3. Sinbad the Sailor (The Third Voyage)

For several years, Sindbad lived in his hometown without traveling anywhere. His friends and acquaintances, merchants from Baghdad, gathered at his place every evening to listen to his tales of adventure. Every time Sindbad recalled the bird Roc, the Valley of Diamonds, and the giant serpents, he felt as terrified as if he were still wandering through the diamond valley.

One evening, as usual, Sindbad's merchant friends came to visit him. After they finished dinner and prepared to listen to their host's stories, a servant entered the room and announced that a man was at the gate selling exotic fruits.

"Tell him to come in," said Sindbad.

The servant brought the fruit seller into the room. He was a dark-skinned man with a long black beard, dressed in foreign attire. On his head, he carried a basket filled with magnificent fruits. He placed the basket in front of Sindbad and removed the covering.

Sindbad peeked into the basket and gasped in amazement. Inside were huge round oranges, sour and sweet lemons, pomelos, peaches as bright as fire, pears, and pomegranates—so large and juicy that nothing like them could be found in Baghdad.

"Who are you, stranger, and where have you come from?" asked Sindbad.

"O master," replied the man, "I was born far from here, on the island of Serendib. All my life, I have sailed the seas and visited many countries, selling such fruits everywhere."

"Tell me about the island of Serendib: what is it like, and who lives there?" said Sindbad.

"My homeland cannot be described in words. It must be seen, for there is no island in the world more beautiful or better than Serendib," answered the merchant. "When a traveler steps onto its shores, they hear the singing of magnificent birds whose feathers shine like precious stones in the sun. Even the flowers on Serendib glow like bright gold. And there are flowers that cry and laugh. Every day at sunrise, they lift their heads and cry out, 'Morning! Morning!'—and laugh, but in the evening, as the sun sets, they lower their heads to the ground and weep. As soon as darkness falls, all kinds of animals come to the shore—bears, leopards, lions, and sea horses—each holding a precious stone in its mouth that sparkles like fire, illuminating everything around. The trees on my homeland are the rarest and most valuable: aloe, which smells so wonderful when burned; strong teak, used for ship masts—no insect can gnaw through it, and neither water nor cold can damage it; tall palm trees and gleaming ebony, or blackwood. The sea around Serendib is gentle and warm. At its bottom lie wondrous pearls—white, pink, and black—and fishermen dive to retrieve them. Sometimes they even send little monkeys to fetch the pearls…"

The fruit seller continued to tell tales of the wonders of Serendib for a long time, and when he finished, Sindbad generously rewarded him and sent him on his way. The merchant left, bowing deeply, while Sindbad went to bed but tossed and turned for a long time, unable to sleep as he recalled the stories of Serendib. He could hear the sound of the sea and the creaking of ship masts, and he saw before him the marvelous birds and golden flowers shining with bright lights. Finally, he fell asleep and dreamed of a monkey holding a huge pink pearl in its mouth.

When he awoke, he immediately jumped out of bed and said to himself:

"I must visit the island of Serendib! Today I will begin preparing for the journey."

He gathered all the money he had, bought goods, bid farewell to his family, and once again set off for the coastal city of Basra. He spent a long time choosing the best ship and finally found a splendid, sturdy vessel. The captain of this ship was a Persian sailor named Buzurg—an old, portly man with a long beard. He had sailed the ocean for many years, and his ship had never once been wrecked.

Sindbad ordered his goods to be loaded onto Buzurg's ship and set off on his journey. His merchant friends accompanied him, as they too wished to visit the island of Serendib.

The wind was favorable, and the ship moved swiftly forward. The first few days passed without incident. But one morning, a storm began at sea; a strong wind rose, constantly changing direction. Sindbad's ship was tossed about like a piece of driftwood. Huge waves rolled over the deck one after another. Sindbad and his friends tied themselves to the masts and began to bid each other farewell, not expecting to survive. Only Captain Buzurg remained calm. He stood at the helm himself, giving orders in a loud voice. Seeing that he was unafraid, his companions also calmed down. By noon, the storm began to subside. The waves grew smaller, and the sky cleared. Soon, complete calm set in.

Suddenly, Captain Buzurg began to beat his face, moan, and weep. He tore off his turban, threw it on the deck, ripped his robe, and cried out:

"Know that our ship has been caught in a strong current, and we cannot escape it! This current is carrying us to a land called the 'Land of the Hairy Ones.' There live people who resemble monkeys, and no one has ever returned alive from that land. Prepare for death—there is no salvation for us!"

