so long that
Joseph stirred uneasily; but finally the grotesque lifted his head. It
at once fell far back, the neck muscles apparently unable to support its
weight. He looked more at the ceiling than at Joseph. His speech was a
writhing of the lips and the voice a hollow murmur.

"This," he said, "is the face of a great suhman. It is the face of the
great suhman, Haneemar. It was many years ago that I knew him. It was a
time so long ago that I do not know how to tell you. It was before your
birth and the birth of your father. It was when I lived in a green
country where the air is thick and sweet and the sun burns. There I knew
Haneemar. He is a strong suhman. You see, his eyes are green; that is
because he has the strength of the great snake that ties its tail around
a branch and hangs down with its head as high as the breast of a man.
Those snakes kill an antelope and eat it at a mouthful. Their eyes are
green and so are the eyes of Haneemar. And you see that Haneemar has
golden teeth. That is because he has eaten wisdom. He knows the meat of
all things like a nut he can crack between his teeth. He is as strong as
the snake which eats monkeys, and he is as wise as the monkeys that run
from the snake and throw sticks from the tops of the trees. That is
Haneemar.

"There is no luck for the man who carries the face of Haneemar with him.
That is why David used the whip. He knew Haneemar. Also, in the other
days I remember that when a child was sick in the village they tied a
goat in the forest and Haneemar came and ate the goat. If he ate the
goat like a lion and left tooth marks on the bones then the child got
well and lived. If he ate the goat like a panther and left the guts the
child died. But if the goat was not eaten for one day then Haneemar came
and ate the child instead. I remember this. There will be no luck for
you while you carry Haneemar."

The big man had heard this speech with eyes that grew rounder and
rounder. Now he caught up the little image and raised his arm to throw
it through the window. But the old man hissed, and Joseph turned with a
shudder.

"You cannot throw Haneemar away," said the other. "Only when some one
takes him freely will you be rid of him."

"It is true," answered Joseph. "I remember the visitor would not take
him back."

"Then," said the old sage, "if the stranger will not take him back, bad
luck has come into the Garden, for only the stranger would carry
Haneemar out again.