, and take with thee 
younger men, stout in battle, and fit to deal heavy 
strokes." 

" Nay, by my crown," said the king, " I cannot 
spare my old men ; an army of young men will often 
break their line in battle, trusting to their own 
strength. I choose the older men who do all their 
works by plan and counsel." And the old knights 
yielded to his wishes, and all men praised his 
wisdom. 

Now the time had come when kings go out to 
war, and Alexander took ship from the coast of 
Greece and sailed towards Italy. So at the first his 
army turned towards Chalcedon, a strong and 
mighty city, and he besieged it. And when the 
men of the city fought but faintly, Alexander rode 
up to the walls and cried out with a loud voice: " O 
men of Chalcedon, either fight bravely or yield up 
your town without delay"; and they of the city were 
so fearful that at the sound of his voice they owned 
him for master, and all the land took him for lord. 
Then Alexander sailed into Italy and took tribute 
of all men ; even the mighty Romans sent him sixty 
thousand gold pieces, and Europe was subject to 
him. 

From Europe the king sailed over the great sea 
into Africa, and many days he sought an enemy and 
found none, for the fame of him had gone before him. 
On a day he sought a temple of the god Ammon 
41 with 



with his earls and mighty men, and there happed 
on the way a marvel. For it fell as he was going, 
that a hart with a huge head leaped forth before 
them ; hardly had man ever seen so noble a beast. 
Then said Alexander: " Lo, the emperor of harts, 
slay him ere he escape." And all men shot, but so 
fleet was the hart that none could reach him. Then 
Alexander bent a bow, and with a mighty shout let 
fly at him, and the arrow struck him and pierced 
him through, though all men deemed that the hart 
was far out of bowshot. Then his men wondered 
greatly, and the country folk who saw the shot 
deemed that Alexander was indeed some god, and 
the name of the place is called in their tongue 
Bowshot to this day. But the king went into the 
temple and offered great gifts. 

Then went Alexander on his way and came to a 
very fruitful land, a land with twelve rivers running 
into the sea. And on a night as he lay on his bed 
he saw in a dream the god of the land, tall and fair, 
clad in a chestnut-brown robe, wearing on his head 
a gold crown, and having two horns like ram's 
horns. And as he dreamed the god said to him, 
pointing to a high mountain: " King Alexander, 
canst thou lift yonder hill and carry it on thy 
shoulder." " Nay," said Alexander, " who is there 
under heaven who might try?" "King," said the 
god, "your name shall ever be remembered, till 
yonder hill is removed from its place." Then Alex- 
42 ander 



ander laughed out with joy, and he said to the 
vision: " I beseech thee now, O Shining One, tell me 
as at this time ere thou pass away how I shall die, 
and when my day shall come?" Then the. god 
looked on him sadly, and said: "Truly I hold it 
better that a man should not seek to know that 
which shall come upon him ; yet since thou hast 
asked me, I tell thee that thou shalt conquer all 
nations, and die by poison, and thy years shall be 
finished ere thou reach middle age. Ask me no 
more of this as now; far in the Land of the East 
thou shalt be told the end of thy days by number." 
And with these words the light in the room flickered 
and blew sideways, and Alexander started up, and 
behold there was no man with him. Then in the 
morning the king ordered his men to build him 
there a city, and that city remains to this day, and 
the name of it is Alexandria. 

Now when the city was built, and men from 
Greece had come thither, with merchants from Tyre 
and from far lands, to dwell, to buy, and to sell, 
Alexander went forth with his host through all the 
land of Egypt, and the men of that land feared him 
as one of the high gods. And as he came to a 
certain city he found in it an image of a king carved 
in black stone, a crown on its head, and a royal 
sceptre in its hand ; but below it were many words 
carven the words which the god had told the men 
of the land many years before. Then Alexander 
43 asked 



asked the chief men of the city: " Sirs, what statue 
is this, and what be the words that are written 
beneath it ? " And the men of that place answered 
him : " Truly, O king, this man was Anectanabus, 
once king of all this land ; yet because he was 
bidden of the gods he left us, and the writing below 
tells us that he shall come again and free us from 
the Persians, and make us a great people. And 
some men say that it shall be a son of his that shall 
do these great things." Then Alexander knew that 
this was that same Egyptian who had been his 
fosterer, and he said to the men of the place: "I 
knew the man, and for his sake I will make ye free 
from all men, rich and happy shall ye be." And he 
fell at the feet of the statue and kissed it, and they 
stood by him in silence. 

But on a day it was told him that they of Tyre 
had destroyed a ship of Alexandria, and had spoken 
evil of him, and Alexander marched into Syria with 
all his host to subdue it and to conquer Tyre. Now 
Tyre was a fair city, built on an island in a bay, 
with the sea washing up to its walls. And it was 
so strong that no army had ever taken it, and so 
rich that its merchants were princes and hired 
armies to defend them, and all the country round 
owned the men of Tyre as their lords. But they of 
the city said: "What king shall injure Tyre, for our 
walls defend us, and our ships sail every sea, and 
bring to us the good things of earth and food and 
44 drink, 



drink, and our wealth is great, and all men shall 
serve us for it ? " 

But Alexander and his host were marching 
towards them, and one day the men of Tyre saw 
the army of Alexander on the plain before them, 
for he had taken two strong cities, Damascus and 
Sidon, and had made all the land subject to him. 
And as they looked the camp seemed to grow and 
tents were raised, and no man could count their 
number. So Alexander's army was before the 
town, and he thought that he should take it easily, 
but not a few troubles were suffered before Tyre 
submitted to him. 

Now it fell that many days had been spent in 
fruitless assaults on the city before Alexander found 
out that its walls were too high for him to take it 
by storm. Everywhere were turrets and towers of 
defence, and the wild waves of the sea outside beat 
on the walls to as much purpose as the army of 
Alexander. Then men began to murmur and com- 
plain first of one thing, then of another, and Alex- 
ander ordered them to construct a great castle beside 
the city in the sea, and raise it up to the height of 
the walls of the city, that he might prevent ships 
coming into it to bring food and riches. But when 
the tower was nearly finished the army was in sore 
strait, for food was wanting in the camp. Princes, 
dukes and fierce knights were famishing, yea, all 
men were starving. 
45 Then 



Then Alexander pitied his men, and resolved to 
get provision and help for them, so he sent special 
messengers to those tribes which were near, bidding 
them to send him help both in men and in food. 
And among others he sent to Jaddua, chief bishop 
in Jerusalem, and admonished him to send fresh 
men for the fight and food for the folk that were 
with him, and to pay all the tribute due to Darius 
to the Greeks. And he told his scribe to put into 
the letter gentle words, saying that it was better to 
be the helpers of the men of Macedon than to be 
the servants of Darius. 

Now when the messengers came to Jerusalem 
they were received by the chief bishop in a great 
hall, and when they gave him the king's letter he 
went away into an upper room to read it by himself. 
But when he had read it he stayed a little, and then 
coming down the steps into the hall he gave this 
answer to the envoys : " Sirs, return to Alexander, 
and say thus : Many years have passed since I made 
oath never to harm Persia, nor to pass in arms 
against Darius all the days of his life." When Alex- 
ander received this answer he was very wroth, and 
he vowed to teach the Jews whose orders they 
should obey ; yet he would not leave the siege of 
Tyre, but sent away a part of his army to obtain 
food for him and the rest of the Greeks. 



46 CHAP. VI. 





CHAPTER VI. TELLS OF THE FORAY OF 
KADESH, AND OF ITS ENDING, AND OF 
THE TAKING OF THE CITY OF TYRE. 

OW THE CHIEF of the band he sent 
was Meleager, one of Alexander's most 
valiant knights, and he had with him 
five hundred lances and their men-at- 
arms. His orders were to ride through 
the valley to the city of Kadesh, which belonged to 
Tyre, to drive together all the cattle and flocks in 
the plains, and to bring them to the army of 
Alexander. So he set out, and with him was Sir 
Sampson, a bold knight of the land, who knew all 
the country round about. They were so successful 
that they gathered together a host of beasts beyond 
number, and soon they turned towards Tyre with 
delight in their hearts. But before they had tra- 
velled a mile all the country was alarmed, and rose 
in arms against them, and a very valiant knight, 
47 Theosell, 



Theosell, came riding out to meet them, and to pre- 
vent their getting away before the host appeared. 
Now Theosell and his men were armed in plate, and 
they made such a sudden rush on the Greeks that 
they struck many down and overrode them, so that 
those who fell to the ground never rose after, and 
their blows were mighty. Then Meleager was 
moved with wrath when he saw the Greeks turn 
and flee, and mounted as he was on a young horse 
he seized his spear and spurred against the enemy, 
striking great blows. Sampson, on the other hand, 
broke his lance at the first encounter, and struck 
out right and left with the broken end, hewing 
down his foes ; also Aristes, a noble knight, was 
one of those who were chief in their resistance to 
the foe, and Caulus had no less an enemy than 
Theosell himself. The first stroke of Caulus' sword 
fell on the helmet of Theosell, and struck down 
through the wooden crest the great wild boar's 
head down into the helmet, and before Theosell 
had recovered from the blow a great swing of the 
sword struck off his head. Now when this noble 
knight was fallen to the ground all the folk that 
followed him, and were able, fled away, and Meleager 
and his men rejoiced that they had slain the leader 
of their foes and had won the field. 

Suddenly they were interrupted by the sound of a 
horn, and they saw an army marching out of Kadesh 
against them under the command of Beritinus, a 
48 great 



great lord of the country. The tale tells that there 
were with him thirty thousand lances clad in plate 
armour and mounted, with others following on foot, 
so that clouds of dust covered them, and the earth 
seemed to shake at their tread. Then the Macedo- 
nians were sore dismayed to see such a great host 
come out against them, and Meleager was in great 
mind to send a message to Alexander, asking him 
for aid before they joined battle. But there was no 
man who would go on such an errand, or leave his 
comrades in danger of death, and all men set their 
faces to live and die together. 

The first onset of the foe was a fierce one, and 
not few of them, with their chief Beritinus, met their 
death, but the Macedonians lost Sampson and many 
another noble. Then began a long struggle between 
the few Macedonians and their foes, till at last they 
were beaten down to a little group of tired, wounded, 
and bleeding soldiers, breathless and faint, hardly 
able to strike a blow, yet resolved not to flee. Then 
the brave knight Aristes, although sore wounded 
himself, slew one of the enemy, and, leaping on his 
horse, spurred off to Alexander for help before all 
the little band was destroyed. Little need to tell 
that the king was sore grieved, and gathering to- 
gether in haste as many of his knights as he could, 
he rode off to the rescue of Meleager through the 
valley, leaving Tyre and the camp. And ever as he 
went his eyes dropped tears as he thought of his 
49 D good 



good knights slain, and most of all he grieved for 
Sampson, whom he loved well. 

But while Alexander was riding through the 
valley away from Tyre the men of the town were 
busy. He had finished a great tower in the water 
over against the city wall, and had left a guard 
within it to keep it till his return. But Sir Balaan 
of Tyre, one of the chief men of the town, prepared 
great machines and engines for casting stones into 
the tower, and when he had driven the guard from 
its walls, he sallied out of the town with a host of 
armed men and attacked it. Then the men of the 
tower defended it sharply, and sent out showers of 
darts and great stones. But Balaan fought so bit- 
terly, and sent such a cloud of stones, that none of 
the Greeks could show themselves on the tower, 
and his slaves brought engines and threw down the 
top of the tower and tilted it into the sea, and all 
the men in it were slain. Then he got boats and 
barges and attacked the bottom of the castle, and 
broke down all its lower part, and threw the heaps 
into the sea, and the winds and the sea helped him, 
and a storm arose and beat the pieces small, so that 
not one beam remained fastened to another. Thus 
this great work was destroyed in a day, and Balaan 
returned to the city and barred the gate as before. 

By this time Alexander had come out of the valley 
and reached the plain of Kadesh. Before him he 
saw here and there a few of his men fighting in 
50 scattered 



scattered groups, while others of the enemy were 
collecting the cattle and sheep to drive them home 
again. All over the plain he saw his men struck 
down surrounded by heaps of the enemy. Then his 
eyes flamed out with wrath at the sight of their 
danger, and he struck spurs into Bucephalus his 
horse, and springing out with a spear rode straight 
at the thickest of his foes ; and ever as he rode he 
struck them to earth, so that through the thickest of 
the throng his way was marked by a clear wide path 
and his nobles rode after him. And when his lance 
broke he drew out his long sword and struck down 
all before him till no man of the enemy was on the 
plain who was not stricken down and a prisoner. 
Then he turned to those of his men who were still 
alive and comforted them with fair words, and 
much he praised their valour, and then bound up 
their wounds, and the king left order that the dead 
should be buried under stone or marble monuments, 
and gathering together the prey, great and small, 
flocks and herds, he returned with his men to Tyre. 
The tale tells that as he rode out of the valley and 
came into view of Tyre his first look was towards 
the great tower he had built, and sore was he grieved 
when he found that it had been destroyed, and that 
his soldiers that were in it had perished ; and all 
the Macedonians mourned, and they trusted no 
longer that Tyre would be taken. But that same 
night Alexander was sleeping by himself in his tent, 
51 and 



and he thought that he saw a great vine before him, 
and that he put out his hand and plucked one grape 
out of a ripe cluster. Then he flung it on the floor 
and put his foot on it, and when he had broken it, 
lo ! wine flowed out, so much that it was a wonder 
to see. In the morning, when the king rose, he 
called to him a wise man, and bade him tell what 
the dream should mean ; and the wise man said : 
" O king, fear not.; Tyre is thine own ; for this berry 
that thou didst break is the town of Tyre, and thou 
shalt tread under thy feet its towers within few days." 
Then the king rejoiced, and set about to make many 
plans, if by any means he might come within the 
walls of Tyre. 

Soon another tower was in building, right in the 
same place as the first had been, half as large again 
and higher than the town-walls, firmly anchored and 
fastened so that it could not move, close against the 
sea-wall of the town. And when the tower was 
built Alexander clad himself in armour of steel, its 
plates shining in the sun, and went to the top of it 
and looked over the town and saw its walls, and 
then he looked to his camp and saw the Greeks, and 
he resolved to make no more delay but to take it by 
storm at once. So he ordered the Macedonians to 
make ready for the battle, and when they saw him 
on the walls of Tyre to lose no time, but each man 
to follow him. Then began the beating of drums 
and the loud blare of the trumpets till the town and 
52 camp 



camp rang with their brazen strokes, and all men 
rushed to the assault of the walls. The archers 
came within bowshot of the walls, covered with 
great shields which they held before them, each 
shield covering two men, and shot keenly at every 
mark that showed itself, and their arrows were 
deadly as adders ; nor were they of the town less 
eager to return their bowshot, and from the walls 
they cast great stones among the Greeks. Suddenly 
the gates of the town opened, and the Tyrians made 
a sally out, wounding and killing many of the 
archers, for they were good spearmen, and could 
cast the dart. 

But Alexander and his princes had passed up into 
the tower, and some of the lords were armed with 
lances, and some bore huge two-handed swords, and 
many carried the battle-axe, and a few had cross- 
bows which shot great bolts of steel. Then from 
the tower they passed on to the sea-wall of Tyre and 
fought their way among a crowd of foes, Alexander 
ever the first. Long were it to tell of the fight and 
of his valour, for they of the town worthily with- 
stood him, and ere they made sure their footing on 
the town-wall, many knights had been stricken 
down backward into the deep water. But when 
they saw that, the Greeks became maddened with 
rage, and no wound could make them pause, and as 
they obtained a footing they fell to shooting with 
cross-bows, and with their great catapults, each stone 

53 



like a man's head, and the yeomen got out great 
crowbars and began to tear down the turrets and 
battlements; while the knights hurried forward 
beating down their opponents. At last a breach in 
the walls was made, and then the host of Alexander 
rushed into the town, eager to revenge the death of 
so many of their comrades, and the men of Tyre 
thronged thick to the wall to guard the entrance. 
But Alexander forced his way through them all and 
over the broken wall into the city, and the first man 
he met was Balaan. Short was the fight, for 
one stroke of his mighty sword laid Balaan low, 
and he was thrown into the sea beneath the walls. 
Then when the Tyrians were driven from the walls 
the Greeks clambered up them with all manner of 
ladders, on each step a cluster, and those who had 
no ladders climbed up the stones without them, and 
in short time Tyre was in their hands, for after the 
death of Sir Balaan no man could lead the men of 
the town or give them heart to fight. 

Then Alexander commanded to cast down the 
walls of Tyre, and when it was done it came into 
his mind to punish the men of Jerusalem for their 
refusal to send him help against Tyre, and his army 
moved down towards the city. And on his way he 
conquered the land of the Philistines, and burned 
down the city of Gaza. 



54 CHAP. VII. 





CHAP. VII. HOW ALEXANDER CAME TO 
JERUSALEM, HOW THE BISHOP MET 
HIM, AND WHAT THERE BEFELL HIM. 
HEN WORD WAS BROUGHT to 

Jerusalem that Tyre was taken, and that 
Alexander was on the march towards the 
city to punish it for its disobedience, 
there was heavy grief and woe, and 
Jaddua the bishop was in great awe, for he said to 
himself: " Now have I but a few days ago refused 
to obey this great warrior, and when he the most 
needed help I denied it him; better had it been for me 
that anything should have happened before I grieved 
this man, and did not his command. Woe is me and 
my city." And Jaddua called together the men of the 
city, and said: "Now is Alexander at hand, and 
will destroy our city and us unless heaven help us." 
So men went through the streets, and it was 
55 ordered 



ordered that all the inhabitants of the city should 
fast for three days, men, women and children, and 
that they should appear in the temple and cry with 
clean hearts to the King of Heaven to keep them 
safe from this mighty conqueror. And so it was 
that the whole city fell to prayers and fasting, and 
woe was on every face. But on the third night, 
when all the city was asleep and the sacrifices ended, 
then a shining one stood by the bishop and spoke 
joyful words to him, saying: " Sir Bishop, I bring 
thee tidings of bliss and solace. I am sent to thee 
from the Master of men to bid thee be not cast 
down. Now, therefore, rise up early and array all 
thy city, its streets and its houses, in fair attire, open 
its gates wide, let every man be apparelled in clean 
and milk-white clothes. And as for thee and thy 
priests and prelates, clothe thee in the dress of thy 
rule, and when this conqueror comes, go ye forth to 
meet him. And fear not to greet him nobly, for he 
must ride and reign over the round world to the 
day of his death." 

Then when the day broke the bishop rose and 
called together all the chief of the people, and told 
them his vision and what the voice had bade him 
do ; and all his clergy and the city assented that so 
it should be, that the city should be adorned and 
that all men should go forth to meet this their 
sovereign. So all the people hurried home and 
brought out their richest treasure to adorn the city. 
56 The 



The broad streets were arched over with awnings 
of rich and rare stuffs. The ground was covered 
with Tartary silk and with taffeta, that so noble a 
ruler should not tread on bare earth. The pave- 
ment was covered over with woven stuffs, and 
canopies of fine linen were stretched on high over 
the gates of the city to keep off the heat of the sun, 
and they were gathered on either side with silken 
ropes, and drawn back like curtains, while the 
houses were hung with Indian stuff of bright blue 
embroidered with stars, even to the eaves. Thus 
was the town adorned, and when the gates were 
opened, men without might deem that they looked 
in on one of the seven heavens. 

And now the people of the city began to come 
out in procession, clothed in their richest robes. 
First came the bishop with the priests of the temple, 
dressed in royal magnificence. He wore under all 
a long robe covered with birds and beasts em- 
broidered in blue and purple, and on that a robe 
with gold skirts, with many shining stones sprinkled 
all over, and set stiff with sapphires and other gems, 
and powdered with pearls of the purest hue. Over 
this he cast on a cope of chestnut colour with rich 
ribands of gold, and round the hem a border of 
violet flowers, embroidered with satyrs and fauns 
and the wild beasts of the forest. And on his head 
he wore a great mitre forged out of pure gold, 
bordered with pearls, and covered with such precious 
57 stones 



stones that no man might look upon it, for it struck 
out shimmering shafts of light like the beams of the 
bright sun. And with the bishop came the doctors 
of law, the judges of the city, and they were all 
dressed in tunics of scarlet silk brought from Tar- 
tary, and were loaded with their golden chains of 
office ; and after them the clergy, all clothed in their 
brightest dress. Such a sight had never been seen 
before, nor will it be seen again. 

After the bishop and his attendants the whole 
city came in order, Mayor, merchants, masters and 
men, widows and wives, all came with their com- 
panies, and each of them dressed in white linen 
pure as the driven snow. Then a company of 
children came forth with bells and banners and 
blazing torches; some bore censers with silver chains 
and burning spices within, whose smoke rose to the 
clouds, two bore a cushion of brown velvet em- 
broidered with pearls to be held before the bishop 
for his book to rest on, others bore candlesticks of 
gold and of silver, and the relics of the temple, the 
richest of the world. And all the procession went 
on till they came to a little place outside the town 
whence they could see the temple, and there they 
abode the coming of the king. 

And now they heard the tramp of feet and the 
distant sound of arms and horses, for all men kept 
silence in fear and doubt and half-hope, and they 
knew not how soon they might be ridden down and 
58 slain 



slain or made slaves, or whether they should indeed 
be saved as the bishop had told them. Then they 
saw Alexander riding up with a host of dukes and 
princes and earls, and at the same time the king 
caught sight of their array, and when Alexander 
saw this multitude of men in milk-white clothes he 
thought it a marvel, and he turned and saw the 
crowd of priests in maniples and stoles, and the 
doctors of the law and the prelates in their robes; 
and amidst them all, the chief amongst them, the 
bishop, dressed in his array of gold and purple and 
fine linen ; and the king's eyes fixed on him and look- 
ing up he beheld on his mitre a plate of fine gold, 
and on it was graven the great name of The Maker 
of Men. Then the king commanded his knights to 
approach no nearer on pain of their lives, but all, 
great and small, to remain behind, and he spurred 
on his horse till he came up to the spot where the 
bishop was standing, and then jumping down he 
fell on his knees before the bishop on the cold earth, 
and beating his breast worshipped the Holy Name 
that he saw written on his head. 

Then all the people bowed themselves down before 
Alexander as he stood up, and meekly kneeling they 
cried with a keen voice : " Long may he live, long 
may he live." Then the fairest lady of them all 
came out and cried : " Lo, Alexander, the noblest 
lord under heaven, long may he live, the mighty 
emperor, the wielder of all the world, the mightiest 

59 on 



on the earth." And all the people of the city 
answered her with one voice: " Long may he live, 
long may he live." Then stepped out a man and 
he cried out: " Lo, he that overcometh all men, who 
shall be overcome never; The greatest, the most 
glorious, that ever was made by God." And all the 
people cried out at once: " Long may he live, long 
may he live." 

Now there were with Alexander many of the rulers 
of the land of Syria who had yielded up their lands 
to him, and when they saw him bow down, as they 
thought, to the bishop of the Jews, they held it a 
great wonder. Then Parmeon, one of Alexander's 
princes, went up to him, and asked him why he 
bowed down to the bishop of Jews, when all other 
men bowed before him instead. And Alexander 
answered him : " Nay, I neither hailed him nor 
bowed down to him, out to the King of Heaven 
alone, the Father of gods and of men. For many 
days ago, when I was in Macedon, one appeared to 
me in such a dress and shape as this man now wears. 
And I mused in my mind how I might win Asia, 
and he bade me fear not, but that all the land should 
be mine, and when I saw this man, verily he seemed 
the same god who had spoken to me. Now have I 
good hope, by the help of this God whose Name is 
written yonder, to conquer Darius and to destroy 
the empire of the Persians." 

And now the bishop had greeted Alexander full 
60 lowly, 



lowly, and all men had done him homage, and 
they prayed the king to enter into the town, and 
Alexander marvelled to see how fair a city it was, 
and the people of the land received him with 
reverence and joy as he were the leader of them all, 
or as one come down from the gods. Then went 
they through the town, and the bishop brought them 
to the temple that the great knight and king, Dan 
Solomon, had built, and the wise men of the temple 
came forth, and Alexander heard of their lore. 
Then came one of the oldest of them all and spoke 
words to the bishop, and he arose and bowed down 
before Alexander and said : " O king, verily there are 
words concerning thee and thy deeds in the books 
of our holy place," and he ordered the temple 
guardians, and they brought out a huge roll, a broad 
book full of dark sayings of the times to be, and 
there was the saying of a mighty seer, one Daniel 
by name, and Alexander read how that the men 
out of Greece should utterly destroy the people of 
Persia. 

Thereupon was Alexander merry of heart, for he 
deemed that the time had come, and that he should 
indeed beat down Persia, and he ordered his men to 
fetch great gifts, and to each man he gave chains of 
gold, and jewels of pearls and of rubies, and to the 
bishop he gave store of bezants, great round heavy 

f olden coins, such as bishops love, and he showed 
im a heap of golden talents, but the bishop feared 
61 to 



to take such riches. Then said the king : " O Bishop, 
ask what thou wilt in this world, anything mayest 
thou ask that I may give, and I will grant it thee 
ere I go hence." And the bishop bowed him down 
to the ground and said : " O King Alexander, this 
thing of all others I deeply desire, durst I name it, 
that thou wouldst grant us the use of our law, as 
our fathers before us have obeyed it, and if it may 
be, grant us that we pay no tribute for seven years, 
in memory of the joy of thy coming, then shall all 
men pray for thee and serve thee, and, if I may but 
add one thing, grant to those of Media and of 
Babylon that they may freely obey our law." 

"That grant I thee," said the king, "ask now for 
thyself, and be served." " Nay, lord, no more, if I 
may have your love and your lordship while my life 
lasts," said the bishop, and he and all men meekly 
thanked Alexander. And Alexander appointed a 
lord to dwell in the town, hear what men said, and 
be his viceroy, and the bishop blessed him, and 
he departed into the cities near at hand, and all of 
them came out to welcome him and to acknowledge 
him their lord. 



62 CHAP. VIII. 





CHAPTER VIII. TELLS HOW DARIUS 
THE EMPEROR SENT PRESENTS TO 
ALEXANDER, AND WHAT WAS THE 
PRESENT SENT BACK TO HIM. 

IUT IT FELL THAT SOME of them 
of Tyre had fled into the court of 
Darius, and they complained to him of 
their city destroyed, and "all this," said 
they, "we suffered because we obeyed the 
great king, the Emperor Darius." Then began the 
Emperor to question them concerning this Alex- 
ander, what manner of man he was, what was his 
stature and his strength, whether he were brave or 
no. And they, willing to bring shame on the name 
of their enemy, shewed Darius a painting of him on 
parchment. But when Darius looked on it he burst 
into laughter, and all men smiled, and he said : 
" Well for ye, ye men of Tyre, if ye were beaten by 
such a man as this, for never saw I such a warrior," 
63 for 



for they had painted him a little shrivelled creature, 
more like an ape than a man, with long arms, and 
one leg longer than the other, blinking and stupid, 
the most miserable object that had ever been seen. 
And Darius drove the men of Tyre from his presence, 
and asked his wise men concerning Alexander, who 
and what manner of man he was ; and they told him 
how he was the king's son of Macedon, and how 
they had chosen him as fit to be the husband of 
Roxana, and how he had rejected him because of 
his small stature. 

