The Ignorant Prophet

Diophanes, the Chaldean astrologer, once went to Hypatia and made a lot of money by giving predictions to everyone.

One day while he was in the middle of a crowd of customers who wanted to buy his predictions, a young nobleman approached him from behind and pulled him by the robe. Diophanes turned back and, recognising his close friend, embraced him.

“I never expected to see you here,” said the nobleman. “When did you arrive?”

“Ah, my friend,” said Diophanes, “I had so many misfortunes. To begin with, we had a storm at sea, and our ship sank very near the coast, and we lost all our belongings. Some of us swam ashore. We had to beg for food for part of the way. On top of all this, we were attacked by bandits. And my brother was killed before my eyes.”

Diophanes suddenly remembered the crowd waiting for his predictions and looked back. But there was no crowd. All the people were gone.