I could do was to surprise him at the beginning of some week while he was at Burj Mheish; for there is a fascinating secret in his life! Otherwise, what is the meaning of that tenderness toward the two little orphans? And that weekly journey from the ruins of an ancient tower on the shore to the remains of a temple in the high mountains! And why this madness and this seclusion? So I resolved to seize the nearest opportunity by which I might uncover the hidden things of the madman of the mountain!

I do not know what it was that moved me to bring these imaginings of mine into the realm of deed. One evening I boarded a car, and it carried me to the neighborhood of Burj Mheish, and there I lay in wait a while until darkness reigned, then walked toward it through the fields. I shall not conceal from the reader that I was in great fear, my soul trembling — especially as the pitch darkness surrounding me added dread and solemnity to the place, and I dared not light my way with my electric torch lest I rouse the madman's fears and he pounce upon me, or flee from me.

Many a time I nearly turned back, mocking myself for undertaking such hardships for the sake of seeing a madman — when the Asfuriyeh is full of his like! But some inner impulse, whose nature I do not know, kept driving me on; so I mastered my fears and drew near cautiously, stumbling over the jutting rocks and scattered stones and wounding thorns, now falling into a hollow, now colliding with a little rise — until I felt something round strike me on the head in that pitch darkness. Terror crept into me more than before, and I stood in my place dumbstruck, regretting my rashness. I felt my head, my fear having made me fancy that the madman had thrown a stone at me and split it — until after a moment I became aware of the bat hovering above me and knew the cause of the blow, and my senses returned to me a little.

There is nothing more dreadful than standing in pitch darkness when night has settled and nature has grown still; a man, hearing no whisper of any human being, fancies himself the only one left on the face of the earth — but for the continuous roar of the sea, and the sounds of the various insects whistling a whistle that adds dread and effect to the night. A continuous stillness in which the ears, worn out by the din of the city, are steeped; it beguiles them and they find rest in it; and there returns to a man that primal, instinctive feeling within him, born of the days when man roamed the forests and thickets, fighting their elements as they fought him, attacking their beasts as they attacked him.

And something returns to him of the illusory beliefs that science has overcome (that is, if he is an educated man): he dreads the phantoms of the night and imagines them leagued about him, and almost believes in the ghoul, the phoenix, the jinn, and the devils. How much more, then, if he is an ignorant man, whose ignorance fills the void with terror and delusion, with demons and spirits!

I tried my utmost to master my emotions, and began recalling to memory the reasonable experiences of the past, that they might drive away these whisperings of

the night; and while I was thus, my nerves taut and wary — the least surprise ready to force me to leap and flee back the way I came — suddenly I heard a voice from within the dread, desolate tower, saying with a laugh:

— Welcome... welcome... you have returned, O Adonai... Behold, generations have passed while I awaited you!

I shall not conceal from you that I ran back twenty paces in terror and panic, so strong was the effect of the madman's sudden voice in that night. Nor did I stop until I heard him laughing aloud and saying:

— Do not be afraid, O Adonai... Have I become so frightening! Have you forgotten your old friend Eshmun?! Come near me... and fear no harm... Welcome, my friend!..

That was the last arrow in the quiver: it proved his madness to me, if any doubt of it still remained in me. Adonai? Eshmun? Where had I read those names? They are old, very old; their history goes back thousands of years! Could his madness, I wondered, be of that kind by which a man imagines himself clothed in another's person — like the man in the Asfuriyeh who claims he is the Emperor of Germany! Adonai! Eshmun! Two names that vanished thousands of years ago! The course of my thoughts and my fear was cut short by his drawing near me while I stood fast in my place, curiosity having overcome my panic! And behold, he said to me:

— Light your electric torch, that you may see your way. I can see it in your hand despite the pitch darkness, for my eyes have grown used to the coal-black of night, like these bats that keep my solitude company! Darkness is my only light!

He stretched out his hand, wanting to shake mine; fear crept into me a second time, and I glanced behind me, lit my way of a sudden, and leapt onto a nearby rock, shouting at him, the hair of my head standing on end:

— Do not come near me! Beware!

Then I aimed the light at his face, and he put his hand over his eyes and said:

— Shame on you, O Adonai, that I should meet you after these thousands of years and you treat me thus! Have you forgotten how we were bosom friends together? Have you forgotten my beloved Quds, the splendid gazelle in the thickets of Lebanon, slender among the flowers of sweet herbs and daisies, narcissus of the wild and lily of the valley! Have you forgotten how we used to walk together beneath the shade of the trees, in the presence of Pythagoras the sage? Do not be afraid. Draw near me, my friend, for the time of meeting has come.

I marveled at these contradictions in his speech; yet they bespoke abundant culture and a beautiful, poetic tongue. And Pythagoras, the famous mathematician, the ancient philosopher who died thousands of years ago! What does this madman know of him? He is cultivated, then, and learned! So my alarm began to lessen a little, and I began questioning him from a distance about various

scholarly and literary subjects — and behold, my surmises were confirmed, and behold, I saw before me a man. Deranged? Yes! But without doubt one