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 standstill, 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.
Now 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[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[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.[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.[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.[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.
Now when it was the Five Hundred and Fifty-second Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Sindbad the Seaman
continued:—And the men gathering pepper in the island questioned me of
my case, when I acquainted them with all the hardships and perils I had
suffered and how I had fled from the savages; whereat they marvelled and
gave me joy of my safety, saying, “By Allah, this is wonderful! But how
didst thou escape from these blacks who swarm in the island and devour
all who fall in with them; nor is any safe from them, nor can any get
out of their clutches?” And after I had told them the fate of my
companions, they made me sit by them, till they got quit of their work;
and fetched me somewhat of good food, which I ate, for I was hungry, and
rested awhile, after which they took ship with me and carrying me to
their island-home brought me before their King, who returned my salute
and received me honourably and questioned me of my case. I told him all
that had befallen me, from the day of my leaving Baghdad-city, whereupon
he wondered with great wonder at my adventures, he and his courtiers,
and bade me sit by him; then he called for food and I ate with him what
sufficed me and washed my hands and returned thanks to Almighty Allah
for all His favours praising Him and glorifying Him. Then I left the
King and walked for solace about the city, which I found wealthy and
populous, abounding in market-streets well stocked with food and
merchandise and full of buyers and sellers. So I rejoiced at having
reached so pleasant a place and took my ease there after my fatigues;
and I made friends with the townsfolk, nor was it long before I became
more in honour and favour with them and their King than any of the chief
men of the realm. Now I saw that all the citizens, great and small, rode
fine horses, high-priced and thorough-bred, without saddles or housings,
whereat I wondered and said to the King, “Wherefore, O my lord, dost
thou not ride with a saddle? Therein is ease for the rider and increase
of power.” “What is a saddle?” asked he: “I never saw nor used such a
thing in all my life;” and I answered, “With thy permission I will make
thee a saddle, that thou mayest ride on it and see the comfort thereof.”
And quoth he, “Do so.” So quoth I to him, “Furnish me with some wood,”
which being brought, I sought me a clever carpenter and sitting by him
showed him how to make the saddle-tree, portraying for him the fashion
thereof in ink on the wood. Then I took wool and teased it and made felt
of it, and, covering the saddle-tree with leather, stuffed it and
polished it and attached the girth and stirrup leathers; after which I
fetched a blacksmith and described to him the fashion of the stirrups
and bridle-bit. So he forged a fine pair of stirrups and a bit, and
filed them smooth and tinned[45] them. Moreover, I made fast to them
fringes of silk and fitted bridle-leathers to the bit. Then I fetched
one of the best of the royal horses and saddling and bridling him, hung
the stirrups to the saddle and led him to the King. The thing took his
fancy and he thanked me; then he mounted and rejoiced greatly in the
saddle and rewarded me handsomely for my work. When the King’s Wazir saw
the saddle, he asked of me one like it and I made it for him.
Furthermore, all the grandees and officers of state came for saddles to
me; so I fell to making saddles (having taught the craft to the
carpenter and blacksmith), and selling them to all who sought, till I
amassed great wealth and became in high honour and great favour with the
King and his household and grandees. I abode thus till, one day, as I
was sitting with the King in all respect and contentment, he said to me,
“Know thou, O such an one, thou art become one of us, dear as a brother,
and we hold thee in such regard and affection that we cannot part with
thee nor suffer thee to leave our city; wherefore I desire of thee
obedience in a certain matter, and I will not have thee gainsay me.”
