The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 6

R >> Richard F. Burton >> The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 6

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When it was the Five Hundred and Forty-seventh Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Sindbad the
Seaman continued:--When we saw this frightful giant we were
struck with exceeding terror and horror. And after trampling upon
the earth, he sat awhile on the bench; then he arose and coming
to us seized me by the arm choosing me out from among my comrades
the merchants. He took me up in his hand and turning me over felt
me, as a butcher feeleth a sheep he is about to slaughter, and I
but a little mouthful in his hands; but finding me lean and
fleshless for stress of toil and trouble and weariness, let me go
and took up another, whom in like manner he turned over and felt
and let go; nor did he cease to feel and turn over the rest of
us, one after another, till he came to the master of the ship.
Now he was a sturdy, stout, broad-shouldered wight, fat and in
full vigour; so he pleased the giant, who seized him, as a
butcher seizeth a beast, and throwing him down, set his foot on
his neck and brake it; after which he fetched a long spit and
thrusting it up his backside, brought it forth of the crown of
his head. Then, lighting a fierce fire, he set over it the spit
with the Rais thereon, and turned it over the coals, till the
flesh was roasted, when he took the spit off the fire and set it
like a Kabab-stick before him. Then he tare the body, limb from
limb, as one jointeth a chicken and, rending the flesh with his
nails, fell to eating of it and gnawing the bones, till there was
nothing left but some of these, which he threw on one side of the
wall. This done, he sat for a while; then he lay down on the
stone-bench and fell asleep, snarking and snoring like the
gurgling of a lamb or a cow with its throat cut; nor did he awake
till morning, when he rose and fared forth and went his ways. As
soon as we were certified that he was gone, we began to talk with
one another, weeping and bemoaning ourselves for the risk we ran,
and saying, "Would Heaven we had been drowned in the sea or that
the apes had eaten us! That were better than to be roasted over
the coals; by Allah, this is a vile, foul death! But whatso the
Lord willeth must come to pass and there is no Majesty and there
is no Might, save in Him, the Glorious, the Great! We shall
assuredly perish miserably and none will know of us; as there is
no escape for us from this place." Then we arose and roamed about
the island, hoping that haply we might find a place to hide us in
or a means of flight, for indeed death was a light matter to us,
provided we were not roasted over the fire[FN#29] and eaten.
However, we could find no hiding-place and the evening overtook
us; so, of the excess of our terror, we returned to the castle
and sat down awhile. Presently, the earth trembled under our feet
and the black ogre came up to us and turning us over, felt one
after other, till he found a man to his liking, whom he took and
served as he had done the captain, killing and roasting and
eating him: after which he lay down on the bench[FN#30] and slept
all night, snarking and snoring like a beast with its throat cut,
till daybreak, when he arose and went out as before. Then we drew
together and conversed and said one to other, "By Allah, we had
better throw ourselves into the sea and be drowned than die
roasted; for this is an abominable death!" Quoth one of us, "Hear
ye my words! let us cast about to kill him, and be at peace from
the grief of him and rid the Moslems of his barbarity and
tyranny." Then said I, "Hear me, O my brothers; if there is
nothing for it but to slay him, let us carry some of this
firewood and planks down to the sea-shore and make us a boat
wherein, if we succeed in slaughtering him, we may either embark
and let the waters carry us whither Allah willeth, or else abide
here till some ship pass, when we will take passage in it. If we
fail to kill him, we will embark in the boat and put out to sea;
and if we be drowned, we shall at least escape being roasted over
a kitchen fire with sliced weasands; whilst, if we escape, we
escape, and if we be drowned, we die martyrs." "By Allah," said
they all, "this rede is a right;" and we agreed upon this, and
set about carrying it out. So we haled down to the beach the
pieces of wood which lay about the bench; and, making a boat,
moored it to the strand, after which we stowed therein somewhat
of victual and returned to the castle. As soon as evening fell
the earth trembled under our feet and in came the blackamoor upon
us, snarling like a dog about to bite. He came up to us and
feeling us and turning us over one by one, took one of us and did
with him as he had done before and ate him, after which he lay
down on the bench and snored and snorted like thunder. As soon as
we were assured that he slept, we arose and taking two iron spits
of those standing there, heated them in the fiercest of the fire,
till they were red-hot, like burning coals, when we gripped fast
hold of them and going up to the giant, as he lay snoring on the
bench, thrust them into his eyes and pressed upon them, all of
us, with our united might, so that his eyeballs burst and he
became stone blind. Thereupon he cried with a great cry, whereat
our hearts trembled, and springing up from the bench, he fell a-
groping after us, blind-fold. We fled from him right and left and
he saw us not, for his sight was altogether blent; but we were in
terrible fear of him and made sure we were dead men despairing of
escape. Then he found the door, feeling for it with his hands and
went out roaring aloud; and behold, the earth shook under us, for
the noise of his roaring, and we quaked for fear. As he quitted
the castle we followed him and betook ourselves to the place
where we had moored our boat, saying to one another, "If this
accursed abide absent till the going down of the sun and come not
to the castle, we shall know that he is dead; and if he come
back, we will embark in the boat and paddle till we escape,
committing our affair to Allah." But, as we spoke, behold, up
came the blackamoor with other two as they were Ghuls, fouler and
more frightful than he, with eyes like red-hot coals; which when
we saw, we hurried into the boat and casting off the moorings
paddled away and pushed out to sea.[FN#31] As soon as the ogres
caught sight of us, they cried out at us and running down to the
sea-shore, fell a-pelting us with rocks, whereof some fell
amongst us and others fell into the sea. We paddled with all our
might till we were beyond their reach, but the most part of us
were slain by the rock-throwing, and the winds and waves sported
with us and carried us into the midst of the dashing sea, swollen
with billows clashing. We knew not whither we went and my fellows
died one after another, till there remained but three, myself and
two others;--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
to say her permitted say.

