Love in a Bottle by Antal Szerb Read Free Book Online Page A

help the little Princess.
    A delegation was quickly drawn up, with the Archilogothetos at its head, with instructions to seek out the White Magus, if he were still alive, up in the Carpathian mountains.
    The emissaries had to battle against many obstacles on the way. Melting snow had washed away the roads that ran between the peaks; the Danube was in flood, and crossing it proved fraught with danger. In the forests of the snow-covered lowlands wild Slavic tribesmen lay in wait for them with poisoned arrows.
    At last they arrived at the permanent snowfields. They had come to a terrain into which no one had ever before ventured . This abode of tranquillity and silence had remained undisturbed in the shadow of the snow for many thousandsof years. Those of the party who were versed in the lore of dreams and omens realised, trembling, that they were now very close to the White Magus.
    One day they came to a stream beneath whose waters drifted strange flowers of frozen crystal, and they knew that this must be the mountain on whose peak he lived. They continued their painful journey upwards, picking their way between fields of snow and rivers of ice. One by one the mules collapsed. The weakest members of the party became ill or suffered from terrifying hallucinations, and the group began to break up.
    It was already night when its remaining members reached the Magus’ ice gardens. In the astonishingly bright light of the stars they could see across enormous distances to the other peaks. Immense fields of ice stretched out before them, gleaming palely in the darkness. The cold was terrible. A blue light emanating from the palace itself flickered back and forth across the garden.
    When they reached the top of the slippery stairway the Magus appeared at his gate to greet them. His austere, distinguished face made all petty thoughts seem shameful, and their bent, weary backs straightened as if under a reproach.
    After listening attentively while the Archilogothetos explained the reason for their coming, he promised to visit the little Princess and do everything in his power to help her. It would be hard indeed to leave his astronomical tower and return to the bustling, petty-minded world from which he had grown so remote, but he respected both the moral code that required him to help all who turned to him andthe law that made the Emperor the ruler of the world. While he remained in that world he would always follow his duty.
    However, on that particular night certain very special events were about to be played out in the heavens, events to be witnessed only once in a hundred years, and which set the pattern for the next hundred, and he felt obliged to spend that one last night in his tower. Towards dawn, with a heavy heart, he bade farewell to the eternal stars.
    The next day they set out for Byzantium. With the Magus at their side, the road was now very easy. He knew of pathways that led between the snowfields, and the Danube meekly allowed his longboat to ride on its back. Along the way he gladly dispensed advice to all who sought his counsel, treating everyone with the same kindliness and respect.
    When they reached Drinapolis word came that Princess Zoë was on her deathbed. Alarmed and concerned, the Magus increased the pace of the journey. But by the time they arrived at the city walls of Byzantium the bells were already tolling. The Princess was dead.
    The Emperor Constantine who received the Magus was a man broken by grief.
    “If you had arrived just a few hours earlier, you might have saved her!”
    “I am to blame,” replied the crestfallen Magus. “If I had set out immediately I would have been here in time. Eternal shame upon my head!”
    He entered the room where the body lay and examined it carefully. When he returned his expression was even more sombre. 
    “I do not believe I could have helped her while she was alive,” he declared. “Your daughter must have been a very special person, my lord. It takes a most