Page:History of Sindbad the sailor.pdf/22

22 Though the darkness of the cave was so great that I could not distinguish day and night, yet I always found my coffin again, and the cave seemed to me more spacious, and fuller of corpses than it appeared to me at first. I lived for some days upon my bread and water, which being all spent I was preparing for death.

At this time I heard something walking, and blowing and panting as it walked. I advanced towards that side from whence I heard the noise, and upon my approach the thing puffed and blew harder as if it had been running away from me, I followed the noise and the thing seemed to stop sometimes, but always fled and blew as I approached. I followed it so long and so far, till at last I perceived a light resembling a star; I went on towards that light and sometimes lost sight of it but always found it again, and at last discovered that it came through a hole in the rock, large enough for a man to get out at.

Upon this, I stopt some time to rest myself, being much fatigued with pursuing this discovery so fast: afterwards coming up to the hole. I went out at it, and found myself upon the sea. I leave you to guess at the excess of my joy; it was such that I could scarce persuade myself of its being real.

But when I was recovered from my surprise, and convinced of the truth of the matter, I found the thing which I had followed, and heard puff and blow, to be a creature which came out of the sea, and was accustomed to enter at that hole to feed upon dead carcasses.

I considered the mountain, and perceived it to be situated betwixt the sea and the town, but without any passage or way to communicate with the latter, the rocks on the side of the sea being so rugged and steep, I fell down upon the shore