
The Yellow Fish Swallows the Ship
From D5.25, Iskandar Sees the Great Western Sea. It illustrates D5.25.8–15:
- D5.25.8A mountain rose, still wet, before their eyes,Fresh from the sea, as yellow as sunrise.
- D5.25.9The Shah sought out a swift ship, keen to viewWith his own eyes the marvel in the blue.
- D5.25.10One sage addressed him: “Do not go, O king;The deep is not your path to seek this thing.
- D5.25.11Stay here; let someone of small learning goAnd see the marvel that the waters show.”
- D5.25.12Thirty Romans and Iranians came aboardThe boat prepared at bidding of their lord.
- D5.25.13That mountain was a yellow fish; they drewStill closer to obtain a clearer view.
- D5.25.14It swiftly took their ship beneath the flow,And vanished from their sight in depths below.
- D5.25.15The legions stood astonished where they came,And every man invoked the Maker’s name.
In the picture
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