“I had forgotten the dangers of the earlier voyages,” said Sindbad to his guest, “And I was restless once again for travel! So having collected some goods and merchandise for trading, I set off once more, with merchants who were known to me, from Balsora.” The story of his third voyage ran as follows:
The merchants traded at several towns on the way, stopping at various ports and towns. For a while everything went well. Then one day a terrible storm hit the ship and it was driven right off its course.
“I wish we had not reached this island!” said the Captain, looking around in a worried way, “This place is inhabited by terrible dwarfs. They come in great hordes and attack people and kill them!”
Suddenly, before the sailors could fully understand the danger that threatened them, they saw a huge crowd of savage dwarfs rushing towards them. The dwarfs were about two feet high and had red hair. Leaping into the water, they came to the ship and scrambled swiftly up its sides.
They dropped the sailors on a lonely island near by and then returned to their own island. The sailors were stuck on the island with no way to escape.
In despair the sailors wandered around, eating a few fruits and herbs. Suddenly, they saw a huge palace. Thinking it might provide them with some help, they walked to it. They found it was a huge castle and went in through the huge gates. There, they stopped in shocked silence.
Around them lay heaps of human bones and on a large fire a human was being roasted! The exhausted sailors were so horrified that they fell down feeling weak, frustrated and frightened.
It was almost sunset and they lay silently, unable to move. Suddenly, they heard a loud noise of thundering footsteps. Peering cautiously, they looked in terror at a huge black giant who was entering the room. He had one eye in the centre of his forehead, and long, sharp teeth and nails. His lower lip hung down upon his chin and his huge ears flapped like an elephant’s.
The giant saw the sailors lying on the floor. He began to feel them to see which one was fat enough to eat. Sindbad lay still, hardly daring to breathe when the giant felt him.
“Pshaw!” said the giant in disgust, “This one is all skin and bones! I’ll find a fat one.”
The giant picked up the fattest sailor and the others watched in dismay as he picked him up on a skewer, roasted him on the fire and ate him up! Then the giant lay down and fell asleep, snoring so loudly that the walls shook.
In the morning, the giant awoke and went away. But the sailors knew there was no escape from their terrible fate. They had been attacked by the dwarfs and were now food for the giant! Each night the giant returned and one by one Sindbad saw him roasting and eating up some of his companions.
The sailors began to plan how to get away from the island. Secretly, when the giant was away in the daytime, they made rafts from driftwood and reeds to sail away. Finally one night, Sindbad and eight of his companions were left. All the others had been eaten up by the giant.
That night when the giant was sleeping, each of the nine men picked up a skewer. They heated the skewers in the fire and without waiting any longer they plunged them into the giant’s eye. He awoke with a roar of pain and thrashed around trying to catch the sailors. They ran into various corners and hid themselves. The blinded giant stumbled out of the castle, howling with pain.
The sailors ran out to their rafts on the sea-shore. The giant returned with several more giants following him. They hurled huge rocks at the sailors and two of the rafts were smashed, drowning the sailors.
Sindbad and the two men on his raft managed to sail away. Tossed by the winds and the waves, they were carried on the sea to a distant island where there were trees laden with fruits. The tired men ate the fruits and fell asleep under the trees.
A rustling sound woke them up and Sindbad saw an immense snake catch one of his companions and crush him to death before swallowing him. The two men got up and ran for their life. They climbed up a tall tree and stayed there, eating its fruit.
But at night, Sindbad saw the snake slither up the tree and it ate up his friend who was on a lower branch.
The next day, Sindbad collected dry wood and reeds and wove a kind of tent around himself to hide. He could hear the snake slithering around it at night trying to find a way in, but luckily the reeds and wood held firm and Sindbad was safe.
He crawled in the morning stealthily to the shore. He saw a ship and began to wave and shout trying to attract the attention of the sailors. They saw him and sent a boat to fetch him. Tired and ragged, Sindbad received a great deal of kindness from the Captain who gave him some clothes to wear.
“We have some merchandise that belonged to a sailor who died during our last voyage,” said the Captain. Sindbad was surprised to see his own name on the goods and found that he knew the Captain! He introduced himself to the Captain who was very happy to see him alive! They sailed towards Balsora, trading at towns along the way. At Balsora, he thanked the Captain and went home to Baghdad.
Sindbad gave a hundred gold sequins to Hindbad and asked him to come the next day to hear about his next voyage.
