Lives of Alcyone

father, Brihat, had always maintained that he was alive and well, and
would return to them in due course, for he declared that on two
occasions he had clearly seen him—once in a small open boat,
apparently far out at sea, and on another occasion dressed as a
labourer, and amidst a great number of other similar people lying
sleeping in a kind of shed. After three years of such an entirely
different existence it took him some time to accustom himself to the
routine of the priestly work, but he was indeed glad to take it up
again and to find himself once more among those who had so long
mourned him as dead. The story of his adventures was soon noised
abroad, and he had to tell his tale over many times to large numbers
of enquires. No one knew what to make of the loss of memory,
although there were some few who had vaguely heard of similar
cases.
His extraordinary adventures made him a person of mark, and
his great-grandchildren were never tired of making him repeat the
story to them, the report of these adventures reached the ears of
Orpheus, the ruler of that part of the country, and he sent for
Alcyone in order to hear his account at first-hand. It impressed him
greatly, and he decreed a pension to Alcyone as some sort of
compensation for his sufferings
The rest of his life seems to call for no special comment. His
father Brihat died in 10,378, and he was appointed as his successor.
This naturally brought him into a continuous round of all the old
temple ceremonies, and under these influences on several
occasions the voice which had so often directed him during the
earlier years was heard by him again, though it had apparently
altogether abandoned him during the period of his adventures and