to lift it, symbolizes the foolhardy
who overestimates his own power and acts backwardly,
who is conscious of nothing and can foresee nothing.
Hammadi, you had seen only the outward signs;
now you know the meaning of the eleventh symbol
of the land of the dwarf-spirits and of Kaydara;
the distant, the nearby Kaydara.”
The old man left no time for Hammadi
to ask his usual question.
He got up off his mat, stopped,
took out of his sack a string
of baobab fibers, knotted at seven points.
The last knot was thicker
than the other six; he took
the largest one, let the rest
hang down to the ground, and said:
“Rope! 160 Wood thou art, turn back to wood!
I command you by Him whose power is irresistible,
Geno who continues life after death
Geno who burns by wet hail 161
and who, if He wants, cools by burning fire.” 162
The rope became earth fiber (snake), and turned green.
Then it hardened, became yellow and turned into a staff,
then dried off completely.
All this in three blinks of the eye,
hardly time to close the lips
after they had pronounced the words that transform.
Hammadi could no longer doubt! This man
was one of the miracle-workers of the land of the dwarf-spirits.
He wanted to arise out of respect,
but the little man said, “Hammadi, stay seated,
for every hard worker needs his rest.”
Hammadi asked:
“Master! Who are you? Where do you come from?
What is your name? And what must I do
to please you and be blessed by you?”

Notes (Lilyan Kesteloot)
160. Rope which becomes a snake, then a stick; a frequent trick among magicians who in turn draw milk from the stick.
161. Nothing is impossible for the Creator, not even acts which defy natural law.
162. Snake.