Sikandar directed his vast host toward Babylon, their march raising such clouds of dust that the light of the sun was extinguished from the heavens. For a full month the army pressed onward without rest, until they encountered a colossal granite mountain whose zenith was veiled in dark clouds, seemingly touching the sphere of Saturn. Finding no passage, both King and army stood bewildered, yet through immense toil they breached the stony peaks. Upon descending the far side, a boundless and deep sea stretched before their eyes.
Rejoicing at the sight of the open waters and plains, the host offered praise to the Creator of the World. In this wild realm, beast and game abounded, providing the sole sustenance for the soldiers. Suddenly, a giant figure appeared from afar—his skin beneath a thick coat of hair was dark as indigo, and he possessed two tremendous ears resembling those of an elephant. Sikandar's warriors bound the creature and dragged him before the monarch. Astonished by this apparition, Sikandar invoked the name of God and inquired of the stranger's identity, origin, and desire.
The creature replied that his parents had named him Gosh-Bastar (the Ear-Bedded). When Sikandar asked about the land across the waters where the sun rose, Gosh-Bastar revealed the existence of a paradise-like city built not of earth, but entirely of fish skin and ivory bones. He recounted how the grand palaces were adorned with radiant portraits of Afrasiab and the glorious Kay Khosrow, and how its people subsisted entirely upon the yield of the sea in a realm free of dust.
At Sikandar's command, Gosh-Bastar crossed the waters and summoned the leaders of that magical city. Seventy venerable elders and wise youths returned, attired in garments of silk and fur. The elders presented golden cups brimming with lustrous pearls, while the youths carried royal crowns, bowing low in homage before Caesar. Sikandar accepted their tribute and feasted through the night. At cockcrow, to the thunderous echo of war drums, he broke camp and resumed his great march toward Babylon.