the king despatched him to find out the meaning of his ominous vision. He
set forth on his mule, and met a countryman riding. "Carry me," said the
officer, "or I will carry thee." The peasant was amazed. "But our asses
carry us both," he said. "Thou tiller of the earth," said the officer,
"thou art earth, and eatest earth. There is snow on the hill," continued
the officer, and as the month was Tammuz, the peasant laughed. They
passed a road with wheat growing on each side. "A horse blind in one eye
has passed here," said the officer, "loaded with oil on one side, and
with vinegar on the other." They saw a field richly covered with
abounding corn, and the peasant praised it. "Yes," said the officer, "if
the corn is not already eaten." They went on a little further and saw a
lofty tower. "Well fortified," remarked the peasant. "Fortified without,
if not ruined within," replied the officer. A funeral passed them. "As to
this old man whom they are burying," said the officer, "I cannot tell
whether he is alive or dead." And the peasant thought his companion mad
to make such unintelligible remarks. They neared a village where the
peasant lived, and he invited the officer to stay with him overnight.

The peasant, in the dead of the night, told his wife and daughters of the
foolish things the officer had said, though he looked quite wise. "Nay,"
said the peasant's youngest daughter, a maiden of fifteen years, "the man
is no fool; thou didst not comprehend the depth of his meaning. The
tiller of the earth eats food grown from the earth. By the 'snow on the
hill' is meant thy white beard (on thy head); thou shouldst have
answered, 'Time caused it.' The horse blind in one eye he knew had
passed, because he saw that the wheat was eaten on one side of the way,
and not on the other; and as for its burden, he saw that the vinegar had
parched the dust, while the oil had not. His saying, 'Carry me, or I will
carry thee,' signifies that he who beguiles the way with stories and
proverbs and riddles, carries his companion, relieving him from the