Ibn Mandawayh has said that Basiltqun is the King of Serpents. Its
eponym derives from the possession of a crown upon its head. It is said
not to measure more than four spans. It has a sharp head, red eyes, and
is yellowish-black in hue. It incinerates every thing it passes by. Animals
run from it or else they faint. Any fowl flying over it falls down to the
ground and its sight even from a distance is sufficient cause for death.
Anyone who hears its rustling sound within arrow-flying distance, dies.
An animal which draws near to the one that has been bitten by it dies.
This serpent is found in the land of the Turks (sic.) and Lubiyah which
separates the west of Sudan from Egypt.
Aetios of Amida writes in his book 'which has been translated by
Abu al-Khayr in Arabic' that the length of the serpent, arqam, which is
also called ibn qutrah is a cubit and a half. Possessing a slender body it is
red-hued. It slays by bite, by being seen or heard. Its victim dies before
any medical treatment reaches it or him. if anyone approaches near its
victim, at first he loses his hair, turns yellow and finally black. The body
putrefies and gives off stench.
All these stories are fables and useless. As for the crown, there are
many animals that have been graced with it, e.g., the cock and the peacock.
Among the snakes a horned kind also features. Different tales are
told about the horns. Some say the horn is black, crooked, and hard.
Some say there are two horns of the kind just mentioned. Others say
these are two projections of the flesh.
A poet [Dhu al-Rummah] says in praise of the serpent and its fleetness:
A horned one, called Dhu al-Qarnayn, is very black.
Its sound and the nimbleness of its gait are wonderful.
Abu al-Najm says;
"The horned one imitates it."
Now coming to the yellow colour, a Tabaristanian has mentioned to
me an incident. Some people were passing through scrubland when they
came across some dead persons. One of them had a little breath left in
him. When asked what had happened, he said he could not realise what
had happened except that he and his companions saw a yellowish thing
more than a span long. They leaped towards it and realised that it was a
snake which had glided in front of them. They all fell down upon their
faces, upon seeing it.
It is difficult to believe that the sight of an object on the spot would
affect the observer. We could perhaps believe it if its image remained imprinted upon the lens of the eye. But we cannot acknowledge that it will
burn. The same thing is true of sound. It does not affect the ears and
the cavities, or the sheathed organs of the body unless of course the re-
