Chapter 2: Hiram wanders the abandoned city and eventually finds a dwelling to his liking.

Hiram was finally alone in the city. At first he wandered at random. On the first night he slept under some arches. On the second day he found some grand houses that looked like palaces, and here he slept. He considered the irony that the day before he had slept under arches but that night he slept in a palace. He did not like the palace though, and found himself a pleasant town house with an overgrown walled garden.

All of the houses in the street had overgrown gardens, but in one garden he saw a solitary rose flower that had pushed above the weeds. A few houses along he found a garden that had a fruiting peach tree. Another had a vine. He carefully noted the location of each, as he considered they might be his only source of sustenance.

Over the next few days, he found other productive gardens. Occasionally he found gardens with more than one valued plant, and eventually he found one that by chance had all three. It was here that he made his home.

He cut away the growth that shaded his favourites. He carefully pruned them. By degrees, he tamed his garden. There was a hole in the wall of the garden. Pyramus could have called to Thisbe through a hole such as this. His vine had sent a shoot through this hole. Peering through, he could see that on the other side of the wall the vine had grown away abundantly through the wilderness.

From this home base, Hiram made forays to explore more of the city. He noted the position of hazel, almond and walnut trees. He found figs and mulberries too. Then he saw the first people, the priests of the temple of Bel.