When it was the Five Hundred and Forty-eighth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Sindbad the
Seaman thus continued:--Most part of us were slain by the rock-
thowing and only three of us remained on board the boat for, as
often as one died, we threw him into the sea. We were sore
exhausted for stress of hunger, but we took courage and heartened
one another and worked for dear life and paddled with main and
might, till the winds cast us upon an island, as we were dead men
for fatigue and fear and famine. We landed on the island and
walked about it for a while, finding that it abounded in trees
and streams and birds; and we ate of the fruits and rejoiced in
our escape from the black and our deliverance from the perils of
the sea; and thus we did till nightfall, when we lay down and
fell asleep for excess of fatigue. But we had hardly closed our
eyes before we were aroused by a hissing sound like the sough of
wind, and awaking, saw a serpent like a dragon, a seld-seen
sight, of monstrous make and belly of enormous bulk which lay in
a circle around us. Presently it reared its head and, seizing one
of my companions, swallowed him up to his shoulders; then it
gulped down the rest of him, and we heard his ribs crack in its
belly. Presently it went its way, and we abode in sore amazement
and grief for our comrade and mortal fear for ourselves, saying,
"By Allah, this is a marvellous thing! Each kind of death that
threatened us is more terrible than the last. We were rejoicing
in our escape from the black ogre and our deliverance from the
perils of the sea; but now we have fallen into that which is
worse. There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah!
By the Almighty, we have escaped from the blackamoor and from
drowning: but how shall we escape from this abominable and
viperish monster?" Then we walked about the island, eating of its
fruits and drinking of its streams till dusk, when we climbed up
into a high tree and went to sleep there, I being on the topmost
bough. As soon as it was dark night, up came the serpent, looking
right and left; and, making for the tree whereon we were, climbed
up to my comrade and swallowed him down to his shoulders. Then it
coiled about the bole[FN#32] with him, whilst I, who could not
take my eyes off the sight, heard his bones crack in its belly,
and it swallowed him whole, after which it slid down from the
tree. When the day broke and the light showed me that the serpent
was gone, I came down, as I were a dead man for stress of fear
and anguish, and thought to cast myself into the sea and be at
rest from the woes of the world; but could not bring myself to
this, for verily life is dear. So I took five pieces of wood,
broad and long, and bound one crosswise to the soles of my feet
and others in like fashion on my right and left sides and over my
breast; and the broadest and largest I bound across my head and
made them fast with ropes. Then I lay down on the ground on my
back, so that I was completely fenced in by the pieces of wood,
which enclosed me like a bier.[FN#33] So as soon as it was dark,
up came the serpent, as usual, and made towards me, but could not
get at me to swallow me for the wood that fenced me in. So it
wriggled round me on every side, whilst I looked on, like one
dead by reason of my terror; and every now and then it would
glide away and come back; but as often as it tried to come at me,
it was hindered by the pieces of wood wherewith I had bound
myself on every side. It ceased not to beset me thus from sundown
till dawn, but when the light of day shone upon the beast it made
off, in the utmost fury and extreme disappointment. Then I put
out my hand and unbound myself, well-nigh down among the dead men
for fear and suffering; and went down to the island-shore, whence
a ship afar off in the midst of the waves suddenly struck my
sight. So I tore off a great branch of a tree and made signs with
it to the crew, shouting out the while; which when the ship's
company saw they said to another, "We must stand in and see what
this is; peradventure 'tis a man." So they made for the island
and presently heard my cries, whereupon they took me on board and
questioned me of my case. I told them all my adventures from
first to last, whereat they marvelled mightily and covered my
shame[FN#34] with some of their clothes. Moreover, they set
before me somewhat of food and I ate my fill and I drank cold
