Sindbad The Seaman[FN#1] and Sindbad The Landsman.
There lived in the city of Baghdad, during the reign of the
Commander of the Faithful, Harun al-Rashid, a man named Sindbád
the Hammál,[FN#2] one in poor case who bore burdens on his head
for hire. It happened to him one day of great heat that whilst he
was carrying a heavy load, he became exceeding weary and sweated
profusely, the heat and the weight alike oppressing him.
Presently, as he was passing the gate of a merchant's house,
before which the ground was swept and watered, and there the air
was temperate, he sighted a broad bench beside the door; so he
set his load thereon, to take rest and smell the air,--And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.
When it was the Five Hundred and Thirty-seventh Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
Hammal set his load upon the bench to take rest and smell the
air, there came out upon him from the court-door a pleasant
breeze and a delicious fragrance. He sat down on the edge of the
bench, and at once heard from within the melodious sound of lutes
and other stringed instruments, and mirth-exciting voices singing
and reciting, together with the song of birds warbling and
glorifying Almighty Allah in various tunes and tongues; turtles,
mocking-birds, merles, nightingales, cushats and stone-
curlews,[FN#3] whereat he marvelled in himself and was moved to
mighty joy and solace. Then he went up to the gate and saw within
a great flower-garden wherein were pages and black slaves and
such a train of servants and attendants and so forth as is found
only with Kings and Sultans; and his nostrils were greeted with
the savoury odours of all manner meats rich and delicate, and
delicious and generous wines. So he raised his eyes heavenwards
and said, "Glory to Thee, O Lord, O Creator and Provider, who
providest whomso Thou wilt without count or stint! O mine Holy
One, I cry Thee pardon for all sins and turn to Thee repenting of
all offences! O Lord, there is no gainsaying Thee in Thine
ordinance and Thy dominion, neither wilt Thou be questioned of
that Thou dost, for Thou indeed over all things art Almighty!
Extolled be Thy perfection: whom Thou wilt Thou makest poor and
whom Thou wilt Thou makest rich! Whom Thou wilt Thou exaltest and
whom Thou wilt Thou abasest and there is no god but Thou! How
mighty is Thy majesty and how enduring Thy dominion and how
excellent Thy government! Verily, Thou favourest whom Thou wilt
of Thy servants, whereby the owner of this place abideth in all
joyance of life and delighteth himself with pleasant scents and
delicious meats and exquisite wines of all kinds. For indeed Thou
appointest unto Thy creatures that which Thou wilt and that which
Thou hast foreordained unto them; wherefore are some weary and
others are at rest and some enjoy fair fortune and affluence,
whilst others suffer the extreme of travail and misery, even as I
do." And he fell to reciting,
"How many by my labours, that evermore endure, * All goods of
life enjoy and in cooly shade recline?
Each morn that dawns I wake in travail and in woe, * And strange
is my condition and my burden gars me pine:
Many others are in luck and from miseries are free, * And Fortune
never loads them with loads the like o' mine:
They live their happy days in all solace and delight; * Eat,
drink and dwell in honour 'mid the noble and the digne:
All living things were made of a little drop of sperm, * Thine
origin is mine and my provenance is thine;
Yet the difference and distance 'twixt the twain of us are far *
As the difference of savour 'twixt vinegar and wine:
But at Thee, O God All-wise! I venture not to rail * Whose
ordinance is just and whose justice cannot fail."
When Sindbad the Porter had made an end of reciting his verses,
he bore up his burden and was about to fare on, when there came
forth to him from the gate a little foot-page, fair of face and
shapely of shape and dainty of dress who caught him by the hand
saying, "Come in and speak with my lord, for he calleth for
thee." The Porter would have excused himself to the page but the
lad would take no refusal; so he left his load with the
doorkeeper in the vestibule and followed the boy into the house,
which he found to be a goodly mansion, radiant and full of
majesty, till he brought him to a grand sitting-room wherein he
saw a company of nobles and great lords, seated at tables
garnished with all manner of flowers and sweet-scented herbs,
besides great plenty of dainty viands and fruits dried and fresh
and confections and wines of the choicest vintages. There also
were instruments of music and mirth and lovely slave-girls
playing and singing. All the company was ranged according to
rank; and in the highest place sat a man of worshipful and noble
aspect whose beard-sides hoariness had stricken; and he was
stately of stature and fair of favour, agreeable of aspect and
full of gravity and dignity and majesty. So Sindbad the Porter
was confounded at that which he beheld and said in himself, "By
Allah, this must be either a piece of Paradise or some King's
palace!" Then he saluted the company with much respect praying
for their prosperity, and kissing the ground before them, stood
with his head bowed down in humble attitude.--And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Five Hundred and Thirty-eighth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Sindbad the
Porter, after kissing ground between their hands stood with his
head bowed down in humble attitude. The master of the house bade
him draw near and be seated and bespoke him kindly, bidding him
welcome. Then he set before him various kinds of viands, rich and
delicate and delicious, and the Porter, after saying his
Bismillah, fell to and ate his fill, after which he exclaimed,
"Praised be Allah whatso be our case![FN#4]" and, washing his
hands, returned thanks to the company for his entertainment.
Quoth the host, "Thou art welcome and thy day is a blessed. But
what is thy name and calling?" Quoth the other, "O my lord, my
name is Sindbad the Hammal, and I carry folk's goods on my head
for hire." The house-master smiled and rejoined, "Know, O Porter
that thy name is even as mine, for I am Sindbad the Seaman; and
now, O Porter, I would have thee let me hear the couplets thou
recitedst at the gate anon." The Porter was abashed and replied,
"Allah upon thee! Excuse me, for toil and travail and lack of
luck when the hand is empty, teach a man ill manners and boorish
ways." Said the host, "Be not ashamed; thou art become my
brother; but repeat to me the verses, for they pleased me whenas
I heard thee recite them at the gate. Hereupon the Porter
repeated the couplets and they delighted the merchant, who said
to him, "Know, O Hammal, that my story is a wonderful one, and
thou shalt hear all that befel me and all I underwent ere I rose
to this state of prosperity and became the lord of this place
wherein thou seest me; for I came not to this high estate save
after travail sore and perils galore, and how much toil and
trouble have I not suffered in days of yore! I have made seven
voyages, by each of which hangeth a marvellous tale, such as
confoundeth the reason, and all this came to pass by doom of
fortune and fate; for from what destiny doth write there is
neither refuge nor flight. Know, then, good my lords (continued
he) that I am about to relate the
First Voyage of Sindbad the Seaman."[FN#5]
My father was a merchant, one of the notables of my native place,
a monied man and ample of means, who died whilst I was yet a
child, leaving me much wealth in money and lands and farmhouses.
When I grew up, I laid hands on the whole and ate of the best and
drank freely and wore rich clothes and lived lavishly,
companioning and consorting with youths of my own age, and
considering that this course of life would continue for ever and
ken no change. Thus did I for a long time, but at last I awoke
from my heedlessness and, returning to my senses, I found my
wealth had become unwealth and my condition ill-conditioned and
all I once hent had left my hand. And recovering my reason I was
stricken with dismay and confusion and bethought me of a saying
of our lord Solomon, son of David (on whom be peace!), which I
had heard aforetime from my father, "Three things are better than
other three; the day of death is better than the day of birth, a
live dog is better than a dead lion and the grave is better than
want."[FN#6] Then I got together my remains of estates and
property and sold all, even my clothes, for three thousand
dirhams, with which I resolved to travel to foreign parts,
remembering the saying of the poet,
"By means of toil man shall scale the height; * Who to fame
aspires mustn't sleep o' night:
Who seeketh pearl in the deep must dive, * Winning weal and
wealth by his main and might:
And who seeketh Fame without toil and strife * Th' impossible
seeketh and wasteth life."
So taking heart I bought me goods, merchandise and all needed for
a voyage and, impatient to be at sea, I embarked, with a company
of merchants, on board a ship bound for Bassorah. There we again
embarked and sailed many days and nights, and we passed from isle
to isle and sea to sea and shore to shore, buying and selling and
bartering everywhere the ship touched, and continued our course
till we came to an island as it were a garth of the gardens of
Paradise. Here the captain cast anchor and making fast to the
shore, put out the landing planks. So all on board landed and
made furnaces[FN#7] and lighting fires therein, busied themselves
in various ways, some cooking and some washing, whilst other some
walked about the island for solace, and the crew fell to eating
and drinking and playing and sporting. I was one of the walkers
but, as we were thus engaged, behold the master who was standing
on the gunwale cried out to us at the top of his voice, saying,
"Ho there! passengers, run for your lives and hasten back to the
ship and leave your gear and save yourselves from destruction,
Allah preserve you! For this island whereon ye stand is no true
island, but a great fish stationary a-middlemost of the sea,
whereon the sand hath settled and trees have sprung up of old
time, so that it is become like unto an island;[FN#8] but, when
ye lighted fires on it, it felt the heat and moved; and in a
moment it will sink with you into the sea and ye will all be
drowned. So leave your gear and seek your safety ere ye die!"--
And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.
