Rich and happy as I was after my third
voyage, I could not make up my mind to stay at home
altogether. My love of trading, and the pleasure
I took in anything that was new and strange, made me
set my affairs in order, and begin my journey through
some of the Persian provinces, having first sent off
stores of goods to await my coming in the different
places I intended to visit. I took ship at a
distant seaport, and for some time all went well,
but at last, being caught in a violent hurricane,
our vessel became a total wreck in spite of all our
worthy captain could do to save her, and many of our
company perished in the waves. I, with a few
others, had the good fortune to be washed ashore clinging
to pieces of the wreck, for the storm had driven us
near an island, and scrambling up beyond the reach
of the waves we threw ourselves down quite exhausted,
to wait for morning.
At daylight we wandered inland, and
soon saw some huts, to which we directed our steps.
As we drew near their black inhabitants swarmed out
in great numbers and surrounded us, and we were led
to their houses, and as it were divided among our
captors. I with five others was taken into a
hut, where we were made to sit upon the ground, and
certain herbs were given to us, which the blacks made
signs to us to eat. Observing that they themselves
did not touch them, I was careful only to pretend
to taste my portion; but my companions, being very
hungry, rashly ate up all that was set before them,
and very soon I had the horror of seeing them become
perfectly mad. Though they chattered incessantly
I could not understand a word they said, nor did they
heed when I spoke to them. The savages now produced
large bowls full of rice prepared with cocoanut oil,
of which my crazy comrades ate eagerly, but I only
tasted a few grains, understanding clearly that the
object of our captors was to fatten us speedily for
their own eating, and this was exactly what happened.
My unlucky companions having lost their reason, felt
neither anxiety nor fear, and ate greedily all that
was offered them. So they were soon fat and there
was an end of them, but I grew leaner day by day,
for I ate but little, and even that little did me
no good by reason of my fear of what lay before me.
However, as I was so far from being a tempting morsel,
I was allowed to wander about freely, and one day,
when all the blacks had gone off upon some expedition
leaving only an old man to guard me, I managed to
escape from him and plunged into the forest, running
faster the more he cried to me to come back, until
I had completely distanced him.
For seven days I hurried on, resting
only when the darkness stopped me, and living chiefly
upon cocoanuts, which afforded me both meat and drink,
and on the eighth day I reached the seashore and saw
a party of white men gathering pepper, which grew
abundantly all about. Reassured by the nature
of their occupation, I advanced towards them and they
greeted me in Arabic, asking who I was and whence I
came. My delight was great on hearing this familiar
speech, and I willingly satisfied their curiosity,
telling them how I had been shipwrecked, and captured
by the blacks. “But these savages devour
men!” said they. “How did you escape?”
I repeated to them what I have just told you, at which
they were mightily astonished. I stayed with
them until they had collected as much pepper as they
wished, and then they took me back to their own country
and presented me to their king, by whom I was hospitably
received. To him also I had to relate my adventures,
which surprised him much, and when I had finished
he ordered that I should be supplied with food and
raiment and treated with consideration.
The island on which I found myself
was full of people, and abounded in all sorts of desirable
things, and a great deal of traffic went on in the
capital, where I soon began to feel at home and contented.
Moreover, the king treated me with special favour,
and in consequence of this everyone, whether at the
court or in the town, sought to make life pleasant
to me. One thing I remarked which I thought very
strange; this was that, from the greatest to the least,
all men rode their horses without bridle or stirrups.
I one day presumed to ask his majesty why he did
not use them, to which he replied, “You speak
to me of things of which I have never before heard!”
This gave me an idea. I found a clever workman,
and made him cut out under my direction the foundation
of a saddle, which I wadded and covered with choice
leather, adorning it with rich gold embroidery.
I then got a lock-smith to make me a bit and a pair
of spurs after a pattern that I drew for him, and
when all these things were completed I presented them
to the king and showed him how to use them.
When I had saddled one of his horses he mounted it
and rode about quite delighted with the novelty, and
to show his gratitude he rewarded me with large gifts.
After this I had to make saddles for all the principal
officers of the king’s household, and as they
all gave me rich presents I soon became very wealthy
and quite an important person in the city.
One day the king sent for me and said,
“Sindbad, I am going to ask a favour of you.
Both I and my subjects esteem you, and wish you to
end your days amongst us. Therefore I desire
that you will marry a rich and beautiful lady whom
I will find for you, and think no more of your own
country.”
As the king’s will was law I
accepted the charming bride he presented to me, and
lived happily with her. Nevertheless I had every
intention of escaping at the first opportunity, and
going back to Bagdad. Things were thus going
prosperously with me when it happened that the wife
of one of my neighbours, with whom I had struck up
quite a friendship, fell ill, and presently died.
I went to his house to offer my consolations, and
found him in the depths of woe.
“Heaven preserve you,”
said I, “and send you a long life!”
“Alas!” he replied, “what
is the good of saying that when I have but an hour
left to live!”
“Come, come!” said I,
“surely it is not so bad as all that. I
trust that you may be spared to me for many years.”
“I hope,” answered he,
“that your life may be long, but as for me, all
is finished. I have set my house in order, and
to-day I shall be buried with my wife. This
has been the law upon our island from the earliest
ages the living husband goes to the grave
with his dead wife, the living wife with her dead
husband. So did our fathers, and so must we
do. The law changes not, and all must submit
to it!”
As he spoke the friends and relations
of the unhappy pair began to assemble. The body,
decked in rich robes and sparkling with jewels, was
laid upon an open bier, and the procession started,
taking its way to a high mountain at some distance
from the city, the wretched husband, clothed from
head to foot in a black mantle, following mournfully.
