The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 06 (of 10)
General
The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 06 (of 10)
Fairy tales; Tales -- Arab countries
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Sindbad the
Seaman continued:—So I left the City of the Apes and embarked my
cocoa-nuts and what else I possessed. We weighed anchor the same day
and sailed from island to island and sea to sea; and whenever we
stopped, I sold and traded with my cocoa-nuts, and the Lord requited me
more than I erst had and lost. Amongst other places, we came to an
island abounding in cloves[FN#67] and cinnamon and pepper; and the
country people told me that by the side of each pepper-bunch groweth a
great leaf which shadeth it from the sun and casteth the water off it
in the wet season; but, when the rain ceaseth the leaf turneth over and
droopeth down by the side of the bunch.[FN#68] Here I took in great
store of pepper and cloves and cinnamon, in exchange for cocoa-nuts,
and we passed thence to the Island of Al-Usirat,[FN#69] whence cometh
the Comorin aloes-wood and thence to another island, five days’ journey
in length, where grows the Chinese lign-aloes, which is better than the
Comorin; but the people of this island[FN#70] are fouler of condition
and religion than those of the other, for that they love fornication
and wine-bibbing, and know not prayer nor call to prayer. Thence we
came to the pearl-fisheries, and I gave the divers some of my
cocoa-nuts and said to them, “Dive for my luck and lot!” They did so
and brought up from the deep bight[FN#71] great store of large and
priceless pearls; and they said to me, “By Allah, O my master, thy luck
is a lucky!” Then we sailed on, with the blessing of Allah (whose name
be exalted!); and ceased not sailing till we arrived safely at
Bassorah. There I abode a little and then went on to Baghdad, where I
entered my quarter and found my house and foregathered with my family
and saluted my friends who gave me joy of my safe return, and I laid up
all my goods and valuables in my storehouses. Then I distributed alms
and largesse and clothed the widow and the orphan and made presents to
my relations and comrades; for the Lord had requited me fourfold that I
had lost. After which I returned to my old merry way of life and forgot
all I had suffered in the great profit and gain I had made. “Such,
then, is the history of my fifth voyage and its wonderments, and now to
supper; and to-morrow, come again and I will tell you what befel me in
my sixth voyage; for it was still more wonderful than this.” (Saith he
who telleth the tale), Then he called for food; and the servants spread
the table, and when they had eaten the evening-meal, he bade give
Sindbad the porter an hundred golden dinars and the Landsman returned
home and lay him down to sleep, much marvelling at all he had heard.
Next morning, as soon as it was light, he prayed the dawn-prayer; and,
after blessing Mohammed the Cream of all creatures, betook himself to
the house of Sindbad the Seaman and wished him a good day. The merchant
bade him sit and talked with him, till the rest of the company arrived.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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