The ship set sail, and, after a very long and successful navigation, we landed at Balsora, from whence I went to Bagdad, where the first thing I did was to acquit myself of my commission. I took the king of Serendib's letter, continued Sindbad, and went to present myself at the gate of the commander of the faithful, followed by the beautiful slave, and such of my own family as carried the presents. I gave an account of the reason of my coming, and was immediately conducted to the throne of the caliph. I made my reverence by prostration, and, after a short speech, gave him the letter and present. When he had read what the king of Serendib wrote to him, he asked me if that prince was really so rich and potent as he had said in his letter? I prostrated myself a second time, and rising again, Commander of the faithful, says I, I can assure your majesty he does not exceed the truth on that head; I am witness of it. There is nothing more capable of raising a man's admiration than the magnificence of his palace. When the prince appears in public, he has a throne fixed on the back of an elephant, and marches betwixt two ranks of his ministers, favourites, and other people of his court: Before him, upon the same elephant, an officer carries a golden lance in his hand; and behind the throne there is another, who stands upright, with a column of gold, on the top of which there is an emerald half a foot long, and an inch thick; before him there marches a guard of one thousand men clad in cloth of gold and silk, and mounted on elephants richly caparisoned. While the king is on his march, the officer who is before him on the same elephant cries, from time to time, with a loud voice, Behold the great monarch, the potent and redoubtable sultan of the Indies, whose palace is covered with 100,000 rubies, and who possesses 20,000 crowns of diamonds. Behold the crowned monarch, greater than the great Solima[Footnote: Solomon.] and the great Mihrage[Footnote: An ancient king of a great island, of the same name, in the Indies, and much famed among the Arabians for his power and wisdom.]. After he has pronounced these words, the officer behind the throne cries in his turn, This monarch, so great and so powerful, must die, must die, must die. And the officer before replies, Praise be to him that lives for ever. Further, the king of Serendib is so just, that there are no judges in his dominions; his people have no need of them; they understand and observe justice exactly of themselves. The caliph was much pleased with my discourse. The wisdom of that king, says he, appears in his letter; and, after what you tell me, I must confess that his wisdom is worthy of his people, and his people deserve so wise a prince. Having spoken thus, he discharged me, and sent me home with a rich present.
Sindbad left off speaking, and his company retired, Hindbad having first received one hundred sequins; and next day they returned to hear the relation of his seventh and last voyage.
The Seventh and last Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor.
Being returned from my sixth voyage, I absolutely laid aside all thoughts of travelling any further. For, besides that my years did now require rest, I was resolved no more to expose myself to such risks as I had run: So that I thought of nothing but to pass the rest of my days in quiet. One day, as I was treating some of my friends, one of my servants came and told me that an officer of the caliph asked for me. I rose from the table, and went to him. The caliph, says he, has sent me to tell you that he must speak with you. I followed the officer to the palace; where being presented to the caliph, I saluted him by prostrating myself at his feet. Sindbad, says he to me, I stand in need of you; you must do me the service to carry my answer and present to the king of Serendib. It is but just I should return his civility. This command of the caliph to me was like a clap of thunder. Commander of the faithful, replied I, I am ready to do whatever your majesty shall think fit to command me; but I beseech you most humbly to consider what I have undergone; I have also made a vow never to go out of Bagdad. Hence I took occasion to give him a large and particular account of all my adventures, which he had the patience to hear out. As soon as I had finished, I confess, says he, that the things you tell me are very extraordinary, yet you must, for my sake, undertake this voyage which I propose to you. You have nothing to do but to go to the isle of Serendib, and deliver the commission which I give you; after that, you are at liberty to return. But you must go; for you know it would be indecent, and not suitable to my dignity, to be indebted to the king of the island. Perceiving that the caliph insisted upon it, I submitted, and told him that I was willing to obey. He was very well pleased at it, and ordered me a thousand sequins for the charge of my journey.
I prepared for my departure in a few days; and as soon as the caliph's letter and present were delivered to me, I went to Balsora, where I embarked, and had a very happy voyage. I arrived at the isle of Serendib, where I acquainted the king's ministers with my commission, and prayed them to get me a speedy audience. They did so, and I was conducted to the palace in an honourable manner, where I saluted the king by prostration, according to custom. The prince knew me immediately, and testified very great joy to see me. O Sindbad, says he, you are welcome; I swear to you I have many times thought of you since you went hence. I bless the day upon which we see one another once more. I made my compliment to him; and, after having thanked him for his kindness to me, I delivered him the caliph's letter and present, which he received with all imaginable satisfaction.
