60 Life and Writings 
I looked, and there was not a bird in the air, 
Nor a beast of prey on the face of the earth: 
His venom was fatal even to the Kergesh ; 
The grass withered beneath his poison ; 
He drew the fierce crocodile from its waters, 
And the soaring eagle from its clouds; 
And the earth was cleared from man and beast, 
And all abandoned their habitations to him. 
And when [I saw that there was no one in the 
land, 
Who was strong enough to contend with him, 
Relying on the power of the pure God, 
I cast from my heart all fear and anxiety: 
I girded my loins in the name of the Most- 
High, 
And vaulted on my fleet and valiant charger ; 
And, seizing my cow-graved mace inmy grasp, 
With the bow in my hand and the shield on 
my shoulder, 
I went forth like a fierce crocodile, 
To combat with the terrible dragon: 
And every one who heard my purpose 
Exclaimed,—farewell, as I passed. 
I came, I beheld him like a lofty mountain, 
Dragging his mane asa net upon the ground ; 
His tongue resembled the black tree, (19) 
(19) There is a little obscurity bere: the passage perhaps refers to 
the Upas or poison tree of Java. 