When it was the Five Hundred and Thirty-ninth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
ship-master cried to the passengers, "Leave your gear and seek
safety, ere ye die;" all who heard him left gear and goods,
clothes washed and unwashed, fire pots and brass cooking-pots,
and fled back to the ship for their lives, and some reached it
while others (amongst whom was I) did not, for suddenly the
island shook and sank into the abysses of the deep, with all that
were thereon, and the dashing sea surged over it with clashing
waves. I sank with the others down, down into the deep, but
Almighty Allah preserved me from drowning and threw in my way a
great wooden tub of those that had served the ship's company for
tubbing. I gripped it for the sweetness of life and, bestriding
it like one riding, paddled with my feet like oars, whilst the
waves tossed me as in sport right and left. Meanwhile the captain
made sail and departed with those who had reached the ship,
regardless of the drowning and the drowned; and I ceased not
following the vessel with my eyes, till she was hid from sight
and I made sure of death. Darkness closed in upon me while in
this plight and the winds and waves bore me on all that night and
the next day, till the tub brought to with me under the lee of a
lofty island, with trees overhanging the tide. I caught hold of a
branch and by its aid clambered up on to the land, after coming
nigh upon death; but when I reached the shore, I found my legs
cramped and numbed and my feet bore traces of the nibbling of
fish upon their soles; withal I had felt nothing for excess of
anguish and fatigue. I threw myself down on the island ground,
like a dead man, and drowned in desolation swooned away, nor did
I return to my senses till next morning, when the sun rose and
revived me. But I found my feet swollen, so made shift to move by
shuffling on my breech and crawling on my knees, for in that
island were found store of fruits and springs of sweet water. I
ate of the fruits which strengthened me; and thus I abode days
and nights, till my life seemed to return and my spirits began to
revive and I was better able to move about. So, after due
consideration, I fell to exploring the island and diverting
myself with gazing upon all things that Allah Almighty had
created there; and rested under the trees from one of which I cut
me a staff to lean upon. One day as I walked along the marge, I
caught sight of some object in the distance and thought it a wild
beast or one of the monster-creatures of the sea; but, as I drew
near it, looking hard the while, I saw that it was a noble mare,
tethered on the beach. Presently I went up to her, but she cried
out against me with a great cry, so that I trembled for fear and
turned to go away, when there came forth a man from under the
earth and followed me, crying out and saying, "Who and whence art
thou, and what caused thee to come hither?" "O my lord," answered
I, "I am in very sooth, a waif, a stranger, and was left to drown
with sundry others by the ship we voyaged in;[FN#9] but Allah
graciously sent me a wooden tub; so I saved myself thereon and it
floated with me, till the waves cast me up on this island." When
he heard this, he took my hand and saying, "Come with me,"
carried me into a great Sardab, or underground chamber, which was
spacious as a saloon. He made me sit down at its upper end; then
he brought me somewhat of food and, being anhungered, I ate till
I was satisfied and refreshed; and when he had put me at mine
ease he questioned me of myself, and I told him all that had
befallen me from first to last; and, as he wondered at my
adventure, I said, "By Allah, O my lord, excuse me; I have told
thee the truth of my case and the accident which betided me; and
now I desire that thou tell me who thou art and why thou abidest
here under the earth and why thou hast tethered yonder mare on
the brink of the sea." Answered he, "Know, that I am one of the
several who are stationed in different parts of this island, and
we are of the grooms of King Mihrjan[FN#10] and under our hand
are all his horses. Every month, about new-moon tide we bring
hither our best mares which have never been covered, and picket
them on the sea-shore and hide ourselves in this place under the
ground, so that none may espy us. Presently, the stallions of the
sea scent the mares and come up out of the water and seeing no
one, leap the mares and do their will of them. When they have
covered them, they try to drag them away with them, but cannot,
by reason of the leg-ropes; so they cry out at them and butt at
them and kick them, which we hearing, know that the stallions
have dismounted; so we run out and shout at them, whereupon they
are startled and return in fear to the sea. Then the mares
conceive by them and bear colts and fillies worth a mint of
money, nor is their like to be found on earth's face. This is the
time of the coming forth of the sea-stallions; and Inshallah! I
will bear thee to King Mihrjan"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn
of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Five Hundred and Fortieth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the
Syce[FN#11] said to Sindbad the Seaman, "I will bear thee to King
Mihrjan and show thee our country. And know that hadst thou not
happened on us thou hadst perished miserably and none had known
of thee: but I will be the means of the saving of thy life and of
thy return to thine own land." I called down blessings on him and
thanked him for his kindness and courtesy; and, while we were yet
talking, behold, the stallion came up out of the sea; and, giving
a great cry, sprang upon the mare and covered her. When he had
done his will of her, he dismounted and would have carried her
away with him, but could not by reason of the tether. She kicked
and cried out at him, whereupon the groom took a sword and
target[FN#12] and ran out of the underground saloon, smiting the
buckler with the blade and calling to his company, who came up
shouting and brandishing spears; and the stallion took fright at
them and plunging into the sea, like a buffalo, disappeared under
the waves.[FN#13] After this we sat awhile, till the rest of the
grooms came up, each leading a mare, and seeing me with their
fellow-Syce, questioned me of my case and I repeated my story to
them. Thereupon they drew near me and spreading the table, ate
and invited me to eat; so I ate with them, after which they took
horse and mounting me on one of the mares, set out with me and
fared on without ceasing, till we came to the capital city of
King Mihrjan, and going in to him acquainted him with my story.
Then he sent for me, and when they set me before him and salams
had been exchanged, he gave me a cordial welcome and wishing me
long life bade me tell him my tale. So I related to him all that
I had seen and all that had befallen me from first to last,
whereat he marvelled and said to me, "By Allah, O my son, thou
hast indeed been miraculously preserved! Were not the term of thy
life a long one, thou hadst not escaped from these straits; but
praised by Allah for safety!" Then he spoke cheerily to me and
entreated me with kindness and consideration: moreover, he made
me his agent for the port and registrar of all ships that entered
the harbour. I attended him regularly, to receive his
commandments, and he favoured me and did me all manner of
kindness and invested me with costly and splendid robes. Indeed,
I was high in credit with him, as an intercessor for the folk and
an intermediary between them and him, when they wanted aught of
him. I abode thus a great while and, as often as I passed through
the city to the port, I questioned the merchants and travellers
and sailors of the city of Baghdad; so haply I might hear of an
occasion to return to my native land, but could find none who
knew it or knew any who resorted thither. At this I was
chagrined, for I was weary of long strangerhood; and my
disappointment endured for a time till one day, going in to King
Mihrjan, I found him with a company of Indians. I saluted them
and they returned my salam; and politely welcomed me and asked me
of my country.--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Five Hundred and Forty-first Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that
Sindbad the Seaman said:--When they asked me of my country I
questioned them of theirs and they told me that they were of
various castes, some being called Shakiriyah[FN#14] who are the
noblest of their castes and neither oppress nor offer violence to
any, and others Brahmans, a folk who abstain from wine, but live
in delight and solace and merriment and own camels and horses and
cattle. Moreover, they told me that the people of India are
divided into two-and-seventy castes, and I marvelled at this with
exceeding marvel. Amongst other things that I saw in King
Mihrjan's dominions was an island called Kásil,[FN#15] wherin all
night is heard the beating of drums and tabrets; but we were told
by the neighbouring islanders and by travellers that the
inhabitants are people of diligence and judgment.[FN#16] In this
sea I saw also a fish two hundred cubits long and the fishermen
fear it; so they strike together pieces of wood and put it to
flight.[FN#17] I also saw another fish, with a head like that of
an owl, besides many other wonders and rarities, which it would
be tedious to recount. I occupied myself thus in visiting the
islands till, one day, as I stood in the port, with a staff in my
hand, according to my custom, behold, a great ship, wherein were
many merchants, came sailing for the harbour. When it reached the
small inner port where ships anchor under the city, the master
furled his sails and making fast to the shore, put out the
landing-planks, whereupon the crew fell to breaking bulk and
landing cargo whilst I stood by, taking written note of them.
They were long in bringing the goods ashore so I asked the
master, "Is there aught left in thy ship?"; and he answered, "O
my lord, there are divers bales of merchandise in the hold, whose
owner was drowned from amongst us at one of the islands on our
course; so his goods remained in our charge by way of trust and
we purpose to sell them and note their price, that we may convey
it to his people in the city of Baghdad, the Home of Peace."
"What was the merchant's name?" quoth I, and quoth he, "Sindbad
the Seaman;" whereupon I straitly considered him and knowing him,
cried out to him with a great cry, saying, "O captain, I am that
Sindbad the Seaman who travelled with other merchants; and when
the fish heaved and thou calledst to us some saved themselves and
others sank, I being one of them. But Allah Almighty threw in my
way a great tub of wood, of those the crew had used to wash
withal, and the winds and waves carried me to this island, where
by Allah's grace, I fell in with King Mihrjan's grooms and they
brought me hither to the King their master. When I told him my
story, he entreated me with favour and made me his harbour-
master, and I have prospered in his service and found acceptance
with him. These bales, therefore are mine, the goods which God
hath given me."--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Five Hundred and Forty-second Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when
Sindbad the Seaman said to the captain, "These bales are mine,
the goods which Allah hath given me," the other exclaimed, "There
is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious,
the Great! Verily, there is neither conscience nor good faith
left among men!" said I, "O Rais,[FN#18] what mean these words,
seeing that I have told thee my case?" And he answered, "Because
thou heardest me say that I had with me goods whose owner was
drowned, thou thinkest to take them without right; but this is
forbidden by law to thee, for we saw him drown before our eyes,
together with many other passengers, nor was one of them saved.
So how canst thou pretend that thou art the owner of the goods?"
"O captain," said I, "listen to my story and give heed to my
words, and my truth will be manifest to thee; for lying and
leasing are the letter-marks of the hypocrites." Then I recounted
to him all that had befallen me since I sailed from Baghdad with
him to the time when we came to the fish-island where we were
nearly drowned; and I reminded him of certain matters which had
passed between us; whereupon both he and the merchants were
certified at the truth of my story and recognized me and gave me
joy of my deliverance, saying, "By Allah, we thought not that
thou hadst escaped drowning! But the Lord hath granted thee new
life." Then they delivered my bales to me, and I found my name
written thereon, nor was aught thereof lacking. So I opened them
and making up a present for King Mihrjan of the finest and
costliest of the contents, caused the sailors carry it up to the
palace, where I went in to the King and laid my present at his
feet, acquainting him with what had happened, especially
concerning the ship and my goods; whereat he wondered with
exceeding wonder and the truth of all that I had told him was
made manifest to him. His affection for me redoubled after that
and he showed me exceeding honour and bestowed on me a great
present in return for mine. Then I sold my bales and what other
matters I owned making a great profit on them, and bought me
other goods and gear of the growth and fashion of the island-
city. When the merchants were about to start on their homeward
voyage, I embarked on board the ship all that I possessed, and
going in to the King, thanked him for all his favours and
friendship and craved his leave to return to my own land and
friends. He farewelled me and bestowed on me great store of the
country-stuffs and produce; and I took leave of him and embarked.
Then we set sail and fared on nights and days, by the permission
of Allah Almighty; and Fortune served us and Fate favoured us, so
that we arrived in safety at Bassorah-city where I landed
rejoiced at my safe return to my natal soil. After a short stay,
I set out for Baghdad, the House of Peace, with store of goods
and commodities of great price. Reaching the city in due time, I
went straight to my own quarter and entered my house where all my
friends and kinsfolk came to greet me. Then I bought me eunuchs
and concubines, servants and negro slaves till I had a large
establishment, and I bought me houses, and lands and gardens,
till I was richer and in better case than before, and returned to
enjoy the society of my friends and familiars more assiduously
than ever, forgetting all I had suffered of fatigue and hardship
and strangerhood and every peril of travel; and I applied myself
to all manner joys and solaces and delights, eating the dantiest
viands and drinking the deliciousest wines; and my wealth allowed
this state of things to endure. "This, then, is the story of my
first voyage, and to-morrow, Inshallah! I will tell you the tale
of the second of my seven voyages." (Saith he who telleth the
tale), Then Sindbad the Seaman made Sindbad the Landsman sup with
him and bade give him an hundred gold pieces, saying, "Thou hast
cheered us with thy company this day."[FN#19] The Porter thanked
him and, taking the gift, went his way, pondering that which he
had heard and marvelling mightily at what things betide mankind.
He passed the night in his own place and with early morning
repaired to the abode of Sindbad the Seaman, who received him
with honour and seated him by his side. As soon as the rest of
the company was assembled, he set meat and drink before them and,
when they had well eaten and drunken and were merry and in
cheerful case, he took up his discourse and recounted to them in
these words the narrative of
The Second Voyage of Sindbad the Seaman.
Know, O my brother, that I was living a most comfortable and
enjoyable life, in all solace and delight, as I told you
yesterday,--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
saying her permitted say.
When it was the Five Hundred and Forty-third Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when
Sindbad the Seaman's guests were all gathered together he thus
bespake them:--I was living a most enjoyable life until one day
my mind became possessed with the thought of travelling about the
world of men and seeing their cities and islands; and a longing
seized me to traffic and to make money by trade. Upon this
resolve I took a great store of cash and, buying goods and gear
fit for travel, bound them up in bales. Then I went down to the
river-bank, where I found a noble ship and brand-new about to
sail, equipped with sails of fine cloth and well manned and
provided; so I took passage in her, with a number of other
merchants, and after embarking our goods we weighed anchor the
same day. Right fair was our voyage and we sailed from place to
place and from isle to isle; and whenever we anchored we met a
crowd of merchants and notables and customers, and we took to
buying and selling and bartering. At last Destiny brought us to
an island, fair and verdant, in trees abundant, with yellow-ripe
fruits luxuriant, and flowers fragrant and birds warbling soft
descant; and streams crystalline and radiant; but no sign of man
showed to the descrier, no, not a blower of the fire.[FN#20] The
captain made fast with us to this island, and the merchants and
sailors landed and walked about, enjoying the shade of the trees
and the song of the birds, that chanted the praises of the One,
the Victorious, and marvelling at the works of the Omnipotent
King.[FN#21] I landed with the rest; and, sitting down by a
spring of sweet water that welled up among the trees, took out
some vivers I had with me and ate of that which Allah Almighty
had allotted unto me. And so sweet was the zephyr and so fragrant
were the flowers, that presently I waxed drowsy and, lying down
in that place, was soon drowned in sleep. When I awoke, I found
myself alone, for the ship had sailed and left me behind, nor had
one of the merchants or sailors bethought himself of me. I seared
the island right and left, but found neither man nor Jinn,
whereat I was beyond measure troubled and my gall was like to
burst for stress of chagrin and anguish and concern, because I
was left quite alone, without aught of wordly gear or meat or
drink, weary and heart-broken. So I gave myself up for lost and
said, "Not always doth the crock escape the shock. I was saved
the first time by finding one who brought me from the desert
island to an inhabited place, but now there is no hope for me."
