CHAPTER VII.
THE TALE OF SINBAD THE SAILOR AND SINBAD THE PORTER.
THE TWENTY-THIRD NIGHT The following night, when Sarazot was in bed, her sister Denarzot said 'Please sister, tell us one of your lovely little tales'.
The king added, "'Let it be even more amazing than the last.'
Sarazad replied, with the greatest pleasure.
"'It is said, O king, that in Baghdad there was a poor porter named Sinbad.
One day he set his load of goods down before the gates of a rich merchant.
From inside he heard the sounds of lutes playing and people dancing and eating.'
Sinbad prayed to God, cursing his misery and complaining about his poor luck in life.
Just as he had finished his prayer, the gates swung open.
Sinbad walked in.
He saw a beautiful house like none he had seen before.
The merchant welcomed him kindly, asking his name.
My name is Sinbad the Porter, he replied.
The host said, My name is the same, for I am called Sinbad the Sailor.
Then he asked the porter to sit down and Sinbad the Sailor told him of his voyages and the many dangers he had faced.
My father was a rich man and left me a lot of money, but it did not help me.
I wasted the money away until there was hardly anything left.
I took what remained and bought goods to take on a trading voyage at sea.
We passed from island to island and finally came to one that was just as beautiful as paradise itself.
We had just started a fire for cooking when I heard the captain crying, "'Run!
In the name of God, run for the ship!'
We all ran, not knowing then that the whole island was actually a giant fish.
We were too late.
Some made it to the ship, but others of us were tossed into the wild ocean by the jerking and shaking of the fish.
The strong tide soon pulled me to an island where I landed on the beach.
Looking around, I spotted a beautiful horse tied to a tree by the shore.
As I walked over to the horse, the ground split open and a man came out.
He asked me what my story was.
When I told him, he led me downstairs beneath the earth, where he gave me food and drink.
He told a peculiar tale.
He was the servant of a great king who sent him here at every new moon and ordered him to tie his horse by the shore.
Each time the waves of the sea would wash up near the mare, the servant would untie the horse and watch her plunge wildly into the sea.
When the mare returned from the sea, she would be pregnant.
Later, she would deliver a colt. worth a great deal of money.
I was amazed at the story, but I went along with the servant and everything he had spoken of came true.
Then the servant brought me to the other side of the island and introduced me to his king, who treated me kindly and put me to work meeting ships as they came into the port.
I lived this way for many months before a familiar ship arrived.
The sailors aboard said that the owner had died, and I asked them for his name.
Sinbad, they replied.
I told them I was the man they spoke of.
Looking again, they recognized me and welcomed me with open arms.
The ship had made a lot of money from selling my goods and I gave some of it to the king to thank him.
Then I sailed home, richer than ever before.
I promise never to take such a voyage again.
But morning drew near Sarazad, and she fell silent.
Denarzad said to her sister, Sister, what an amazing story!
Sarazad replied It is nothing compared with what I will tell you tomorrow, if the king lets me live.
The Twenty-Fourth Night.
The following night, when Sarazad was in bed, her sister Denarzad said Please sister, tell us another of your lovely little tales.
The king added, let it be more amazing than the last.
Sarazad replied, as you wish.
It is said, oh happy king, that after hearing the story, Sinbad the porter thanked his host and prepared to leave.
Sinbad.
The sailor invited him to return the next day and dine with him again.
So the porter returned to the house the next day.
Once more the gates swung open and once more he found people eating and dancing inside the beautiful home.
Sinbad the sailor welcomed him kindly, asked him to sit, and gave him food and drink.
Then the sailor resumed the tale of his adventures and the many great dangers he had faced.
After I had been at home some years, I decided to travel again.
I bought goods and set out on a trading voyage with a number of merchants.
We came to a lovely and deserted island and stopped for a while there.
I fell asleep.
Later, I woke with terror to find the ship was gone.
Climbing a tree, I saw a giant bird twice the size of an elephant, whose wings could block out the sun.
When the great bird flew over me, I grabbed its leg, hoping to escape.
I held on until it took me near a high hill.
Then I let go.
I went down the hill and found myself in a valley full of diamonds, but it was also crawling with snakes.
I hid from the snakes in a cave, but I could not sleep well, for there was a terrible snake in there as well, guarding its eggs.
I was scared it would eat me.
The next morning I crept outside.
Suddenly a huge piece of meat fell down from the sky in front of me.
I had heard this place and knew that there was a trick the merchants used there.
They would throw the meat into the valley, hoping that the diamonds would stick to it.
