Read the passage from "by the waters of babylon.” it is not true what some of the tales say, that the ground there burns forever, for i have been there. here and there were the marks and stains of the great burning, on the ruins, that is true. but they were old marks and old stains. it is not true either, what some of our priests say, that it is an island covered with fogs and enchantments. it is not. it is a great dead place—greater than any dead place we know. everywhere in it there are god-roads, though most are cracked and broken. everywhere there are the ruins of the high towers of the gods. how does visiting the place of the gods affect the narrator? he discovers that it is unwise to have an inquiring mind. he learns that there is nothing supernatural to fear in the destroyed city. he renounces everything he learned from the priests and his father. he understands that the past has nothing of interest for people of the present.

american writer stephen vincent benét is the author of "by the waters of babylon". it was published in 1937.

the story is set in a future resulting of the destruction of industrial civilization, the story is narrated by a young named john. the priests of “the hill people” are the only ones who can handle metal collected from the “dead places”, which are the houses of long-ago-dead people whom they believe to be gods. the story tells the story of john’s self-assigned mission to get to the place of the gods.

john goes through the forest for eight days and crosses the river ou-dis-sun. once john gets to the place of the gods, he feels the energy and magic there. after being chased by dogs and climbing the stairs of a large building, john sees a dead god. upon viewing the visage, he has an epiphany that the gods were humans whose power overwhelmed their good nature. after john comes back to his tribe, he tells his father of "the place new york." his father advises him against recounting his experiences to others in the tribe, for sometimes too much truth is a bad thing. the story ends with john stating his conviction that, once he becomes the head priest, "we must build again."

the two pieces of detail that best reveal the setting of the passage are:

everywhere there are the ruins of the high towers of the gods

i walked forward to the place of the gods.