Then Darius bade search for his portrait and 
bring it before him that he might look on him ; but 
when they sought it they found it not among the 
other likenesses, for it is to be said that Roxana the 
Queen had borne it with her and treasured it up 
with her chief treasures. So he thought within 
himself that he would prove the heart and wit of the 
Greek, and he commanded, and they brought him 
presents for Alexander, and first was a ball covered 
with gold ; " for," said he, " he must have something 
to play with;" then he added a hat, "and," said 
he, " this is better than a crown ; " and last they 
brought him a head-covering made of twigs and 
osiers ; " this is better for such an one as thou, O 
Alexander, than a bright steel helm." And Darius 
fell back upon his throne, laughing, and ordered 
messengers to take them to Alexander, bearing with 
them a letter under his broad seal. 
64 So 



So Darius called for his scribes, and they came 
before him, and he ordered them to write a letter to 
Alexander, and this was the form of the letter 
he wrote : 

"DARIUS, the Emperor, king of kings, lord of 
lords, predecessor of princes, equal to the Sun, the 
lord of the earth, to Alexander, our subject and our 
servant. 

" For it is reported to us that thou, through the 
vanity and vainglory of thy heart, hast got together 
warriors to lay waste parts of our kingdom, and hast 
now with thee a number of wretches, thieves and 
vagabonds, and by their means dost think to wield 
at thy will the power of Persia : 

" Now, therefore, be warned in time, for thou art 
weak before me, even if thou hadst gathered against 
my empire all the men in the world outside it, for 
my people are so many that they are like to the stars 
of heaven in number. Submit in time ; the Persians 
are famed to be unbeaten. 

"It is told me that thou, a dwarf and weakling, 
dost covet the rule of all the lands under the wide 
heavens, and that, like a storm of wind-blown snow, 
driven hither and thither, thou passest over all lands 
with a train of ruffians behind thee. I have not yet 
armed my men against thee ; beware, when my hand 
shall be raised, thy life is done. Turn again, boy, 
to thy mother's care ; take these toys I send thee. 
Know that the riches of Persia are so great, that a 
65 E heap 



heap of its gold would shut out the light of the sun, 
and blame thyself for all the evils that shall fall 
on thee if thou disobey. 

" Now, therefore, return at once to Macedon, or, 
not as the son of Philip, but as a leader of a band of 
petty thieves shalt thou be hung." 

And when the letter was written the bearer of the 
king's seal came forward, and the letter was closed, 
and cords of green silk run through the edges, and 
dipped in wax, and the great seal was stamped upon 
the wax, and it was given to the messengers of the 
king, with strait commandment that they should 
tarry neither night nor day until the king's letter 
was given into the hands of Alexander. 

Now, Alexander was standing in the midst of his 
barons when the messengers of Darius arrived, and 
as their commandment was urgent, he bade them to 
be brought to him at once. And when he saw the 
letter his heart was filled with rage, nevertheless he 
read it out in the hearing of his knights and nobles ; 
and when these heard it their hearts were moved 
with fear of the mighty words of Darius. So 
Alexander looked on them and he saw that they were 
afraid, and he spoke to them: "What now! my 
worthy warriors, my bold knights and barons, the 
best under heaven that ever king had, let it never 
be told against you that the proud boasting of a 
letter of Darius brought you to doubt yourselves, 
else were it shame indeed. Look you, now, every 
66 day 



day we ride through a village you may hear as loud 
a yelping from any cur at a cottage door, but loud 
as they bark they never bite. But methinks his 
letter should rather make you rejoice, when he tells 
you what treasure of gold he has, for it needs but 
to be bold and that treasure shall be yours." And 
then the anger in the king's heart broke out, and 
turning to the messengers of Darius, he said : " But 
for ye, that dare to bring such threats to a Greek, ye 
shall learn the anger of Alexander. Take them by 
the throats," said he to the attendants, "and for 
their master's sake, hang them on the gallows." 

Then the messengers were amazed, and with a 
keen cry called to Alexander : " Alas, O king, what 
fault lies in us, if it please thee, that we should die 
thus suddenly." "The sayings of your sovereign 
lord," said he, " force me to such deeds as I would 
never have done else : lo, now, he calls me a thief in 
this letter." But they fell on their knees before him 
and said: "O king, Darius himself dictated those 
words, for he knew not of your knighthood, nor of 
your strength, nor of your worthiness, and so he 
wrote boldly ; but grant us our lives, and leave to 
go, and we will show him all your power and your 
might." So Alexander forgave them and made 
them a great feast in his own tent, and made much 
of them, so that he won their hearts ; and they said 
to him: " Sir Alexander, send with us, we pray thee, 
but one thousand of your knights, and we will 
67 deliver 



deliver Darius into your hands." But the king 
answered them with little love : " Rejoice in your 
feast, O messengers ; verily no knight of mine shall 
be sent to aid in betraying your lord." 

But in the night, one of the Persian messengers, 
a little man and a crooked, having one arm longer 
than the other, came to the tent of the king, and 
when he was admitted he asked that all men might 
be put forth. So they were left alone, and the 
messenger drew from his breast a leathern roll, and 
in it was a blue embroidered silk bag of fair work, 
the lion on one side and the rising sun on the other, 
and he laid it in the hand of the king. Then Alex- 
ander opened it, and found within a scarf of green 
covered with fair half-open flowers, and he looked 
on the messenger, and he answered : " O king, the 
fairest dame in Persia sends thee this to the end 
that thou mayest wear it in thy helm. One 
day, if the gods will, thou shalt see her and 
know her name." Then the messenger bowed 
low, and went his way to his fellows, and all men 
slept. 

The next day the messengers were called before 
Alexander and his council, and a letter was given 
them, closely sealed up, to bear to Darius. Now 
this was the form of the letter : 

1 1, ALEXANDER OF MACEDON, son and 
heir of Philip the defender of Greece, and of 
Olympias the fair, to thee Darius, prince of the 
68 Persians, 



Persians, the conqueror of every land as you say 
yourself thus write under my seal. 

" Let no man despise any neighbour who seems 
to be smaller and poorer than himself, since the 
lowest is often raised to the heavens, and the 
proudest ground to dust. And thou, Emperor of 
the World as thou callest thyself, dost dishonour to 
thy name when thou sendest such gifts out of 
Persia. Thou speakest as if thou wert one of the 

fods that cannot die. I am but a mortal man, and 
will attack thee. 

"Thou hast destroyed thine own renown. If I 
am beaten, thou thyself hast called me but a petty 
thief, and no honour shalt thou have: if I overcome 
thee, the greater glory is mine, and men shall ever 
tell how I have conquered a king, the greatest 
in the world. Nevertheless I hope that one of 
thy tales is true, that of the greatness of thy 
riches, for it has raised our hopes, and sharpened 
our wits, and made us eager for battle, that we 
may the sooner exchange our poverty for thy 
riches. 

" But as for thy presents, know, O Darius, that 
the ball thou hast sent represents the world, and 
thou hast handed over the mastery of the world to 
me: the hollow hat held before the head when it is 
bowed, shows that all kings shall bow before me: 
and this headpiece of twigs is to say that ever shall 
I overcome, and be overcome never. In the day of 
69 thy 



thy defeat, O Darius, remember my interpretation 
of thy gifts." 

Then great gifts were given to the messengers, 
and they were sent out of the camp to Darius, and 
Alexander made all his preparations for the war 
against the Persians. But when Darius had read 
the letter of Alexander, and heard the words of the 
messengers, he was sore angered, and he made up 
his mind to fall on the Greeks and to destroy the 
power of Alexander. So he wrote to two of his 
greatest satraps, the duke Priam and the duke 
Antigonus, ordering them to get their forces to- 
gether and to go out and seize this insolent lad who 
was so bold as to defy the army of the Persians, 
and who had entered the borders of Asia with such 
a large number of followers. " Then," said Darius, 
" bring him bound to me, that he may be well beaten 
with scourges and then I will sew him up in a 
mantle of bright purple and send him to his mother. 
Since he is so proud, the punishment of a child will 
be best for him, and when all is over he may play 
at home at bowls or handball with his mother's 
servants." 

Now this letter reached the dukes soon after they 
had fought a great battle with Alexander's men and 
had been defeated; so when they had broken the 
king's broad seal and turned the leaf to read the 
letter, they looked on one another, and they thought 
that Darius could not know what manner of man 
7 Alexander 



Alexander was, or how hard it was to stand before 
him in battle. So Sir Priam the duke wrote to 
Darius by a special messenger that this child, whom 
they had been ordered to seize, had wasted all their 
lands, and had passed through the province, and 
that when they had raised an army to meet him, 
neither prince nor soldier could face him sword in 
hand : and the letter ended by begging the king to 
come at once to their aid with as many men as he 
could, that the honour of Persia might not be put 
to shame. 

So Darius called a council to advise him as to the 
best means of meeting Alexander, but before they 
were met another messenger came with tidings that 
the Greeks had crossed the river that was called the 
boundary of Persia, and that they were now in the 
Emperor's own land. And when this was told the 
council all men wondered how that Alexander should 
be so bold as to enter Persia, or to disobey the letter 
of Darius, and they advised the king to write once 
again to him, reproving him, and that if he still 
disobeyed, that he should be crushed to the earth, 
and the king did so, for he knew not how a man 
could disobey his order. 

The tale tells that when this letter reached Alex- 
ander it found him in great grief, for messengers 
had come from Macedon telling that his mother was 
like to die, and Alexander had bidden his men strike 
their tents and return home to Macedon. So the 
71 messengers 



messengers drew near trembling, and gave the letter 
of Darius to Alexander, and with it was a glove full 
of poppy seeds, which are almost the smallest of all 
seeds. So Alexander read the letter and he laughed 
out, for Darius had told him that even the gods 
obeyed him on earth, and now bade him return to 
Macedonia ere his wrath should arise. "And as a 
token," added Darius, " I send thee this glove full 
of seeds, count them if thou canst, and thou hast 
the number of knights in my army. But the seeds 
are numberless, and so are the soldiers I rule." 

Then Alexander called to him the messengers, 
and said: "Hearken, and tell the king that which 
you see and hear." Then he took the glove and 

Eoured out some of the seeds into his hand, and 
iting them he said : " Here I see that the soldiers 
of Darius are passing many, but they seem to be 
soft and feeble, as these seeds prove. But be they 
soft or hard, it matters but little." And he wrote a 
letter to Darius telling him that though he was 
returning to Macedon it was not on account of the 
threats of the Persians, but because his mother was 
at point of death, and that he would return with an 
army larger than before. "And in answer to thy 
glove full of seeds, I send thee a purse full of black 
pepper, that thou mayst see the comparison between 
the Persian and the Macedonian." 



72 CHAP. IX. 





CHAPTER IX. TELLS HOW ALEXANDER 
DESTROYED THEBES AND HOW IT WAS 
REBUILT AND OF HIS RETURN TO 
PERSIA. 

HE TALE TELLS THAT when the 
messengers of Darius departed, loaded 
with rich presents, to carry the message 
of Alexander to their lord, Alexander and 
his host set out on their homeward way, 
and passing through Arabia, a great army of Persians 
fell on them, under the leadership of duke Amonta, 
the head of all that province. Long were it to tell of 
this fight, for Amonta was one of the bravest of the 
Persians, and it seemed that Alexander had found 
an equal. Two days the fight had lasted, from the 
grey morning till dark night ; many were the noble 
knights overthrown on both sides, and such showers 
of blood fell that the fetlocks of the horses were 
covered with blood. But on the third day, the story 
73 tells 



tells that in broad mid-day the battle was at its 
highest, when suddenly the sky began to grow dark, 
and, looking up, men saw darkness over the face of 
the sun. Then all men feared for the wrath of the 
gods, but Alexander cried out to the Greeks with a 
mighty voice : " See, the Greeks have conquered the 
sun of Persia," and with a great shout, the men of 
Macedon fell again on the Persians, and they turned 
and fled from the field, and many of them were slain, 
struck from their horses by the mighty blows of the 
Greeks. Then Amonta the duke was borne away 
from the field by the mad rush of the frightened 
horses, and his wounds were sore, so that he could 
not face the enemy, and at the last he fled with 
the rest. 

But so it was, that when he came to the Court of 
Darius, that he found there the king's messengers, 
who had just arrived from the camp of Alexander, 
for they had ridden slowly with the letter and the 
gifts. And Darius the emperor was seated on his 
dais, holding the letter in his hand unopened, and 
he questioned the messengers : " What said he of 
the seeds I sent him?" Then the messengers 
answered: "The king caught up a handful of 
them and bit them, and he said, truly the Persians 
were many, but there was one thing that pleased him, 
they were but soft." Then Darius put forth his hand 
to the purse and bit at one of the grains in it, and he 
said : "Truly, be his men even as few as these, if 
74 they 



they be but as keen and sharp, all the world would 
be too weak to meet them in arms." 

Then the Duke Amonta spake up among the 
peers who were standing round, and he said : " By 
your leave, my most gracious lord, this king leads 
but few men, but never were there fiercer in the field 
than they are. For I fell on them with an army 
greater than their own by five thousand men, and 
yet they defeated us and slew many fierce earls and 
brave knights, and threw down my banner. Three 
days we fought with hard blows on either side, yet at 
the last hardly did I escape unslain from their hands. 
Yet was Alexander none the prouder for their victory, 
but he buried the dead Greeks and Persians side by 
side in the grave with all honour." Then the King 
of Persia grieved for the death of his knights, but 
he rejoiced more at the going of Alexander. 

The march of Alexander took him on through 
Cilicia and over the mountains of Taurus and into 
the land of Troy, and there he saw the place where 
Troy had once been, and the famous river Sca- 
mander, and grieved because there was no noble 
poet like Homer to tell of his deeds. And at the 
last he came to Macedon, and there he found his 
mother mended of her malady, and great was his 
joy. Then he stayed with her some days rejoicing, 
and he got together fresh soldiers, and set his 
face against the land of Persia, ready to begin a 
journey from which he was never to return. 
75 Now 



Now Alexander marched through the land of 
Greece, and the story tells of many adventures 
which fell to his lot, for some cities welcomed him 
gladly, and others closed their gates against him, 
and once the horses of his army were like to have 
been lost for want of forage, so that his knights 
feared, and murmured against him ; but the tale 
tells chiefly how he warred against Thebes and 
Athens, and what there befell him. Now the town 
of Thebes was famous for deeds of arms, and Alex- 
ander sent to the town to ask for four bold knights 
to go with him to the war with Darius ; but the folk 
of Thebes shut the gates of the town, and bade him 
pass on if he did not wish to meet his death at their 
hands. Then Alexander laughed out in scorn and 
said : " Ye be brave men, O Thebans, the mightiest 
on earth, and now ye have proffered war to my 
princes and to me. Why shut ye your gates, for 
honour bids you come out and meet me in the field 
to maintain your words ?" 

Then the siege of Thebes began : he placed four 
thousand archers round the town, with orders to 
shoot at every wight that showed himself on the 
walls; he set two thousand men, armed with coats 
of mail and plate armour, to dig down the walls and 
buildings; one thousand were told off to fire the 
gates of the town, and three thousand were appointed 
to the engines of war. Alexander got together too 
a body of slingers to help any of these that were 
?6 overpowered 



overpowered. Now when all things were set, the 
trumpets blew out and the assault commenced. 
First the archers advanced, covered with their broad 
shields, till they got within bowshot of the walls, 
and all at once the hemp cords were drawn and the 
arrows flew through the air. Then the arbalasters 
bent their crossbows and out whirred the quarrels, 
crashing through the coats of mail. The engines 
shot out their great stones into the towers, and then 
the fire began to burst out at the gates, and soon 
the four gates of the town were in flames, and the 
town itself began to burn. Then those who were 
unslain in the town yielded them up. 

But there were two minds in the camp as to 
Thebes ; some of Alexander's peers rejoiced to see 
the town burning, but a minstrel of Thebes, Hismon 
by name, came before Alexander with a sad face, 
asking Alexander to have some mercy on the town. 
Then said the king: "Why art thou so sad of cheer, 
my clerk, before me?" and the minstrel answered: 
" O mighty conqueror, if by any means thou canst 
show mercy on our rich town." Then was Alex- 
ander wroth that any man should be sad before him 
at what the king had willed, and without more 
words he gave strait command that the walls of the 
town should be beaten down and every house in it 
burnt ; and that done he went on his way with his 
men, and many of the Thebans went with him, for 
that they had no longer a city. 
77 The 



The tale tells that one of the knights of Thebes 
who followed Alexander's host, a valiant and a 
mighty man, asked at the temple of his god when 
Thebes should be rebuilt and who should build it, 
and the god answered: "He who shall build the 
town shall conquer thrice in strife ; when that shall 
be, then shall he raise the walls." Now as the 
knight returned to the army of Alexander he heard 
the herald proclaiming with the sound of a trumpet 
that the king would hold a tournament at Corinth, 
and that great games should there be played. So 
when the day came the Theban knight came into 
the ring, and asked of Alexander permission to 
wrestle, and the king appointed a champion to 
wrestle with him, and soon the champion was 
thrown. Then another wrestler came forth, and he 
too was cast to the earth. And Alexander said: 
" Now, in faith, if thou conquer but once again, 
thou shalt be crowned for the noblest wrestler in 
Greece." Then came forth a mighty man, the tallest 
of the Macedonians, and the Theban knight deemed 
that he should indeed be beaten, but he thought on 
the words of the god, and the love of his city filled 
him, and they scarce grappled before he threw the 
giant on the ground, and a great shout went up 
from all men. 

Then he was brought to the king and knelt 
before him, and Alexander took a fair gold crown 
filled with precious stones, and set it on his head ; 
?8 and 



and the heralds came to him and said: " Tell us thy 
name, O noble knight, that we may write it in our 
books." And he said: "Truly, sirs, my name is 
Cityless." " How so," said the king ; " what 
name is that, and how got you it?" " My lovely 
lord," said the knight, "before you came I had a 
people and a town, now have I none, and Cityless 
am I, and Cityless must be my name." Then the 
king knew that he was a knight of Thebes, and his 
heart relented for the city, and he gave orders to 
cry aloud that all men might return with the knight 
to rebuild the town in its first state. So was the 
saying of the god fulfilled. 

So Alexander went on his way through the land 
of Greece, and from each town he received help and 
tokens of his lordship. But two great cities refused 
at first, the cities of Athens and Sparta, though 
afterwards they obeyed him. Then he came to the 
ocean and sailed over into Asia, and with him were 
two hundred thousand men, and tidings came to 
Darius, and he called his council and said unto 
them: "Lo, how this Greek grows in might, the 
more I despise him the greater his power. I sent 
him playthings, but now he will master us if we 
take not heed." Then said the king's brother to 
him: "If your majesty do not as this man does, we 
may leave our land to him, for in strife he helps his 
men in all their needs, and so his name increases." 
And another lord spoke : " This Macedonian is like 
79 a 



a lion who leaps on his prey with joy." " How so ? " 
said Darius, and the knight answered : " Years 
agone, I was sent with your heralds to Philip his 
father to claim our tribute, and then I saw and 
heard him. For your herald told how all men 
would gather at your orders against the foe of the 
empire Medes, Parthians, Italians and the youth 
said : ' Yes, but one wolf will worry many sheep, 
and a Greek army will rout many barbarians,' for 
so he called the army of the great king." So Darius 
got together his army. 

The tale tells that Alexander on a day went to 
bathe in a river, and the king was heated and the 
river cold, so that he fell sick of a fever and was 
like to have died. And all the men of his army 
mourned, and said: " Did Darius but know this he 
would fall on us with his might ; " and truly they 
did well to grieve, for the health of the head keeps 
all the body well. Then one Philip the Leech, a 
young man, but well skilled in all manner of medi- 
cine, came to the tent of Alexander, and said: " My 
lord, I can cure you in few hours with a syrup of 
herbs." When the duke Parmenides heard this he 
was jealous of Philip, for he feared that Alexander 
would promote him to great power, so he came 
privily to the king, and said: "O king Alexander, 
take not the drink of Philip, and trust him not, for 
verily it has been told me that Darius has offered 
his fair daughter and great wealth to the man that 
80 shall 



shall slay thee," and with that he showed the king 
a letter in which these things were written. Now 
Philip had brought the cup to Alexander, and the 
king stretched out his hand, and looked him in the 
face, and took the cup, and drank it, and gave the 
letter to Philip, and the physician looked on it, and 
said: " My life for thine, O king, as I am guiltless 
of evil towards thee." So Alexander fell into a 
sleep, and all men kept such watch that no noise 
was heard in the camp, and when he awoke he was 
whole and healthy. So he called Philip the Leech 
to him, and gave him great rewards, but Parmenides 
the traitor he beheaded. 

Then marched he through the land of Media and 
Armenia till he came to the great river, the river 
Euphrates ; and there was no ford over which the army 
could pass, so needs must they make a bridge, and 
men brought boats and bound them together with 
chains, and then they passed over, first the horses and 
the baggage, and then the army. And when they 
were all over the king took his axe and smote the 
chains in sunder so that the swift stream drove down 
the boats, and the bridge was broken ; then turning to 
his men, he said: "If we flee, here shall we be over- 
taken and slain ; better is it that never we turn our 
back to the foe, for he that follows has the flower of 
victory, and in no wise he that flees. Be happy and 
rejoice, for never shall we see Macedon till the bar- 
barians bow before us then shall we blithe return." 
81 F CHAP. X. 





CHAPTER X. HOW ALEXANDER DE- 
FEATED THE PERSIANS, AND HOW HE 
WENT TO THE FEAST OF DARIUS. 

OW FOR THE FIRST TIME the 
armies of the Macedonians and the Per- 
sians came in face of each other, and 
hopes of victory were on either side, for 
the Persians were many, and their battle- 
leaders were five hundred noble knights. The sun 
shone brightly, the trumpets rang out against each 
other, and the long streamers of the lances danced 
in the wind ; the horses pranced, and the young 
knights clashed their arms. Soon Darius ordered 
the battle to begin, the knights laid their spears 
in rest, and each, with his shield hung before him, 
spurred his horse ; the Greeks came on to meet 
them, and they crashed into each other with a thun- 
dering noise and a shout, and all the fair field was 
covered with stumbling steeds and knights dis- 
82 mounted 



mounted and wounded and dead ; and the clash of 
sword-strokes cutting through coats of mail sounded 
like the noise of a giant's smithy. For few minutes 
the field was covered with clouds of dust, and Alex- 
ander could see nothing of the result, but soon it 
appeared that the Greeks had driven back the foe, 
and that the first attack of the Persians had failed. 
So he called the Greek knights around him, and 
after a breathing space he gave orders that in their 
turn they should ride on the enemy. 

But Darius had seen how his men were being 
borne down, and had noted how their king was 
first among the Macedonians, and how that no man 
stood before his blows, so he called to him one of 
his bravest champions, and said to him : "Sir Knight, 
seest thou yon leader of the Greeks, look you now, 
he wears the colour of my daughter ; go thou, arm 
thee in fresh armour as a man of Macedon, and 
slay him. And if thou so doest, I will give thee 
my daughter Roxana to wife, and thou shalt be 
after me in the land of Persia." Then that knight 
answered and said : " Thou art my lord ; what- 
soever thou biddest that will I do, and I will 
smite his head from off his shoulders, that no 
man may hereafter stand against the Emperor." 
So he arrayed him in clean bright armour, and 
over his armour he put on a silk surcoat in colour 
like to that of the Macedonians, and rode out 
among them. 
83 Now 



Now Alexander was ranging his knights for their 
grand attack on the Persians, and the trumpets 
blew, and all together they charged down on the foe. 
Close behind Alexander rode the Persian knight, 
and no man could see who he was, for the bars of 
his helmet were closed. And Alexander, as his 
wont was, rode into the thick of the fight, and struck 
great blows here and there, and no man stood before 
him. Then the knight drew his sword and spurred 
on his horse, and struck the king such a blow that 
it cut through his helmet and down into his cheek, 
and then as the king wheeled round his horse the 
sword broke in the helmet. And when the knights 
around saw the blow they rushed on the disguised 
Persian, but Alexander stayed them from hurting 
him, and said : 

" What, my knight, why hast thou wounded thy 
lord and thy helper ? " 

" Nay," said the knight, " I am no knight of 
thine ; this did I for Sir Darius, who promised me 
his daughter if I hewed off thy head." 

"Take him away," said the king, "but harm him 
not till I give order about him." 

Then Alexander turned to his lords and said : 

"What shall be done to him for this deed? " 

And one man advised to hang him, and another 
to cut off his head, and another to burn him alive. 
But Alexander looked displeased, and said : 

" Nay, he has but done his duty to his lord, in 
84 that 



that he obeyed his word, and his lord has all the 
blame of his deed. He that condemns him judges 
himself, for did I order one of you to slay Darius 
that must ye do. Let him depart and go to his 
lord, for he strikes a good stroke." 

So that Persian knight went unharmed from the 
camp of Alexander, and told all these things to 
Darius. 

Then Darius feared, for his army was put to flight, 
and his knights began to compare him with the 
king of the Macedonians, and he rode away to a 
strong city near that place, and there he stayed but 
short time, for Alexander followed him, and came 
against that city and took it, and found there trea- 
sure untold, and the wife of Darius, and his mother, 
the wisest woman in all Asia ; but Darius himself 
escaped him and fled away. There came one of 
the princes of Persia to Alexander and offered to 
deliver Darius into his hand, for that he had served 
that king for twenty years, and yet he had never 
given him reward ; but Alexander refused to take 
Darius by treachery, and he said : " One king must 
not betray another." So day by day the Persian lords 
came into the Greek camp and owned Alexander as 
their emperor. 

Now was another army and a greater one being 
got together, for all the lords of Persia and the 
kings of the countries about, and Porus, king of 
India, were summoned for a set day. But letters 
85 came 



came from the king of India saying that he was 
sore sick, and could give no aid till he was reco- 
vered, and that then he would come ; and letters 
came from the mother of Darius, an exceeding wise 
woman, in which she bade him make peace with 
Alexander and submit to him, or otherwise the 
empire of the Persians would be utterly overthrown. 
But he would not obey her, for he hoped to destroy 
the army of the Greeks from the face of the earth. 
So all the might of Persia met at its chief town, 
Susa. 

After short time the army of the Greeks had got 
them ready for the fight, and they began to follow 
up the war against Darius, and they went not so 
quickly as the Persians, since they were in an 
enemy's land ; but at the last they came in sight of 
the town of Susa, and behold, it lay in a great plain, 
and a river a furlong broad lay between it and them. 
So Alexander purposed in his mind to send a herald 
to challenge the Persians to fight, for he would not 
be said to attack them without granting them due 
time. That night, as he lay asleep in his tent, he 
dreamed a dream, and a man of Macedon stood by 
him, dressed in rich attire, with two horns on his 
head, and he knew that it was one of the gods, and 
the god said to him : " My son, send no messenger 
to Susa, but go thyself, so shalt thou see Darius 
and his court, for I will be with thee, and no harm 
shall come to thee." Then Alexander arose early in 
86 the 



the morning and told his knights his dream, and 
how the god had promised to guard him. So he 
dressed himself as a herald, and rode off with one 
of his knights before the sun rose to the army of 
Darius. Now when they came to the great river 
Granton, which lay between them and the town of 
Susa, they found it frozen over with ice a foot thick, 
so he bade the lord that was with him to wait there 
for him, and he himself rode over the river alone to 
the camp of Darius. 

