The Horse and the Olive

There was a little town on the top of the hill, with neat houses and a marketplace. Around it was a strong wall with a single narrow gate just where the footpath began to descend to the plain. But as yet the place had no name.

One morning while the king and his wise men were sitting together in the marketplace and planning how to make the town become a rich, strong city, two strangers were seen in the street. Nobody could tell how they came there. The guard at the gate had not seen them, and no one had ever dared to climb the narrow footway without his leave. But there the two strangers stood. One was a man, the other a woman. They were so tall, and their faces were so grand and noble,…