miserable one? Who hath brought thee to this island of the sea, the two
sides of which are in the waves?"

Then I made answer to the serpent, my two hands being folded humbly
before it, and I said unto it, "I am one who was travelling to the mines
on a mission of the king in a ship that was one hundred and fifty cubits
long, and fifty cubits in breadth, and it was manned by a crew of one
hundred and fifty men, who were chosen from among the best sailors of
Egypt. They had looked upon the sky, they had looked upon the earth, and
their hearts were more understanding than the hearts of lions. They were
able to say beforehand when a tempest was coming, and to tell when a
squall was about to rise before it broke. The heart of every man among
them was wiser than that of his neighbour, and the arm of each was
stronger than that of his neighbour; there was not one weak man among
them. Nevertheless it blew a gale of wind whilst we were still on the
sea and before we could make the land. A gale rose, which continued to
increase in violence, and with it there came upon [us] a wave eight
cubits [high]. A plank of wood was driven towards me by this wave, and I
seized it; and as for the ship, those who were therein perished and not
one of them escaped alive [except] myself. And now behold me by thy
side! It was a wave of the sea that brought me to this island."

And the serpent said unto me, "Have no fear, have no fear, O little one,
and let not thy face be sad, now that thou hast arrived at the place
where I am. Verily, God hath spared thy life, and thou hast been brought
to this island where there is food. There is no kind of food that is not
here, and it is filled with good things of every kind. Verily, thou
shalt pass month after month on this island, until thou hast come to the
end of four months, and then a ship shall come, and there shall be
therein sailors who are acquaintances of thine, and thou shalt go with
them to thy country, and thou shalt die in thy native town." [And the
serpent continued,] "What a joyful thing it is for the man who hath
experienced evil fortunes, and hath passed safely through them, to
declare them! I will now describe unto thee some of the things that have
happened unto me on this island. I used to live here with my brethren,
and with my children who dwelt among them; now my children and my
brethren together numbered seventy-five. I do not make mention of a
little maiden who had been brought to me b