They knew the eagles and vultures would soon attack the meat and fly up to the mountaintops with it in their claws.
Then the merchants would scare the birds away and take the diamonds.
Quickly, I filled my pockets with diamonds and used some rope to tie myself to the meat.
An eagle swooped down and carried me up to the top of a mountain.
There, a man jumped out, shouting at the eagle until it flew away.
The man was surprised when he saw me there, but I gave him some of the diamonds and told him my story.
He brought me to some of his merchant friends, and they were all amazed at the story I told.
I was able to trade my diamonds for some goods and a ship to take me home.
There, I swore never to take another sea voyage again.
Sinbad the porter marveled at this tale.
He thanked Sinbad, his host, and prepared to leave.
The sailor and the merchant invited him to return the next day and dine with them again.
But morning drew near Sarazad, and she fell silent.
Denarzad said to her sister, Sister, what an amazing story.
Sarazad replied It is nothing compared with what I will tell you tomorrow, if the king lets me live.
The Twenty-Fifth Night.
The following night, when Sarazad was in bed, her sister Dinarzad said Please sister, tell us one of your lovely little tales.
The king added, Let it be even more amazing than the last.
Sarazad replied, With the greatest pleasure.
It is said, O happy king, that the porter returned to the house the next day.
Once more the gates swung open and once more he found people eating and dancing inside the beautiful home.
Sinbad the sailor welcomed him kindly, asked him to sit and gave him food and drink.
Then the sailor resumed the tale of his adventures and the many great dangers he had faced.
After being home a while, I once again wanted to travel.
I bought goods for trading and set out on a sea voyage with a group of merchants.
We traveled from island to island, trading our goods.
One day, Great wind carried us to an island with many mountains.
On the island lived large, hairy beasts that looked like apes.
These animals grabbed the cables of our ship, ripping them apart with their teeth.
They dragged us to the shore and ran off with all our food.
We roamed around the island, cursing our poor luck.
Finally, we came to a great castle with a large courtyard.
We were tired from our walking and quickly fell asleep there.
Later, we were woken by a terrible rumbling.
The earth shook beneath us, and a horrible creature came down to us from the castle.
He was shaped like a man much taller, with eyes like glowing coals, tusks like a boar and terrible claws like a lion.
All of us were shaking with fear.
Many of the men tried to run, but I could not escape.
The creature scooped me up and looked at me to see if I would be good for eating.
After finding me too skinny, the creature tossed me aside and grabbed one of the other men, then tossed him aside too.
He treated us all like this until he finally picked up the captain.
Then he tucked the captain under his arm and went back into the castle.
We spent the day looking for a place to hide from this monster, but we could not escape.
The next morning he returned and took away another man.
We knew that soon he would take all of us.
We had to do everything we could to escape.
The following day we made a simple boat and filled it with whatever food we could find.
Returning to the castle walls, we built a fire and heated up two iron rods until they were white.
When the monster returned that night, we surprised him and blinded him with the two rods.
There came a terrible roaring that shook the earth.
The monster groped around looking for us, but he could not see us and we made our escape, pushing off in the boat and making it safely out to the sea.
The monster tried to follow, wading into the water and throwing great rocks into the ocean.
We sailed to an island where we were met by other ships with merchants trading goods.
One of the captains felt pity for me and offered me the goods of a lost merchant named Sinbad.
I marveled at this news and revealed to the men my identity and that this was my very own ship.
I sailed on, going from island to island and selling what goods were left.
I saw many amazing things along the way, including a fish shaped like a cow and a bird that hatched from a seashell.
At last I returned home and held a great feast to forget my hardships.
I promised never to go on a sea voyage again.
Sinbad the porter marveled at this tale.
He thanked his host and prepared to leave.
Sinbad the sailor invited him to return the next day and join their dinner again.
But morning drew near Sarazad, and she fell silent.
Denarzad said to her sister, Sister, what an amazing story.
Sarazad replied This is nothing compared with what I will tell you tomorrow, if the king lets me live.
The Twenty-Sixth Night.
The following night, when Sarazad was in bed, her sister Denarzad said Please sister, tell us one of your lovely little tales.
The king added, Let it be the rest of the tale of Sinbad.
Sarazad replied, With the greatest pleasure.
It is said, O happy king, that the porter returned to the house the next day.
Once more the gates swung open and once more he found a good number of people eating and dancing inside the beautiful home.
Sinbad the sailor welcomed him kindly, asked him to sit, and gave him food and drink.
