A little time passed, and Sinbad again became bored with living in his beautiful house in the City of Peace. Anyone who has ever sailed on the sea, who is used to falling asleep to the howling and whistling of the wind, cannot sit on solid ground.
And then one day he had to go on business to Basra, where he began his travels more than once. He again saw this rich, cheerful city, where the sky is always so blue and the sun shines so brightly, he saw ships with high masts and multi-colored sails, he heard the screams of sailors unloading strange overseas goods from the holds, and he wanted to travel so much that he immediately decided to get ready for the journey.
Ten days later, Sinbad was already sailing the sea on a large, strong ship loaded with goods. There were several other merchants with him, and the ship was led by an old, experienced captain with a large team of sailors.
Sinbad's ship sailed on the open sea for two days and two nights, and on the third day, when the sun was just above the heads of the travelers, a small rocky island appeared in the distance. The captain ordered to head to this island, and when the ship approached its shores, everyone saw that in the middle of the island there rose a huge dome, white and sparkling, with a sharp top. Sinbad at this time was sleeping on the deck in the shade of the sail.
- Hey, captain! Stop the ship!” Sinbad’s companions shouted.
The captain ordered to drop anchor, and all the merchants and sailors jumped ashore. When the ship anchored, the shock woke Sinbad, and he went out to the middle of the deck to see why the ship stopped. And suddenly he saw that all the merchants and sailors were standing around a huge white dome and trying to break through it with crowbars and hooks.
- Don't do this! You will die! - Sinbad shouted.
He immediately realized that this dome was the egg of the Rukh bird, the same as the one he saw on his first trip. If the Rukh bird flies in and sees that it has been defeated, all the sailors and merchants will inevitably die.
But Sinbad's comrades did not listen to him and began to hit him in the ball even harder. Finally the shell cracked. Water poured out of the egg. Then a long beak appeared from it, followed by a head and paws: there was a chick in the egg. If the egg had not been broken, it probably would have hatched soon.
The sailors grabbed the chick, fried it and began to eat it. Only Sinbad did not touch his meat. He ran around his comrades and shouted:
- Finish it quickly, otherwise Rukh will fly in and kill you! And suddenly a loud whistle and deafening flapping of wings were heard in the air. The merchants looked up and rushed to the ship. The Ruhkh bird flew right above their heads. Two huge snakes wriggled in her claws. Seeing that her egg was broken, the Rukh bird screamed so loudly that people fell to the ground out of fear and buried their heads in the sand. The bird released its prey from its claws, circled in the air and disappeared from sight. The merchants and sailors rose to their feet and ran towards the sea. They raised the anchor, spread the sails and swam as quickly as possible to escape the terrible bird Ruhkh.
The monstrous bird was not visible, and the travelers began to calm down, but suddenly the flapping of wings was heard again, and the Rukh bird appeared in the distance, but not alone. Another similar bird flew with her, even larger and more terrible than the first. It was a male Ruhkh. Each bird carried a huge stone in its talons - an entire rock.
Sinbad's comrades ran around the deck, not knowing where to hide from the angry birds. Some lay down on the deck, others hid behind the masts, and the captain stood motionless in place, raising his hands to the sky. He was so frightened that he could not move.
Suddenly there was a terrible blow, like a shot from the largest cannon, and waves rolled across the sea. It was one of the birds that threw a stone, but missed. Seeing this, the second Rukh screamed loudly and released his stone from his claws right above the ship. A stone fell on the stern. The ship crackled pitifully, tilted, straightened up again, tossed by a wave, and began to sink. The waves flooded the deck and carried away all the merchants and sailors. Only Sinbad survived. He grabbed the ship's plank with his hand and, when the waves subsided, climbed onto it.
