And
all the while the Egyptian spirits were laying step above step
patiently. But when the Gothic ones looked, and saw how big they
had got, they said, "Ach, Himmel!" and flew down in a great black
cluster to the bottom; and swept out a level spot in the sand with
their wings, in no time, and began building a tower straight up,
as fast as they could. And the Egyptians stood still again to
stare at them; for the Gothic spirits had got quite into a
passion, and were really working very wonderfully. They cut the
sandstone into strips as fine as reeds; and put one reed on the
top of another, so that you could not see where they fitted: and
they twisted them in and out like basket work, and knotted them
into likenesses of ugly faces, and of strange beasts biting each
other; and up they went, and up still, and they made spiral
staircases at the corners, for the loaded workers to come up by
(for I saw they were but weak imps, and could not fly with stones
on their backs), and then they made traceried galleries for them
to run round by; and so up again; with finer and finer work, till
the Egyptians wondered whether they meant the thing for a tower or
a pillar: and I heard them saying to one another, "It was nearly
as pretty as lotus stalks; and if it were not for the ugly faces,
there would be a fine temple, if they were going to build it all
with pillars as big as that!" But in a minute afterwards,--just as
the Gothic spirits had carried their work as high as the upper
course, but three or four, of the pyramid--the Egyptians called
out to them to "mind what they were about, for the sand was
running away from under one of their tower corners.
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