It was not completely vegetable, scholars said. The knobby, forked, manlike root harbored a tiny demon, thus Tibians called the mandrake half-man. Those who dared the capture of the demon could expect great reward.

What made the capture difficult was the pain it inflicted on the plant, for when its root was torn from the ground the mandrake gave a shriek so terrible that nay creature within earshot was struck dead. Accordingly, a variety of rituals grew up to protect those who desired the mandrake.

The plant had to be harvested at night, when the baleful glow of its leaves made it easy to find. The herb gatherer stuffed his ears with wax and dug around the plant until he had freed all but the last threads of root. Then he - or she - looped a line around the base of the root and tied that line to teh collar of a dig. He placed a scrap of meat or bread just out of reach of the tethered animal and ran for his life. The dog, in lunging, for the food, would tear the mandrake from its bed of earth. The plant and the demon sheltered now belong to the gatherer, the dog, of course, would be killed by the demonic scream.

Once acquired, the mandrake root was treasured, for if it was bathed in wine and wrapped in silk, the demon within would speak, offering counsel and prophecy.