A Fortunate Life

by Albert B. Facey

The guide showed us a large candle that was burning near the entrance to the tombs. He explained that it had been burning for over one thousand years and had never been allowed to go out. One of the soldiers who was with me became very interested. He asked the guide (he was a little worse for liquor), ‘What about when the candle is burnt down to the end. What do you do?’ The guide said, ‘We light another before it goes out and stand it alongside, so that when the first is spent the other keeps on burning.’ With that, to the surprise of us all, my mate gave a puff and out went the candle. ‘There, it is out now,’ he said. The guide went crazy and grabbed him and started to shake him. My other mate struck a match and lit the candle again. I grabbed the guide and made him let go. I said, ‘There you are, it is alight again.’ He was too upset to listen. He went down onto his knees and prayed to Allah. When he got up he said in English that he would not guide us any longer.