Being returned from my sixth voyage," said Sinbad, "I
absolutely laid aside all thoughts of travelling ; for, besides that
my age now required rest, I was resolved no more to expose my-
self to such risks as I had encountered; so that I thought of
nothing but to pass the rest of my days in tranquillity. One day,
however, as I was treating my friends, one of my servants came
and told me that an officer of the caliph's inquired for me. I
rose from table, and went to him. 'The caliph,' said he, 'has
sent me to tell you that he must speak with you.' I followed the
officer to the palace, where, being presented to the caliph, I
saluted him by prostrating myself at his feet. ' Sinbad,' said he
to me, 'I stand in need of your service; you must carry my
answer and present to the King of Serendib. It is but just I
should return his civility.'
" This command of the caliph was to me like a clap of thunder.
'Commander of the Faithful,' I replied, 'I am ready to do what-
ever your majesty shall think fit to command ; but I beseech you
most humbly to consider what I have undergone. I have also
made a vow never to go out of Bagdad.' Hence I took occasion
to give him a full and particular account of all my adventures,
which he had the patience to hear out.
"As soon as I had finished, 'I confess,' said he, 'that the
things you tell me are very extraordinary, yet you must for my
sake undertake this voyage which I propose to you. You will
only have to go to the isle of Serendib, and deliver the commission
which I give you, for you know it would not comport with my
dignity to be indebted to the king of that island.' Perceiving
that the caliph insisted upon my compliance, I submitted, and
told him that I was willing to obey. He was very well pleased,
and ordered me one thousand sequins for the expenses of my
journey.
"I prepared for my departure in a few days, and as soon as
the caliph's letter and present were delivered to me, I went to
Bussorah, where I embarked, and had a very happy voyage.
Having arrived at the isle of Serendib, I acquainted the king's
ministers with my commission, and prayed them to get me speedy .
audience. They did so, and I was conducted to the palace,
where I saluted the king by prostration, according to custom.
That prince knew me immediately, and testified very great joy
at seeing me. 'Sinbad,' said he, 'you are welcome; I have many
times thought of you since you departed ; I bless the day on which
we see one another once more.' I made my compliments to him,
and after having thanked him for his kindness, delivered the
caliph's letter and present, which he received with all imaginable
satisfaction.
"The caliph's present was a complete suit of cloth of gold,
valued at one thousand sequins; fifty robes of rich stuff, a hun-
dred of white cloth, the finest of Cairo, Suez, and Alexandria ; a
vessel of agate broader than deep, an inch thick, and half a foot
wide, the bottom of which represented in bas-relief a man with
one knee on the ground, who held a bow and an arrow, ready to
discharge at a lion. He sent him also a rich tablet, which, accord-
ing to tradition, belonged to the great Solomon. The caliph's
letter was as follows:
"'Greeting, in the name of the sovereign guide of the right
way, from the dependant on God, Haroun-al-Raschid, whom
God hath set in the place of vicegerent to his prophet, after
his ancestors of happy memory, to the potent and esteemed
Raja of Serendib: —
" * We received your letter with joy, and send you this from our
imperial residence, the garden of superior wits. We hope when
you look upon it, you will perceive our good intention and be
pleased with it. Adieu.'
" The King of Serendib was highly gratified that the caliph
answered his friendship. A little time after this audience, I
solicited leave to depart, and had much difficulty to obtain it.
I procured it, however, at last, and the king, when he dismissed
me, made me a very considerable present. I embarked im-
mediately to return to Bagdad, but had not the good fortune to
arrive there so speedily as I had hoped. God ordered it other-
wise.
"Three or four days after my departure, we were attacked
by corsairs, who easily seized upon our ship, because it was no
vessel of force. Some of the crew offered resistance, which cost
them their lives. But for myself and the rest, who were not so
imprudent, the corsairs saved us on purpose to make slaves of us.
"We were all stripped, and instead of our own clothes, they
gave us sorry rags, and carried us into a remote island, where
they sold us.
"I fell into the hands of a rich merchant, who, as soon as he
bought me, carried me to his house, treated me well, and clad
me handsomely for a slave. Some days after, not knowing who
I was, he asked me if I understood any trade. I answered, that
I was no mechanic, but a merchant, and that the corsairs who
sold me, had robbed me of all I possessed. ' But tell me,'
replied he, 'can you shoot with a bow?' I answered, that the
bow was one of my exercises in my youth. He gave me a bow
and arrows, and, taking me behind him upon an elephant, carried
me to a thick forest some leagues from the town. We penetrated
a great way into the wood, and he bade me alight; then, shewing
me a great tree, * Climb up that,' said he, 'and shoot at the
elephants as you see them pass by, for there is a prodigious num-
ber of them in this forest, and if any of them fall, come and give
me notice.' Having spoken this, he left me victuals, and returned
to the town, and I continued upon the tree all night.
"I saw no elephant during the night, but next morning, as
soon as the sun was up, I perceived a great number. I shot
several arrows among them, and at last one of the elephants fell,
when the rest retired immediately, and left me at liberty to go
and acquaint my patron with my booty. When I had informed
him, he gave me a good meal, commended my dexterity, and
caressed me highly. We went afterwards together to the forest,
where we dug a hole for the elephant; my patron designing to
return when it had fallen to pieces and take its teeth to trade with.
