40 

[[Look at the hippopotamus there,

15 

munching grass like an ox!

16 

Look at the strength of his thighs,

and the stout muscles of his belly;

17 

his tail is stiff as any cedar,

the sinews of his thighs are closely knit;

18 

his bones are tubes of bronze,

his ribs like iron bars,

19 

He is God’s very masterpiece,

made to be lord of his fellows.

20 

The rivers furnish him with food;

wild animals are all amazed at him,

21 

as there he lies, below the lotus-trees,

in covert of the reed and fen,

22 

in the shade of thorny thickets,

surrounded by the water-willows.

23 

He never trembles, though the torrent rages;

he is unmoved amid the swollen streams.

24 

Who catches him with any barb?

Who runs a rope through his nose?