Budge_Ethiopic_Alexander

EL-KHIDR CONCEALS HIS EXPERIENCES. 2jl
"hold, I entreat thee by thyself, and I tell thee, more-
"over, that victory over their enemies shall be theirs
"for ever." The angel said, "Behold, thou wouldst
"ask a great thing."
Then El-khidr took the stone {or gem), and re-
turned to his friends, but he did not tell themMatun and
"
what he had seen of the Well [of the Water of meer
Life]. And it came to pass that as the Two-horned
was coming along the road which El-khidr had
trodden, he turned out of the right path away from
the Well of the Water [of Life]. And as he was
searching for the Well of the Water of Life, be-
hold he saw the stone shining [in the darkness];
now it had two eyes which sent forth rays of
light' Then the Two -horned cried out unto the
wise men, and he spake unto them, saying, "Think
"ye that there be anything [heavier] than [this]
' This story is found in the Arabic text of Lidzbarski
{Zeitsc/irift, torn. VIII. p. 304). Alexander weighed the stone
against every other substance on the earth, but it outweighed
them all, and finally asked El-khidr if he understood the signi-
fication of the stone. El-khidr said Yes, it is typical of thine
eye, for nothing in this world satisfies it, just as nothing on
earth will outweigh this stone. Thus saying he stretched
out his hand and took a handful of dust, and threw it in
one pan of the scales, putting the gem in the other; the dust
went down, and the gem kicked the beam. El-khidr then
said, "This is the type of thine eye which nothing but dust
will satisfy'' />^ ^^ Ll^J^.s:^i i \3 ,^_y^ .^^o^s J^rLU 6o^_^ 5.^^
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