For two days and three nights Sinbad rushed across the sea, and finally, on the third day, the waves washed him to an unknown land. Sinbad climbed ashore and looked around. It seemed to him that he was not on an island in the middle of the sea, but at home, in Baghdad, in his wonderful garden. His feet walked on soft green grass dotted with colorful flowers. The branches of the trees bent from the weight of the fruit. Round sparkling oranges, fragrant lemons, pomegranates, pears, apples seemed to be asking to be put into your mouth. Small colorful birds circled in the air with loud chirping sounds. Near the fast streams, shining like silver, gazelles jumped and played. They were not afraid of Sinbad because they had never seen people and did not know that they should be afraid.
Sinbad was so tired that he could barely stand on his feet. He drank water from the stream, lay down under a tree and picked a large apple from a branch, but did not even have time to bite off a single piece of it, and fell asleep holding the apple in his hand.
When he woke up, the sun was high again and the birds were chirping just as happily in the trees: Sinbad slept all day and all night. Only now did he feel how hungry he was, and greedily attacked the fruits.
Having refreshed himself a little, he got up and walked along the shore. He wanted to explore this wonderful land, and he hoped to meet people who would lead him to some city.
Sinbad walked for a long time along the shore. But I didn’t see a single person. Finally, he decided to rest a little and turned into a small forest, where it was cooler.
And suddenly he sees: under a tree, by the stream, sitting a small man with a long wavy gray beard, dressed in a shirt made of leaves and belted with grass. This old man sat near the water, legs crossed, and looked pitifully at Sinbad.
“Peace be with you, oh old man!” said Sinbad. “Who are you and what is this island?” Why are you sitting alone by this stream?
The old man did not answer Sinbad a single word, but showed him with signs: “Carry me across the stream.”
Sinbad thought: “If I carry him across the stream, nothing bad will come from it, and it never hurts to do a good deed. Maybe the old man will show me how to find people on the island who will help me get to Baghdad.”
And he went up to the old man, put him on his shoulders and carried him across the stream.
On the other side, Sinbad knelt down and said to the old man:
- Get down, we've already arrived.
But the old man only clung to him tighter and wrapped his legs around his neck.
“How long will you sit on my shoulders, you nasty old man?” Sinbad shouted and wanted to throw the old man to the ground.
And suddenly the old man laughed loudly and squeezed Sinbad’s neck with his legs so much that he almost suffocated.
“Woe is me!” exclaimed Sinbad. “I escaped from the ogre, outwitted the snake and forced Rukh to carry me, and now I myself will have to carry this nasty old man!” Just let him fall asleep, I’ll drown him in the sea right now! And it won't be long until evening.
But evening came, and the old man did not even think of getting off Sinbad’s neck. He fell asleep on his shoulders and only unclenched his legs a little. And when Sinbad tried to quietly push him off his back, the old man grumbled in his sleep and hit Sinbad painfully with his heels. His legs were thin and long, like whips.
And the unfortunate Sinbad turned into a pack camel.
All day long he had to run with the old man on his back from one tree to another and from stream to stream. If he walked more quietly, the old man brutally kicked him on the sides with his heels and squeezed his neck with his knees.
So a lot of time passed - a month or more.
And then one day at noon, when the sun was especially hot, the old man fell fast asleep on Sinbad's shoulders, and Sinbad decided to rest somewhere under a tree. He began to look for a shady place and came out into a clearing in which many large pumpkins grew; some of them were dry. Sinbad was very happy when he saw the pumpkins.
“They will probably be useful to me,” he thought. “Maybe they will even help me throw off this cruel old man.”
He immediately selected several larger pumpkins and hollowed them out with a sharp stick. Then he picked the ripest grapes, filled the pumpkins with them and sealed them tightly with leaves. He put the pumpkins in the sun and left the clearing, dragging the old man on him. He did not return to the clearing for three days. On the fourth day, Sinbad again came to his pumpkins (the old man, as before, slept on his shoulders) and took out the plugs with which he plugged the pumpkins. A strong smell hit his nose: the grapes began to ferment, and their juice turned into wine. This was all Sinbad needed. He carefully removed the grapes and squeezed the juice directly into the pumpkins, then resealed them and placed them in the shade. Now we had to wait for the old man to wake up.
