THE STORY OF SINDBAD THE SAILOR
ON THE SIXTEENTH NIGHT
Sheherazade said:
As for Sindbad the Porter, he arrived home, where he dreamed all night about this astonishing story. And the next day, when he returned to the house of Sindbad the Sailor, he was still deeply moved by the burial of his guest. But as the tablecloth was already spread, he sat down with the others and ate and drank and blessed the Benefactor. After which, amid the general silence, he listened to what Sindbad the Sailor was saying.
THE FIFTH VOYAGE OF SINDBAD THE SAILOR
Sinbad says:
Know, O my friends, that on my return from the fourth journey, I immersed myself in joy, pleasures and amusements, and so much that I soon forgot my past sufferings, and remembered only the admirable gains which had procured my extraordinary adventures. Also do not be surprised if I tell you that I did not fail to obey my soul, which encouraged me to new journeys towards the countries of men.
So I got up and bought some goods, which by experience I knew to be easy to sell and of sure and profitable gain; I had them packed up and left with them for Basra.
There, I went for a walk in the harbor and I saw a large ship, brand new, which I liked very much and which I bought for myself, on the spot. I took into my service an excellent experienced captain and sailors, and I had my goods loaded on my ship by my slaves who remained on board to serve me. I also accepted as passengers some good-looking merchants, who honestly paid me their fare. In this way, having become master of a ship this time, I could, thanks to the experience acquired in matters of the sea, help the captain with my advice.
We left Bara with light and happy hearts, wishing each other all kinds of blessings. So our navigation was happy, favored all the time by a favorable wind and a mild sea. And, after making various stops to buy and sell, we landed one day on a completely uninhabited and deserted island, where only a single white dome could be seen for all habitation. But I, taking a closer look at this white dome, guessed it was the egg of a roc. However, I said nothing to the passengers, who, once disembarked, found nothing better to do than to throw large stones against the surface of the egg. So they ended up breaking it and, to their amazement, a lot of water flowed out of it; and a few moments later the little roc brought one of its feet out of the egg.
At this sight, the merchants continued to break the egg; then they killed the little roc, cut good slices of it, and came back on board to tell me the story.
Then I was on the verge of dread and I exclaimed: “We are lost! The father and mother of the roc will soon come to attack us and destroy us! We must therefore get away from this island as soon as possible!" And immediately we unfurled the sails and, aided by the wind, set sail.
Meanwhile, the merchants were busy roasting the quarters of roc; but they had not even begun to feast on it when we saw over the eye of the sun two large clouds which completely concealed it. When these clouds were closer to us, we saw that they were nothing more than two gigantic rocs, the father and the mother of the one who had been killed. And we heard them beating their wings and uttering cries more terrible than thunder. And we soon saw them just above our heads, but at a great height, each holding in its claws a huge boulder larger than our ship.
At this sight, we no longer doubted our loss, by the effect of the vengeance of the rocs. And suddenly one of the rocs dropped the rock from the air in the direction of the ship. But the captain was very experienced; with a stroke of the helm, he maneuvered so quickly that the ship veered around, and the rock fell, passing just beside us, into the sea which parted in such a gaping way that we saw the bottom of it, and that the ship ascended and descended and ascended horribly. But, at the same time, our destiny wanted the second roc to also drop its rock which, before we could avoid it, fell over the stern, breaking the rudder into twenty pieces and carrying half the ship in the water. Suddenly, the merchants and the sailors were crushed and others submerged. I was one of the overwhelmed.
But I was able to return for a moment above the water, so much had I fought against death driven by the instinct to preserve my precious soul. And, fortunately, I was able to hold on to a plank of my ship, which had disappeared.
I ended up being able to straddle this board and, by rowing my feet, I was able, helped by the wind and the current, to arrive at an island, just in time not to breathe my last, so exhausted was I of fatigue, hunger, and thirst. I threw myself first to the shore, where I remained annihilated for an hour until my soul and my heart could rest and calm down. I then got up and walked into the island to reconnoiter the place.
I did not have to travel far to notice that this time fate had transported me to a garden so beautiful it could be compared to the gardens of paradise. Everywhere, in front of my charmed eyes, trees with golden fruits, rushing streams, birds with a thousand branches, and ravishing flowers. So I did not fail to eat these fruits, to drink this water and to breathe these flowers; and I found everything excellent as possible.
At this point in her narration, Sheherazade saw the morning appear and quietly fell silent.
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