"Gaspard! Indeed, then have I seen thee! Look at me, my friend; dost
thou not remember me? My name is Melchoir. Dost thou not recall that
time, how long I know not, when thou and I and Balthazar followed a
star which led us to a little Jewish hamlet, thou bearing gold and I
frankincense, and Balthazar myrrh? Dost thou not remember how, on the
long journey thither, we talked about the young Prince, whom we
expected to find in a royal palace, and how at last when we reached
the village, following the star, we were led not to a palace but to a
little inn, and not even to a room within the inn, but to the
stable-yard, where we found a sweet-faced woman bending over a babe
cradled in a manger; and standing near, a sturdy peasant, proud and
happy, whose name was Joseph? Dost thou not remember, too, that when
we had recovered from our surprise, we left our gifts and greetings,
and went our way as men who had been dreaming? Gaspard, dost thou not
remember?"

[Sidenote: And Wanderings in Many Lands]

And Gaspard, looking now intently in the other's face, replied: "Yes,
Melchoir, I remember thee, and I remember the journey of which thou
hast spoken better than I remember aught else. Neither have I
forgotten the surprise and disappointment with which we came to the
place whither the star led us; nor how, after leaving our gifts, we
went away as in a dream; and, Melchoir, I have been dreaming ever
since. Even here hast thou found me in a dream of perplexity. I am
still Gaspard, the wandering magician; for how many years I know not,
I have wandered up and down these lands of Europe. I have crossed the
seas; in every place I have sought to find the kingdom over which we
were told this young prince was one day to reign. Dost thou not