Arabian Nights (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)

“As I plainly saw that the caliph had resolved on my going, I signified to him that I was ready to obey his commands. He seemed much pleased, and ordered me a thousand sequins to pay the expenses of the voyage.

“In a few days I was prepared for my departure; and as soon as I had received the presents from the caliph, together with a letter written with his own hand, I set off and took the route of Balsora, from whence I embarked. After a pleasant voyage, I arrived at the island of Serendid. I immediately acquainted the ministers with the commission I had come to execute, and begged them to procure me an audience as soon as possible.

“The monarch immediately recollected me, and evinced great joy at my visit. ‘Welcome, Sindbad,’ said he; ‘I assure you I have often thought of you since your departure. Blessed be this day in which I see you again.’ I made a suitable reply to this compliment; and after thanking the king for his kindness, I delivered the letter and present of the caliph, which he received with every mark of satisfaction and pleasure.

“The caliph sent him a complete bed of gold tissue, estimated at a thousand sequins, fifty robes of a very rare stuff, a hundred more of white linen, the finest that could be procured from Cairo, Suez, Cufa,^v and Alexandria; a bed of crimson, and another of a different pattern and colour. Besides this, he sent a vase of agate, greater in width than in depth, of the thickness of a finger—on the sides there was sculptured in bas-relief a man kneeling on the ground, and in his hand a bow and arrow, with which he was going to shoot at a lion; and a richly ornamented table, which was supposed from tradition to have belonged to the great Solomon. The letter of the caliph ran thus:—

“ ‘HEALTH, IN THE NAME OF THE SOVEREIGN GUIDE OF THE
RIGHT ROAD, TO THE POWERFUL
AND HAPPY SULTAN, FROM THE PART OF ABDALLA
HAROUN ALRASCHID, WHOM
GOD HAS PLACED ON THE THRONE OF HONOUR, AFTER HIS
ANCESTORS OF HAPPY MEMORY.

“ ‘We have received your letter with joy; and we send you this, proceeding from our council, the garden of superior minds. We hope that in casting your eyes over it you will perceive our good intention, and think it agreeable. Farewell.’

“The King of Serendid was rejoiced to find that the caliph reciprocated his own feelings of friendship. Soon after this audience I requested another, that I might ask leave to depart, which I had some difficulty to obtain. At length I succeeded, and the king at my departure ordered me a very handsome present. I re-embarked immediately, intending to return to Baghdad; but had not the good fortune to arrive so soon as I expected, for Allah had disposed it otherwise.

“Three or four days after we had set sail we were attacked by corsairs, who easily made themselves masters of our vessel, as we were not in a state for defence. Some persons in the ship attempted to make resistance, but their boldness cost them ther lives. I and all those who had the prudence to submit quietly to the corsairs were made slaves. After they had stripped us, and clothed us in rags instead of our own garments, they bent their course towards a distant island, where they sold us.

“I was purchased by a rich merchant, who brought me to his house, gave me food to eat, and clothed me as a slave. Some days after, as he was not well informed who I was, he asked me if I knew any trade. I replied that I was not an artisan, but a merchant by profession, and that the corsairs who had sold me had taken from me all I possessed. ‘But tell me,’ said he, “do you think you could shoot with a bow and arrow?’ I replied, that I had practised that sport in my youth, and that I had not entirely lost my skill. He then gave me a bow and some arrows, and making me mount behind him on an elephant, he took me to a vast forest at the distance of some hours’ journey from the city. We went a great way into the forest, till the merchant came to a spot where he wished to stop, and made me alight. Then he showed me a large tree. ‘Get up in that tree,’ said he, ‘and shoot at the elephants that pass under it; for there are many of those animals in this forest: if one should fall, come and let me know.’ Thereupon he left me some provisions, and returned to the city. I remained in the tree on the watch the whole night.

