“From whom?”
“From Aquila, my father’s disciple.”
“Can you calculate what he will learn from the stars in the night preceding the thirtieth of December, as to the destinies of a man who was born in that night, and whose horoscope I possess?”
“I can only answer a conditional yes to that question.”
“What should prevent your answering positively?”
“Unforeseen appearances in the heavens.”
“Are such signs common?”
“No, they are rare, on the contrary.”
“But perhaps my fortune is not a common one-and I beg of you to calculate on Hadrian’s method what the heavens will predict on that night for the man whose horoscope my slave shall deliver to you early to-morrow morning.”
“I will do so with pleasure.”