Part 20

At last I resigned myself to the will of God; and not knowing what to do, I climbed up to the top of a great tree, from whence I looked about on all sides to see if there was any thing that could give me hopes. When I looked towards the sea, I could see nothing but sky and water; but looking towards the land, I saw something white; and coming down from the tree, I took up what provisions I had left, and went towards it, the distance being so great that I could not distinguish what it was.

When I came nearer, I thought it to be a white bowl, of a prodigious height and bigness; and when I came up to it, I touched it, and found it to be very smooth. I went round to see if it was open on any side, but saw it was not, and that there was no climbing up to the top of it, it was so smooth. It was at least fifty paces round.

By this time the sun was ready to set, and all of a sudden the sky became as dark as if it had been covered with a thick cloud. I was much astonished at this sudden darkness, but much more when I found it occasioned by a bird of a monstrous size, that came flying towards me. I remembered a fowl, called _roc_, that I had often heard mariners speak of, and conceived that the great bowl, which I so much admired, must needs be its egg. In short, the bird alighted, and sat over the egg to hatch it. As I perceived her coming, I crept close to the egg, so that I had before me one of the legs of the bird, which was as big as the trunk of a tree. I tied myself strongly to it with the cloth that went round my turban, in hopes that when the roc [14] flew away next morning, she would carry me with her out of this desert island. And after having passed the night in this condition, the bird actually flew away next morning, as soon as it was day, and carried me so high that I could not see the earth; she afterwards descended all of a sudden, with so much rapidity that I lost my senses: but when the roc was settled, and I found myself upon the ground, I speedily untied the knot, and had scarce done so when the bird, having taken up a serpent of a monstrous length in her bill, flew away. [15]

The place where it left me was a very deep valley, encompassed on all sides with mountains, so high that they seemed to reach above the clouds, and so full of steep rocks that there was no possibility of getting out of the valley. This was a new perplexity; so that when I compared this place with the desert island from which the roc brought me, I found that I had gained nothing by the change.

As I walked through this valley, I perceived it was strewed with diamonds, some of which were of a surprising bigness. I took a great deal of pleasure to look upon them; but speedily I saw at a distance such objects as very much diminished my satisfaction, and which I could not look upon without terror; that was, a great number of serpents, so big and so long, that the least of them was capable of swallowing an elephant. They retired in the day-time to their dens, where they hid themselves from the roc, their enemy, and did not come out but in the night-time.

I spent the day in walking about the valley, resting myself at times in such places as I thought mast commodious. When night came on, I went into a cave, where I thought I might be in safety. I stopped the mouth of it, which was low and strait, with a great stone, to preserve me from the serpents, but not so exactly fitted as to hinder light from coming in. I supped on part of my provisions; but the serpents, which began to appear, hissing about in the mean time, put me into such extreme fear, that you may easily imagine I did not sleep. When day appeared the serpents retired, and I came out of the cave trembling. I can justly say, that I walked a long time upon diamonds, without feeling an inclination to touch any of them. At last I sat down, and notwithstanding my uneasiness, not having shut my eyes during the night, I fell asleep, after having eaten a little more of my provisions: but I had scarce shut my eyes, when something, that fell by me with great noise, awaked me. This was a great piece of fresh meat; and at the same time I saw several others fall down from the rocks in different places.

I always looked upon it to be a fable, when I heard mariners and others discourse of the valley of diamonds, and of the stratagems made use of by merchants to get jewels from thence; but then I found it to be true. For, in reality, those merchants come to the neighbourhood of this valley when the eagles have young ones, and throwing great joints of meat into the valley, the diamonds, upon whose points they fall, stick to them; the eagles, which are stronger in this country than any where else, pounce with great force upon those pieces of meat, and carry them to their nests upon the top of the rocks, to feed their young with; at which time the merchants, running to their nests, frighten the eagles by their noise, and take away the diamonds that stick to the meat. [16] And this stratagem they make use of to get the diamonds out of the valley, which is surrounded with such precipices that nobody can enter it.

I believed till then that it was not possible for me to get out of this abyss, which I looked upon as my grave; but then I changed my mind, for the falling in of those pieces of meat put me in hopes of a way of saving my life. --Here day began to appear, which obliged Scheherazade to break off; but she went on with it next night as follows:

SEVENTY-FOURTH NIGHT.

