Budge_Ethiopic_Alexander

ALEXANDER'S EPISTLE TO ARISTOTLE. 1 55
two large birds—now the bodies of these birds a Greek-
were like unto two towers—and their faces werewrd.
like unto the faces of men. And one of them
spake unto me in the Greek language, and said,'
"O thou Two-horned, behold, thou hast trodden
"[p. 86] a land which before thee no man hath
"trodden, but fear not, neither be afraid, for shall
"it not be profitable unto thee? But wherefore
"wilt thou not turn back? For, behold, thou hast
"conquered Darius, the king of the kings of the
"world, and, moreover, thou hast vanquished Porus,
"the king of India, who was lord over demons
"and devils, and who had gained the mastery over
"the ends of the world. Now, therefore, turn back Bids Aiex-
"from this place whithersoever thou wishest to go,^rn.
"for it will be better for thee [so to do]."
And when I heard these words I accepted the
advice, and I turned back and marched to a vast
and mighty mountain, than which a larger mountain
I had never seen, And, behold, upon this mountain The tempie
a temple had been built, and the height thereofrountain.
^
was one hundred cubits, and when I saw it I
marvelled greatly at the building thereof. Then
I went round about among these high mountains,
and I examined [this] temple which had been built
in them, and it shone brightly on all sides like
' In the Syriac one bird says, "0 Alexander, thou art
treading the land of the gods", and the other, "Alexander,
the victory over Darius and the subjection of king Porus are
enough for thee".
U2