sweet water and was mightily refreshed; and Allah Almighty
quickened me after I was virtually dead. So I praised the Most
Highest and thanked Him for His favours and exceeding mercies,
and my heart revived in me after utter despair, till meseemed as
if all I had suffered were but a dream I had dreamed. We sailed
on with a fair wind the Almighty sent us till we came to an
island, called Al-Salahitah,[FN#35] which aboundeth in sandal-
wood when the captain cast anchor,--And Shahrazad perceived the
dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the Five Hundred and Forty-ninth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Sindbad the
Seaman continued:--And when we had cast anchor, the merchants and
the sailors landed with their goods to sell and to buy. Then the
captain turned to me and said, "Hark'ee, thou art a stranger and
a pauper and tellest us that thou hast undergone frightful
hardship; wherefore I have a mind to benefit thee with somewhat
that may further thee to thy native land, so thou wilt ever bless
me and pray for me." "So be it," answered I; "thou shalt have my
prayers." Quoth he, "Know then that there was with us a man, a
traveller, whom we lost, and we know not if he be alive or dead,
for we had no news of him; so I purpose to commit his bales of
goods to thy charge, that thou mayst sell them in this island. A
part of the proceeds we will give thee as an equivalent for thy
pains and service, and the rest we will keep till we return to
Baghdad, where we will enquire for his family and deliver it to
them, together with the unsold goods. Say me then, wilt thou
undertake the charge and land and sell them as other merchants
do?" I replied "Hearkening and obedience to thee, O my lord; and
great is thy kindness to me," and thanked him; whereupon he bade
the sailors and porters bear the bales in question ashore and
commit them to my charge. The ship's scribe asked him, "O master,
what bales are these and what merchant's name shall I write upon
them?"; and he answered, "Write on them the name of Sindbad the
Seaman, him who was with us in the ship and whom we lost at the
Rukh's island, and of whom we have no tidings; for we mean this
stranger to sell them; and we will give him a part of the price
for his pains and keep the rest till we return to Baghdad where,
if we find the owner we will make it over to him, and if not, to
his family." And the clerk said, "Thy words are apposite and thy
rede is right." Now when I heard the captain give orders for the
bales to be inscribed with my name, I said to myself, "By Allah,
I am Sindbad the Seaman!" So I armed myself with courage and
patience and waited till all the merchants had landed and were
gathered together, talking and chaffering about buying and
selling; then I went up to the captain and asked him, "O my lord,
knowest thou what manner of man was this Sindbad, whose goods
thou hast committed to me for sale?"; and he answered, "I know of
him naught save that he was a man from Baghdad-city, Sindbad
hight the Seaman, who was drowned with many others when we lay
anchored at such an island and I have heard nothing of him since
then." At this I cried out with a great cry and said, "O captain,
whom Allah keep! know that I am that Sindbad the Seaman and that
I was not drowned, but when thou castest anchor at the island, I
landed with the rest of the merchants and crew; and I sat down in
a pleasant place by myself and ate somewhat of food I had with me
and enjoyed myself till I became drowsy and was drowned in sleep;
and when I awoke, I found no ship and none near me. These goods
are my goods and these bales are my bales; and all the merchants
who fetch jewels from the Valley of Diamonds saw me there and
will bear me witness that I am the very Sindbad the Seaman; for I
related to them everything that had befallen me and told them how
you forgot me and left me sleeping on the island, and that
betided me which betided me." When the passengers and crew heard
my words, they gathered about me and some of them believed me and
others disbelieved; but presently, behold, one of the merchants,
hearing me mention the Valley of Diamonds, came up to me and said
to them, "Hear what I say, good people! When I related to you the
most wonderful thing in my travels, and I told you that, at the
time we cast down our slaughtered animals into the Valley of
Serpents (I casting with the rest as was my wont), there came up
a man hanging to mine, ye believed me not and gave me the lie."