The tale tells that this river was wondrous cold 
by nature, and that whether by art magic, or because 
it was so cold every night, it froze into ice after the 
sun went down, and the ice was exceeding thick ; 
but when the sun rose and the day warmed, then the 
ice cracked and melted, and the river ran so fast that 
no man might swim in it, nor might any boat cross 
it but with danger, and no bridge could be built 
across it for the ice. When the day broke the 
ice began to thaw, but Alexander was safely over, 
and he rode slowly towards the town. Now when 
he came to the wall of Susa he stopped at the 
barrier, and bade the men bring him before Darius, 
and they obeyed him, for his rich clothing and his 
speech showed him to be some great man. And 
Darius asked him : " What man art thou, and what 
doest thou here ? " Then Alexander answered him : 
" O king, I am sent to thee by Alexander, he bids 
thee prepare for battle ; why dost thou stay in the 
87 walls 



walls of thy town ; either come out and fight him 
or own him for master." And Darius said : " Wert 
thou the man himself thou couldst not speak more 
proudly, but I care never a deal for all thy bold 
sayings. Still for thy sovereign's sake that sent 
thee hither, thou shalt sit at supper with me this 
even ; " and Darius did him great honour, for all 
men in those days reverenced the heralds. 

So the heralds of Persia welcomed him, and there 
came clerks and wise men and talked with him of 
the lands of Greece and of the West, and they told 
him of the nobles of Persia and of the wonders of 
the land and its richness, and of the land of India 
and the marvels that men spoke of it. Now among 
the clerks was one who was short and crooked and 
ungainly, and the others took little heed of him, 
and he stayed for a while behind and listened, 
saying nought. Then Alexander noticed him and 
said within himself: "Such a crooked and mis- 
shapen man would not be in the court of a king if 
he were not exceeding wise," so he spake to him, 
and the clerk answered him in few words but 
weighty. But when those of the court were without 
for a space, the clerk said : "Were Alexander here, 
he would see the fairest maid on earth at the supper 
this even ; and much honour would she do the 
knight who wore her scarf in the front of battle." 
And with that he drew back, nor did he speak when 
Alexander drew out the scarf from his breast. Then 
88 the 



the clerks and wise men departed and the great 
lords came to ask him of the arms of the Greek 
lords, and of their deeds in battle, and of Alex- 
ander. 

When even was come the king gave his hand to 
Alexander and led him into the hall of his palace, 
and he sat at meat with Darius. And ever he 
thought within himself : "This barbarian does me 
great honour in this hall, but soon shall the hall be 
mine by right." Now the hall of the palace was of 
beaten gold ; the walls, the seats, the tables, the floor, 
all were covered with thick plates of gold, and the 
vessels of service, the cups and dishes and platens, 
were of fine gold. And those of the Persians that 
were there looked upon Alexander with curiosity, 
and they thought little of him since he was so 
short, for the heralds of the King of Persia were 
taller than any man in Persia, and the Persians are 
tall men ; but they knew not the wisdom and the 
valour of the man, for they wist not that it was 
Alexander himself. 

As they sat down to meat, Alexander was put in 
a seat on the left hand of Darius, and as he looked 
around him he saw at the table on the right hand 
of the King the fairest damsel that man had ever 
seen, and his eyes saw, almost without seeing, that 
her robe was of green covered with fair opening 
buds, the crown of spring and the promise of 
summer. And as he looked on her she lifted her 
89 eyes 



eyes on him, and saw the scarf of green he wore, 
and she looked on his face eagerly and then looked 
down and away, and fear and longing and content 
and hope and joy struggled in her heart, but her 
face was that of a king's daughter in the palace 
hall of her father. Then Alexander rejoiced in his 
heart and he said : " This maid shall be my very 
love and my queen." 

Now the feast began, servants ran to and fro, 
busily helping one another and serving the guests 
diligently ; lutes and harps were played by the 
minstrels, and as fast as one dish was taken from 
the table another was brought, and the butlers 
brought forth the wine in great goblets of gold, 
studded with gems, and handed them to the guests. 
Now Alexander did after the manner of heralds at 
the feast of a king, for when he had drunk from the 
cup that which was in it, he took it up and put 
it in the breast of his doublet. Then Roxana the 
Queen called to her the servants and they brought 
her a cup of wine, and she bade them carry it to the 
herald of the Greeks from Roxana the daughter of 
the Emperor, and they did so. Then Alexander 
bowed low, and rejoiced, and drank from the cup, 
and when it was empty, he put it also in his breast. 
So the servants of the Persian King saw it and 
they were envious and wondered, and one said to 
another : " Let us see if he will do it again ; " and 
they brought him a third cup, yet more precious, and 
90 Alexander 



Alexander took it, and again when he had drunk he 
put it in his breast for himself. Then these servants 
went and fell before the king and told him of the 
case, how that the Greek herald had drunk from the 
golden cups, and had put them in his breast to take 
them away from the feast. So Darius rose up in 
his seat, and with a proud, disdainful look, said : 
" O friend, why dost thou take my vessels from me ? 
That is shame to thee and me." " Sire," said Alex- 
ander, "it is custom in our king's feasts that the 
goblet given to the guest is his with what is in it ; 
but since you keep not this custom here, I give you 
your cups," and taking them from his breast he gave 
them to the butlers. So all men's eyes were on 
Alexander, and they wondered that he could stand 
before the face of Darius, and they began to consider 
his face, his form, and his voice. 

Now amongst them that were at meat with 
Darius that even was one Anepo, the Herald of the 
Sun, he who had formerly visited Macedon, and to 
whom Alexander had given a golden chain in earnest 
of the days to come. And Anepo looked on him, 
and said to himself: " Is not this the son of Philip?" 
and just then their eyes crossed, and he saw the face 
of Alexander, and noticed how that the eyes were 
of two colours one blue, one dark and getting up 
from his seat he came softly near Darius, who was 
sitting on his high seat, and he said to him : 
" Verily, O king of kings, this messenger that sitteth 
91 here 



here is no herald, but Alexander the Macedonian 
himself, or I am no true herald." Now Alexander 
had seen the eyes of Anepo, and when he got up he 
watched him, and he heard the sound of his name 
in the whisper, and he rose from the table as if he 
would handle a lute, but instead he snatched a torch 
from the hands of one of them that stood by, and 
was out of the hall towards the stables before any 
man could say he was gone. 

Now by good fortune his horse was fed, so he 
loosed him and sprang on his back, and out of the 
court like a spark from a fire, and no man could 
stop him. But when the alarm was given, Darius 
ordered all men to follow, and men rushed in all 
directions; they searched the rooms of the palace, they 
searched the stables, some clad them in armour and 
rode out into the night, and some to the city gates. 
But little avail they made, for there was no moon, 
and the clearness of the night served but to mislead 
them, and their shouts served to warn Alexander of 
where they were, and if they kept silence one rode 
against another, and many rode into the deep ditches 
of the fields or stumbled in the miry ways, and at 
last, one by one, they came in, and no man among 
them all had heard or seen aught of Alexander, and 
well was it for them that they had to face the wrath 
of Darius, rather than the sword of the Greek. 

In that same hour that Alexander fled out of the 
palace of Darius a golden image of the emperor of 
92 Persia 



Persia fell to the ground, and when men came to 
raise it they found it broken into fragments, and 
they feared greatly ; and when Darius heard of it 
he fell aweeping, and he said : " Surely this tokens 
trouble to the empire, and death to me ; " and he sat 
in sore grief thinking of the boldness of Alexander, 
and his courage left him, so that he became weak as 
a woman. 

Of Roxana it is to be told how her heart was 
glad that she had seen the lord of Macedon, and 
great thanks she gave to the gods because he had 
seen her face, and noted how fair she was, for she 
had watched without looking at him the turning of 
his eyes toward her, and the joy of his heart in her 
beauty. That night she sat with her maidens, and 
ever she sent one or another for tidings of the 
herald, and none brought answer, and at the end 
one came and told how all the knights had come 
back from the pursuit. Then her maidens came 
round about her and praised her beauty above all 
other times, and she gave a great gift to that one 
who had brought the news of the safety of the 
Greek, howbeit the maiden knew not that it was 
the meed of her tidings, and thought it was the pay 
of her flattering words. 



93 CHAP. XI. 





CHAPTER XL TELLS OF THE BATTLE 
BETWEEN ALEXANDER AND DARIUS, 
AND OF THE SLAYING OF DARIUS. 

IUT ALEXANDER HAD RIDDEN 

out into the night, and knew not at first 
in what direction he was riding, but 
soon, when the lights borne by the 
mounted men began to scatter over 
the fields, he reined in his bonny steed and looked 
up to the sky, and there low down he saw the 
seven stars rising from the plain, and he turned 
his horse's head and rode slowly towards them, 
and ever he waited for some sign, for he knew 
that he was coming near the river Granton. But 
while he was waiting he saw a great flame rise in 
the air far on his left hand, and its rays lay along a 
stretch of smooth ice, and beside it was a man on 
horseback, and he knew him for his companion that 
he had left at the river, and he shouted to him in 
94 the 



the Greek tongue, and when he heard the answer 
he spurred his horse and rode on to the ice. But 
it was well for him that the fire was before him, for 
far on the right the river ice began to crack and 
grind, since it was not yet firm, and suddenly his horse 
slipped and both sank into the river ; and the man 
struggled out by the help of the thin ice which broke 
off piece by piece before him till he touched bottom, 
but the good steed was belike struck by the ice, for 
it sank and was drowned. Now when he came to 
the shore he was amazed, for there was neither fire 
nor light, so he called* to the Greek knight, and 
when he came up he questioned him, and he found 
him sore afraid, " for," said he, " a great dragon has 
circled me about for hours, so that I feared to raise 
my head." Then Alexander straitly charged him 
that he should not speak of this thing, and they 
returned to the camp, and all men rejoiced to see 
him. 

On the next day King Alexander called to him his 
dukes and his captains, and they brought up their 
men in fifties and in hundreds and in thousands, till 
they were assembled on the plain ; and Alexander 
rose on high and told them how that he had seen the 
might of the Persians, and he encouraged them and 
told them that never should the crowds of the 
Persians equal the Greeks, for, said he, " It takes 
many flies to make war on wasps, be they but few;" 
and all the army laughed and rejoiced in his bravery 

95 and 



and knowledge. Now by this time Darius had 
assembled his host and led them forth on the plain 
to the shores of Granton, and there he set up the 
tents, and prepared him a royal seat and passed his 
army before him in review. First the war-chariots 
drove by, drawn by swift coursers, and on either side 
the chariots were set with scythe blades, keen and 
sharp as knives, then the knights passed him in full 
armour, and every man followed by his squire and 
his footmen, and then passed a host of archers and 
crossbowmen : and as each host passed, they went 
on into the field and set themselves in array, and 
the knights mounted their huge war-horses. And 
on their side the Greeks were drawn up in array, 
and Alexander was at their head, mounted on his 
steed Bucephalus, the best horse under heaven. 
Now Alexander spurred out into the open space 
and rode before the army of the Persians, and dared 
any of their champions to come out and fight with 
him, but not one of them durst meet him, for their 
hearts were stricken with fear. 

So with the sound of trumpets both sides ad- 
vanced to the attack, and in few minutes they were 
at the sword's point. The tale tells that for two 
miles there was a fight all along the line between 
the Persian and the Greek knights. From sunrise 
to sunset the slaughter lasted and both sides fought 
bravely, the air was thick with arrows, a hail-storm 
of winged darts ; and now the Persians began to 
96 give 



give way, their noblest captains were dead, and no- 
where had they driven back the Greeks. King 
Darius had set himself on his golden car at the 
early dawn, and all day he had watched the fiercest 
of the fight, and messengers had told him of what 
befell, but in the end he lost hope, and took to flight; 
and suddenly darkness came upon the land, so that 
men feared to move, for the great war-chariots were 
thundering over the plain, and whoso got in their 
way was cut to pieces by the blades on their wheels, 
and the hosts of Persians were mowed down like 
corn before them. So Darius reached the Granton 
which his men had crossed so proudly the day be- 
fore, and he rejoiced that he found it frozen over, and 
he rode over the stream in the dead of night, and 
many of his great nobles were with him. Then 
after him came the flying host of the Persians, and 
on they came, till the broad stream was covered 
with men and horses. But their weight was too 
much for the ice, and it bent down and broke away 
from the banks, and then of a sudden it broke into 
thousands of pieces, and the night was filled with 
the screams of horses and men and their shouts 
and cries, and the dark water was filled with strug- 
gling crowds striving to pull themselves up on to 
little pieces of ice that would not bear their weight ; 
until one by one their struggles ceased, and the 
rush of the river bore them away, so that of that 
mighty host scarce a tenth reached the shore in 
safety. 
97 G Now 



Now over against the plain was a certain castle, 
not very strong, and Darius had brought thither 
his daughter Roxana, that she might see the battle, 
for she had much besought him to let her see the 
field, though she told him not that her chief desire 
was to see the glory of the Lord of Macedon. But 
when the battle was over, and the Persians were 
fleeing, the lord of the castle shut the gates, and set 
a ward, opening to no man small or great. So on 
the morrow the host of the Greeks came near and 
summoned this lord to yield up the castle to 
Alexander, but he withstood them and laughed at 
them. Then Alexander came near, and swore by 
the gods that if he yielded not up the castle in an 
hour he would hang every man in it on its battle- 
ments, but if they yielded to his power he would 
save them alive. Then the lord came forth and 
sought speech of Alexander, and prayed him con- 
cerning the safety of Roxana, and the King laughed 
out and said : " Where should she be safer than 
with her mother and her grandam, who are with 
me in my camp ? " So the lord of the castle opened 
his gates and they brought forth Roxana in her 
litter to Alexander, and he opened not the litter, 
but bowed before it, and bade them bear it to her 
mother in the camp ; and great was the joy of the 
queens when they met, for Alexander bore him to 
them as a son and not as a conqueror. 

Then was Darius in sore grief; for his empire 
98 was 



was broken, his mother and his wife and his only 
daughter were in the hands of his enemy, and 
nought of hope was there save the help that Porus 
had promised him : so he sent messengers to Alex- 
ander offering him all his wealth if he would return 
his family into his hands, and go to his own land. 
But when the messengers had come to Alexander 
and had done their errand to him, Alexander re- 
ceived them roughly, and though all the Mace- 
donians rejoiced, he said, "Why does your master 
speak thus to me ; if I have conquered him, let him 
own me as lord ; if not, let him come out and meet 
me in the field. As for his gold, it is mine when I 
wish to take it, without his offer." And the mes- 
sengers returned to Darius loaded with gifts and 
honour, while Alexander's men were gathering 
together the bodies of them that were slain and 
tending the hurts of the wounded. And after the 
army was rested, Alexander gave them leave and 
they scattered over the plain up and down, and they 
found the old-time palace of the kings of Persia and 
the tombs of the lords of the land, and one of these 
was made of a noble amethyst, graven over with 
palm trees and with birds, and so clear was it, that 
men might see within it the body ; and the name 
written on it was Ninus. Others among them came 
on a great tower, and they forced it open and found 
in it men of all nations, Greeks and barbarians, 
who had been put there by Darius, and some had 
99 lost 



lost a hand, and some an eye, and some a foot. 
So when they were brought before Alexander, they 
cried to him, and he set them free and gave to each 
of them a talent, and they went their ways whither 
they would, blessing the Greeks. 

Now when the messengers returned to Darius 
and told him the words of Alexander, and how that 
he needs must give up his empire if he could not 
conquer him, the Persian set him to try one last 
chance to recover his power, and he sent letters to 
Porus, king of India, offering him great wealth and 
honour if he would come and fight with Alexander, 
and saying that he would pay the wage of the armies 
himself, and that all the spoil of the Greeks should 
be theirs. And the messengers went their way to 
India, but one of the chief men of Darius' council 
came by night secretly to Alexander, and told him 
all that was in the mind of Darius. So Alexander 
was wroth, and he swore that he would never take 
the name of Emperor till Darius was slain, and he 
began to prepare his soldiers for an attack upon 
Susa, but ere he had given his orders tidings came 
that Darius was slain. 

And this was the manner of his death. When it 
was told in Susa that the Greeks were preparing to 
assault the town, all men feared, even the knights 
of Darius, and the king withdrew himself into an 
inner room of his palace. There came to him two 
of his knights whom he loved, and whom he had 
ioo raised 



raised up from the lowest of the people, and had 
made great and rich, so that they were equal with 
great peers. These foul traitors had said within 
themselves, ''Surely Alexander has sworn the death 
of Darius, and he will give us great praise and 
honour if we slay him," so that when they came 
into the room to the king, they drew their swords 
and looked on one another, and smote at Darius. 
But their hands failed them for fear, so that they 
slew not the king at first, and he cried out, " O 
sons, why slay ye me ; is not my sorrow great 
enough, that ye of all men should turn against me ? 
Yea, and the lord of the Greeks will reward ye and 
avenge my death at your hands." But his words 
moved them not, and they thrust their swords 
through him, so that the royal robes were covered 
with blood, and he fell down, as if dead ; while the 
knights went out, and none knew that they had 
been with the king. 

Long did he lie there alone, for his servants 
feared to come in before him, but at last his nurse, 
an old dame of eighty winters, made as if she had a 
petition to offer, and opened the door of the room, 
and saw him stricken to death. So she cried aloud, 
and the servants ran in, and bore him to a bed in 
the palace. 



101 CHAP. XII. 





CHAPTER XII. HOW ALEXANDER MAR- 
RIED ROXANA, THE DAUGHTER OF THE 
EMPEROR, AND HOW HE DEFEATED 
PORUS THE KING OF INDIA. 

IHEN CAME MESSENGERS to Alex- 
ander bringing word that Darius lay in 
his palace nigh death, and that there 
was no man among the Persians who 
might give orders or make head against 
him. So the king bade arm his knights, and he 
rode into the city of Susa, and when the men of the 
city saw them coming the chief of them went out to 
the gate of the city and received him royally with 
reverence and joy, saying, " Welcome be thou, O 
warrior, famed o'er all the world," while the hearts 
of those who had rebelled against Darius failed 
them, and they fled from him and hid their heads 
till they should know Alexander the King's thought 
of the death of the lord of the Persians. 
102 Then 



Then Alexander rode through the town to the 
palace of Darius, and when he entered it he won- 
dered at its beauty, that any mortal man should 
make one so fair. The floor was wrought of clear 
stones and crystal in divers colours, the walls were 
covered with golden plates, on which were set gems 
and stars of blue, whose sight dazzled the eyes, and 
high over all rose a beautiful dome covered with 
enamel and ornaments of trees and flowers. Now 
when Alexander had seen these things he went 
through the hall and into the chamber of Darius, 
and there he saw him laid on his bed at point of 
death ; for he was so sore smitten that no man 
could bind up his wounds, and at every breath the 
blood gushed out. And the king of the Greeks was 
moved by pure pity, and he leaned over the dying 
man and kissed him, and said, " Comfort thee, my 
lord, and rise and be emperor still in all thy former 
honour and dignity, for as for these defeats they are 
the fortune of war, which exalts one man and puts 
down another ; but I, O King, will defend thee and 
avenge thee on thine enemies ; " and he burst into 
sobs of grief. And Darius raised him on his bed, 
and kissed his hand and his neck, and said, " O son, 
this is but the common fate of man, nor must I 
grieve overmuch. I was rich and grew proud, now 
am I poor. Bury me, my son, among my fathers, 
the lords of Persia, and rule thou the land. My 
mother and my wife are with you ; guard them as 
103 you 



you have done and help them. My daughter Roxana 
I leave to you for wife ; it suits well that a noble 
king should have the fairest wife on earth. Take 
heed of what I have said ; be tender of my knights," 
and Darius the king fell back and died. 

So it was that in few days after the chief men of 
Persia and of Medea came to Alexander and led 
him to the throne of Darius, and crowned him with 
the golden crown, hailing him Emperor of the 
World ; and they brought to him the fair damsel 
Roxana, the daughter of Darius, covered with a 
thick veil, and set her on the throne beside him. 
Now Alexander had not seen the damsel, except 
once at the supper of Darius her father, though 
she had been in his camp for many days, but she 
knew him, for she had preserved his portrait since 
the time that Darius had thrown it aside, and her 
heart was glad that she was to be his queen. And 
as the rulers of Persia brought Alexander to the 
throne they showed him that it had seven steps 
the first an amethyst, which showed the king should 
be of sober mind ; the second an emerald, to show 
that a king should see clearly ; the third a topaz, to 
remind him how things are not what they seem 
always ; the fourth step a garnet, to remind him of 
fame and honour ; the fifth an adamant, to show a 
king should be steadfast ; the sixth of pure gold, to 
show a king should be chief ; the seventh of earth, 
to remind the king that he must die. And at each 
104 step 



step the wise men explained its meaning to him, 
and on the seventh they crowned him, and fell 
down before him, and Roxana with them, and he 
lifted her up and raised her veil before them, and 
when he saw her he loved her, and with his own 
hands he put a crown on her head. 

After Alexander was crowned he sent messengers 
into all parts of the land to spread the news, and to 
give orders for the safety of the land, and he made 
a proclamation offering their due reward to the 
slayers of Darius. When they heard this the two 
knights came forward in hope, and looked to get 
great riches, but he ordered them to be hanged near 
the grave of Darius, and all the Persian nobles 
rejoiced, for they loved Darius, and had grieved 
sore at his murder. Then Alexander appointed 
one of the uncles of Darius to be lord and governor 
of Persia, and he married Roxana, and made a 
great feast through the land, which lasted for eight 
days, and all the land of Persia rejoiced and was 
glad. 

In few days, however, the warlike spirit of Alex- 
ander came upon him again, and he resolved to set 
out and conquer the king of India, Porus, who had 
threatened him with war if he attacked Darius. So 
he gathered together a great host of Medes and 
Persians, and added them to his own Greeks, and 
with them he marched out of Persia towards the 
borders of India, through the great desert which lay 
105 between 



between them, leaving Roxana his queen behind with 
her mother and uncle. And after they had spent 
many days in the passage, and were wearied of the 
wild waste where no water was, and the high hills and 
the hollows and the broad plains, the Greeks began 
to murmur among themselves, and to ask, "Why 
should we do more, since we have conquered the 
Persians, and seized the empire which formerly 
took tribute of our fathers? This land of India is 
inhabited but by beasts, and as for Alexander, he 
lives but for fighting, and if he lived in peace he 
would die as if he were starved. Let us leave him 
to fight with these barbarians, and go home in 
peace." When Alexander heard them, he gathered 
together his knights and peers, and reproached 
them. He told them how he had saved them in 
their troubles, how he had exposed himself to 
danger on their behalf, and how he had always 
been first in battle among them. Then he said that 
if they feared and deserted him, he would keep 
on alone till he had fulfilled his fate, nor would he 
return to Greece until he had conquered all lands 
under heaven. And when he had finished his 
speech the hearts of his princes turned to him, 
and they sought his grace, and promised to follow 
him everywhere to the death, without question or 
murmur. 

In these days a messenger arrived from Porus 
bearing a message of threats and sneers to Alex- 
106 ander, 



ander, and when the message was given to him in 
the presence of his men, some of the Greeks feared, 
for this was a new land to them, and they knew not 
what wonders Porus might bring against them. 
But Alexander cared never a whit for any of his 
words, and the message he sent back was bolder 
than that he received, so that Porus became very 
angry when he heard it, and he assembled his army 
in haste and sent them out forthwith against Alex- 
ander, without waiting for a part of it not yet come 
to him. And though he had not all his army, yet 
he had more soldiers than Alexander, and he had 
with him chariots armed with scythes, ten thousand 
at least, and he had unicorns in his host, and more 
than all he had four hundred elephants, each with a 
castle on its back and thirty men in armour. Now 
the Greeks had never fought against elephants, nor 
had they even seen them, so that they were sore 
afraid, for their swords could not pierce the skin of 
the elephants, and the great beasts trampled them 
down, and the men on their backs threw darts at 
them and shot arrows, and there was no means of 
turning them back. Thus the Greeks and the 
Persians were driven back that day by the Indians 
through their elephants. But when night came on 
Alexander ordered all his men and they got great 
suits of armour and hammered them together, and 
they filled them with coals and lit great fires round 
about them, so that they became red hot, and all the 
107 night 



night the Greeks made these brazen men and kept 
them hot, and at first dawn the fires were put out 
and these red-hot brazen men were brought before 
the host, and when the elephants attacked them as 
before and threw their trunks round them to cast 
them on the ground and trample them, the hot 
metal burnt their trunks and their feet, and they 
turned and fled, and trampled down their own men, 
hooting horribly. Then Alexander ordered the 
Persians to attack the Indian army while it was in 
confusion, but Porus rallied them and there was a 
great battle ; but at the last Alexander with his men 
came to the aid of the Persians, and the Indians 
were defeated and Porus took to flight, and fled 
away in haste, and Alexander and his host were left 
masters of the field. 

Next day he marched to a city near that place, 
the chief of all that Porus was lord of, and no man 
hindered, so that Alexander entered it and found 
there the palace of Porus, and his house was noble 
and fair. It had four hundred pillars of gold, and 
between each was a grape vine with carved leaves 
and grapes of all precious stones, some of clear 
crystals, some of pearls, some of emeralds, and of 
other gems. And all the walls were covered with 
thick plates of gold, the thinnest of them was an 
inch thick, and they were set with stones like the 
stars of heaven, and the doors of the rooms were of 
ivory carved and adorned, and the bars and bolts 
1 08 were 



were of ebony ; the upper rooms were all of cypress 
or of cedar, and in all the rooms there were golden 
statues and images seated on thrones of gold, and 
over them hangings of rich embroidery ; and in the 
palace hall there was a fair tree, and on the branches 
of it were all manner of birds, each painted and 
made like to its nature, but with their bills and 
claws of fine gold, and whenever the king wished 
they made as sweet a melody as if it were the month 
of May. But time fails us to tell of all the beauties 
of this palace. And when Alexander entered the 
palace he wondered greatly and went through it till 
he came to a room which was shut, and on it was a 
label, " For Alexander alone." Then he stayed, and 
he would not enter the room, for he feared some 
wile of the Indian King, and he got together his 
wise men, and with them he opened the door. But 
when he did so, he heard a burst of merry laughter, 
and he looked, and lo, before him was a fair young 
girl, and she said to him, "It is bravely done of 
thee, O Alexander, to open this door with such 
aid ; am I then so fearful ? " And Alexander was 
abashed for a moment, but he said, "O damsel, the 
presents of Indian kings are not always so charm- 
ing as thou art," and he sat down beside her and 
talked with her. But while she was speaking, one 
of the wise men of Greece had watched her, and he 
liked not the manner of her eyes, and he came near 
to the king and spoke to him, " O King, beware 
109 of 



of this damsel, for methinketh that she is not of 
human kind like to other women." Then the damsel 
said, " Away with this dotard, O King, kiss my lips 
and see if I be not a woman." And the wise man 
said, "O Alexander, verily this is one of the poison- 
maidens of India, for in this land they feed girls 
from their birth on deadly poison, so that poison is 
their food, and food their poison, and whoever 
kisses them dies immediately." Then one of the 
lords of the Persians came forward and said, " O 
fool, how tellest thou such a tale to my lord Alex- 
ander," and turning to Alexander, he said, " May 
thy slave show this dotard is wrong?" And the 
king doubted, but he trusted his wise man, so the 
Persian lord leaned forward and kissed the girl on 
the lips, and fell down dead. Then she laughed 
merrily, and said, " O Alexander, if thou hadst not 
been guided by the counsel of thy wise men, such 
would have been thy fate." But all the Greeks fled 
out of the room. Then the maiden blew a whistle 
and two great serpents came from their holes in the 
corner of the room, and circled round her. 

Now the next morn, when men went to fetch 
the damsel before King Alexander, they found the 
room empty, but for one great snake that lay on 
the divan, and they came and told the King, and 
he knew that the damsel had been left there to 
cause his death, and he was on his guard. 

1 10 CHAP. XIII. 





CHAPTER XIII. HOW ALEXANDER AND 
HIS MEN PASSED THE NIGHT OF FEAR, 
AND HOW HE SAW THE GREATEST 
AND THE LEAST THING ON EARTH. 

ilTHIN A MONTH CAME tidings 
that Porus had gathered together an- 
other army, and would wage war with 
Alexander, for the hosts that had been 
on the march to him were there, and 
those of the Indians who had fled from the first 
battle, and all were anxious to overcome the Greeks. 
Alexander set out with his men, though it was in 
August, in the hottest of the year, for it was his 
habit to attack the enemy and never let them 
attack him. But his men suffered greatly from the 
heat, and some died of it alone, since their way led 
them into a desert place where they had to wear all 
their armour, for the land was full of snakes and 
adders shining in gold and bright colours, and if 



in 



a man 



a man put off his armour and one of these bit him, 
his death was certain. 

And when they passed the place of the snakes 
they came into a dry land where were no rivers or 
wells of water, and the army suffered greatly, for the 
water in their vessels dried up, and no man had to 
drink. For two days they toiled on, searching for 
water and finding none, and in the evening a certain 
knight, Severus by name, came on a little water in 
a hollow beneath some stones, and put it in his 
helmet and brought it with joy to Alexander and 
offered it to him. Then Alexander thanked him 

freatly, and before all his knights he took it up in 
is hands, as if he were going to drink it, and then 
he put it down and said, " If I drink this, will it 
sustain all the army, or shall I only be refreshed, 
and they thirsty still?" And the knight said, 
" Lord, our will is that you be first refreshed." 
"What, and all ye perish ?" said the Prince, and he 
held out the helmet before his lords, and poured out 
the water on the dry ground. " I will thirst first 
and feast last of all my men." And the hearts of 
all his army were rejoiced, as if they had drunk 
abundantly. 

And that night the wind began to blow, and the 
camels smelt water on the breeze, and they lifted 
themselves up and went towards it, and none could 
stop them, all the hosts followed them, and they 
led them after four hours' journey to a little stream 
112 full 



full of reeds. The soldiers of the host drank therein, 
but when it came to watering the beasts they found 
that there were too many of them, for all the goods 
of the camp were loaded on elephants, and on 
camels, and on mules. Then they searched about, 
but they found no other water near, so they made 
up their minds to follow this brook till they came to 
its end in some great river or lake, and in a day's 
time they came to a great castle in a lake all full of 
reeds. So the beasts and the men drank, and when 
they had rested they began to enquire whose was 
this castle, and what was inside it. Now they rode 
round the lake, but nowhere did they see any road 
by which the castle could be entered, nor any gate 
to it, but there seemed to be men on the walls 
who were looking at them and their array. At the 
last, however, they saw two rows of great trees 
running across the lake towards the castle, and 
some of the knights spurred their horses into the 
water between them, and found a passage where the 
water came up to their horses' necks. Then they 
sounded the trumpets from the shore, but there was 
no answer from the castle, nor any banner displayed. 
So the knights rode into the water along the cause- 
way, and on and on till they came near the castle, 
and saw a great gate closed, and over it a notice 
carved in great letters filled with bright gold. 

And when they had read it they tried to pass on 
to the castle, but they found that the road sank, so 
113 H that 



that their horses had to swim, and great beasts 
like sea lions rose through the water, and threw 
them off their steeds, so that they turned their 
horses' heads and came to land again, and shewed 
all these things to Alexander. 

Now these were the words on the stone : 

"NO MAN MAY ENTER TO THE GREATEST AND 
LEAST TREASURE OF THE WORLD, TILL HE HAS 
PASSED THE NIGHT OF FEAR." 

And as the day began to fall, the whole camp 
heard a roar as of many wild beasts, and they 
looked and saw an army of tigers and dragons 
coming against them, and Alexander and his men 
drew their swords, but the beasts of the army were 
so terrified by the roaring of the wild beasts that 
they fled away and no man could stop them, and 
needs must the knights and soldiers follow them. 
But not far from there was a small lake of sweet 
water, and the horses and mules, the camels and the 
elephants, crowded into this pool, and gathered to- 
gether in a ring in the middle of it, and stood there 
trembling and shivering. Then Alexander ordered 
his men to pitch their tents round this pool and to 
remain on guard, and they began to cut down wood 
for fires, and to prepare to lie there at their ease for 
some days. When night fell the moon rose over 
the mountains, and men ceased work and rested to 
enjoy the sweet coolness of the evening air, and the 
quiet rest of all things in the moonlight. 
114 On 



On a sudden, the plain seemed covered with 
crawling monsters making for the pool round which 
the Greeks were encamped ; giant crayfish, of many 
colours, scorpions, and scaled adders. At first their 
coming was silent, and they could only be seen in 
the bright moonlight coming nearer and nearer, and 
then the hiss of the adders and the clash of the 
shells was heard, and then the sound grew louder 
till it seemed that all the hills resounded with it, and 
men heard the keen cry of great dragons coming 
down among them. Under the moon the knights 
could see the dragons' crested heads and their golden 
breasts, and their eyes flashing out flames of fire, as 
they came on and on, nearer and nearer the line, 
and they said one to another, "Verily, this is a 
night of fear, beyond all other." 

And Alexander looked to the safety of all men, for 
he went round the camp, and saw that all men were 
in their place, and he called to him his knights and 
strengthened their hearts, and bade them take ex- 
ample by him and do as he did. Then he armed 
himself and took a shield and a sword, and with his 
knights went out before the line and began to slay 
the loathsome beasts that had come against them, 
while his archers and bowmen were shooting them 
down. But ever as they slew and slew, the reptiles 
swarmed up, and now and then the shrill cry of a 
man in agony would show that one of his knights 
or archers was overborne by the flood of writhing 
115 beasts, 



beasts, and carried away or slain. For hours the 
fight lasted, but when the moon was high in the 
heaven the flood of reptiles seemed to cease, and in 
a few minutes there were no more living round the 
camp, and Alexander gathered his knights and found 
that twenty knights and thirty archers had been 
slain in this attack. 

After the fight was over, men began to light fires 
around the camp, and there was soon a ring of flames 
round the host, but before an hour had passed and 
men called the fourth hour of the night, the watch- 
men raised a cry, and all the army saw a host of 
great crabs drawing near the camp. So the knights 
in armour of plate came out against them with their 
lances, for no swords could smite through their 
shells. And again the fighting was fierce, for the 
lances were shivered against the crabs, and when 
men hewed off their claws they clung still to the 
armour and bit through it, till at the last the knights 
snatched up brands from the fires and thrust them 
into the open jaws of the crabs, and they turned and 
fled, and left the camp at peace. 

And when the watchmen called the fifth hour of 
the night, there came up from the desert a band of 
fierce great lions, white and large as bulls. These 
the knights went out to meet, and a fierce battle 
took place, but the Greeks feared them not, and soon 
these also were put to flight. And there followed 
them a rush of wild boars, with great teeth and 
116 stout 



stout bristles, and these too were slain or driven 
away. 

Now the sixth hour of the night drew nigh, and 
the moon was low down in the heavens, and the 
burden beasts of the army began to come to shore 
and lie down, and the men of the host were a-weary, 
when the watchmen cried out with a loud voice and 
there came up a host of wild men of the woods, 
having six hands, and these came up, and they 
feared not to rush on the knights, for they knew not 
the use of iron, but with bowshots and handblows 
they were driven off, and they escaped to the hills 
and the woods. 

And in the seventh hour there came up a great 
fierce beast against them, with a black head, and on 
it were three huge horns, and he was larger than an 
elephant, and so sore was his attack on the host that 
he slew eight and twenty men, but Alexander ran up 
to him, and with his sword he slew him, and men 
rejoiced, for their hearts began to fail them for the 
long watch of the Night of Fear. 

Now the day began to break, and the earth was 
lightened, though as yet there was no dawn, and the 
watchmen called the eighth hour, and there came up 
mice as large as foxes, and they came near and fed 
on the bodies of those things that were slain, and 
when men or beasts came near them, they bit them, 
and whatever was bitten fell down dead, and the 
archers shot at them and drove them away. Then 
117 came 



came a crowd of foul bats as large as doves, and 
they flew about and flapped their wings in the face 
of the soldiers and bit them where they could on 
cheeks, or nose, or chin, or ears, and none could 
deliver themselves from them, but suddenly the 
dawn came, and the sun leaped up over the hills, 
and the black bats fled away, and men saw birds of 
a red colour come flying in among them, yet without 
harming them, as if to wish them joy of the day ; 
and the Night of Fear was over. 

Then the trumpeters of the Greeks sounded out 
their morning blast, and when it was over men 
heard another blast of the trumpets from the castle 
that they had seen the day before, and a great draw- 
bridge was let down, and a boat was brought to it 
and set on the lake, and into it entered an old man 
dressed in long flowing robes, bearing a precious 
casket in his hands, and with him were heralds and 
trumpeters. And when they came to the shore 
they were met by the guards whom Alexander had 
sent to meet them, and they came on to the camp, 
and at the gate of the camp the aged man halted, 
and Alexander came out to him. Then they greeted 
each other, and the elder told Alexander who he 
was, and that the castle was set there to guard a 
precious thing, the greatest and the lightest thing 
in the world, and to show those who came there 
what they should do in times to come. Then Alex- 
ander was glad of heart, and he besought him to 
118 show 



show him some of his wisdom. So the elder took 
a gold crown out of the casket he bore, and put it 
on Alexander's head, and bade him come with him 
to the castle, for that there he should see all these 
things. 

In going to the castle, Alexander went by boat 
with the elder, and his chief knights rode after him 
on horseback along the path through the water, and 
when they came to the deep place the drawbridge 
was let down to them and they mounted it and rode 
through the gateway into the courtyard of the castle, 
and Alexander and the elder were with them. So 
they were led into the great hall of the castle, and 
when they entered it they saw, at the place where 
the seat of the lord should be, a niche cut in the 
wall, and on the arch over it were written the words, 
" THE GREATEST TREASURE," and below it were the 
words, "AND THE LEAST." Now when they went 
up to it, they saw a rich cushion, and on it was 
lying an egg-shaped stone, and as they looked on it 
they saw a circle of brown on it and inside a clear 
black ring ; and the stone was clear as crystal, and 
when one looked into it one saw men, and houses, 
and riches, and wealth, and all that man could desire 
or think of. So they brought out this treasure and 
laid it in the hand of Alexander, and lo ! it became 
so heavy that he could not hold it, and they laid it 
on a beam of a balance, and in the other pan they 
placed gold and silver, a great quantity, and it 
119 weighed 



weighed more than all. Then they cast on the beam 
all the treasures they had, and the stone outweighed 
them all. Then Alexander sent for the gold that 
he had with him, but the stone was heavier than all 
the treasure of the Persians and the Greeks. And 
Alexander said. " Truly, this is the greatest of 
treasures." 

Then the elder bade them take away all those 
treasures to their owners, and he took up a pinch of 
dust from the ground and laid it on the stone, and 
lo ! from being so great, there was no mean thing 
that did not outweigh it; a blade of straw, a scrap of 
wood was heavier than this, and all its beauty and 
goodness were gone from it, so that no man would 
desire it or look upon it. Then Alexander asked 
of him what was this wonder, and why it did 
thus, and the elder told him the meaning of all 
this, and the name of the stone, and he said 
that the castle was put there to guard the way 
to the Wells of Life, and he told Alexander 
things that should come to pass. Then Alexander 
asked him how long he should live, and how should 
he die, and the elder told him not, but he said that 
he should learn from the trees of the sun and of the 
moon when he came to the shores of the great sea. 
And he told him that first must he go north into the 
desert and meet and conquer King Porus, and that 
then he should pass into the east through the Valley 
of Terror till he saw the Three Wells of Life, and that 
120 then 



then he should find the Temple of the Sun and the 
trees which should tell him of what was to befall 
him. And Alexander gave him great gifts and left 
him and returned to his camp. 

Thus Alexander turned northward, and in few 
days he was in the land of Bactria, and all the men 
of the land came to him with presents and gifts, and 
he received them, and abode there thirty days, that 
his men might recover their strength. And there 
came to him messengers and told him that Porus 
was encamped with his host a four days' journey 
off; and Alexander disguised himself as one of 
those that supplied the camp with wine and flesh, 
and driving some cattle before him he came into 
the camp of Porus, that he might see how many 
men he had and what was their mind towards him. 
The guards of the camp laid hold on Alexander, for 
that he was a stranger, and brought him before 
Porus, and the king asked him who he was and 
whence he came. Then Alexander answered that 
he was a poor man of that land, and the Mace- 
donians had taken away his cattle and his goods, 
but he had escaped with some which he was trying 
to sell. And Porus asked him had he seen Alex- 
ander, and what was he doing, and Alexander 
answered that he was sitting in his tent warming 
himself at a fire. Then Porus laughed out, and he 
was glad to hear that his enemy was so feeble that 
he had to sit in his tent, and he asked how old he 
121 was. 



was. And Alexander answered that he was a poor 
herdsman and knew not the king's matters ; so 
Porus gave him a letter to Alexander and a great 
reward, and promised him more if he should bring 
an answer again, and Alexander returned to his 
camp. 

Now the letter of Porus was a challenge to Alex- 
ander, offering to meet him in single combat, for he 
said that no king or emperor should be such a 
coward as to send men to battle unless he joined in 
it himself, and that it would be better if only the 
kings on each side fought, for it would spare the 
blood of the people ; and he offered to let the whole 
matter rest on this combat, so that if Alexander 
won he should be king of India, and if he won then 
all the lands should obey him. Now Porus was a 
tall man, a head and shoulders taller than any 
man of his army, while Alexander was short even 
among little men, and Porus counted on an easy 
victory. 

When the armies drew near in line of battle, 
Alexander sent out a herald to Porus accepting his 
offer, and in short time all was ready for the fight, 
and the two kings, armed in full armour, were 
opposite one another. When the fight began, Porus 
advanced, proud of his strength and size, and 
ignorant of the great strength of Alexander, and 
both spurred at each other full tilt, and their lances 
broke to shivers, but neither was unhorsed. So 
122 they 



they turned their horses and drew their swords, and 
Porus struck Alexander with his sword, and cut 
into the helmet, but the blow of Alexander was so 
fierce that it struck Porus out of his saddle and 
threw him to the ground senseless. Then all the 
knights of India cast up a keen cry, but Alexander 
dismounted, and caused the heralds to take off the 
helmet of Porus and to give him aid ; and when 
Porus came to life again he owned him vanquished, 
and Alexander gave him back his kingdom, and 
from an enemy he became a friend and a subject to 
the lord of the Greeks. 

On a night after Alexander lay in his tent musing 
alone, and he fell to thinking of his short life, and of 
the way he had come, and of the wonders of the land, 
and of the deeds he should do, when it seemed that 
there was with him in the tent his fosterer, the whi- 
lom King of Egypt, and he said to him, " O my son 
Alexander, many deeds shalt thou do, and many 
wonders shalt thou see, yet trust thou not to thy 
sight. Remember the stone in the Castle of the 
Lake, which was but the eye of man, for while he 
lives it may not be satisfied. Trust men who seem 
thy friends, but trust them not overmuch : fear the 
gods and them alone, for I am with thee to help thee." 
Then the god departed, and Alexander lay alone 
asleep. 



123 CHAP. XIV. 





CHAPTER XIV. HOW ALEXANDER AND 
HIS ARMY PASSED THROUGH THE 
VALLEY OF TERROR AND SOUGHT THE 
WELLS OF LIFE. 

[ANY HUNDRED YEARS before, 
one of the great heroes of the Greeks, 
Hercules by name, had come into India, 
and had conquered the people of the 
land, and had set up great pillars 
of marble wherever he had come. So Alexander, 
now that he had beaten Porus in battle, made up 
his mind to follow in the footsteps of Hercules and 
to see the wonders of India ; and King Porus pro- 
mised to go with him and to guide him. But 
before this he sought to find the Wells of Life of 
which the Elder had spoken to him in the castle in 
the lake. But Porus knew not of the way, nor any 
of the men in his army. So he turned again 
towards the South as the Elder had bidden him, 
and fared on his way. 
124 Now 



Now as the host was on its march, it fell that the 
Greeks came among a poor folk which lived in 
holes and caves of the earth, and so poor were they 
that no man or woman of them had clothing or 
ornament, but they all went naked, save that their 
king wore a ring of gold on his head. As Alexander 
and his host drew near, this folk sent messengers to 
him asking what he wanted among them, and telling 
him of their poverty, so that he could win nothing 
from them. Then the king made strait inquiry 
into their lives, and he found that they were indeed 
so poor that they lived in caves and holes of the 
hillside, and he was moved by compassion, and 
made up his mind that they should be the better 
of his coming to them, so he offered to give them 
what thing they should ask of him, however great 
it should be. Then the king of that folk of naked 
wise men drew near, and said : " O Alexander, this 
is our request ; that thou grant us never to die, for 
nothing else do we need." Then said the king to 
them : " O people, needs must that I die one day 
myself; how, then, may I grant ye this thing?" 
And the naked wise men said : " Since thou must 
die, O King, why dost thou hurry from one side of 
the world to the other to slay a peaceful folk ? " 
For a short while Alexander was silent ; then he 
spoke : " Know, O feeble folk, that as the sea is 
stirred not by itself but by the breath of heaven, so 
I am driven to do the will of the gods." Then the 
i 25 naked 



naked wise men left him and returned to their own 
place, for they would take no gifts from Alexander 
lest they should become rich. 

Two days after the parting with these men the 
host of Alexander came on a desert place in which 
men saw a great temple, but no man was therein. 
Then entered the priests and wise men, and they 
saw nought save two great images, one of gold and 
the other of silver. And as they considered the 
images they saw thereon writing in the old language 
of the Greeks, and when they had read it they 
understood that these were the images of Hercules 
which he had set up when he came into India. 
When Alexander saw them he wondered at their 
size, and could not believe that they were of solid 
gold, so he ordered his men to pierce them through, 
and they found no hollow within, but all was of 
pure metal. Now by the finding of these images 
Alexander knew that he was in the right way, 
because here it was that Hercules had turned back 
when he came into the land ; but Alexander and his 
host went on, for he desired to see all the marvels 
of the land of India. So it was that, on the third 
day from their parting from the temple, they heard 
the sound of a river, and going near it, they found 
that it was very broad and deep ; and when the 
men came up they found that in no wise could 
men swim in it to cross it. On the further side 
they saw women carrying great maces and battle- 
126 axes 



axes of gold and silver, but there was no man 
among them, or any weapon of iron or bronze, only 
of gold or silver. Then Alexander and his men 
sought to cross the river in boats, but great black 
beasts rose out of the river and bit the boats in half, 
so that scarcely did they escape to land with their 
lives, and they gave up the thought of seeing the 
land guarded by women, and marched on by the 
side of the river. 

As they were in camp next evening, they heard 
suddenly the sound of trumpeting, and the watch- 
men told of a host of elephants coming toward 
them. Then Alexander asked Porus and his men, 
but none knew of any king of this land who could 
gather such a host, so men on horseback rode out 
to see them, and when they came near they saw no 
man with the elephants, and they returned and told 
the king. All men were in fear, and the Indians 
most of all, for they knew the madness of elephants, 
but Alexander bade a few of his men mount their 
steeds, and to drag with them each man some swine 
before the elephants, for he knew how that the 
elephant loathes the swine and cannot remain in 
his presence. And it fell as Alexander had said, 
for when the elephants heard the squealing and 
grunting of the swine their wrath fell, and they 
turned, with lowered trunks and flapping ears, and 
hurried away from the loathsome sound. Then the 
Indians praised the wisdom of Alexander, for that, 
127 though 



though he was mighty in fight, he would not risk 
the lives of his men when he could use craft to 
save them. 

Now no man in the army had ever been in this 
land before, and their hearts began to fail them 
when they thought that Hercules had turned back 
from the journey, and they grew afraid, and Alex- 
ander began to think that the gods were angered at 
his boldness, and had sent the herd of elephants to 
drive him away ; and so next day he moved the 
camp to the west instead of keeping on his march 
to the south, and pitched it on a great plain where 
there was no shelter of hills or trees, save that to the 
south many miles off there was a range of hills. 
When even was near, suddenly the clear sky became 
covered with thick clouds, the sun became red and 
then seemed to go out, and from the thick gloom a 
storm broke on the camp. The winds blew, as it 
seemed, from all sides, north and south, east and 
west ; they tore down the tents and scattered them, 
so that no shelter was left ; and then the thunder 
rolled, the lightning flashed, and the hail and rain 
ran along the ground. Never had the Greeks and 
Indians seen such a storm, and they said among 
themselves, "We are rightly served for leaving the 
road we were told to follow, till we had seen the 
things we were bidden to see." So at morning 
light Alexander turned his face towards the south, 
and the army marched towards the hills. Now 
1 28 though 



though these hills seemed small and near, yet they 
were really great and far off, so that it was five 
days before they came to a valley near them by 
which they could enter into the hills ; and as they 
came near it they found but a narrow passage into 
it, and well-trodden. When they were in it they 
found that the valley was broad, and shut in 
between high hills on all sides, that no man could 
climb them, and there was no water in that valley, 
and no living or green thing. Here then they 
pitched their tents. 

Next morning when they awoke they found the 
air thick with snow, and the cold was piercing, so 
Alexander ordered great fires to be lit on all sides, 
while the varlets were bidden to tread down the snow 
and stamp it flat with their feet. Then, as it grew 
near midday, the air grew darker and a cloud filled 
the valley, and they heard a great noise as if the 
earth was being torn apart, and sparks of fire fell 
through the cloud, so that the tents were burnt 
where they fell, and if they fell on men they burnt 
into the flesh and left a scar. Then all the host 
were in terror, and Alexander bade them offer 
incense and sacrifices to the gods, and they did so, 
and a wind sprung up and drove away the clouds, 
and left the air clear and cold. When men had 
rested for a short time and given thanks to the gods 
for their safety, they began to move to the other end 
of the valley to pass out, and they came to an altar 
129 i in 



in the midst, with the bones of dead men lying 
round it, but they had not been slain there, for 
there was no mark of wound or gyves. On sight of 
this the leaders of the host halted around it, but 
none of them could read the marks on it or know 
to what god it was raised. Now while they were 
gathered round it men came running in haste from 
the front, and they bore news that there was no way 
by which men could leave the valley, and that they 
must needs turn back by the way they came in. 
Then Alexander gave orders to return, but when 
the army did so, lo, there was no way out in that 
direction or in any other, for no man could tell the 
way by which they had come into that vale. In 
short time all men were seeking for a road, but 
none could be found, though great rewards were 
offered by the king to him who should come upon 
the path. Then were the host in great fear, for 
they said that the gods were wroth with them, and 
had brought them into this land to slay them ; but 
Alexander had trust in the words of his god and 
feared not. 

The wise men of the army and the priests of the 
gods were all this time gathered round the altar in 
the midst of the valley, trying to make out the 
meaning of the marks upon it, and now an old 
Egyptian diviner came and stood before Alexander 
and said to him, " O King, I have read the writing 
on the altar, and I can tell thee the way out ; " and 
130 the 



the king said, " Say on." Then said he, " O Alex- 
ander, this valley is the Valley of Terror, of which 
ancient stories tell, and whatsover men come into it, 
they cannot leave it except one man of them stays 
behind a willing victim, to save the rest, wherefore 
on the altar are these words, ' THE ALTAR OF 
WILLING VICTIMS.' Now, O King, we cannot leave 
this valley till one man of the host stands at the 
altar and offers himself to stay here for the safety of 
the army, with a willing mind." And when the 
other wise men heard this, they bade the king to 
make speed before the whole army should die of 
fear, or of hunger. So Alexander called the host 
together by the sound of the trumpet, and when they 
were all in one place, he rose up and told them how 
that the whole army was doomed to die, except that 
one man would offer himself willingly to die for the 
host. Then all men burst into grief, for many men 
there were who would not fear death for the army, 
but there was none who would willingly die. So 
for the space of half an hour no one came forward. 
Then Alexander the Emperor arose and said, " O 
Greeks, Persians, and Indians, seeing that I have 
led ye into this land it is fitting that I lead you out, 
and since this may not be, I myself will stay here so 
that ye may safely depart." Then the leaders came 
round him with tears and sobs, but he would not 
listen to them, but bade them prepare for their 
journey. The trumpets sounded again, and all men 
131 kept 



kept silence, for they saw Alexander with his left 
hand on the Altar of Willing Victims, and his right 
hand raised on high, and they heard him devote 
himself to the God of the Valley a willing victim 
for the release of the army. 

Soon as the words were said, a crash was heard 
at the head of the valley, and when men looked they 
saw that a huge cliff had fallen, and had opened a 
broad way out into the open plain beyond, and men 
hurried to load their beasts and the knights rode on, 
and at the last Porus rode on with them, for Alexander 
had bidden him fear nothing, for the gods had 
promised him that he should not die save between a 
soil of iron and a sky of gold, so that needs must he 
escape from this Valley of Terror, and Alexander 
had told the leaders of the host to abide forty days 
for him on the plain outside if need be. Now when 
all the army had passed through, and no man was 
left in the valley but Alexander, standing at the 
Altar of Willing Victims, and Bucephalus his horse 
by him, it was already evening, and the earth 
seemed to shake, and the way out was closed up. 
When night fell, and all was dark, then the air 
seemed full of fright, and from one side or another 
groans were heard, but none came near. As hours 
drew on, the horse shivered with fear, and when 
Alexander patted his flanks they were covered 
with cold dew, and at last Bucephalus put his head 
under his master's cloak, and stood still, trembling. 
132 But 



edto s^ake&ihetciau.outttas closed up 




But Alexander stood all that night by the altar with 
one hand on it, and he saw nothing, and heard but 
the groans which echoed through the air. 

When day dawned all was still in the valley, and 
as Alexander looked about he saw around him 
nothing but high rocks coming sheer down from 
the mountain sides, but when the sun shone into the 
valley, he took heart and began to ride round the 
sides to examine them for himself, and this he did 
three times, but he found no way out. Then he sat 
down by a great stone, on which was marked a five- 
pointed star, with many letters written on it, and as 
he did so the words of Anectanabus came into his 
mind, how that this star was put for a seal over 
spirits in prison, and he remembered the mighty 
words that call on the spirits of the air and the 
earth, and he said them, and bade the spirit under 
the seal answer him. Then a voice came from under 
the stone and answered him, and told who he was, 
and how he had been shut under that stone for 
hundreds of years to work the will of the gods ; and 
he asked Alexander to let him go free. So Alex- 
ander knew that if he set free this spirit he would 
destroy the enchantment of the Valley of Terror, 
and he determined to let the spirit go, but first he 
questioned him as to the way out, and the road to 
the Wells of Life, and how he should know them. 
Then said the spirit, " O Alexander, there be three 
Wells of Life, nor is it easy to find them. These be 
133 their 



their properties. The first is the Well of Life, 
and in it if any dead thing is put, it straightway 
comes to life again. The second is the Well of 
Youth, and in it all who bathe come again to the age 
of twenty-five, be they an hundred winters old. The 
third is the Well of Never-dying Men, and he who 
bathes in it shall not die of any disease or hurt of 
iron, yet may he suffer pain of disease and hunger, 
but he cannot die. Nor can this well be seen of all 
men, or at any day, for but once in a year can it be 
seen, and then no more of any man for another year. 
For the way out, I myself will lead you and your 
horse, and I will give you the stone Elmas, which 
shall guide you to the wells, for it shall shine and 
sparkle while you are in the right way, and when 
you are in the wrong it shall grow dull and dark. 
Long and dreary shall the road be, and few may go 
with thee to that land." 

