a fable from borges

In the court of Olaf Tryggvason, who had been converted in England to the faith of Christ, an old man arrived one night, dressed in a dark cape and with the brim of his hat over his eyes. The King asked him if he knew how to do anything; the stranger answered that he knew how to play the harp and tell stories. He sang some ancient airs, told of Gudrun and Gunnar, and then spoke of the birth of Odin. He said that three Fates came, that the first two pronounced great happiness, but the third, in a rage, said, “You will not live longer than that candle burning by your side.” His parents put out the candle so that Odin would not die with it. Olaf Tryggvason didn’t believe the story; the stranger, insisting it was true, took out a candle and lit it. As the others watched it burn, he said it was late and that he had to leave. When the candle was consumed, they searched for him. A few steps from the King’s house, Odin was lying dead.

- Jorge Luis Borges, from “The Dialogues of Ascetic and King,” trans. Eliot Weinberger