Then I fell to weeping and wailing and gave myself up to an
access of rage, blaming myself for having again ventured upon the
perils and hardships of voyage, whenas I was at my ease in mine
own house in mine own land, taking my pleasure with good meat and
good drink and good clothes and lacking nothing, neither money
nor goods. And I repented me of having left Baghdad, and this the
more after all the travails and dangers I had undergone in my
first voyage, wherein I had so narrowly escaped destruction, and
exclaimed "Verily we are Allah's and unto Him we are returning!"
I was indeed even as one mad and Jinn-struck and presently I rose
and walked about the island, right and left and every whither,
unable for trouble to sit or tarry in any one place. Then I
climbed a tall tree and looked in all directions, but saw nothing
save sky and sea and trees and birds and isles and sands.
However, after a while my eager glances fell upon some great
white thing, afar off in the interior of the island; so I came
down from the tree and made for that which I had seen; and
behold, it was a huge white dome rising high in air and of vast
compass. I walked all around it, but found no door thereto, nor
could I muster strength or nimbleness by reason of its exceeding
smoothness and slipperiness. So I marked the spot where I stood
and went round about the dome to measure its circumference which
I found fifty good paces. And as I stood, casting about how to
gain an entrance the day being near its fall and the sun being
near the horizon, behold, the sun was suddenly hidden from me and
the air became dull and dark. Methought a cloud had come over the
sun, but it was the season of summer; so I marvelled at this and
lifting my head looked steadfastly at the sky, when I saw that
the cloud was none other than an enormous bird, of gigantic girth
and inordinately wide of wing which, as it flew through the air,
veiled the sun and hid it from the island. At this sight my
wonder redoubled and I remembered a story,--And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Five Hundred and Forty-fourth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Sindbad the
Seaman continued in these words:--My wonder redoubled and I
remembered a story I had heard aforetime of pilgrims and
travellers, how in a certain island dwelleth a huge bird, called
the "Rukh"[FN#22] which feedeth its young on elephants; and I was
certified that the dome which caught my sight was none other than
a Rukh's egg. As I looked and wondered at the marvellous works of
the Almighty, the bird alighted on the dome and brooded over it
with its wings covering it and its legs stretched out behind it
on the ground, and in this posture it fell asleep, glory be to
Him who sleepeth not! When I saw this, I arose and, unwinding my
turband from my head, doubled it and twisted it into a rope, with
which I girt my middle and bound my waist fast to the legs of the
Rukh, saying in myself, "Peradventure, this bird may carry me to
a land of cities and inhabitants, and that will be better than
abiding in this desert island." I passed the night watching and
fearing to sleep, lest the bird should fly away with me unawares;
and, as soon as the dawn broke and morn shone, the Rukh rose off
its egg and spreading its wings with a great cry flew up into the
air dragging me with it; nor ceased it to soar and to tower till
I thought it had reached the limit of the firmament; after which
it descended, earthwards, little by little, till it lighted on
the top of a high hill. As soon as I found myself on the hard
ground, I made haste to unbind myself, quaking for fear of the
bird, though it took no heed of me nor even felt me; and, loosing
my turband from its feet, I made off with my best speed.
Presently, I saw it catch up in its huge claws something from the
earth and rise with it high in air, and observing it narrowly I
saw it to be a serpent big of bulk and gigantic of girth,
wherewith it flew away clean out of sight. I marvelled at this
and faring forwards found myself on a peak overlooking a valley,
exceeding great and wide and deep, and bounded by vast mountains
that spired high in air: none could descry their summits, for the
excess of their height, nor was any able to climb up thereto.
When I saw this, I blamed myself for that which I had done and
said, "Would Heaven I had tarried in the island! It was better
than this wild desert; for there I had at least fruits to eat and
water to drink, and here are neither trees nor fruits nor
streams. But there is no Majesty and there is no Might save in
Allah, the Glorious, the Great! Verily, as often as I am quit of
one peril, I fall into a worse danger and a more grievous."
However, I took courage and walking along the Wady found that its
soil was of diamond, the stone wherewith they pierce minerals and
precious stones and porcelain and the onyx, for that it is a
dense stone and a dure, whereon neither iron nor hardhead hath
effect, neither can we cut off aught therefrom nor break it, save
by means of leadstone.[FN#23] Moreover, the valley swarmed with
snakes and vipers, each big as a palm tree, that would have made
but one gulp of an elephant; and they came out by night, hiding
during the day, lest the Rukhs and eagles pounce on them and tear
them to pieces, as was their wont, why I wot not. And I repented
of what I had done and said, "By Allah, I have made haste to
bring destruction upon myself!" The day began to wane as I went
along and I looked about for a place where I might pass the
night, being in fear of the serpents; and I took no thought of
meat and drink in my concern for my life. Presently, I caught
sight of a cave nearhand, with a narrow doorway; so I entered and
seeing a great stone close to the mouth, I rolled it up and
stopped the entrance, saying to myself, "I am safe here for the
night; and as soon as it is day, I will go forth and see what
destiny will do." Then I looked within the cave and saw to the
upper end a great serpent brooding on her eggs, at which my flesh
quaked and my hair stood on end; but I raised my eyes to Heaven
and, committing my case to fate and lot, abode all that night
without sleep till daybreak, when I rolled back the stone from
the mouth of the cave and went forth, staggering like a drunken
man and giddy with watching and fear and hunger. As in this sore
case I walked along the valley, behold, there fell down before me
a slaughtered beast; but I saw no one, whereat I marvelled with
great marvel and presently remembered a story I had heard
aforetime of traders and pilgrims and travellers; how the
mountains where are the diamonds are full of perils and terrors,
nor can any fare through them; but the merchants who traffic in
diamonds have a device by which they obtain them, that is to say,
they take a sheep and slaughter and skin it and cut it in pieces
and cast them down from the mountain-tops into the valley-sole,
where the meat being fresh and sticky with blood, some of the
gems cleave to it. There they leave it till mid-day, when the
eagles and vultures swoop down upon it and carry it in their
claws to the mountain-summits, whereupon the merchants come and
shout at them and scare them away from the meat. Then they come
and, taking the diamonds which they find sticking to it, go their
ways with them and leave the meat to the birds and beasts; nor
can any come at the diamonds but by this device,--And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Five Hundred and Forty-fifth Night,
She said, it hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Sindbad the
Seaman continued his relation of what befel him in the Mountain
of Diamonds, and informed them that the merchants cannot come at
the diamonds save by the device aforesaid. So, when I saw the
slaughtered beast fall (he pursued) and bethought me of the
story, I went up to it and filled my pockets and shawl-girdle and
turband and the folds of my clothes with the choicest diamonds;
and, as I was thus engaged, down fell before me another great
piece of meat. Then with my unrolled turband and lying on my
back, I set the bit on my breast so that I was hidden by the
meat, which was thus raised above the ground. Hardly had I
gripped it, when an eagle swooped down upon the flesh and,
seizing it with his talons, flew up with it high in air and me
clinging thereto, and ceased not its flight till it alighted on
the head of one of the mountains where, dropping the carcass he
fell to rending it; but, behold, there arose behind him a great
noise of shouting and clattering of wood, whereat the bird took
fright and flew away. Then I loosed off myself the meat, with
clothes daubed with blood therefrom, and stood up by its side;
whereupon up came the merchant, who had cried out at the eagle,
and seeing me standing there, bespoke me not, but was affrighted
at me and shook with fear. However, he went up to the carcass and
turning it over, found no diamonds sticking to it, whereat he
gave a great cry and exclaimed, "Harrow, my disappointment! There
is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah with whom we
seek refuge from Satan the stoned!" And he bemoaned himself and
beat hand upon hand, saying, "Alas, the pity of it! How cometh
this?" Then I went up to him and he said to me, "Who art thou and
what causeth thee to come hither?" And I, "Fear not, I am a man
and a good man and a merchant. My story is a wondrous and my
adventures marvellous and the manner of my coming hither is
prodigious. So be of good cheer, thou shalt receive of me what
shall rejoice thee, for I have with me great plenty of diamonds
and I will give thee thereof what shall suffice thee; for each is
better than aught thou couldst get otherwise. So fear nothing."
The man rejoiced thereat and thanked and blessed me; then we
talked together till the other merchants, hearing me in discourse
with their fellow, came up and saluted me; for each of them had
thrown down his piece of meat. And as I went off with them I told
them my whole story, how I had suffered hardships at sea and the
fashion of my reaching the valley. But I gave the owner of the
meat a number of the stones I had by me, so they all wished me
joy of my escape, saying, "By Allah a new life hath been decreed
to thee, for none ever reached yonder valley and came off thence
alive before thee; but praised be Allah for thy safety!" We
passed the night together in a safe and pleasant place, beyond
measure rejoiced at my deliverance from the Valley of Serpents
and my arrival in an inhabited land; and on the morrow we set out
and journeyed over the mighty range of mountains, seeing many
serpents in the valley, till we came to a fair great island,
wherein was a garden of huge camphor trees under each of which an
hundred men might take shelter. When the folk have a mind to get
camphor, they bore into the upper part of the bole with a long
iron; whereupon the liquid camphor, which is the sap of the tree,
floweth out and they catch it in vessels, where it concreteth
like gum; but, after this, the tree dieth and becometh
firewood.[FN#24] Moreover, there is in this island a kind of wild
beast, called "Rhinoceros,"[FN#25] that pastureth as do steers
and buffalos with us; but it is a huge brute, bigger of body than
the camel and like it feedeth upon the leaves and twigs of trees.
It is a remarkable animal with a great and thick horn, ten cubits
long, amiddleward its head; wherein, when cleft in twain, is the
likeness of a man. Voyagers and pilgrims and travellers declare
that this beast called "Karkadan" will carry off a great elephant
on its horn and graze about the island and the sea-coast
therewith and take no heed of it, till the elephant dieth and its
fat, melting in the sun, runneth down into the rhinoceros's eyes
and blindeth him, so that he lieth down on the shore. Then comes
the bird Rukh and carrieth off both the rhinoceros's eyes and
blindeth him, so that he lieth down on the shore. Then comes the
bird Rukh and carrieth off both the rhinoceros and that which is
on its horn to feed its young withal. Moreover, I saw in this
island many kinds of oxen and buffalos, whose like are not found
in our country. Here I sold some of the diamonds which I had by
me for gold dinars and silver dirhams and bartered others for the
produce of the country; and, loading them upon beasts of burden,
fared on with the merchants from valley to valley and town to
town, buying and selling and viewing foreign countries and the
works and creatures of Allah, till we came to Bassorah-city,
where we abode a few days, after which I continued my journey to
Baghdad.--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to
say her permitted say.
