74 



SHAKESPEARE'S 



[CROCODILE. 



CROCODILE is nigh twenty cubits long, and his skin is 

 hard that recketh not though he be strongly beaten on the 

 back with stones. And a certain fish, having a crest like 

 to a saw, rendeth his tender womb, and slayeth him. And 

 it is said that among beasts only the Crocodile moveth the 

 over jaw. Among beasts of the land he is tongueless, and 

 his biting is venomous ; his teeth be horrible and strongly 

 shapen as a comb or a saw, and no beast that cometh of 

 so little beginning waxeth so great, and is a beast nourished 

 in great gluttony, and eateth right much. And so when 



he is full, he lieth by the brink or by the cliff, and bloweth 

 for fullness ; and then there cometh a little bird, which is 

 called king of fowls among the Italians, and this bird flyeth 

 tofore his mouth, and sometime he putteth the bird off, 

 and at the last he openeth his mouth to the bird, and 

 suffereth him enter. And this bird claweth him first with 

 claws softly, and maketh him have a 'manner liking in 

 clawing, and falleth anon asleep, and when this bird 

 knoweth and perceiveth that this beast sleepeth, anon he 

 descendeth into his womb, and forthwith sticketh him as 

 it were with a dart, and biteth him full grievously and full 



