ES-SINDIBAD OF THE SEA 185

death hath come to me, I will lie down in my
grave, and die in it, and the wind will blow the
sand upon me, and cover me; so I shall become
buried in it.” I blamed myself for my little sense,
and my going forth from my country and my city,
and my voyaging to foreign countries, after what
T had suffered in the first instance, and the second,
and the third, and the fourth, and the fifth; and
when I had not performed one of my voyages with-
out suffering in it horrors and distresses more
troublesome and more difficult than the horrors
preceding. I believed not that I could escape
and save myself, and repented of undertaking
sea-voyages, and of returning to this life when
I was not in want of wealth, but had abundance,
so that I could not consume what I had nor
spend half of it during the rest of my life;
having enough for me, and more than enough.
Then I meditated in my mind, and said, ‘‘ This
river must have a beginning and an end, and it
must have a place of egress into an inhabited
country. The right plan in my opinion will be for
me to construct for myself a small raft, of sufficient
size for me to sit upon it, and I will go down and
cast it upon this river, and depart on it. IfI find
safety, I am safe, and escape, by permission of
God (whose name be exalted !); and if I find no