Sir, said she to the sultan, Sindbad continued the story of the adventure of his second voyage thus: I began to gather together the largest diamonds that I could see, and put them into the leathern bag in which I used to carry my provisions. I afterwards took the largest piece of meat I could find, tied it close round me with the cloth of my turban, and then laid myself upon the ground, with my face downward, the bag of diamonds being tied fast to my girdle, so that it could not possibly drop off.

I had scarce laid me down before the eagles came: each of them seized a piece of meat, and one of the strongest having taken me up, with a piece of meat on my back, carried me to his nest on the top of the mountain. The merchants fell straightway to shouting, to frighten the eagles; and when they had obliged them to quit their prey, one of them came to the nest where I was. He was very much afraid when he saw me; but recovering himself, instead of inquiring how I came thither, he began to quarrel with me, and asked why I stole his goods. You will treat me, replied I, with more civility, when you know me better. Do not trouble yourself; I have diamonds enough for you and myself too, more than all the other merchants together. If they have any, it is by chance; but I chose myself in the bottom of the valley all those which you see in this bag: and having spoken these words, I showed them to him. I had scarce done speaking, when the other merchants came trooping about us, much astonished to see me; but they were much more surprised when I told them my story. Yet they did not so much admire my stratagem to save myself, as my courage to attempt it.

They carried me to the place where they staid all together, and there having opened my bag, they were surprised at the largeness of my diamonds, and confessed that in all the courts where they had been they never saw any that came near them. I prayed the merchant to whom the nest belonged whither I was carried (for every merchant had his own) to take as many for his share as he pleased. He contented himself with one, and that too the least of them; and when I pressed him to take more, without fear of doing me any injury: No, said he, I am very well satisfied with this, which is valuable enough to save me the trouble of making any more voyages, to raise as great a fortune as I desire.

I spent the night with those merchants, to whom I told my story a second time, for the satisfaction of those who had not heard it. I could not moderate my joy when I found myself delivered from the danger I have mentioned: I thought myself to be in a dream, and could scarce believe myself to be out of danger.

The merchants had thrown their pieces of meat into the valley for several days: and each of them being satisfied with the diamonds that had fallen to his lot, we left the place next morning all together, and travelled near high mountains, where there were serpents of a prodigious length, which we had the good fortune to escape. We took the first port we came at, and came to the isle of Roha, where the trees grow that yield camphire. This tree is so large, and its branches so thick, that a hundred men may easily sit under its shade. The juice, of which the camphire is made, runs out from a hole bored in the upper part of the tree, is received in a vessel, where it grows to a consistency, and becomes what we call camphire; and the juice thus drawn out, the tree withers and dies.

There is in this island the rhinoceros, a creature less than the elephant, but greater than the buffalo; they have a horn upon their nose, about a cubit long; this horn is solid, and cleft in the middle from one end to the other, and there is upon it white lines, representing the figure of a man. The rhinoceros fights with the elephant, runs his horn into his belly, and carries him off upon his head; but the blood and the fat of the elephant running into his eyes, and making him blind, he falls to the ground; and then, strange to relate, the roc comes and carries them both away in her claws, to be food for her young ones.

I pass over many other things peculiar to this island, lest I should be troublesome to you. Here I exchanged some of my diamonds for good merchandise. From thence we went to other isles; and at last, having touched at several trading towns of the main land, we landed at Balsora, from whence I went to Bagdad. There I immediately gave great alms to the poor, and lived honourably upon the vast riches I had brought, and gained with so much fatigue. Thus Sindbad ended the story of the second voyage, gave Hindbad another hundred sequins, and invited him to come next day to hear the story of the third. The rest of the guests returned to their houses, and came again the next day at the same hour; and one may be sure the porter did not fail, having by this time almost forgot his former poverty. When dinner was over, Sindbad demanded attention, and gave them an account of his third voyage, as follows:

Sindbad, the Sailor’s third Voyage.

The pleasures of the life which I then led soon made me forget the risks I had run in my two former voyages; but being then in the flower of my age, I grew weary of living without business; and hardening myself against the thought of any danger I might incur, I went from Bagdad, with the richest commodities of the country, to Balsora: there I embarked again with the merchants. We made a long voyage, and touched at several ports, where we drove a considerable trade. One day, being out in the main ocean, we were attacked by a horrible tempest, which made us lose our course. The tempest continued several days, and brought us before the port of an island, where the captain was very unwilling to enter; but we were obliged to cast anchor there. When we had furled our sails, the captain told us that this and some other neighbouring islands [17] were inhabited by hairy savages, who would speedily attack us; and though they were but dwarfs, yet our misfortune was such that we must make no resistance, for they were more in number than the locusts; and if we happened to kill one of them, they would all fall upon us, and destroy us. --Here day beginning to appear, Scheherazade broke off her story, and continued it next night, as follows:

SEVENTY-FIFTH NIGHT.