“During the first night no elephants came; but the next day, as soon as the sun had risen, a great number made their appearance. I shot many arrows at them, and at last one fell. The others immediately retired, and left me at liberty to go and inform my master of the success I had met with. To reward me for this good intelligence, he regaled me with an excellent repast, and praised my address. We then returned together to the forest, where we dug a pit to bury the elephant I had killed. It was my master’s intention to let the carcase rot in the earth, and then to take possession of the teeth.

“I continued my new occupation for two months; and not a day passed in which I did not kill an elephant. I did not always place myself on the same tree; sometimes I ascended one, sometimes another. One morning, when I was waiting for some elephants to pass, I perceived, to my great astonishment, that instead of traversing the forest as usual, they stopped and came towards me with a terrible noise, and in such numbers that the ground was covered with them and trembled under their footsteps. They approached the tree in which I had stationed myself, and surrounded it with their trunks extended, and their eyes all fixed upon me. At this surprising spectacle I remained motionless, and was so unnerved that my bow and arrows fell from my hands.

“My terror was not groundless. After the elephants had viewed me for some time, one of the largest twisted his trunk round the body of the tree, and shook it with so much violence, that he tore it up by the roots and threw it on the ground. I fell with the tree; but the animal took me up with his trunk, and placed me on his shoulders, where I lay extended more dead than alive. The huge beast now put himself at the head of his companions, who followed him in a troop, and he carried me to a retired spot, where he set me down, and then went away with the rest. I thought it a dream.

“At length, after I had waited some time, seeing no other elephants, I arose, and perceived that I was on a little hill of some extent, entirely covered with bones and teeth of elephants. I now felt certain that this was their cemetery or place of burial; and that they had brought me hither to show it me, that I might desist from destroying them, as I took their lives merely for the sake of possessing their teeth. I did not stay long on the hill, but turned my steps towards the city, and, after walking for a day and a night, at last arrived at my master’s. I did not meet any elephant. They had gone farther into the forest, to leave me an unobstructed passage from the hill.

“As soon as my master saw me, he exclaimed, ‘Ah, poor Sindbad! I was anxious to know what could have become of you. I have been to the forest, and found a tree newly torn up by the roots, and your bow and arrows on the ground; after seeking you everywhere in vain, I despaired of ever seeing you again. Pray tell me what has happened to you, and by what fortunate chance you are still alive.’ I satisfied his curiosity; and the following day he accompanied me to the hill, and with great joy convinced himself of the truth of my history. We loaded the elephant on which we had come with as many teeth as it could carry, and when we returned my master thus addressed me:—‘Brother—for I will no longer treat you as a slave, after the discovery you have imparted to me, and which cannot fail to enrich me—may God pour on you all sorts of blessings and prosperity! Before him I give you your liberty. I had concealed from you what I am now going to relate. The elephants of our forest destroy annually a great number of slaves, whom we send in search of ivory. Whatever advice we give them, they are sure, sooner or later, to lose their lives by the wiles of these animals. Providence has delivered you from their fury, and has conferred this mercy on you alone. It is a sign that you are especially protected, and that you are required in this world to be of use to mankind. You have procured me a surprising advantage: we have not hitherto been able to get ivory without risking the lives of our slaves, and now our whole city will be enriched by your means. I intend to give you considerable presents. I might easily move the whole city to join me in making your fortune, but that is a pleasure I will keep for myself alone.’

“To this obliging discourse I replied:—‘Master, may Allah preserve you! The liberty you grant me acquits you of all obligation towards me; and the only recompense I desire for the service I have had the good fortune to perform for you and the inhabitants of your city, is permission to return to my country.’ ‘Well,’ he replied, ‘the monsoon will soon bring us vessels, which come to be laden with ivory. I will then send you away, with a sufficient sum to pay your expenses home.’ I again thanked him for the liberty he had given me, and for the good-will he showed me. I remained with him till the season for the monsoon, and during this interval we made frequent excursions to the hill, and filled his magazines with ivory. All the other merchants in the city filled their warehouses likewise, for my discovery did not long remain a secret.

