We waited no longer to take to our rafts, and put to sea with all the speed we could. The giants, seeing this, took up great stones, and, running to the shore, entered the water up to the middle, and threw so exactly that they sank all the rafts but that I was upon; and all my comrades, except the two with me, were drowned. We rowed with all our might, and got out of the reach of the giants. The next morning, after a night of fear, we were thrown upon an island, where we landed with much joy, and found good fruit, which refreshed us greatly.
At night we went to sleep on the seashore, but were awakened by the noise of a serpent of surprising length and thickness, whose scales made a rustling noise as it moved itself along. It swallowed up one of my comrades, in spite of his loud cries and his efforts to save himself. Dashing him several times against the ground, it crushed him, and we could hear it gnaw and tear the poor fellow's bones, though we had fled far off. The next day, to our great terror, we saw the serpent again. "O Heaven, to what dangers are we exposed!" I cried. "We escape from a giant and the waves, only to meet with this!"
The next night, having satisfied our hunger with fruit, we mounted a tall tree, hoping to pass the night in safety. But soon the serpent came hissing to its foot, raised itself up against the trunk, and, reaching my comrade, who sat lower than I, swallowed him at once and went off.
In the morning when I came down, I was ready to throw myself into the sea in my despair. But I resisted this impulse, and collected a great quantity of small wood, brambles, and dry thorns, and, making them up into fagots, made a wide circle with them round the tree, and also tied some of them to the branches over my head. Within this circle I shut myself up when night came, with such satisfaction as I could get from having neglected nothing that could save me. The serpent failed not to come at the usual hour, but was prevented from reaching me by the rampart I had made. He lay below me till day, like a cat watching in vain for a mouse that has reached a place of safety. When day appeared he retired, but I dared not to leave my fort until the sun arose.
God took pity on my hopeless state, for, just as I was about to cast myself into the sea, I saw a ship in the distance. I cried aloud and waved the linen of my turban. Then I was seen, and the captain sent his boat for me. When I came on board, the merchants and seamen flocked about me to hear how I came into that deserted island, in a region where cannibal giants and serpents were known by the oldest sailors to abound. When I stood before the captain in rags, he gave me one of his own suits. Looking steadfastly upon him, I knew him to be the person who, in my second voyage, had left me in the island where I fell asleep, and sailed without me or sending to seek for me.
"Captain," said I, "look at me, and you may know that I am Sindbad, whom you left in that desert island."
"God be praised!" he cried, after he had scanned me closely. "I rejoice that fortune has set right my fault. There are your goods, which I always took care to preserve." I took them from him, and thanked him for his care of them.
We remained at sea for some time, touched at several islands, and landed at last at the island of Salabat, where sandalwood is obtained. In another island I furnished myself with cloves, cinnamon, and other spices. After a long voyage, in the course of which I saw such strange creatures as a tortoise twenty cubits in length and breadth, I arrived at Bussorah, and thence returned to Bagdad, with so much wealth that I knew not its extent. I gave a great deal to the poor, and bought another large estate besides what I had already.
THE FOURTH VOYAGE OF SINDBAD THE SAILOR
After I had rested from the dangers of my third voyage my passion for trade and novelty soon drove me from home again. When I had settled my affairs and taken a stock of goods for traffic, I took the route of Persia, traveled over several provinces, and arrived at a port where I embarked. It was not long before our ship was wrecked. Several of the merchants and seamen were drowned, and the cargo was lost.