The Syrian Basilisk

One of my grandfathers had a volume of writings by Voltaire, and one of my early favorites in this volume was (and still is) Zadig, or Fate / Zadig ou la Destinée. Histoire orientale (originally published in 1747).

Rather than delve into today's Syrian Civil War -- with its chemical weapons, torture of prisoners, indiscriminate bombardments or rebel commanders literally eating portions of dead Syrian government soldiers (sadly, all true and happening in 2013) -- here's a snippet from the Roger Pearson translation included in Candide and Other Stories, Oxford University Press, 2006, page 153:

On coming to a fine stretch of meadowland, he saw several women busy looking for something. He took the liberty of going up to one of them and asking her if he might have the honour of assisting them in their search.

"You'll do no such thing," replied the lady, who was from Syria. "Only women may touch what we're looking for. . ."

Why the search? Because: "Lord Ogul is ill. His doctor has ordered him to eat a basilisk cooked in rose-water, and as it's a very rare animal, which allows itself to be captured only by women, Lord Ogul has promised to take as his beloved wife whichever one of us brings him a basilisk . . ."

Without further ado, Zadig let the Syrian woman and the others carry on searching for their basilisk, and continued on across the meadow. . .

As Zadig responds to the Syrian woman's and the others' search for a basilisk, I am responding to the factions of the Syrian Civil War. How about you? 

Today's Rune: Journey.