one thousand sequins; fifty robes of rich stuff, a hundred 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, according 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 immediately to return to Bagdad, but had not the
good fortune to arrive there so speedily as I had hoped. God ordered it
otherwise.
"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 number 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 with 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 with
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, with 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 was 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 what 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 my 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. Formerly 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. I
stayed with him expecting the monsoon; and during that time, we made so
many journeys to the hill that we filled all our warehouses 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 proceed 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 enjoy 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 remember
Sinbad the voyager and his adventures.