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The Yellow Fish Swallows the Ship

The Yellow Fish Swallows the Ship

From D5.25, Iskandar Sees the Great Western Sea. It illustrates D5.25.8–15:

  • D5.25.8
    A mountain rose, still wet, before their eyes,Fresh from the sea, as yellow as sunrise.
  • D5.25.9
    The Shah sought out a swift ship, keen to viewWith his own eyes the marvel in the blue.
  • D5.25.10
    One sage addressed him: “Do not go, O king;The deep is not your path to seek this thing.
  • D5.25.11
    Stay here; let someone of small learning goAnd see the marvel that the waters show.”
  • D5.25.12
    Thirty Romans and Iranians came aboardThe boat prepared at bidding of their lord.
  • D5.25.13
    That mountain was a yellow fish; they drewStill closer to obtain a clearer view.
  • D5.25.14
    It swiftly took their ship beneath the flow,And vanished from their sight in depths below.
  • D5.25.15
    The legions stood astonished where they came,And every man invoked the Maker’s name.

In the picture

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