THE FIRST DIVERS 37 



could be closed and made fast with chains and rings. And 

 he took with him the food which was necessary and placed 

 it inside the cage, and he took two of his friends with 

 him. And he spake unto his friends, saying, 'Let this be 

 understood by me and by you. If I return unto you before 

 the end of one hundred nights, well and good, but if I 

 do not, then go on your road without me.' Then he left 

 his men behind, and God did not cast any of them away. 

 At the end of seventy nights, God commanded the angel 

 who had charge over the sea, saying, 'Hear and perform 

 every command which the Two-horned shall give unto 

 you. Take him and deliver him from all evil, and keep at 

 a distance from him every evil thing, and everything 

 which can terrify him in the depths of the sea.' And the 

 angel went to the Two-horned in peace and gladness. 

 And the Two-horned said unto him, 'Who art thou?* 

 And the angel answered, 'I am he who hath charge over 

 the sea and over the beasts therein, from the beginning 

 even unto the end thereof.' Now behold, the cage of glass, 

 in which the Two-horned was sailing, was being heavily 

 battered, and the sides thereof were being smashed by the 

 waves of the sea. And the angel said unto him, 'If I were 

 to withdraw my care of thee for even the twinkling of 

 an eye, this cage would be dashed to pieces by the waves 

 of the sea; and thou thyself wouldst perish.' And the 

 Two-horned was made glad by his words. And again the 

 angel said unto him, 'Rejoice not until thou, and I and 

 those who are with thee, go up out of this sea in safety.' 