Before the captain could finish speaking, a terrible crash was heard. The ship shook violently and came to a halt. The current had driven it to the shore, and it ran aground. Immediately, the entire shore was covered with tiny human-like creatures. They grew in number, rolling down the shore into the water, swimming to the ship, and quickly climbing the masts. These small, hairy people with yellow eyes, crooked legs, and grasping hands chewed through the ship's ropes, tore down the sails, and then attacked Sindbad and his companions. One of the creatures crept up to a merchant. The merchant drew his sword and cut it in half. Instantly, ten more hairy beings pounced on him, grabbed his arms and legs, and threw him into the sea, followed by another and then another merchant.

"Are we really going to be afraid of these monkeys?!" exclaimed Sindbad, drawing his sword from its sheath.
But Captain Buzurg grabbed him by the arm and shouted:

"Beware, Sinbad! Don't you see that if each of us kills ten or even a hundred monkeys, the rest will tear us to pieces or throw us overboard? Let's flee the ship to the island and leave the ship to the monkeys."

Sinbad obeyed the captain and sheathed his sword. He jumped ashore, and his companions followed him. Captain Buzurg was the last to leave the ship. He felt deeply sorry to abandon his vessel to these hairy monkeys.

Sinbad and his friends walked slowly forward, not knowing where to go. They walked and quietly conversed among themselves. Suddenly, Captain Buzurg exclaimed:

"Look! Look! A palace!"

Sinbad raised his head and saw a tall house with black iron gates.

"People might live in this house. Let's go and find out who its owner is," he said.

The travelers quickened their pace and soon reached the gates of the house. Sinbad was the first to rush into the courtyard and cried out:

"There must have been a feast here recently! Look—cauldrons and frying pans are hanging on sticks around the brazier, and gnawed bones are scattered everywhere. The coals in the brazier are still hot. Let's sit on this bench for a while—perhaps the owner of the house will come out into the yard and invite us in."

Sinbad and his companions were so exhausted that they could barely stand. They sat down, some on the bench and others directly on the ground, and soon fell asleep, warmed by the sun. Sinbad was the first to wake up. He was roused by a loud noise and rumble. It seemed as if a large herd of elephants was passing nearby. The ground trembled under heavy footsteps. It was almost dark. Sinbad rose from the bench and froze in horror: a giant of enormous stature—a true colossus, resembling a tall palm tree—was moving straight toward him. He was entirely black, his eyes sparkled like burning embers, his mouth resembled the opening of a well, and his teeth protruded like a boar's tusks. His ears hung down to his shoulders, and the nails on his hands were wide and sharp, like a lion's claws. The giant walked slowly, slightly hunched, as if it were difficult for him to carry his head, and he breathed heavily. With each breath, the trees rustled, and their tops bent toward the ground, as if in a storm. In his hands, the giant carried a huge torch—an entire trunk of a resinous tree.

Sinbad's companions also woke up and lay on the ground, half-dead with fear. The giant approached and bent over them. He examined each of them for a long time and, choosing one, lifted him up as if he were a feather. It was Captain Buzurg—the largest and stoutest of Sinbad's companions.

Sinbad drew his sword and rushed at the giant. All his fear vanished, and he thought only of one thing: how to wrest Buzurg from the monster's grasp. But the giant kicked Sinbad aside with a single blow. He lit a fire in the brazier, roasted Captain Buzurg, and ate him.

After finishing his meal, the giant stretched out on the ground and began to snore loudly. Sinbad and his companions sat on the bench, huddled together and holding their breath.

Sinbad was the first to recover. Making sure the giant was fast asleep, he jumped up and exclaimed:

"It would have been better if we had drowned at sea! Are we really going to let this giant eat us like sheep?"

"Let's leave here and look for a place where we can hide from him," said one of the merchants.

"Where can we go? He'll find us everywhere," Sinbad objected. "It would be better if we kill him and then sail away by sea. Perhaps some ship will pick us up."
- "And what will we sail on, Sinbad?" asked the merchants.

- "Look at these logs stacked near the brazier. They are long and thick, and if we tie them together, they will make a good raft," said Sinbad. "Let's carry them to the seashore while this cruel man-eater is asleep, and then we'll return here and figure out a way to kill him."

- "This is an excellent plan," said the merchants, and they began to drag the logs to the seashore and tie them together with ropes made of palm fiber.

By morning, the raft was ready, and Sinbad and his companions returned to the giant's courtyard. When they arrived, the man-eater was not in the yard. He did not appear until evening.

When it grew dark, the ground shook again, and a rumble and stomping could be heard. The giant was near. Just like the day before, he slowly approached Sinbad's companions and bent over them, illuminating them with a torch. He chose the fattest merchant, skewered him on a spit, roasted him, and ate him. Then he stretched out on the ground and fell asleep.

