The mariners then said unto him; "What shall we do unto thee?" Jonah in reply said, "Take me up and cast me forth into the sea, for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you." So they took up Jonah, and cast him into the sea, and the sea ceased raging. And the Lord prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah, _and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights_. Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord out of the fish's belly. And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. The Lord again spake unto Jonah and said: "Go unto Ninevah and preach unto it." So Jonah arose and went unto Ninevah, according to the command of the Lord, and preached unto it. There is a _Hindoo_ fable, very much resembling this, to be found in the _Somadeva Bhatta_, of a person by the name of _Saktideva_ who was swallowed by a huge fish, and finally came out unhurt. The story is as follows: "There was once a king's daughter who would marry no one but the man who had seen the Golden City--of legendary fame--and Saktideva was in love with her; so he went travelling about the world seeking some one who could tell him where this Golden City was. In the course of his journeys _he embarked on board a ship_ bound for the Island of Utsthala, where lived the King of the Fishermen, who, Saktideva hoped, would set him on his way. On the voyage _there arose a great storm_ and the ship went to pieces, _and a great fish swallowed Saktideva whole_. Then, driven by the force of fate, the fish went to the Island of Utsthala, and there the servants of the King of the Fishermen caught it, and the king, wondering at its size, had it cut open, _and Saktideva came out unhurt_."[78:1] In Grecian fable, Hercules is said to have been swallowed by a whale, at a place called Joppa, _and to have lain three days in his entrails_. Bernard de Montfaucon, speaking of Jonah being swallowed by a whale, and describing a piece of Grecian sculpture representing Hercules standing by a huge sea monster, says: "Some ancients relate to the effect that Hercules was also swallowed by the whale that was watching Hesione, _that he remained three days in his belly_, and that he came out bald-pated after his sojourn there."[78:2] Bouchet, in his "Hist. d'Animal," tells us that: "The great fish which swallowed up _Jonah_, although it be called a whale (Matt. xii. 40), yet it was not a whale, properly so called, but a _Dog-fish_, called _Carcharias_. Therefore in the Grecian fable _Hercules_ is said to have been swallowed up of a _Dag_, and to have lain three days in his entrails."[78:3] Godfrey Higgins says, on this subject: