The Seventh Voyage of Es-Sindibad of the Sea

When I relinquished voyaging, and the affairs of com-
merce, I said within myself, What hath happened to me
sufificeth me. And my time was spent in joy and pleasures.
But while I was sitting one day, the door was knocked : so
the door-keeper opened, and a page of the Khalifeh entered
and said, The Khalifeh summoneth thee. I therefore went
with him to his majesty, and kissed the ground before him
and saluted him, whereupon he welcomed me and treated
me with honour; and he said to me, O Sindibad. I have
an affair for thee to perform. Wilt thou do it? — So I
kissed his hand, and said to him, O my lord, what affair
hath the master for the slave to perform? And he an-
swered me, I desire that thou go to the King of Sar-
andib, and convey to him our letter and our present ; for
he sent to us a present and a letter. And I trembled thereat,
and replied, By Allah the Great, O my lord, I have taken
a hatred to voyaging; and when a voyage on the sea. or
any other travel, is mentioned to me, my joints tremble,
in onsequence of what hath befallen me and what I have
experienced of troubles and horrors, and I have no desire
for that whatever, IMoreover I have bound myself by an
oath not to go forth from Baghdad. — Then I informed the
Khalifch of all that had befallen me from the first to last ;
and he wondered exceedingly, and said, By Allah the Great,
O Sindibad, it hath not been heard from times of old that
such events have befallen any one as have befallen thee,
and it is incumbent on thee that thou never mention the
subject of travel. But for my sake thou wilt go this time,
and convey our present and our letter to the King of
Sarandib; and thou shalt return quickly if it be the will
of God (whose name be exalted!), that we may no longer
have a debt of favour and courtesy to the King. — So I
replied that I heard and obeyed, being unable to oppose
his command. He then gave me the present and the letter,
with money for my expenses, and I kissed his hand and
departed from him.

I went from Baghdad to the sea, and embarked in a ship,
and we proceeded days and nights, by the aid of God (whose
name be exalted !), until we arrived at the island of Sarandib,
and with us were many merchants. As soon as we arrived,
we landed at the city, and I took the present and the letter,
and went in with them to the King, and kissed the ground
before him. And when he saw me, he said, A friendly
welcome to thee, O Sindibad ! By Allah the Great, we have
longed to see thee, and praise be to God who hath shewn
us thy face a second time ! — Then he took me by the hand,
and seated me by his side, welcoming me, and treating me
with familiar kindness, and he rejoiced greatly. He began
to converse with me, and addressed me with courtesy, and
said. What was the cause of thy coming to us, O Sindibad?
So I kissed his hand, and thanked him, and answered him,
O my lord, I have brought thee a present and a letter from
my master the Khalifeh Harun Er-Rashid. I then offered
to him the present and the letter, and he read the letter,
and rejoiced at it greatly. The present was a horse worth
ten thousand pieces of gold, with its saddle adorned with
gold set with jewels; and a book, and a sumptuous dress.
and a hundred different kinds of white cloths of Egypt,
and silks of Es-Suweys' and El-Kufeh and Alexandria, and
Greek carpets, and a hundred menus of silk and flax, and
a wonderful, extraordinary cup of crystal, in the midst of
which was represented the figure of a lion with a man kneel-
ing before him and having drawn an arrow in his bow with
his utmost force, and also the table of Suleyman the son of
Da'ud, on whom be peace ! And the contents of the letter
were as follows : — Peace from the King Er-Rashid, strength-
ened by God (who hath given to him and to his ancestors
the rank of the noble, and wide-spread glory), on the for-
tunate Sultan. To proceed : thy letter hath reached us, and
we rejoiced at it; and we have sent the book [entitled] the
Delight of the Intelligent, and the Rare Present for Friends ;
together with varieties of royal rarities ; therefore do us the
favour to accept them : and peace be on thee ! — Then the
King conferred upon me abundant presents, and treated me
with the utmost honour; so I prayed for him, and thanked
him for his beneficence ; and some days after that, I begged
his permission to depart; but he permitted me not save
after great pressing. Thereupon I took leave of him, and
went forth from his city, with merchants and other com-
panions, to return to my country, without any desire for
travel or commerce.

We continued our voyage until we had passed many
islands; but in the midst of our course over the sea. there
appeared to us a number of boats, which surrounded us,
and in them were men like devils, having, in their hands,
swords and daggers, and equipped with coats of mail, and
arms and bows. They smote us, and wounded and slew
those of us who opposed them, and, having taken the ship
with its contents, conveyed us to an island, where they sold
us as slaves, for the smallest price. But a rich man pur-
chased me, and took me into his house, fed me and gave me
to drink, and clad me and treated me in a friendly manner.
So my soul was tranquillized, and I rested a little. Then,
one day. he said to me, Dost thou not know any art or
trade? I answered him, O my lord, I am a merchant: I
know nothing but traffic. And he said, Dost thou know the
art of shooting with the bow and arrow? — Yes, I answered:
I know that. And thereupon he brought me a bow and
arrows, and mounted me behind him upon an elephant :
then he departed at the close of night, and, conveying me
among some great trees, came to a lofty and firm tree, upon
which he made me climb; and he gave me the bow and
arrows, saying to me. Sit here now, and when the elephants
come in the daytime to this place, shoot at them with the
arrows: perhaps thou wilt strike one of them; and if one
of them fall, come to me and inform me. He then left me
and departed ; and I was terrified and frightened. I remained
concealed in the tree until the sun rose ; when the elephants
came forth wandering about among the trees, and I ceased
not to discharge my arrows till I shot one of them. I there-
fore went in the evening to my master, and informed him;
and he was delighted with me, and treated me with honour;
and he went and removed the slain elephant.

