ASPR Journal, V14 - Iapsop.com

566 lcntrnal. of the American Society for Ps)•chical Research.
medicine," as much as any Red Indian ever did, to perform incantations
too secret to be witnessed even by a king.
Then he retum_ed, already surcharged with a startling surprise
for the Moabite ruler who stood expectant and -hopeful.
Standing by the altar, and gazing down upon the tented plain to
the north, the prophet opened his mouth, and these words mechanically
burst forth :
Balak the monarch of Moab
From Aramea hath brought me,
Afar from the Eastern Mountains:
Urging: Come, curse for me Jacob,
And come, denounce for me Israel. [7]
But how can I curse whom God hath not cursed?
How can I denounce whom God hath denounced not?
For from the crag-tops I see him,
And from the hills I behold him,
A people dwelling uniquely,
Aloof from the herd of the nations.
Who can number the dust-grains of Jacob?
Or who can count the myriads of Israel?
May I die the death of the upright!
And like his be my final destiny I
Imagine the dismay of Balak. To have brought a Merlin all
the way from Mesopotamia, and to have promised him gold and
honors, all for this! " What hast thou done unto me? " he
bursts forth, angrily, "I took thee to curse mine enemies, and,
behold, thou hast blessed them altogether." Balaan1's defense is
a caveat emptor, he has guaranteed nothing, it is the god speaking,
not he himself.
Thereupon Balak concludes that there is something wrong
with the conditions. It may be that Baal is in a bad humor or
has been previously retained by the other party; the precincts of
another god should be sought. It may be that the prophet has
been dazzled by the sight of so great a host encamped below him :
he should be taken to a height whence only one extremity of
the camp can be seen, just enough for the right directing of the
[7) In accordance with the parallelism of Hebrew poetry, Jacob and
"Israel" are synonymous terms for the invaders encamped on the Plains.
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