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 prieste
and his father
He understands that the past has nothing of interest
for people of the present