5
A hundred and twenty cubits long, the ship-wright said, and well over a quarter as wide, and from deck to bottom, where it is deepest, in the bilge, twenty-nine. Then, what a tall mast, what a yard to carry! What a fore-stay to hold it up! How gently the poop curves up, with a little golden goose below! And correspondingly at the opposite end, the prow juts right out in front, with figures of the goddess, Isis, after whom the ship is named, on either side. And the other decorations, the paintings and the topsail blazing like fire, anchors in front of them, and capstans, and windlasses, and the cabins on the poop—all very wonderful to me.
6
You could put the number of sailors at an army of soldiers. She was said to carry corn enough to feed all Attica for a year. And all this a little old man, a wee fellow, has kept from harm by turning the huge rudders with a tiny tiller. He was pointed out to me—a man with receding curly hair. Heron was his name, I believe.
6
He was wonderful at his job, those aboard said: wiser than Proteus at things to do with the sea.
7
Did you hear how he brought the ship here, what happened to those on board, and how they were saved by a star?
7
No, Timolaus, but I’d very much like to.
7
The captain himself told me—a good man, and good company. When they left Pharos, he said, the wind was not very strong, and they sighted Acamas in seven days. Then it blew against them from the west, and they were driven abeam to Sidon. After Sidon a severe storm broke and carried them through Aulon to reach the Chelidonenses on the tenth day. There they were all nearly drowned.
