Book 1, Chapter Four: The Olympic Games, Pages 73 and 74
Now, my friends,
here we are again.
Back at the barley fields of Babylon,
under a palm date tree where our world king,
Alexander and his Servant
are taking their lunch.
(flatbread and cheese, yoghurt and honey)
Yoghurt in mouth, Alexander counters,
“I never joined the Olympics…”
The Servant gasps. “Eh! Really?
But this is what’s been told to me by the storytellers of Alexander in Egypt,
and in many parts of your homeland Greece too!”
Blank-faced Alexander replies, confused,
“Interesting. Is that really what people thought I did?”
The Servant wide-eyed in innocent confusion, can only whisper,
“My king…
Are you playing a joke on me,
or have you truly forgotten?”
Alexander startles.
“Huh? No! Yes! Wait, well. The thing is…”
But he cannot finish his thought or get a word in, as the Servant launches into a geriatric ramble.
“So let me set this straight. We’ve discussed how you had conquered the mighty monster Bucephalus at so young and green an age. Then to best a foreign rival king…”
Alexander asks,
“I beat a king?”
The Servant continues rambling with no acknowledgement of Alexander’s question,
“To best a foreign rival king within mere years, and take the prize in an impressive sport… can you blame me, an ordinary peasant who has never been to Greece or known any kings until you, for believing? Of course, obviously, that’s what a great king would do! Right?”
A moment of silence falls between them,
interrupted by the gentle tugs of a spoon that Alexander spins in his pot of yoghurt.
The Servant asks again, “…Right?”