When it was the Five Hundred and Forty-sixth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when
Sindbad the Seaman returned from his travel to Baghdad, the House
of Peace, he arrived at home with great store of diamonds and
money and goods. (Continued he) I foregathered with my friends
and relations and gave alms and largesse and bestowed curious
gifts and made presents to all my friends and companions. Then I
betook myself to eating well and drinking well and wearing fine
clothes and making merry with my fellows, and forgot all my
sufferings in the pleasures of return to the solace and delight
of life, with light heart and broadened breast. And every one who
heard of my return came and questioned me of my adventures and of
foreign countries, and I related to them all that had befallen
me, and the much I had suffered, whereat they wondered and gave
me joy of my safe return. "This, then is the end of the story of
my second voyage; and to-morrow, Inshallah! I will tell you what
befel me in my third voyage." The company marvelled at his story
and supped with him; after which he ordered an hundred dinars of
gold to be given to the Porter, who took the sum with many thanks
and blessings (which he stinted not even when he reached home)
and went his way, wondering at what he had heard. Next morning as
soon as day came in its sheen and shone, he rose and praying the
dawn-prayer, repaired to the house of Sindbad the Seaman, even as
he had bidden him, and went in and gave him good-morrow. The
merchant welcomed him and made him sit with him, till the rest of
the company arrived; and when they had well eaten and drunken and
were merry with joy and jollity, their host began by saying,
"Hearken, O my brothers, to what I am about to tell you; for it
is even more wondrous than what you have already heard; but Allah
alone kenneth what things His Omniscience concealed from man! And
listen to
The Third Voyage of Sindbad the Seaman.
As I told you yesterday, I returned from my second voyage
overjoyed at my safety and with great increase of wealth, Allah
having requited me all that I had wasted and lost, and I abode
awhile in Baghdad-city savouring the utmost ease and prosperity
and comfort and happiness, till the carnal man was once more
seized with longing for travel and diversion and adventure, and
yearned after traffic and lucre and emolument, for that the human
heart is naturally prone to evil. So making up my mind I laid in
great plenty of goods suitable for a sea-voyage and repairing to
Bassorah, went down to the shore and found there a fine ship
ready to sail, with a full crew and a numerous company of
merchants, men of worth and substance; faith, piety and
consideration. I embarked with them and we set sail on the
blessing of Allah Almighty and on His aidance and His favour to
bring our voyage to a safe and prosperous issue and already we
congratulated one another on our good fortune and boon voyage. We
fared on from sea to sea and from island to island and city to
city, in all delight and contentment, buying and selling wherever
we touched, and taking our solace and our pleasure, till one day
when, as we sailed athwart the dashing sea, swollen with clashing
billows, behold, the master (who stood on the gunwale examining
the ocean in all directions) cried out with a great cry, and
buffeted his face and pluckt out his beard and rent his raiment,
and bade furl the sail and cast the anchors. So we said to him,
"O Rais, what is the matter?" "Know, O my brethren (Allah
preserve you!), that the wind hath gotten the better of us and
hath driven us out of our course into mid-ocean, and destiny, for
our ill luck, hath brought us to the Mountain of the Zughb, a
hairy folk like apes,[FN#26] among whom no man ever fell and came
forth alive; and my heart presageth that we all be dead men."
Hardly had the master made an end of his speech when the apes
were upon us. They surrounded the ship on all sides swarming like
locusts and crowding the shore. They were the most frightful of
wild creatures, covered with black hair like felt, foul of favour
and small of stature, being but four spans high, yellow-eyed and
black-faced; none knoweth their language nor what they are, and
they shun the company of men. We feared to slay them or strike
them or drive them away, because of their inconceivable
multitude; lest, if we hurt one, the rest fall on us and slay us,
for numbers prevail over courage; so we let them do their will,
albeit we feared they would plunder our goods and gear. They
swarmed up the cables and gnawed them asunder, and on like wise
they did with all the ropes of the ship, so that it fell off from
the wind and stranded upon their mountainous coast. Then they
laid hands on all the merchants and crew, and landing us on the
island, made off with the ship and its cargo and went their ways,
we wot not whither. We were thus left on the island, eating of
its fruits and pot-herbs and drinking of its streams till, one
day, we espied in its midst what seemed an inhabited house. So we
made for it as fast as our feet could carry us and behold, it was
a castle strong and tall, compassed about with a lofty wall, and
having a two-leaved gate of ebony-wood both of which leaves open
stood. We entered and found within a space wide and bare like a
great square, round which stood many high doors open thrown, and
at the farther end a long bench of stone and brasiers, with
cooking gear hanging thereon and about it great plenty of bones;
but we saw no one and marvelled thereat with exceeding wonder.
Then we sat down in the courtyard a little while and presently
falling asleep, slept from the forenoon till sundown, when lo!
the earth trembled under our feet and the air rumbled with a
terrible tone. Then there came down upon us, from the top of the
castle, a huge creature in the likeness of a man, black of
colour, tall and big of bulk, as he were a great date-tree, with
eyes like coals of fire and eye-teeth like boar's tusks and a
vast big gape like the mouth of a well. Moreover, he had long
loose lips like camel's, hanging down upon his breast and ears
like two Jarms[FN#27] falling over his shoulder-blades and the
nails of his hands were like the claws of a lion.[FN#28] When we
saw this frightful giant, we were like to faint and every moment
increased our fear and terror; and we became as dead men for
excess of horror and affright.--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn
of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Five Hundred and Forty-seventh Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Sindbad the
Seaman continued:--When we saw this frightful giant we were
struck with exceeding terror and horror. And after trampling upon
the earth, he sat awhile on the bench; then he arose and coming
to us seized me by the arm choosing me out from among my comrades
the merchants. He took me up in his hand and turning me over felt
me, as a butcher feeleth a sheep he is about to slaughter, and I
but a little mouthful in his hands; but finding me lean and
fleshless for stress of toil and trouble and weariness, let me go
and took up another, whom in like manner he turned over and felt
and let go; nor did he cease to feel and turn over the rest of
us, one after another, till he came to the master of the ship.
Now he was a sturdy, stout, broad-shouldered wight, fat and in
full vigour; so he pleased the giant, who seized him, as a
butcher seizeth a beast, and throwing him down, set his foot on
his neck and brake it; after which he fetched a long spit and
thrusting it up his backside, brought it forth of the crown of
his head. Then, lighting a fierce fire, he set over it the spit
with the Rais thereon, and turned it over the coals, till the
flesh was roasted, when he took the spit off the fire and set it
like a Kabáb-stick before him. Then he tare the body, limb from
limb, as one jointeth a chicken and, rending the flesh with his
nails, fell to eating of it and gnawing the bones, till there was
nothing left but some of these, which he threw on one side of the
wall. This done, he sat for a while; then he lay down on the
stone-bench and fell asleep, snarking and snoring like the
gurgling of a lamb or a cow with its throat cut; nor did he awake
till morning, when he rose and fared forth and went his ways. As
soon as we were certified that he was gone, we began to talk with
one another, weeping and bemoaning ourselves for the risk we ran,
and saying, "Would Heaven we had been drowned in the sea or that
the apes had eaten us! That were better than to be roasted over
the coals; by Allah, this is a vile, foul death! But whatso the
Lord willeth must come to pass and there is no Majesty and there
is no Might, save in Him, the Glorious, the Great! We shall
assuredly perish miserably and none will know of us; as there is
no escape for us from this place." Then we arose and roamed about
the island, hoping that haply we might find a place to hide us in
or a means of flight, for indeed death was a light matter to us,
provided we were not roasted over the fire[FN#29] and eaten.
However, we could find no hiding-place and the evening overtook
us; so, of the excess of our terror, we returned to the castle
and sat down awhile. Presently, the earth trembled under our feet
and the black ogre came up to us and turning us over, felt one
after other, till he found a man to his liking, whom he took and
served as he had done the captain, killing and roasting and
eating him: after which he lay down on the bench[FN#30] and slept
all night, snarking and snoring like a beast with its throat cut,
till daybreak, when he arose and went out as before. Then we drew
together and conversed and said one to other, "By Allah, we had
better throw ourselves into the sea and be drowned than die
roasted; for this is an abominable death!" Quoth one of us, "Hear
ye my words! let us cast about to kill him, and be at peace from
the grief of him and rid the Moslems of his barbarity and
tyranny." Then said I, "Hear me, O my brothers; if there is
nothing for it but to slay him, let us carry some of this
firewood and planks down to the sea-shore and make us a boat
wherein, if we succeed in slaughtering him, we may either embark
and let the waters carry us whither Allah willeth, or else abide
here till some ship pass, when we will take passage in it. If we
fail to kill him, we will embark in the boat and put out to sea;
and if we be drowned, we shall at least escape being roasted over
a kitchen fire with sliced weasands; whilst, if we escape, we
escape, and if we be drowned, we die martyrs." "By Allah," said
they all, "this rede is a right;" and we agreed upon this, and
set about carrying it out. So we haled down to the beach the
pieces of wood which lay about the bench; and, making a boat,
moored it to the strand, after which we stowed therein somewhat
of victual and returned to the castle. As soon as evening fell
the earth trembled under our feet and in came the blackamoor upon
us, snarling like a dog about to bite. He came up to us and
feeling us and turning us over one by one, took one of us and did
with him as he had done before and ate him, after which he lay
down on the bench and snored and snorted like thunder. As soon as
we were assured that he slept, we arose and taking two iron spits
of those standing there, heated them in the fiercest of the fire,
till they were red-hot, like burning coals, when we gripped fast
hold of them and going up to the giant, as he lay snoring on the
bench, thrust them into his eyes and pressed upon them, all of
us, with our united might, so that his eyeballs burst and he
became stone blind. Thereupon he cried with a great cry, whereat
our hearts trembled, and springing up from the bench, he fell a-
groping after us, blind-fold. We fled from him right and left and
he saw us not, for his sight was altogether blent; but we were in
terrible fear of him and made sure we were dead men despairing of
escape. Then he found the door, feeling for it with his hands and
went out roaring aloud; and behold, the earth shook under us, for
the noise of his roaring, and we quaked for fear. As he quitted
the castle we followed him and betook ourselves to the place
where we had moored our boat, saying to one another, "If this
accursed abide absent till the going down of the sun and come not
to the castle, we shall know that he is dead; and if he come
back, we will embark in the boat and paddle till we escape,
committing our affair to Allah." But, as we spoke, behold, up
came the blackamoor with other two as they were Ghuls, fouler and
more frightful than he, with eyes like red-hot coals; which when
we saw, we hurried into the boat and casting off the moorings
paddled away and pushed out to sea.[FN#31] As soon as the ogres
caught sight of us, they cried out at us and running down to the
sea-shore, fell a-pelting us with rocks, whereof some fell
amongst us and others fell into the sea. We paddled with all our
might till we were beyond their reach, but the most part of us
were slain by the rock-throwing, and the winds and waves sported
with us and carried us into the midst of the dashing sea, swollen
with billows clashing. We knew not whither we went and my fellows
died one after another, till there remained but three, myself and
two others;--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
to say her permitted say.
When it was the Five Hundred and Forty-eighth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Sindbad the
Seaman thus continued:--Most part of us were slain by the rock-
thowing and only three of us remained on board the boat for, as
often as one died, we threw him into the sea. We were sore
exhausted for stress of hunger, but we took courage and heartened
one another and worked for dear life and paddled with main and
might, till the winds cast us upon an island, as we were dead men
for fatigue and fear and famine. We landed on the island and
walked about it for a while, finding that it abounded in trees
and streams and birds; and we ate of the fruits and rejoiced in
our escape from the black and our deliverance from the perils of
the sea; and thus we did till nightfall, when we lay down and
fell asleep for excess of fatigue. But we had hardly closed our
eyes before we were aroused by a hissing sound like the sough of
wind, and awaking, saw a serpent like a dragon, a seld-seen
sight, of monstrous make and belly of enormous bulk which lay in
a circle around us. Presently it reared its head and, seizing one
of my companions, swallowed him up to his shoulders; then it
gulped down the rest of him, and we heard his ribs crack in its
belly. Presently it went its way, and we abode in sore amazement
and grief for our comrade and mortal fear for ourselves, saying,
"By Allah, this is a marvellous thing! Each kind of death that
threatened us is more terrible than the last. We were rejoicing
in our escape from the black ogre and our deliverance from the
perils of the sea; but now we have fallen into that which is
worse. There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah!
