Sikandar proffered many a gift, but none
Accepted them; the Brahmans had small greed.
He did no hurt, set off upon his march,
By that same token fared toward the West,
And from the Brahmans' country reached a spot
Whence he beheld a deep and boundless sea;
The men there had their faces veiled like women,
And went arrayed, all colour and perfume.
They spake not Persian, whether old or modern,
Or Arabic, or Turkman, or Chinese;
They lived on fish alone; there was no means
Of bringing aught by road. Sikandar stood

Astound at them and in the Rúman tongue
Invoked God's name. Then from the water rose
A rock as bright and yellow as the sun.
The Sháh desired a swift ship whence to view
The thing aright. Of his philosophers
One said: “'Tis not for thee to cross the Deep;
Wait till some man of lore survey the rock.”
Then thirty men, some Persian and some Rúman,
Embarked. That bit of rock turned out to be
A yellow fish which, as they came anigh,
Drew down the vessel swiftly, dived, and vanished!
Sikandar's soldiers were aghast, and all
Invoked God's name. A priest said to the Sháh:—
“A goodly thing is knowledge, for the man
That hath it is in this world chief of folk.
Now if the Sháh had gone and perished thus
Blood would have filled the souls of this great host.”
Departing thence he led the army on
To where a novel water came in view.
Around it there were reeds as large as trees:
Thou wouldst have said: “They are the mighty stems
Of planes.” They were above ten cubits thick,
And measured forty cubits in their height.
The houses were of reeds and built thereon.
They might not tarry in that reed-bed; no one
Drank of its water for 'twas salt. Sikandar
Fared thence until a deepsome lake appeared;
The world was jocund, water honey-like;
The soil exhaled the scent of musk. They ate,
And set themselves to sleep, when from the water
Came writhing snakes in swarms while from the wood
Flame-coloured scorpions issued, and the world
Grew black and straitened to those slumberers.
On every side there perished multitudes,
Men great in lore and war. On one side came
Herds of wild boars with long tusks diamond-bright,
And on the other lions that out-bulked
An ox; none could withstand them; so the host,
Withdrawing from the mere and flinging fire
Upon that reed-bed, set themselves to slay
Hogs in such numbers as to block the way.