"The Witchcraft of Ulua" reminded me of the painters' renderings of the
Temptation of St. Antony. The subject gave them the chance to depict the alluring and the extremely grotesque. The saint was protected by prayer and grace, young Amalzain by the amulet and the intervention of Sabmon, the sage. Smith hasn't felt the need to complicate the story. By the way, the original account, by St. Athanasius, is good reading. It's in the Paulist Press "Classics of Western Spirituality" series. Athanasius's Life of Antony is probably one of the foundational documents of Western civilization, really, but you don't see it mentioned in such lists.
That recent translation may be borrowed here:
[
archive.org]
It may be read in an older rendering here:
[
archive.org]
Was Smith consciously recalling that work? I wonder!
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 3 Apr 20 | 03:31PM by Dale Nelson.