Budge_Ethiopic_Alexander

ALEXANDER'S EPISTLE TO ARISTOTLE. I53
And we passed on from there and arrived at
a region where there was a mighty river,' and
above the river was a huge tree which increased
in height from dawn until mid-day, from which The tree
time it diminished in height until it was night, ^d" dtail^
and it disappeared into the
until nothing whatsoever of it
depths of the
could be seen.
earth f^^^^
Now
^^
the smell of this tree was very sweet, and I
commanded them to bring to me some of its fruit
and leaves, and behold, certain demons and devils
rose up and attacked my men, and they smote
them with mighty blows [p. 85] like the lashings
of a whip;'' now the marks of the beating made
themselves seen in the limbs [of my men], but
those who aimed the blows were invisible. And
we heard a voice like thunder which said, "Let The myster-
lous voice
"no man cut ought from this tree, neither from therein!"
"its fruit nor from its leaves, lest^ ye all perish".
And there were large numbers of birds round
about that tree which resembled guinea-hens, and
I commanded my troops that they should not
pluck ought from that tree, nor snare any of the
birds. Now there were in that river certain birds'*
which appeared to be of a black colour [while in
it], but when they came out from the water they
were whiter than hailstones.
' Compare Miiller, p. 88. col. 2.
= Read Tfl^l'fl = 3 Read (0\\aD :
+ The Syriac has, p. 100, "stones". When they took them
out they were white, and when they put them back they
became black again.