But a little time passed, and Sinbad again wanted to go to foreign countries. Sinbad quickly got ready and went to Basra. Again he chose a good ship, recruited a crew of sailors and set off.
His ship sailed for twenty days and twenty nights, driven by a fair wind. And on the twenty-first day a storm arose and heavy rain began to fall, which wet the packs of goods stacked on the deck. The ship began to toss from side to side like a feather. Sinbad and his companions were very frightened. They approached the captain and asked him:
- O captain, tell us where we are and how far is the land?
The ship's captain tightened his belt, climbed onto the mast and looked in all directions. And suddenly he quickly descended from the mast, tore off his turban and began to scream and cry loudly.
“Oh, captain, what’s the matter?” Sinbad asked him.
“Know,” answered the captain, “that our last hour has come.” The wind drove our ship away and threw it into an unknown sea. To every ship that reaches this sea, a fish comes out of the water and swallows it with everything that is on it.
Before he had time to finish these words, Sinbad’s ship began to rise and fall on the waves, and the travelers heard a terrible roar. And suddenly a fish swam up to the ship, like a high mountain, and behind it another, even larger than the first, and a third - so huge that the other two seemed tiny in front of it, and Sinbad stopped understanding what was happening and prepared to die.
And the third fish opened its mouth to swallow the ship and everyone who was on it, but suddenly a strong wind arose, the ship was lifted by a wave, and it rushed forward. The ship rushed for a long time, driven by the wind, and finally ran into a rocky shore and crashed. All the sailors and merchants fell into the water and drowned. Only Sinbad managed to cling to a rock sticking out of the water near the shore and get out onto land.
He looked around and saw that he was on an island where there were many trees, birds and flowers. Sinbad wandered around the island for a long time in search of fresh water and finally saw a small stream that flowed through a clearing overgrown with thick grass. Sinbad drank water from the stream and ate roots. Having rested a little, he followed the stream, and the stream led him to a large river, fast and stormy. On the banks of the river grew tall, spreading trees - tek, aloe and sandalwood.
Sinbad lay down under a tree and fell fast asleep. Waking up, he refreshed himself a little with fruits and roots, then went up to the river and stood on the bank, looking at its fast flow.
“This river,” he said to himself, “must have a beginning and an end. If I make a small raft and float on it along the river, the water might take me to some city.”
He collected thick twigs and branches from under the trees and tied them up, and on top he laid several boards - the wreckage of ships that had crashed off the coast. This made an excellent raft. Sinbad pushed the raft into the river, stood on it and swam. The current quickly carried the raft, and soon Sinbad saw a high mountain in front of him, in which the water had made a narrow passage. Sinbad wanted to stop the raft or turn it back, but the water was stronger than him and pulled the raft downhill. At first it was still light under the mountain, but the further the current carried the raft, the darker it became. Finally there was deep darkness. Suddenly Sinbad hit his head painfully on a stone. The passage became lower and narrower, and the raft rubbed its sides against the walls of the mountain. Soon Sinbad had to kneel down, then on all fours: the raft barely moved forward.
“What if he stops?” thought Sinbad. “What will I do then under this dark mountain?”
Sinbad did not feel that the current was pushing the raft forward.
He lay face down on the boards and closed his eyes - it seemed to him that the walls of the mountain were about to crush him along with his raft.
He lay there for a long time, expecting death every minute, and finally fell asleep, weakened from excitement and fatigue.
When he woke up, it was light and the raft stood motionless. He was tied to a long stick stuck into the bottom of the river near the bank. And on the shore there was a crowd of people. They pointed their fingers at Sinbad and spoke loudly to each other in some incomprehensible language.
Seeing that Sinbad had woken up, the people on the shore parted, and a tall old man with a long gray beard, dressed in an expensive robe, came out of the crowd. He said something friendly to Sinbad, holding out his hand, but Sinbad shook his head several times as a sign that he did not understand, and said:
— What kind of people are you and what is the name of your country?
Then everyone on the shore shouted: “Arab, Arab!”, and another old man, dressed even more elegantly than the first, approached the water itself and said to Sinbad in pure Arabic:
- Peace be with you, stranger! Who will you be and where do you come from? For what reason did you come to us and how did you find your way?
- Who are you and what kind of land is this?
“Oh my brother,” answered the old man, “we are peaceful farmers.” We came for water to water our crops, and we saw that you were sleeping on the raft, and then we caught your raft and tied it to our shore. Tell me where are you from and why did you come to us?
“Oh, sir,” answered Sinbad, “I ask you, give me something to eat and give me something to drink, and then ask me whatever you want.”
“Come with me to my house,” said the old man.
He took Sinbad to his home, fed him, and Sinbad lived with him for several days. And one morning the old man said to him:
“Oh my brother, would you like to go with me to the river bank and sell your goods?”
“What kind of goods do I have?” Sinbad thought, but still decided to go with the old man to the river.
