SLEW THE BASILISK.
Few 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 pomegranates, 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 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 Alexander 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 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
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 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 Darkness, 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 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 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 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
mountains, 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 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
suddenly 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 us 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 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 whatsoever 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 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 Northward 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.
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