Sindbad, the sailor is a fictional mariner and the hero of a story cycle of Middle-Eastern origin. He was a man from Baghdad who had fantastic adventures in magical realms. In this extract, the rich Sindbad describes his first voyage to the poor Sindbad, the porter.
When the father of rich Sindbad died, he left behind a big wealth. Sindbad spent all his wealth foolishly. After realising his fault, Sindbad decided to sail for the Persian Gulf with some goods. One day, on board, their group saw a beautiful small green island. Out of curiosity, they all gotdown on that green patch. They decided to cook, as they were hungry. As soon as they lit the fire for cooking, they got a jerk. The island was shaking. It was not an island. But a huge animal. Everyone jumped into the sea to save his life. A few of them couldn’t board the ship and they were left there struggling for their life. Sindbad was one among them.
Fortunately, he caught hold of a big piece of wood and kept floating for a long time. He was thrown on an island. There, he met a man who helped him to get good food and drink. Later, when he narrated his sufferings to the king of the Island, Mihrjan, he took pity on him. He appointed him as an officer on the spot. There Sindbad witnessed many unimaginable wonders. He became friendly with the people there. But longed to go back. One day, the same ship which he boarded, happened to come to that place. The captain of the ship was surprised to find Sindbad alive.
Sindbad presented some of his goods to the kind king. In return, the king also gave him expensive presents. As the ship stayed on the island for a few days, Sindbad did good business and earned a lot of money. Finally, he returned to his city Baghdad as a rich man. Sindbad completed his story and bade good bye to the poor porter. He presented him with a purse-full of good coins. The unexpected riches overjoyed the porter.