The caliph's present was a complete set of cloth of gold, valued at a thousand sequins; fifty robes of rich stuff, a hundred others of white cloth, the finest of Cairo, Suez[Footnote: A port on the Red Sea.], Cusa[Footnote: A town of Arabia.], and Alexandria; a royal crimson bed, with a second of another fashion; a vessel of agate, broader than deep, of an inch thick, and half a foot wide, the bottom of which represented, in bass- relief, a man with one knee on the ground, who held a bow and arrow, ready to let fly at a lion. He sent him also a rich table, which, according to tradition, belonged to the great Solomon. The caliph's letter was as follows: "Greeting, in the name of the sovereign guide of the right way, to the potent and happy sultan from Abdallah Haroun Alraschid, whom God hath set in the place of honour after his ancestors of happy memory. We received your letter with joy, and send you this from the council of our port, the garden of superior wits. We hope, when you look upon it, you will find our good intention, and be pleased with it. Adieu."
The king of Serendib was mightily pleased that the caliph answered his friendship. A little time after this audience, I solicited leave to depart, and obtained the same with much difficulty. I got it, however, at last; and the king, when he discharged me, made me a very considerable present. I embarked immediately to return to Bagdad, but had not the good fortune to arrive there as I hoped. God ordered it otherwise; for, three or four days after my departure, we were attacked by corsairs, who easily seized upon our ship, because it was no vessel of force. Some of the crew offered resistance, which cost them their lives. But for me and the rest, who were not so imprudent, the corsairs saved us on purpose to make slaves of us. We were all stripped; and, instead of our own clothes, they gave us sorry rags, and carried us into a remote island, where they sold us. I fell into the hands of a rich merchant, who, as soon as he bought me, carried me to his house, treated me well, and clad me handsomely for a slave. Some days after, not knowing who I was, he asked me if I knew any trade? I answered, that I was no mechanic, but a merchant; and that the corsairs, who sold me, robbed me of all I had. But tell me, replies he, Can you shoot with a bow? I answered, that the bow was one of the exercises of my youth, and I had not forgotten it. Then he gave me a bow and arrows, and taking me behind him upon an elephant, carried me to a vast forest some leagues from the town. We went a great way into the forest, and when he thought to stop, he bid me alight: then showing me a great tree, Climb up that tree, says he, and shoot at the elephants as you see them pass by; for there is a prodigious number of them in this forest, and if any of them fall, come and give me notice of it. Having spoken thus, he left me victuals, and returned to the town and I continued upon the tree all night, during which I saw no elephants, but next morning, as soon as the sun was up, I saw a great number; I shot several arrows among them, and at last one of the elephants fell; the rest retired immediately, and left me at liberty to go and acquaint my patron with my booty. When I had told him the news, he gave me a good, meal, commended my dexterity, and caressed me mightily. We went afterwards together to the forest, where we dug a hole for the elephant; my patron designing to return when it was rotten, and to take his teeth, &c. to trade with. I continued this game for two months, and killed an elephant every day, getting sometimes upon one tree, sometimes upon another. One morning, as I looked for the elephants, I perceived, with extreme amazement, that, instead of passing by me across the forest, as usual, they stopped, and came to me, with a horrible noise, in such a number that the earth was covered with them, and shook under them. They encompassed the tree where I was, with their trunks extended, and their eyes all fixed upon me. At this frightful spectacle I continued immovable, and was so much frightened, that my bow and arrows fell out of my hands. My fears were not vain; for, after the elephants had stared upon me some time, one of the largest of them put his trunk round the root of the tree, and pulled so strong, that he plucked it up, and threw it on the ground: I fell with the tree, and the elephant, taking me up with his trunk, laid me on his back, where I sat more like one dead than alive, with my quiver on my shoulder. He put himself afterwards at the head of the rest, who followed him in troops, and carried me to a place where he laid me down on the ground, and retired with all his companions. Conceive, if you can, the condition I was in: I thought myself to be in a dream; at last, after having lain some time, and seeing the elephants gone, I got up, and found I was upon a long and broad hill, covered all over with the bones and teeth of elephants. I confess to you that this object furnished me with abundance of reflections. I admired the instinct of those animals; I doubted not but that was their burying-place, and they carried me thither on purpose to tell me that I should forbear to persecute them, since I did it only for their teeth. I did not stay on the hill, but turned towards the city, and, after having travelled a day and a night, I came to my patron. I met no elephant in my way, which made me think they had retired further into the forest, to leave me at liberty to come back to the hill without any obstacle.
