Knjigice
Learn-about book · Classic fairy tales
Sinbad the Sailor
The story of the sailor who crossed the seven seas
Also in: Sinbad pomorščak (Slovenian) · Sindibád moreplavec (Slovak)
In Baghdad, the city of golden domes, there lived an old sailor named Sinbad. One evening a little porter boy called Hindbad stopped at his door, tired and hungry. "Come in," smiled Sinbad, pouring him sweet tea. "Tonight I will tell you how I sailed across the sea as a young man, and what wonders I found there. Listen — all of it truly happened to me."
1
"I was young when I first stepped aboard a ship. We sailed for many days, until in the middle of the sea we spotted a low grey island. The sailors leapt happily ashore, lit a fire and set their pots on it. But I felt the ground swaying strangely beneath me. 'Look!' I cried. 'This island has no grass, no stone, no sand!'"
2
"Then the island stirred. It was no island at all — it was a giant whale that had slept on the surface for a hundred years! The fire woke him, and slowly he sank into the deep. The sailors jumped into the boats, but I grabbed a wooden tub and held on with both arms. The waves carried me far, far from the ship, all alone in the open sea."
3
"All night I floated, hugging my tub and watching the stars. In the morning the sea set me down on a real island, where palms grew heavy with sweet dates. Kind people fed me and gave me shelter. And when one day my very own ship sailed into the harbour, the sailors whooped for joy — and I came home to Baghdad with gifts."
4
"But I could not stay home long — the sea called me again. On my second voyage we landed on an island full of fruit and birdsong. I lay down in the shade and fell asleep. When I opened my eyes, my ship was nowhere to be seen! I wandered the island alone, until I came upon a giant white dome, smooth as an egg. And that is just what it was — an egg."
5
"Suddenly it grew dark, as if a cloud had covered the sun. Above me circled the great bird Roc, so huge that its wings were as wide as a ship's sails. It settled on the egg and dozed off. Quietly, ever so quietly, I unwound my turban and tied myself to its enormous leg. 'Wherever it flies,' I said to myself, 'I fly too.'"
6
"At dawn the Roc rose high above the clouds. The world below us looked as small as a carpet. Then it swooped into a deep valley between the mountains, and there I quickly untied my turban and hid behind a rock. When the bird flew off, I looked around: the valley floor was glittering. Everywhere I looked lay diamonds as big as walnuts!"
7
"From the high cliffs, merchants threw great pieces of meat into the valley so that diamonds would stick to them; then eagles carried the meat up to their nests. I filled my sash with diamonds, tied myself tight to the biggest piece — and an eagle lifted me out of the valley! The merchants could hardly believe their eyes. I came home as rich as a king."
8
"But the sea tempted me a third time. A storm broke our ship apart, and the waves threw me onto a green island. By a stream sat a small thin old man with a long grey beard, and beckoned: carry me across the water. 'Of course, grandfather,' I said, and set him on my shoulders. I did not know whom I had met — the Old Man of the Sea."
9
"Once we had crossed the stream, the old man would not get down. He wrapped his legs around my neck and squeezed like a pair of pincers. 'Onward!' he cried, driving me from tree to tree to pick him the sweetest fruit. I carried him day after day, for he even slept on my shoulders. I was his horse and his bed."
10
"One day I pressed the juice of sweet grapes into a big gourd and left it in the sun until it turned sharp and fizzy. When the old man smelled it, he snatched the gourd from my hands and drank it to the last drop. His head began to spin, he swayed, his legs slid off my shoulders — and I was free! I ran for the shore as fast as my legs would carry me."
11
"On the shore, good luck was waiting: a ship full of merchants! When I told them my tale, they shook their heads. 'No one has ever escaped the Old Man of the Sea,' they said. 'You are the first and only.' The ship spread its sails, the wind was kind to us, and after many days the golden domes of Baghdad shone before us once more."
12
Hindbad listened wide-eyed, his tea long gone cold. "And then?" he whispered. "Then I sailed on and on," laughed Sinbad, "seven voyages across seven seas. Each time the sea taught me something new. But the finest moment of every voyage was always the same: when the golden domes of my Baghdad rose on the horizon again."
13
"Remember this, Hindbad," said the old sailor, pressing a small pouch of gold coins into his hand. "The greatest treasure is not gold, nor diamonds. The greatest treasure is coming home — and having someone to tell your story to." Hindbad stepped out into the warm night. Above the roofs of Baghdad the stars glowed, bright as diamonds from a faraway valley.
14The End
