Why Balaam Set His Face Toward the Wilderness

"And Balaam saw that it was good in the eyes of the Lord to bless Israel, and he did not go, as time after time" (Numbers 24:1), and so forth. And why "as time" twice ["as time after time"]? Rather, that wicked one had gone on two prior occasions, for he said: Perhaps the Lord will chance upon me, that He will be pleased with my sacrifices, so that He will permit me to curse them. "And he set his face toward the wilderness" (Numbers 24:1) — he said: I will recall the deed of the calf that they made in the wilderness.