By the Almighty, we have escaped from the blackamoor and from
drowning: but how shall we escape from this abominable and
viperish monster?" Then we walked about the island, eating of its
fruits and drinking of its streams till dusk, when we climbed up
into a high tree and went to sleep there, I being on the topmost
bough. As soon as it was dark night, up came the serpent, looking
right and left; and, making for the tree whereon we were, climbed
up to my comrade and swallowed him down to his shoulders. Then it
coiled about the bole[FN#32] with him, whilst I, who could not
take my eyes off the sight, heard his bones crack in its belly,
and it swallowed him whole, after which it slid down from the
tree. When the day broke and the light showed me that the serpent
was gone, I came down, as I were a dead man for stress of fear
and anguish, and thought to cast myself into the sea and be at
rest from the woes of the world; but could not bring myself to
this, for verily life is dear. So I took five pieces of wood,
broad and long, and bound one crosswise to the soles of my feet
and others in like fashion on my right and left sides and over my
breast; and the broadest and largest I bound across my head and
made them fast with ropes. Then I lay down on the ground on my
back, so that I was completely fenced in by the pieces of wood,
which enclosed me like a bier.[FN#33] So as soon as it was dark,
up came the serpent, as usual, and made towards me, but could not
get at me to swallow me for the wood that fenced me in. So it
wriggled round me on every side, whilst I looked on, like one
dead by reason of my terror; and every now and then it would
glide away and come back; but as often as it tried to come at me,
it was hindered by the pieces of wood wherewith I had bound
myself on every side. It ceased not to beset me thus from sundown
till dawn, but when the light of day shone upon the beast it made
off, in the utmost fury and extreme disappointment. Then I put
out my hand and unbound myself, well-nigh down among the dead men
for fear and suffering; and went down to the island-shore, whence
a ship afar off in the midst of the waves suddenly struck my
sight. So I tore off a great branch of a tree and made signs with
it to the crew, shouting out the while; which when the ship's
company saw they said to another, "We must stand in and see what
this is; peradventure 'tis a man." So they made for the island
and presently heard my cries, whereupon they took me on board and
questioned me of my case. I told them all my adventures from
first to last, whereat they marvelled mightily and covered my
shame[FN#34] with some of their clothes. Moreover, they set
before me somewhat of food and I ate my fill and I drank cold
sweet water and was mightily refreshed; and Allah Almighty
quickened me after I was virtually dead. So I praised the Most
Highest and thanked Him for His favours and exceeding mercies,
and my heart revived in me after utter despair, till meseemed as
if all I had suffered were but a dream I had dreamed. We sailed
on with a fair wind the Almighty sent us till we came to an
island, called Al-Saláhitah,[FN#35] which aboundeth in sandal-
wood when the captain cast anchor,--And Shahrazad perceived the
dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Five Hundred and Forty-ninth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Sindbad the
Seaman continued:--And when we had cast anchor, the merchants and
the sailors landed with their goods to sell and to buy. Then the
captain turned to me and said, "Hark'ee, thou art a stranger and
a pauper and tellest us that thou hast undergone frightful
hardship; wherefore I have a mind to benefit thee with somewhat
that may further thee to thy native land, so thou wilt ever bless
me and pray for me." "So be it," answered I; "thou shalt have my
prayers." Quoth he, "Know then that there was with us a man, a
traveller, whom we lost, and we know not if he be alive or dead,
for we had no news of him; so I purpose to commit his bales of
goods to thy charge, that thou mayst sell them in this island. A
part of the proceeds we will give thee as an equivalent for thy
pains and service, and the rest we will keep till we return to
Baghdad, where we will enquire for his family and deliver it to
them, together with the unsold goods. Say me then, wilt thou
undertake the charge and land and sell them as other merchants
do?" I replied "Hearkening and obedience to thee, O my lord; and
great is thy kindness to me," and thanked him; whereupon he bade
the sailors and porters bear the bales in question ashore and
commit them to my charge. The ship's scribe asked him, "O master,
what bales are these and what merchant's name shall I write upon
them?"; and he answered, "Write on them the name of Sindbad the
Seaman, him who was with us in the ship and whom we lost at the
Rukh's island, and of whom we have no tidings; for we mean this
stranger to sell them; and we will give him a part of the price
for his pains and keep the rest till we return to Baghdad where,
if we find the owner we will make it over to him, and if not, to
his family." And the clerk said, "Thy words are apposite and thy
rede is right." Now when I heard the captain give orders for the
bales to be inscribed with my name, I said to myself, "By Allah,
I am Sindbad the Seaman!" So I armed myself with courage and
patience and waited till all the merchants had landed and were
gathered together, talking and chaffering about buying and
selling; then I went up to the captain and asked him, "O my lord,
knowest thou what manner of man was this Sindbad, whose goods
thou hast committed to me for sale?"; and he answered, "I know of
him naught save that he was a man from Baghdad-city, Sindbad
hight the Seaman, who was drowned with many others when we lay
anchored at such an island and I have heard nothing of him since
then." At this I cried out with a great cry and said, "O captain,
whom Allah keep! know that I am that Sindbad the Seaman and that
I was not drowned, but when thou castest anchor at the island, I
landed with the rest of the merchants and crew; and I sat down in
a pleasant place by myself and ate somewhat of food I had with me
and enjoyed myself till I became drowsy and was drowned in sleep;
and when I awoke, I found no ship and none near me. These goods
are my goods and these bales are my bales; and all the merchants
who fetch jewels from the Valley of Diamonds saw me there and
will bear me witness that I am the very Sindbad the Seaman; for I
related to them everything that had befallen me and told them how
you forgot me and left me sleeping on the island, and that
betided me which betided me." When the passengers and crew heard
my words, they gathered about me and some of them believed me and
others disbelieved; but presently, behold, one of the merchants,
hearing me mention the Valley of Diamonds, came up to me and said
to them, "Hear what I say, good people! When I related to you the
most wonderful thing in my travels, and I told you that, at the
time we cast down our slaughtered animals into the Valley of
Serpents (I casting with the rest as was my wont), there came up
a man hanging to mine, ye believed me not and gave me the lie."
"Yes," quoth they, "thou didst tell us some such tale, but we had
no call to credit thee." He resumed, "Now this is the very man,
by token that he gave me diamonds of great value, and high price
whose like are not to be found, requiting me more than would have
come up sticking to my quarter of meat; and I companied with him
to Bassorah-city, where he took leave of us and went on to his
native stead, whilst we returned to our own land. This is he; and
he told us his name, Sindbad the Seaman, and how the ship left
him on the desert island. And know ye that Allah hath sent him
hither, so might the truth of my story be made manifest to you.
Moreover, these are his goods for, when he first foregathered
with us, he told us of them; and the truth of his words is
patent." Hearing the merchant's speech the captain came up to me
and considered me straitly awhile, after which he said, "What was
the mark on thy bales?" "Thus and thus," answered I, and reminded
him of somewhat that had passed between him and me, when I
shipped with him from Bassorah. Thereupon he was convinced that I
was indeed Sindbad the Seaman and took me round the neck and gave
me joy of my safety, saying, "By Allah, O my lord, thy case is
indeed wondrous and thy tale marvellous; but lauded be Allah who
hath brought thee and me together again, and who hath restored to
thee thy goods and gear!"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of
day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Five Hundred and Fiftieth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Sindbad the
Seaman thus continued:--"Alhamdolillah!" quoth the captain,
"lauded be Allah who hath restored unto thee thy goods and gear."
Then I disposed of my merchandise to the best of my skill, and
profited largely on them whereat I rejoiced with exceeding joy
and congratulated myself on my safety and the recovery of my
goods. We ceased not to buy and sell at the several islands till
we came to the land of Hind, where we bought cloves and ginger
and all manner spices; and thence we fared on to the land of
Sind, where also we bought and sold. In these Indian seas, I saw
wonders without number or count, amongst others a fish like a cow
which bringeth forth its young and suckleth them like human
beings; and of its skin bucklers are made.[FN#36] There were eke
fishes like asses and camels[FN#37] and tortoises twenty cubits
wide.[FN#38] And I saw also a bird that cometh out of a sea-shell
and layeth eggs and hatcheth her chicks on the surface of the
water, never coming up from the sea to the land.[FN#39] Then we
set sail again with a fair wind and the blessing of Almighty
Allah; and, after a prosperous voyage, arrived safe and sound at
Bassorah. Here I abode a few days and presently returned to
Baghdad where I went at once to my quarter and my house and
saluted my family and familiars and friends. I had gained on this
voyage what was beyond count and reckoning, so I gave alms and
largesse and clad the widow and the orphan, by way of
thanksgiving for my happy return, and fell to feasting and making
merry with my companions and intimates and forgot, while eating
well and drinking well and dressing well, everything that had
befallen me and all the perils and hardships I had suffered.
"These, then, are the most admirable things I sighted on my third
voyage, and to-morrow, an it be the will of Allah, you shall come
to me and I will relate the adventures of my fourth voyage, which
is still more wonderful than those you have already heard."
(Saith he who telleth the tale), Then Sindbad the Seaman bade
give Sindbad the Landsman an hundred golden dinars as of wont and
called for food. So they spread the tables and the company ate
the night-meal and went their ways, marvelling at the tale they
had heard. The Porter after taking his gold passed the night in
his own house, also wondering at what his namesake the Seaman had
told him, and as soon as day broke and the morning showed with
its sheen and shone, he rose and praying the dawn-prayer betook
himself to Sindbad the Seaman, who returned his salute and
received him with an open breast and cheerful favour and made him
sit with him till the rest of the company arrived, when he caused
set on food and they ate and drank and made merry. Then Sindbad
the Seaman bespake them and related to them the narrative of
The Fourth Voyage of Sindbad the Seaman.