“The ships at length arrived, and my master having chosen the one in which I was to embark, loaded it with ivory, making over half the cargo to me. He did not omit an abundance of provisions for my voyage, and he also obliged me to accept some rare curiosities of his country. After I had thanked him as much as possible for all the obligations he had conferred on me, I embarked.

“We touched at several islands to procure supplies. Our vessel having originally sailed from a port of the mainland of India, we touched there; and, fearful of the dangers of the sea to Balsora, I took out of the ship the ivory which belonged to me, and resolved to continue my journey by land. I sold my share of the cargo for a large sum of money, and purchased a variety of curious things for presents: when I had finished my preparations, I joined a caravan of merchants. I remained a long time on the road, and suffered a great deal; but I bore all with patience, when I reflected that I had to fear neither tempests nor corsairs, serpents, nor any other peril that I had before encountered.

“All these fatigues being at last surmounted, I arrived happily at Baghdad. I went immediately and presented myself to the caliph, and gave him an account of my embassy. The caliph told me that my long absence had occasioned him some uneasiness, but that he always hoped that Allah would not forsake me.

“When I related the adventure of the elephants he appeared much surprised, and would scarcely have believed it had not my truthfulness been well known to him. He thought this, as well as the other histories I had detailed to him, so curious that he ordered one of his secretaries to write it in letters of gold, for preservation in his treasury. I retired well satisfied with the presents and honours he conferred on me; and then resigned myself entirely to my family, my relations, and friends.”

“Sindbad thus concluded the recital of his seventh and last voyage; and, addressing himself to Hindbad, added: ‘Well, my friend, have you ever heard of one who has suffered more than I have, or been in so many trying situations? Is it not just, that after so many troubles I should enjoy an agreeable and quiet life?’ As he finished these words, Hindbad approaching him, kissed his hand, and said, ‘I must confess that you have encountered frightful perils; my afflictions are not to be compared with yours. If my troubles weigh heavily upon me at the time I suffer them, I can still enjoy the small profit my labours produce. You not only deserve a quiet life, but are worthy of all the riches you possess, since you make so good a use of them, and are so generous. May you continue to live happily till the hour of your death!’

“Sindbad caused Hindbad to receive another hundred sequins. He admitted him to his friendship, told him to quit the calling of a porter, and to continue to eat at his table, that he might all his life have reason to remember Sindbad the Sailor.”

The Sultan of the Indies could not but admire the astonishing memory of the sultana his consort, whose stock of tales seemed inexhaustible, and who had thus continued to furnish fresh amusement every night for a long period.

A thousand and one nights had passed in this innocent amusement, and the lapse of time had very much tended to diminish the cruel pre-possession and prejudice of the sultan against the fidelity of all wives. His mind had become softened, and he was convinced of the great merit and good sense of the Sultana Scheherazade. He well recollected the courage with which she voluntarily exposed herself to destruction, in becoming his queen, without at all dreading the death to which she knew she was destined, like those who had preceded her.

The sultan pardons Scheherazade.

These considerations, added to his experience of the excellent qualities which he found she possessed, at last urged him absolutely to pardon her. “I am well aware,” he said, “O amiable Scheherazade, that it is impossible to exhaust your store of those pleasant and amusing tales with which you have so long entertained me. You have at length appeased my anger, and I freely revoke in your favour the cruel law I had promulgated. I receive you entirely into my favour, and wish you to be considered as the preserver of many ladies, who would, but for you, have been sacrificed to my just resentment.”

The sultana threw herself at his feet, which she embraced most tenderly, and gave every sign of the most heart-felt and lively gratitude.

The grand vizier heard the delightful intelligence from the sultan himself. It was immediately reported through the city and different provinces; and it brought down upon the heads of Sultan Schahriar and his amiable Sultana Scheherazade, the heart-felt praises and grateful blessings of all the people of the empire of the Indies.