If thou hast come to me, it is God who has let thee live. For
it is He who has brought thee to this isle of the blest, where nothing
is lacking, and which is filled with all good after another, until
thou shalt be four months in this isle. Then a ship shall come from
thy land with sailors, and thou shalt leave with them and go to thy
country, and thou shalt die in thy town.
'"Converse is pleasing, and he who tastes of it passes over his
misery. I will therefore tell thee of that which is in this isle. I
am here with my brethren and my children around me; we are
seventy-five serpents, children, and kindred; without naming a young
girl who was brought unto me by chance, and on whom the fire of heaven
fell, and burnt her to ashes.
"'As for thee if thou art strong, and if thy heart waits patiently, thou
shalt press thy infants to thy bosom and embrace thy wife. Thou shalt
return to thy house which is full of all good things, thou shalt see thy
land, where thou shalt dwell in the midst of thy kindred.'
"Then I bowed, in my obeisance, and I touched the ground before him.
'Behold now that which I have told thee before. I shall tell of thy
presence unto Pharaoh, I shall make him to know of thy greatness, and I
will bring to thee of the sacred oils and perfumes, and of incense of
the temples with which all gods are honoured. I shall tell, moreover, of
that which I do now see (thanks to him), and there shall be rendered
to thee praises before the fulness of all the land.
Pages:
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54