After my sixth voyage I was quite determined that I would go to sea no
more. I was now of an age to appreciate a quiet life, and I had run
risks enough. I only wished to end my days in peace. One day, however,
when I was entertaining a number of my friends, I was told that an
officer of the Caliph wished to speak to me, and when he was admitted he
bade me to follow him into the presence of Harun-al-Rashid, which I
accordingly did. After I had saluted him, the Caliph said:--
"I have sent for you, Sindbad, because I need your services. I have
chosen you to bear a letter and a gift to the King of Serendib in return
for his message of friendship."
The Caliph's commandment fell upon me like a thunderbolt.
"Commander of the Faithful," I answered, "I am ready to do all that your
Majesty commands, but I humbly pray you to remember that I am utterly
disheartened by the unheard-of sufferings I have undergone. Indeed, I
have made a vow never again to leave Bagdad."
With this I gave him a long account of some of my strangest adventures,
to which he listened patiently.
"I admit," said he, "that you have indeed had some extraordinary
experiences, but I do not see why they should hinder you from doing as I
wish. You have only to go straight to Serendib and give my message, then
you are free to come back and do as you will. But go you must; my honor
and dignity demand it."
Seeing that there was no help for it, I declared myself willing to obey;
and the Caliph, delighted at having got his own way, gave me a thousand
sequins for the expenses of the voyage. I was soon ready to start, and
taking the letter and the present I embarked at Balsora, and sailed
quickly and safely to Serendib. Here, when I had disclosed my errand, I
was well received, and brought into the presence of the king, who
greeted me with joy.
"Welcome, Sindbad," he cried. "I have thought of you often, and rejoice
to see you once more."
After thanking him for the honor that he did me, I displayed the
Caliph's gifts. First a bed with complete hangings all cloth of gold,
which cost a thousand sequins, and another like to it of crimson stuff.
Fifty robes of rich embroidery, a hundred of the finest white linen from
Cairo, Suez, Cufa, and Alexandria. Then more beds of different fashion,
and an agate vase carved with the figure of a man aiming an arrow at a
lion, and finally a costly table, which had once belonged to King
Solomon. The King of Serendib received with satisfaction the assurance
of the Caliph's friendliness towards him, and now my task being
accomplished I was anxious to depart, but it was some time before the
king would think of letting me go. At last, however, he dismissed me
with many presents, and I lost no time in going on board a ship, which
sailed at once, and for four days all went well. On the fifth day we had
the misfortune to fall in with pirates, who seized our vessel, killing
all who resisted, and making prisoners of those who were prudent enough
to submit at once, of whom I was one. When they had despoiled us of all
we possessed, they forced us to put on vile raiment, and sailing to a
distant island there sold us for slaves. I fell into the hands of a rich
merchant, who took me home with him, and clothed and fed me well, and
after some days sent for me and questioned me as to what I could do.
I answered that I was a rich merchant who had been captured by pirates,
and therefore I knew no trade.
"Tell me," said he, "can you shoot with a bow?"
I replied that this had been one of the pastimes of my youth, and that
doubtless with practice my skill would come back to me.
Upon this he provided me with a bow and arrows, and mounting me with him
upon his own elephant took the way to a vast forest which lay far from
the town. When we had reached the wildest part of it we stopped, and my
master said to me: "This forest swarms with elephants. Hide yourself in
this great tree, and shoot at all that pass you. When you have succeeded
in killing one come and tell me."
So saying he gave me a supply of food, and returned to the town, and I
perched myself high up in the tree and kept watch. That night I saw
nothing, but just after sunrise the next morning a large herd of
elephants came crashing and trampling by. I lost no time in letting fly
several arrows, and at last one of the great animals fell to the ground
dead, and the others retreated, leaving me free to come down from my
hiding-place and run back to tell my master of my success, for which I
was praised and regaled with good things. Then we went back to the
forest together and dug a mighty trench in which we buried the elephant
I had killed, in order that when it became a skeleton my master might
return and secure its tusks.