Then the sailor resumed the tale of his adventures and the many great dangers he had faced.
I settled quite happily at home and lived there for many years.
But one day I heard some merchants discussing plans for a sea voyage.
I decided to set sail with them.
We had been at sea for only a couple of days when a powerful storm cast us all overboard.
The waves washed us onto a small island.
We looked up to see a number of men coming toward us.
They carried us to a great house and brought us before their king.
A meal was set before us, and we started eating.
The food looked odd though, and I saw that the king did not eat any, so I only pretended to eat it, although my companions ate greedily.
Soon they were acting strangely and talking nonsense.
That night I went to bed still hungry.
Every day the king set out tables full of the odd food, and every day I pretended to eat.
I grew thinner and thinner.
Meanwhile, my friends grew fatter and acted more and more foolishly.
Seeing this, I started to think that the king was fattening us up so that he could eat us.
I was so terrified that, abandoning my companions, I ran off and hid in the woods for many days, hungry and tired.
I ate plants to stay alive and finally made it to the far shore of the island.
There, I saw a ship and waved at it.
The ship came near, and I swam out to it, escaping the terrible island.
I returned home with as much of my wealth as I could keep on me, and whenever I think of that place, I nearly pass out at the horror of it.
Sinbad, the porter, marveled at this tale.
He thanked his host and prepared to leave.
Sinbad the sailor invited him to return the next day and join their dinner again.
But morning drew near Sarazad, and she fell silent.
Denarzad said to her sister, "'Sister, what an amazing story!'
Sarazad replied This is nothing compared with what I will tell you tomorrow, if the king lets me live.
The Twenty-Seventh Night.
The following night, when Sarazad was in bed, her sister Denarzad said Please sister, tell us one of your amazing tales.
The king added, Let it be the rest of the tale of Sinbad.
Sarazad replied, with the greatest pleasure.
It is said, O happy king, that Sinbad the porter returned to the house the next day.
Once more the gates swung open and once more he found people eating and dancing inside the beautiful home.
Sinbad the sailor welcomed him kindly, asked him to sit, and gave him food and drink.
Then the sailor resumed the tale of his adventures and the many great dangers he had faced.
Though I said I would never leave my home again, I set out for the fifth time on a sea voyage in a tall ship full of goods to trade.
After sailing for a few days, my crew and I saw a huge white dome on an island.
We sailed toward it and docked by the shore.
It was an egg and we cracked it open with stones to see what was inside.
Just as we opened it, the sky became dark.
A huge bird flew over, and its large wings blocked out the sun.
We knew it must be the mother, so we hurried back to the ship and off to sea.
But the mother bird dropped giant rocks on us and broke our ship to pieces.
I grabbed hold of a plank of wood and was washed ashore on a beautiful island.
I explored the island, hoping to find some food, when I came upon an old man sitting by a stream.
He asked me to carry him across to the other side, and I agreed to do so.
He climbed on my shoulders and clamped his legs around my neck.
He held so tight to me that I nearly choked, and I could not get him off of me.
The old man forced me to carry him around the island all night and day with hardly a rest.
One day we found some grapes, which made the old man quite happy.
I told him that I could make the grapes into a drink for him, and he was delighted at this.
When the mixture was ready, the old man drank it down like water.
He grew quite merry and soon fell asleep.
I escaped from him easily and made my way down to the shore.
A passing ship picked me up and I told the sailors my story.
They were amazed to hear my tale.
They said the old man I had met was the old man of the sea and that no one had ever escaped from him.
We sailed to an island rich in spices.
I managed to buy a great number of goods here.
I returned home and sold my spices for a lot of money.
Sinbad the porter marveled at this tale.
He thanked his host and prepared to leave.
Sinbad the sailor invited him to return the next day and join their dinner again.
But morning drew near Sarazad and she fell asilent.
Denarzad said to her sister, Sister, what an amazing story.
Sarazad replied This is nothing compared with what I will tell you tomorrow, if the king lets me live.
The Twenty-Eighth Night.
The following night, when Sarazad was in bed, her sister Denarzad said Please sister, tell us one of your lovely tales.
The king added Tell us the rest of Sinbad's story.
Sarazad replied with the greatest pleasure.
It is said, O happy king, that the porter returned to the house the next day.
Once more the gates swung open and once more he found people eating and dancing inside the beautiful home.
Sinbad the sailor welcomed him kindly, asked him to sit and gave him food and drink.
Then the sailor resumed the tale of his adventures and the many great dangers he had faced.
"'I soon wanted to travel again,'
I purchased goods and joined a group of merchants setting out on a sea voyage.
But our ship was wrecked on an island and only a few of us survived.
We climbed to the great cliffs of the island and were nearly driven mad by what we saw there.
The island's streams were full of jewels and its trees were made of emerald and jade.
The great riches dazzled us, but there was nothing to eat or drink.
Weeks passed, and I was the only one left alive.
I was full of sadness and dug my grave by the sea.
I prepared to lie in it and let wind blow sand over me.
Just then I saw some planks of wood that had washed from our ship up onto the shore.
I used this wood to build a raft, which I filled with jewels.
I paddled the raft out to sea, but I was so tired and hungry that I soon passed out.
When I woke up, The raft was tied to an island and I looked up to see a tribe of men standing over me.
They gave me food and drink, and I told them of my adventures.
Afterward, they brought me to their king.
I presented the king some of the jewels I had gathered and repeated for him my story about the land where I had come from.
Very much amazed, the king prepared a ship full of his merchants to sail that way for trading.
I was allowed to sail with them, and so I found my way home again.
I still had plenty of jewels with me and returned much richer than I had ever been before.
Sinbad, the porter, marveled at this tale.
He thanked his host and prepared to leave.
Sinbad the sailor invited him to return the next day and join their dinner again.
But morning drew near Sarazad, and she fell silent.
Then Arzad said to her sister, Sister, what an amazing story.
Sarazad replied, It is nothing compared with what I will tell you tomorrow if the king lets me live.
The Thirtieth Night.
The following night, when Sarazad was in bed, her sister Denarzad said Please sister, tell us more of this tale.
The king added, Let it be the rest of the story of Sinbad.
Sarazad replied, With the greatest pleasure.
It is said, O happy king, that the porter returned to the house the next day.
Once more the gates swung open and once more he found people eating and dancing inside the beautiful home.
Sinbad the sailor welcomed him kindly, asked him to sit and gave him food and drink.
Then the sailor resumed the tale of his adventures and the many great dangers he had faced.
After my last voyage, I promised never again to leave my home.
But the desire to travel was too strong and I shipped out for one last sea voyage, stocking my ship with many different goods.
A storm hit our ship almost from the start.
It blew us to the far ends of the earth to a place called the Land of the Kings.
We had heard of this land and knew there were great serpents there.
We had been told that when a ship passed by, a giant serpent would rise out of the ocean and swallow the ship whole.
We were telling stories of these terrible creatures when one of our crews spotted a serpent as big as a mountain coming out of the water toward us.
Then we saw a second serpent and a third rising out of the water.
Fearing for our lives, we fell to our knees and prayed to God, asking him to save us.
A great storm rose, blowing our ship onto a great rock.
The ship broke, and we were all sent into the sea.
I was able to swim to an island close by.
After resting, I saw a stream that ran under a great mountain.
I put together a small raft from some branches I found and traveled down the stream.
Soon I heard the sound of rushing water.
Before I knew it, I went over a great waterfall.
I was sure I would die, flying through the air and spray, but I did not.
Good fishermen who live in that land cast out a net and saved me.
An old man was among these fishermen and he took me to his house.
I stayed there for many months.
The people treated me well, giving me food and drink.
Once a month, however, the people transformed in the strangest of ways.
Their faces changed, and they grew wings, turning into birds and flying far away.
One month after the people had grown their wings and were preparing to fly off, I begged one of them to carry me with him.
I flew so high that I could hear the angels singing.
Then there was a great lightning flash and the creature dropped me on the top of a mountain.
Two young men arrived, telling me they were servants of God.
They led me down the mountain.
They told me that I had been in great danger because the birdmen were servants of the devil.
The two men led me to the shore, where a group of sailors were preparing for a sea voyage.
I traveled with them and finally arrived back at home.
My friends greeted me and I was very happy to be home, swearing to God never to travel out to sea again.
So now you know, said Sinbad the sailor, all the suffering I have gone through before enjoying the riches you see here.
I beg you, replied Sinbad the porter.
Forgive me for any wrong I have done in envying you.
After this, the porter never again complained of his station in life.
He thought of how hard the merchant had worked for his riches and all of the misery he had himself avoided.
The two Sinbads lived on together in friendship until their time on earth had passed.
But morning drew near Sarazad, and she fell silent.
Denarzad said to her sister, Sister, what an amazing story.
Sarazad replied It is nothing compared with what I will tell you tomorrow, if the king lets me live.
