ONE LION PVTTETH TO FLIGHT MANY DEER
CHAPTER II. OF OLYMPIAS AND ANECTANABUS, OF THE MAGIC HE WROUGHT, AND OF THE BIRTH OF ALEXANDER.
It fell on a day that as Anectanabus was travelling through the land of Macedon, he came to the chief city of the land, and there his yeomen took lodging for him, and he thought to dwell there some days, for the city was fair and well placed on a fertile plain, and it was in the month of May. And when he talked to the men of the town he heard say that Philip, the king of the land, had gone out to war, but that he had left there his queen Olympias to govern the folk, and that the next day was, as it happened, the feast of her birthday. Now this queen had custom on feast days to ride out into the country near, and there sports and tournaments were held, and all folk rejoiced before her. So Anectanabus thought in his mind that he would go out and look upon her, for he had heard that Olympias was the fairest woman in Greece,—nay, in all the world.
Early next day after meat, the queen mounted a white mule and rode through the city to the plain, with her wise men and her maids about her, and much she joyed to see the fair show that the city made, for everywhere that she came the town was hung with rich hangings and embroidery, and every man was eager to see the queen, and at all corners were bands of maidens singing and beating drums and timbrels. So the queen rode through the city, and when she came to the plain, each man did his best in the sports, if by any means he could gain a prize from her hands. Among the crowd of men on the plain was Anectanabus, and he looked not at one thing or another but only at the queen, so that at the last she turned and saw him, and because he was unlike all other there in clothing and in bearing she took notice of him and saw at once that he was a stranger: and since he looked ever at her face nor looked away when she turned to him, at the end she sent men to him to know who he was. So he came and did her reverence, and she asked him who he was and what he would, and he told her that he was a clerk, and that he went from place to place, doing the will of the great gods: and Olympias bade him come to her at the palace.
Now every day the queen sat on the royal seat in the great hall of the palace, and men came to her and spoke before her of good and bad, and among the rest next day came Anectanabus. And as the queen looked upon him, he bowed him down, and said, “Hail, fair Queen of Macedon;” and the queen noted his speech, for he spoke as one that was a king and not as a clerk, though he were clothed in weeds of drab and went with shaven crown. So she made him to sit down before her on a silk-covered seat, and she began to question him full fairly, whether he were of Egypt, and what manner of folk were in that land, and what was the learning of its wise men—for she knew by his tongue that he was an outlander, and be like an Egyptian. And Anectanabus answered her and told her of the land of Egypt, and of its wonders, and of its wisdom, how some men told the meaning of dreams, and whether they were true or false, and when they should come to pass; some men understood the song of the birds and the voice of beasts; some could tell of the birth of children, and of the length of life; some could declare the secret counsels of men, which never were spoken to any one; and some could read the course of the stars and the signs of heaven, and say what shall come to pass in few years’ time—“and, fair Queen,” continued he, “I have so clear a knowledge of all these arts, that I can prove myself a master in each of them.” So saying, he leaned forward from his seat, and stared in a study, still as a stone, at her face. Then said the queen, “What art thou musing on, Master; why dost thou sit so still?” “I am thinking, O Queen,” said he, “on the words of my god, who long ago told me that I should sit in a strange land an exile, and see the fairest queen on earth.” Then the queen prayed him to show her how he sought out these things, and he drew out of his bosom a little box with seven pieces of ivory in it, and he showed her how by casting these he could tell what should happen to men, and answer questions about their deeds. And he showed her seven precious stones, on each of which a wondrous figure was carved, which preserved men who wore them from all harm. And then he drew out his table of ivory with three rings upon it, by which he read the stars: the first ring was of brass, and on it were marked the twelve houses of fate; the second was of bright silver, and on it were marked wondrous beasts, the twelve signs of the heavens; and the third was of red gold, and on it were marked the sun and the moon; and as he showed them he told her the course of the stars, and how they governed the life of men.
