Book 1, Chapter Two: A Call to Adventure, Pages 33 and 34

Dawn arrives, as it always does,
and here, my friends, is our king again
adorned with a halo of golden wreath
of oak and myrtle
atop his hair of honey sunlight;
and a treasured purple cloak of golden
flowers and snakes;
and a plain suit of leather armour
over a clean white dress.
And here too, is Bucephalus,
his favourite horse,
come to accompany his master.
And following them, the Servant and his mule,
hardworking and discrete, as ever.

They cross the wide boulevards of Babylon,
Alexander waving, to his subjects Greek and Persian
as they weep inconsolably at their king’s departure.