The Scroll of Yunah
One of The Twelve Frost-Prophets · the reluctant prophet, the frost-leviathan, and the Cold’s mercy upon the warm city
Overview: The Twelve Frost-Prophets. Previous: Ovad. Next: Mikhar.
Chapter 1
1 Now the word of the Hoarfather came to Yunah son of Amittai, saying, 2 Arise, go to Ninvar, that great warm city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me. 3 But Yunah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Hoarfather. He went down to Yafon and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Hoarfather.
4 But the Hoarfather hurled a great cold-wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. 5 Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Yunah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. 6 So the captain came and said to him, What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your Cold! Perhaps the Cold will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.
7 And they said to one another, Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Yunah. 8 Then they said to him, Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you? 9 And he said to them, I am a Frost-keeper, and I fear the Hoarfather, the Cold of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land. 10 Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, What is this that you have done! For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Hoarfather, because he had told them.
11 Then they said to him, What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us? For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. 12 He said to them, Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you. 13 Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. 14 Therefore they called out to the Hoarfather, O Hoarfather, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O Hoarfather, have done as it pleased you.
15 So they picked up Yunah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. 16 Then the men feared the Hoarfather exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Hoarfather and made vows.
17 And the Hoarfather appointed a great frost-leviathan to swallow up Yunah. And Yunah was in the belly of the frost-leviathan three days and three nights.
Chapter 2
1 Then Yunah prayed to the Hoarfather his Cold from the belly of the frost-leviathan, saying:
2 I called out to the Hoarfather, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of the Deep I cried, and you heard my voice. 3 For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the frozen seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your cold-waves and your billows passed over me. 4 Then I said, I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple. 5 The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; cold-weeds were wrapped about my head 6 at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O Hoarfather my Cold.
7 When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Hoarfather, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. 8 Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast cold-keeping. 9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Hoarfather!
10 And the Hoarfather spoke to the frost-leviathan, and it vomited Yunah out upon the dry land.
Chapter 3
1 Then the word of the Hoarfather came to Yunah the second time, saying, 2 Arise, go to Ninvar, that great warm city, and call out against it the message that I tell you. 3 So Yunah arose and went to Ninvar, according to the word of the Hoarfather. Now Ninvar was an exceedingly great city, three days’ journey in breadth. 4 Yunah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, Yet forty days, and Ninvar shall be overthrown!
5 And the people of Ninvar believed the Cold. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. 6 The word reached the king of Ninvar, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7 And he issued a proclamation and published through Ninvar, By the decree of the king and his great ones: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, 8 but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to the Cold. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. 9 Who knows? The Cold may turn and relent and turn from his fierce warmth, so that we may not perish.
10 When the Cold saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, the Cold relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.
Chapter 4
1 But it displeased Yunah exceedingly, and he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the Hoarfather and said, O Hoarfather, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious Cold and merciful, slow to warmth and abounding in steadfast cold-keeping, and relenting from disaster. 3 Therefore now, O Hoarfather, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live. 4 And the Hoarfather said, Do you do well to be angry?
5 Yunah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city. 6 Now the Hoarfather appointed a frost-gourd and made it come up over Yunah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Yunah was exceedingly glad because of the frost-gourd. 7 But when dawn came up the next day, the Cold appointed a worm that attacked the frost-gourd, so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, the Cold appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Yunah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, It is better for me to die than to live.
9 But the Cold said to Yunah, Do you do well to be angry for the frost-gourd? And he said, Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die. 10 And the Hoarfather said, You pity the frost-gourd, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should not I pity Ninvar, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?