FISH LIVER OIL
"Then the maiden bade him cast off his robes and cover his body with fishliver oil, that he might safely follow her into the sea'
The 1001 Arabian Nights
“I have a trust to give thee; so come thou with me into the sea, that I may carry thee to my city and entertain thee in my house and give thee a deposit; which when thou takest thy station by the Prophet’s tomb, do thou lay thereon, saying, ‘O apostle of Allah, Abdullah the Merman saluteth thee, and sendeth thee this present, imploring thine intercession to save him from the Fire.'” Said the fisherman, “O my brother, thou wast created in the water and water is thy abiding-place and doth thee no hurt, but, if thou shouldst come forth to the land, would any harm betide thee?” The Merman replied, “Yes; my body would dry up and the breezes of the land would blow upon me and I should die.” Rejoined the fisherman, “And I, in like manner, was created on the land and the land is my abiding-place; but, an I went down into the sea, the water would enter my belly and choke me and I should die.” Retorted the other, “Have no fear for that, for I will bring thee an ointment, wherewith when thou hast anointed thy body, the water will do thee no hurt, though thou shouldst pass the lave of thy life going about in the great deep: and thou shalt lie down and rise up in the sea and naught shall harm thee.” Quoth the fisherman, “An the case by thus, well and good; but bring me the ointment, so that I may make trial of it;” and quoth the Merman, “So be it;” then, taking the fish-basket disappeared in the depths. He was absent awhile, and presently returned with an unguent as it were the fat of beef, yellow as gold and sweet of savour. Asked the fisherman, “What is this, O my brother?”; and answered the Merman, “‘Tis the liver-fat of a kind of fish called the Dandan, which is the biggest of all fishes and the fiercest of our foes. His bulk is greater than that of any beast of the land, and were he to meet a camel or an elephant, he would swallow it at a single mouthful.”
Quoth the fisherman, "I put my trust in Allah;" and, doffing his clothes, buried them in a hole which he dug in the beach; after which he rubbed his body from head to heels with that ointment. Then he descended into the water and diving, opened his eyes and the brine did him no hurt.
A miraculous voyage to the bottom of the ocean appears in The Epic of Gilgamesh, the Sumerian epic poem. Here, Gilgamesh is shocked at the death of his friend Enkidu. Becoming cognizant of his own mortality, the hero goes in search of a magical item which will restore his youth. In some versions of the telling, the item in question is a plant growing at the bottom of the ocean. In others, the item is a magic pearl, which is again to be found at the bottom of the ocean. While I do not claim identity between the underwater voyage of Gilgamesh and that of Abdullah the Fisherman, this will serve as a nice backdrop for our discussion of Fishliver Oil, an ancient medicine that remains controversial. Is it the closest that ancient man could hope to get to the Pearl of Gilgamesh, or it as spurious as the Dandan Fish? Stay tuned as Dungeonposting investigates.
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