the phantasy of his
life; and yet, though his lot was hard, he was ready at once to
subordinate his sorrows to those of the shipwrecked sailor before him.
No more is said of his distress, but with his next words he seems to
have dismissed his own misfortunes, and to have attempted to comfort the
Egyptian.

"If thou art brave," he said, "and restrainest thy longing, thou shalt
press thy children to thy bosom and kiss thy wife, and behold thy
house--that is the best of all things. Thou shalt reach home, and shalt
dwell there amongst thy brothers."

"Thereat," said the mariner, "I cast me upon my stomach and touched the
ground before him, and I said to him: 'I will tell of thy might to the
Sovereign, I will cause him to be acquainted with thy greatness. I will
let bring to thee perfume and spices, myrrh and sweet-scented woods, and
incense of the sanctuaries wherewithal every god is propitiated. I will
recount all that has befallen me, and that which I have seen by his
might; and they shall praise thee in that city before the magistrates of
the entire land. I will slaughter to thee oxen as a burnt-offering,
geese will I pluck for thee, and I will let bring to thee vessels laden
with all the goodly things of Egypt, as may be (fitly) done to a god who
loves men in a distant land, a land unknown to men.'"

At these words the serpent opened his golden mouth and fell to laughing.
The thought that this little mortal, grovelling before him, could
believe himself able to repay the kindnesses received tickled him
immensely.

"Hast thou not much incense (here, then)?" he laughed. "Art not become a
lord of frankincense? And I, behold I am prince of Pount," the land of
perfumes, "and the incense, _that_ is my very own. As for the spices
which thou sayest shall be brought, they are the wealth of this island.
But it shall happen when thou hast left this place, never shalt thou see
this island more, for it shall be changed to waves."

The teller of the story does not relate in what manner he received this
well-merited reproof. The gentle monster, no doubt, was tolerant of his
presumptuousness, and soon put him at his ease again. During the whole
period of the Egyptian's residence on the island, in fact, the golden
serpent seems to have been invariably kind to him. The days passed by
like a happy dream, and the spell of the island's enchantment possessed
him so that, in after times, the details of the events of every day were
lost i