THE FOURTH VOYAGE OF SINDBAD THE SEAMAN

KNOW, O my brethren, that after my return from my third voyage and
forgathering with my friends, and forgetting all my perils and

hardships in the enjoyment of ease and comfort and repose, I was
visited one day by a company of merchants who sat down with me and

talked of foreign travel and traffic till the old bad man within me
yearned to go with them and enjoy the sight of strange countries,

and I longed for the society of the various races of mankind and for
traffic and profit. So I resolved to travel with them and, buying

the necessaries for a long voyage and great store of costly goods,
more than ever before, transported them from Baghdad to Bassorah,

where I took ship with the merchants in question, who were of the
chief of the town. We set out, trusting in the blessing of Almighty

Allah, and with a favoring breeze and the best conditions we salled
from island to island and sea to sea till one day there arose

against us a contrary wind and the captain cast out his anchors and
brought the ship to a standstill, fearing lest she should founder in

midocean.
Then we all fell to prayer and humbling ourselves before the Most

High, but as we were thus engaged there smote us a furious squall
which tore the sails to rags and tatters. The anchor cable parted and,

the ship foundering, we were cast into the sea, goods and all. I
kept myself afloat by swimming half the day till, when I had given

myself up for lost, the Almighty threw in my way one of the planks
of the ship, whereon I and some others of the merchants scrambled and,

mounting it as we would a horse, paddled with our feet in the sea.
We abode thus a day and a night, the wind and waves helping us on, and

on the second day shortly before the midtime between sunrise and
noon the breeze freshened and the sea wrought and the rising waves

cast us upon an island, well-nigh dead bodies for weariness and want
of sleep, cold and hunger and fear and thirst. We walked about the

shore and found abundance of herbs, whereof we ate enough to keep
breath in body and to stay our failing spirits, then lay down and

slept till morning hard by the sea. And when morning came with its
sheen and shone, we arose and walked about the island to the right and

left till we came in sight of an inhabited house afar off. So we
made toward it, and ceased not walking till we reached the door

thereof when lo! a number of naked men issued from it, and without
saluting us or a word said, laid hold of us masterfully and carried us

to their King, who signed us to sit. So we sat down and they set
food before us such as we knew not and whose like we had never seen in

all our lives. My companions ate of it, for stress of hunger, but my
stomach revolted from it and I would not eat, and my refraining from

it was, by Allah's favor, the cause of my being alive till now. For no
sooner had my comrades tasted of it than their reason fled and their

condition changed and they began to devour it like madmen possessed of
an evil spirit. Then the savages give them to drink of coconut oil and

anointed them therewith, and straightway after drinking thereof
their eyes turned into their heads and they fell to eating greedily,

against their wont.
When I saw this, I was confounded, and concerned for them, nor was I

less anxious about myself, for fear of the naked folk. So I watched
them narrowly, and it was not long before I discovered them to be a

tribe of Magian cannibals whose King was a Ghul. All who came to their
country or whoso they caught in their valleys or on their roads they

brought to this King and fed them upon that food and anointed them
with that oil, whereupon their stomachs dilated that they might eat

largely, wilst their reason fled and they lost the power of thought
and became idiots. Then they stuffed them with coconut oil and the

aforesaid food till they became fat and gross, when they slaughtered
them by cutting their throats and roasted them for the King's

eating, but as for the savages themselves, they ate human flesh raw.
When I saw this, I was sore dismayed for myself and my comrades, who

were now become so stupefied that they knew not what was done with
them. And the naked folk committed them to one who used every day to

lead them out and pasture them on the island like cattle. And they
wandered amongst the trees and rested at will, thus waxing very fat.

As for me, I wasted away and became sickly for fear and hunger and
my flesh shriveled on my bones, which when the savages saw, they

left me alone and took no thought of me and so far forgot me that
one day I gave them the slip and walking out of their place, made

for the beach, which was distant, and there espied a very old man
seated on a high place girt by the waters. I looked at him and knew

him for the herdsman who had charge of pasturing my fellows, and
with him were many others in like case. As soon as he saw me, he

knew me to be in possession of my reason and not afflicted like the
rest whom he was pasturing, so signed to me from afar, as who should

say, "Turn back and take the right-hand road, for that will lead
thee into the King's highway." So I turned back, as he bade me, and

followed the right-hand road, now running for fear and then walking
leisurely to rest me, till I was out of the old man's sight. By this

time the sun had gone down and the darkness set in, so I sat down to
rest and would have slept, but sleep came not to me that night for

stress of fear and famine and fatigue.
When the night was half spent, I rose and walked on till the day

broke in all its beauty and the sun rose over the heads of the lofty
hills and athwart the low gravelly plains. Now I was weary and

hungry and thirsty, so I ate my fill of herbs and grasses that grew in
the island and kept life in body and stayed my stomach, after which

I set out again and fared on all that day and the next night,
staying my greed with roots and herbs. Nor did I cease walking for

seven days and their nights, till the morn of the eighth day, when I
caught sight of a faint object in the distance. So I made toward it,

though my heart quaked for all I had suffered first and last, and,
behold, it was a company of men gatheringpepper grains. As soon as

they saw me, they hastened up to me and surrounding me on all sides,
said to me, "Who art thou, and whence come?" I replied, "Know, O folk,

that I am a poor stranger," and acquainted them with my case and all
the hardships and perils I had suffered, whereat they marveled and

gave me joy of my safety, saying: "By Allah, this is wonderful! But
how didst thou escape from these blacks who swarm in the island and

devour all who fall in with them, nor is any safe from them, nor can
any get out of their clutches?"

And after I had told them the fate of my companions, they made me
sit by them till they got quit of their work, and fetched me

somewhat of good food, which I ate, for I was hungry, and rested
awhile. After which they took ship with me and carrying me to their

island home, brought me before their King, who returned my salute
and received me honorably and questioned me of my case. I told him all

that had befallen" target="_blank" title="befall的过去分词">befallen me from the day of my leaving Baghdad city,
whereupon he wondered with great wonder at my adventures, he and his

courtiers, and bade me sit by him. Then he called for food and I ate
with him what sufficed me and washed my hands and returned thanks to

Almighty Allah for all His favors, praising Him and glorifying Him.
Then I left the King and walked for solace about the city, which I

found wealthy" target="_blank" title="a.富有的；丰富的">wealthy and populous, abounding in market streets well stocked
with food and merchandise and full of buyers and sellers. So I

rejoiced
at having reached so pleasant a place and took my ease there after

my fatigues, and I made friends with the townsfolk, nor was it long
before I became more in honor and favor with them and their King

than any of the chief men of the realm.
Now I saw that all the citizens, great and small, rode fine

horses, high-priced and thoroughbred, without saddles or housings,
whereat I wondered and said to the King: "Wherefore, O my lord, dost

thou not ride with a saddle? Therein is ease for the rider and
increase of power." "What is a saddle?" asked he. "I never saw nor

used such a thing in all my life." And I answered, "With thy
permission I will make thee a saddle, that thou mayst ride on it and