Summary
Highlights
Mr. Leeds greets his guests warmly, speaking excellent Spanish due to his years in South America. The hall is draped in black curtains and lit by ancient alcohol lamps, giving the audience a feeling of entering a house of mourning due to the smell of incense and candles. Benz tries to expose what he believes to be the deception of Mr. Leeds’s head.
Mr. Leeds narrates his visit to the pyramid of Cheops, where he found an ancient box. He explains that the box contains a handful of ashes and a piece of papyrus with two words. When he uttered the first word, a head appeared. After he read the second word, the head disappeared, replaced by the ashes, revealing powerful words of creation and destruction, life and death.
In profound silence, Mr. Leeds, with a trembling voice, continues, stating that with a single word, he will bring the ashes to life so that they can converse with a being that is a sibling of the past, present, and future.
Utis reveals himself as an ancient being, born during the time of Amasis and dying when Persia ruled. After extensive studies and travels, he returned to his homeland until he was summoned by Thon to his court. In Babylonia, he uncovered a great deception by a corrupt individual vying for power. Fearing he would expose him, the individual plotted against Utis, using Egyptian priests to accuse him of being a blasphemer and a slanderer.
Upon returning to his lodging, Placido meets his mother, Kabesang Andang, who is waiting for him. She came to shop, visit her son, and bring him money, dried venison, and silk handkerchiefs. Placido then informs his mother of his decision to stop his studies and the reasons behind it.