Know, O my brethren that after my return from my third voyage and
foregathering with my friends, and forgetting all my perils and
hardships in the enjoyment of ease and comfort and repose, I was
visited one day by a company of merchants who sat down with me
and talked of foreign travel and traffic, till the old bad man
within me yearned to go with them and enjoy the sight of strange
countries, and I longed for the society of the various races of
mankind and for traffic and profit. So I resolved to travel with
them and buying the necessaries for a long voyage, and great
store of costly goods, more than ever before, transported them
from Baghdad to Bassorah where I took ship with the merchants in
question, who were of the chief of the town. We set out, trusting
in the blessing of Almighty Allah; and with a favouring breeze
and the best conditions we sailed from island to island and sea
to sea, till, one day, there arose against us a contrary wind and
the captain cast out his anchors and brought the ship to a
standsill, fearing lest she should founder in mid-ocean. Then we
all fell to prayer and humbling ourselves before the Most High;
but, as we were thus engaged there smote us a furious squall
which tore the sails to rags and tatters: the anchor-cable parted
and, the ship foundering, we were cast into the sea, goods and
all. I kept myself afloat by swimming half the day, till, when I
had given myself up for lost, the Almighty threw in my way one of
the planks of the ship, whereon I and some others of the
merchants scrambled.--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Five Hundred and Fifty-first Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Sindbad the
Seaman continued as follows:--And when the ship foundered I
scrambled on to a plank with some others of the merchants and,
mounting it as we would a horse, paddled with our feet in the
sea. We abode thus a day and a night, the wind and waves helping
us on, and on the second day shortly before the mid-time between
sunrise and noon[FN#40] the breeze freshened and the sea wrought
and the rising waves cast us upon an island, well-nigh dead
bodies for weariness and want of sleep, cold and hunger and fear
and thirst. We walked about the shore and found abundance of
herbs, whereof we ate enough to keep breath in body and to stay
our failing spirits, then lay down and slept till morning hard by
the sea. And when morning came with its sheen and shone, we arose
and walked about the island to the right and left, till we came
in sight of an inhabited house afar off. So we made towards it,
and ceased not walking till we reached the door thereof when lo!
a number of naked men issued from it and without saluting us or a
word said, laid hold of us masterfully and carried us to their
king, who signed us to sit. So we sat down and they set food
before us such as we knew not[FN#41] and whose like we had never
seen in all our lives. My companions ate of it, for stress of
hunger, but my stomach revolted from it and I would not eat; and
my refraining from it was, by Allah's favour, the cause of my
being alive till now: for no sooner had my comrades tasted of it
than their reason fled and their condition changed and they began
to devour it like madmen possessed of an evil spirit. Then the
savages gave them to drink of cocoa-nut oil and anointed them
therewith; and straightway after drinking thereof, their eyes
turned into their heads and they fell to eating greedily, against
their wont. When I saw this, I was confounded and concerned for
them, nor was I less anxious about myself, for fear of the naked
folk. So I watched them narrowly, and it was not long before I
discovered them to be a tribe of Magian cannibals whose King was
a Ghul.[FN#42] All who came to their country or whoso they caught
in their valleys or on their roads they brought to this King and
fed them upon that food and anointed them with that oil,
whereupon their stomachs dilated that they might eat largely,
whilst their reason fled and they lost the power of thought and
became idiots. Then they stuffed them with cocoa-nut oil and the
aforesaid food, till they became fat and gross, when they
slaughtered them by cutting their throats and roasted them for
the King's eating; but, as for the savages themselves, they ate
human flesh raw.[FN#43] When I saw this, I was sore dismayed for
myself and my comrades, who were now become so stupefied that
they knew not what was done with them and the naked folk
committed them to one who used every day to lead them out and
pasture them on the island like cattle. And they wandered amongst
the trees and rested at will, thus waxing very fat. As for me, I
wasted away and became sickly for fear and hunger and my flesh
shrivelled on my bones; which when the savages saw, they left me
alone and took no thought of me and so far forgot me that one day
I gave them the slip and walking out of their place made for the
beach which was distant and there espied a very old man seated on
a high place, girt by the waters. I looked at him and knew him
for the herdsman, who had charge of pasturing my fellows, and
with him were many others in like case. As soon as he saw me, he
knew me to be in possession of my reason and not afflicted like
the rest whom he was pasturing; so signed to me from afar, as who
should say, "Turn back and take the right-hand road, for that
will lead thee into the King's highway." So I turned back, as he
bade me, and followed the right-hand road, now running for fear
and then walking leisurely to rest me, till I was out of the old
man's sight. By this time, the sun had gone down and the darkness
set in; so I sat down to rest and would have slept, but sleep
came not to me that night, for stress of fear and famine and
fatigue. When the night was half spent, I rose and walked on,
till the day broke in all its beauty and the sun rose over the
heads of the lofty hills and athwart the low gravelly plains. Now
I was weary and hungry and thirsty; so I ate my fill of herbs and
grasses that grew in the island and kept life in body and stayed
my stomach, after which I set out again and fared on all that day
and the next night, staying my greed with roots and herbs; nor
did I cease walking for seven days and their nights, till the
morn of the eighth day, when I caught sight of a faint object in
the distance. So I made towards it, though my heart quaked for
all I had suffered first and last, and behold it was a company of
men gathering pepper-grains.[FN#44] As soon as they saw me, they
hastened up to me and surrounding me on all sides, said to me,
"Who art thou and whence come?" I replied, "Know, O folk, that I
am a poor stranger," and acquainted them with my case and all the
hardships and perils I had suffered,--And Shahrazad perceived the
dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Five Hundred and Fifty-second Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Sindbad the
Seaman continued:--And the men gathering pepper in the island
questioned me of my case, when I acquainted them with all the
hardships and perils I had suffered and how I had fled from the
savages; whereat they marvelled and gave me joy of my safety,
saying, "By Allah, this is wonderful! But how didst thou escape
from these blacks who swarm in the island and devour all who fall
in with them; nor is any safe from them, nor can any get out of
their clutches?" And after I had told them the fate of my
companions, they made me sit by them, till they got quit of their
work; and fetched me somewhat of good food, which I ate, for I
was hungry, and rested awhile, after which they took ship with me
and carrying me to their island-home brought me before their
King, who returned my salute and received me honourably and
questioned me of my case. I told him all that had befallen me,
from the day of my leaving Baghdad-city, whereupon he wondered
with great wonder at my adventures, he and his courtiers, and
bade me sit by him; then he called for food and I ate with him
what sufficed me and washed my hands and returned thanks to
Almighty Allah for all His favours praising Him and glorifying
Him. Then I left the King and walked for solace about the city,
which I found wealthy and populous, abounding in market-streets
well stocked with food and merchandise and full of buyers and
sellers. So I rejoiced at having reached so pleasant a place and
took my ease there after my fatigues; and I made friends with the
townsfolk, nor was it long before I became more in honour and
favour with them and their King than any of the chief men of the
realm. Now I saw that all the citizens, great and small, rode
fine horses, high-priced and thorough-bred, without saddles or
housings, whereat I wondered and said to the King, "Wherefore, O
my lord, dost thou not ride with a saddle? Therein is ease for
the rider and increase of power." "What is a saddle?" asked he:
"I never saw nor used such a thing in all my life;" and I
answered, "With thy permission I will make thee a saddle, that
thou mayest ride on it and see the comfort thereof." And quoth
he, "Do so." So quoth I to him, "Furnish me with some wood,"
which being brought, I sought me a clever carpenter and sitting
by him showed him how to make the saddle-tree, portraying for him
the fashion thereof in ink on the wood. Then I took wool and
teased it and made felt of it, and, covering the saddle-tree with
leather, stuffed it and polished it and attached the girth and
stirrup leathers; after which I fetched a blacksmith and
described to him the fashion of the stirrups and bridle-bit. So
he forged a fine pair of stirrups and a bit, and filed them
smooth and tinned[FN#45] them. Moreover, I made fast to them
fringes of silk and fitted bridle-leathers to the bit. Then I
fetched one of the best of the royal horses and saddling and
bridling him, hung the stirrups to the saddle and led him to the
King. The thing took his fancy and he thanked me; then he mounted
and rejoiced greatly in the saddle and rewarded me handsomely for
my work. When the King's Wazir saw the saddle, he asked of me one
like it and I made it for him. Furthermore, all the grandees and
officers of state came for saddles to me; so I fell to making
saddles (having taught the craft to the carpenter and
blacksmith), and selling them to all who sought, till I amassed
great wealth and became in high honour and great favour with the
King and his household and grandees. I abode thus till, one day,
as I was sitting with the King in all respect and contentment, he
said to me, "Know thou, O such an one, thou art become one of us,
dear as a brother, and we hold thee in such regard and affection
that we cannot part with thee nor suffer thee to leave our city;
wherefore I desire of thee obedience in a certain matter, and I
will not have thee gainsay me." Answered I, "O King, what is it
thou desirest of me? Far be it from me to gainsay thee in aught,
for I am indebted to thee for many favours and bounties and much
kindness, and (praised be Allah!) I am become one of thy
servants." Quoth he, "I have a mind to marry thee to a fair,
clever and agreeable wife who is wealthy as she is beautiful; so
thou mayst be naturalised and domiciled with us: I will lodge
thee with me in my palace; wherefore oppose me not neither cross
me in this." When I heard these words I was ashamed and held my
peace nor could make him any answer,[FN#46] by reason of my much
bashfulness before him. Asked he, "Why dost thou not reply to me,
O my son?"; and I answered saying, "O my master, it is thine to
command, O King of the age!" So he summoned the Kazi and the
witnesses and married me straightway to a lady of a noble tree
and high pedigree; wealthy in moneys and means; the flower of an
ancient race; of surpassing beauty and grace, and the owner of
farms and estates and many a dwelling-place.--And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Five Hundred and Fifty-third Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Sindbad the
Seaman continued in these words:--Now after the King my master
had married me to this choice wife, he also gave me a great and
goodly house standing alone, together with slaves and officers,
and assigned me pay and allowances. So I became in all ease and
contentment and delight and forgot everything which had befalled
me of weariness and trouble and hardship; for I loved my wife
with fondest love and she loved me no less, and we were as one
and abode in the utmost comfort of life and in its happiness. And
I said in myself, "When I return to my native land, I will carry
her with me." But whatso is predestined to a man, that needs must
be, and none knoweth what shall befal him. We lived thus a great
while, till Almighty Allah bereft one of my neighbours of his
wife. Now he was a gossip of mine; so hearing the cry of the
keeners I went in to condole with him on his loss and found him
in very ill plight, full of trouble and weary of soul and mind. I
condoled with him and comforted him, saying, "Mourn not for thy
wife who hath now found the mercy of Allah; the Lord will surely
give thee a better in her stead and thy name shall be great and
thy life shall be long in the land, Inshallah!"[FN#47] But he
wept bitter tears and replied, "O my friend, how can I marry
another wife and how shall Allah replace her to me with a better
than she, whenas I have but one day left to live?" "O my
brother," said I, "return to thy senses and announce not the glad
tidings of thine own death, for thou art well, sound and in good
case." "By thy life, O my friend," rejoined he, "to-morrow thou
wilt lose me and wilt never see me again till the Day of
Resurrection." I asked, "How so?" and he answered, "This very day
they bury my wife, and they bury me with her in one tomb; for it
is the custom with us, if the wife die first, to bury the husband
alive with her and in like manner the wife, if the husband die
first; so that neither may enjoy life after losing his or her
mate." "By Allah," cried I, "this is a most vile, lewd custom and
not to be endured of any!" Meanwhile, behold, the most part of
the townsfolk came in and fell to condoling with my gossip for
his wife and for himself. Presently they laid the dead woman out,
as was their wont; and, setting her on a bier, carried her and
her husband without the city, till they came to a place in the
side of the mountain at the end of the island by the sea; and
here they raised a great rock and discovered the mouth of a
stone-rivetted pit or well,[FN#48] leading down into a vast
underground cavern that ran beneath the mountain. Into this pit
they threw the corpse, then tying a rope of palm-fibres under the
husband's armpits, they let him down into the cavern, and with
him a great pitcher of fresh water and seven scones by was of
viaticum.[FN#49] When he came to the bottom, he loosed himself
from the rope and they drew it up; and, stopping the mouth of the
pit with the great stone, they returned to the city, leaving my
friend in the cavern with his dead wife. When I saw this, I said
to myself, "By Allah, this fashion of death is more grievous than
the first!" And I went in to the King and said to him, "O my
lord, why do ye bury the quick with the dead?" Quoth he, "It hath
been the custom, thou must know, of our forbears and our olden
Kings from time immemorial, if the husband die first, to bury his
wife with him, and the like with the wife, so we may not sever
them, alive or dead." I asked, "O King of the age, if the wife of
a foreigner like myself die among you, deal ye with him as with
yonder man?"; and he answered, "Assuredly, we do with him even as
thou hast seen." When I heard this, my gall-bladder was like to
burst, for the violence of my dismay and concern for myself: my
wit became dazed; I felt as if in a vile dungeon; and hated their
society; for I went about in fear lest my wife should die before
me and they bury me alive with her. However, after a while, I
comforted myself, saying, "Haply I shall predecease her, or shall
have returned to my own land before she die, for none knoweth
which shall go first and which shall go last." Then I applied
myself to diverting my mind from this thought with various
occupations; but it was not long before my wife sickened and
complained and took to her pillow and fared after a few days to
the mercy of Allah; and the King and the rest of the folk came,
as was their wont, to condole with me and her family and to
console us for her loss and not less to condole with me for
myself. Then the women washed her and arraying her in her richest
raiment and golden ornaments, necklaces and jewellery, laid her
on the bier and bore her to the mountain aforesaid, where they
lifted the cover of the pit and cast her in; after which all my
intimates and acquaintances and my wife's kith and kin came round
me, to farewell me in my lifetime and console me for my own
death, whilst I cried out among them, saying, "Almighty Allah
never made it lawful to bury the quick with the dead! I am a
stranger, not one of your kind; and I cannot abear your custom,
and had I known it I never would have wedded among you!" They
heard me not and paid no heed to my words, but laying hold of me,
bound me by force and let me down into the cavern, with a large
gugglet of sweet water and seven cakes of bread, according to
their custom. When I came to the bottom, they called out to me to
cast myself loose from the cords, but I refused to do so; so they
threw them down on me and, closing the mouth of the pit with the
stones aforesaid, went their ways,--And Shahrazad perceived the
dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Five Hundred and Fifty-fourth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Sindbad the
Seaman continued:--When they left me in the cavern with my dead
wife and, closing the mouth of the pit, went their ways, I looked
about me and found myself in a vast cave full of dead bodies,
that exhaled a fulsome and loathsome smell and the air was heavy
with the groans of the dying. Thereupon I fell to blaming myself
for what I had done, saying, "By Allah, I deserve all that hath
befallen me and all that shall befal me! What curse was upon me
to take a wife in this city? There is no Majesty and there is no
Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great! As often as I say,
I have escaped from one calamity, I fall into a worse. By Allah,
this is an abominable death to die! Would Heaven I had died a
decent death and been washed and shrouded like a man and a
Moslem. Would I had been drowned at sea or perished in the
mountains! It were better than to die this miserable death!" And
on such wise I kept blaming my own folly and greed of gain in
that black hole, knowing not night from day; and I ceased not to
ban the Foul Fiend and to bless the Almighty Friend. Then I threw
myself down on the bones of the dead and lay there, imploring
Allah's help and in the violence of my despair, invoking death
which came not to me, till the fire of hunger burned my stomach
and thirst set my throat aflame when I sat up and feeling for the
bread, ate a morsel and upon it swallowed a mouthful of water.