- "Another one of our companions has perished!" exclaimed Sinbad. "But this is the last one. This cruel man will not eat any more of us."

- "What have you planned, Sinbad?" asked the merchants.

- "Watch and do as I say!" cried Sinbad.

He grabbed two spits on which the giant had roasted the meat, heated them in the fire, and pressed them against the man-eater's eyes. Then he signaled to the merchants, and they all together pushed down on the spits. The man-eater's eyes sank deep into his head, and he was blinded.

The man-eater jumped up with a terrible scream and began to grope around with his hands, trying to catch his enemies. But Sinbad and his companions scattered and ran toward the sea. The giant followed them, continuing to shout loudly. He caught up with the fugitives and overtook them, but he never managed to catch anyone. They ran between his legs, dodged his hands, and finally reached the seashore, boarded the raft, and set sail, paddling with a thin trunk of a young palm tree as an oar.

When the man-eater heard the sound of the oar hitting the water, he realized that his prey had escaped. He shouted even louder than before. At his cry, two more giants, just as terrifying as he, came running. They broke off huge stones from the cliffs and threw them after the fugitives. The boulders fell into the water with a terrible noise, barely grazing the raft. But the waves they raised were so high that the raft capsized. Sinbad's companions could barely swim. They immediately choked and sank to the bottom. Only Sinbad himself and two younger merchants managed to grab onto the raft and stay afloat.

Sinbad struggled to climb back onto the raft and helped his companions out of the water. The waves had carried away their oar, and they had to drift with the current, slightly steering the raft with their feet. It was getting lighter. Soon the sun would rise. Sinbad's companions, wet and shivering, sat on the raft and loudly complained. Sinbad stood at the edge of the raft, scanning the horizon for any sign of land or a ship's sail. Suddenly, he turned to his companions and shouted:

- "Take heart, my friends Ahmed and Hassan! Land is not far, and the current is carrying us straight toward the shore. Do you see the birds circling over there in the distance, above the water? Their nests must be somewhere nearby. After all, birds do not fly far from their chicks."

Ahmed and Hassan perked up and raised their heads. Hassan, whose eyes were as sharp as a hawk's, looked ahead and said:

- "You're right, Sinbad. Over there, in the distance, I see an island. Soon the current will bring our raft to it, and we will rest on solid ground."

The exhausted travelers rejoiced and began to paddle harder with their feet to help the current. If only they knew what awaited them on that island!

Soon the raft was washed ashore, and Sinbad, Ahmed, and Hassan stepped onto land. They slowly walked forward, picking berries and roots from the ground, and saw tall, spreading trees by the bank of a stream. The lush grass seemed to beckon them to lie down and rest.

Sinbad threw himself under a tree and immediately fell asleep. He was awakened by a strange sound, as if someone were grinding grain between two huge stones. Sinbad opened his eyes and jumped to his feet. He saw before him an enormous serpent with a wide mouth, like that of a whale. The serpent lay calmly on its belly and lazily moved its jaws with a loud crunch. This crunch had awakened Sinbad. And protruding from the serpent's mouth were human feet in sandals. By the sandals, Sinbad recognized that they were Ahmed's feet.

Gradually, Ahmed disappeared entirely into the serpent's belly, and the serpent slowly slithered away into the forest. When it was gone, Sinbad looked around and realized that he was alone.
"But where is Hasan?" thought Sinbad. "Could the serpent have eaten him too?"

"Hey, Hasan, where are you?" he shouted.

"Here!" came a voice from somewhere above. Sinbad looked up and saw Hasan, who was crouched in the thick branches of a tree, neither alive nor dead from fear.

"Climb up here too!" he shouted to Sinbad.

Sinbad grabbed a few coconuts from the ground and scrambled up the tree. He had to sit on a high branch, which was very uncomfortable. Meanwhile, Hasan had comfortably settled on a wide lower branch.

Sinbad and Hasan spent many hours in the tree, every minute expecting the serpent to appear. It began to grow dark, night fell, but the monster still did not come. Finally, Hasan couldn't hold out any longer and fell asleep, leaning his back against the tree trunk and dangling his legs. Soon, Sinbad also dozed off. When he woke up, it was light, and the sun was already quite high. Sinbad cautiously leaned over and looked down. Hasan was no longer on the branch. On the grass beneath the tree lay his white turban and worn-out shoes—all that remained of poor Hasan.

"He was also devoured by that terrible serpent," thought Sinbad. "It seems there's no hiding from it, even in a tree."

Now Sinbad was alone on the island. For a long time, he searched for some place to hide from the serpent, but there were no cliffs or caves on the island. Exhausted from searching, Sinbad sat down by the sea and began to think about how to save himself.