"I continued this employment for two months, and killed
an elephant every day, getting sometimes upon one tree, and
sometimes upon another. One morning, as I looked for the
elephants, I perceived with extreme amazement that, instead of
passing by me across the forest as usual, they stopped, and came
to me w^ith a horrible noise, in such number that the plain was
covered, and shook under them. They encompassed the tree
in which I was concealed, with their trunks extended, and all
fixed their eyes upon me. At this alarming spectacle I continued
immovable, and was so much terrified, that my bow and arrows
fell out of my hand.
"My fears were not without cause; for after the elephants
had stared upon me some time, one of the largest of them put
his trunk round the foot of the tree, plucked it up, and threw it
on the ground. I fell w4th the tree; and the elephant, taking me
up with his trunk, laid me on his back, where I sat more like one
dead than alive, w^ith my quiver on my shoulder. He put himself
afterward at the head of the rest, who followed him in troops,
carried me a considerable way, then laid me down on the ground,
and retired with all his companions. After having lain some
time, and seeing the elephants gone, I got up, and found I w^as
upon a long and broad hill, almost covered with the bones and
teeth of elephants. I confess to you, that this object furnished
me with abundance of reflections. I admired the instinct of
those animals; I doubted not but that was their burying-place,
and that they carried me thither on purpose to tell me that I
should forbear to persecute them, since I did it only for their
teeth. I did not stay on the hill, but turned toward the city,
and, after having travelled a day and a night, I came to my
patron.
"As soon as he saw me, *Ah, poor Sinbad,' exclaimed he,
*I was in great trouble to know what was become of you. I have
been at the forest, where I found a tree newly pulled up, and a
bow and arrows on the ground, and I despaired of ever seeing
you more. Pray tell me what befell you, and by w^hat good
chance you are still alive.' I satisfied his curiosity, and going
both of us next morning to the hill, he found to his great joy that
what I had told him was true. We loaded the elephant which
had carried us with as many teeth as he could bear ; and when we
were returned, 'Brother,' said ray patron, 'for I will treat you no
more as my slave, after having made such a discovery as will
enrich me, God bless you with all happiness and prosperity.
I declare before Him, that I give you your liberty. I concealed
from you what I am now going to tell you.
The elephants of our forest have every year killed a great
many slaves, whom we sent to seek ivory. God has delivered
you from their fury, and has bestowed that favour upon you only.
It is a sign that He loves you, and has some use for your service
in the world. You have procured me incredible wealth. For-
merly we could not procure ivory but by exposing the lives of our
slaves, and now our whole city is enriched by your means. I
could engage all our inhabitants to contribute toward making
your fortune, but I will have the glory of doing it myself.'
" To this obliging declaration I replied : 'Patron, God preserve
you. Your giving me my liberty is enough to discharge what you
owe me, and I desire no other reward for the service I had the
good fortune to do to you, and your city, but leave to return to
my own country.' 'Very well,' said he, 'the monsoon will in a
little time bring ships for ivory. I will then send you home,
and give you wherewith to bear your charges.' I thanked him
again for my liberty and his good intentions toward me. 1
stayed with him expecting the monsoon; and during that time,
we made so many journeys to the hill that we filled all our ware-
houses with ivory. The other merchants, who traded in it, did
the same, for it could not be long concealed from them.
"The ships arrived at last, and my patron, himself having
made choice of the ship wherein I was to embark, loaded half of
it with ivory on my account, laid in provisions in abundance for
my passage, and besides obliged me to accept a present of some
curiosities of the country of great value. After I had returned
him a thousand thanks for all his favours, I went aboard. We
set sail, and as the adventure which procured me this liberty was
very extraordinary, I had it continually in my thoughts.
"We stopped at some islands to take in fresh provisions.
Our vessel being come to a port on the main land in the Indies,
we touched there, and not being willing to venture by sea to
Bussorah, I landed my proportion of the ivory, resolving to pro-
ceed on my journey by land. I made vast sums by my ivory,
bought several rarities for presents, and when my equipage was
ready, set out in company with a large caravan of merchants.
I was a long time on the way, and suffered much, but endured
all with patience, when I considered that I had nothing to fear
from the seas, from pirates, from serpents, or from the other perils
to which I had been exposed.
"All these fatigues ended at last, and I arrived safe at Bagdad.
I went immediately to wait upon the caliph, and gave him an
account of my embassy. That prince said he had been uneasy
as I was so long in returning, but that he always hoped God
would preserve me. When I told him the adventure of the
elephants, he seemed much surprised, and would never have given
any credit to it had he not known my veracity. He deemed this
story, and the other relations I had given him, to be so curious,
that he ordered one of his secretaries to write them in characters
of gold, and lay them up in his treasury. I retired well satisfied
with the honours I received, and the presents which he gave me;
and ever since I have devoted myself wholly to my family, kindred
and friends."
Sinbad here finished the relation of his seventh and last
voyage, and then, addressing himself to Hindbad, "Well, friend,'*
said he, "did you ever hear of any person that suffered so much
as I have done, or of any mortal that has gone through so many
vicissitudes ? Is it not reasonable that, after all this, I should en-
joy a quiet and pleasant life?" As he said this, Hindbad drew
near to him, and kissing his hand, said, "I must acknowledge
sir, that you have gone through many imminent dangers; my
troubles are not comparable to yours; if they afflict me for a
time, I comfort myself with the thoughts of the profit I get by
them. You not only deserve a quiet life, but are worthy of all
the riches you enjoy, because you make of them such a good and
generous use. May you therefore continue to live in happiness
till the day of your death!" Sinbad then gave him one hundred
sequins more, received him into the number of his friends and
desired him to quit his porter's employment, and come and dine
every day with him, that he might have ample reason to remem-
ber Sinbad the voyager and his adventures.
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