On the 556th Night

"Sindbaad started the account of his fifth voyage - "Listen to the account of my fifth voyage now. After coming back from my fourth voyage, I lived in Bagadaad for some time making merriment and joy; but then after some time my mind again started wandering for a voyage. So I again bought enough goods appropriate for my voyage, came to the city of Basaraa, and saw a handsome ship so I bought it. I hired a Master, sailors, over whom I set my black slaves and my pages as superintendents. When I had embarked in it, a company of merchants came and embarked the ship with its goods. We set sails in the utmost joy and happiness. We sailed from island to island, from sea to sea, from city to city, sometimes landing, sometimes trading until we came to a large uninhabited, deserted, desolate island.

This island was not inhabited, but on it was an enormous white dome, this white dome was the egg of a huge Rukh. They left me on the ship and they themselves started examining that white dome because they did not know it was the egg of the Rukh, so they struck it with stones. It broke and a great quantity of liquid came out of it, and a young Rukh also appeared within it. They pulled it out of the egg and killed it and took abundance of meat from it.

Since I was in the ship I did not know what they did and they did not tell me about what they were they doing. In the meantime a passenger came to me and said - "O Master, Come and look at an egg which we imagined first be a dome." I herefore arose and took a view of it and found the merchants striking the egg. I called out to them - "Do not do this, the Rukh will come out and destroy our ship and us," but they would not hear me.

As they were doing this, the Sun became hidden from us, the day became dark, there came cloud; and we saw a large Rukh bird coming down to the earth. When it came down and saw its egg broken, it cried at us. The then the male Rukh also came down and both flew in circles over the ship, so I called out to the Master and the sailors of the ship to push off the vessel seek safety before we perish. So the Master hastened, the merchants embarked, he loosened the ship and we departed from that island.

When the Rukh saw that we have moved from the island, they followed us with a huge mass of rocks in their claws. The male bird threw the rocks on the ship but the master of the ship steered away the ship so fast that it missed the shop by a little space. Then it descended into the sea by the ship, so the ship went up and down because of the plunge of the bird, and we could see the bottom of the sea. Then the female threw the rock she brought with her on our ship, it fell upon the stern of the ship and crushed it into 20 pieces; and all was in that ship submerged into the sea.

I saved myself placing myself on a plank of the ship. The vessel had sunk near an island in the midst of the sea; and Destiny cast me on that island. So I landed upon that island but I was like a dead person. I laid there for a while until I felt able to walk, then I got up and walked along the island. The island was like a garden of Paradise. There were ripe fruits, rivers of sweet water and numerous birds were chirping around. I ate fruits and drank cool water." Now Shaharzaad saw morning broke and stopped her story.

On the 557th Night

Next night she resumed her story - "Sindbaad continued his story - "I landed upon an island where water, fruits were in abundance, so I ate fruits and drank cool water to my satisfaction. I thanked Allaah to save me again. I sat there till evening fell and night approached, so I rose but I was very tired and I did not see any human being there.

I slept there until morning without interruption, then again started walking around. I saw an old man sitting at a streamlet, he had covered his body only down the waist with the leaves of trees. I thought that this man was also like me who has landed here after his ship wrecked so I saluted him. He replied my salutation through a sign without speaking. I asked him why was he sitting like that. He said to me through sign that I should carry him on my shoulder to the other side of the streamlet. So I took him to the other side of the streamlet thinking that Allaah will give me reward for this kindness to him.

When I came to the other side of the streamlet, I asked him to descend from my shoulders but he wouldn't descend. He had twisted his legs around my neck. I looked at his legs, and I noticed that they were very black and rough. I got frightened and desired to throw him down, but he wouldn't leave me and he started squeezing my neck. The darkness came to my eyes, I suffered violent pain and I fell down unconscious. When I came to my senses, he made a sign to me to carry him in among the trees to the best of the fruits. When I disobeyed him, he inflicted me with his feet and blew more violently than those of whips, so I had to obey him.

So we went into the midst of the island, among the trees, but still he did not descend from my shoulders by night or by day. When he wanted to sleep, he wound his legs around my neck and slept a little, otherwise he would beat me. I said to myself, "I did good to this man, and he proved evil to me, By Allaah, I will never do any good to anybody as long as I live."

Thus I carried him for a length of time, until one day, I carried him to a place where there were pumpkins in abundance. I took one, that was dry, opened its outer skin, cleansed it from inside, and filled it with the grape juice. I then closed its hole and kept it under the sun for a few days until it became pure wine, then I drank it everyday. It helped me to tolerate fatigue. One day he asked me what I was drinking and I told him that it was a good thing. Then I started dancing in intoxication. He also wanted to drink it, so I gave him the pumpkin and he also drank from it what remained in it, then he threw the pumpkin away. He also got intoxicated and started shaking on my shoulders. When I knew that he was intoxicated enough, I loosened his legs from my neck and threw him on the ground."

Shaharzaad saw the dawn of the day, so she stopped her story.

Contd on 9th Page