Fly, fly with life whenas evils threat,
Leave the house to tell of its builder's fate!
Land after land shalt thou seek and find,
But no other life on thy wish shall wait.
Fret not thy soul in thy thoughts o' night,
All woes shall end or sooner or late.
Whoso is born in one land to die,
There and only there shall gang his pit.
Nor trust great things to another wight,
Soul hath only soul for confederate.
My boat raft drifted with the stream, I pondering the issue of my
affair, and the drifting ceased not till I came to the place where
it disappeared beneath the mountain. I rowed my conveyance into the
place, which was intensely dark, and the current carried the raft with
it down the underground channel. The thin stream bore me on through
a narrow tunnel where the raft touched either side and my head
rubbed against the roof, return therefrom being impossible. Then I
blamed myself for having thus risked my life, and said, "If this
passage grow any straiter, the raft will hardly pass, and I cannot
turn back, so I shall inevitably perish miserably in this place." And
I threw myself down upon my face on the raft, by reason of the
narrowness of the channel, whilst the stream ceased not to carry me
along, knowing not night from day for the excess of the gloom which
encompassed me about and my terror and concern for myself lest I
should perish. And in such condition my course continued down the
channel, which now grew wider and then straiter. Sore a-weary by
reason of the darkness which could be felt, I feel asleep as I lay
prone on the craft, and I slept knowing not an the time were long or
short.
When I awoke at last, I found myself in the light of Heaven and
opening my eyes, I saw myself in a broad of the stream and the raft
moored to an island in the midst of a number of Indians and
Abyssinians. As soon as these blackamoors saw that I was awake, they
came up to me and bespoke me in their speech. But I understood not
what they said and thought that this was a dream and a vision which
had betided me for stress of concern and chagrin. But I was
delighted at my escape from the river. When they saw I understood them
not and made them no answer, one of them came forward and said to me
in Arabic: "Peace be with thee, O my brother! Who art thou, and whence
faredst thou hither? How camest thou into this river, and what
manner of land lies behind yonder mountains, for never knew we
anyone make his way thence to us?" Quoth I: "And upon thee be peace
and the ruth of Allah and His blessing! Who are ye, and what country
is this?" "O my brother," answered he, "we are husbandmen and
tillers of the soil, who came out to water our fields and plantations,
and finding thee asleep on this raft, laid hold of it and made it fast
by us, against thou shouldst awake at thy leisure. So tell us how thou
camest hither." I answered, "For Allah's sake, O my lord, ere I
speak give me somewhat to eat, for I am starving, and after ask me
what thou wilt."
So he hastened to fetch me food and I ate my fill, till I was
refreshed and my fear was calmed by a good bellyful and my life
returned to me. Then I rendered thanks to the Most High for mercies
great and small, glad to be out of the river and rejoicing to be
amongst them, and I told them all my adventures from first to last,
especially my troubles in the narrow channel. They consulted among
themselves and said to one another, "There is no help for it but we
carry him with us and present him to our King, that he may acquaint
him with his adventures." So they took me, together with raft boat and
its lading of moneys and merchandise, jewels, minerals, and golden
gear, and brought me to their King, who was King of Sarandib,
telling him what had happened. Whereupon he saluted me and bade me
welcome. Then he questioned me of my condition and adventures
through the man who had spoken Arabic, and I repeated to him my
story from beginning to end, whereat he marveled exceedingly and
gave me joy of my deliverance. After which I arose and fetched from
the raft great store of precious ores and jewels and ambergris and lip
aloes and presented them to the King, who accepted them and
entreated me with the utmost honor, appointing me a lodging in his own
palace. So I consorted with the chief of the islanders, and they
paid me the utmost respect. And I quitted not the royal palace.
Now the Island Sarandib lieth under the equinoctial line, its
night and day both numbering twelve hours. It measureth eighty leagues
long by a breadth of thirty and its width is bounded by a lofty
mountain and a deep valley. The mountain is conspicuous from a
distance of three days, and it containeth many kinds of, rubies and
other minerals, and spice trees of all sorts. The surface is covered
with emery, wherewith gems are cut and fashioned; diamonds are in
its rivers and pearls are in its valleys. I ascended that mountain and
solaced myself with a view of its marvels, which are indescribable,
and afterward I returned to the King. Thereupon all the travelers
and merchants who came to the place questioned me of the affairs of my
native land and of the Caliph Harun al-Rashid and his rule, and I told
them of him and of that wherefor he was renowned, and they praised him
because of this, whilst I in turn questioned them of the manners and
customs of their own countries and got the knowledge I desired.
One day the King himself asked me of the fashions and form of
government of my country, and I acquainted him with the circumstance
of the Caliph's sway in the city of Baghdad and the justice of his
rule. The King marveled at my account of his appointments and said:
"By Allah, the Caliph's ordinances are indeed wise and his fashions of
praiseworthy guise, and thou hast made me love him by what thou
tellest me. Wherefore I have a mind to make him a present and send
it by thee." Quoth I: "Hearkening and obedience, O my lord. I will
bear thy gift to him and inform him that thou art his sincere lover
and true friend." Then I abode with the King in great honor and regard
and consideration for a long while till one day, as I sat in his
palace, I heard news of a company of merchants that were fitting out
ship for Bassorah, and said to myself, "I cannot do better than voyage
with these men." So I rose without stay or delay and kissed the King's
hand and acquainted him with my longing to set out with the merchants,
for that I pined after my people and mine own land. Quoth he, "Thou
art thine own master, yet if it be thy will to abide with us, on our
head and eyes be it, for thou gladdenest us with thy company." "By
Allah, O my lord," answered I, "thou hast indeed overwhelmed me with
thy favors and well-doings, but I weary for a sight of my friends
and family and native country."
When he heard this, he summoned the merchants in question and
commended me to their care, paying my freight and passage money.
Then he bestowed on me great riches from his treasuries and charged me
with a magnificent present for the Caliph Harun al-Rashid. Moreover,
he gave me a sealed letter, saying, "Carry this with thine own hand to
the Commander of the Faithful, and give him many salutations from us!"
"Hearing and obedience," I replied. The missive was written on the
skin of the khawi (which is finer than lamb parchment and of yellow
color), with ink of ultramarine, and the contents were as follows:
"Peace be with thee from the King of Al-Hind, before whom are a
thousand elephants and upon whose palace crenelles are a thousand
jewels. But after (laud to the Lord and praises to His Prophet!) we
send thee a trifling gift, which be thou pleased to accept. Thou art
to us a brother and a sincere friend, and great is the love we bear
for thee in heart. Favor us therefore with a reply. The gift besitteth
not thy dignity, but we beg of thee, O our brother, graciously to
accept it, and peace be with thee." And the present was a cup of
ruby a span high, the inside of which was adorned with precious
pearls;
and a bed covered with the skin of the serpent which swalloweth the
elephant, which skin hath spots each like a dinar and whoso sitteth
upon it never sickeneth; and a hundred thousand miskals of Indian lign
aloes and a slave girl like a shining moon.
Then I took leave of him and of all my intimates and acquaintances
in the island, and embarked with the merchants aforesaid. We sailed
with a fair wind, committing ourselves to the care of Allah (be He
extolled and exalted!), and by His permission arrived at Bassorah,
where I passed a few days and nights equipping myself and packing up
my bales. Then I went on to Baghdad city, the House of Peace, where
I sought an audience of the Caliph and laid the King's presents before
him. He asked me whence they came, and I said to him, "By Allah, O
Commander of the Faithful, I know not the name of the city nor the way
thither!" He then asked me, "O Sindbad, is this true which the King
writeth?" and I answered, after kissing the ground: "O my lord, I
saw in his kingdom much more than he hath written in his letter. For
state processions a throne is set for him upon a huge elephant
eleven cubits high, and upon this he sitteth having his great lords
and officers and guests standing in two ranks, on his right hand and
on his left. At his head is a man hending in hand a golden javelin and
behind him another with a great mace of gold whose head is an
emerald a span long and as thick as a man's thumb. And when he
mounteth horse there mount with him a thousand horsemen clad in gold
brocade and silk, and as the King proceedeth a man precedeth him,
crying, 'This is the King of great dignity, of high authority!' And he
continueth to repeat his praises in words I remember not, saying at
the end of his panegyric, 'This is the King owning the crown whose
like nor Solomon nor the Mihraj ever possessed.' Then he is silent and
one behind him proclaimeth, saying, 'He will die! Again I say he
will die!' and the other addeth, 'Extolled be the perfection of the
Living who dieth not!' Moreover, by reason of his justice and
ordinance and intelligence, there is no kazi in his city, and all
his lieges distinguish between truth and falsehood." Quoth the Caliph:
"How great is this King! His letter hath shown me this, and as for the
mightiness of his dominion thou hast told us what thou hast
eyewitnessed. By Allah, he hath been endowed with wisdom, as with wide
rule."
Then I related to the Commander of the Faithful all that had
befallen me in my last voyage, at which he wondered exceedingly and
bade his historians record my story and store it up in his treasuries,
for the edification of all who might see it. Then he conferred on me
exceeding great favors, and I repaired to my quarter and entered my
home, where I warehoused all my goods and possessions. Presently my
friends came to me and I distributed presents among my family and gave
alms and largess, after which I yielded myself to joyance and
enjoyment, mirth and merrymaking, and forgot all that I had suffered.
Such, then, O my brothers, is the history of what befell me in my
sixth voyage, and tomorrow, Inshallah! I will tell you the story of my
seventh and last voyage, which is still more wondrous and marvelous
than that of the first six. (Saith he who telleth the tale): Then be
bade lay the table, and the company supped with him, after which he
gave the porter a hundred dinars, as of wont, and they all went
their ways, marveling beyond measure at that which they had heard.
Sindbad the Landsman went home and slept as of wont. Next day he
rose and prayed the dawn prayer and repaired to his namesake's
house, where, after the company was all assembled, the host began to
relate
The Seventh Voyage Of Sindbad The Seaman.