Sinbad the Sailor and the Giant Bird

In the time of Caliph Harun al-Rashid, there lived in Baghdad a poor porter called Sinbad the Porter. One hot summer's day, as he was passing the house of a rich merchant with a heavy load on his back, he stopped from tiredness and sat down on the stone in front of the door. From inside the house came the sound of lovely music and the delicious smell of food. The porter sighed and said aloud: "Oh Lord, how rich some people are, and how tired I am with this load on my back!"

The owner of the house heard this and had the porter called inside. The owner was a dignified man with a white beard. "My name is Sinbad too," he said. "People call me Sinbad the Sailor. Don't think I came by this fortune easily. I have set sail seven times, and every time I came back from the very edge of death. Come, let me tell you about my voyages." And he sat the porter down at the table and began to tell him about his second voyage.

"When I came back from my first voyage, I lived comfortably in Baghdad for a while. But the wish to travel again and see new lands awoke in me. I bought goods and boarded a ship with some merchants. We went from island to island, trading. At last we came to a very beautiful island; its trees were full of fruit, its flowers smelled sweet and its streams were clear, but there were no people. We went ashore. While my companions gathered flowers, I sat by a stream, ate my food and fell asleep in a sweet breeze.

"When I woke up, there was no one around. The ship had forgotten me and sailed away. I cannot tell you how I wept and how sorry I was. Why had I set out again when I was living so comfortably in Baghdad? But there was no use crying. I climbed a tall tree and looked around in every direction. Far away, in the middle of the island, I saw something huge, pure white and shaped like a dome. I walked over to it. It was an enormous, white, smooth dome; I walked round it in fifty paces but could not find a door. I tried to climb it, but it was too slippery.

"Just then the sun suddenly went dark, as if a cloud had covered the sky. When I looked up, I saw that it was not a cloud, but a giant bird whose wings were blocking out the sun. I remembered the roc that sailors talked about; it was said to feed its young on elephants. And the dome I had seen was its egg! The bird came down, spread its wings over the egg and went to sleep.

"An idea came to me. I unwound my turban, twisted it into a rope and tied myself firmly to one of the bird's enormous feet. 'Perhaps this bird will carry me to a place where people live,' I thought. I did not sleep all night. When morning came, the bird gave a great cry and took off. It rose so high that the earth looked like a handful of dirt. Then it slowly came down and landed on the top of a high mountain. I quickly untied myself from its foot and hid behind a rock, trembling with fear. The bird snatched up something huge from the ground; it was a giant snake. It took the snake and flew away.

"The place where I was was a deep valley. The mountains around it were so high and steep that no one could climb them. The ground of the valley was covered with diamonds! Shining diamonds sparkled everywhere. But there were also huge snakes in the valley; during the day they hid in their caves for fear of the eagles, and at night they came out. All day I wandered about in fear, and I spent the night in a small cave, closing its mouth with a big stone.

"In the morning a big piece of meat fell right in front of me. Then another, and another. Then I remembered a story I had heard from merchants: because no one could get down into the diamond valley, the merchants threw huge pieces of meat down from the top of the mountain. The diamonds stuck to the meat. Then great eagles carried the meat up to their nests at the top of the mountain. The merchants would shout and make a noise to drive the eagles away, and gather the diamonds stuck to the meat.

"At once I filled my pockets and the front of my shirt with the biggest diamonds. Then I tied myself firmly with my turban under the biggest piece of meat. Before long a great eagle came, seized the meat in its talons and lifted me into the air along with it. It carried me to its nest on the top of the mountain. At that moment the merchants drove the eagle away, shouting and banging wooden clappers. A merchant came up to the meat, and when he saw me he froze with fright.

"I told him what had happened to me. He and his companions welcomed me very kindly. The merchant was sad that there were no diamonds on the meat, so I gave him the biggest of the diamonds in my pocket; he was overjoyed and said that diamond would last him a lifetime. I went down from the mountains with them and passed through other islands. On one island I saw that a rhinoceros could carry an elephant on its horn; on another I learned how camphor is taken from camphor trees. At last we reached Basra, and from there I returned to Baghdad.

"I sold some of my diamonds and bought presents for my family and friends. I gave generously to the poor, the widows and the orphans. And once again I began to live comfortably in Baghdad, until my longing to travel woke again."

When Sinbad the Sailor finished his story, he gave the porter a purse of gold: "Come again tomorrow, and I'll tell you about my third voyage." The porter thanked him and went home. On the way he thought: "So this man's fortune wasn't for nothing. Behind every gold coin there was danger, patience and courage." And he never again looked at anyone else's wealth with envy.

This tale tells us: before envying what others have, we should think about the work and the hardships it took to earn it. And also: even when we feel helpless, wits and courage show us a way; Sinbad found a way to escape by tying himself to a bird's foot.