The Dragon of the Ishtar Gate

Myron, toying with his own plain pottery cup, glanced to where Kothar sat, eating little and watching the flitting forms of the naked maidens with glum disapproval. "He is a man of austere, ascetic nature, who hopes that his abstinence will gain him great magical powers. I think he is shocked by your conviviality."

"Bes is the god of mirth and merriment," said Jed-hor, "so it is only meet that we honor him with a gleesome party. When a man controls his lusts as strictly as your friend appears to do, the reason is not that he is strong, but that they are weak. He has not touched his fish, poor abject! We serve it to laymen and foreigners, albeit the rules of die priesthood do not let us eat it ourselves."

"Syrians do not eat fish either," said Myron. "As the five of us all come of different stock, each of us has some-thing different that he cannot eat. Kothar will not eat fish or pigeon; Shimri will not consume pork."

"We eat no pork here," said Jed-hor, "save at the feast of Osiris and Khons."

"And you, sirrah," said Bessas, looking around past the priest at Myron, "won't drink healthy and delicious milk! So scoff not at others' foibles."

"Nor would you eat that savory octopus they served us in Marath," retorted Myron.

"I, eat that hideous sea monster? Ugh! It reminded me of that demon they kept in the pool in the temple in Takshasila."

Jed-hor commented: "That which seems but meet and proper to us may appear odd to our friends, eccentric to strangers, and barbarous to foreigners. Will you spend a few days in seeing the sights of Opet ere you proceed?"

. Myron gave the priest a smile that was somewhat forced, because the scented grease, trickling clown his face and neck, had begun to spot his only decent shirt. "What sights do you suggest, sir? This temple seems to me as wonderful as anything I have seen, from Persia to Egypt."

"Right and true a million times! No land surpasses Khem for monuments of antiquity. Ere you depart you must see our Hall of Priestly Statues. About twenty-five years ago, one of your clever Milesians—what was his name? Hek something."

"Hekataios the geographer?"

"I believe so. Thinking to impress us with the ancience of his tribal traditions and the splendor of his ancestry, he began to boast of his genealogy, asserting that his sixteenth ancestor in the direct line had been a god. So my father, who was then First Prophet, led this man into the hall and showed him three hundred and forty-five wooden statues of First Prophets, every one the son of his predecessor."

"What did Hekataios say to that?"

"Nought. What could he say? However, for the greatest sights—after this temple—you must cross the river to the City of the Dead, where stand many temples and palaces from the great days of Egypt. There the kings of yore lie buried—or rather, there they did lie buried until the villainous grave robbers plundered them." Jed-hor's beady eyes glared at Myron, like those of an angry snake. "If you would fain lay up credit with the gods and with all men of decent feelings, use your influence at the Persian court to have these tombs properly guarded. Now the satrap sends a couple of lazy spearmen to patrol, and these knaves find a sheltered spot and pass the night in drinking, gaming, and sleeping, allowing the accursed gangs to commit their vile depredations with impunity. May Mertseger sink her fangs into them! But I must not spoil your feast by ill-timed complaints, my friend. Whither are you bound?"

"Your Holiness, our destination is the sources of the Nile. Now, I am familiar with the tale of the two conical mountains, each with a fountain on top. But what more can you tell me about Kush and the unknown lands beyond?"

"Only that the pious priests of Amon of Meroê guide the government of Kush in its courses. Every century or so they send a legate hither to make certain that they still perform the immemorial rituals aright. I understand that they keep an admirable custom there. When the king begins to lose his powers, or if he turns out to be a bad man, the priests command him to slay himself, and this hi invariably does. Who shall say that the Kushites are less enlightened than we? Now, man of Miletos, devise me of the court of King Xerxes. How fares the king in health and spirits?"

"That were difficult to say. The king leads a secluded life, rarely seen by such as me save at reviews and ceremonies ..."

Myron went on at some length about Xerxes. Although he was careful not to say anything that might be held against him, Jed-hor wrinkled up his aged face and said:

"Given time, pride and self-love can turn all the virtues into vices, as water dissolves a lump of salt."

Myron tried to drag the conversation back to things that concerned the expedition. He asked about the dragon of the Ishtar Gate, taking one of his sketches from his scrip to show Jed-hor. But the priest replied:

"Those lands harbor many strange beasts, surely. But for the details I answer not. Animals are out of my ken. Now, Master Myron, tell me of the king's sons Darius and Artaxerxes. Live they in amity or in enmity with each other and with their royal sire?"

Myron told of the characters of the princes, and Jed-hor commented: "Self-interest, acting in divergent directions, can in time make the bitterest foes of the firmest friends and the closest kinsmen."