Then Alexander drew his sword and cut away the 
words marked on the five-pointed star, and when 
they were rubbed out, he hacked away the corners of 
the star, and as he did so, the earth shook, and the 
stone rolled over, and a young man stood by him 
holding a ruby in his hand, and he said, " O King, 
take the stone Elmas, and set it in the handle of thy 
sword, and come thou and thy horse with me, for 
the valley is open, and men shall call it no longer 
the Valley of Terror." So the king came with his 
horse, and he passed out where the army had gone, 
134 and 



and mounted his horse, and turned to thank his 
guide, and lo ! he was alone. Then he rode into 
camp, and all men rejoiced to see him. 

Now, as Alexander came into the camp of the 
Greeks from the valley, an old man of the country 
came up on the other side, and the guards brought 
him before the King. Then he asked him concern- 
ing the land, and who was the lord of it, and the 
old man said that no man ruled in it, and few lived 
in it. Then Alexander asked him of the Wells of 
Life, and the old man answered that he had seen 
them in his youth and had bathed in the Well of 
Youth. Then Alexander asked him if he would 
guide him to them, and the old man said he would, 
but that he would not bathe in them, for he wished 
not to live past his time. So he went with Alex- 
ander and his host as they travelled far into the 
land of Ind. 

For many days the host travelled, till at last the 
old man said that they were near the land of the 
Wells of Life, and then Alexander bade the army to 
halt, and he chose out a few of his Greeks and with 
them he set out on his search. It had been told 
Alexander that in the land there were many wells, 
and that none could tell one from another, till they 
came to the right one, so that he had prepared a way 
to find them out. Now the first well they should 
come to was the Well of Life, and Alexander bade 
all his men take in hand a salt fish, and wash it in 
135 every 



every well they came to, till they should see some 
strange thing, when they were to tell it to him. It 
must be said that they of the host knew not what 
Alexander was seeking, nor what was the reason of 
this washing of salt fish. So the men went from 
one well to another, laughing and joking, and wash- 
ing their salt fish, till one of them, Andreas by name, 
dipped his fish into a certain well, and suddenly the 
fish came to life in his hand and slipped out into 
the well. Then he cried out with a loud voice, and 
all the men near came running up to him, but he 
could say or do nothing but point to the fish swim- 
ming about in the spring. So they fetched Alex- 
ander to the spring, and he gave orders to fill a cask 
with the water of it, but the old man said that the 
water was useless except it were drunk when it 
was drawn from the spring. 

Then he came to the Well of Youth, and it was 
in a dry land where no man dwelt, for there was no 
river or tree near. And Alexander would fain have 
the old man bathe in that well, but he would not, 
for he said that it was good to be young once, and 
to be foolish once, but to be young twice would be 
to be always a fool, and old age was best when a man 
was tired of life. So the young men bathed in the 
spring and their hearts grew hopeful, and they re- 
joiced in their youth. 

There remained the Well of Never-dying Men to 
be sought for, but the old man told them that this 
136 was 



was not here, nor was there any way to it from that 
place, for they must seek it in the dark desert. On 
this Alexander asked him of that desert, and he said 
that there the land was dark day and night, the sun 
shone not there, and there was no track or path for 
men to travel by. " Yet," said the old man " it will 
be easy for thee to enter into the land and to find the 
well, for thy stone Elmas will guide thee to it when 
thou art in the land." And with these words the 
old man turned away, and when Alexander looked 
for him, behold, he was not with them. Then 
Alexander and his men returned to the army. 




137 



CHAP. XV. 





CHAPTER XV. HOW THE BRAHMANS 
CAME TO KING ALEXANDER AND 
WHAT HE LEARNT FROM THEM : AND 
OF THE COMING OF THE AMAZONS. 

|OW THE TALE TELLS THAT by 
this time the army was encamped near the 
great river of India, the river Ganges. 
The river was very broad so that men 
could just see across it from one bank 
to another, and it was full of all manner of living 
beasts, crocodiles, scorpions, and snakes, so that men 
dare not swim in it nor drive in their horses. It 
happened on a day, that three men came to the 
other side of the river, and stood there, so that the 
guards came to Alexander and told him of it, and 
he came to the bank over against them. Then the 
king bade one of his nobles ask them who they 
were, whence they came, and what was their wish ; 
and they answered, " We be Brahmans, that never 
thought or did harm, and we bear a message from 
138 our 



our lord Dindimus to the lord of this army, Sir 
Alexander of Greece." And when he heard this the 
king ordered a carpenter to make a boat to pass the 
river, and as soon as it was ready, he sent a knight 
over the river with a message inviting them to 
come : so they crossed the river and stood before 
him. Now they were very old men. 

Then Alexander spoke to these Brahmans of one 
thing and another, and found that they lived in 
another manner than the Greeks ; for what he es- 
teemed rich and noble and good, they set little or 
no store by, and what they admired he thought mean 
and poor. But since he was a wise king, and one 
who desired to learn the secrets of things, he sent a 
letter to the chief of the Brahmans asking him to 
describe what their nation did, "for," said he, "you 
differ from us very greatly, it cannot harm you to 
tell us about yourselves, and we may learn from 
your example. A candle when it is alight can light 
many others without burning less brightly." And 
with this letter of Alexander's the Brahmans went 
away to their lord, and in due time they returned 
bearing an answer. 

The tale tells in full of these letters, though it 
likes me not to write them here at length, but the 
answer of Dindimus astonished the Greeks. He 
told them that the Brahmans were a lowly folk, who 
neither ploughed nor reaped, fished nor hunted, who 
lived on the fruits of the earth, and who drank 
139 water 



water, who fought not and lied not, who studied not, 
nor wore fine clothing, who loved the sun and the 
sea, the w r oods and the song of birds, and who cared 
neither for iron nor for gold. Then he went on to 
reprove them for their worship of evil gods, for their 
pride, cruelty, and avarice. However, Alexander 
answered him fairly, but only drew on himself a 
worse reproof. Then Alexander seized eight of the 
chief Brahmans, and put to each of them a question, 
saying that the one who answered worst should be 
put to death first. 

So the first of them was brought before him, and 
he said to him, " This is thy question : Why have 
you no graves in which to bury your dead ? " The 
old man said, " We are buried in the cave in the 
hillside where we pass our days, that we may know 
that our present life is but a training for the future." 
Then came the second, and the king asked him, 
" Which are more in number, the dead or the 
living ? " " Those that are dead are more in number 
than the living, thou thyself knowest how many 
men thou hast slain," said the old man. Then came 
the third and Alexander said, " What is the most 
wicked thing in creation?" "Man is the most 
wicked thing, and thou thyself art one of the worst 
of men, for many men hast thou slain, and few hast 
thou saved from death." " Is night older than day, 
or day older than night ? " was the next question of 
the king, and the Brahman answered him that night 
14 was 



was older than day. Then he asked the others these 
questions, and to each of them the wise men gave 
him a good answer. " How do you live, and how 
do you die?" "Is death mightier than life?" 
" Who is it that has never been born ?" " Which 
is man's strongest limb, his right hand or his left ? " 

At the last the lord of Macedon forgave their 
bold speech and let them go; but, before they 
went, Alexander asked them, as his custom was, 
what were the wonders of their land ? 

Then the eldest of the Brahmans told him of a 
wonderful well in the land, that few men dare drink 
of, for he that was miserly or unfaithful to his trust 
and drank of it, went mad on the spot. But Alex- 
ander did not fear this, for no man had ever thought 
him miserly, for when he had shared the spoil at 
Macedon, he left for himself only hope and glory. 
Then the king asked to be led to that place, and he 
went with few of his knights without fear, for the 
Brahmans were an unarmed folk. Now, as he went 
on his way with the Brahman, he came into a cer- 
tain town of the land, and saw two men pleading 
before the Judge, and he drew near to listen to them. 
The first of them stood up before the Judge, and 
said, " Sir, in time past I bought a house from this 
man, and dwelt in it ; now, long after, I have found 
in it a treasure hid under the earth of the garden, 
which is not mine. Accordingly I offered to deliver 
the treasure to him, and carried it to his house, but 
141 he 



he has refused it and will not take it. Wherefore, 
sir, I beseech you that he be compelled to take this 
treasure, since he knows full well that it is not mine, 
for I have no right to it." Then Alexander said to 
the Brahman, " Surely this man is foolish, for he 
might keep this treasure to himself." But the 
Judge turned to the other man, and bade him 
answer what was said against him. So he stood 
up and said, " Sir Judge, that same treasure was 
never mine, but he has digged in a place that no 
other man who had the house has digged, and hath 
made that his own which before had no master. 
And, therefore, I have no right to take it." Then 
Alexander said to the Brahman, " Surely this man 
may take it, for the land was his, and the other 
man wishes him to take it." 

As he spoke, the two men talked together for a 
moment, and then they turned toward the Judge, and 
begged him to take the treasure himself, for they 
would have none of it. Then the Judge answered, 
and said, " Since ye say that ye have no right thereto, 
so that neither he to whom the heritage belonged in 
time past, nor he to whom it now belongs may have 
it, how should I have any right thereto, that am 
but a stranger in the matter, and never before heard 
a word spoken of it. Would you escape the burden 
that falls on you, and give me the charge of the 
treasure ; that were evil done of you." And, after 
awhile, he took them and asked of him that had 
142 found 



found the treasure whether they had any children 
or no : so one of them answered that he had a young 
son. Then he asked the other if he had a daughter, 
and he said that he had. When he heard that, the 
Judge was glad, and he ordered them to make a 
marriage between the two, and that they should give 
them the treasure between them as a marriage 
portion. And when Alexander heard this judgment, 
he had great marvel thereof, and said thus to the 
Judge: " I trow there is not in all the world so 
righteous a judge as thou art." Then the Judge 
looked on him with wonder, for he knew that he was 
an outlander by his speech, though he wist not that 
he was Alexander, and he asked him whether any 
Judge in his own country would have done other- 
wise. " Yea, certainly," said Alexander, " in many 
lands would they have judged otherwise." Then 
the Judge had great marvel thereat, and he asked 
the king whether it rained, and if the sun shone in 
that land ; as if he would give him to understand 
that it was strange that the gods should send any 
light, or rain, or other good things to them that do not 
right and true judgment. But Alexander had greater 
marvel than before, and he said there were but few 
such nations upon earth as the people of this land. 

Then king Alexander went with the old Brahman 
in search of the well, and at the last they came to 
the place where the well was, and it was a great 
square tank, built down into the ground with blocks 
143 of 



of stone, the sides covered with green moss, and 
the steps damp and slippery, the water at the bottom 
dark and clear, but the Brahman put forth his hand 
and said to the King, " O foolish of heart, bathe not 
in this well, for thou art both miser and unfaithful. 
Miser art thou for thy words about him who found 
the treasure : unfaithful in that thy heart judged 
not as the Judge of the land did." And Alexander 
turned away in silence, for his heart judged him, 
and he dared not enter the well, so he returned to 
his army. 

And as Alexander went out of that land he 
passed through a city, in the which all the houses 
of the city were of one height, neither was any 
house greater in show than another. Now before 
the door of every house was a great pit dug, and 
this pit was always open. Then Alexander asked 
for the lord or judge of that city, and they told him 
that there was in their city no judge or lord. And 
the king wondered greatly how such a thing should 
be, that a city could remain without a head or a 
judge ; and he asked of the inhabitants thereof 
whereto such things should serve. So the dwellers 
in that place answered him and said : " O king, 
whereas thou dost wonder that we have no lord 
over us to do justice among us, know thou that we 
have learnt to do justice ourselves, wherefore we 
need no man over us to do it for us." Then said 
he to the men of the city : " Why do ye make these 
144 pits 



pits before the doors of your houses ? " And they 
answered him : " Know, O Alexander, that these 
pits are our graves, which every man makes before 
his door to be his own house, to which each of us 
must go, and there dwell until his deeds are 
judged." And Alexander asked them yet another 
question : " Why are your houses built of one 
height ? " and they answered him : " O King, love 
and justice cannot be even among all the people of 
a place if some of them are greater than others, and 
no house nor family shall be greater than other in 
this our town." Then Alexander departed from 
them, wondering, but well pleased. 

The tale tells that before Alexander fought 
against Porus he sent messengers to all lands in 
Asia, and among the rest to the land of the 
Amazons. It is said of that land that only women 
live in it, and it is governed by women, and what- 
ever man comes into it he is straightway slain ; for 
the first founders of that land were the wives of the 
men that were called Goths, the which men were 
cruelly slain, and then their wives took their hus- 
bands' armour and weapons, and fell on their 
enemies with manly hearts, and took revenge of the 
death of their husbands. For by dint of sword 
they slew all men, both old men and children, and 
saved the females, and parted out the prey, and 
purposed to live ever after without company of 
men. And by the example of their husbands they 
145 K had 



had ever two queens among them, one to lead the 
host and fight against enemies, the other to govern 
and rule the kindreds. In short time they became 
such fierce warriors that they had a great part of 
Asia under their lordship nigh a hundred years ; 
and among them they suffered no man to live or 
abide, but of the nations that were nigh to them 
they chose husbands, and they nourished their 
children till they were seven years old, and then 
their sons they sent to their fathers, but they saved 
their daughters and taught them to shoot and to 
hunt. It is told that the great Hercules was the 
first who daunted their fierceness, and that was 
more by friendship than by strength. 

Now came messengers from Calistris, queen of 
the Amazons, to Alexander, bearing letters from 
her in answer to his demand of tribute, for she had 
heard how Alexander had followed in the footsteps 
of Hercules, and had gone into India, and the 
letters told of her land and its customs, and of the 
number of warriors she had, and she went on : "I 
wonder at thy wit, that thou purposest to fight 
with women, for if fortune be on our side, and if it 
hap that thou be overcome, then art thou shamed 
for evermore, when thou art overcome of women ; 
and if our gods be wroth with us, and thou over- 
comest us, it shall be little honour to thee that thou 
hast overcome a band of women." And when 
Alexander looked over the letter he laughed, and 
146 wondered 



wondered on her answer, and said that it was not 
seemly to overcome women with sword and anger, 
but rather with love and noble dealing : and there- 
fore he sent messengers to them offering friendship 
and a treaty. Then the queen of the Amazons 
came with many of her maidens, and they reached 
Alexander when he returned from the land of the 
Brahmans, and abode with him many months, and 
at the last they departed from him and went to 
their own land, being subject to his empire, not by 
violence, but by friendship and by love. 

And after these things Alexander reared up a 
pillar of marble, and upon it he wrote in the tongue 
of the Greeks and of the Indians. Now the inscrip- 
tion in Greek characters was but this : 

A B T A E 

the first five letters of the alphabet, and they stood 
for the same words as those in the Indian inscrip- 
tion : 

AAESANAPO2 BAZIAEYS TENDS AIO2 EKTISE 

" King Alexander the God-born built this : " and 
he graved it deep on the sides of the pillar. 



147 CHAP. XVI. 




CHAPTER XVI. HOW ALEXANDER 
PASSED THROUGH THE LAND OF DARK- 
NESS AND SLEW THE BASILISK. 

EW DAYS AFTER Alexander and 
his army entered into a plain full of 
fair flowers and trees. Now the trees 
of this land were fruitful and bore all 
manner of food for man, and amongst 




them were apples and almonds, vines and pome- 
granates, and plums and damsons ; and it was 
in this land that the Greeks first ate of damsons, 
for they did eat of them three days while they were 
in the forest. But as they went through the 
wood, they came upon giants twice as high as other 
men, clad in coats of skin, and covered with long 
hair. So the Greeks and the Indians were sore 
afraid lest these giants should fall upon them and 
slay them, while the giants called one to another, 
and came together through the trees to gaze on 
148 them 



them, for they had never seen men before. When 
the Greeks saw that these giants were calling to 
one another and coming together, they drew up in 
line of battle, and the knights clad in armour 
mounted their battle horses, and the archers and 
spearmen prepared their weapons for the onset : for 
the Greeks had never heard of giants who did no 
harm to men. But these giants were great stupid 
oafs who stood gazing with open mouths at Alex- 
ander and his men preparing to slay them, and 
their food was grapes and pomegranates. And 
when the army was drawn up in line, and all men 
were ready, Alexander gave the word and they 
raised a loud shout so that the woods rang again, 
and the giants turned and fled, for they had never 
heard sound of man or of trumpet. Then the 
knights followed them and slew some six hundred 
of them in the field and in the chase, so that none 
of them were left in the land round about. 

The tale tells that Alexander passed on with 
his army, still seeking the wonders of the land and 
finding no man in this part of it, till he came to 
another river where he halted for many days. And 
there came men of the land to him, and Alexander 
asked them of the wonders of the land, so they told 
him of certain trees near by which grew with the 
sun, and when it was high they were great, and as 
the sun fell below the earth so the trees grew 
smaller and sank down into the soil. But when 
149 the 



the king would set out to see this marvel, they told 
him that no man could go near it for there was a 
wild man who guarded the wood and suffered no 
one to pass. Then Alexander sought counsel of 
his wise men, and they bade him take a fair white 
maiden such as the wild man had never seen and 
hold her before him, and so they did, and the wild 
man became quiet and still at the sight of her, so 
the Greeks crept up to him and bound him in great 
chains, and brought him before the King's tent : 
now this wild man was covered with hair stout and 
strong, and his arms were great, and his strength 
was as that of ten men. And when the King had 
gazed on him they bound him to a tree, and slew 
him, and burnt him to ashes, for he had slain 
much folk of that country. 

Next day the King and his company came to the 
place of the trees, and they wondered at the sight, 
how they grew as the day grew, and the height of 
them was a spear's length, and on them were fruits 
like to apples, and men called them the trees of the 
sun. Now the tent of the King was over against 
the place where the trees grew, and in the hot 
sunlight he felt thirst, so he bade one of his carles 
fetch him an apple, and the man sprang forth to do 
his bidding, but when he laid his hand on the fruit 
he fell to the ground as if he was slain. There 
were birds on those trees among the branches and 
some men wished to put their hands on them, for 
150 they 



they did not fly away from them, but as they did 
so, flames of fire came out from the trees ; and the 
men of the country told them that no man could 
touch these trees and live. Then Alexander asked 
them of the Land of Darkness, for the stone Elmas 
shone brightly, and he knew that he was drawing 
near that land : but they said that no man went to 
that land, for the way was through a desert that 
none could cross. 

Then Alexander chose him out of all his army 
three hundred young men, able to endure hardship, 
and they made them ready to go with him to the 
Land of Darkness, while the army was left in the 
hand of King Porus ; and he gave orders that the 
young men should carry with them stores of food 
and water to pass through the desert to the land 
they sought. Now there was a certain old man in 
the army named Bushi, who had two sons chosen 
to go with the King, and he bade them to take 
him with them to the Land of Darkness, but they 
said to him that the King had straightly commanded 
that no old man should go with them. Then said 
the old man, " O Sons, make strong a box, and put 
me inside it, and set the box on a mule and carry 
it with the baggage, and it shall be for your good, 
for a party without old men to advise can come to 
no good." So his sons did as he bade them, and 
closed him in a box, and set him on a mule's back, 
and carried him with them to the land. And as 
151 Alexander 



Alexander went on his way they met men of the 
land, journeying in the desert, and these told them 
of the Well of Life, and how a man had drunk of 
that well, but he could not find his way out of the 
Land of Darkness, and ever he wandered to and 
fro, up and down, till at last he gave up the search, 
and dwelt in a tower alone, and as the years rolled 
on he grew smaller and smaller, and more and 
more cruel, and when men came into that land, he 
slew them and fed on their flesh. 

Now when Alexander drew near the Land he 
came to a desert land, where was neither well nor 
living thing, and they hastened through it for five 
days, but on the morrow of the sixth day the sun 
rose not, and there was no light of day : and so the 
king knew that he had come on the Land of Dark- 
ness, but the tales that he had heard came to his 
mind, and he feared, for he had no mind to wander 
through that land without a guide. Then he went 
back with his men for half a day's journey, and lo ! 
the light of the evening, so he camped in that place 
and waited for morning light. On the morrow he 
took counsel with his men, as to the way of return, 
and he offered great reward to any man who should 
show the way of a safe journey back, but his young 
men said, "O King, it is ours to go where thou dost 
order us, and what thou biddest, that will we do : " 
and he found no counsel in them. Then the two 
sons told their father how the King had stopped 
152 and 



and asked for counsel, and Bushi bade them bring 
him before Alexander, and when they feared he 
bade them be bold, for he had good counsel to 
give. 

The tale tells that the King was sitting sorrowful 
in his tent that day, for he dared not enter the Land 
without some means of safe return, and he was 
unwilling to go back to the army without having 
reached his object ; and when the guards entered 
and told that an old man sought speech of him, he 
thought that one of the gods must have come to 
his help. So he made him to sit in his own seat, 
for the man was very old and feeble, and asked 
him what he would. Then Bushi answered and 
said, " O King, hear the words of an old man ; 
there is no love like the love of a mother for her 
young. Now thou hast here with thee many asses 
with their foals. This is my word to thee. Leave 
here on the borders of the Land, half thy men 
with their baggage trains, and leave with them the 
young foals, and go thou with their mothers and 
the rest of thy men into the Land, and do thy 
heart's desire : then when thou wilt return from this 
Land, loosen the mothers and leave them free, and 
take them for thy guides, and they will lead thee 
back to the place where their young ones be." 

Then Alexander the King praised him greatly, 
and gave rich reward to the young men, his sons, 
and he offered to take the old man to the Well of 

153 Life 



Life, but he would not, for he said, " How should I 
desire to live for ever, being such a man as I am, for 
the bitterness of death is past to me." Then he 
gave counsel to the King that no man should bathe 
in any well in the land, till he had seen it, for if he 
did the well would disappear for a year. So 
Alexander did as the old man Bushi advised him, 
for he divided his men into two bands, and one he 
left on the borders of the Land of Darkness, with 
their baggage and with the young foals, and one he 
took with him, and the men he took with him he 
straightly charged to come to him when they found 
the well, and on no account to bathe in it. So he 
entered the Land, and the stone Elmas shone with a 
light like a star, and guided them on the road for 
three days. But on the fourth day it grew duller, 
and Alexander knew that he had passed the place of 
the Well of Life ; and he ordered his men to search 
for the well in all directions, but not to go out of ' 
sound of the trumpets which rang out every hour, 
and to come into the camp when it sounded. Seven 
times did the trumpet sound, and the scouts came 
in, but on the seventh time, one of them, Philotus 
by name, came in with his hair wet, and Alexander 
knew that he had disobeyed the word of the king, 
and had bathed in the well. Then said he to him, 
" O Philotus, canst thou lead me to the well thou 
hast bathed in," and the man answered, " Yea, 
Lord;" and they set out together, but no well 
154 could 



could be found. Then the wrath of the King burst 
out, for he knew that he should see the Well no 
more for a year if he remained in that place, and 
that all the labour of his expedition was spent for 
nought but to make this Indian immortal, and he 
bade men bring great stones, and build them in a 
pillar round the Indian and close it at the top, and 
they did so, and he was left alive inside the pillar, for 
indeed the Greeks could not slay him. This done, 
Alexander put the reins on the necks of his asses, 
and they turned and led the way to their young, and 
in three days he was out of the Land of Darkness 
and on his way to the army. 

In few days the King set out again with his host 
and went on his way towards the mountain lands, 
and ever the way led upward till after eleven days' 
journey they came to a great plain among the moun- 
tains, covered with trees and plants, and well 
watered by noble rivers. The fruits were of the 
finest savour, and the water was sweeter than milk 
or mead, and clearer than crystal. So they went on 
through the land for many days, but they found no 
man in it, and no houses or .temples of the gods ; 
until they came to a high mountain which seemed 
to reach even to the clouds, and no way was there of 
crossing it, it was so steep and rugged. But when 
they came up to this range they found two passes 
which led through the range, and where they met 
was a great temple, and the one path led to the 
155 East, 



East, the way of the sun-rising, and the other to the 
North. Now there was no man to tell them where 
these paths led, or what was to be met in them. 
Then Alexander thought within himself that he 
would go to the East, for the Gods had predicted 
that in the East he should learn when and where was 
the end of his days, and the army of the King went 
through the pass for seven days. 

But on the eighth day, a sudden death fell on 
many of the men in the host, for when they came 
to a certain spot or place among the mountains, ever 
one or another noble knight would fall down sud- 
denly and lie dead on the road, nor did all men who 
passed the place die, but some only. Then fear 
came upon all men, and those who had passed the 
place dared not move either forward or backward, 
and those who had not passed it would not go 
forward, nor indeed did the King command them, 
for all men said, " The wrath of the gods is upon u 
for coming into this land." So Alexander sought to 
find the reason for this death, and he went with one 
of his knights up the mountains at the side of the 
pass, till he came to a place whence he could see 
the whole of the pass and the mountains behind it, 
and looking down into the valley he saw in one of the 
clefts of the hills a loathly serpent, old and wrinkled, 
his thin long neck and great head lying on the 
ground before it. And while the King looked down, 
the ungainly worm slowly raised its heavy head and 
156 looked 



looked down on the valley, and let it fall again, and 
a cry of grief from his men told him that two more 
of his knights had fallen dead on the pass, and 
Alexander knew that his eyes saw the Basilisk. 

The tale tells that this beast is the most deadly 
of all serpents, for its venom is such that whatso- 
ever living thing it looks on it slays, yea, the very 
grass is withered by its deadly breath. And no man 
may slay it unawares easily, for once a man slew 
one with a lance, and the venom of it was such that 
he died from it, though he came no nearer the body 
than a spear's length. This the king knew and he 
sought not to slay it with a weapon, but he worked 
so that the worm should kill itself ; for he caused 
his men to make a shield larger than a man, and on 
this shield he bade put a bright polished mirror, 
and he wrapped his feet in linen, and put off his 
armour, and going softly he bore the shield with its 
mirror before him, and set it down before the den of 
the basilisk, and went his way. But the basilisk 
raised its head as its manner was, and looked before 
it, and saw its face in the mirror, and the poison of 
its own look killed it, so it fell dead with its eyes wide 
open, and lay along the path. Then the knight who 
was on the mountain watching blew his horn, and 
all men heard it and rejoiced and praised the brave 
king who had delivered them from the basilisk. 

All this while the march of the host had lain 
between mountains, and when men climbed to the top 
157 they 



they saw nothing but other mountains stretching 
away as far as they could see, no towns, no villages, 
no living things, and on the day after the basilisk 
was slain, the road suddenly stopped among the 
mountains, and the host could go no further. Then 
Alexander the King bade them turn back to the 
parting of the ways, and as they passed the place 
where the basilisk had been he bade them burn it 
in asbestos cloth, and take its ashes, for the ashes 
of the basilisk are a precious thing, able to turn lead 
into pure gold, but the men found it not, though the 
great mirror was still there. And at the last they 
came to the temple at the parting of the ways, and 
the army lay round the temple for a day to rest, for 
they were sore wearied with the passage through 
the Eastward way. The next day at sunrise two aged 
men came out of the temple, and Alexander spoke 
with them and they told him of the ways, how that 
Bacchus, one of the gods, had made this road when 
he came into India and conquered it, and how he 
had caused the mountains to come together and 
block it up, so that no man should pass through by 
it after. Then Alexander asked them of the North- 
ward way, and they told him how it led to the Trees 
of the Sun and Moon : and they told of the wonders 
of the trees, and how they spoke with men's tongues, 
and told what should be in time to come, and 
Alexander the King rejoiced. 

