In ancient times, lush forests grew in northern Africa, rich in animals and birds, and deep rivers teemed with fish.
But one day a terrible monster appeared in those parts: a half-bird, half-snake nicknamed Basilisk. Above his ugly head rose a spiky fin, which ran like a hump along his back and turned into a long tail. It had webbed wings like a bat.
All animals, large and small, were horrified by such proximity, for even the monster’s gaze exuded poison. As soon as the Basilisk looked at an elephant or a hawk, they fell dead, struck by a poisonous gaze from which there was no escape. A general pestilence began among animals.
The surviving animals and birds decided to flee without looking back from these ruined places. Taking advantage of the darkness of the night, they immediately left their native holes and nests.
The next morning the Basilisk went hunting, as usual. But no matter how much he scoured the forests, he did not find anyone there. Beside himself with rage, the monster fixed his destructive gaze on the trees, and they immediately dried up and died. Then the Basilisk angrily looked at the ground and stones, and all the grass burned, and the stones crumbled into sand. He glanced at the rivers, and they immediately became shallow.
So the once flourishing region was turned into a barren desert.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru