title: By the Waters of Babylon, and Other Fantasies and Prophecies
author: Stephen Vincent Benet
description: Stephen Vincent Bent (1898-1943) was a quintessential story-teller of the American experience, awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his epic poem of the raid at Harpers Ferry, <i>John Browns Body.</i> His many classic works include <i>The Devil and Daniel Webster, Spanish Bayonet,</i> and <i>A Death in the Country.</i>
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  ![Cover](images/cover.jpg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## By the Waters of Babylon
  
  
    
  
  
  ### Stephen Vincent Benét
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  “By the Waters of Babylon” is a post-apocalyptic short story by Stephen
  Vincent Benét first published July 31, 1937, in _The Saturday Evening Post_ as
  “The Place of the Gods”. It was republished in 1943 in The Pocket Book of
  Science Fiction, and was adapted in 1971 into a one-act play by Brainerd
  Duffield.
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Stephen Vincent Benét
  
  
  ## BY THE WATERS OF BABYLON
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The north and the west and the south are good hunting ground, but it is
  forbidden to go east. It is forbidden to go to any of the Dead Places except
  to search for metal and then he who touches the metal must be a priest or the
  son of a priest. Afterwards, both the man and the metal must be purified.
  These are the rules and the laws; they are well made. It is forbidden to cross
  the great river and look upon the place that was the Place of the Gods—this is
  most strictly for