"Yes," quoth they, "thou didst tell us some such tale, but we had
no call to credit thee." He resumed, "Now this is the very man,
by token that he gave me diamonds of great value, and high price
whose like are not to be found, requiting me more than would have
come up sticking to my quarter of meat; and I companied with him
to Bassorah-city, where he took leave of us and went on to his
native stead, whilst we returned to our own land. This is he; and
he told us his name, Sindbad the Seaman, and how the ship left
him on the desert island. And know ye that Allah hath sent him
hither, so might the truth of my story be made manifest to you.
Moreover, these are his goods for, when he first foregathered
with us, he told us of them; and the truth of his words is
patent." Hearing the merchant's speech the captain came up to me
and considered me straitly awhile, after which he said, "What was
the mark on thy bales?" "Thus and thus," answered I, and reminded
him of somewhat that had passed between him and me, when I
shipped with him from Bassorah. Thereupon he was convinced that I
was indeed Sindbad the Seaman and took me round the neck and gave
me joy of my safety, saying, "By Allah, O my lord, thy case is
indeed wondrous and thy tale marvellous; but lauded be Allah who
hath brought thee and me together again, and who hath restored to
thee thy goods and gear!"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of
day and ceased to say her permitted say.

When it was the Five Hundred and Fiftieth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Sindbad the
Seaman thus continued:--"Alhamdolillah!" quoth the captain,
"lauded be Allah who hath restored unto thee thy goods and gear."
Then I disposed of my merchandise to the best of my skill, and
profited largely on them whereat I rejoiced with exceeding joy
and congratulated myself on my safety and the recovery of my
goods. We ceased not to buy and sell at the several islands till
we came to the land of Hind, where we bought cloves and ginger
and all manner spices; and thence we fared on to the land of
Sind, where also we bought and sold. In these Indian seas, I saw
wonders without number or count, amongst others a fish like a cow
which bringeth forth its young and suckleth them like human
beings; and of its skin bucklers are made.[FN#36] There were eke
fishes like asses and camels[FN#37] and tortoises twenty cubits
wide.[FN#38] And I saw also a bird that cometh out of a sea-shell
and layeth eggs and hatcheth her chicks on the surface of the
water, never coming up from the sea to the land.[FN#39] Then we
set sail again with a fair wind and the blessing of Almighty
Allah; and, after a prosperous voyage, arrived safe and sound at
Bassorah. Here I abode a few days and presently returned to
Baghdad where I went at once to my quarter and my house and
saluted my family and familiars and friends. I had gained on this
voyage what was beyond count and reckoning, so I gave alms and
largesse and clad the widow and the orphan, by way of
thanksgiving for my happy return, and fell to feasting and making
merry with my companions and intimates and forgot, while eating
well and drinking well and dressing well, everything that had
befallen me and all the perils and hardships I had suffered.
"These, then, are the most admirable things I sighted on my third
voyage, and to-morrow, an it be the will of Allah, you shall come
to me and I will relate the adventures of my fourth voyage, which
is still more wonderful than those you have already heard."
(Saith he who telleth the tale), Then Sindbad the Seaman bade
give Sindbad the Landsman an hundred golden dinars as of wont and
called for food. So they spread the tables and the company ate
the night-meal and went their ways, marvelling at the tale they
had heard. The Porter after taking his gold passed the night in
his own house, also wondering at what his namesake the Seaman had
told him, and as soon as day broke and the morning showed with
its sheen and shone, he rose and praying the dawn-prayer betook
himself to Sindbad the Seaman, who returned his salute and
received him with an open breast and cheerful favour and made him
sit with him till the rest of the company arrived, when he caused
set on food and they ate and drank and made merry. Then Sindbad
the Seaman bespake them and related to them the narrative of

The Fourth Voyage of Sindbad the Seaman.