"If I escaped from the hands of a cannibal, surely I won't let myself be eaten by a serpent," he thought. "I am a man, and I have a mind that will help me outwit this monster."

Suddenly, a huge wave splashed from the sea and threw a thick ship's plank onto the shore. Sinbad saw the plank and immediately came up with a plan to save himself. He grabbed the plank, collected a few smaller boards from the shore, and carried them into the forest. Choosing a plank of the right size, Sinbad tied it to his legs with a large piece of palm fiber. He tied another plank to his head and two more to his body, on the right and left, so that he ended up as if in a box. Then he lay down on the ground and waited.

Soon, there was a crackling of branches and loud hissing. The serpent had caught the scent of a human and was searching for its prey. Its long head emerged from behind the trees, with two large eyes glowing like torches. It slithered up to Sinbad and opened its mouth wide, flicking its long forked tongue.

The serpent curiously examined the box that smelled so deliciously of human and tried to grab and crush it with its teeth, but the sturdy wood held firm.

The serpent circled Sinbad, attempting to tear off the wooden shield. The shield proved too strong, and the serpent only broke its teeth in frustration. In a rage, it began to thrash the planks with its tail. The planks shook but held. The serpent worked for a long time but could not reach Sinbad. Finally, exhausted, it slithered back into the forest, hissing and scattering dry leaves with its tail.

Sinbad quickly untied the planks and jumped to his feet.

"Lying between the planks is very uncomfortable, but if the serpent catches me defenseless, it will devour me," Sinbad said to himself. "I must escape from this island. I'd rather drown in the sea than perish in the serpent's jaws like Ahmed and Hasan."

And so, Sinbad decided to build himself a raft. He returned to the sea and began gathering planks. Suddenly, he saw a ship's sail not far away. The ship was approaching, driven by a favorable wind toward the island's shores. Sinbad tore off his shirt and began running along the shore, waving it. He waved his arms, shouted, and did everything he could to attract attention. Finally, the sailors noticed him, and the captain ordered the ship to stop. Sinbad plunged into the water and reached the ship in a few strokes. By the sails and the sailors' clothing, he recognized that the ship belonged to his countrymen. Indeed, it was an Arab ship. The captain had heard many tales about the island inhabited by a fearsome serpent but had never heard of anyone surviving it.

The sailors warmly welcomed Sinbad, fed him, and clothed him. The captain ordered the sails to be raised, and the ship sped on its way.

They sailed for a long time and finally reached some land. The captain docked the ship at the harbor, and all the passengers went ashore to sell and trade their goods. Only Sinbad had nothing. Sad and dejected, he remained on the ship. Soon, the captain called him over and said:

- I want to do a good deed and help you. There was a traveler with us whom we lost, and I do not know whether he is dead or alive. His goods are still lying in the hold. Take them and sell them at the market, and I will give you something for your efforts. As for what cannot be sold, we will take it to Baghdad and give it to his relatives.

- I will gladly do this, said Sinbad.

And the captain ordered the sailors to bring the goods out of the hold.

When the last bale was unloaded, the ship's scribe asked the captain:

- What are these goods, and what is the name of their owner? Under whose name should they be recorded?

- Write them under the name of Sinbad the Sailor, who sailed with us on the ship and disappeared, replied the captain.

Hearing this, Sinbad nearly fainted from surprise and joy.

- O master, he asked the captain, do you know the man whose goods you ordered me to sell?

- He was a man from the city of Baghdad named Sinbad the Sailor, answered the captain.

- I am Sinbad the Sailor! shouted Sinbad. I did not disappear, but fell asleep on the shore, and you did not wait for me and sailed away. This was during my previous journey when the bird Rukh carried me to the valley of diamonds.

The sailors heard Sinbad's words and crowded around him. Some believed him, while others called him a liar. Suddenly, a merchant who had also sailed on that ship approached the captain and said:

- Do you remember how I told you about being on the diamond mountain and throwing a piece of meat into the valley, and how a man clung to the meat, and an eagle brought him up to the mountain along with the meat? You did not believe me and said I was lying. Here is the man who tied himself with a turban to my piece of meat. He gave me such diamonds, the likes of which do not exist, and said his name was Sinbad the Sailor.

Then the captain embraced Sinbad and said to him:

- Take your goods. Now I believe that you are Sinbad the Sailor. Sell them quickly before the market closes.

Sinbad sold his goods at a great profit and returned to Baghdad on the same ship. He was very pleased to have returned home and firmly resolved never to set out on travels again.

Thus ended Sinbad's third voyage.

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