Sinbad never wanted so much to wake up quickly. Finally the old man began to fidget on Sinbad's shoulders and kicked him. Then Sinbad took the largest pumpkin, uncorked it and drank a little.
The wine was strong and sweet. Sinbad clicked his tongue with pleasure and began to dance in one place, shaking the old man. And the old man saw that Sinbad had drunk something tasty, and he also wanted to try it. “Give it to me too,” he motioned to Sinbad.
Sinbad handed him a pumpkin, and the old man drank all the juice from it in one breath. He had never tried wine before and really liked it. Soon he began to sing and laugh, clapped his hands and pounded his fist on Sinbad's neck.
But then the old man began to sing quieter and quieter and finally fell fast asleep, hanging his head on his chest. His legs gradually unclenched, and Sinbad easily threw him off his back. How pleasant it seemed to Sinbad to finally straighten his shoulders and straighten up!
Sinbad left the old man and wandered around the island all day. He lived on the island for many more days and kept walking along the seashore, looking for a sail to appear somewhere. And finally he saw in the distance a large ship that was approaching the island. Sinbad screamed with joy and began to run back and forth and wave his arms, and when the ship came closer, Sinbad rushed to the water and swam towards him. The ship's captain noticed Sinbad and ordered his ship to stop. Sinbad, like a cat, climbed on board and at first could not say a single word, he only hugged the captain and sailors and cried with joy. The sailors spoke loudly among themselves, but Sinbad did not understand them. There was not a single Arab among them, and none of them spoke Arabic. They fed and clothed Sinbad and gave him a place in their cabin. And Sinbad rode with them for many days and nights, until the ship landed at some city.
It was a large city with tall white houses and wide streets. It was surrounded on all sides by steep mountains covered with dense forest.
Sinbad went ashore and went to wander around the city.
The streets and squares were full of people; all the people that Sinbad came across were black, with white teeth and red lips. On a large square was the main city market. There were many shops there, in which merchants from all countries - Persians, Indians, Franks, Turks, Chinese - traded, praising their goods.
Sinbad stood in the middle of the market and looked around. And suddenly a man in a robe, with a large white turban on his head, walked past him and stopped at the coppersmith’s shop. Sinbad looked at him carefully and said to himself:
“This man has exactly the same robe as my friend Hadji Mohammed from Red Street, and his turban is folded our way. I’ll go to him and ask if he’s from Baghdad.”
Meanwhile, the man in the turban chose a large shiny basin and a jug with a long narrow neck, gave the coppersmith two gold dinars for them and went back. When he caught up with Sinbad, he bowed low to him and said:
- Peace be with you, oh venerable merchant! Tell me where you come from - isn't it Baghdad, the City of Peace?
“Hello, fellow countryman!” the merchant answered joyfully. “From the way you speak, I immediately knew that you were a Baghdadian.” I have been living in this city for ten years now and until now I have never heard Arabic spoken. Let's come to me and talk about Baghdad, about its gardens and squares.
The merchant hugged Sinbad tightly and pressed him to his chest. He took Sinbad to his home, gave him food and drink, and they talked about Baghdad and its wonders until the evening. Sinbad was so pleased to remember his homeland that he did not even ask the Baghdad resident what his name was and the name of the city in which he was now located. And when it began to get dark, the Baghdad man said to Sinbad:
- O fellow countryman, I want to save your life and make you rich. Listen to me carefully and do everything I tell you. Know that this city is called the City of Blacks and all its inhabitants are Zinj (as the Arabs called black Africans). They live in their houses only during the day, and in the evening they get into boats and go out to sea. As soon as night falls, monkeys come into the city from the forest and if they meet people on the street, they kill them. And in the morning the monkeys leave again, and the Zinj return. Soon it will become completely dark and the monkeys will come to the city. Get into the boat with me and let's go, otherwise the monkeys will kill you.
