She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Sindbad the
Seaman thus continued:--Most part of us were slain by the rock-
thowing and only three of us remained on board the boat for, as
often as one died, we threw him into the sea. We were sore
exhausted for stress of hunger, but we took courage and heartened
one another and worked for dear life and paddled with main and
might, till the winds cast us upon an island, as we were dead men
for fatigue and fear and famine. We landed on the island and
walked about it for a while, finding that it abounded in trees
and streams and birds; and we ate of the fruits and rejoiced in
our escape from the black and our deliverance from the perils of
the sea; and thus we did till nightfall, when we lay down and
fell asleep for excess of fatigue. But we had hardly closed our
eyes before we were aroused by a hissing sound like the sough of
wind, and awaking, saw a serpent like a dragon, a seld-seen
sight, of monstrous make and belly of enormous bulk which lay in
a circle around us. Presently it reared its head and, seizing one
of my companions, swallowed him up to his shoulders; then it
gulped down the rest of him, and we heard his ribs crack in its
belly. Presently it went its way, and we abode in sore amazement
and grief for our comrade and mortal fear for ourselves, saying,
"By Allah, this is a marvellous thing! Each kind of death that
threatened us is more terrible than the last. We were rejoicing
in our escape from the black ogre and our deliverance from the
perils of the sea; but now we have fallen into that which is
worse. There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah!
By the Almighty, we have escaped from the blackamoor and from
drowning: but how shall we escape from this abominable and
viperish monster?" Then we walked about the island, eating of its
fruits and drinking of its streams till dusk, when we climbed up