Part 12 :THE FIFTH VOYAGE OF SINBAD THE SAILOR | arabian nights | Bed time stories for children

THE FIFTH VOYAGE OF SINBAD THE SAILOR.



The pleasures I enjoyed again had charm enough to make me forget
all the troubles and calamities I had undergone, without curing me
of my inclination to make new voyages. Therefore I bought goods,
ordered them to be packed up and loaded, and set out with them for
the best seaport; and there, that I might not be obliged to depend
upon a captain, but have a ship at my own command, I waited till
one was built on purpose at my own expense. When the ship was
ready, I went on board with my goods; but not having enough to load
her, I took on board with me several merchants of different
nations, with their merchandise.

We sailed with the first fair wind, and after a long voyage, the
first place we touched at was a desert island, where we found an
egg of a roc, equal in size to that I formerly mentioned. There was
a young roc in it just ready to be hatched, and the bill of it
began to appear.

The merchants whom I had taken on board my ship, and who landed
with me, broke the egg with hatchets, and made a hole in it, from
whence they pulled out the young roc piece by piece, and roasted
it. I had earnestly persuaded them not to meddle with the egg, but
they would not listen to me.

Scarcely had they made an end of their feast, when there appeared
in the air, at a considerable distance from us, two great clouds.
The captain whom I hired to manage my ship, knowing by experience
what it meant, cried that it was the cock and hen roc that belonged
to the young one, and pressed us to re-embark with all speed, to
prevent the misfortune which he saw would otherwise befall us. We
made haste to do so, and set sail with all possible diligence.

In the meantime the two rocs approached with a frightful noise,
which they redoubled when they saw the egg broken, and their young
one gone. But having a mind to avenge themselves, they flew back
towards the place from whence they came, and disappeared for some
time, while we made all the sail we could to prevent that which
unhappily befell us.

They returned, and we observed that each of them carried between
their talons stones, or rather rocks, of a monstrous size. When
they came directly over my ship, they hovered, and one of them let
fall a stone; but by the dexterity of the steersman, who turned the
ship with the rudder, it missed us, and falling by the side of the
ship into the sea, divided the water so that we could see almost to
the bottom. The other roc, to our misfortune, threw the stone so
exactly upon the middle of the ship that it split into a thousand
pieces. The mariners and passengers were all killed by the stone,
or sunk. I myself had the last fate; but as I came up again I
fortunately caught hold of a piece of the wreck, and swimming
sometimes with one hand and sometimes with the other, but always
holding fast to my board, the wind and the tide favouring me, I
came to an island, where the beach was very steep. I overcame that
difficulty however, and got ashore.

I sat down upon the grass, to recover myself a little from my
fatigue, after which I got up, and went into the island to view it.
It seemed to be a delicious garden. I found trees everywhere, some
of them bearing green and others ripe fruits, and streams of fresh
pure water, with pleasant windings and turnings. I ate of the
fruits, which I found excellent, and drank of the water, which was
very pleasant.

Night being come, I lay down upon the grass in a convenient place
enough, but I could not sleep for an hour at a time, my mind was so
disturbed with the fear of being alone in so desert a place. Thus I
spent the best part of the night in fretting, and reproached myself
for my imprudence in not staying at home, rather than undertaking
this last voyage. These reflections carried me so far, that I began
to form a design against my own life, but daylight dispersed these
melancholy thoughts, and I got up, and walked among the trees, but
not without apprehensions of danger.

When I was a little advanced into the island, I saw an old man who
appeared very weak and feeble. He sat upon the bank of a stream,
and at first I took him to be one who had been shipwrecked like
myself. I went towards him and saluted him, but he only bowed his
head a little. I asked him what he did there, but instead of
answering he made a sign for me to take him upon my back and carry
him over the brook, signifying that it was to gather fruit.

I believed him really to stand in need of my help, so took him upon
my back, and having carried him over, bade him get down, and for
that end stooped that he might get off with ease: but instead of
that (which I laugh at every time I think of it), the old man, who
to me had appeared very decrepit, clasped his legs nimbly about my
neck, and then I perceived his skin to resemble that of a cow. He
sat astride upon my shoulders, and held my throat so tight that I
thought he would have strangled me, the fright of which made me
faint away and fall down.

Notwithstanding my fainting, the ill-natured old fellow kept fast
about my neck, but opened his legs a little to give me time to
recover my breath. When I had done so, he thrust one of his feet
against my stomach, and struck me so rudely on the side with the
other, that he forced me to rise up against my will. Having got up,
he made me walk under the trees, and forced me now and then to
stop, to gather and eat fruit such as we found. He never left me
all day, and when I lay down to rest by night, he laid himself down
with me, always holding fast about my neck. Every morning he pushed
me to make me wake, and afterwards obliged me to get up and walk,
and pressed me with his feet. You may judge then what trouble I was
in, to be loaded with such a burden as I could by no means rid
myself of.

