The Story of Alexander

by Robert Steele

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 dash 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 example 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 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 watchmen 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 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 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 drawbridge 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 Alexander was glad of heart, and he besought him to 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 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.”