O hear this word, and know that not in vain does God keep me alive upon the earth; and then shalt thou receive the evil days with cheerful heart, closed mouth, and bridled thought. Let thine ear be deaf to dissenters, and thine eye closed from seeing backsliders, who are like Hofni in Shiloh,[86] or like Zimri with the Midianite woman,[87] or Onan[88] with his brother’s wife. O hear this word, exalt God in thy house, and on thy way, whilst thou sittest or standest. * * * * * Her head is as a row boat in size, with a countenance raised very high; she has eyes like fountains, a nostril like a furnace, and temples like a wall. Her mouth is deep and wide like a cave; when thirsty, she pours a stream into it. Her lips resemble two inflated skin-bottles, and between them is a hole like that of a torn garment. White is her body, green her back; her neck is like a tower, her belly is like a heap. Her fins are like a keen-edged sword; her scales look like a red buckler. To them that watch, her structure is like a rock projecting in mid-ocean. When she came swimming round about the boat, no one uttered aught, nor breathed a word. Then she drew nigh unto the sides of the boat, and stood on her tail which was as a cedar or a vine. The hearts of all men melted like wax, like water, or a stream that is swept away. Through grief I stilled me like a lamb that becomes mute on the day of slaughter. Then I thought of my God, while others at my side thought of gods like Ashima.[89] I said: ‘It is true, in such or such a way transgressions ensnare the guilty soul; though Jonah through piety was vomited from the sea on land, but what am I? My God, stay Thy wrath, for this calamity awakened me (for I had been slumbering). But if I deserve this punishment, may it be an atonement for my great guilt.’ She then sank into the water, like the host which God had cast and thrown into the sea, and came beneath to overthrow the boat; (all hearts stood still, and every breath was gone). But God rebuked her, so that she returned in a moment to her abode in the depth of the sea. Thus to small worms He brought salvation, upon a beam daubed all around with pitch. The dead restored He from the grave, and with His high and lofty hand He saved the drowning. All men who know the ocean marvelled, and said: ‘Wherefore, and how did these escape? for hitherto no boat has yet been saved from this accursed monster of the deep.’ I answered them: ‘Thus God’s redemption is majestic and complete to them that know the glory of His splendor; He works salvation for them that know Him, and takes vengeance upon them that provoke Him. His are the sea, the beasts, and the waters of the great deep—all of them He hung on nought. What is this beast against the Lord, who made her reign supreme, and gave her strength and might?’