One day I found in my way several dry calabashes that had fallen
from a tree; I took a large one, and, after cleaning it, pressed
into it some juice of grapes, which abounded in the island. Having
filled the calabash, I set it in a convenient place; and coming
hither again some days after, I took up my calabash, and setting it
to my mouth found the wine to be so good that it presently made me
not only forget my sorrow, but grow vigorous, and so light-hearted
that I began to sing and dance as I walked along.

The old man, perceiving the effect which this drink had upon me,
and that I carried him with more ease than I did before, made a
sign for me to give him some of it. I gave him the calabash, and
the liquor pleasing his palate, he drank it all off. He became
drunk immediately, and the fumes getting up into his head he began
to sing after his manner, and to dance upon my shoulders. His
jolting about made him sick, and he loosened his legs from about me
by degrees; so finding that he did not press me as before, I threw
him upon the ground, where he lay without motion, and then I took
up a great stone, with which I crushed his head to pieces.

I was extremely rejoiced to be freed thus for ever from this cursed
old fellow, and walked along the shore of the sea, where I met the
crew of a ship that had cast anchor to take in water to refresh
themselves. They were extremely surprised to see me, and to hear
the particulars of my adventures. 'You fell,' said they, 'into the
hands of the old man of the sea, and are the first that has ever
escaped strangling by him. He never left those he had once made
himself master of till he destroyed them, and he has made this
island famous for the number of men he has slain; so that the
merchants and mariners who landed upon it dared not advance into
the island but in numbers together.'

After having informed me of these things they carried me with them
to the ship; the captain received me with great satisfaction when
they told him what had befallen me. He put out again to sea, and
after some days' sail we arrived at the harbour of a great city,
where the houses were built of good stone.

One of the merchants of the ship, who had taken me into his
friendship, asked me to go along with him, and took me to a place
appointed as a retreat for foreign merchants. He gave me a great
bag, and having recommended me to some people of the town, who were
used to gather cocoa-nuts, he desired them to take me with them to
do the like: 'Go,' said he, 'follow them, and do as you see them
do, and do not separate from them, otherwise you endanger your
life.' Having thus spoken, he gave me provisions for the journey,
and I went with them.

We came to a great forest of trees, extremely straight and tall,
their trunks so smooth that it was not possible for any man to
climb up to the branches that bore the fruit. All the trees were
cocoa-nut trees, and when we entered the forest we saw a great
number of apes of all sizes, that fled as soon as they perceived
us, and climbed up to the top of the trees with surprising
swiftness.

The merchants with whom I was gathered stones, and threw them at
the apes on the top of the trees. I did the same, and the apes, out
of revenge, threw cocoa-nuts at us as fast and with such gestures
as sufficiently testified their anger and resentment: we gathered
up the cocoa-nuts, and from time to time threw stones to provoke
the apes; so that by this stratagem we filled our bags with cocoa-
nuts, which it had been impossible for us to do otherwise.

When we had gathered our number, we returned to the city, where the
merchant who sent me to the forest gave me the value of the cocoa-
nuts I had brought; 'Go on,' said he, 'and do the like every day,
until you have money enough to carry you home.' I thanked him for
his good advice, and gathered together as many cocoa-nuts as
amounted to a considerable sum.

The vessel in which I came sailed with merchants who loaded her
with cocoa-nuts. I expected the arrival of another, whose merchants
landed speedily for the like loading. I embarked on board the same
all the cocoa-nuts that belonged to me, and when she was ready to
sail I went and took leave of the merchant who had been so kind to
me; but he could not embark with me because he had not finished his
business.

We set sail towards the islands where pepper grows in great plenty.
From thence we went to the Isle of Comari, where the best sort of
wood of aloes grows, and whose inhabitants have made it an
inviolable law to drink no wine themselves, nor to suffer any kind
of improper conduct. I exchanged my cocoa-nuts in those two islands
for pepper and wood of aloes, and went with other merchants pearl-
fishing. I hired divers, who fetched me up those that were very
large and pure. Then I embarked joyfully in a vessel that happily
arrived at Balsora; from thence I returned to Bagdad, where I made
vast sums by my pepper, wood of aloes, and pearls. I gave the tenth
of my gains in alms, as I had done upon my return from other
voyages, and endeavoured to ease myself from my fatigue by
diversions of all sorts.