After breakfast, Lafe wandered about the cave.

"I believe my line is supposed to be: you will find the way out when it is time for you to go. It happens to be true."

Lafe looked at him with suspicion. "You mean I’m a prisoner."

"Now my line is: "’Only of yourself.’ Which also happens to be true."

Lafe felt his anger rising. "I want out. Now."

"I'm sorry. It's really not my choice."

"God damn fucking Indian!" Lafe charged and swung. His fist met only air. He looked around. The Indian was ten feet away. He charged and swung again, and again, till he was out of breath.

"You only hurt yourself."

"Shut up! Just shut up, will you? What kind of fucking Indian are you? Talking like some kind of college graduate."

"It happens that I am a college graduate, among other things. I'm sorry if my language disturbs you."

"Oh it doesn't bother me in the least. Being trapped in here bothers me a little though."

"As I said, it's your choice.''

"What a bunch of bullshit."

"I think maybe you should sleep. I don't think you realize what an ordeal you've been through."

Lafe does feel tired. He lies down and sleeps.

He wakes up when the Indian shakes him.

"Sit there, please." The Indian indicates a place by the fire.

Lafe is calm. The sleep has restored his strength. He is surprised he no longer feels trapped.

The Indian removes a cloth covering a small stone on a low pedestal directly across the fire from him. The Indian tells him it is a diamond but Lafe knows now the Indian is not to be trusted. A diamond that size here?

"For five days around the winter solstice the sun at noon strikes here. You came on the last day. I had about decided you were not coming after all." He was smiling.

Lafe was irritated again. "What's so funny?"

"Even now, I sometimes do not trust the inner perceptions. Even now. This--" The Indian made a sweeping gesture indicating the cave, and for a moment it seemed to Lafe that the walls of the cave were impossibly transparent so that the gesture took in the whole world as well-- "This is so intense, it draws us all in so completely." The Indian sighed. "No matter. You are here. Now please watch the stone. Just watch."

The cave was so dark that Lafe had difficulty keeping his eyes fixed on the spot. Suddenly he was blinded. He blinked, his vision cleared, and he was looking at an enormous city of low buildings. In the distance rose two pyramids.

From behind him the Indian spoke. "Our color was blue. It is gone now. Looking at the remains you would never know it once shone with an azure to rival the sky."

Lafe found his voice, "What is your name?"

"Anamakela."

"Mine is—"

"Your name is static. Please only look. Look."

Lafe was trying to turn to look at the Indian. "My name is--"

"Your name is Lafayette Simson. I know. Now please look."

Lafe was not impressed. The Indian had checked his wallet during the night, he was sure. He looked, kept looking at the vision. it was realer than real.

"The name of the city is important. It is Teotihuacan. It is, it exists now, it is our Jerusalem, and like Jerusalem it is timeless, an ideal and a reality for all humanity."

Lafe was silent. His mind was telling him he was trapped in a cave in Big Bend with an insane Indian. His eyes were telling him something quite different.

As abruptly as it had appeared the vision was gone. Lafe rubbed his eyes. The cave was as it had been. Dull. Smoke-filled.

The Indian moved in front of him and sat before him. He stared into Lafe's eyes for a long time. Lafe could not look away, did not want to look away. At last the Indian smiles, as If approving what he sees in Lafe's eyes. He gets up, goes to another part of the cave, He returns with a closed wooden cylinder some two feet long.

He opens it and with great care removes the contents.

He unrolls something that looks like parchment.

He looks at Lafe again. He smiles and says, "So it begins again."

Lafe is enthralled.

"Listen, now. Just listen. This, my friend, Lafayette Simson, is probably one of the oldest intact manuscripts in the world, The papyrus on which it is written came from Byblos, a small Phoenician settlement in what is now called Lebanon. Byblos was for a long time the source of the finest papyrus in the ancient world and because of that the town gave its name to that which is written, The word ‘biblios' comes from that ancient name. We shall hear more of Byblos in a moment. As for the dates I have as you guessed spent much time in libraries. It seems clear that the events described here occurred around the reign of Amenhotep, some 3500 years ago. That long we have been wandering... Now listen."