158 CHAP. XVII. 




CHAPTER XVII, 



ALEXANDER 




HOW 

CAME TO THE TREES OF THE SUN AND 
THE MOON, AND WHAT THEY TOLD 
HIM. 

IOWBEIT ALEXANDER made no 
sign to them of his joy, for he seemed 
not to believe the old men, and he 
said : " Have I spread the might of 
my name from the East even unto the 
West to no end but to become a sport to old 
men and dotards." Then the old men made oath 
by the gods that this thing was true, and they told 
the King how that these trees spoke both in the 
Greek and the Indian language ; and Alexander 
asked them of the way to this marvel, and the men 
answered : " O King, whosoever thou art, no greater 
marvel shalt thou see than this we tell thee of. 
The way to it is a journey of ten days, nor can your 
army pass because of the narrow paths, and the 
159 want 



want of water, but at the most four thousand men 
with their beasts of burden and their food." Then 
all the friends of the King and his companions 
besought him to go and see this great thing, and 
he made as if he hearkened to their prayers, and 
consented to go with them. So he left the army 
with its baggage and the elephants in the hands of 
King Porus his friend, and set out on the Northward 
Way to seek the trees which spoke to men. 

Now the Northward Way was like the Eastward 
one, a narrow road among high mountains, and 
little ease was there in going through it, and for 
three days they came to no water, but at noon on 
the fourth day they came to a spring which flowed 
out of a cave on the hillside. Then the Indians 
told Alexander that this cave was sacred to Bacchus, 
so he entered it and offered up a sacrifice to the 
god, and prayed him that he might return safe to 
Macedon, lord of the world, but he got no sign 
from the god that his prayer was heard. Then on 
the morrow he set out, and on the tenth day at even 
they came to the foot of a great cliff, shining in the 
setting sun from thousands of brilliant points like 
diamonds, and from chains of red gold leading from 
step to step up the face of the rock, high up beyond 
the ken of men. And as the sun shone on it the 
steps seemed carved from sapphires and rubies, so 
deep were the blue and red of their colour. Then 
Alexander the king set up altars to the gods of 
1 60 heaven, 



heaven, and offered sacrifices to each one of them, and 
he and his men lay that night at the foot of the cliff. 
Early in the morning he arose, and when he had 
called to him his twelve tried princes, he began to 
ascend the steps on the side of the mountain, 
and as he went up it seemed to him that he was 
going into the clouds, and when he looked down, 
the path by which he had come seemed as a silver 
ribbon among the hills, and the men of his host 
seemed smaller than bees, and nothing that might 
happen seemed strange to him, for his joy and 
lightness of heart. So on and on they went and 
at length they came to the last of the steps, two 
thousand five hundred of them, and they found 
that on the top of the cliff was a wide plain, and in 
the distance they saw a fair palace set in a garden, 
and a noble minster shining in the sun like gold. 
All the plain was full of rich and noble trees 
bearing precious balm and spices, and many fruits 
grew on their branches, and the inhabitants of the 
plain fed on them, for there were many men on 
the plain, and all men and women were clothed in 
the skins of panthers or of tigers sewn together, and 
they spoke in the Indian tongue. As the Greeks 
drew near the palace they saw it, what a fair home it 
was, and how it had two broad doors to its hall, 
and seventy windows of diverse shape, and when 
they came to the doors they found them covered 
with beaten gold, and set with fair stones. 
161 L But 



But the doors of the palace opened and shut, 
and there stood before them a negro, ten feet high, 
with great teeth showing over his lips, his ears 
pierced and a great pearl in each, and clothed in 
skins. And when he had saluted them he asked 
them why they had come to that land, and they 
said that they wished to see the trees that spoke, 
and to hear something from them. Then the 
negro bade them to take three of them, and to put 
off their shoes, and their weapons and ornaments, 
and to clothe themselves in fair white linen, and 
Alexander and two of his companions did so, and 
the negro brought them within the palace, leaving 
the rest of their companions outside. And as they 
went in they marked the fair garden, and in it 
were golden vines bearing on them grapes of rubies 
and carbuncles, and they saw how precious a place 
it was, so that Paradise alone excelled it. 

Now when they were come to the inner door of 
the hall, the negro bowed himself down before 
them, and opened the door before them, but went 
not in himself, for that room was the chief of the 
palace, and when they lifted up their heads they 
saw before them a couch and on it was a man. 
Now the hangings of the couch were of golden 
brocade, and its coverlet was blue, embroidered 
with shining ones in bright gold, and the bedhead 
was embroidered with cherubim with glancing 
wings, and the canopy with the bright seraphim. 
162 The 



The curtains were of silk and on them was a fair 
garden of needlework, and in it were beasts and 
birds, and the pillars were of the same, and all the 
points and ornaments were of pearl. The romance 
tells that he who rested in that room was one of 
the noblest-looking men that ever had life, with a 
face bright and bold as fire, his hair was long and 
grey, and his beard was as white as the driven 
snow. When the King and his peers saw him they 
knew that he must be of the blood of the gods and 
not of mankind, and they knelt down on the ground 
before him, and saluted him with all reverence. 
Then he reached out his arms to them, and raised 
him on the bed, and answered them : " Hail, 
Alexander," said he, "All hail, thou who wieldest 
the earth, thou and thy princes are welcome. Sir, 
thou shalt see with thy sight such marvels as never 
before man saw ; and thou shalt hear of what shall 
come, things that no man hath heard but thee." 
Then was the King astonished that his name was 
known, and he said, " Oh, holy happy man, how 
dost thou name my name, since thou hast never 
seen me before ? " And the god answered : " Yea, 
I knew thee ere a word of thy fame had spread 
over the earth. Then he went on: "Wish ye to 
look upon the trees that bloom for ever, the trees 
of the sun and of the moon, that can speak and tell 
thee of what is to be ? " And Alexander the king 
said, " Yes by my crown, this would I do more 
163 than 



than anything else in the world." Then the god 
said, "Art thou clean of body and mind, thou and 
thy friends ; for no man may enter the place where 
they are who is not pure of all stain?" and 
Alexander answered that they were. So the Elder 
arose from his bed, and cast on him a mantle of 
gold, and the ground glittered for the glory of his 
weeds, and he led them to the door, and there 
stood there two elders like to those Alexander had 
seen at the Parting of the Ways, and he gave them 
into their hands, and bade them lead them to the 
place where they would be. Then he turned and 
departed, and Alexander and his friends Ptolemy 
and Antiochus went with the elders. 

As they went the elders asked them if they had 
any metal or rich thing with them, and bade them 
cast it off, and one of the elders stayed at the door 
of the minster while the other led them through it, 
and after that the three Greek lords passed through 
a wondrous thick wood, full of most precious trees, 
olives and sycamores, cypresses and cedars, with 
balm and myrrh trickling down the trunk and all 
manner of incense and aromatic spices. In this 
wood they came upon a little round clear space, and 
when they looked they saw a great tree whereon 
was neither fruit nor leaves, bark nor bast, and it 
was one hundred feet high. And on it they saw a 
bird resting on one of its branches, and the bird 
was of the size of a peacock, with a crest such -as 
164 the 



the peacock has, and its cheeks and jaws were red 
like a fowl, and its breast was of golden feathers, 
and its back and tail of blue speckled with crimson, 
and its body of gold and red speckled with grey. 
Then Alexander the king stayed and considered 
this bird and wondered at it, and the guide 
answered his thought: "Why dost thou wait 
and wonder, yon is the Phcenix, the bird that lives 
a hundred years, and has no mate : " and he turned 
them a little way and they saw a spot where two 
trees grew side by side, the trees of the Sun and 
the Moon. " Behold now," quoth the guide, " these 
holy trees ; form in thy mind the question thou 
wouldst ask of them, but say it not in words that 
can be heard ; and thou shalt have an answer in 
plain words, such as no other oracle gives. And 
this shall be a sign to thee that the gods are good 
to thee, since they read thy thoughts and need not 
words to tell them thy question." 

The tale tells us that these trees were not like 
others, but their boles and leaves shone like metal, 
and the tree of the sun was like gold, and the tree 
of the moon was like silver, and the tree of the sun 
was the male, and that of the moon the female. 
Then Alexander asked his guide : " In what 
way will the trees answer me?" and the Elder 
answered him : " Truly, O King, the Sun-tree 
begins to speak in the Indian tongue, and ends in 
Greek ; but the Moon-tree, since it is female, speaks 
165 in 



in a contrary manner, for it begins in Greek and 
finishes in Indian, and thus in two tongues each 
tells us its mission of fate." Then he wished to 
offer sacrifices before the trees to honour them as 
gods, but the Elder forbade him, for he said that 
no living thing was to be injured in this place, and 
no fire must be brought there, but that the only 
sacrifices offered to the trees were kisses on the 
tree-boles. And when he heard this Alexander the 
King knelt down on the ground and kissed the 
boles of the trees one after the other, and asked 
within himself whether he should return to Mace- 
don, where his mother dwelt, having conquered all 
the earth. 

Now, when he had asked this question in his 
mind, and he and his fellows were kneeling on the 
ground before the tree, suddenly it began to move, 
and the leaves began to quiver, though all was still 
and calm in the forest, and there was a sound of 
going in the tree-tops, and a sighing as if the wind 
was rustling through the leaves, and the sighing 
and moaning of the leaves grew louder, and with a 
swaying sough this answer came to the King : 
" O Alexander, unbeaten in war thou art, and shalt 
be lord of all the world, yet never shalt thou see 
the soil of thy sires, or return to thy dear land of 
Macedon ; thou shalt see thy mother and thy land 
no more." When they heard these things the com- 
panions of Alexander fell down to the ground as if 
1 66 dead, 



dead, so great was their grief, and they heard no 
more of what was said ; but Alexander knelt down 
before the Moon-tree to ask of it a question. Then 
the Elder came to him and said : " O King, the 
tree of the Moon answers not till the night has 
come, and the moon is full in the sky." So the 
King turned to his companions, and comforted 
them with his kind words and gifts, and bade them 
be of good cheer. 

When the night was come Alexander rose up 
again to go before the Moon-tree, and to hear its 
oracles, and his companions told him of the danger 
of being unarmed and alone by night, but Alexander 
feared not, for it was not lawful to slay any one in 
that forest, neither was there any man in it save the 
guide and themselves. And having adored the tree 
and kissed it, he knelt down before it, and thought 
to ask when and where should be his end. Then 
at the moment when the rays of the moon made 
the leaves shine with splendour, he heard a voice 
from the tree: "Alexander, the end of thy life 
draws near ; this year shall be thine, but in the 
ninth month of the next thou shalt die at Babylon, 
deceived by him in whom you fully trust." Then 
he was filled with grief and he looked at his friends, 
and he knew that they were ready to die for him if 
need be, and he thought of the other companions in 
whom he trusted, and that if he slew them he might 
save himself, and then he thought of the endless 
167 suspicion 



suspicion and sorrow he would live in for the rest 
of his days, and he remembered the words of the 
god when he told him that it was not good for men 
to know the end of their days, and he strengthened 
his heart and comforted his friends, and he bade 
them swear never to reveal the things they had 
heard, and again they returned to the minster, and 
found tents thereby where they might rest, and beds 
of skins, and on an ivory table there was food and 
drink set for them, fruit and bread, and water from 
the stream. So they slept and rested. 

Then in the morning the Elder woke him from 
sleep, and led him before the bare tree, and bade 
him ask of it what he would, and he knelt before it 
and kissed it, and asked in his mind, " Who is it 
that shall harm my mother or sisters or myself?" 
Then he had this answer from the tree : " O mighty 
lord, if I should tell thee the man who should betray 
thee it were easy for thee to slay him and to over- 
come thy fate, and the oracles would be made of 
none effect. Therefore thou shalt die at Babylon, 
not by iron, as thou deemest, nor by gold, silver, 
nor by any vile metal, but by poison. Thy mother 
shall die by the vilest death, and shall lie unburied 
in the common way, to be eaten by birds and dogs. 
Thy sisters shall live long and happy lives. Short 
as thy life shall be, thou shalt be lord of all lands. 
Now ask no more, but return to thy army and to 
Porus thy friend." And the Elder came up to him 
i 68 and 



and said : " Let us depart with speed, for the weep- 
ing and moaning of thy companions have offended 
the holy ones of the trees," and Alexander and his 
companions departed from the forest. Then he 
asked the Elder who was the god of the palace, and he 
told the King it was Bacchus, who had sent him to 
the temple at the Parting of the Ways, and who 
had welcomed him in the palace. So Alexander 
came to his peers, and with them went down the 
golden stairway and joined the host, and hurried on 
day after day until he came to the Parting of the 
Ways, and there he found his army under the 
command of Porus his friend. 

And after the army was gathered together, Alex- 
ander the King spoke of his journey to the oracles, 
and how he had climbed the stairway, and how he 
had been guided by the god, and had asked the trees 
of his fate, and he told them that the trees had pro- 
mised him that he should conquer the world, and 
return to Macedon, and live a long life, and all the 
army shouted with joy. But the comrades of 
Alexander and his twelve peers were sad, for they 
knew what was foretold, yet they said not a word 
of it, but shouted with the rest. Then Porus the 
Indian doubted of the truth, and he questioned the 
king's companions closely, but they told him not of 
the oracle : howbeit he was assured in his heart that 
Alexander was to die, and he thought to seize on 
the empire, and he began to contrive the king's 
169 death ; 



death ; and Alexander knew of his questionings, 
and kept watch over his doings. 

Then orders were sent to the host to prepare for 
their march, for Alexander was minded to set out 
and conquer the nations that had not yet submitted 
to him, yet before he started, he bade men set up 
two marble pillars at the temple of the Parting of 
the Ways, and between them a pillar of gold, and 
on it was written in the language of the land, how 
that Alexander the king had come to this spot and 
had conquered all nations, and it said how that 
there was no passage to the Eastward but to the 
Northward only. And when this was done all the 
tents were struck and the host moved into a land to 
the north, where they had not yet been ; and the 
people of the land brought him tribute. 




170 



CHAP. XVIII. 





CHAPTER XVIII. HOW ALEXANDER 
SLEW PORUS AND WON BACK THE 
WIFE OF CANDOYL AND WAS KNOWN 
OF CANDACE WHEN HE CAME TO HER. 
FTER THESE THINGS the host of 
the Greeks and the Persians and the 
Indians was gathered together in one 
place, and messengers came from all 
the kings of the land to it to Alex- 
ander the king, bringing gifts of rare and precious 
things, of gold and spices, of the skins of a fish like 
to a leopard's skin, of living lions and other wild 
beasts. Now, among these was the messenger of a 
Queen of the land, Candace by name, the widow of 
a great king friend and cousin of Porus ; and they 
brought with them letters to King Porus from her. 
And when Alexander heard tell of her, he asked the 
King of India concerning her, who she was, and what 
manner of men she ruled over, and Porus answered 
171 and 



and told him how she was the fairest woman in India, 
and how she had married his near kinsman, and 
had borne him three sons, Candoyl, Marcippus, and 
Caratros. Then he told him how he had sent his 
daughter to her for safety, and how she had married 
her to Caratros, her youngest son, who should reign 
after her, as the custom of that folk was : and he 
told of the gods she worshipped, and of the people 
she ruled, and of the riches of the land. Then 
Alexander was fain of her presence, and sent rich 
gifts, and a golden image of Ammon his god, and a 
letter in which he asked her to journey towards the 
mountains and meet him there, and he gave the 
messengers wealth and a strict command to tarry 
not till they brought him word again. But Porus 
purposed evil in his heart, for he sought to stir up 
wrath against Alexander in Roxana the Queen. 

Thus the messengers came to Queen Candace 
and they laid before her the letter of Alexander, and 
his gifts, and told how she had been honoured by 
the wealth given to her messengers, and besought 
her to meet the Lord of the Greeks, but she would 
not, for she knew the double mind of Porus, and 
would not adventure herself where she could meet 
him, yet was she willing ^ to please Alexander, so 
she sent again her messengers, and richer gifts than 
before, and a letter praising his knighthood and 
his valour, and the power of his gods. Now these 
were her gifts, a crown of gold set with a hundred 
172 precious 



precious stones, and two hundred and ten chains of 
red gold, and thirty rich goblets carved with peli- 
cans and parrots, five Ethiopian slaves of one age, 
a rhinoceros, a thousand beryls in caskets of ebon- 
wood, and four elephants to carry this wealth, and 
on the back of each was the skin of a spotted panther, 
rich and precious. So the messengers went their 
way, and with them Queen Candace sent a cunning 
painter, and she prayed him in private to make her 
a portrait of the king on parchment, noting all his 
shape and proportion. And it was done as she 
said, for Alexander received her gifts and well 
entreated her messengers, and sent them home ; 
and when they came the painter brought his draw- 
ing before her, and she rejoiced, for she had longed 
to see what manner of man the Greek lord was, 
and now was her wish fulfilled. 

It fell on a day that Alexander was in his tent, 
and one of his clerks was there with him, and as 
men went out and he chanced to be alone with the 
king, he fell on his knees before him, and besought 
grace. Then Alexander comforted him and bade 
him speak out boldly and fear not. So this clerk 
told the king how Porus knew that the death of 
Alexander was near, and that he had gathered 
together men from all parts to slay him, and he told 
him how that the men of Gog and Magog were on 
the march from the frozen lands of the North at the 
pay of Porus. Then Alexander asked how this 
1-73 should 



should be, and the clerk told him that he had been 
sent to them in years back by Darius, and that then 
it had been a full year's journey, but now had they 
come nearer, so that one month saw the beginning 
and the end of the way to them, when Porus had 
sent him. Then the Lord of the Greeks grew 
wrathful and began to doubt all men, for he remem- 
bered that he should die by the hands of a friend 
whom he trusted, wherefore he sent messengers for 
Porus, and when he came he said to him : " O Porus, 
is not the half of my throne sufficient for thee, but 
thou must adventure to slay me by the hand of the 
outer barbarians? True knight thou art not, or 
thou wouldest scorn to do by another what thou 
durst not attempt thyself." But Porus the king 
stood silent, and turned red and purple and white 
in turns, and then he tugged off his glove and threw 
it at the feet of Alexander on the ground. Then 
said Alexander : " O Porus, though mayhap it were 
better to slay thee as a traitor, yet thou hast been 
my fellow at board and bed, and I will meet thee as 
thou wishest, that at least thou shalt die as a true 
knight, if thou couldst not live as one." Then he 
called for his page and he bade him take up the 
glove and put it in his helmet against the set day. 

On the third day at sunrise all men rose up early 
and came to the field of war outside the camp, and 
each man took his place round the field, the Greeks 
on the south, the Indians on the north, and the 
1 74 Persians 



Persians where they would on either side. And as 
they looked they saw the tent of Alexander hung 
with green silk and embroideries at the east end of 
the field, and the tent of Porus hung with cloth of 
gold at the other. Before the doors stood pages 
and trumpeters, and from time to time long calls rung 
out in the air, notes of defiance and of confidence. 
From end to end of the field ran a partition dividing 
it into two strips, for the battle was to be fought 
out with the lance alone, and in the middle was a 
high seat in which Ptolemy the king's lieutenant 
was to sit as judge. Beside and below him were 
places for the heralds, and as time wore on they 
took their seats. And now the bustle round the 
tents increased, and men went in and out, and the 
noise of the hammer on the rivets rose between the 
calls. Then came a pause, and the squires brought 
long lances and laid them before the heralds, and 
they measured them side by side, and returned 
them to the squires, who bore them back to their 
tents. A long call was sounded, and a troop of 
men brought in between them the famous white 
horse Bucephalus, and at the sight of him all the 
warriors of Greece shouted, for many times had 
they followed him in battle, and they deemed him 
the best horse in the world, though he was now 
stricken in years ; and when this shout died away 
another was raised by the Indian knights as their 
lord's great black horse came in to the field, and 
175 the 



the two horses smelled each other from afar, and 
neighed out their defiance. 

Now sounded the drums and clarions, and from 
afar the procession of the lord of the lists came into 
the field, and amid the shouts of the army Ptolemy 
sat down on the throne, and all men kept silence. 
Then the heralds rose and saluted him, and he 
spoke to them, and soon they broke up into two 
parties, and went one to each tent, and each man's 
eyes followed a party, this way or that. As they 
came before the tent doors, the squires drew aside 
the curtains and the kings stood before the heralds, 
clad in armour from head to foot. Then the pro- 
cessions re-formed and with lowly reverence the 
knights were brought before the lord of the lists, 
where they repeated one by one the solemn oath that 
they had used no charm or magic against their foe, 
but that the battle should be fought, man to man 
and horse to horse, till death : and as they stood 
side by side the giant Porus showed taller and 
stronger when compared with the Lord of Macedon. 

Then the knights mounted their horses, and 
saluting each other and the lord of the lists, they 
turned away and rode to the end of the lists and 
stood there two images of bright steel, waiting for 
the sign of battle. A few moments pass, the lord 
of the field rises, and the trumpet-call rings out, first 
low and steady and strong, then higher and louder 
till it seems to carry men's hearts with it to the 
176 clouds, 



clouds, and in the midst of its last and loudest call 
the baton is thrown down, and the two knights are 
spurring towards one another ; no man breathes, 
each stride brings them nearer, their aim seems 
true, when a shout rises from the Greeks, and next 
second both knights are on the ground, the air is 
filled with curses and cries, the lists are peopled 
with heralds and knights and squires, the black 
horse is galloping wildly over the field, Alexander 
is kneeling by the side of his horse Bucephalus, 
and Porus is lying still on the field, for he had 
shifted his lance and taken traitor's aim at the good 
horse and slain him, while Alexander had struck 
him on the helm and thrown him far on the 
ground. 

So the lord of the lists stood up and bade the 
heralds bring the knights before him, but they 
came back and told him how Porus lay deathlike 
on the field, yet was he unhurt to all seeming, so 
Ptolemy spake to Alexander and said, " Sir Alex- 
ander, thou hast done thy duty as a true knight, 
thine adversary is at thy mercy to slay or to spare." 
Then Alexander answered, "Were it not for his 
traitorous dealing to my good steed I would forgive 
him yet again, nor may I slay him unarmed, but by 
to-morrow morn I will meet him again on foot, 
sword to sword, till one of us die." Then the 
squires carried Porus away to his tent, and the 
Indian knights went away from the field shamefast, 
177 M but 



but the Persians and the Greeks rejoiced in the 
fame of their lord, and mourned over the death of 
the good steed Bucephalus. That day Alexander 
built a tomb for his horse and laid him there, and 
bitter were the tears he shed, for it seemed to him 
that the best days of his life were beginning to leave 
him, and his evil days had begun. 

When the morrow came all men went again to 
their places, and the heralds and the trumpeters 
sat down in their seats, and Ptolemy bade silence. 
Then the two knights were brought before him, on 
foot, armed with sword and dagger, and he placed 
them before each other, and bade them fall to when 
the trumpet sounded. The heralds rose and made 
proclamation : " Lo ye, all men here present, these 
knights, Sir Alexander of Macedon and Sir Porus 
of India, be met for the agreement of certain differ- 
ences between them ; if now any man shall enter 
this field, or aid them in any way, he shall fall 
under pain of death, until this difference be voided." 
Then all men kept silence, till the lord of the field 
let fall his sceptre and the trumpets rang out one 
shrill call. 

Scarcely had the sound died away before the two 
knights began circling round each other, like birds 
watching an opportunity to dart in and seize their 
prey ; but they dared not adventure, for Porus was 
tall and long of reach, and Alexander was nimble 
and long-armed and very mighty, and each man 
1 78 wished 



wished to strike a blow that would end the fight at 
once, and time after time they came near each other 
and stepped back again, till at the last Porus struck 
at the left shoulder of Alexander, which was just in 
his reach, and Alexander caught the blow on his 
shoulder, and running forward struck with his right 
arm alone, and drove his sword-edge through helm 
and cheek-bone and skull, and Porus fell dead on the 
ground, and the Greeks shouted with joy. Thus 
was the treason of Porus, his evil thoughts and his 
unknightly deeds, avenged by Alexander. But when 
he was dead the Lord of Macedon gave him burial 
like one of the kings, and he built over him a 
temple, with walls and towers and priests to pray 
for him perpetually. 

At this time it fell that Candoyl, the eldest son of 
Candace the queen, came before his mother and 
said to her, " Fair mother and queen, grant me that 
I may leave thy lands and journey out into the 
world ; " and she said, " Go, my son, with my 
blessing and leave, and tarry not till thou return/ 1 
So he got together much wealth and departed, with 
his wife and his servants, and came to a certain 
strong city called Bebrik, and harboured there, and 
when the morrow was come and he departed, the 
king of Bebrik came round and met him on a certain 
bent, and slew many of his men, and one of the 
king's knights took the lady and bore her off to the 
town, shrieking and lamenting so as to pierce the 
1 79 heart 



heart of any true knight : for it is to be said that 
the king of Bebrik had loved her for many years. 
Then was Candoyl sore troubled, and he went on 
his way to the army of Alexander to seek his grace, 
if by any means he would help him to recover his 
lady and love. Soon he came near the camp and 
entered it, and the watchmen took him and brought 
him before Ptolemy, the most noble of the Greeks 
after Alexander, and he asked him, "What manner 
of man art thou, and what dost thou here ? What 
is the cause of thy coming? Let us know thy 
name?" "Sire," said he, "I am Candoyl, the son 
of Candace the conqueress," and he told him of his 
coming, and of what befell him in the way. Then 
Ptolemy hurried from the tent, leaving Candoyl in 
ward of a knight, and went into the cabin where the 
King was lying, and found him asleep. So he waked 
him gently and told him the tidings, how a knight, 
the son of Candace the queen, had come to crave 
his help against the king of Bebrik, who had reft 
his wife from him. 

Then said Alexander, " Go back again to thy 
tent, put on thy head the richest diadem I have, a 
crown of red gold, and a king's mantle, and seat 
thee in the king's seat as though thou wert myself, 
let my knights come about thee and call thee by my 
name with all due reverence, and then send mes- 
sengers for me, and call me Antiochus, and I shall 
obey thy bidding as I were thy liegeman. And 
1 80 when 



when I come to thy call, and kneel before thee, 
declare to me all the case of Candoyl's adventure 
openly before him, and be not abashed when I bow, 
nor bid me not to rise, but let thy countenance be 
solemn when thou art speaking, and say then, 
'Antiochus, my noble, let us see thy wisdom in 
this matter, do thou wisely advise me/ ' So Ptolemy 
hurried away and clothed him in the dress of an 
emperor, and sent for Alexander in the name of 
Antiochus, and when he was come, he told him the 
tale before Candoyl, and asked his advice. Then 
answered Antiochus, "Were it your will, noble 
Emperor, I would fare with this knight to recover 
his wife, and would bid the king of Bebrik on pain 
of his eyes restore her, and if not, we should grind 
his city and him to dust." Then Candoyl bowed 
before the king, and said, "Sir Antiochus, of all 
men be thou happy, thy wisdom is worthy of a 
king clad in gold with crown and sceptre." So 
Alexander and Candoyl rode forth that same night, 
and when it was dawn they came before the wails of 
Bebrik. Then the watch on the gate saw them, and 
cried out, "Who are ye, O knights; whence and 
what is your errand?" And Alexander answered, 
" It is Sir Candoyl, that has come for his spouse, 
and I am the messenger of the Lord of Macedon, 
and I bid you, if you will save your city from 
destruction, to yield his bride to him without delay." 
Then the burghers of the city were filled with fear, 
181 though 



though they were a stiff-necked folk, and they went 
in a body to the palace of their king, and burst open 
the gates and brought forth the dame, and led her 
to her husband in all honour. So Candoyl thanked 
him heartily, and said, " I pray thee, dear prince, 
pass with me to my mother, that thou mayst have 
the honour and reward thou hast merited for thy 
deeds." Then was the King rejoiced at these words, 
and he said, " Go we to Alexander to ask his leave, 
and gladly will I follow thee and do thy will ; " for 
he would not have him to think him other than 
Antiochus ; so they went to Ptolemy and he gave 
him full leave to depart. 

