Arabian Nights: 273rd Night: Sindbad's Voyages - 2

The following night Shahrazad said:

Sindbad opened his mind to his to his friends and Hindbad, the porter:

I had inherited considerable wealth from my parents.  But being young and foolish, I squandered it recklessly on every kind of pleasure.  But I soon realised my mistake.  Money had been seeping like water through my fingers, and nothing of it remained with me.  What could I do? I sold whatever moveable inside my immovable properties and joined a company of merchants, who owned a ship at Balsora [1] who used to trade with overseas destinations.

We set sail and took our course to East Indies [2] by the Persian Gulf, having the coast of Persia upon our left hand and the shores of Arabia Felix [3] on our right.  Our voyage was much troubled by uneasy motion of the vessel, which caused me nausea and sea-sickness, but later the voyage was smooth and I recovered speedily.

We used to land at various islands, and shores, near bays where water was not shallow and gave us enough anchorage.  Here we used to exchange merchandise for money or barter.  One day, when the wind dropped suddenly, we found ourselves close to a small island of green meadow, slightly above the surface of the water.  We furled our sails.  The captain gave us permission to land for a while.  We strolled for a while and we found that it was a small island and there was no human habitation.  We lighted a fire and sat around it for a meal, which we had brought with us.  Suddenly, we felt a sudden violent trembling of the island, and we were startled by it. I thought it was a tremor, but there was an outcry from the ship, "Escape, it's a whale." 

Then only I realised that we mistook the back of a sleeping whale as an island.  Those who fell down near the boat swam towards it and got into.  Others sprang into the sea, but before I could save myself the whale plunged into the depths of the sea leaving myself clinging to a wooden piece which we had brought to make our fire.  Meanwhile a breeze had sprung up, and in their hurry, the people on board our vessel hoisted the sails took up those who were in the boat, and those who clung to its sides, without aware of I being missed.  I was left at the mercy of the waves.

All that day I floated up and down, now beaten this way, now that way, and when night fell I despaired for my life.  But weary and spent as I was, I clung to my frail support, and great was my joy when the morning light showed me that I had drifted against an island.

The cliffs were high and steep, but luckily for me some roots protruded in places, and catching hold of them I climbed up and stretched myself upon the turf at the top, where I lay in dead sleep.  When the sun was high up, and its hot rays fell upon my face, my eyes were opened.  I was very much hungry, after some search, I came upon some eatable roots, and a spring of clear water.  Much refreshed with the roots and water I set out to explore the island.

Soon I reached a great plain where a grazing horse was tethered, and as I stood looking at it, I heard people talking below, and in a moment a man appeared who asked me how I came here on the island.  I told him my story.  In return, he told his story.  He was one of the grooms of Mihrage, the king of the island, and each year they come to feed their master's horses in this plain.  He took me to a cave where his companions were assembled, and they set food for me.  While eating my food one of them said to me, "You are fortunate that you came today.  Tomorrow we are leaving, and there will be nobody to guide you to the settlement of this island." As they did, I also slept that night in the cave.

Next morning, we set out to the capital of King Mihrage.  The king received me and asked his men to take care of me.  I asked them my questions about their country and to their questions about my country I answered patiently.  To while away time, I explored a little island named Cassel, which belonged to king Mihrage. This island was inhabited by a spirit named Deggial.  The sailors said to me that often in the night they heard Deggial [4] playing timbals.  But I did not see anything strange on the island.  Full two hundred cubit long fish was a sight.  But these poor creatures were in dread of us.  Another kind of fish had head like that of an owl.  But they were small, a cubit long.

One day after my return, as I went down to the quay I saw a ship, which had just cast anchor, and was discharging her cargo, while the merchants to whom it belonged were busily directing the removal of it to their ware houses.  Drawing nearer I presently noticed that my own name was marked upon some packages, and after having carefully examined them, I was sure that they were those which I had put on Board of our ship at Balsora.  Then I recognised the captain of the vessel, but I was sure that he believed me to be dead.

 

I went upto him and said, "Sir, I am Sindbad, the merchant of Baghdad, who you think was drowned in the accident last time." 

The captain cried out in amazement, "Alas! We thought you were dead, many of the sailors were  perished in the accident. In fact, you people sat on the back of a sleeping whale, and when you people lighted fire on its back it plunged into the depth of the sea. I, with my own eyes saw Sindbad drowning.  I cannot believe what you say."

Sindbad replied, "Please have the patience to hear my story."

"Speak then, I am all in attention," replied the captain.

Then I told him of my escape, and my fortunate meeting with king's grooms, and how kindly I had been received at the palace.  Very soon I began to see that I have made some impression upon him, and after that the arrival of some other merchants, who showed great joy at seeing me alive, he declared that he  also recognised me.

Throwing himself upon my neck he exclaimed, "Heaven be praised that you have escaped from so great a danger.  I pray you take your goods. I never thought I would ever see you."

I thanked him and praised his honesty, and requested him to take several bales of merchandise in token of my gratitude, but he would take nothing.

I prepared a present to the king Mihrage, and he was amazed at the recovery of my merchandise.  He graciously accepted my gifts and in return gave me many valuable things.

Then I took leave of him. I had exchanged my merchandise for sandal and aloes, camphor, nutmegs, cloves, ginger and pepper.  Then I embarked upon the same vessel and traded so successfully upon our homeward voyage.  I arrived in Balsora with about one hundred thousand sequins. [5]  My family received me with as much joy as I felt upon seeing them once more.  I bought land and slaves, and built a great house in which I resolved to live happily. I forgot my past losses, and my past pleasure seeking life.

Here Sindbad paused and commanded the musicians to play again, while the feasting continued until evening.  When the time came for porter to depart, Sindbad gave him a purse containing one hundred sequins, saying, "Take this Hindbad, and go home, but come again tomorrow, and you shall hear more of my adventures."

The porter retired overcome by so much generosity, and he was well received at home, where his wife and children thanked their lucky stars that he had found such a benefactor.

The next day Hindbad dressed in his best, returned to the voyager's house, and was received with open arms. 

All guests arrived.  The banquet began as before.

Sindbad addressed them thus:-

"My friends, I beg that you will give me your attention, while I relate the adventures of my second voyage, which you will find even more astonishing than the first."

But morning overtook and Shahrazad lapsed into silence

Notes:-

1.  Balsora: A defunct form of the name Basra, a port city on the northern shore of Persian Gulf, in modern day Iraq.  Situated on the Shatt-al Arab Waterways, the only outlet of Iraq to Persian Gulf, Basra played an important role in Iraq's maritime trade and industry.  Balsora/Basra, is a cultural marker, like Bombay/Mumbai.

2. East Indies: A historical term referring to the lands of South and Southeast Asia, particularly the Malay Archipelago which includes modern day Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, and parts of Papua New Guinea, Philippines and Cambodia. Also known as Malay Archipelago is the world's largest island group famous for spices.

3. Arabia Felix is a Latin term meaning South Arabia.  It means Arabia Fertile/Happy. The area is now called Yemen.

4. Deggial: An evil figure in Islamic 

eschatology.

5. Sequin: A gold coin first minted by Republic of Venice in 1284 and later imitated throughout Mediterranean.  It was originally called Ducat but became known as Zecchino (or sequin) to distinguish it from silver version. Renowned for its stable design, which remained virtually unchanged for over 500 years.