We found a ship, and I paid for the voyage out of the riches I had, and we came to Egypt. The[Pg 117] ring upon my hand showed that we were now far away from the one who pursued us, from Zabulun the Enchanter.

But we two lost our way in Egypt, and we wandered about, reaching nowhere. Then Zabulun gained upon us again, as the ring showed. We hid in a village by the river, and we stayed there until the season when the cranes fly overhead on their way to Ethiopia.

Then we went from that village, and we came again upon the way that had been lost. We followed that way and we came to the great pyramid in which Hermes Trismegistus had his cell. Down into the deepest chamber we went, and we came before Hermes the Egyptian.

He sat before a table that was of diamond and that had wonderful figures upon it. He was youthful, and light seemed to come from his forehead. As wonderful as the eyes of Chiron was the brow of Hermes Trismegistus.

We knelt at the threshold of his cell, and I said, “O thrice-great Hermes! We have been in the cave of Chiron the Centaur, and we have seen the[Pg 118] long-lived Ph?nix burn herself to ashes, and come out of the ashes more radiant than before. Chiron was kind to us, and he sent us to you, O thrice-great Hermes. We are pursued by an Enchanter whose name is Zabulun, and we have come to you to pray you to tell us how we may make ourselves free from him.”

Hermes Trismegistus said, “I know of Zabulun, the wrong-doing Enchanter. But what have I to do with one who is so removed from wisdom?”

I prayed him again, saying, “Save us from this wrong-doing Enchanter who would destroy us. He has come near us often, and he will assuredly overtake us if you do not give us help, O thrice-great Hermes.”

Then Hermes said, “Near the Western Island there dwells an Enchanter whose name is Merlin. Not one of the great Enchanters is he, nor like to Chiron or myself, for he chooses to love rather than to be wise. He is nearer to Zabulun than we are, but yet he is not a wrong-doing Enchanter. Go to Merlin and say to him that you have been within the cell of Hermes Trismegistus, and that[Pg 119] you have heard from him the answer to the riddle that the Sphinx asks, and Merlin will show you how you both may be saved from Zabulun, the wrong-doing Enchanter.

“But to come to Merlin’s island, which is west of the Western Island, you will have first to go amongst the Atlantes, who live by the Western Ocean. They eat no living thing and they never have dreams. When you come to them, seek out the wisest amongst them, and ask him to tell you of Merlin, and of how you may come to him.

“To come to the Atlantes you will have to pa............