Answered I, “O King, what is it thou desirest of me? Far be it from me
to gainsay thee in aught, for I am indebted to thee for many favours and
bounties and much kindness, and (praised be Allah!) I am become one of
thy servants.” Quoth he, “I have a mind to marry thee to a fair, clever
and agreeable wife who is wealthy as she is beautiful; so thou mayst be
naturalised and domiciled with us: I will lodge thee with me in my
palace; wherefore oppose me not neither cross me in this.” When I heard
these words I was ashamed and held my peace nor could make him any
answer,[46] by reason of my much bashfulness before him. Asked he, “Why
dost thou not reply to me, O my son?”; and I answered, saying, “O my
master, it is thine to command, O King of the age!” So he summoned the
Kazi and the witnesses and married me straightway to a lady of a noble
tree and high pedigree; wealthy in moneys and means; the flower of an
ancient race; of surpassing beauty and grace, and the owner of farms and
estates and many a dwelling-place.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of
day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Five Hundred and Fifty-third Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Sindbad the Seaman
continued in these words:—Now after the King my master had married me to
this choice wife, he also gave me a great and goodly house standing
alone, together with slaves and officers, and assigned me pay and
allowances. So I became in all ease and contentment and delight and
forgot everything which had befallen me of weariness and trouble and
hardship; for I loved my wife with fondest love and she loved me no
less, and we were as one and abode in the utmost comfort of life and in
its happiness. And I said in myself, “When I return to my native land, I
will carry her with me.” But whatso is predestined to a man, that needs
must be, and none knoweth what shall befal him. We lived thus a great
while, till Almighty Allah bereft one of my neighbours of his wife. Now
he was a gossip of mine; so hearing the cry of the keeners I went in to
condole with him on his loss and found him in very ill plight, full of
trouble and weary of soul and mind. I condoled with him and comforted
him, saying, “Mourn not for thy wife who hath now found the mercy of
Allah; the Lord will surely give thee a better in her stead and thy name
shall be great and thy life shall be long in the land, Inshallah!”[47]
But he wept bitter tears and replied, “O my friend, how can I marry
another wife and how shall Allah replace her to me with a better than
she, whenas I have but one day left to live?” “O my brother,” said I,
“return to thy senses and announce not the glad tidings of thine own
death, for thou art well, sound and in good case.” “By thy life, O my
friend,” rejoined he, “to-morrow thou wilt lose me and wilt never see me
again till the Day of Resurrection.” I asked, “How so?” and he answered,
“This very day they bury my wife, and they bury me with her in one tomb;
for it is the custom with us, if the wife die first, to bury the husband
alive with her and in like manner the wife, if the husband die first; so
that neither may enjoy life after losing his or her mate.” “By Allah,”
cried I, “this is a most vile, lewd custom and not to be endured of
any!” Meanwhile, behold, the most part of the townsfolk came in and fell
to condoling with my gossip for his wife and for himself. Presently they
laid the dead woman out, as was their wont; and, setting her on a bier,
carried her and her husband without the city, till they came to a place
in the side of a mountain at the end of the island by the sea; and here
they raised a great rock and discovered the mouth of a stone-rivetted
pit or well,[48] leading down into a vast underground cavern that ran
beneath the mountain. Into this pit they threw the corpse, then tying a
rope of palm-fibres under the husband’s armpits, they let him down into
the cavern, and with him a great pitcher of fresh water and seven scones
by way of viaticum.[49] When he came to the bottom, he loosed himself
from the rope and they drew it up; and, stopping the mouth of the pit
with the great stone, they returned to the city, leaving my friend in
the cavern with his dead wife. When I saw this, I said to myself, “By
Allah, this fashion of death is more grievous than the first!” And I
went in to the King and said to him, “O my lord, why do ye bury the
quick with the dead?” Quoth he, “It hath been the custom, thou must
know, of our forbears and our olden Kings from time immemorial, if the
husband die first, to bury his wife with him, and the like with the
wife, so we may not sever them, alive or dead.” I asked, “O King of the
age, if the wife of a foreigner like myself die among you, deal ye with
him as with yonder man?”; and he answered, “Assuredly, we do with him
even as thou hast seen.” When I heard this, my gall-bladder was like to
burst, for the violence of my dismay and concern for myself: my wit
became dazed; I felt as if in a vile dungeon; and hated their society;
for I went about in fear lest my wife should die before me and they bury
me alive with her. However, after a while, I comforted myself, saying,
“Haply I shall predecease her, or shall have returned to my own land
before she die, for none knoweth which shall go first and which shall go
last.” Then I applied myself to diverting my mind from this thought with
various occupations; but it was not long before my wife sickened and
complained and took to her pillow and fared after a few days to the
mercy of Allah; and the King and the rest of the folk came, as was their
wont, to condole with me and her family and to console us for her loss
and not less to condole with me for myself. Then the women washed her
and arraying her in her richest raiment and golden ornaments, necklaces
and jewellery, laid her on the bier and bore her to the mountain
aforesaid, where they lifted the cover of the pit and cast her in; after
which all my intimates and acquaintances and my wife’s kith and kin came
round me, to farewell me in my lifetime and console me for my own death,
whilst I cried out among them, saying, “Almighty Allah never made it
lawful to bury the quick with the dead! I am a stranger, not one of your
kind; and I cannot abear your custom, and had I known it I never would
have wedded among you!” They heard me not and paid no heed to my words,
but laying hold of me, bound me by force and let me down into the
cavern, with a large gugglet of sweet water and seven cakes of bread,
according to their custom. When I came to the bottom, they called out to
me to cast myself loose from the cords, but I refused to do so; so they
threw them down on me and, closing the mouth of the pit with the stones
aforesaid, went their ways,——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Five Hundred and Fifty-fourth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Sindbad the Seaman
continued:—When they left me in the cavern with my dead wife and,
closing the mouth of the pit, went their ways, I looked about me and
found myself in a vast cave full of dead bodies, that exhaled a fulsome
and loathsome smell and the air was heavy with the groans of the dying.