As soon as my patron saw me, Ah, poor Sindbad, says he, I was in great trouble to know what was become of you. I have been at the forest, where I found a tree newly pulled up, and a bow and arrows on the ground; and, after having sought for you in vain, I despaired of ever seeing you more. Pray tell me what befel you, and by what good hap thou art still alive. I satisfied his curiosity; and going both of us next morning to the hill, he found, to his great joy, that what I had told him was true. We loaded the elephant upon which we came with as many teeth as he could carry; and when we were returned, Brother, says my patron, (for I will treat you no more as a slave, after having made such a discovery as will enrich me,) God bless you with all happiness and prosperity. I declare before him, that I give you your liberty. I concealed from you what I am now going to tell you. The elephants of our forest have every year killed us a great many slaves whom we sent to seek ivory. For all the cautions we gave them, these crafty animals killed them one time or other. God has delivered you from their fury, and has bestowed that favour upon you only. It is a sign that he loves you, and has use for your services in the world. You have procured me incredible gain. We could not have ivory formerly, but by exposing the lives of our slaves; and now our whole city is enriched by your means. Do not think I pretend to have rewarded you by giving you liberty; I will also give you considerable riches. I could engage all our city to contribute towards making your fortune, but will have the glory of doing it myself.
To this obliging discourse, I replied, Patron, God preserve you. Your giving me liberty is enough to discharge what you owe me; and I desire no other reward for the service I have had the good fortune to do to you and your city, but leave to return to my own country. Very well, says he, the Mocon [Footnote: A regular wind that comes six months from the east, and as many from the west.] will in a little time bring ships for ivory. I will send you home then, and give you wherewith to bear your charges. I thanked him for my liberty, and his good intention towards me. I staid with him, expecting the Mocon; and during that time we made so many journies to the hill, that we filled our warehouses with ivory. The other merchants, who traded in it, did the same thing, for it could not be long concealed from them. The ships arrived at last, and my patron himself, having made choice of the ship wherein I was to embark, loaded half of it with ivory on my account; he laid in provisions in abundance for my passage; and besides obliged me to accept a present of the curiosities of the country, of great value. After I had returned him a thousand thanks for all his favours, I went on board. We set sail; and as the adventure which procured me this liberty was very extraordinary, I had it continually in my thoughts. We stopped at some islands to take in fresh provisions; our vessel being come to a port on the Terra Firma in the Indies, we touched there, and not being willing to venture by sea to Balsora, I landed my proportion of the ivory, resolving to proceed on my journey by land. I made vast sums of my ivory, bought several rarities which I intended for presents, and, when my equipage was got ready, I set out in company with a large caravan of merchants. I was a long time on the way, and suffered very much; but endured all with patience, when I considered that I had nothing to fear from the seas, from pirates, from serpents, nor of the other perils I had undergone. All these fatigues, however, ended at last, and I came safe to Bagdad. I went immediately to call upon the caliph, and gave him an account of my embassy. That prince told me he had been uneasy because I was so long of returning, but he always hoped God would preserve me. When I told him the adventure of the elephants, he seemed to be much surprised at it, and would never have given any credit to it, had he not known my sincerity. He reckoned this story, and the other relations I had given him, to be so curious, that he ordered one of his secretaries to write them in characters of gold, and lay them up in his treasury. I retired very well satisfied with the honours I had received, and the presents which he gave me; and after that I gave myself up wholly to my family, kindred, and friends.
Sindbad here finished the relation of his seventh and last voyage; and then addressing himself to Hindbad, Well, friend, says he, did you ever hear of any person that suffered so much as I have done, or of any mortal that has gone through so many perplexities? Is it not reasonable, that, after all this, I should enjoy a quiet and pleasant life? As he said this, Hindbad drew near to him, and, kissing his hand, said, I must acknowledge, sir, that you have gone through terrible dangers; my troubles are not comparable to yours; if they afflict me for a time, I comfort myself with the thoughts of the profit I get by them. You not only deserve a quiet life, but are worthy besides of all the riches you enjoy, because you make such a good use of them. May you therefore continue to live in happiness and joy till the day of your death. Sindbad gave him a hundred sequins more, received him into the number of his friends, and desired him to quit his porter's employment, and come and dine every day with him, that he might all his days have reason to remember Sindbad the sailor.