A Pale Glow in the East 



(Phoenician) 



A PALE glow in the east presages the swift approach of the 

 tropical dawn. The hot, dry wind that has blown throughout 

 the night, and for so many days and nights before, straight from 

 the arid wastes of Sind, holds the immense, blood-red sails taut 

 against the crystal sky. The thin ropes of the rigging hum and mur- 

 mur in their strain, while boisterous little gray waves, each flecked 

 with the roseate glow of the eastern sky, lap and swish along the 

 bulging sides of the great ship. The horizon to the west Hes straight 

 like a seam, glowering dark below with the departing night so that 

 the ocean seems black and the edge of the sky above only its paler 

 counterpart. 



Two men stand upon the mighty vessel, silhouetted against the 

 clear, pink luminosity of the sky. One in the forepeak scans the heav- 

 ing ocean ahead with shining inky eyes. His skin is dark and reflects 

 the ruddy morning glow; his hair is straight and black, and tied in a 

 knot above his nape so that the wind may not bring it before his 

 eyes. He wears a length of white cotton cloth around his loins, its 



