Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 29, 1918.djvu/207

Rh Creator in an inaccessible position on the confines of the world. Here they await in peace and quiet the day of their judgment and resurrection, after which they shall reign for ever with their Creator. These spirits, anxious for the salvation of humanity, and wishing to preserve your happiness, have destined this stone as a warning to you to curb the unseemly desires of your ambition. Remember that such insatiable desires merely end by enslaving a man, consuming him with cares and depriving him of all peace. Had you remained contented with the inheritance of your own kingdom you would have reigned in peace and tranquillity, but now, not even yet satisfied with the conquest of enormous foreign possessions and wealth, you are weighed down with cares and danger. This stone by its nature is symbolical of your condition. In shape and appearance it resembles the human eye, which, as long as it is possessed of vital spark, seethes with desires growing more and more insatiable in accordance as they are satisfied, as we saw in the first experiments with the balance. Once, however, the vital spark is removed, and the eye is consigned to the earth, it ceases to desire or require anything and is good for nothing. Wherefore the lightest feather, which is of some small use, was easily able to outweigh this stone when covered with dust. Therefore, O King, lord of the world, this stone warns you to renounce the pursuit of your ambitious designs and to harbour thoughts of prudence."

Alexander dismisses the old man with rewards, and casting aside his former ambition returns slowly to Babylon, where he meets his fate, poisoned by a retainer, after the fashion foretold to him in India by the trees of the sun and moon.