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ROMAN TRADITIONS OF PETER AND PAUL 24
1
sounds from the hills of Rome did not reach his ear, he
was greeted with other and more beautiful music. Was
it the harmony of the spheres ? No—but he who has
power in the air, sent a thousand little spirits, who floated
unseen around the great magician, and sounded their
aeolian harps, and sang with caressing voice :
" All this
belongs to thee, for thou hast fallen down and worshipped
our master! " And the tones, soft as they were, filled
the vault of heaven, and resounded as gentle echoes
from the Alpine glaciers and the primeval woods of Ger-
many, from the deserts of Africa and the mountains of
Libya.
But alas ! This pleasure was not to continue long.
It was gradually more and more disturbed by an unpleas-
ant discovery. Simon remarked that he did not rest so
well in his mantle, as before. Sybarite that he was, it
would have tried his patience on earth, had the cushions
of his sofa not been properly ordered. So much greater
reason had he now, to be uneasy and angry. Sometimes
the cloak was drawn too tight ; again, it flapped about
loosely ; and now and then, it was as if the hands that
held it had not a very sure hold. Simon treated the
twelve familiars to an oath, and bade them mind their
business better. They answered, grumbhng, that they
did the work with all their might, but the air up here
was thin, and mixed with vapors from other heavenly
bodies. A while went by, and Simon remarked that the
speed was slackening. He angrily asked the demons if
they feared the neighborhood of heaven ; and he threat-
ened to imprison them a thousand years in his finger-
ring, if they spared their inexhaustible strength. The
familiars answered in a chorus of complaint, that they
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