them; for the flood of waters will come very soon. And take
with you animals of all kinds, and birds, and things that creep; seven
pairs of these that will be needed by men, and one pair of all the rest,
so that all kinds of animals may be kept alive upon the earth."

So Noah and his wife, and his three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, with
their wives, went into the ark. And God brought to the door of the ark
the animals, and the birds, and the creeping things of all kinds; and
they went into the ark. And Noah and his sons put them in their places,
and brought in food enough to feed them all for many days. And then the
door of the ark was shut and no more people and no more animals could
come in.

In a few days the rain began to fall, as it had never rained before. It
seemed as though the heavens were opened to pour great floods upon the
earth. The streams filled, and the rivers rose higher and higher, and
the ark began to float on the water. The people left their houses and
ran up to the hills; but soon the hills were covered, and all the people
on them were drowned.

Some had climbed up to the tops of higher mountains, but the water rose
higher and higher, until even the mountains were covered and all the
people, wicked as they had been, were drowned in the great sea that now
rolled over all the earth where man had lived. And all the animals, the
tame animals, cattle, and sheep, and oxen, were drowned; and the wild
animals, lions, and tigers, and all the rest were drowned also. Even the
birds were drowned, for their nests in the trees were swept away, and
there was no place where they could fly from the terrible storm. For
forty days and nights the rain kept on, until there was no breath of
life remaining outside of the ark.

[Illustration: _The water rose higher and higher_]

After forty days the rain stopped, but the water stayed upon the earth
for more than six months, and the ark with all that were in it floated
over the great sea that covered the land. Then God sent a wind to blow
over the waters, and to dry them up; so by degrees the waters grew less
and less. First mountains rose above the waters, then the hills rose
up, and finally the ark ceased to float and lay aground on a mountain
which is called Mount Ararat.

But Noah could not see what had happened on the earth, because the door
was shut, and the only window was up in the roof. But he felt that the
ark was no longer moving, and he knew that the water