For two months I hunted thus, and no day passed without my securing an
elephant. Of course I did not always station myself in the same tree,
but sometimes in one place, sometimes in another. One morning as I
watched the coming of the elephants I was surprised to see that, instead
of passing the tree I was in, as they usually did, they paused, and
completely surrounded it, trumpeting horribly, and shaking the very
ground with their heavy tread, and when I saw that their eyes were fixed
upon me I was terrified, and my arrows dropped from my trembling hand. I
had indeed good reason for my terror when, an instant later, the largest
of the animals wound his trunk round the stem of my tree, and with one
mighty effort tore it up by the roots, bringing me to the ground
entangled in its branches. I thought now that my last hour was surely
come, but the huge creature, picking me up gently enough, set me upon
its back, where I clung more dead than alive, and followed by the whole
herd turned and crashed off into the dense forest. It seemed to me a
long time before I was once more set upon my feet by the elephant, and I
stood as if in a dream watching the herd, which turned and trampled off
in another direction, and were soon hidden in the dense underwood. Then,
recovering myself, I looked about me, and found that I was standing upon
the side of a great hill, strewn as far as I could see on either hand
with bones and tusks of elephants. "This then must be the elephants'
burying-place," I said to myself, "and they must have brought me here
that I might cease to persecute them, seeing that I want nothing but
their tusks, and here lie more than I could carry away in a lifetime."
Whereupon I turned and made for the city as fast as I could go, not
seeing a single elephant by the way, which convinced me that they had
retired deeper into the forest to leave the way open to the Ivory Hill,
and I did not know how sufficiently to admire their sagacity. After a
day and a night I reached my master's house, and was received by him
with joyful surprise.
"Ah! poor Sindbad," he cried, "I was wondering what could have become of
you. When I went to the forest I found the tree newly uprooted, and the
arrows lying beside it, and I feared I should never see you again. Pray
tell me how you escaped death."
I soon satisfied his curiosity, and the next day we went together to the
Ivory Hill, and he was overjoyed to find that I had told him nothing but
the truth. When we had loaded our elephant with as many tusks as it
could carry and were on our way back to the city, he said:--
"My brother--since I can no longer treat as a slave one who has enriched
me thus--take your liberty, and may Heaven prosper you. I will no longer
conceal from you that these wild elephants have killed numbers of our
slaves every year. No matter what good advice we gave them, they were
caught sooner or later. You alone have escaped the wiles of these
animals, therefore you must be under the special protection of Heaven.
Now through you the whole town will be enriched without further loss of
life, therefore you shall not only receive your liberty, but I will also
bestow a fortune upon you."
To which I replied, "Master, I thank you, and wish you all prosperity.
For myself I only ask liberty to return to my own country."
"It is well," he answered, "the monsoon will soon bring the ivory ships
hither, then I will send you on your way with somewhat to pay your
passage."
So I stayed with him till the time of the monsoon, and every day we
added to our store of ivory till all his warehouses were overflowing
with it. By this time the other merchants knew the secret, but there was
enough and to spare for all. When the ships at last arrived my master
himself chose the one in which I was to sail, and put on board for me a
great store of choice provisions, also ivory in abundance, and all the
costliest curiosities of the country, for which I could not thank him
enough, and so we parted. I left the ship at the first port we came to,
not feeling at ease upon the sea after all that had happened to me by
reason of it, and having disposed of my ivory for much gold, and bought
many rare and costly presents, I loaded my pack animals, and joined a
caravan of merchants. Our journey was long and tedious, but I bore it
patiently, reflecting that at least I had not to fear tempests, nor
pirates, nor serpents, nor any of the other perils from which I had
suffered before, and at length we reached Bagdad. My first care was to
present myself before the Caliph, and give him an account of my embassy.
He assured me that my long absence had disquieted him much, but he had
nevertheless hoped for the best. As to my adventure among the elephants
he heard it with amazement, declaring that he could not have believed it
had not my truthfulness been well-known to him.
By his orders this story and the others I had told him were written by
his scribes in letters of gold, and laid up among his treasures. I took
my leave of him, well satisfied with the honors and rewards he bestowed
upon me; and since that time I have rested from my labors, and given
myself up wholly to my family and my friends.
Thus Sindbad ended the story of his seventh and last voyage, and turning
to Hindbad he added:--
"Well, my friend, and what do you think now? Have you ever heard of
anyone who has suffered more, or had more narrow escapes than I have? Is
it not just that I should now enjoy a life of ease and tranquillity?"
Hindbad drew near, and kissing his hand respectfully, replied, "Sir, you
have indeed known fearful perils; my troubles have been nothing compared
to yours. Moreover, the generous use you make of your wealth proves that
you deserve it. May you live long and happily in the enjoyment of it."
Sindbad then gave him a hundred sequins, and henceforward counted him
among his friends; also he caused him to give up his profession as a
porter, and to eat daily at his table that he might all his life
remember Sindbad the Sailor.