After this, the worst night I ever knew, I arose, and exploring
the cavern, found that it extended a long way with hollows in its
sides; and its floor was strewn with dead bodies and rotten
bones, that had lain there from olden time. So I made myself a
place in a cavity of the cavern, afar from the corpses lately
thrown down and there slept. I abode thus a long while, till my
provision was like to give out; and yet I ate not save once every
day or second day; nor did I drink more than an occasional
draught, for fear my victual should fail me before my death; and
I said to myself, "Eat little and drink little; belike the Lord
shall vouchsafe deliverance to thee!" One day, as I sat thus,
pondering my case and bethinking me how I should do, when my
bread and water should be exhausted, behold, the stone that
covered the opening was suddenly rolled away and the light
streamed down upon me. Quoth I, "I wonder what is the matter:
haply they have brought another corpse." Then I espied folk
standing about the mouth of the pit, who presently let down a
dead man and a live woman, weeping and bemoaning herself, and
with her an ampler supply of bread and water than usual.[FN#50] I
saw her and she was a beautiful woman; but she saw me not; and
they closed up the opening and went away. Then I took the leg-
bone of a dead man and, going up to the woman, smote her on the
crown of the head; and she cried one cry and fell down in a
swoon. I smote her a second and a third time, till she was dead,
when I laid hands on her bread and water and found on her great
plenty of ornaments and rich apparel, necklaces, jewels and gold
trinkets;[FN#51] for it was their custom to bury women in all
their finery. I carried the vivers to my sleeping place in the
cavern-side and ate and drank of them sparingly, no more than
sufficed to keep the life in me, lest the provaunt come speedily
to an end and I perish of hunger and thirst. Yet did I never
wholly lose hope in Almighty Allah. I abode thus a great while,
killing all the live folk they let down into the cavern and
taking their provisions of meat and drink; till one day, as I
slept, I was awakened by something scratching and burrowing among
the bodies in a corner of the cave and said, "What can this be?"
fearing wolves or hyaenas. So I sprang up and seizing the leg-
bone aforesaid, made for the noise. As soon as the thing was ware
of me, it fled from me into the inward of the cavern, and lo! it
was a wild beast. However, I followed it to the further end, till
I saw afar off a point of light not bigger than a star, now
appearing and then disappearing. So I made for it, and as I drew
near, it grew larger and brighter, till I was certified that it
was a crevice in the rock, leading to the open country; and I
said to myself, "There must be some reason for this opening:
either it is the mouth of a second pit, such as that by which
they let me down, or else it is a natural fissure in the
stonery." So I bethought me awhile and nearing the light, found
that it came from a breach in the back side of the mountain,
which the wild beasts had enlarged by burrowing, that they might
enter and devour the dead and freely go to and fro. When I saw
this, my spirits revived and hope came back to me and I made sure
of life, after having died a death. So I went on, as in a dream,
and making shift to scramble through the breach found myself on
the slope of a high mountain, overlooking the salt sea and
cutting off all access thereto from the island, so that none
could come at that part of the beach from the city.[FN#52] I
praised my Lord and thanked Him, rejoicing greatly and heartening
myself with the prospect of deliverance; then I returned through
the crack to the cavern and brought out all the food and water I
had saved up and donned some of the dead folk's clothes over my
own; after which I gathered together all the collars and
necklaces of pearls and jewels and trinkets of gold and silver
set with precious stones and other ornaments and valuables I
could find upon the corpses; and, making them into bundles with
the grave clothes and raiment of the dead, carried them out to
the back of the mountain facing the sea-shore, where I
established myself, purposing to wait there till it should please
Almighty Allah to send me relief by means of some passing ship. I
visited the cavern daily and as often as I found folk buried
alive there, I killed them all indifferently, men and women, and
took their victual and valuables and transported them to my seat
on the sea-shore. Thus I abode a long while,--And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Five Hundred and Fifty-fifth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Sindbad the
Seaman continued:--And after carrying all my victuals and
valuables from the cavern to the coast I abode a long while by
the sea, pondering my case, till one day I caught sight of a ship
passing in the midst of the clashing sea, swollen with dashing
billows. So I took a piece of a white shroud I had with me and,
tying it to a staff, ran along the sea-shore, making signals
therewith and calling to the people in the ship, till they espied
me and hearing my shouts, sent a boat to fetch me off. When it
drew near, the crew called out to me, saying, "Who art thou and
how camest thou to be on this mountain, whereon never saw we any
in our born days?" I answered, "I am a gentleman[FN#53] and a
merchant, who hath been wrecked and saved myself on one of the
planks of the ship, with some of my goods; and by the blessing of
the Almighty and the decrees of Destiny and my own strength and
skill, after much toil and moil I have landed with my gear in
this place where I awaited some passing ship to take me off." So
they took me in their boat together with the bundles I had made
of the jewels and valuables from the cavern, tied up in clothes
and shrouds, and rowed back with me to the ship, where the
captain said to me, "How camest thou, O man, to yonder place on
yonder mountain behind which lieth a great city? All my life I
have sailed these seas and passed to and fro hard by these
heights; yet never saw I here any living thing save wild beasts
and birds." I repeated to him the story I had told the
sailors,[FN#54] but acquainted him with nothing of that which had
befallen me in the city and the cavern, lest there should be any
of the islandry in the ship. Then I took out some of the best
pearls I had with me and offered them to the captain, saying, "O
my lord, thou hast been the means of saving me off this mountain.
I have no ready money; but take this from me in requital of thy
kindness and good offices." But he refused to accept it of me,
saying, "When we find a shipwrecked man on the sea-shore or on an
island, we take him up and give him meat and drink, and if he be
naked we clothe him; nor take we aught from him; nay, when we
reach a port of safety, we set him ashore with a present of our
own money and entreat him kindly and charitably, for the love of
Allah the Most High." So I prayed that his life be long in the
land and rejoiced in my escape, trusting to be delivered from my
stress and to forget my past mishaps; for every time I remembered
being let down into the cave with my dead wife I shuddered in
horror. Then we pursued our voyage and sailed from island to
island and sea to sea, till we arrived at the Island of the Bell,
which containeth a city two days' journey in extent, whence after
a six days' run we reached the Island Kala, hard by the land of
Hind.[FN#55] This place is governed by a potent and puissant King
and it produceth excellent camphor and an abundance of the Indian
rattan: here also is a lead mine. At last by the decree of Allah,
we arrived in safety at Bassorah-town where I tarried a few days,
then went on to Baghdad-city, and, finding my quarter, entered my
house with lively pleasure. There I foregathered with my family
and friends, who rejoiced in my happy return and gave my joy of
my safety. I laid up in my storehouses all the goods I had
brought with me, and gave alms and largesse to Fakirs and beggars
and clothed the widow and the orphan. Then I gave myself up to
pleasure and enjoyment, returning to my old merry mode of life.
"Such, then, be the most marvellous adventures of my fourth
voyage, but to-morrow if you will kindly come to me, I will tell
you that which befel me in my fifth voyage, which was yet rarer
and more marvellous than those which forewent it. And thou, O my
brother Sindbad the Landsman, shalt sup with me as thou art
wont." (Saith he who telleth the tale), When Sindbad the Seaman
had made an end of his story, he called for supper; so they
spread the table and the guests ate the evening meal; after which
he gave the Porter an hundred dinars as usual, and he and the
rest of the company went their ways, glad at heart and marvelling
at the tales they had heard, for that each story was more
extraordinary than that which forewent it. The porter Sindbad
passed the night in his own house, in all joy and cheer and
wonderment; and, as soon as morning came with its sheen and
shone, he prayed the dawn-prayer and repaired to the house of
Sindbad the Seaman, who welcomed him and bade him sit with him
till the rest of the company arrived, when they ate and drank and
made merry and the talk went round amongst them. Presently, their
host began the narrative of the fifth voyage,--And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Five Hundred and Fifty-sixth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the host
began in these words the narrative of
The Fifth Voyage of Sindbad the Seaman.
