The Nile is the river of Egypt, running from Lake Victoria to Alexandria; its floods make its valley “the most fertile in the universe”, sharply bordered by desert.
| Type | River |
| Spanish entry | El Nilo |
Course
- Source: Lake Victoria, by the Mountains of the Moon, where “all the energy of the Nile comes out”; of those mountains “they say it is where the serpent begins”.
- Valley: floods leave silt “with all its nutrients”, drawing the edge of life; beside it, “cut with a knife”, the desert begins.
- Crossings: the river runs “in the middle” of the region, crossed by bridges. In Cairo it passes the city’s edge, with a bridge there, and flows along the east side of the Cairo Museum.
- Mouth: it “ends in Alexandria”, where the Delta opens, likened to a lotus bud. From parts of Alexandria one can “hear the smells and sounds of the Nile in the distance”. A distance of 50 km is given from a point on the coast, between unspecified points.
The inhabited river
A creature once rose from it, raising “a tremendous wave” that dissipated inland “in the desert that swallowed it”. People by the river sing “an old song from near the Nile” while working.
Open questions
- What the serpent of the Mountains of the Moon is.
- How often and when the river floods.
- How many bridges there are, where, and who controls them.
- Whether the creature will return.
- The song’s words and the work it accompanies.
- The water’s color, width, flow and traffic.