Now drew they near the city of Candace the 
queen, and she heard of the coming of Candoyl her 
son and his wife, and how she had been taken pri- 
soner by the king of Bebrik, and released by a 
knight of Macedon, who was with them, and she 
was glad in her heart, and greatly rejoiced. Into a 
chamber she went and changed all her weeds, and 
put on a robe of red gold and a rich mantle over it, 
a crown and a kerchief clustered with gems, and 
came down from her palace gate surrounded by her 
knights, and found them before it. So she clasped 
her son in her arms and kissed him, and said, 
"Welcome be thou, my loved son, and thou, my 
dearest daughter, and I am glad of your guest, as 
the gods give me joy: " and Alexander looked on 
her, and his heart rejoiced, for he thought her likest 
182 of 



of all women to Olympias his mother ; fair and fresh 
was she as a falcon, or as some spirit from another 
world. So they came into her castle-hall, full of 
precious stones and adorned with gems, its pillars 
of porphyry, and its floor of bright crystal, clear as 
a river, and there they sat at meat Alexander and 
Candace and Candoyl, served together at the high 
table. 

On the morrow at first light Candace the queen 
came with her ladies and took the Greek knight 
Antiochus through the palace and showed him how 
richly it was built, and all the wonders in it, great 
and small. And when he had seen all these things 
she asked him of the palace of Alexander, and he 
told her how it was not so rich as hers, but was a 
home for fighting men to rest in, and to prepare for 
new wars, while the palaces of the Kings of the East 
were fitter to make men long for ease than to give 
them heart for the toil and danger of battle. Then 
said the Queen, " Other wonders still shall I show 
thee, O Antiochus, wonders that no king hath the like 
of," and she bade her servants go forth, and giving 
her hand to the Greek led him into a room, covered 
with cypress and with cedar from floor to roof, 
where they sat down on two thrones in the room. 
Soon a mighty sound was heard, and as the Greek 
looked out he saw the trees and the fields and the 
town moving round him, and he knew that he was 
in a chamber that turned round by some hidden 
183 power. 



power. It is to be said that this room was turned 
round by the strength of twenty tame elephants that 
the queen kept for this end, and every day she came 
and satin the chamber and looked from the window 
while it was turned for a space. So as the false 
Antiochus looked he wondered and said, "Verily, 
O Queen, were such a wonder as this in our land 
of Macedon, proud would our lord the king be of it 
above all his treasures " ; and Candace looked on 
him and said, " Alexander, this is but little to the 
wonders that the men of this land can show the 
Greeks." 

Then Alexander sprang up from his seat at the 
calling of his name, for well he knew the danger he 
was in, and all his face turned pale, since any of the 
kings of India would give his weight in gold to 
have him in their power, and he said, " Nay, lady, 
my name is Antiochus," but she rose and took him 
by the hand with a kindly laugh, and going to the 
recess drew back the tapestry hanging and shewed 
him a picture in parchment whereon he was painted 
dressed in his royal robes. " See for thyself," said 
she, " that I have made no mistake." Then as the 
king looked on the picture his face turned yellow, 
and his flesh trembled. " Why fades thy fair hue ? " 
said the lady, " thou warrior of all the world, the 
conqueror of Persia and of India, the Medes and 
the Parthians ! Lo, now, thou art here in a woman's 
ward, in spite of all thy worthy deeds. Where is 
i 84 now 



now thy praise that reaches up to heaven ? It is 
gone at once, at the turning of the breath of a 
woman." Then she waited for a space, but the lord 
of Macedon answered her naught, for his heart 
waxed hot within him, and he ground his teeth with 
rage as he looked hither and thither, so she said, 
" Why dost thou vex thy soul, Sir Conqueror, what 
may thy manhood avail thee, or all thy rage ? " 
Then the King answered her and said, " For one 
thing only I grieve, that I have not my sword, nor 
may I see any weapon." "And, my fair knight, 
what bold brave deed would thy sword help thee to, if 
thou hadst one ? " " Since I am taken unawares," 
quoth he, " surely I would slay thee where thou 
sittest, and myself after." Then Candace the Queen 
laughed out, " That were the deed of a true knight," 
said she, " but not yet are we to do and suffer such 
things ; hast thou not rescued my son's wife from 
the hands of the king of Bebrik ? Surely I shall 
save thee unharmed from my folk. Yet were it 
known that thou wert here, not all my power could 
save thee, since thou hast slain the Lord of India, 
good Porus, whose daughter my youngest son Cara- 
tros has taken to wife. But no man has seen thy 
picture from the day I had it till now." Then the 
Lord of Macedon came near her, and she took him 
by the hand and led him into the hall of the 
palace. 

Now when Candace the Queen left Alexander 
185 in 



in the hall she came on her two sons Candoyl and 
Caratros, and they were in sore strife. For after the 
Queen had borne away with her the Greek, Caratros 
said to his brother Candoyl, " Now has this Greek 
Lord slain my father-in-law, Porus the Good, and 
needs must I have revenge or my wife will go mad. 
I will slay this lord Antiochus, his friend and 
messenger, and when he comes to revenge his ser- 
vant, I will go out and slay him in combat." But 
Candoyl answered him, " My brother, the Lord of 
Macedon has helped me, and this knight, Sir 
Antiochus, has recovered for me my wife : I brought 
him hither, and I shall lead him in safety to his 
lord's tents." Then Candace the Queen said, 
" Caratros, my son, what honour will come to thee 
for slaying a guest and a friend ? Shall anything 
come of it but sorrow ? " But Caratros grew angry 
and said, "What ails thee brother, that we should 
strive with each other in this matter, leave me to 
do my will." Then Candace the Queen went quickly 
and took Alexander into council and told him how 
her son wished to slay him, and how Candoyl 
would fight for him. " Lord Alexander," said she, 
" I pray thee, make peace between my children." 
Then Alexander rose up, and came to the room of 
the brethren, and the clash of swords was heard, 
so he caught up a weapon and ran between them 
and beat down their swords, saying, " Fair lords, 
this must not be, ye must not fight alone." And 
1 86 after 



after he had quieted them, he spake to Caratros in 
fair words, saying, " My good lord, if you end my 
life, you can win no praise for it, since I am in thy 
hands. Alexander has seven hundred knights as 
good as I am, if I were precious to him, would he 
have let me come in a strange land without ward or 
retinue? Not so, my lord, but if in truth you 
desire to look on Alexander, you need but give me 
the goods I crave for and I will immediately put 
that prince into your hands." Then Caratros 
rejoiced, and kissed his brother in his joy ; and 
Candace the Queen called to her Alexander and 
said, " Happy should I be, if you were ever with 
me, then should all my foes be destroyed." So 
she gave him a crown of amethysts and diamonds, 
and a noble mantle, and dearly she kissed him, and 
bade him farewell. And the Lord of Macedon 
departed and with him Candoyl went as his guide, 
for he thought that Caratros his brother might again 
change his mind and work him evil, if the Greek 
knight returned alone to the camp ; and he purposed 
to lead him through the mountains and to shew him 
the place where Candace his mother worshipped the 
great gods, and heard oracles of things to come, and 
learned the mysteries of the gods. 



187 CHAP. XIX. 





CHAPTER XIX. TELLS HOW ALEXANDER 
DEFEATED GOG AND MAGOG, HOW HE 
WENT UP INTO THE AIR, AND DOWN 
INTO THE SEA. 

IANDOYL and Alexander rode from the 
city out into the open country, and all 
day passed through it, till as the sun 
went down they came near the hills, 
and they found there a cave, great 
beyond measure, hidden between two hills, and 
there they harboured all night. And when evening 
was come Candoyl spoke to Alexander and said, 
"Sir, in this cave men say that the gods appear, 
and tell men what shall come to pass." Then was 
Alexander rejoiced and gave thanks to the gods, 
and went in to the darkest part of the cave, but 
Candoyl abode at the mouth. And as Alexander 
drew near he saw a great cloud and from it a light 
glimmering like stars, and as he gazed him thought 
1 88 he 



he saw in the midst of it a throne, and on it was a 
great grisly god whose eyes shone out fierce like 
lanterns. Then was Alexander sore dismayed, and 
fell to the ground. " Hail, Alexander ! " quoth that 
high god. " Sire, what is thy name, and how shall 
I call thee ? " said the king. " Thinthisus is my 
name, and all the world is under my hand. Yet 
hast thou built a city in thy name, and thou hast 
set me there no temple." " Sire, if I return to 
Macedon, I will build thee a temple as master of the 
gods : none shall be like it in any land." " Nay, 
nay, long not thereafter ; thou shalt never look on 
that land. Go further, and behold." Then the king 
looked and he saw another cloud not far off, so he 
went thither, and lo ! another grim god seated before 
him. Kneeling on the earth he asked, "Who art 
thou, Lord? "and the god answered him, "I am 
Serapis, the god of thy father, the father of gods." 
Then said Alexander, " Tell me, I pray thee, the 
name of the man that shall slay me : " but the god 
answered him, " O king, in time past I told thee 
that should any man know the cause of his death 
beforehand, he would suffer greatly; be of good 
heart, thou hast conquered many nations, thou shalt 
yet do great deeds ; thou hast built a mighty city 
which shall endure for ever ; many men shall resort 
there, and many races of kings shall rule it ; thou 
shalt die and be buried in a noble city far from 
thine own land." Alexander bowed himself down 
189 before 



before the god and returned to the mouth of the 
cave, and found Candoyl waiting for him in the 
morning dawn, and the plain lay before him covered 
with his armies, and he bade farewell to the son of 
Candace, each departing to his own. 

It fell as Alexander rode on towards his camp 
that he began to doubt in his mind that something 
was wrong, for all things looked to be untended, 
and no guards were set round the army, and as he 
drew nearer he heard shouts and cries, so he 
spurred up his steed and rode into the camp, and 
no man stopped him, for all were drawn to one 
place. But when he had come thither he found 
that the Greeks were drawn up in array, and that 
the Indians and Persians were running hither and 
thither, shouting and crying; so that every now 
and then a band of them would turn against the 
Greeks and make as if to force their way among 
them, and when they were driven back they would 
again begin to cry and shout. So the Lord of 
Macedon rode up among them, and no man of the 
Indians knew him, for his helmet was closed, and 
he came to his own men and they knew him, and 
shouted for joy and opened a way for him. Then 
he sent for Ptolemy, and when he was come he 
asked him what was the cause of this trouble and 
why the Indians were so sore afraid. But it is to 
be said that at the sound of Alexander's voice all 
men had returned to their tents and the guard had 
190 gone 



gone out round the camp. Then Ptolemy told the 
king how that men had come to the camp three 
days agone telling of a new and strange folk coming 
from the north, frightful beyond bearing, and how 
they destroyed all things they came across and 
spared nothing that was good, but what they con- 
sumed not they w r asted, and whom they kept not 
for slaves they killed in their wanton sport. And 
they were short, shorter than any men, and no man 
might look on them without fear. So these men 
had fled from before them, and they had come to 
King Alexander to preserve them from their ene- 
mies, and Ptolemy charged them to tell their tale to 
no man. But when they had been in the camp two 
days and had not seen the Lord of Macedon, their 
fear broke out again, and they told their tale to 
whoever would hear them, and the story spread, and 
a saying arose among the Indians that this foe was 
right at hand, and they clamoured for Alexander to 
come out and lead them, and they threatened to tear 
the camp to pieces if he came not. 

Then were these ambassadors of fear brought 
before Alexander, and he questioned them of this 
people and of its coming, and they told him how 
that they were scarce ten days' journey from them, 
and that they were settled in that land and had 
sown a crop, for it was ever their custom to come 
into a land at sowing time and to make the men of 
that land their slaves, so that they reaped the 
191 harvest 



harvest for them, and then to slay them or drive 
them out to starve. And the ambassadors told how 
this race of dwarfs raged horribly at the name of 
Alexander, and said they had come to destroy him 
and the Greeks from the face of the earth, and they 
told last how these men were enemies of the Gods 
themselves above all things, so that evil was their 
good and good their evil. Then Alexander asked 
which of them had seen this folk, but no man had 
seen them, save one who had been far off them. So 
he sent for the clerk who had told him of the double- 
dealing of Porus and straitly questioned him, and 
he told the king how these folk were scarce two 
cubits high, but stronger than mortal men. " For 
in winter they wear no clothing, but they are covered 
with hair from their waist downward ; their mouths 
are huge and set with fangs like a wild boar, their 
hands are like lion's claws, no man may look on 
their eyes when they are set on him, and their ears 
are so great that in sleep they serve as coverlets. 
Two princes have they, whose names are Gog and 
Magog." Moreover the clerk said mayhap the 
saying of the ambassadors was true, that they would 
wait where they were till next spring time, yet 
mayhap they might move before winter came on. 
Then Alexander decided that he would attack these 
dwarfs in the land where they were and drive them 
back to their own land. 

The tale tells that the march of the army lay 
192 through 



through a strange land and many wonders there 
befell them, for they passed through the valley of 
serpents and fought the griffins ; they came to the 
shores of the sea and saw there wondrous beasts, 
and many things of which it were long to speak. 
On the third day of their march they came into a 
dark valley smelling sweetly of all spices, there 
cloves and ginger, and the pepper plant grew. But 
among these shrubs were many serpents and adders, 
who lived on the plants and had none other food, 
and these snakes had on their heads an emerald 
crown, as it were of goldsmith's beaten work. Now 
the people of that land, when they wish to gather 
the pepper, set fire to this wood, and the flame 
drives away the snakes, but blackens and rivels the 
pepper. In the hills of this place were many 
precious stones called smaragds, and Alexander set 
his heart on gathering them, and sent men to climb 
the hills, but when they came near the place where 
the stones were, beasts came out and fell on them, 
in shape like lions but with cleft claws a yard across, 
and among them were griffins, with birds' wings 
and beak and claws but otherwise like to a lion, 
and each of them so strong that it might bear away 
a knight full armed on his horse. Then came 
up Alexander and encouraged his dukes, and bade 
them shoot with a will, and the archers and arba- 
lasters shot altogether, and the knights struck down 
and killed many of the beasts with their lances and 
193 N their 



their battleaxes, but the griffins tore the knights 
from their saddles and with their tails blinded them 
so that they could not see where to strike, and at 
last the Greeks were driven down, and over two 
hundred of those who wore golden spurs were slain 
in that fierce fight. Yet were a few of the griffins 
beaten down, and four of them were bound in strong 
chains and borne away by Alexander. 

On the morrow after the host had come clear 
away from these hills, it came to a great and mighty 
river running straight down to the shores of ocean, 
and its banks were covered with huge reeds, longer 
than the highest tree, and so heavy that twenty men 
could scarce lift them. Of these reeds Alexander 
bade them make barges and ferry over his host, for 
the river was twenty furlongs broad, and two days 
were spent in the crossing over of the army. And 
when Alexander and his men were on the further 
side of the river the people of the land came to him, 
and they were a simple folk, clothed in the skins of 
great fish and of beasts. Nor were they inhos- 
pitable, for they brought sponges, white and purple, 
mussels so great that six men might make a meal 
of one, eels from the river thicker than a man's 
leg, and lampreys weighing twenty pounds each. 
Then Alexander thanked them for their gifts, and 
gave them great rewards, and asked them of their 
land and its wonders, and they told him of the 
sirens who lived in that river, women with long 
194 hair 



hair for clothing who lived in the water like fishes. 
Yet when these creatures saw any man they drew 
him into the water, if he knew not their craft, and 
kept him there till he died, and sometimes they 
bound him to the great reeds and forced him to 
make sport for them till at the last they killed him, 
for they had neither love nor hate nor any care or 
thought, naught of mankind save its outward sem- 
blance. Then Alexander bade his men to search for 
these beasts and offered great rewards, and at the 
last two of them were taken and brought before 
him, and they were white as snow, their hair came 
down to their feet round their body, and they were 
taller than men have custom to be, yet they could 
not live without water, and in few hours' time both 
were dead. 

And Alexander the king spoke with their wise 
men of the combat with the dwarfs from the desert 
of the north, since the men of that land were ex- 
ceeding wise, and they told him of the way by which 
he could fall on them at unawares ; and when they 
knew that he had with him in the host the griffins 
they rejoiced and told him of a marvellous thing. 
Then the Lord of Macedon caused his smiths to 
make him a chair of black iron, and on the top of 
it at each corner was a large smaragd stone, and 
they brought the chair to the top of an exceeding 
high mountain in that land, and when they had 
come thither they bound the griffins to each corner 
195 of 



of the chair at the bottom with great and very 
strong chains, for Alexander was minded to be 
carried up into the air by the griffins that he might 
see all lands. So when he was set in his chair and 
covered round with great bars of iron, he bade 
them uncover the eyes of the griffins, and they saw 
the smaragd stones fixed high above them and all 
at once they flew up towards the stones, for the 
sight of that stone is meat and drink to these 
animals, and they hunger to gather it together and 
to bear it off to their dens, neither care they for 
any hurt they receive in the getting of it. So they 
flew and soon Alexander was borne out of sight of 
men, high above the clouds, and he saw the earth 
below him like a basin, and the lands, and the way 
to the dwarfs, the men of Gog and Magog, and still 
they flew higher and the earth grew small like a 
mill-stone and the ocean and the rivers seemed like 
a writhing adder, and then the gods struck the 
griffins with fear, and they shut their eyes and 
stretched out their wings, and sunk lower and lower 
till they lay at the last on the ground in a green 
field in a strange land, and Alexander looked round 
and saw far off the towers of Jerusalem. But the 
griffins arose, and flew away till they came to their 
nest in the mountains, and when they came thither 
the Lord of Macedon left his seat and made his 
way through the hills till he came to the river, 
when he crossed it and came to his army again. 
196 Then 



Then marched the host on its way and at the 
last it came near the country of the ambassadors 
where the abominable dwarfs were, and when they 
came there the ambassadors went forward to bring 
the news of the coming of the Greeks. It chanced 
that the third day after the coming of the am- 
bassadors was a feast of the dwarf-folk, and all the 
men of that country kept the news of the coming 
of the Greeks from them so that they met in all 
their number in one place. It was of custom 
among them that every feast some one should be 
slain in torment that the chief men of the dwarf- 
folk might give a presage of what should befall the 
folk, and that feast one of them was to be slain for 
he had given food to a man that was starving in a 
prison cell. So the ambassadors returned and told 
Alexander what was to be done ; and he deemed it 
well to fall on them when they were all in one place. 
And this he did, and the fight was long and sore 
between him and the dwarfs, for the dwarfs were 
so small that they escaped the lance point, and they 
ran under the horses and houghed them, and their 
skins were so tough that the arrows glanced off 
them, if they did not hit straight, and the sword 
edges slipped, but the claws of the dwarfs and their 
teeth and their arrows availed them little against 
the armour of the Macedonians. 

In the night after the battle of the first day the 
guards cried out for that lights were moving on the 
197 field 



field of battle, and soon three dwarfs came near 
holding in their hands peeled white wands ; and 
when the guards saw them they brought them to 
the tent of Alexander. Then the eldest of them 
said, " O leader of the Greeks from Macedon, truly 
ye be braver than the Persians or the men of India, 
give us now an ounce of gold and a sword for each 
man and we will return whence we came." Then 
Alexander said, " O leader of the dwarfs, haters of 
God and men, meseems I am not come to this land 
but to free mankind from you. If ye abide my face 
till day I will slay you all, and if ye flee I will 
pursue you till ye return to your own land." Then 
he bade his men to take them and lead them from 
the camp. 

It was of custom among this folk to travel in 
great waggons, and to make of these their forts in 
times of danger, so on the morrow when the Greeks 
and the Persians drew out in battle array, the 
dwarf-folk came not forth all to attack them as on 
the day before, but the more part stayed within the 
waggons, and when the knights rode up to the 
waggons their progress was stopped and they could 
go no further, and the dwarfs stood on the waggons 
and mocked and jeered at them as they shot their 
arrows at them, and the knights were sore angered 
and brought up firebrands but the dwarfs had 
covered the waggons with hides so that they burnt 
not. So that day wore on, and when night came 
198 the 



the Greeks returned to their camp, and they spent 
the night in plans for the morrow. When it was 
light the army of Alexander got them ready for 
another day's fighting, but when they came out on 
the plain, they found not the hordes of the dwarfs 
for they had departed, burning all the country round. 
Then Alexander provided good store of food and 
drink and began to follow up the abominable dwarfs, 
for well he knew that he should find neither on the 
road, for these wretches destroy all the crops and 
poison and defile all the springs of water they pass. 
And after many days he came to the land of the 
dwarfs, and there he found two-and-twenty kings, 
and fought a great battle with them, and made 
them give up all the iron and copper in their land, 
and then he set his men to build a great wall at the 
entrance to their land. 

Now the land of the dwarfs lies behind two very 
high mountains and there is no way by which men 
may come in or go out of it but between these 
mountains, so Alexander built a wall across from 
one to the other and he strengthened it with the 
iron and the copper of the dwarfs, and wrought 
mighty spells on it, so that no dwarf should pass 
over it, and left them there. And all the world 
rejoiced and praised the name of Alexander, and 
this deed of his was counted the greatest of his life. 
And in after days a tale grew, and men told how 
every day the dwarf- folk came down to the wall and 
199 tore 



tore it down bit by bit with their claws, and night 
by night the spells of Alexander prevailed and the 
wall was made whole again, because this folk feared 
not the gods, nor obeyed them. But the tale tells 
that when the enemy of the gods and the deceiver 
of men shall come on earth, he will teach them to 
name their children " Inshallah," which means, 
if the gods will, and then when they call their 
children to help them, they will tear down the wall, 
and come out from their prison, and destroy the 
cities of Alexander, and the works of men since his 
time, and bring death on all men, if the gods stay 
them not. 

Furthermore men told of this dwarf-folk, that they 
have among them sorcerers who work such spells 
that the might of the dwarfs is increased an hundred- 
fold, and that when the time shall come, these sor- 
cerers will run through the air between heaven and 
earth, swifter than the wind, and will slay a child, and 
will dip the weapons of the dwarf-folk in its blood, 
and each of the dwarfs shall have with him a hundred 
warriors on horseback, armed with mace and spear. 
And when they ride out through the broken wall and 
through the iron threshold that Alexander built to 
strengthen the wall, the hooves of their horses shall 
wear away a span-depth from the lower threshold of 
iron, and their spear-points shall wear away a span- 
height from the upper threshold of brass. And these 
sayings of men show how great was their fear of the 
200 dwarf-folk, 



dwarf-folk, and their thanks to the Lord of Macedon, 
who freed the land from them. 

After these things the heart of Alexander was 
lifted up and he thought within himself that he was 
even as one of the high gods, for he had travelled 
through the air, where no man had been before, 
borne by griffins on an iron throne, and he had 
saved all men from the foes of mankind, and he had 
raised himself above all men in power and dignity, 
nor had any man conquered him or stood before his 
face. So when his army turned and came to the 
shores of ocean, a new thought came into his mind 
how that he would see the wonders of the sea, and 
the things that live there, and come not up to the 
surface of the deep. 

So he ordered, and his cunning men began to 
make for him great sheets of green glittering glass, 
and to shape it into a box, and bind it with great 
girths of iron, that he might sit in it and see all 
things that were without it, while he himself was 
untouched. Then he bade them take it to the 
borders of ocean, and bind great chains to it, and 
take it in a boat, and when he was entered into it to 
let it sink to the bottom of the sea for a set space of 
time. And as all things were ready, and he had 
given in charge to Roboas, son of Antipater, whom 
he loved, to draw him up after the set time, there 
came to him a clerk who had been sent to him by 
Roxana the Queen on a special errand. So the 
20 1 clerk 



clerk drew near, and said, "O Alexander, thus 
saith Roxana thy Queen and thy love : Many nights 
have I been troubled concerning thee, for a man 
with two horns on his head has stood by me, and 
has warned me of evil that may hap to thee. Now, 
therefore, I send thee a ring, one of the treasures of 
Darius, my father ; slay and offer a sacrifice to the 
gods, rub the ring with the blood, and wear it, and 
no evil shall happen thee on the sea or under it." 
Then Alexander did as the messenger bade him, 
and offered the sacrifice to the gods, and put the 
ring on his finger, but none of those who stood by 
understood the matter, for the message was a secret 
one. 

The tale tells that Alexander entered into the 
vessel of glass, and quickly shut the wicket ; and 
his princes pointed it with pitch so that no water 
might come in at the joints, and in a moment he 
entered the deep with a heavy plunge. There saw 
he fish whose figures he had never dreamed of, 
with forms diverse and horrible, and creeping 
things and four-footed things crawling on the sea 
bottom, and feeding on strange fruits of corals and 
sea weeds and trees growing on the sand and sea 
ooze, and great monsters came sailing up to the 
side of the cage and looked in and turned away 
affrighted, and other sights he saw such that he 
would never tell to any man till the day of his 
death, for they were so horrible that tongue could 
202 not 



Alexander sees the wonders of the 0ea 




not tell or man hear them told, and Alexander fell 
down on the floor of his vessel of glass and lay 
there for a time without life. 

Now when the set time was come that Alexander 
was to be drawn up, it fell that Roboas, the son of 
Antipater, was struck by some god with blindness, 
for he loosened the chain from the ship and let it 
fall so that it ran into the sea and sunk. And as 
he saw what he had done, and how he had destroyed 
the life of his lord, he plunged into the sea straight- 
way, if so be he might die with him, for his 
comrades were like to tear him in pieces. But the 
great iron chains falling into the sea broke the 
vessel of glass, and the gods saved Alexander again, 
for the chains crushed him not, and the glass 
wounded him not, and he was borne to the surface 
of the sea whether by the rush of the water or by 
the virtue of the ring of Roxana, and his princes 
saw him come to the surface and they took him up, 
for they thought it was Roboas, and when they 
found it was Alexander great was their joy, and 
Roboas also they brought up, and Alexander forgave 
him, for much did he love him. 



203 CHAP. XX, 





CHAPTER XX. HOW ALEXANDER CAME 
TO HIS LIFE'S END AND WAS BURIED, 
AND WHAT THEREON BEFELL. 

URTHERMORE AFTER THE 

descent of Alexander into the sea, mes- 
sengers came from Susa with the word 
that the king of Babylon, Nabuzardan, 
had refused the tribute that he ought to 
pay, and had declared war against the Lord of Mace- 
don, for he deemed that Alexander would not 
return from the far lands to which he had departed, 
and he thought that the city Babylon could not 
be taken of man, for it was exceeding great and 
strong, and needed help of no man when it was 
closed up. Then Alexander the king grew very 
wroth, and bade all men prepare to go to Babylon, 
for he would gather all the armies of the empire 
against it, and he turned his face towards the land 
of Babylon and marched towards it, and they went 
204 through 



through mighty deserts and strange lands, and 
many strange things they saw and wild beasts of 
strange shapes, and some that breathed out fire, 
and had teeth and claws like iron, and were covered 
with scales like brass. But above all wonders of 
the land men brought him a certain bird called 
Caladrius. Now this bird is white of colour and 
hath no part of blackness, and its nature is such 
that when a man suffers from great sickness, and 
this bird turneth away its face from him that is 
sick, then without doubt the man shall die. And 
if the sick man shall escape, the bird setteth its 
sight on him and beholdeth him as it were fawning 
and playing. And Alexander made proof of its 
wondrous gifts. 

