to the sea close beside us,
cleaving it asunder till we could nearly see the bottom. We had hardly
time to draw a breath of relief before the other rock fell with a mighty
crash right in the midst of our luckless vessel, smashing it into a
thousand fragments, and crushing, or hurling into the sea, passengers
and crew. I myself went down with the rest, but had the good fortune to
rise unhurt, and by holding on to a piece of driftwood with one hand and
swimming with the other I kept myself afloat and was presently washed up
by the tide on to an island. Its shores were steep and rocky, but I
scrambled up safely and threw myself down to rest upon the green turf.

When I had somewhat recovered I began to examine the spot in which I
found myself, and truly it seemed to me that I had reached a garden of
delights. There were trees everywhere, and they were laden with flowers
and fruit, while a crystal stream wandered in and out under their
shadow. When night came I slept sweetly in a cosey nook, though the
remembrance that I was alone in a strange land made me sometimes start
up and look around me in alarm, and then I wished heartily that I had
stayed at home at ease. However, the morning sunlight restored my
courage, and I once more wandered among the trees, but always with some
anxiety as to what I might see next. I had penetrated some distance into
the island when I saw an old man bent and feeble sitting upon the river
bank, and at first I took him to be some shipwrecked mariner like
myself. Going up to him I greeted him in a friendly way, but he only
nodded his head at me in reply. I then asked what he did there, and he
made signs to me that he wished to get across the river to gather some
fruit, and seemed to beg me to carry him on my back. Pitying his age and
feebleness, I took him up, and wading across the stream I bent down that
he might more easily reach the bank, and bade him get down. But instead
of allowing himself to be set upon his feet (even now it makes me laugh
to think of it!), this creature who had seemed to me so decrepit leaped
nimbly upon my shoulders, and hooking his legs round my neck gripped me
so tightly that I was well-nigh choked, and so overcome with terror that
I fell insensible to the ground. When I recovered my enemy was still in
his place, though he had released his hold enough to allow me breathing
space, and seeing me revive he prodded me adroitly first with one foot
and then with the other, un