Classics Retold

After having met with shipwreck three times, fortune again coveted me to embark upon a new journey, regardless of the entreaties of my friends and relations, who did all they could to keep me home.  Instead of going by the Persian Gulf, this time, I travelled a considerable way over land and embarked upon from a distant Indian port with a captain who meant to make a long voyage. We fell in with a stormy weather which drove us completely out of our course, so that for many days neither captain nor pilot new where we were, or where to the ship was taking us.  When they did at last discover our position we had small ground for rejoicing; the captain casting his turban upon the deck and tearing his beard, declared that we were in the most dangerous spot upon the whole wide sea, and had been caught by a current which was at that moment sweeping us to destruction.  It was too true!  In spite of all that the sailors could do we were driven with frightful rapidity towards th...

Alley and Ally are close in spelling and pronounciation. Alley is a narrow lane between or behind buildings.  An alley is too narrow to be a street.  It is often used as a pedestrian walkway or a corridor. These are often made by people walking over a period of time.  It may be in a garden or around a garden or park boarded by hedges. And once an alley is allowed for over a certain period it cannot be stopped. The word alley is derived from Old French word alee, which means corridor or passage. An ally is a person or organisation that works in conjunction with another person or organisation. The plural of ally is allies. In the Second World War, the confederation of nations working to defeat Germany Japan and Italy were known as Allied forces.    Causeways are ways along the bank of a river, stream, or between the paddy fields, or accross the paddy fields. They serve as walkway and preserve water in the field.  The first causeway in my village to connect wi...

The following night Shahrazad said: I am giving an account by Sindbad in his own words: For the third time I was in Balsora with my choice merchandise which were rare also.  The easy, pleasant life I led after my second voyage erased my unpleasant memories connected with it. I was in the prime of my life, it pleased me better to be up and doing. We the merchants set sail for distant lands. We had touched many ports and made much profits, when one day, we were caught by a terrible wind which blew us terribly to a harbour of a strange island.  "I would rather have come to anchor anywhere than here," said our captain. "This island and all adjoining it are inhabited by hairy saveges, who are certain to attack us, and whatever these dwarfs may do, we dare not resist, since they swarm like locusts.  And if one of them is killed, the rest will fall upon us, and speedily finish us." These words caused great consternation among all the ship's company, and only too soon w...

The following night Shahrazad said: Sindbad continued to narrate his voyages:- At the end of my first voyage, when I came home, I had resolved to spend my days quietly in Baghdad, but very soon I grew tired of such an idle life and longed to find myself upon the sea, once more. I bought and stocked goods suitable for the places that I intend to visit, and embarked for the second time in a good ship; and there were other honourable merchants as my companions.  We went from island to island making good bargains, and came to land at a place full of fruit trees and abounding in springs of excellent water.  But it appeared that there were no people or houses.  "What to sell if there is no people,"  thought I, and sat down in a shady place, while my companions wandered here and there gathering fruits and flowers.  To while away time I enjoyed heartily the provisions and wine which I had brought with me.  The murmur of the flow of water in the brook nearby had bee...

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 gav...

The following night Shahrazad said: The time of Harun al Rashid, the Commander of the Faithful.  Baghdad City. Sindbad the porter was a man of poor circumstances.  One day he bore a heavy burden.  The day was excessively hot. The heat was violently oppressing him. The load was heavy.  He was passing by the door of a merchant. The ground before it was swept and sprinkled with rose water, which steamed up from the hot pavement, within the space he heard some music, coming from many instruments, and the melodious warble of nightingales and other birds.  The appetizing smell of tasty dishes came.  Some banquet and merry making were going on.  He had never noticed such a magnificent house.  Who may be living here? To satisfy his curiosity he approached some of the well dressed servants who stood at the door, and asked them the name of the master of the house. "What!" replied the servant, "Do you live in Baghdad, and not know that here lives the noble S...

The Persian Princess Jauhara was influenced by Magi Culture.  Magian faith usually refers to the religion and world view of Magi, a priestly class in ancient Persia closely associated with Zoroastrianism. Originally Magi were members of  primitive tribes, who eked out their living through rituals, astrology, interpreting dreams to find out future events in the life of an individual remedying the evils, if any according to the forecast, through rituals and sacrifices.  The word Magian was originally related to a Median tribe in western Iran.  Herodotus mentions them as performing sacrificers and singing incantators.  Later, in the Hellenistic and Roman world, the term Magus expanded to mean anyone practising  occult art and witchcraft. Greeks and Romans often described Magians as sorcerers.  Early Christians knew of the Magi from the East who had prior knowledge of the birth of Jesus, they later visited infant Jesus. Jauhara was a clever girl who realis...