The Whale Island (The First Voyage of Sinbad the Sailor)
I had from my birth itself received a
huge amount of wealth from my
parents, and being young and foolish I at first
wasted it carelessly upon every kind of
pleasure, but presently, finding that
wealth take to themselves wings very
fast I thought that if I would have managed as
badly as I was managing mine, and remembering
also that to be old and poor is misery
in fact, I
began to bethink me of how I could make the best
of what still remained to me.
I sold all my
household goods by public mart, and joined a
company of merchants who traded by sea,
sailing with them at Balsora in a ship which
we had fitted out between us.
We set sail and took our course towards the East
Indies by the Persian Gulf, having the coast of
Persia upon our left hand and upon our right the
shores of Arabia Felix. I was at first much
troubled by the movement of the ship, but
speedily recovered my health, and since that
hour have been no more weighed down by sickness
of the sea.
From time to time we landed at various islands,
where we sold and exchanged our goods, and
one day, when the wind fall suddenly, we
found ourselves stucked close to a small island
like a green meadow, which rose slightly
above the surface of the water. Our sails were
wind up, and the captain gave permission to all
who wished to land for a while and amuse
themselves.
I was among the number who wished to land on
that Island, but when
after walking about for some time we lighted a
fire and sat down to enjoy the feast which we
had brought with us, we were worried by a
sudden and violent wavering of the island,
while at the same moment those who were upon the
ship was shouting for us to come on board
for our lives, since what we had taken for an
island was nothing but the back of a sleeping
whale.
Those who were nearest to the ship entered
themselves into it, while others dived into the sea,
but before I could save myself the whale
went
suddenly under the depths of the ocean, leaving
me hanging to a piece of the wood which we had
brought to make our fire.
Meanwhile a breeze had
leap up, and in the confusion that pursued on
ship our vessel in hoisting the sails and
taking up those who were in the boat and
hanging to its sides, no one remembered me and I
was left at the mercy of the waves. All that day
I floated up and down, now beaten in this way
and in that, and when night fell I give up
hope for my
life; but, weary and spent as I was, I hang to
my weak support, and great was my joy when the
morning light showed me that I had landed
against an island.
The sea cliff were high and steep, but luckily for
me some tree-roots overhang in that place, and by
their support I climbed up at last, and stretched
myself upon the sod at the top, where I lay,
more dead than alive, till the sun was high in
the heavens. By that time I was very hungry, but
after some searching I came upon some eatable
herbs, and a spring of clear water, and much
refreshed I set out to discover the island.
Presently I reached a great plain where a horse was
grazing, and as I stood
looking at it I heard talking which seems to
be heard underground, and in a moment a man appeared who
asked me how I came upon the island.
I told him
my adventures, and heard in return that he was
one of the grooms of Mihrage, the king of the
island, and that each year they came to feed
their master's horses in this plain. He took me
to a cave where his companions were together
assembled,
and when I had eaten of the food they set before
me, they made me think myself happy to have
come upon them when I did, since they were going
back to their master on the morrow, and without
their aid I could certainly never have found my
way to the living part of the island.