Manu and the Fish (English [partial]) in: South Asia — Sanskrit
“Early in the morning they brought to Manu water to wash himself; when he had well washed, a fish came into his hands.
“It said to him these words: ‘Take care of me; I will save thee.’ ‘What will you save me from?’ ‘A deluge will sweep away all creatures; I wish thee to escape.’ ‘But how shall I take care of thee?’
“The fish said: ‘While we are small there is more than one danger of death, for one fish swallows another. Thou must, in the first place, put me in a vase. Then, when I shall exceed it in size, thou must dig a deep ditch, and place me in it. When I grow too large for it, throw me in the sea, for I shall then be beyond the danger of death.’
“Soon it became a great fish; it grew, in fact, astonishingly. Then it said to Manu, ‘In such a year the Deluge will come. Thou must build a vessel, and then pay me homage. When the waters of the deluge mount up, enter the vessel. I will save three.’
“When Manu had thus taken care of the fish, he put it in the sea. The same year that fish had said, in this very year, having built the vessel, he paid the fish homage. Then the Deluge mounting, he entered the vessel. The fish swam near him. To its horn Manu fastened the ship’s rope, with which the fish passed the Mountain of the North.
“The fish said: ‘See! I have saved thee. Fasten the vessel to a tree, so that the water does not float thee onward when thou art on the mountain top. As the water decreases, thou wilt descend little by little.’ Thus Manu descended gradually. Therefore to the mountain of the north remains the name, Descent of Manu. The Deluge had destroyed all creatures; Manu survived alone.”
(a.i) Sanskrit — (a.ii) Sanskrit [transliteration] — (a.iii) Suryakanta (1950) — (a.iv) Muir (1890) — (a.v) Eggeling (1882) — (a.vi) Brindon (1876) [partial] — (a.vii) Etter (1988) (German) — (a.viii) Hohenberger (1930) (German) — (a.ix) Weber (1850) (German) — (a.x) Secondary sources
– Brinton, Daniel G., The Myths of the New World, (New York: Greenwood Press, New York, 1876), pp. 227-228. [This source is in the public domain; download here].
Flood Stories 