"And may I drink red wine with Praxiteles, or with Catullus beside his lake?"
"Certainly, if you know enough Latin and Greek, and can pronounce them intelligently."
"And may I live with Thais or Rhodope, or some wild Assyrian queen?"
"Unless they are otherwise employed, certainly."
"Ah, Wind of Time," I continued with a sigh, "we men of this age are rotten with booklore, and with a yearning for the past. And wherever I asked to go among those ancient days, I should soon get dissatisfied, and weary your bright wings. I will be no pillar of salt, a sterile portent in a sterile desert. Carry me forward, Wind of Time. What is there going to be?"
The Wind put his hand over my eyes.
I
AT BIRMINGHAM TOWN HALL
"This is our first stopping place," said a voice from the points of flame.