Know, O my brethren that after my return from my third voyage and
foregathering with my friends, and forgetting all my perils and
hardships in the enjoyment of ease and comfort and repose, I was
visited one day by a company of merchants who sat down with me
and talked of foreign travel and traffic, till the old bad man
within me yearned to go with them and enjoy the sight of strange
countries, and I longed for the society of the various races of
mankind and for traffic and profit. So I resolved to travel with
them and buying the necessaries for a long voyage, and great
store of costly goods, more than ever before, transported them
from Baghdad to Bassorah where I took ship with the merchants in
question, who were of the chief of the town. We set out, trusting
in the blessing of Almighty Allah; and with a favouring breeze
and the best conditions we sailed from island to island and sea
to sea, till, one day, there arose against us a contrary wind and
the captain cast out his anchors and brought the ship to a
standsill, fearing lest she should founder in mid-ocean. Then we
all fell to prayer and humbling ourselves before the Most High;
but, as we were thus engaged there smote us a furious squall
which tore the sails to rags and tatters: the anchor-cable parted
and, the ship foundering, we were cast into the sea, goods and
all. I kept myself afloat by swimming half the day, till, when I
had given myself up for lost, the Almighty threw in my way one of
the planks of the ship, whereon I and some others of the
merchants scrambled.--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the Five Hundred and Fifty-first Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Sindbad the
Seaman continued as follows:--And when the ship foundered I
scrambled on to a plank with some others of the merchants and,
mounting it as we would a horse, paddled with our feet in the
sea. We abode thus a day and a night, the wind and waves helping
us on, and on the second day shortly before the mid-time between
sunrise and noon[FN#40] the breeze freshened and the sea wrought
and the rising waves cast us upon an island, well-nigh dead
bodies for weariness and want of sleep, cold and hunger and fear
and thirst. We walked about the shore and found abundance of
herbs, whereof we ate enough to keep breath in body and to stay
our failing spirits, then lay down and slept till morning hard by
the sea. And when morning came with its sheen and shone, we arose
and walked about the island to the right and left, till we came
in sight of an inhabited house afar off. So we made towards it,
and ceased not walking till we reached the door thereof when lo!
a number of naked men issued from it and without saluting us or a
word said, laid hold of us masterfully and carried us to their
king, who signed us to sit. So we sat down and they set food
before us such as we knew not[FN#41] and whose like we had never
seen in all our lives. My companions ate of it, for stress of
hunger, but my stomach revolted from it and I would not eat; and
my refraining from it was, by Allah's favour, the cause of my
being alive till now: for no sooner had my comrades tasted of it
than their reason fled and their condition changed and they began
to devour it like madmen possessed of an evil spirit. Then the
savages gave them to drink of cocoa-nut oil and anointed them
therewith; and straightway after drinking thereof, their eyes
turned into their heads and they fell to eating greedily, against
their wont. When I saw this, I was confounded and concerned for
them, nor was I less anxious about myself, for fear of the naked
folk. So I watched them narrowly, and it was not long before I
discovered them to be a tribe of Magian cannibals whose King was
a Ghul.[FN#42] All who came to their country or whoso they caught
in their valleys or on their roads they brought to this King and
fed them upon that food and anointed them with that oil,
whereupon their stomachs dilated that they might eat largely,
whilst their reason fled and they lost the power of thought and
became idiots. Then they stuffed them with cocoa-nut oil and the
aforesaid food, till they became fat and gross, when they
slaughtered them by cutting their throats and roasted them for
the King's eating; but, as for the savages themselves, they ate
human flesh raw.[FN#43] When I saw this, I was sore dismayed for
myself and my comrades, who were now become so stupefied that
they knew not what was done with them and the naked folk
committed them to one who used every day to lead them out and
pasture them on the island like cattle. And they wandered amongst
the trees and rested at will, thus waxing very fat. As for me, I
wasted away and became sickly for fear and hunger and my flesh
shrivelled on my bones; which when the savages saw, they left me
alone and took no thought of me and so far forgot me that one day
I gave them the slip and walking out of their place made for the
beach which was distant and there espied a very old man seated on
a high place, girt by the waters. I looked at him and knew him
for the herdsman, who had charge of pasturing my fellows, and
with him were many others in like case. As soon as he saw me, he
knew me to be in possession of my reason and not afflicted like
the rest whom he was pasturing; so signed to me from afar, as who
should say, "Turn back and take the right-hand road, for that
will lead thee into the King's highway." So I turned back, as he
bade me, and followed the right-hand road, now running for fear
and then walking leisurely to rest me, till I was out of the old
man's sight. By this time, the sun had gone down and the darkness
set in; so I sat down to rest and would have slept, but sleep
came not to me that night, for stress of fear and famine and
fatigue. When the night was half spent, I rose and walked on,
till the day broke in all its beauty and the sun rose over the
heads of the lofty hills and athwart the low gravelly plains. Now
I was weary and hungry and thirsty; so I ate my fill of herbs and
grasses that grew in the island and kept life in body and stayed
my stomach, after which I set out again and fared on all that day
and the next night, staying my greed with roots and herbs; nor
did I cease walking for seven days and their nights, till the
morn of the eighth day, when I caught sight of a faint object in
the distance. So I made towards it, though my heart quaked for
all I had suffered first and last, and behold it was a company of
men gathering pepper-grains.[FN#44] As soon as they saw me, they
hastened up to me and surrounding me on all sides, said to me,
"Who art thou and whence come?" I replied, "Know, O folk, that I
am a poor stranger," and acquainted them with my case and all the
hardships and perils I had suffered,--And Shahrazad perceived the
dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

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