Budge_Ethiopic_Alexander

THE LAND OF PARADISE. 235
"hath been able to enter this land, for there is nothing
"therein except lofty mountains. And Paradise [is Paradise
"situated] above the tops of the lofty
and the four
mountains,
"and it standeth between heaven and earth, and
"it is like a mighty city, and its covering and its
"supports are above the [four] winds in every
"part thereof." And the Two-horned said to them,'
"Where do the rivers, that is to say Sehun (Pison),
"and Gihon (Nile), and Euphrates, and Tigris flow
"forth from Paradise? And is this the Paradise
"which hangeth between heaven and earth? I do
"not understand you to tell me that ye yourselves
"have seen' it." The men answered and said unto
him, "God Almighty by [His] knowledge was able
"to make the rivers to flow forth from Paradise
"out of the heart of the earth, and He made them
"to flow by His power and brought them forth,
"and perfected His desire. Now the great rivers
"which we have mentioned come forth from the
"four quarters of Paradise, and are even like the
"form of the Cross, towards the East, West, South,
"and North. And let the king know that some
"of the rivers rise and flow out of caves, and
"that some of them gush out from beneath the
"earth." Now when the Two-horned heard these
things he marvelled at what the men had told
' The Syriac has, "and the clouds and darkness which
surround it are visible afar off, and the horn of the north
wind rests upon it" (p. 152).
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