threshold my men stopped in a sort of panic. Seeing they were uncertain what to do, I strove to banish their hesitation by encouraging them to play the man, advising them to keep a strict watch over themselves, lest they be tempted to touch anything in the house they were about to enter, of whatsoever kind it might be, and however delightful or pleasant to look at. Further, I bade them be neither covetous nor fearful; neither desire what was pleasant nor dread what was awful to look upon, though the place might be filled with both that which was delightful and that which was terrible. 'For if you put out your hands to take,' said I, 'they will suddenly become bound fast, and you will be unable to tear them away from the thing you have touched, and they will become knotted up with it, as by bonds that no power on earth may untie.' Then I bade them enter in order, four at a time. Broder and Buchi first tried to go in, the King and I followed them, and the others came behind us in ordered ranks. Inside, the house was but a ruin, desolate, and filled with a strong and horrible reek. It seemed to teem with everything that could disgust the eye or mind; the doorposts were begrimed with the soot of ages, the walls were plastered with dirt, the roof was one mass of spearheads, numberless snakes crawled along the floor. Such an unwonted sight struck terror into us, and the smell that filled the palace assailed our very brains. Bloodless phantasmal monsters huddled on the iron seats, and on the thresholds hideous doorkeepers stood at watch.
13
