Budge_Ethiopic_Alexander

A CHRISTIAN ROMANCE. 467
made with cunning, and the works of brass which
he had had brought out from the land of Japhet;
and he made in the ground there a hollow for them,
[p. 282] and for the fixtures, and the wheels, and
the fittings, and the works, even as he had seen
them originally. And he sealed the brazen gate
with three seals, and he laid three enchantments
upon it so that no man whosoever he might be
should be able to work against it successfully, either
by arts and crafts or by mechanical contrivances;
and he plastered with bitumen, both inside and The brazen
outside, the works of the gate and the musical seaie'l
figure which played tunes by day and by night.
And it came to pass that when the serpents heard
this God Almighty sent terror into them and they
fled to the ends of the earth; and it came to pass
that whenever they returned to gnaw away the
mountains with their teeth they heard the sound
of the trumpet, and they imagined that it was [that
of] Alexander the king. And there they remain
unto this day and unto this very hour by the Will
of God Almighty, [and there will they remain] until
His work appeareth at the time which He willeth;
but His beneficence and love for men have appeared
by the hand of His prophet and servant Alexander
the king, and He shewed him the time when these
nations should go forth.
CHAPTER VI.
And the Spirit [of God Almighty spake unto
Alexander, saying: "The time of My day hath