“I always enjoyed trading and seeing new and strange places and people,” said Sindbad to his guests, “So, it was not long before I took off on a voyage again!” The story of his fourth voyage ran as follows:
This time Sindbad decided to take a ship from a Persian port. The voyage began well but there was a dreadful hurricane one day. The ship was wrecked and most of the people on it perished. Sindbad was one of the few who survived. Clinging on to a piece of the broken ship, they managed to reach the shore of an island.
The tired men slept on the shore. In the morning, they wandered around the island and saw some huts and went towards them. Suddenly, many of the villagers came out and surrounded them. They were dark men who captured them and took them in groups to their huts.
Sindbad, with five of his companions, was led to a hut by one of the villagers. The villager gave them some herbs which Sindbad’s companions ate eagerly. They were driven mad and began talking gibberish. Sindbad was cautious and only pretended to eat the herbs. So, he was saved.
The villagers then brought them rice cooked in coconut oil. Again, his companions ate their fill. But Sindbad realised that they were being fattened so that the villagers might eat them. He ate very little and became thin. His friends became fat and soon they were killed and eaten.
The villagers allowed him to wander around. Only an old man sat guard over him. One day, Sindbad escaped from the old man and ran to the shore. He found some white men there collecting pepper. Sindbad was delighted when he found that they spoke Arabic! He told them of his shipwreck and of the dark savages on the island. They quickly set sail, taking Sindbad with them to their own country.
They took Sindbad to their King who was kind and hospitable. He heard all about Sindbad’s adventures and gave him food and clothes. Soon, he was comfortable and explored the city.
It was a busy prosperous kingdom. People rode on horses. But Sindbad saw to his surprise that they did not use any bridles or stirrups while they rode.
He found a craftsman and got him to make a saddle with gold embroidery on it. Then he got some carved spurs made too. He offered the saddle and the spurs to the King, who was quite charmed with the gifts. The King learnt to use them and spent many happy hours riding around using his new saddle and spurs!
In fact, he was so happy that he asked Sindbad to get these things made for all the important officers of his kingdom. Sindbad was given many gifts and soon became a wealthy man. The King wanted Sindbad to marry a beautiful lady and stay in his kingdom. Finally, Sindbad agreed and was married to a lady chosen by the King.
They lived happily together and Sindbad prospered. One day, his neighbour’s wife died. No matter what Sindbad said, he could not console his neighbour who wept piteously. Sindbad then learnt that there was a law that when a person died, his wife or husband was buried alive with him/her!
He watched as the neighbour’s wife was dressed in grand clothes and taken with all her jewels for the burial. The husband followed sadly. Her body was placed in a large pit. Then the husband was given seven loaves of bread and a pitcher of water and lowered into the pit on a platform, weeping and moaning. The pit was then covered with a stone.
Sindbad found out that this custom was followed by everyone, even foreigners. The news frightened him.
‘Oh, heavens! If my wife dies,’ he thought, ‘I too will be buried alive with her!’
Unfortunately, that is just what happened. His wife died and poor Sindbad, wailing and protesting, was buried in a pit with her! It was dark and cold in the pit and there did not seem to be any way at all to escape from it. He ate very little, trying to save the bread and water for as long as possible. But one day, the food finished and Sindbad was quite desperate.
Then he saw a dead man being buried in the pit and his weeping wife being lowered with him.
Sindbad was hungry and frantically trying to get out. He thought that the woman was going to die in any case. So, he killed her and took her store of bread and water. While he was living on her food and water for a few days, one day he heard a sound. Following it, he came to a crack in the wall of the pit. Squeezing into it, he began to crawl through. In places it was very narrow but finally he could see some light. The tunnel opened onto the sea-shore, much to Sindbad’s relief!
Having found a way to escape, Sindbad returned to the pit and collected all the jewels and gems and valuable things he could carry and went out to the sea-shore. He was fortunate in seeing a ship at sea. He waved and shouted to attract attention and soon a boat was sent to pick him up.
His new shipmates were kind and generous. In fact, they took no payment from him for his help. He travelled with them, purchasing a great deal of merchandise and trading along the way till he reached home at Baghdad. There was great celebration and Sindbad was happy to enjoy the company of his friends and his family again.
Sindbad gave a hundred gold sequins to Hindbad and asked him to come the next day to hear about his next adventure voyage.
