The Flood

Faithful Noe, as he is referred to in Maine's work, receives visions from God. Most recently, God has instructed him to build a huge ship and fill it with breeding families of every beast in creation. "We're leagues from the sea," his wife protests. "Why so big?" his son Sem asks. "It's not a proper ship at all," complains another son, Cham. Frustrated, Noe continues to give orders, instructing two of his daughters-in-law to travel to the lands of their youth to gather pairs of exotic animals. "The problem with people who think that God will provide," grumbles one of them, "is that they think God will provide." Nimbly imbuing the Old Testament tale with his own sensibilities, Maine describes the family's undertaking: their quarrels over how to organize the animals, their worries over the boat, their encounters with the most ferocious beasts, and God's final command that they separate and repopulate the world.