Page:Folk-lore of the Holy Land.djvu/38

14 The ark was upborne by the rising waters, which were swollen by torrential rains. Noah and his family (his wife, Anak, Canaan, and Og excepted), together with a company of other believers, the number of whom some say was six, others ten, twelve, and even seventy-eight or eighty, half of them men and half women, including Jorham the elder, the preserver of the Arabic language, were saved, as well as the animals which Allah had caused to enter the ark. Among the latter was the ass, under whose tail Iblis had hidden, disguised as a fly. This donkey, reluctant to enter the ark bearing the Evil One with him, was driven in by Noah with hard blows. To compensate the donkey for this injustice, it had been predestined that one of his descendants should enter Paradise. This happened when the ass of 'Ozair was raised to life again and admitted into the Heavenly Garden.

The waters of the Deluge destroyed all mankind except those inside the ark, and Og. The latter was so tall that when the Flood came its waters only reached up to his ankles. He repeatedly tried to destroy Noah and his crew by submerging the ark, but in vain. The pitch with which it had been coated had made it so difficult to grasp that it always slipped from his hands and came safely up to the surface. When hungry, Og would squat down on his haunches and take up a handful of water. Straining it through his fingers, he always found a good many fish left in his grasp. These he could roast