The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1906-06-14
STORY OF THE FLOOD
THERE ARE MANY AND VARIED YER
SIoNS OF THE oELUGE.

One Of the most powerful and vivid
descriptive portions of the book of
Genesis is that devoted to the wonder
full story Of the deluge. Together with
the accounts Of Adams fall, the STAY
ing Of Abel and the turning of Lots
wife into a pillar Of salt, every one
remembers from childhood how Noah
was warned Of the doom impending
over the children Of men and how he
/ constructed a huge ark in which he did
! live, himself and his family and two
/ of every beast of the field and fowl Of
the air. for the space Of 100 days, or
until the waters subsidized and the dry
land appeared. But the Biblical recital
! Of this terrible visitation Of divine
wrath is by no means the only one.
In fact, the most skeptically inclined
/ must believe that something Of the sort
actually occurred long ago, for it has
! been perpetuated not only in the Tai
mud and Koran, but in the legends Of
! almost every nation and race that ever
| lived on the face Of the earth, including
the Chinese, the ancient AStecs Of
| Mexico, the Indian tribes of North and
| South America and even the savages
] Of Africa
| The story, OF course, varies material
\ " in the multitudinOus traditions, but
/ the gist Of it remains substantially the
same-namely, that the earth was once
visited by great flood IN which nearly
every living thing was overwhelmed
and lost. Thus in the Koran we read
| that Noah constructed the ark with
| divine assistance and was rallied at for
| his pains by the wicked. When tie
time prescribed for the punishment OF
| mankind arrived, water was seen to
| flow from the burning oven Of Noah's
wife, and Immediately all the veins
and arteries Of the earth broke and
| spurted out water.
Noah was then admonished in these
words: Take and bring into the ark
two couples Of every kind of animal,
male and female, with all your family,
except him who has been condemned
by your mouth, and receive the faith
full and even the unbelieving, but few
only will enter" The Koran also says
that the ark was built in two years
and that it contained three stories, the
upper one for the birds, the middle one
for the men and the provisions and the
hold for the beasts. Canaan, the son
Of Ham, refused to be saved. There
fore Noah cursed him, and his posteri-
ty became black and were enslaved.
The Persians assert that Ham incurred
his fathers, malediction as well. When
six months had passed the ark rested
on the top Of Mount Djondi (Ararat),
after having made the circuit Of the
world. Tabari says that two sorts Of
animals left the ark which had not en-
tered 1.-THE pig and the cat. Concern
ing the latter we have this interesting
piece Of information: When the rats be-
gan to make trouble the voyagers COM
planned to Noah. Whereupon the patri-
arch passed his hand down the back
Of the lion, who sneezed, and the cat
leaped out Of its nose. And the cat ate
the rats" o.
According to the Talmud, Noah and
his family and one pair Of each kind Of
beast were to be saved in the ark, but
Of every clean beast seven were to en-
ter in. The rhinoceros, however, had
to be left out, for the simple but sufi-
Gent reason that its neck alone was
three miles long. Nevertheless all the
rabbinic writer's agree that the rhi-
noceros survived the food; hence it is
reasonable to suppose that the huge
beast was taken IN tow by a rope at
tached to its horn. Some authorities
likewise declare that Noah extended
his hospitality to another outsider in
the shape Of Og, the gianE who climb
ed on the roof Of the ark and received
his daily food through hole bored in
the side OF the vessel.
Ararat has been known under this
name for 5000 years, and an Armenian
writer declares that an entire country
was so called after Arai the Fair. an
ancient Armenian king, who lived
about 1850 B. G. He fell in a bloody
battle with the Babylonlans, and the
scene OF his death was thenceforth
known as Arai-Arat, or the Fall Of
Arai. Josephus refers to the mountain
as Nazuana and declares that the re-
mains Of the ark were there to be seen
carefully preserved.
Almost all the Asiatic traditions
closely resemble the Biblical account !
BerOsus in his Chaldee history Oh. c.. |
POO speaks Of ten kings, who appear
to correspond to the ten patriarchs in
Genesis before the food. The last Of |
these kings was called Xisuthrus. Be !
rosus relates that ''Kronos appeared to /
Xisuthrus in a dream and warned him
that all men would be destroyed by a
deluge on the 18th of the month Dae-
Bios and commanded him to write |
down all the learning and science Of |
men and to hide it in the sun city
Siparls and then to build a ship and !
enter it along with his family and rela- |
tives and nearest friends and to take |
into 1t with him food and drink and |
beasts and winged fowl When he was |
asked whittier he was about to sail, he |
was hidden to reply, TO the gods to |
praY them that men NAV DrOsDpr - i