This discourse of the captain, said Sindbad, put the whole company into a great consternation; and we found very soon, to our cost, that what he had told us was but too true: an innumerable multitude of frightful savages, covered all over with red hair, and about two feet high, [18] came swimming towards us, and encompassed our ship in a little time. They spoke to us as they came near, but we understood not their language; they climbed up the sides of the ship with so much agility as surprised us. We beheld all this with mortal fear, without daring to offer to defend ourselves, or to speak one word to divert them from their mischievous design. In short, they took down our sails, cut the cable, and hauled to the shore, made us all get out, and afterwards carried the ship into another island, from whence they came. All travellers carefully avoided that island where they left us, it being very dangerous to stay there, for a reason you shall hear anon; but we were forced to bear our affliction with patience.

We went forward into the island, where we found some fruits and herbs to prolong our lives as long as we could; but we expected nothing but death. As we went on, we perceived at a distance a great pile of building, and made towards it. We found it to be a palace, well built, and very lofty, with a gate of ebony of two leaves, which we thrust open. We entered the court, where we saw before us a vast apartment, with a porch, having on one side a heap of men’s bones, and on the other a vast number of roasting spits. We trembled at this spectacle, and being weary with travelling, our legs failing under us, we fell to the ground, being seized with deadly fear, and lay a long time motionless.

The sun was set, and whilst we were in the lamentable condition just mentioned, the gate of the apartment opened with a great noise, and there came out the horrible figure of a black man, as high as a tall palm tree. He had but one eye, and that in the middle of his forehead, where it looked as red as a burning coal. His foreteeth were very long and sharp, and stood out of his mouth, which was as deep as that of a horse; his upper lip hung down upon his breast; his ears resembled those of an elephant, [19] and covered his shoulders; and his nails were as long and crooked as the talons of the greatest birds. At the sight of so frightful a giant we lost all sense, and lay like dead men. [20]

At last we came to ourselves, and saw him sitting in the porch, looking at us. When he had considered us well, he advanced towards us, and laying his hands upon me, he took me up by the nape of my neck, and turned me round as a butcher would do a sheep’s head. After having viewed me well, and perceiving me to be so lean that I had nothing but skin and bone, he let me go. He took up all the rest, one by one, viewed them in the same manner, and the captain being the fattest, he held him with one hand, as I would do a sparrow, and thrusting a spit through him, kindled a great fire, roasted, and eat him in his apartment for his supper; which being done, he returned to his porch, where he lay and fell asleep, snoring louder than thunder. He slept thus till morning. For our parts, it was not possible for us to enjoy any rest; so that we passed the night in the most cruel fear that can be imagined. Day being come, the giant awaked, got up, went out, and left us in the palace.

When we thought him at a distance, we broke the melancholy silence we had kept all night, and every one grieving more than another, we made the palace resound with our complaints and groans. Though there were a great many of us, and we had but one enemy, we had not at first the presence of mind to think of delivering ourselves from him by his death. This enterprise, however, though hard to put in execution, was the only design we ought naturally to have formed.

We thought of several other things, but determined nothing; so that submitting to what it should please God to order concerning us, we spent the day in running about the island for fruit and herbs to sustain our lives. When evening came, we sought for a place to lie in, but found none; so that we were forced, whether we would or not, to return to the palace.

The giant failed not to come back, and supped once more upon one of our companions; after which he slept, and snored till day, and then went out, and left us as formerly. Our condition was so very terrible, that several of my comrades designed to throw themselves into the sea, rather than die so strange a death; and those who were of this mind argued with the rest to follow their example: upon which one of the company answered, that we were forbidden to destroy ourselves; but allowing it to be lawful, it was more reasonable to think of a way to rid ourselves of the barbarous tyrant who designed so cruel a death for us.

Having thought of a project for that end, I communicated the same to my comrades, who approved it. Brethren, said I, you know there is a great deal of timber floating upon the coast: if you will be advised by me, let us make several floats of it that may carry us; and when they are done, leave them there till we think fit to make use of them. In the mean time we will execute the design to deliver ourselves from the giant; and if we succeed, we may stay here with patience till some ship pass by, that may carry us out of this fatal island; but if it happen to miscarry, we will speedily get to our floats, and put to sea. I confess, that by exposing ourselves to the fury of the waves, we run a risk of losing our lives; but if we do, is it not better to be buried in the sea, than in the entrails of this monster, who has already devoured two of us? My advice was relished, and we made floats capable of carrying three persons each.