“Thank you, fellow countryman!” exclaimed Sinbad. “Tell me what your name is, so that I know who showed me mercy.”
“My name is Mansur Flat-nosed,” answered the Baghdadi. “Let’s go quickly if you don’t want to fall into the clutches of the monkeys.”
Sinbad and Mansur left the house and went to the sea. All the streets were full of people. Men, women and children ran towards the pier, hurrying, stumbling and falling.
Arriving at the harbor, Mansur untied his boat and jumped into it with Sinbad. They drove a little away from the shore, and Mansur said:
- Now the monkeys will enter the city. Look!
And suddenly the mountains surrounding the City of Blacks were covered with moving lights. The lights rolled from top to bottom and became bigger and bigger. Finally they approached the city completely, and monkeys appeared in a large square, carrying torches in their front paws, illuminating the way.
The monkeys scattered around the market, sat down in the shops and began to trade. Some sold, others bought. In taverns, monkey cooks fried sheep, cooked rice and baked bread. The buyers, also monkeys, tried on clothes, chose dishes, fabrics, quarreled and fought among themselves. This continued until dawn; when the sky in the east began to lighten, the monkeys formed ranks and left the city, and the inhabitants returned to their homes.
Mansur Flatnose brought Sinbad to his home and told him:
“I’ve been living in the City of Blacks for a long time, and I’m homesick.” Soon you and I will go to Baghdad, but first you need to make more money so that you won’t be ashamed to return home. Listen to what I tell you. The mountains around the City of Blacks are covered with forest. This forest contains many palm trees with beautiful coconuts. The Zinj are very fond of these nuts and are ready to give a lot of gold and precious stones for each of them. But the palm trees in the forest are so tall that no one can reach the nuts, and no one knows how to get them. And I will teach you. Tomorrow we will go to the forest, and you will return from there a rich man.
The next morning, as soon as the monkeys left the city, Mansur took two large heavy bags from the storeroom, put one of them on his shoulders, and ordered Sinbad to carry the other and said:
- Follow me and see what I will do. Do the same, and you will have more nuts than anyone else in this city.
Sinbad and Mansur went into the forest and walked for a very long time, an hour or two. Finally they stopped in front of a large palm grove. There were many monkeys here. Seeing the people, they climbed to the tops of the trees, bared their teeth fiercely and growled loudly. Sinbad was at first frightened and wanted to run, but Mansur stopped him and said:
- Untie your bag and see what is there. Sinbad untied the bag and saw that it was full of round, smooth stones - pebbles. Mansur also untied his bag, took out a handful of pebbles and threw them at the monkeys. The monkeys screamed even louder and began jumping from one palm tree to another, trying to hide from the stones. But wherever they ran, Mansur’s stones reached them everywhere. Then the monkeys began to pick nuts from the palm trees and throw them at Sinbad and Mansur. Mansur and Sinbad ran between the palm trees, lay down, squatted, hid behind the trunks, and only one or two nuts thrown by the monkeys hit the target.
Soon the whole earth around them was covered with large, selected nuts. When there were no more stones left in the bags, Mansur and Sinbad filled them with nuts and returned to the city. They sold the nuts at the market and received so much gold and jewelry for them that they could barely bring them home.
The next day they went into the forest again and again picked the same number of nuts. So they walked into the forest for ten days.
Finally, when all the storerooms in Mansur's house were full and there was nowhere to put the gold, Mansur said to Sinbad:
“Now we can hire a ship and go to Baghdad.”
They went to the sea, chose the largest ship, filled its hold with gold and jewelry and sailed away. This time the wind was fair, and no trouble delayed them.
They arrived in Basra, hired a caravan of camels, loaded them with jewelry and set off for Baghdad.
His wife and relatives joyfully greeted Sinbad. Sinbad distributed a lot of gold and precious stones to his friends and acquaintances and lived quietly in his house. Again, as before, merchants began to come to him and listen to stories about what he saw and experienced during his travels.
Thus ended Sinbad's fifth journey.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru