THE STORY OF SINDBAD THE SAILOR
ON THE TWELFTH NIGHT
Sheherazade said:
… When I was satisfied that the snake had indeed moved away, I stretched out my hand and got rid of the bonds that bound me to the boards. But I was in such bad shape that at first I could not move my limbs and for several hours I despaired of ever recovering the use of them. But I ended up standing up all the same and little by little I was able to walk and prowl around the island. I headed for the sea where, barely arrived, I discovered in the distance a ship, all sails out, which was spinning at high speed.
At this sight, I began to wave my arms and scream madly; then I unfolded the canvas of my turban and, having fastened it to a branch of a tree, I raised it above my head and did my best to make signals so that I might be noticed from the ship.
Fate willed that my efforts were not in vain. Soon, indeed, I saw the ship turn around and head towards the land; and shortly afterward I was picked up by the captain and his men.
Once on board the ship, they began by giving me clothes and hiding my nudity, since, by then, I had worn out those with which I was covered; then I was offered a bite to eat, which I did with great appetite, because of my past privations; but what delights my soul, above all, was certain fresh water, just right and really delicious, which I drank until satiety. So my heart calmed down and my soul calmed down and I felt rest and well-being finally descend into my exhausted body.
So I began to live again after seeing death with my two eyes, and I blessed Allah for His mercy and thanked Him for interrupting my tribulations. In this way, I was not long in recovering completely from my emotions and my fatigue, so much so that I was not far from believing that all these calamities had only happened to me in a dream.
Our navigation was excellent and, with the permission of Allah, the wind was favorable to us all the time and fortunately brought us to an island called Salahata, where we were to stop and in the harbor of which the captain had anchored, to allow merchants to disembark and go about their business.
When the passengers were ashore, as I was the only one left on board, for lack of goods to sell or exchange, the captain approached me and said: “Listen to what I have to tell you! You are a poor and strange man, and you have told us how many trials you have undergone in your life. So now I want to be of some use to you and help you to return to your country so that when you think of me, it will be with pleasure and you will call upon me blessings!" I answered: “Certainly, O captain! I will be sure to make wishes for you." He said to me: “Know that a few years ago we had with us a traveler who got lost on an island where we had stopped. And since then we haven't heard from him, and we don't know if he's dead or if he's still alive. As we have the goods left by this traveler in deposit in the ship, I had the idea of entrusting them to you so that, for a brokerage deducted from the gain, you sell them on this island and bring me the price. so that when I return to Baghdad I can hand him over to his parents or hand him over to himself if he has managed to return to his city." And I answered: “I owe you hearing and obedience, O my master! And I really owe you a lot of gratitude for what you honestly want to earn for me!"
Then the captain ordered the sailors to draw the goods from the hold and carry them to shore for me. Then he called the writer on the ship and told him to count them and write them down, bundle by bundle. And the writer answered: "To whom do these bales belong, and in whose name should I inscribe them?" The captain replied: “The owner of these bundles was called Sindbad the Sailor. Now write them in the name of this poor passenger, and ask him his name."
At these words of the captain, I was prodigiously astonished and I exclaimed: “But it is I, Sindbad the Sailor!" And, having looked attentively at the captain, I recognized him as the one who, at the beginning of my second voyage, had forgotten me on the island where I had fallen asleep.
So my emotion was at its extreme limits, at this unexpected discovery, and I continued: “O captain, don't you recognize me? It's me, Sindbad the Sailor, a native of Baghdad! Listen to my story! Remember, captain, that it was I who went down to the island so many years ago and never came back. I had, in fact, fallen asleep near a delicious spring, after having eaten a morsel, and had woken only to see the ship already far away on the sea. Moreover, many merchants of the mountain of diamonds have seen me and will be able to testify that Sindbad the Sailor is indeed me!"
I had not yet finished explaining to myself that one of the merchants who had come back on board to take some goods, approached me, looked at me attentively, and, as soon as I had stopped talking, knocked in surprise. his hands together, and exclaimed: “By Allah! O you all, you did not believe me when I told you in time the strange adventure that had happened to me one day in the mountain of diamonds, where I told you that I saw a man attached to a quarter of sheep and carried from the valley to the mountain by a bird called rokh. Well! this man, here he is! This is the very man who is Sindbad the Sailor, the generous man who had given me such beautiful diamonds!" And, having spoken thus, the merchant came to embrace me like a found brother.
Then the captain of the ship looked at me for a moment and suddenly recognized me too as Sindbad the Sailor. And he took me in his arms as he would have done his son, congratulated me on being still alive, and said to me: “By Allah, O my master, your story is fantastic and your adventure prodigious! But blessed be Allah who allowed our reunion and made you find your goods and your property!" Then he had my goods brought ashore for me to sell, this time for my entire profit. And, in fact, the gain I made was enormous and compensated me beyond all expectations for what time had caused me to lose up to that point.
After which we left Salahata Island and came to the lands of Sindh, where we also sold and bought.
In these distant seas, I saw astonishing things and innumerable wonders which I cannot tell you in detail. But, among other things, I saw a fish that looked like a cow, and another that looked like a donkey. I also saw a bird which was born from the sea mother-of-pearl, and whose young lived on the surface of the waters, without ever flying on the ground.
After that, we continued our navigation, with the permission of Allah, and we finally arrived at Basra, where we stayed only a few days, to finally enter Baghdad.
So I went to my street, I entered my house, I greeted my parents, my friends, and my old companions, and I gave great gifts to widows and orphans. I had, in fact, returned home enriched more than ever by the last bargains I had made in selling my wares.
But tomorrow, O my friends, Allah willing, I will tell you the story of my fourth trip which surpasses in interest the three you have just heard!"
Then Sindbad the Sailor gave, as on the previous days, one hundred gold pieces to Sindbad the Porter, inviting him to return the next day.
The porter did not fail to obey and, the following day, he returned to listen to what, after the meal, Sindbad the Sailor said...
At this point in her narration, Sheherazade saw the morning appear and quietly fell silent.
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