Serpents (nâgas) stop a ship in mid ocean and demand that a certain holy man whose instructions they desire shall be delivered to them; when the holy man has thrown himself in, the vessel is free to move: Burnouf, Introduction à l'Histoire du Buddhisme indien, p. 316 f. (Rambaud, La Russie Épique, pp 175 f, 178 f.)
[12] A resemblance to Jonah, but a circumstance not unlikely to be found in any such story. In Danish C, Kristensen, I, 16, after the skipper and steersman have informed Peter that he is to be thrown overboard, they suggest the confession which he elsewhere makes unprompted. So Joshua to Achan, Joshua vii, 19, and Saul to Jonathan, 1 Samuel xiv, 43, in a similar emergency.
[13] These touching verses, which are of a kind found elsewhere in ballads (see 'The Twa Brothers,' I, 436 f), are preceded by a vow in Swedish A, and the same vow ends Swedish E:
'And if God would but help me,
That I might come to some land,
So surely would I build a church
All on the snow-white sand.
'And if I might but come to some town,
And God would so much stead,
So surely would I build a church,
And roof it over with lead.'
Slavic examples of these affecting messages are found in Roger, No 141, p. 80=Konopka, No 14, p. 114; Woicicki, Pieśńi, I, 76, II, 328, W. z Oleska, p. 507, No 27; Zegota Pauli, P. l. polskiego, p. 97, No 9, Lipiński, p. 90, No 47; Kolberg, No 16, pp 196-205, c, d, l, m, p, s, x; Kozlowski, p. 43, No 8; Sakarof, Pyesni, IV, 8. See also 'Mary Hamilton,' further on.
[14] Lord Howard throws Sir Andrew Barton's body over the hatchbord into the sea,
And about his middle three hundred crowns;
'Wherever thou land, this will bury thee!'
Herre Peder han red, og skibet det skred,
De fulgte så glade hit strand;
Så glad da var hans fæstemø
At han var kommen til land.