“We will take your goods to the market,” the old man continued, “and if they give you a good price for it, you will sell it, and if not, you will keep it for yourself.”
“Okay,” said Sinbad and followed the old man. Arriving at the river bank, he looked at the place where his raft was tied and saw that there was no raft.
- Where is my raft on which I sailed to you? - he asked the old man.
“Here,” the old man answered and pointed his finger at a pile of sticks dumped on the shore. “This is your product, and there is nothing more expensive than it in our countries.” Know that your raft was knitted from pieces of precious wood.
“How can I return from here to my homeland in Baghdad if I don’t have a raft?” said Sinbad. “No, I won’t sell it.”
“Oh, my friend,” said the old man, “forget about Baghdad and your homeland.” We can't let you go. If you return to your country, you will tell people about our land, and they will come and conquer us. Don't think about leaving. Live with us and be our guest until you die, and we will sell your raft at the market, and for it they will give you enough food to last you a lifetime.
And poor Sinbad found himself a prisoner on the island. He sold the branches from which his raft was knitted in the market, and received many precious goods for them. But this did not please Sinbad. All he could think about was how to return to his homeland.
He lived for many days in the city on an island with an old man; He made many friends among the inhabitants of the island. And then one day Sinbad went out for a walk and saw that the streets of the city were empty. He did not meet a single man - only children and women came across him on the road.
Sinbad stopped one boy and asked him:
-Where have all the men who live in the city gone? Or are you at war?
“No,” the boy answered, “we are not at war.” Don't you know that every year all the big men on our island grow wings and fly away from the island? And after six days they return, and their wings fall off.
Indeed, after six days all the men returned again, and life in the city continued as before.
Sinbad also really wanted to fly through the air. When another eleven months had passed, Sinbad decided to ask one of his friends to take him with them. But no matter how much he asked, no one agreed. Only his best friend, a coppersmith from the main city market, finally decided to fulfill Sinbad’s request and told him:
- At the end of this month, come to the mountain near the city gates. I will wait for you at this mountain and take you with me.
On the appointed day, Sinbad came to the mountain early in the morning. The coppersmith was already waiting for him there. Instead of arms, he had wide wings of shiny white feathers.
He ordered Sinbad to sit on his back and said:
- Now I will fly with you over the lands, mountains and seas. But remember the condition that I will tell you: while we are flying, be silent and do not utter a single word. If you open your mouth, we'll both die.
“Okay,” said Sinbad. “I will be silent.” He climbed onto the coppersmith's shoulders, and he opened his wings and flew high into the air. He flew for a long time, rising higher and higher, and the earth below seemed to Sinbad no larger than a cup thrown into the sea. And Sinbad could not resist and exclaimed:
- What a miracle!
Before he had time to utter these words, the wings of the bird-man hung limply and he began to slowly fall down.
Luckily for Sinbad, at that time they were just flying over some big river. Therefore, Sinbad did not crash, but only hurt himself on the water. But the coppersmith, his friend, had a bad time. The feathers on his wings became wet, and he sank like a stone.
Sinbad managed to swim to the shore and go onto land. He took off his wet clothes, wrung them out and looked around, not knowing where on earth he was. And suddenly, from behind a stone lying on the road, a snake crawled out, holding in its mouth a man with a long gray beard. This man waved his arms and shouted loudly:
- Save me! To the one who saves me, I will give half of my wealth!
Without thinking twice, Sinbad picked up a heavy stone from the ground and threw it at the snake. The stone broke the snake in half, and it released its victim from its mouth. The man ran up to Sinbad and exclaimed, crying with joy:
- Who are you, oh good stranger? Tell me what your name is so that my children will know who saved their father.
“My name is Sinbad the Sailor,” answered Sinbad. “And you?” What is your name and what land are we in?
“My name is Hassan the jeweler,” the man answered. “We are in the land of Egypt, not far from the glorious city of Cairo, and this river is the Nile.” Let's go to my house, I want to reward you for your good deed. I will give you half of my goods and money, and this is a lot, since I have been trading in the main market for fifty years and have long been a foreman of Cairo merchants.
Hasan the jeweler kept his word and gave Sinbad half of his money and goods. Other jewelers also wanted to reward Sinbad for saving their foreman, and Sinbad ended up with more money and jewelry than he had ever had before. He bought the best Egyptian goods, loaded all his wealth onto camels and left Cairo for Baghdad.
After a long journey, he returned to his hometown, where they no longer hoped to see him alive.
Sinbad's wife and friends calculated how many years he had been traveling, and it turned out to be twenty-seven years.
“It’s enough for you to travel to foreign countries,” his wife said to Sinbad. “Stay with us and don’t leave anymore.”
Everyone tried to persuade Sinbad so much that he finally agreed and swore an oath not to travel again. For a long time, Baghdad merchants came to him to listen to stories about his amazing adventures, and he lived happily until death came to him.
This is all that has reached us about the travels of Sinbad the Sailor.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru