天方夜谭英文故事：The Second Voyage

Next evening Sindbad, the sailor received Hindbad and the other guests. After a delicious feast¹, the guests were eager to hear of Sindbad's second voyage. So Sindbad began his story : 

 

 

After a few years, I again grew tired of an easy lifestyle. I met another group of merchants. I bought some goods and went with them on their ship. During the trip, we visited many ports and I had good trade that fetched me good money. 

 

 

One fine morning we anchored near a deserted² island. Some of the merchants and I got off the ship and went ashore³. We found some juicy fruits there which we ate to our heart's content. Then the merchants decided⁴ to sleep under the shady⁵ trees but I decided to sleep behind a large rock that was a little farther from the others. So I went there and slept alone. I woke up hours later and felt refreshed. But as I looked around I saw that my friends were nowhere to be seen. They had woken up, boarded the ship and sailed away. 

 

 

Once again, I was left alone on an island. In desperation I tried to go round the island to find someone though I knew it was a deserted island. As I was walking in the sands, I saw a large, white, rounded rock. I thought of climbing it to look around but as I tried to climb it, I slipped back down. It was a truly smooth rock indeed. As I was trying to climb the rock, it suddenly grew dark. I looked up to see if a cloud had covered the sun. But, to my surprise, I looked up to see a giant rock. It was a huge bird indeed. 

 

 

At once I realized that the rock I was trying to climb was in fact the giant rock's egg. Actually, I myself was in its huge nest. I hid in the shadow of the egg to escape the rock. But, as luck would have it, the giant bird came and sat on the egg to hatch⁶ it. I spent the night in great contemplation. In the morning, I knew the bird would fly off in search of food. I untied⁸ my turban and tied its one end to the giant bird's leg while the other end I wound round my waist. At dawn when the giant rock took flight I was carried along. 

 

 

The giant rock flew over islands and hills. At last it landed on an island. I took the chance to untie⁷ my turban's end from the bird's leg. Then I looked around and felt even more miserable⁹ than before for I found myself in a rocky valley surrounded by very high mountains. Then I saw the rock flying away with a snake in its beak¹⁰. 

 

 

As I walked around, I realized that I was actually tredding on diamonds. They were lying around and were of various sizes. They were as small as my finger nail and some were larger than even my head. I noticed a hissing¹¹ sound from rocks and I understood that deadly snakes were hiding behind the rocks. All at once, I remembered the tales that my merchant friends had told me. Where I was standing¹² was the well-known Valley of Diamonds. It attracted many people from the world over who collected diamonds and then sold them in their countries. I, too, picked some rocks which were actually diamonds. I filled my pockets with the small ones and the large ones I kept in a bag that hung from my waist. I realized it was getting dark, so I found an empty cave for myself. There I got in and shut the entrance with a huge rock to prevent any snakes from entering. I spent a restful night. I woke up at the dawn. 

 

 

When I came out of the cave, I noticed large chunks¹⁴ of meat lying all around. I realized that they were thrown by diamond collectors who were afraid to come down to the valley for they were scared of snakes. They threw the chunks of meat to which the diamonds stuck. When huge rock picked up the meat and carried them to their nests, the diamond merchants would reach the nests and gather the diamonds. Once again I untied my turban. This time I tied one of its ends to a chunk¹³ of meat and the other round my waist. When a huge rock flew off with the meat, I was carried away too. Soon, enough I found myself in rock’s nest. 

 

 

A while later, I heard shouts and the rock flew off in fear. A diamond merchant climbed up the tree to the nest. When he found me there, he was surprised and angry. He thought that I was there to take his diamonds. But I claimed him down and told him my story. He agreed to take me along to the nearest port. In gratitude¹⁵, I gave him a large diamond as a gift. I travelled a few days with my new friends and soon I reached the port. There we parted ways when he took a ship to Balsora and I boarded a ship to Baghdad. 

 

 

I was happy to be back in Baghdad and gave alms to the poor and thanked Allah for my safe arrival. I bought another luxurious¹⁶ mansion¹⁷ and spent my time enjoying my wealth after selling the diamonds I had acquired." 

 

 

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