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And an old and evil-visaged man who was passing by called
out, and said, "I will buy him for that price," and, when he had paid
the price, he took the Star-Child by the hand and led him into the city.
And after that they had gone through many streets they came to
a little door that was set in a wall that was covered with a
pomegranate tree. And the old man touched the door with a ring of
graved jasper and it opened, and they went down five steps of brass
into a garden filled with black poppies and green jars of burnt clay.
And the old man took then from his turban a scarf of figured silk, and
bound with it the eyes of the Star-Child, and drave him in front of
him. And when the scarf was taken off his eyes, the Star- Child found
himself in a dungeon, that was lit by a lantern of horn.
And the old man set before him some mouldy bread on a
trencher and said, "Eat," and some brackish water in a cup and said,
"Drink," and when he had eaten and drunk, the old man went out,
locking the door behind him and fastening it with an iron chain.
And on the morrow the old man, who was indeed the subtlest
of the magicians of Libya and had learned his art from one who dwelt
in the tombs of the Nile, came in to him and frowned at him, and said,
"In a wood that is nigh to the gate of this city of Giaours there are
three pieces of gold. One is of white gold, and another is of yellow
gold, and the gold of the third one is red. To-day thou shalt bring me
the piece of white gold, and if thou bringest it not back, I will beat
thee with a hundred stripes. Get thee away quickly, and at sunset I
will be waiting for thee at the door of the garden. See that thou
bringest the white gold, or it shall go ill with thee, for thou art my
slave, and I have bought thee for the price of a bowl of sweet wine."
And he bound the eyes of the Star-Child with the scarf of figured silk,
and led him through the house, and through the garden of poppies,
and up the five steps of brass. And having opened the little door with
his ring he set him in the street.
And the Star-Child went out of the gate of the city, and came to
the wood of which the Magician had spoken to him.
Now this wood was very fair to look at from without, and
seemed full of singing birds and of sweet-scented flowers, and the
Star-Child entered it gladly. Yet did its beauty profit him little, for
wherever he went harsh briars and thorns shot up from the ground
and encompassed him, and evil nettles stung him, and the thistle
pierced him with her daggers, so that he was in sore distress. Nor