Thereupon I fell to blaming myself for what I had done, saying, “By
Allah, I deserve all that hath befallen me and all that shall befal me!
What curse was upon me to take a wife in this city? There is no Majesty
and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great! As often
as I say, I have escaped from one calamity, I fall into a worse. By
Allah, this is an abominable death to die! Would Heaven I had died a
decent death and been washed and shrouded like a man and a Moslem. Would
I had been drowned at sea or perished in the mountains! It were better
than to die this miserable death!” And on such wise I kept blaming my
own folly and greed of gain in that black hole, knowing not night from
day; and I ceased not to ban the Foul Fiend and to bless the Almighty
Friend. Then I threw myself down on the bones of the dead and lay there,
imploring Allah’s help and in the violence of my despair, invoking death
which came not to me, till the fire of hunger burned my stomach and
thirst set my throat aflame when I sat up and feeling for the bread, ate
a morsel and upon it swallowed a mouthful of water. After this, the
worst night I ever knew, I arose, and exploring the cavern, found that
it extended a long way with hollows in its sides; and its floor was
strewn with dead bodies and rotten bones, that had lain there from olden
time. So I made myself a place in a cavity of the cavern, afar from the
corpses lately thrown down and there slept. I abode thus a long while,
till my provision was like to give out; and yet I ate not save once
every day or second day; nor did I drink more than an occasional
draught, for fear my victual should fail me before my death; and I said
to myself, “Eat little and drink little; belike the Lord shall vouchsafe
deliverance to thee!” One day, as I sat thus, pondering my case and
bethinking me how I should do, when my bread and water should be
exhausted, behold, the stone that covered the opening was suddenly
rolled away and the light streamed down upon me. Quoth I, “I wonder what
is the matter: haply they have brought another corpse.” Then I espied
folk standing about the mouth of the pit, who presently let down a dead
man and a live woman, weeping and bemoaning herself, and with her an
ampler supply of bread and water than usual.[50] I saw her and she was a
beautiful woman; but she saw me not; and they closed up the opening and
went away. Then I took the leg-bone of a dead man and, going up to the
woman, smote her on the crown of the head; and she cried one cry and
fell down in a swoon. I smote her a second and a third time, till she
was dead, when I laid hands on her bread and water and found on her
great plenty of ornaments and rich apparel, necklaces, jewels and gold
trinkets;[51] for it was their custom to bury women in all their finery.
I carried the vivers to my sleeping place in the cavern-side and ate and
drank of them sparingly, no more than sufficed to keep the life in me,
lest the provaunt come speedily to an end and I perish of hunger and
thirst. Yet did I never wholly lose hope in Almighty Allah. I abode thus
a great while, killing all the live folk they let down into the cavern
and taking their provisions of meat and drink; till one day, as I slept,
I was awakened by something scratching and burrowing among the bodies in
a corner of the cave and said, “What can this be?” fearing wolves or
hyænas. So I sprang up and seizing the leg-bone aforesaid, made for the
noise. As soon as the thing was ware of me, it fled from me into the
inward of the cavern, and lo! it was a wild beast. However, I followed
it to the further end, till I saw afar off a point of light not bigger
than a star, now appearing and then disappearing. So I made for it, and
as I drew near, it grew larger and brighter, till I was certified that
it was a crevice in the rock, leading to the open country; and I said to
myself, “There must be some reason for this opening: either it is the
mouth of a second pit, such as that by which they let me down, or else
it is a natural fissure in the stonery.” So I bethought me awhile and
nearing the light, found that it came from a breach in the back side of
the mountain, which the wild beasts had enlarged by burrowing, that they
might enter and devour the dead and freely go to and fro. When I saw
this, my spirits revived and hope came back to me and I made sure of
life, after having died a death. So I went on, as in a dream, and making
shift to scramble through the breach found myself on the slope of a high
mountain, overlooking the salt sea and cutting off all access thereto
from the island, so that none could come at that part of the beach from
the city.[52] I praised my Lord and thanked Him, rejoicing greatly and
heartening myself with the prospect of deliverance; then I returned
through the crack to the cavern and brought out all the food and water I
had saved up and donned some of the dead folk’s clothes over my own;
after which I gathered together all the collars and necklaces of pearls
and jewels and trinkets of gold and silver set with precious stones and
other ornaments and valuables I could find upon the corpses; and, making
them into bundles with the grave clothes and raiment of the dead,
carried them out to the back of the mountain facing the sea-shore, where
I established myself, purposing to wait there till it should please
Almighty Allah to send me relief by means of some passing ship. I
visited the cavern daily and as often as I found folk buried alive
there, I killed them all indifferently, men and women, and took their
victual and valuables and transported them to my seat on the sea-shore.
Thus I abode a long while——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Five Hundred and Fifty-fifth Night,