Know, O my brothers, that when I had been awhile on shore after
my fourth voyage; and when, in my comfort and pleasures and
merry-makings and in my rejoicing over my large gains and
profits, I had forgotten all I had endured of perils and
sufferings, the carnal man was again seized with the longing to
travel and to see foreign countries and islands.[FN#56]
Accordingly I bought costly merchandise suited to my purpose and,
making it up into bales, repaired to Bassorah, where I walked
about the river-quay till I found a fine tall ship, newly builded
with gear unused and fitted ready for sea. She pleased me; so I
bought her and, embarking my goods in her, hired a master and
crew, over whom I set certain of my slaves and servants as
inspectors. A number of merchants also brought their outfits and
paid me freight and passage-money; then, after reciting the
Fatihah we set sail over Allah's pool in all joy and cheer,
promising ourselves a prosperous voyage and much profit. We
sailed from city to city and from island to island and from sea
to sea viewing the cities and countries by which we passed, and
selling and buying in not a few till one day we came to a great
uninhabited island, deserted and desolate, whereon was a white
dome of biggest bulk half buried in the sands. The merchants
landed to examine this dome, leaving me in the ship; and when
they drew near, behold, it was a huge Rukh's egg. They fell a-
beating it with stones, knowing not what it was, and presently
broke it open, whereupon much water ran out of it and the young
Rukh appeared within. So they pulled it forth of the shell and
cut its throat and took of it great store of meat. Now I was in
the ship and knew not what they did; but presently one of the
passengers came up to me and said, "O my lord, come and look at
the egg we thought to be a dome." So I looked and seeing the
merchants beating it with stones, called out to them, "Stop,
stop! do not meddle with that egg, or the bird Rukh will come out
and break our ship and destroy us."[FN#57] But they paid no heed
to me and gave not over smiting upon the egg, when behold, the
day grew dark and dun and the sun was hidden from us, as if some
great cloud had passed over the firmament.[FN#58] So we raised
our eyes and saw that what we took for a cloud was the Rukh
poised between us and the sun, and it was his wings that darkened
the day. When he came and saw his egg broken, he cried a loud
cry, whereupon his mate came flying up and they both began
circling about the ship, crying out at us with voices louder than
thunder. I called to the Rais and crew, "Put out to sea and seek
safety in flight, before we be all destroyed." So the merchants
came on board and we cast off and made haste from the island to
gain the open sea. When the Rukhs saw this, they flew off and we
crowded all sail on the ship, thinking to get out of their
country; but presently the two re-appeared and flew after us and
stood over us, each carrying in its claws a huge boulder which it
had brought from the mountains. As soon as the he-Rukh came up
with us, he let fall upon us the rock he held in his pounces; but
the master put about ship, so that the rock missed her by some
small matter and plunged into the waves with such violence, that
the ship pitched high and then sank into the trough of the sea
and the bottom of the ocean appeared to us. Then the she-Rukh let
fall her rock, which was bigger than that of her mate, and as
Destiny had decreed, it fell on the poop of the ship and crushed
it, the rudder flying into twenty pieces; whereupon the vessel
foundered and all and everything on board were cast into the
main.[FN#59] As for me I struggled for sweet life, till Almighty
Allah threw in my way one of the planks of the ship, to which I
clung and bestriding it, fell a-paddling with my feet. Now the
ship had gone down hard by an island in the midst of the main and
the winds and waves bore me on till, by permission of the Most
High, they cast me up on the shore of the island, at the last
gasp for toil and distress and half dead with hunger and thirst.
So I landed more like a corpse than a live man and throwing
myself down on the beach, lay there awhile, till I began to
revive and recover spirits, when I walked about the island and
found it as it were one of the garths and gardens of Paradise.
Its trees, in abundance dight, bore ripe-yellow fruit for
freight; its streams ran clear and bright; its flowers were fair
to scent and to sight and its birds warbled with delight the
praises of Him to whom belong permanence and all-might. So I ate
my fill of the fruits and slaked my thirst with the water of the
streams till I could no more and I returned thanks to the Most
High and glorified Him;--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day
and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Five Hundred and Fifty-seventh Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Sindbad the
Seaman continued:--So when I escaped drowning and reached the
island which afforded me fruit to eat and water to drink, I
returned thanks to the Most High and glorified Him; after which I
sat till nightfall, hearing no voice and seeing none inhabitant.
Then I lay down, well-nigh dead for travail and trouble and
terror, and slept without surcease till morning, when I arose and
walked about under the trees, till I came to the channel of a
draw-well fed by a spring of running water, by which well sat an
old man of venerable aspect, girt about with a waist-cloth[FN#60]
made of the fibre of palm-fronds.[FN#61] Quoth I to myself,
"Haply this Shaykh is one of those who were wrecked in the ship
and hath made his way to this island." So I drew near to him and
saluted him, and he returned my salam by signs, but spoke not;
and I said to him, "O nuncle mine, what causeth thee to sit
here?" He shook his head and moaned and signed to me with his
hands as who should say, "Take me on thy shoulders and carry me
to the other side of the well-channel." And quoth I in my mind,
"I will deal kindly with him and do what he desireth; it may be I
shall win me a reward in Heaven for he may be a paralytic." So I
took him on my back and carrying him to the place whereat he
pointed, said to him, "Dismount at thy leisure." But he would not
get off my back and wound his legs about my neck. I looked at
them and seeing that they were like a buffalo's hide for
blackness and roughness,[FN#62] was affrighted and would have
cast him off; but he clung to me and gripped my neck with his
legs, till I was well-nigh choked, the world grew black in my
sight and I fell senseless to the ground like one dead. But he
still kept his seat and raising his legs drummed with his heels
and beat harder than palm-rods my back and shoulders, till he
forced me to rise for excess of pain. Then he signed to me with
his hand to carry him hither and thither among the trees which
bore the best fruits; and if ever I refused to do his bidding or
loitered or took my leisure he beat me with his feet more
grievously than if I had been beaten with whips. He ceased not to
signal with his hand wherever he was minded to go; so I carried
him about the island, like a captive slave, and he bepissed and
conskited my shoulders and back, dismounting not night nor day;
and whenas he wished to sleep he wound his legs about my neck and
leaned back and slept awhile, then arose and beat me; whereupon I
sprang up in haste, unable to gainsay him because of the pain he
inflicted on me. And indeed I blamed myself and sore repented me
of having taken compassion on him and continued in this
condition, suffering fatigue not to be described, till I said to
myself, "I wrought him a weal and he requited me with my ill; by
Allah, never more will I do any man a service so long as I live!"
And again and again I besought the Most High that I might die,
for stress of weariness and misery; and thus I abode a long while
till, one day, I came with him to a place wherein was abundance
of gourds, many of them dry. So I took a great dry gourd and,
cutting open the head, scooped out the inside and cleaned it;
after which I gathered grapes from a vine which grew hard by and
squeezed them into the gourd, till it was full of the juice. Then
I stopped up the mouth and set it in the sun, where I left it for
some days, until it became strong wine; and every day I used to
drink of it, to comfort and sustain me under my fatigues with
that froward and obstinate fiend; and as often as I drank myself
drunk, I forgot my troubles and took new heart. One day he saw me
drinking and signed to me with his hand, as who should say, "What
is that?" Quoth I, "It is an excellent cordial, which cheereth
the heart and reviveth the spirits." Then, being heated with
wine, I ran and danced with him among the trees, clapping my
hands and singing and making merry; and I staggered under him by
design. When he saw this, he signed to me to give him the gourd
that he might drink, and I feared him and gave it him. So he took
it and, draining it to the dregs, cast it on the ground,
whereupon he grew frolicsome and began to clap hands and jig to
and fro on my shoulders and he made water upon me so copiously
that all my dress was drenched. But presently the fumes of the
wine rising to his head, he became helplessly drunk and his side-
muscles and limbs relaxed and he swayed to and fro on my back.
When I saw that he had lost his senses for drunkenness, I put my
hand to his legs and, loosing them from my neck, stooped down
well-nigh to the ground and threw him at full length,--And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.
When it was the Five Hundred and Fifty-eighth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Sindbad the
Seaman continued:--So I threw the devil off my shoulders, hardly
crediting my deliverance from him and fearing lest he should
shake off his drunkenness and do me a mischief. Then I took up a
great stone from among the trees and coming up to him smote him
therewith on the head with all my might and crushed in his skull
as he lay dead drunk. Thereupon his flesh and fat and blood being
in a pulp, he died and went to his deserts, The Fire, no mercy of
Allah be upon him! I then returned, with a heart at ease, to my
former station on the sea-shore and abode in that island many
days, eating of its fruits and drinking of its waters and keeping
a look-out for passing ships; till one day, as I sat on the
beach, recalling all that had befallen me and saying, "I wonder
if Allah will save me alive and restore me to my home and family
and friends!" behold, a ship was making for the island through
the dashing sea and clashing waves. Presently, it cast anchor and
the passengers landed; so I made for them, and when they saw me
all hastened up to me and gathering round me questioned me of my
case and how I came thither. I told them all that had betided me,
whereat they marvelled with exceeding marvel and said, "He who
rode on thy shoulder is called the 'Shaykh al-Bahr' or Old Man of
the Sea,[FN#63] and none ever felt his legs on neck and came off
alive but thou; and those who die under him he eateth: so praised
be Allah for thy safety!" Then they set somewhat of food before
me, whereof I ate my fill, and gave me somewhat of clothes
wherewith I clad myself anew and covered my nakedness; after
which they took me up into the ship, and we sailed days and
nights, till fate brought us to a place called the City of Apes,
builded with lofty houses, all of which gave upon the sea and it
had a single gate studded and strengthened with iron nails. Now
every night, as soon as it is dusk the dwellers in this city use
to come forth of the gates and, putting out to sea in boats and
ships, pass the night upon the waters in their fear lest the apes
should come down on them from the mountains. Hearing this I was
sore troubled remembering what I had before suffered from the
ape-kind. Presently I landed to solace myself in the city, but
meanwhile the ship set sail without me and I repented of having
gone ashore, and calling to mind my companions and what had
befallen me with the apes, first and after, sat down and fell a-
weeping and lamenting. Presently one of the townsfolk accosted me
and said to me, "O my lord, meseemeth thou art a stranger to
these parts?" "Yes," answered I, "I am indeed a stranger and a
poor one, who came hither in a ship which cast anchor here, and I
landed to visit the town; but when I would have gone on board
again, I found they had sailed without me." Quoth he, "Come and
embark with us, for if thou lie the night in the city, the apes
will destroy thee." "Hearkening and obedience," replied I, and
rising, straightway embarked with him in one of the boats,
whereupon they pushed off from shore and anchoring a mile or so
from the land, there passed the night. At daybreak, they rowed
back to the city and landing, went each about his business. Thus
they did every night, for if any tarried in the town by night the
apes came down on him and slew him. As soon as it was day, the
apes left the place and ate of the fruits of the gardens, then
went back to the mountains and slept there till nightfall, when
they again came down upon the city.[FN#64] Now this place was in
the farthest part of the country of the blacks, and one of the
strangest things that befel me during my sojourn in the city was
on this wise. One of the company with whom I passed the night in
the boat, asked me, "O my lord, thou art apparently a stranger in
these parts; hast thou any craft whereat thou canst work?"; and I
answered, "By Allah, O my brother, I have no trade nor know I any
handicraft, for I was a merchant and a man of money and substance
and had a ship of my own, laden with great store of goods and
merchandise; but it foundered at sea and all were drowned
excepting me who saved myself on a piece of plank which Allah
vouchsafed to me of His favour." Upon this he brought me a cotton
bag and giving it to me, said, "Take this bag and fill it with
pebbles from the beach and go forth with a company of the
townsfolk to whom I will give a charge respecting thee. Do as
they do and belike thou shalt gain what may further thy return
voyage to thy native land." Then he carried me to the beach,
where I filled my bag with pebbles large and small, and presently
we saw a company of folk issue from the town, each bearing a bag
like mine, filled with pebbles. To these he committed me,
commending me to their care, and saying, "This man is a stranger,
so take him with you and teach him how to gather, that he may get
his daily bread, and you will earn your reward and recompense in
Heaven." "On our head and eyes be it!" answered they and bidding
me welcome, fared on with me till we came to a spacious Wady,
full of lofty trees with trunks so smooth that none might climb
them. Now sleeping under these trees were many apes, which when
they saw us rose and fled from us and swarmed up among the
branches; whereupon my companions began to pelt them with what
they had in their bags, and the apes fell to plucking of the
fruit of the trees and casting them at the folk. I looked at the
fruits they cast at us and found them to be Indian[FN#65] or
cocoa-nuts; so I chose out a great tree, full of apes, and going
up to it, began to pelt them with stones, and they in return
pelted me with nuts, which I collected, as did the r