When the place of interment was reached
the corpse was lowered, just as it was, into a deep
pit. Then the husband, bidding farewell to all
his friends, stretched himself upon another bier,
upon which were laid seven little loaves of bread
and a pitcher of water, and he also was let down-down-down
to the depths of the horrible cavern, and then a stone
was laid over the opening, and the melancholy company
wended its way back to the city.
You may imagine that I was no unmoved
spectator of these proceedings; to all the others
it was a thing to which they had been accustomed from
their youth up; but I was so horrified that I could
not help telling the king how it struck me.
“Sire,” I said, “I
am more astonished than I can express to you at the
strange custom which exists in your dominions of burying
the living with the dead. In all my travels
I have never before met with so cruel and horrible
a law.”
“What would you have, Sindbad?”
he replied. “It is the law for everybody.
I myself should be buried with the Queen if she were
the first to die.”
“But, your Majesty,” said
I, “dare I ask if this law applies to foreigners
also?”
“Why, yes,” replied the
king smiling, in what I could but consider a very
heartless manner, “they are no exception to the
rule if they have married in the country.”
When I heard this I went home much
cast down, and from that time forward my mind was
never easy. If only my wife’s little finger
ached I fancied she was going to die, and sure enough
before very long she fell really ill and in a few
days breathed her last. My dismay was great,
for it seemed to me that to be buried alive was even
a worse fate than to be devoured by cannibals, nevertheless
there was no escape. The body of my wife, arrayed
in her richest robes and decked with all her jewels,
was laid upon the bier. I followed it, and after
me came a great procession, headed by the king and
all his nobles, and in this order we reached the fatal
mountain, which was one of a lofty chain bordering
the sea.
Here I made one more frantic effort
to excite the pity of the king and those who stood
by, hoping to save myself even at this last moment,
but it was of no avail. No one spoke to me,
they even appeared to hasten over their dreadful task,
and I speedily found myself descending into the gloomy
pit, with my seven loaves and pitcher of water beside
me. Almost before I reached the bottom the stone
was rolled into its place above my head, and I was
left to my fate. A feeble ray of light shone
into the cavern through some chink, and when I had
the courage to look about me I could see that I was
in a vast vault, bestrewn with bones and bodies of
the dead. I even fancied that I heard the expiring
sighs of those who, like myself, had come into this
dismal place alive. All in vain did I shriek
aloud with rage and despair, reproaching myself for
the love of gain and adventure which had brought me
to such a pass, but at length, growing calmer, I took
up my bread and water, and wrapping my face in my
mantle I groped my way towards the end of the cavern,
where the air was fresher.
Here I lived in darkness and misery
until my provisions were exhausted, but just as I
was nearly dead from starvation the rock was rolled
away overhead and I saw that a bier was being lowered
into the cavern, and that the corpse upon it was a
man. In a moment my mind was made up, the woman
who followed had nothing to expect but a lingering
death; I should be doing her a service if I shortened
her misery. Therefore when she descended, already
insensible from terror, I was ready armed with a huge
bone, one blow from which left her dead, and I secured
the bread and water which gave me a hope of life.
Several times did I have recourse to this desperate
expedient, and I know not how long I had been a prisoner
when one day I fancied that I heard something near
me, which breathed loudly. Turning to the place
from which the sound came I dimly saw a shadowy form
which fled at my movement, squeezing itself through
a cranny in the wall. I pursued it as fast as
I could, and found myself in a narrow crack among
the rocks, along which I was just able to force my
way. I followed it for what seemed to me many
miles, and at last saw before me a glimmer of light
which grew clearer every moment until I emerged upon
the sea shore with a joy which I cannot describe.
When I was sure that I was not dreaming, I realised
that it was doubtless some little animal which had
found its way into the cavern from the sea, and when
disturbed had fled, showing me a means of escape which
I could never have discovered for myself. I hastily
surveyed my surroundings, and saw that I was safe from
all pursuit from the town.
The mountains sloped sheer down to
the sea, and there was no road across them.
Being assured of this I returned to the cavern, and
amassed a rich treasure of diamonds, rubies, emeralds,
and jewels of all kinds which strewed the ground.
These I made up into bales, and stored them into
a safe place upon the beach, and then waited hopefully
for the passing of a ship. I had looked out for
two days, however, before a single sail appeared,
so it was with much delight that I at last saw a vessel
not very far from the shore, and by waving my arms
and uttering loud cries succeeded in attracting the
attention of her crew. A boat was sent off to
me, and in answer to the questions of the sailors
as to how I came to be in such a plight, I replied
that I had been shipwrecked two days before, but had
managed to scramble ashore with the bales which I
pointed out to them. Luckily for me they believed
my story, and without even looking at the place where
they found me, took up my bundles, and rowed me back
to the ship. Once on board, I soon saw that
the captain was too much occupied with the difficulties
of navigation to pay much heed to me, though he generously
made me welcome, and would not even accept the jewels
with which I offered to pay my passage. Our
voyage was prosperous, and after visiting many lands,
and collecting in each place great store of goodly
merchandise, I found myself at last in Bagdad once
more with unheard of riches of every description.
Again I gave large sums of money to the poor, and
enriched all the mosques in the city, after which I
gave myself up to my friends and relations, with whom
I passed my time in feasting and merriment.
Here Sindbad paused, and all his hearers
declared that the adventures of his fourth voyage
had pleased them better than anything they had heard
before. They then took their leave, followed
by Hindbad, who had once more received a hundred sequins,
and with the rest had been bidden to return next day
for the story of the fifth voyage.
When the time came all were in their
places, and when they had eaten and drunk of all that
was set before them Sindbad began his tale.