The Tour · Chapter
XXII explained
After five days and nights, a transformed Lucius calmly gathers his followers Thrasyllus, Caleb, and Tarrar.
What happens
After five days and nights, a transformed Lucius calmly gathers his followers Thrasyllus, Caleb, and Tarrar. He bathes, eats, and sleeps, then wakes Tarrar at night to follow him. Carrying a sycamore casket containing a small woman's sandal, Lucius leads Tarrar through the temple precincts, parks, and oasis into the desert. There he commands Tarrar to dig a hole, bury the casket, and cover it. Tarrar obeys, then stamps down the sand and curses the spot in Libyan before they return.
Themes in this chapter
Grief and Healing
Lucius's calm and dignified demeanor after five days of transformation suggests a process of grieving and healing, culminating in the burial of the sandal—a symbol of lost love or memory.
Travel and Discovery
The nocturnal journey through temple precincts, oasis, and into the desert represents a physical and spiritual voyage of discovery and release.
Characters to notice
- Publius Lucius Sabinus
Pale, tired, and enlightened after five days and nights; calm and dignified, he commands Tarrar to bury the sycamore casket in the desert.
- Thrasyllus
One of Lucius's followers staying in the temple rooms; present but not active in the night scene.
- Caleb
One of Lucius's followers staying in the temple rooms; present but not active in the night scene.
- Tarrar
Lucius's little slave who carries the sycamore casket, digs the hole, buries it, and curses the spot in Libyan.
Key passages
“Take this sycamore box.”
Lucius instructs Tarrar to carry the small casket made of sycamore wood.
The sycamore box is a recurring personal item, now to be buried.
“Dig deeper.”
Lucius commands Tarrar to excavate a deeper hole in the sand.
The insistence on depth suggests a ritual significance to the burial.
“Cover the casket up with sand.”
Lucius orders Tarrar to bury the box completely under the sand.
The act of covering symbolizes concealment or finality.
“Tarrar, before following him, stamped down the sand under which the casket lay buried and overwhelmed it, amid violent gestures of delight, with native curses, curses not to be averted, in the Libyan tongue.”
Tarrar packs the sand firmly over the buried casket and joyfully utters powerful Libyan curses upon it.
Tarrar's curses, described as unavoidable, add a magical or superstitious layer to the burial.