We returned to the palace towards the evening, and the giant arrived a little while after. We were forced to conclude on seeing another of our comrades roasted. But at last we revenged ourselves on the brutish giant thus: After he had made an end of his cursed supper, he lay down on his back and fell asleep. As soon as we heard him snore, [21] according to his custom, nine of the boldest among us, and myself, took each of us a spit, and putting the points of them into the fire till they were burning hot, we thrust them into his eye all at once, and blinded him. The pain occasioned him to make a frightful cry, and to get up and stretch out his hands, in order to sacrifice some of us to his rage: but we ran to such places as he could not find us; and after having sought for us in vain, he groped for the gate, and went out, howling dreadfully. --Scheherazade stopped here, but next night resumed her story thus:

SEVENTY-SIXTH NIGHT.

We went out of the palace after the giant, continued Sindbad, and came to the shore, where we had left our floats, and put them immediately into the sea. We waited till day, in order to get upon them, in case the giant came towards us with any guide of his own species; but we hoped if he did not appear by sun-rising, and gave over his howling, which we still heard, that he would die; and if that happened to be the case, we resolved to stay in that island, and not to risk our lives upon the floats; but day had scarce appeared, when we perceived our cruel enemy, accompanied with two others almost of the same size, leading him, and a great number more coming before him with a very quick pace.

When we saw this, we made no delay, but got immediately upon our floats, and rowed off from the shore. The giants, who perceived this, took up great stones, and running to the shore, entered the water up to the middle, and threw so exactly, that they sunk all the floats but that I was upon, and all my companions, except the two with me, were drowned. We rowed with all our might, and got out of the reach of the giants: but when we got out to sea, we were exposed to the mercy of the waves and winds, and tossed about, sometimes on one side, and sometimes on another, and spent that night and the following day under a cruel uncertainty as to our fate; but next morning we had the good luck to be thrown upon an island, where we landed with much joy. We found excellent fruit there, that gave us great relief, so that we pretty well recovered our strength.

In the evening we fell asleep on the bank of the sea, but were awaked by the noise of a serpent as long as a palm tree, whose scales made a rustling as he crept along. He swallowed up one of my comrades, notwithstanding his loud cries, and the efforts he made to rid himself of the serpent; which, shaking him several times against the ground, crushed him; and we could hear him gnaw and tear the poor wretch’s bones, when we had fled a great distance from him. Next day we saw the serpent again, to our great terror; when I cried out, O Heaven, to what dangers are we exposed! We rejoiced yesterday at our having escaped from the cruelty of a giant and the rage of the waves, and now are we fallen into another danger altogether as terrible.

As we walked about we saw a large tall tree, upon which we designed to pass the following night, for our security; and having satisfied our hunger, we mounted it accordingly. A little while after the serpent came hissing to the root of the tree, raised itself up against the trunk of it, and meeting with my comrade, who sat lower than I, swallowed him at once, and went off.

I staid upon the tree till it was day, and then came down, more like a dead man than one alive, expecting the same fate with my two companions. This filled me with horror, so that I was going to throw myself into the sea; but nature prompting us to a desire to live as long as we can, I withstood this temptation to despair, and submitted myself to the will of God, who disposes of our lives at his pleasure.

In the mean time I gathered together a great quantity of small wood, brambles, and dry thorns, and making them up into faggots, made a great circle with them round the tree, and also tied some of them to the branches over my head. Having done this, when the evening came I shut myself up within this circle, with this melancholy piece of satisfaction, that I had neglected nothing which could preserve me from the cruel destiny with which I was threatened. The serpent failed not to come at the usual hour, and went round the tree, seeking for an opportunity to devour me, but was prevented by the rampart I had made; so that he lay till day, like a cat watching in vain for a mouse that has retired to a place of safety. When day appeared he retired, but I dared not leave my fort until the sun arose.

I was fatigued with the toil he had put me to, and suffered so much by his poisonous breath, that death seemed more eligible to me than the horror of such a condition. I came down from the tree, and not thinking on the resignation I had made to the will of God the preceding day, I ran towards the sea, with a design to throw myself into it headlong. --Here Scheherazade stopt, because day appeared; and next night continued her story thus:

SEVENTY-SEVENTH NIGHT.