ORIENTAL SERIES.

200 MANU.
lowing Is a summary : One morning,
in the water which was
brought to Mann for washing his hands, he caught a fish which
spake, and said, "Take care of me and I will preserve thee."
Manu asked, " Erom what wilt thou preserve me ? "
The fish
answered, " A flood will carry away all living beings ; I will save
thee from that "
The fish desired Manu to keep him ah've in
an earthen vessel, to remove him to a dyke as he grew larger,
and eventually to the ocean, " so that he might be beyond the
risk of destruction." The fish grew rapidly, and again addressed
Manu, saying, "After so many years the deluge will take place;
then construct a ship and pay me homage, and when the waters
rise, go into the ship and I will rescue tbee." Manu did as he
was desired, he built the ship, conveyed the fish to the ocean,
and did him homage. The flood rose, and Manu fastened the
cable of the ship to the fish's horn. Thus he passed over the
northern mountain (the Himalaya, as the commentator explains).
The fish then desired Manu to fasten the ship to a tree, and ta
go down with the subsiding waters. He did so, and found that
the flood had swept away all living creatures. He alone was
left. Desirous of offspring, he offered sacrifice and engaged in
devotion, A woman was produced, who came to Manu and
"
declared herself his daughter. With her he lived, worshipping
and toiling in arduous religious rites, desirous of
offspring. "With
her he begat the offspring which is the offspring of Manu."
The story, as told in the Maha-bharata, represents Manu as
engaged in devotion by the side of a river, and the fish craving
his protection from the bigger fish. Manu placed the fish in a
glass vase, but it grew larger and larger till the ocean alone could
contain it. Then it warned Manu of, the coming flood, and
directed him to build a ship and to embark with the seven
JSishis. He did so, and fastened his ship to the horn of the fish.
Then, according to the rendering of Professor Williams
" Along the ocean in that stately ship was borne the lord of men,
and through
Its dancing, tumbling billows and its roaring waters ; and the
bark,
Tossed to and fro by violent winds, reeled on the surface of the
deep,
Staggering and trembling :
no more,
like a drunken woman land was seen