you have heard me so far, o king. know now that the one to whom i was apprenticed was an enchanter. his name is zabulun, and in all the world there are only three enchanters more powerful than he. the first is chiron the centaur, who is half man and half horse, and who taught achilles and made him the greatest of the princes who had gone against troy. the second is hermes trismegistus, the wise egyptian. and the third is merlin the enchanter, whose home is in an island that is west of your western island.
when the night came on, zabulun took the steering gear into his hands, and he steered the ship by a star that he alone knew. when the morning came we saw on the sea all around us the masts and the spars and the timbers of ships that had come too near the magnetberg, and that had lost their nails and bolts, and had become loosened timbers on the waters. those on the ship were greatly afraid, and the captain walked up and[pg 26] down, pulling at his beard. the night came on, and again my master took the steering gear into his own hands and steered the ship by a star that he alone knew of. and when the morning came there were no masts and spars of ships, and no loosened timbers afloat on the waters. the captain laughed and made all on the ship rejoice that they had passed the dangerous neighborhood of the magnetberg—that mountain of loadstone that drew the iron out of ships as a magnet draws pins on a table.
we came to urth. the great cargo that was on the ship was for the king of urth, and it was taken off and sent over the mountain to the king’s city in packs that the sailors carried on their backs. then the captain gave the ship over to my master to sail it where he would.
he did not come upon the land nor did he look upon the country at all. but when the last pack had been carried off the ship, he said to me:
“you will have to do this, my first command to you. go on the land. stay by a pool that is close to the forest. birds will come down to that[pg 27] pool—birds of the whiteness of swans, but smaller. set snares and catch some of these birds, not less than four, and bring them to me uninjured.”
and i went on the land and came to the pool that was close to the forest. and there i saw the birds that were of the whiteness of swans, but smaller. i watched them for a while so that i might know their ways. then i made a crib of rods and set it to catch the birds. one went under the crib, and i pulled the string and caught the first bird. and then, hours afterward, i caught another. and waiting and watching very carefully, i caught a third. the fourth bird was wary, and i feared i should not catch it, for night was coming down and the birds were making flocks to fly away. one remained near the crib, and its neck was stretched toward it. but then it shook its wings, and i thought it was going to fly to the others. it went under the crib. then i pulled the string and caught the fourth bird.
i brought the birds to the ship and my master gave them grains to feed on. at night we sailed away. my master held the steering gear while it[pg 28] was dark, but when light came he gave it to me to hold. then he unloosed one of the birds. it flew in the middle distance, winging slowly, and remaining a long time in sight. he told me to hold the course of the ship to the flight of the bird.
at night he took the steering gear again into his hands and held the ship on her course. in the daylight he unloosed another bird and bade me steer by its flight. and this was done for two more days.
the morning after the last of the white birds had been freed my master bade me look out for land. i saw something low upon the water. “it is the inaccessible island,” said my master, “where i have my dwelling and my working place.” he steered the ship to where the water flowed swiftly into a great cave that was like a dragon’s mouth. in that cave there was a place for the mooring of ships. the enchanter moored the ship in its place, and then he took me up the rocky landing place.
there was a flight of great steps leading from[pg 29] the landing place—it was in a cave as i have told you—up to the light of day. there were a thousand wide black steps in that flight. the enchanter took into his hands the black staff that was shaped as two serpents twisting together, and he took me with him up the stairway.
we came out on a level place and i saw a high castle before me. there was no wall around the castle, and there was no gate to be opened. but when i came near it i found i could take no step onward. i went up, and i went down, and i tried to go onward, but i could not. then zabulun the enchanter said to me:
“around this castle of mine is a wall of air. no one can see the wall, but no one can pass it. and a bridge of air crosses my wall of air. come now with me and i will take you over the bridge.”
as the wall of air that went round the enchanter’s castle was not to be seen, neither was the bridge that went across the wall of air. but i saw my master mounting up and walking across as on a bridge. and although i saw[pg 30] nothing before me nor beneath me, i mounted upon something and walked across something. following him i went downward and into the courtyard of the castle.
within that courtyard there was a horse of brass with a giant man of brass upon it, the giant man holding a great bow in his hands. my master said to me, “if one came over the bridge of air without my authority, the arrow of that bow would be loosened, and he who came across the bridge would be slain by this giant man of brass.” we went within the castle. in the hall were benches and tables, and there were statues holding torches in their hands standing by the wall. also in that hall there was the statue of a woman holding a dart in her hand. when my master came within, the statue that held the dart flung it, and the dart struck a gleaming carbuncle that was in the wall. lights came into the torches that the statues held, and all the hall was lighted up.
i sat with my master at a table, and the statues moved to us, bringing us wine and fruits. we ate and drank, and afterward a golden figure came to[pg 31] the enchanter, and, sitting down before him, played a game of chess with him.
the next day my master showed me more of the wonders of the inaccessible island. no ships came near, for there was no way to come to that island except by following the birds that were of the whiteness of a swan and that flew always in the middle distance. on this island zabulun the enchanter had lived for longer than the lifetimes of many men, studying magic and all the ways of enchantment. and for three years i, eean, the son of the fisherman of the western island, stayed with him, learning such things as were proper for one apprenticed to an enchanter to know.