Now the land of Babylon is the best land to bear 
all manner of bread-corn and fruit and wine ; full of 
sweet spices, herbs, and trees ; and most rich of 
precious stones and of divers metals, with great 
plenty of camels, horses, oxen, asses, mules and 
other beasts. And the greatness of the city may 
scarcely be told, for the walls were fifty cubits thick, 
and as much in height, and the city was four 
hundred and fourscore furlongs about. The walls 
were of burnt tiles and brick, and without was a 
broad ditch and deep. Into that ditch ran the 
river Euphrates all about the city. And in the 
front of the walls were an hundred gates, and about 
the walls were dwelling places for them that should 
205 defend 



defend the city, and those places of defence were 
wondrous huge and strong. 

On the day that Alexander came into the land of 
Babylon, there met him messengers from his 
mother Olympias and from Aristotle the wise, 
whom he had left to govern the land of Macedon. 
And Olympias wrote telling of troubles in the 
kingdom, how Antipater the father of Cassander 
and Roboas had stirred up the people against her, 
and how he sought to be king of Macedon, for he 
had heard that Alexander should return no more to 
Greece. But Aristotle wrote praising the wondrous 
works he had wrought, and the sights he had seen. 

Soon the Lord of Macedon pitched his tents before 
the walls of Babylon, and called on Nabuzardan its 
king to yield himself up. Now it was the custom 
of Alexander when he besieged a town that for 
three days a white flag hung over his tent, and 
after that a black one flew, and if the town yielded 
while the white flag was flying, then Alexander 
received it into the number of his friends, but if 
they yielded not then were they treated as enemies 
and slain or sold for slaves. And three days did 
the heralds come to the walls of Babylon, and 
sound their trumpets and call on them to yield, but 
they did not, and on the fourth day, Alexander 
brought up great catapults and sent huge stones 
into the city, and the people feared and sent out the 
dead body of Nabuzardan their king, and yielded 
206 them 



them to the mercy of Alexander. Then the Lord of 
Macedon entered into the city with all his men, 
and they came into it and abode there many 
months. 

So Alexander reigned in Babylon, and of the gold 
of India and of Persia he bade men make him a 
throne, and they brought the gold on horses, and 
on camels, and on elephants, and cast it into a heap 
twelve cubits high, and this was the fashion of the 
throne they made. It was at the top of twelve steps, 
and was surrounded by twelve images, the shapes of 
his twelve tried princes, and each of these held up the 
heavy work of the canopy of the throne. The seat 
of the throne was of smaragd stone, green and clear, 
and above all, in the canopy, was a lovely carbuncle 
which shone in the darkest of the night like a sun, 
and on the steps of the throne were engraved the 
names of all the countries of the world, for they 
were subject to his rule. Then made he a crown 
adorned with noble and precious stones, rich beyond 
all telling, and on it was a name telling of his 
power and might. And his heart swelled within 
him and he forgot the warnings of the gods who 
had told him of his death. 

Then wondrous things began to happen in the 
land, signs and marvels, for on one day an ass fell 
upon a noble lion and kicked it to death, nor did 
the lion resist, and on another day a child was born 
in shape like a lion from the waist up, and the child 
207 spoke 



spoke a word and died. So Alexander asked his 
wise men and the priests of Babylon, and they told 
him that it showed evil that should happen to him. 
And this is how the evil came. There was a certain 
great lord in Macedon, Antipater by name, and he 
sent to gather poison from the rock of Nonacris, 
and so strong was this poison that no cup or vessel 
might contain it, save only it were made from the 
hoof of a horse. So when he had gathered it he 
sent messengers to his son Cassander with the 
poison, and he bade him fear not to use it. Now 
Cassander and Roboas his brother had determined 
evil towards Alexander in their hearts since the day 
when Roboas had let Alexander loose in the sea, 
and since the day when Cassander had come into 
the camp to Alexander. For when Cassander had 
done his homage to his lord, one of the Indian kings 
came up and fell on the ground before him, and 
kissed the ground at his feet, and Cassander laughed 
out at the Indian king, wherefore Alexander was 
offended, and struck him a blow so that he reeled 
against the wall. So when the poison came Cas- 
sander rejoiced, and he told his brother, and they set 
a day to kill the Lord of Macedon, the noble Alex- 
ander. 

The tale tells how Alexander held high feast in 
his palace at Babylon, seated on his golden throne 
with his crown on his head, and Roxana the queen 
by his side, and with him the twelve princes of 
208 Greece, 



Greece, who had been his companions and his 
friends from the days of his youth up. And they 
rejoiced and were glad, for all nations were put 
under their feet, and the burden of warfare was 
over, and now they had to rule the folk and to lead 
happy days, and they trusted that they should be 
great kings under Alexander the emperor. And 
now men passed the wine, and full draughts were 
drunk, and Nearchus told a tale of the wonders 
that he had seen in the great sea of ocean when he 
had sailed there at the orders of Alexander, and 
another great lord reached for a lyre and sung a 
song of old days. Then men told tales of their 
deeds in battle, and each man boasted how near he 
had been to Alexander in the days of the great 
battles, and at the last men fell to talk of that good 
steed Bucephalus, and how he bore the king in battle, 
and served him faithfully, and fought with him, 
and Cassander said to Roboas his brother " What 
thou hast to do, that do," and Roboas rose and 
brought a cup to Alexander, and said " Dear Lord, 
this cup is made from the hoof of thy brave steed, 
Bucephalus the white ; drink we a cup in memory 
of this horse, the best in the world." And Alex- 
ander rose and said " O Bucephalus, my fair horse, 
thou failedst me never ; were this cup my bane, I 
would refuse it not from thee," and he drank it 
down. Then he sat down for a space, and then he 
fell forward from his seat, and his sword fell from 
209 o its 



its sheath, and pierced his side, and he called but 
twice " Help ! Help ! " Yet when his lords ran to 
him and raised him, he said " Nay, my good lords 
of Macedon, it is nought ; drink ye and rejoice for 
the good days to come," but he turned to Cassander 
and said " My faithful liegeman, go and fetch me 
somewhat to ease me of this pain," for he trusted 
in Cassander as he did in his nearest friend. But 
Cassander brought him that which only increased 
his pain. 

That night Alexander the king lay alone in his 
palace at Babylon, for he would have no man near 
him to watch by him or to guard him, and as he 
lay the cold poison weighed on his heart. Then his 
brain grew dizzy and faint, and the room seemed 
measurelessly great, and all men seemed far away. 
The beginning of the night seemed to be long time 
past, the dawn of day was still too far away to 
hope for, the pain became over great to bear, the 
poison ran through the veins and seemed to eat his 
throat with a cold fire, and in the midst of his 
trouble and fear the light went out and the dark- 
ness came on him like a net round him. Then he 
feared indeed, for he knew that he could not stay 
there with the terror that was on him, and he tried 
to stand and walk, but he could not for his wound 
and the poison that he had drunk, he thought of 
the great cold river flowing near and the water 
seemed to call him, so he crawled out of the room 
210 on 



on hands and knees painfully, step by step, till the 
morning broke and he found himself in the garden 
of the palace close on the bank of the river, and 
said, " The gods have left me, and I know not why ; 
but one more effort, and I shall be free of this 
burning and wound." Then he heard a great cry 
" My lord, my life ! " and Roxana the Queen came 
running down the garden to him, and after her the 
\vomen, and the lords of Greece. So one of them 
snatched a shield from the guard that came up and 
laid it on the ground for the King, and Roxana 
sat him on the shield and rested his head on her 
bosom, while Ptolemy held up his golden shield 
over him to guard his eyes from the rays of the 
morning sun, and a cry of confused voices went up 
round him. Then Roxana the Queen said, for in 
truth she knew not what to say, " See, my lord, a 
canopy of gold for my Emperor." "Aye, fair lady 
love," said Alexander, "a sky of gold, and a soil 
of iron ; now are the fates accomplished and my 
time is surely come ; bear me back to my bed that 
I may die there." Then at the word all men there 
burst into tears and lamentation, for the end of all 
things seemed at hand now their lord was to die so 
young, and what words can tell the grief of Roxana 
the Queen. 

So his lords bore him gently to his bed in the 
palace, and stood round it, and listened to the words 
that he spoke, and Alexander sent for his scribes 
211 and 



and bade them bring parchment and an inkhorn for 
his will. So it was done and he shared out all the 
lands that he had conquered amongst his war-dukes, 
to every man of them a kingdom. And he left to 
the priests of Egypt a thousand talents of gold and 
his body that they should keep it for ever, and for 
his wife Roxana, if she should have a son he should 
be Emperor after him, if a daughter she should be 
married to the best of the Macedonians and he 
should be Emperor. Then Alexander put his seal 
to the parchment, and all the dukes put their seals 
on it as witnesses, and the will was folded up and 
laid in a precious casket before them all. 

Now drew on the time that this noble Prince was 
to die, and all the world suffered with the pain of 
losing him. The thunders rolled and crashed, the 
lightnings flashed wide over the land, and there 
was a darkness of thick clouds, and the earth was 
rent hither and thither, and huge towers toppled and 
fell, so that all that was strong and well-founded 
became weak and unstable as water, and the founda- 
tions of all things were shaken. Then men in far- 
off lands feared and wondered what these things 
should mean, and when they hurried to the temples 
of the gods to enquire, the oracles answered "The 
earth is poorer to-day by the loss of its most noble 
knight and king," and all men knew that Alexander 
was dying. Then the seamen heard voices over the 
sea of weeping and wailing, and they knew that all 
2 1 2 people 



people mourned for the death of the Lord of Macedon, 
the bravest, the most courteous, and most generous 
of knights. 

But the army of the Macedonians came round 
the dwelling of their chief, as it ever was their wont 
in time of danger, though they knew that they could 
not help him, nor he them, in this his day of passing 
away from them. Their hearts longed to see him 
once more, to look on the face that had led them 
smiling into danger and out of it again, and it may 
be, to touch the hand that had struck such blows in 
their aid, or had given such gifts to them as he had. 
So Alexander the king was brought on his bed into 
the great hall of his palace, and the Macedonians 
crowded round to see him, and one of them was 
over-bold and asked him " Whom dost thou leave 
to be lord of thine army ? " and Alexander lifted up 
his head and said " Perdiccas, I leave my army and 
my Queen in thy charge, take care of them : as I have 
loved thee, love and keep them in my memory." 
Then the Macedonians began to weep and lament 
and those who were near kissed the cold hand of 
their king, and they went out, and the sound of their 
sobs and lamentations was like the dying away of a 
thunder storm far off. 

There stood up in the midst of them a lord of 
Macedon, Solentius by name, and said " Men of 
Macedon, our land was a small one, and our name 
was lightly esteemed in Greece, till this man's father 
213 was 



was born, and he ruled us and made us a mighty 
people among the Greeks, and subdued Athens and 
made us first among the folk of our land. And 
when he died, and Alexander our lord came to the 
throne he went wide into the world, and rode over 
it, and conquered it, and he made the footmen of 
his army lords over the people and kings among 
the barbarian folk, so that no man stands before 
the Macedonians, and they are the first of folk 
under heaven. Now is he at point to die, and what 
shall fall to us, for no man has he left behind him 
who can take his place. Soon shall the empire of 
the Macedonians be broken to pieces, and the name 
of the country be forgotten." And all men said that 
he had spoken true, and they lamented exceedingly. 

And Alexander died : and the sun was eclipsed. 

Then Ptolemy sent physicians, and they em- 
balmed the body of Alexander, and dressed it in 
his imperial robes, and set it in a chariot, and with 
all the army of Macedon, marched from the land of 
Babylon to the land of Egypt, to the city of 
Alexandria which Alexander had built. And when 
they were come there, Ptolemy built a golden 
sepulchre for him in a high place looking over the 
city he had built and the sea, and there he set a 
chair of state, and in it was the body of Alexander, 
clothed as the Emperor of the World, with his crown 
upon his head : his right hand held a golden sceptre, 
and his left a golden ball, and on his knees lay his 
214 sword, 



sword, sheathed and swaddled in his girdle, for he 
should no more draw it in the face of the foe. 

The tale tells of Olympias that when men told in 
Macedon that Alexander was dead, Antipater the 
traitor sent men, and they seized the lovely queen, 
and slew her, and cast out her body to the beasts of 
the field, and the fowls of the air ; and great wars 
followed that cruel deed. And other things are told 
of the son of Alexander and Roxana, but never did 
he reach the empire of his father, nor attain the 
fame of Alexander. 

On a day there came to the tomb of Alexander 
wise men from all lands, and one said, " Alexander 
made his treasure of gold, and the gold endures, but 
not Alexander." The second said, " Yesterday the 
whole world did not satisfy him, to-day four ells are 
enough." The third said, " Yesterday he ruled the 
people, to-day the people rules him." The fourth 
said, "Yesterday he could save a multitude from 
death, to-day he cannot save his own life." The 
fifth said, " Yesterday he led his army from the city, 
to-day they led him to his burial." The sixth said, 
" Yesterday he pressed down the earth, to-day it 
weighs him down." The seventh said, " Yesterday 
all men feared him, to-day they hold him in small 
honour." The last said, "Yesterday he had friends 
and enemies, to-day all men are alike to him/' 

Then they went away, and Alexander was alone, 
sitting in his chair of state, watching his city. 

215 



AFTER-WORDS 



THE STORY WHICH HAS JUST BEEN TOLD 
may be looked on as the result of ten centuries of Eastern 
and Western imagination. The career of the historical 
Alexander is perhaps one of the most important things, 
in its way, that have happened on our earth, and could 
not fail to give rise to a plenteous crop of legend and of 
marvels. Even in his lifetime the Greek orators allowed 
their language to run riot in the telling of his deeds, which 
required no exaggeration to stand out before the world. 

The form of the story was fixed much as we have it now, 
certainly before the third century of our era, and probably 
much earlier, in the work of which a corrupt text 
has come down to us, under the name of Callis- 

thenes, one of the companions of Alexander. $ 
' r -11 L 

1 he Greek text of this work was printed by 

Muller (Paris, 1877) from three MSS. in the Bibliotheque 
Nationale at Paris, which represent three different classes of 
MS. There are about twenty MSS. of the work known. 

The origin of this romance is probably Egyptian. In 
fact, there seems little reason to doubt Favre's guess, that 
its composition was due to one of the Ptolemies, p^^^ 
who were successors of Alexander on the Egyp- Akxan- 
tian throne, and willing to legitimatise their rule drian origin 
by connecting it with that of the last of the J '^ 
ancient kings. The style of the Greek seems to omance - 
be Alexandrian, and Nicephorus Calistes (X. 36), speaks of 
the Life of Alexander written by the Alexandrian. Other 
considerations tend to support the Egyptian origin of the 
romance. The character of the magic is distinctly Egyp- 
tian (see a very interesting discussion of some points in 
Budge's Syriac Version of the Alexander Story, pp. xxxix. 
et seq.). The way in which magic has been attributed to 
Anectanabus agrees with Egyptian tradition, which has 
219 always 



always attributed supernatural powers to him. Reuvens, 
in his Third Letter (p. 76), gives an account of a papyrus 
describing some of his magical powers, and Tertullian, 
in the " De Anima" (Ivii.), names him as one of the 
masters of magic. 

The story was translated into Latin by Julius Valerius 
early in the fourth century, since the translation is one of the 
sources of the " Itinerarium Alexandri " (340- 
Juhus Va- ~.~ A<D< ). An epitome of Julius Valerius, made 
Unus and - J .* *u ur u j u v u 

his Etitomc m tne nmtn century, was published by Zacher 

' (Halle, 1867). Our earliest MS. of Julius Vale- 
rius is at Turin, and dates from about 800 A.D. He is 
quoted by Syncellus in the eighth century, and by Malala in 
the ninth. 

The most important translation the one which is known 
as the " Historia Alexandri Magni de Proeliis " is, how- 
ever, due to the tenth century. Leo the Archpriest seems 
to have been sent on an embassy to Constantinople to the 
Emperors Constantine and Romanus (920-944) by John 
and Marius, Dukes of Campania (941-965), and while there 
he seems to have collected many books, among which was 
the Story of Alexander. On his return he was commanded 
by Duke John to translate the story into Latin. 

The Alexander Story came into European literature early 
in the twelfth century. As far as we know it was introduced 

AII, j by Alberic de Besancon. Of his work there 
Aloertc ae J . . - r . .. 

Besanfon. exists now only a fragment of about 105 lines, 

And the first printed by Heyse, Berlin, 1856, 8vo. We 
decasyllabic C an, however, judge of it by the decasyllabic 
poem. poem, of which two portions are printed by 

Meyer. It was founded on Julius Valerius and the authentic 
histories of Alexander. Alberic rejects with disdain the 
story of Anectanabus' parentage of Alexander, judging it a 
220 disgrace 



disgrace to any true knight to be base-born. The character 
of the missing parts of the poem may also be 
gathered from the German version of Lamprecht 
the preacher, who wrote towards the end of the 
twelfth century, and who seems to have made use of 
Alberic's poem till it concluded with the episode of 
Nicholas. The poems printed by Meyer here change their 
versification, and are henceforth in Alexandrines, the con- 
tinuator being Simon le Poitevin. 

The development of the Alexander Story in Europe is 
due, however, neither to Alberic nor Lamprecht, but to 
Lambert li Tors and Alexandre de Bernay (or 
Paris), who in the middle of the century wrote Lambert li 
the romance in Alexandrines. The poem was J^' and 
full of the magical wonders which Alberic had de p ar 
rejected ; it adopted the Egyptian origin of Alex- 
ander and the wondrous stories of Bucephalus, and became 
instantaneously popular. 

But medieval listeners were not satisfied with so meagre 
information as the Romance of Alexander gave. Here 
was a great king foully murdered, beautiful queens 
beheaded ; is there no justice in the skies ? So in TheAkxan- 
quick succession came the " Testament d' Alex- 
andre " of Pierre de Saint Cloor, and in 1 190 " La Vengeance 
Alexandre " of Gui de Cambrai. Another poem on the 
same subject was written between 1288-1308 by Jean le 
Nevelois (Nevelaux), and a new cycle of poems was opened 
by the " Voeux du Paon " of Jacques de Longuyon, 1312, 
the " Restor du Paon " of Brisebarre de Douay (before 
1338). The Alexander cycle finishes by Jean de la Mote's 
" Parfait du Paon," 1340. 

Meanwhile the Alexander Story itself had gone on its 
way. Eustace of Kent had incorporated it in his (still 
221 inedited) 



inedited) " Roman de Toute Chevalrie " in the middle of 
the thirteenth century. Four manuscripts of 
Eustace of ^jg WO rk still exist, and it seems to be the stock 
from which many English translations have been 
made, notably that published by Weber in 1810. About 
the same time the prose translation of the " De Proeliis " 
was made, a translation which profoundly influenced the 
later story-tellers. Soon the Epitome of Julius Valerius, 
and a letter of Alexander to Aristotle, giving an account of 
the wonders of India, were translated. Frere Jehan de 
Vignay wrote a prose romance of Alexander in 1341, unfor- 
tunately lost, and the roll is closed in 1445 by "1'Histoire 
d'Alexandre " of Jean Wauquelin. 

Our English versions seem to have been later. Very 
few of them have been printed, a fact perhaps due to the 
very insufficient support extended to the Early 
English Text Society, which has printed the 
portions to be found of two of them. Our earliest 
version seems to be that of which some extracts are given 
in Warton. There was an English version of 48,000 
lines or so of the Alexander Story, belonging to the Duke 
of Roxburghe, but the MS. has disappeared. Weber, in 
his " Early English Metrical Romances," gives a rhymed 
poem of 8031 lines. Two fragments are known of an 
alliterative translation of Lambert li Tors, which must 
have been of enormous length ; and a nearly complete 
poem, which follows pretty closely the " De Proeliis," is 
printed under the name of "The Wars of Alexander." 
The three last are published by the Early English Text 
Society. Gower, in the ' Confessio Amantis," also makes 
use of episodes of the romance. Cockayne printed an A.S. 
version of the letter of Alexander. 

We have thus run down the line which brought the 
222 tale 



tale from Egypt to Chaucer's doors, so that he could sing 
that 

" Alisaundre's stone is so commune 

That everie wight that hath discrecionne 
Hath herde somewhat or al of his fortune ;" 

but we would not have the reader think that here is an 
exhaustive list, even along the line of descent we have 
traced, of the forms of the Alexander Story. Amongst 
other European versions are the German prose version 
(printed in 1478, Aug. Vind., fo.), made by John Hartlieb 
Moller, at the command of Albert, Duke of Bavaria. 
There are further, early Spanish, Italian, Norse, Swedish, 
Dutch, and Russian versions. An early rhyme, preserving 
an incident of the story, is printed by Schiller, "Thesaur. 
Antiq. Teuton," t. i., in the Rhythm, de S. Annone, xiv., xv. 

It hardly comes within our province to refer to other 
forms of the Alexander Story in Europe, except in the 
briefest possible way. A work often mistaken for the " De 
Proeliis " is the compilation of Radulphus of St. Albans, 
who compiled from Quintus Curtius and other authors a Life 
of Alexander. In 1236 William of Spoleto wrote a Life of 
Alexander in Latin elegiacs, a work quoted by Warton as 
of Aretinus Quilichinus. 

The Pseud-Callisthenes is often spoken of as the work 
of Simeon Seth, protovestiarius of the palace of Antiochus 
at Constantinople, and was in the last century considered 
a translation from the Persian about the year 1070. Other 
reasons apart, the dissimilarity between the 
Egyptian and the Persian forms of the story Independent 
would disprove this theory. Just as the Egyptians iffij?" 
represented Alexander as the son of the last of Arabic! 
their native kings, so the Persians represented 
him (in the popular legend) as the son of Darius (Codo- 
223 mannus 



mannus of the Kayanian dynasty), and of a daughter of 
Philip of Macedon, who was brought up by his grand- 
father, and afterwards overcame his elder brother. An 
independent tradition seems to have grown up among 
the Arabs, making him the son of an old woman, and born 
in obscurity, his name being originally Mazban (Lord of 
the Marches), son of Marzabah, descended from Yunan, 
son of Japhet (Burton, " Arabian Nights "). 

An early Arabic version of the Greek must have been made 
about the eighth century, from which the Syriac version we 

have at present was made, but unfortunately this 
Synac Ver- ^as not fog^ found. A Syriac version was made 

in the eighth century, of which parts exist ; but 
our most complete version is that made in the seventh- 
ninth century, and published with a version by Budge. Eight 
chapters of this are missing, and it is noticeable that the 
source of the translation did not contain the interpolations 
from Palladius (367431) which the Greek text now does. 
An Armenian version is attributed to Moses of Chorene 
(fifth century), who certainly knew the story. 

The story early passed into Hebrew. It is found in Jos. 
ben Gorion (lib. II. p. 94, ed. Oxon. 1704, 4to), and a 
pseudonymous translation of the work of Ptolemy, son of 
Lagos, by Samuel ben Judah ben Sibbon of Granada, 
appeared in the thirteenth century. (See a French trans- 
lation of a Hebrew version by J. Levi, " Revue des Etudes 
Juives," III. 241.) It is found in the Arabic of Said ibn 
Armenian Batrik (939 A - D -)> Patriarch of Alexandria (Euty- 
Hebrew, chus., ed. Pocock, Oxon. 1606), and in Gregory 
Arabic, Per- Abul Farag (1265). Mohl believed that Firdusi 
sian, Ethio- had an Arab author before him when writing 
pic, Coptic, Q f Alexander. Among the Persian writers may 
be named Firdusi (1024), Nizami (1203), an< ^ Mirkond 
224 (i497)- 



(1497)- An Ethiopia version will shortly be published 
by Budge ; and among others existing are versions in 
Coptic, Malay, and Siamese. Several detached incidents 
connect themselves with the story. Thus we may mention 
the " Iter ad Paradisum," twelfth century (of Talmudic 
origin), printed at Konigsberg, 1859 ; the Gog and Magog 
story, &c. 

The Egyptian king who figures in our story as Anecta- 
nabus is known to history as Necht-neb-f (Nakhtenephen). 
His mutilated statue and two inscriptions are in 
the British Museum. He was overthrown by Anectana- 
Ochus, and retreated into Ethiopia some four 
years after the birth of Alexander. We have already 
referred to the reputation for magic that attached to him 
early in the Christian era. The form Anectanabus is used 
as being the form (sometimes shortened to Anec) in which 
the name appears in Gower and the poet of " The Wars of 
Alexander." His history may be read in Wiedemann, 
" Aegyptische Geschichte," p. 716, or in Maspero, " Histoire 
du Peuples de 1'Orient," pp. 566-7. 

It is difficult to resist the conclusion that Plutarch 
had before him such a collection of tales as the 
" Pseud-Callisthenes," and was thinking of them ^J?J"* 
when he wrote his first pages of the Life of Alex- Alexander 
ander. The tradition of his birth from the visit story. 
of a dragon is accounted for by the habits of the 
Macedonian women, who are accustomed to pet large snakes. 
Justin XI. 2, 3, and XII. 16, and Solinus, cap. XV., also 
mention the tradition. Other points where Plutarch is 
contradicting the legend will readily suggest themselves. 
However, this is saying nothing more than that many of 
the stories must have grown up about the time of Alex- 
ander, or soon after his death. The filiation of Alexander 
225 p and 



and Ammon is one of these, the cartouche of Alexander 
being " Alexander, son of Amen." 

There has been no attempt to give a Greek character to 
the story. Even when the alteration of a letter would have 
made a good Greek name, as in the case of Pausanius, it 
has not been altered, and Sir Samson, Sir Balaan, speak for 
themselves. But, on the other hand, as the tales make him 
Christian or Pagan by turns, we have not tried to make 
him consistent In the same way, it was found impossible 
to leave out the visit to Jerusalem, which makes such a 
central point in the medieval stories. 

A word as to the illustrations not those of our book, 

but those of the veritable medieval illuminators. Among 

the chief treasures of the British Museum are its 

Medieval iH um i na ted copies of the Alexander Romance, 

Illuminated _ , , r\ j r> c- ^i. 

Copies notably 19. D. i and 20. r>. xx. borne others are 

older, but these are filled with most beautiful 
paintings of the incidents of the story. I may be allowed 
to mention one thing here which I have noticed. In each 
of them, at the beginning, is a sort of frontispiece divided 
into compartments, and labelled The Castle of Cairo, The 
Town of Babylon (with Anectanabus shown on the walls or 
elsewhere), The Garden of Balm, and The Mills of Babylon. 
Now, these seem to have no connection with the French 
prose translation in which they are found. Cairo is not 
mentioned in it, there is no story of a garden of balm, and 
there is no story of the mills of Babylon, which are large 
floating water-mills like those at Old London Bridge. 

FINISHED THIS THIRTIETH DAY OF MAY 
1894 BY ME, ROBERT STEELE, AND PRINTED 
BY BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO., LONDON, 
FOR DAVID NUTT IN THE STRAND. 




A nri n o -?