Štěpán of Drahotuše meanwhile criticised in toto the strategy and tactics adopted by the mages. The error, he claimed, lay not just in the method, because that was of lesser import, but in the goal they had set: on the simple and indisputable assumption that Samson Honeypot’s personality and spirit were transplanted by an unknown power into the body of a dopey giant. Steps ought to be taken towards reversing the process—in other words, towards discovering the causative factor, since nihil fit sine causa. Having discovered that causa efficiens, it might be possible to reverse it. But what were the mages of the Archangel doing? Concentrating on attempts to solve the mystery, to unlock the secret that Samson himself clearly didn’t want to or could not reveal. In trying to investigate who—or what—Samson was, the sorcerers were striving to satisfy their own curiosity and vanity, behaving like doctors, diagnosing and examining a mysterious illness just to learn about it, without a trace of consideration or sympathy for the person afflicted by that illness.

The mages bridled at and shouted down the Moravian. Before one can begin a treatment, they said—referring to the metaphor—one must acquaint oneself thoroughly with the illness. Scire, they said, quoting Aristotle, est causam rei cognoscere. Thus, a key element was finding out who—or what—Samson was. Continuing to use medical comparisons—Samson’s secret and mystery were not merely symptoms, they were the nexus itself, the crux, the essence of the illness. If the illness was to be cured, the secret had to be revealed.

So they made efforts to uncover it. Eagerly and with fervour. And with not a trace of effect.

Samson, meanwhile, had made friends with all the mages of the Archangel. He debated for hours with Jan Bezděchovský about God and Nature. He and Edlinger Brehm stood for days on end beside alembics and retorts with the slogan solve et coagula on their lips. He discussed the theories of Arab hakims and Jewish Kabbalists with Teggendorf. He pored over unknown and seriously damaged manuscripts by Pietro di Abano and Cecco d’Ascoli with Štěpán of Drahotuše. He and Jošt Dun made talismans which they later tested in the city. He and Radim Tvrdík walked beside the Vltava, collecting sludge for making golems. Posing as an idiot, he carried out interventionist shopping trips for Beneš Kejval at rival apothecaries.

He played cards, drank and sang with all of them.

The sorcerers had taken a liking to Samson Honeypot. Reynevan couldn’t rid himself of the thought that they liked him so much, they had utterly abandoned any efforts that might result in his leaving them.