After breakfast, Lafe wandered about the cave.

"I believe my line is supposed to be: you will find the way out when it is time for you to go. It happens to be true."

Lafe looked at him with suspicion. "You mean I’m a prisoner."

"Now my line is: "’Only of yourself.’ Which also happens to be true."

Lafe felt his anger rising. "I want out. Now."

"I'm sorry. It's really not my choice."

"God damn fucking Indian!" Lafe charged and swung. His fist met only air. He looked around. The Indian was ten feet away. He charged and swung again, and again, till he was out of breath.

"You only hurt yourself."

"Shut up! Just shut up, will you? What kind of fucking Indian are you? Talking like some kind of college graduate."

"It happens that I am a college graduate, among other things. I'm sorry if my language disturbs you."

"Oh it doesn't bother me in the least. Being trapped in here bothers me a little though."

"As I said, it's your choice.''

"What a bunch of bullshit."

"I think maybe you should sleep. I don't think you realize what an ordeal you've been through."

Lafe does feel tired. He lies down and sleeps.

He wakes up when the Indian shakes him.

"Sit there, please." The Indian indicates a place by the fire.

Lafe is calm. The sleep has restored his strength. He is surprised he no longer feels trapped.

The Indian removes a cloth covering a small stone on a low pedestal directly across the fire from him. The Indian tells him it is a diamond but Lafe knows now the Indian is not to be trusted. A diamond that size here?

"For five days around the winter solstice the sun at noon strikes here. You came on the last day. I had about decided you were not coming after all." He was smiling.

Lafe was irritated again. "What's so funny?"

"Even now, I sometimes do not trust the inner perceptions. Even now. This--" The Indian made a sweeping gesture indicating the cave, and for a moment it seemed to Lafe that the walls of the cave were impossibly transparent so that the gesture took in the whole world as well-- "This is so intense, it draws us all in so completely." The Indian sighed. "No matter. You are here. Now please watch the stone. Just watch."

The cave was so dark that Lafe had difficulty keeping his eyes fixed on the spot. Suddenly he was blinded. He blinked, his vision cleared, and he was looking at an enormous city of low buildings. In the distance rose two pyramids.

From behind him the Indian spoke. "Our color was blue. It is gone now. Looking at the remains you would never know it once shone with an azure to rival the sky."

Lafe found his voice, "What is your name?"

"Anamakela."

"Mine is—"

"Your name is static. Please only look. Look."

Lafe was trying to turn to look at the Indian. "My name is--"

"Your name is Lafayette Simson. I know. Now please look."

Lafe was not impressed. The Indian had checked his wallet during the night, he was sure. He looked, kept looking at the vision. it was realer than real.

"The name of the city is important. It is Teotihuacan. It is, it exists now, it is our Jerusalem, and like Jerusalem it is timeless, an ideal and a reality for all humanity."

Lafe was silent. His mind was telling him he was trapped in a cave in Big Bend with an insane Indian. His eyes were telling him something quite different.

As abruptly as it had appeared the vision was gone. Lafe rubbed his eyes. The cave was as it had been. Dull. Smoke-filled.

The Indian moved in front of him and sat before him. He stared into Lafe's eyes for a long time. Lafe could not look away, did not want to look away. At last the Indian smiles, as If approving what he sees in Lafe's eyes. He gets up, goes to another part of the cave, He returns with a closed wooden cylinder some two feet long.

He opens it and with great care removes the contents.

He unrolls something that looks like parchment.

He looks at Lafe again. He smiles and says, "So it begins again."

Lafe is enthralled.

"Listen, now. Just listen. This, my friend, Lafayette Simson, is probably one of the oldest intact manuscripts in the world, The papyrus on which it is written came from Byblos, a small Phoenician settlement in what is now called Lebanon. Byblos was for a long time the source of the finest papyrus in the ancient world and because of that the town gave its name to that which is written, The word ‘biblios' comes from that ancient name. We shall hear more of Byblos in a moment. As for the dates I have as you guessed spent much time in libraries. It seems clear that the events described here occurred around the reign of Amenhotep, some 3500 years ago. That long we have been wandering... Now listen."