In this manner I continued, every day shooting one.
and my master coming and removing it, until one day, I
was sitting in the tree, concealed, and suddenly elephants
innumerable came forth, and I heard the sounds of their
roaring and growling, which were such that I imagined the
earth trembled beneath them. They all surrounded the
tree in which I was sitting, their circuit being fifty cubits,
and a huge elephant, enormously great, advanced and came
to the tree, and, having wound his trunk around it, pulled it
up by the roots, and cast it upon the ground. I fell down
senseless among the elephants, and the great elephant,
approaching me, wound his trunk around me, raised me
on his back, and went away with me, the other elephants
accompanying. And he ceased not to proceed with me,
while I was absent from the world, until he had taken me
into a place, and thrown me from his back, when he departed,
and the other elephants followed him. So I rested a little,
and my terror subsided ; and I found myself among the
bones of elephants. I knew therefore that this was the
burial-place of the elephants, and that that elephant had
conducted me to it on account of the teeth.

I then arose, and journeyed a day and a night until I
arrived at the house of my master, who saw me changed in
ecmplexion by fright and hunger. And he was rejoiced at
my return, and said, By Allah, thou hast pained our heart;
for I went and found the tree torn up, and I imagined that
the elephants had destroyed thee. Tell me, then, how it
happened with thee. — So I informed him of that which had
befallen me; whereat he wondered greatly, and rejoiced; and
he said to me. Dost thou know that place ? I answered, Yes,
O my master. And he took me, and we went out, mounted
on an elephant, and proceeded until we came to that place;
and when my master beheld those numerous teeth, he re-
joiced greatly at the sight of them; and he carried away
as much as he desired, and we returned to the house.
He then treated me with increased favour, and said to me,
O my son, thou hast directed us to a means of very great
gain. May God then recompense thee well ! Thou art
freed for the sake of God, whose name be exalted ! These
elephants used to destroy many of us on account of [our
seeking] these teeth ; but God hath preserved thee from
them, and thou hast profited us by these teeth to which
thou hast directed us. — I replied, O my master, may God
free thy neck from the fire [of Hell] ! And I request of thee,

my master, that thou give me permission to depart to my
country. — Yes, said he: thou shalt have that permission: but
we have a fair, on the occasion of which the merchants come
to us and purchase the teeth of these elephants of us. The
time of the fair is now near ; and-when they have come to us,

1 will send thee with them, and will give thee what will convey
thee to thy country. — So I prayed for him and thanked him ;
and I remained with him treated with respect and honour.

Then, some days after this, the merchants came as he
had said, and bought and sold and exchanged; and when
they were about to depart, my master came to me, and said,
The merchants are going: therefore arise that thou mayest
depart with them to thy country. Accordingly I arose,
determined to go with them. They had bought a great
quantity of those teeth, and packed up their loads, and
embarked them in the ship; and my master sent me with
them. He paid for me the money for my passage in the
ship, together with all that was required of me, and gave me
a large quantity of goods. And we pursued our voyage
from island to island until we had crossed the sea and landed
on the shore, w'hen the merchants took forth what was with
them, and sold. I also sold what I had at an excellent
rate; and I purchased some of the most elegant of things
suited for presents, and beautiful rarities, with every thing
that I desired. I likewise bought for myself a beast to ride,
and we went forth, and crossed the deserts from country to
country until I arrived at Baghdad ; when I went in to the
Khali feh, and, having given the salutation, and kissed his
hand, I informed him of what had happened and what had
befallen me; whereupon he rejoiced at my safety, and
thanked God (whose name be exalted!); and he caused
my story to be written in letters of gold. I then entered
my house, and met my family and my brethren. — This is
the end of the history of the events that happened to me
during my voyages; and praise be to God, the One, the
Creator, the Maker !

And when Es-Sindibad of the Sea had finished his story,
he ordered his servant to give to Es-Sindibad of the Land a
hundred pieces of gold, and said to him. How now, O my
brother? Hast thou heard of the like of these afflictions
and calamities and distresses, or have such troubles as have
befallen me befallen any one else, or hath any one else
suffered such hardships as I have suffered? Know then
that these pleasures are a compensation for the toil and
humiliations that I have experienced. — And upon this, Es-
Sindibad of the Land advanced, and kissed his hands, and
said to him, O my lord, by Allah, thou hast undergone
great horrors, and hast deserved these abundant favours :
continue then, O my lord, in joy and security; for God hath
removed from thee the evils of fortune; and I beg of God that
He may continue to thee thy pleasures, and bless thy days, —
And upon this, Es-Sindibad of the Sea bestowed favours upon
him, and made him his boon-companion; and he quitted him
not by night nor by day as long as they both lived.

Praise be to God, the Mighty, the Omnipotent, the Strong,
the Eminent in power, the Creator of the heaven and the
earth, and of the land and the seas !