read the passage from "by the waters of babylon.”

it is not true what some of the tales say, that the ground there burns forever, for i have been there. here and there were the marks and stains of the great burning, on the ruins, that is true. but they were old marks and old stains. it is not true either, what some of our priests say, that it is an island covered with fogs and enchantments. it is not. it is a great dead place—greater than any dead place we know. everywhere in it there are god-roads, though most are cracked and broken. everywhere there are the ruins of the high towers of the gods.

how does visiting the place of the gods affect the narrator?
he discovers that it is unwise to have an inquiring mind.
he learns that there is nothing supernatural to fear in the destroyed city.
he renounces everything he learned from the priests and his father.
he understands that the past has nothing of interest for people of the present.