for one thing , his appearance was comical to the extreme , and reminiscent of some great wise ape leading a life of solitude in the heart of a deep dark forest : being surely no less than five hundred years old , huxor had probably never bothered to cut his hair , which had grown , mane and mustache and beard , into a long white mass that covered him almost completely and since he didnt seem at all aware of the fact , he was constantly tripping on the thick strands that fanned out round his feet , falling down hard on his face , picking himself up , tripping and falling again , and so on , the result being that what little could be glimpsed of his face was a map of bruises , his nose crooked and caked in dried blood , his eyes black and swollen and his forehead covered with bleeding bumps , as if a dozen horns were trying to sprout from his brow .