The Seven Voyages of Sindbad the Sailor

The Seven Voyages of Sindbad the Sailor

In ancient Baghdad, there lived a porter named Hindbad. Every day he carried heavy baskets and bundles from one end of the city to the other. One hot day, Hindbad stopped to rest beside a splendid house. Music drifted from inside, the scent of spices and fresh bread filled the air, and birds sang in the garden.

“Some people are so lucky,” the porter sighed. “I work all day just to earn my supper.”

A servant heard him and invited him inside.

An old, white-bearded man sat at a great table.

“I am Sindbad the Sailor,” he said. “You look at my house and think my riches simply sailed up to my door. Sit down. I’ll tell you what it took to earn my comfort and wealth.”

And Sindbad began his story.

### The First Voyage

When he was young, Sindbad inherited a great deal of money. But he spent it carelessly, until one day he realized that if he did not change his ways, he would soon be left without a single coin.

He bought goods, joined a group of merchants, and set sail to trade in distant lands.

One day, their ship stopped beside a green island. The travelers went ashore, lit a fire, and began preparing food.

Suddenly, the ground shook.

“Back to the ship!” the captain shouted. “That isn’t an island!”

What everyone had taken for land was the back of a huge sea creature. It had lain so still for so long that grass and moss had grown on it. The warmth of the fire woke it, and it plunged beneath the waves.

Sindbad did not reach the ship in time. He fell into the water, clung to a wooden plank, and rode the waves for a long time. The next morning, the sea carried him to a real island.

There he met some of the local king’s people. Later, in the harbor, he saw a familiar ship. His goods were on board. The captain had believed Sindbad was lost and had kept the cargo so it could be returned to his family.

“But I’m Sindbad!” the sailor cried.

When everyone recognized him, his goods were returned. Sindbad traded wisely and came back to Baghdad richer than before.

“After that,” he told Hindbad, “a sensible person would never go aboard a ship again.”

“And you didn’t?” the porter asked.

Sindbad laughed. “Not for long.”

### The Second Voyage

Soon, a quiet life seemed too dull. Sindbad went to sea again.

On a deserted island, he fell asleep beneath a tree. When he woke, the ship had vanished beyond the horizon.

As he wandered across the island, Sindbad saw an enormous white dome. It was the egg of the Rukh, a bird so huge its wings could cover the sun.

That evening, the great Rukh returned. Sindbad carefully tied himself to one of its legs with a strip of cloth. At dawn, the bird took off and carried him over the mountains.

When Sindbad untied himself, he found that he was in a deep valley where diamonds glittered among the rocks. But the slopes were so steep that climbing out seemed impossible.

Suddenly, large pieces of meat began falling from above. Sindbad remembered the old method used by gem collectors: diamonds stuck to the meat, great birds carried it up to their nests, and people then chased the birds away and gathered the stones.

Sindbad filled his pockets with jewels, tied himself to a piece of meat, and was carried out of the valley with it.

When the collectors saw a person instead of their usual prize, they first stepped back in surprise, then helped him reach a port.

That was the end of his second voyage.

### The Third Voyage

But the sea called Sindbad again.

This time a storm drove his ship to a dangerous island. Small, hairy islanders captured the vessel and led the merchants inland.

Before long, the travelers were brought to a giant who kept them in a great stone house. Sindbad understood that they could not wait for help. At night, his friends distracted the giant, slipped out of the house, and built rafts.

They pushed away from shore just as the giant noticed their escape. Some of the travelers managed to reach a nearby island.

But there was no peace there either. Huge snakes lived in the tall grass, and Sindbad had to spend the night high in a tree. At last, a ship passed nearby. He waved a piece of cloth until the sailors saw him.

To his amazement, it was the same captain who had left him sleeping on an island during his second voyage. Once again, the captain found himself looking at someone he had thought was lost.

“Sindbad,” he said, “it seems the sea is determined to bring you back.”

### The Fourth Voyage

During Sindbad’s next journey, a storm wrecked the ship. Sindbad and a few others made it to the shore of a foreign land. A tribe met them there. Its customs were strange and dangerous. Sindbad noticed that the visitors were given unusual food that made them unable to think clearly. He refused to eat it and escaped as soon as he had the chance.

He walked along the shore for a long time until he reached a peaceful kingdom. The local riders had wonderful horses, but they did not know how to make saddles. Sindbad showed the craftsmen how to make saddles and stirrups. The king was delighted and asked him to stay.

Sindbad made friends and married there. But the country had an old, harsh custom: when one person in a married couple died, the other was sent with them into an underground cave from which there was no way out.

When Sindbad’s wife grew very ill and died, the custom was applied to him too.

They lowered him into a cave with some food and water. But he did not give up. As he explored the darkness, Sindbad noticed an animal that sometimes appeared among the rocks. If the creature could come and go, there must be a passage somewhere.

Sindbad followed it and found a narrow opening that led to the sea.

Once more, he saw the sky.

### The Fifth Voyage

After his fourth voyage, Sindbad owned a ship of his own. He invited some merchants aboard and set sail with them.

On a deserted island, they found a huge Rukh egg. Sindbad warned them, “Leave it alone. We are guests here.”

But some of his companions ignored him and damaged the egg.

Soon the sky darkened as two adult birds beat their enormous wings above them. They lifted huge rocks and dropped them into the sea near the ship. The waves grew so powerful that the vessel broke apart.

Sindbad made it to shore once again.

On the island he met an old man who looked frail.

“Please carry me across the stream,” the old man asked.

Sindbad lifted him onto his shoulders. But the old man wrapped his legs tightly around him and refused to climb down. Day after day, he made Sindbad carry him around the island.

The sailor began thinking of a way to escape. He gathered grapes, made a strong drink from them, and offered some to the old man. The old man drank too much, loosened his grip, and fell asleep. Sindbad slipped free and ran away.

Later, a ship rescued him. In another land, he saw people gathering coconuts. They threw small stones at monkeys, and the angry monkeys threw coconuts down at them. Sindbad quickly learned this unusual trade, gathered a valuable load, and returned to Baghdad once more.

### The Sixth Voyage

“And after all that, you went to sea again?” Hindbad exclaimed.

“I wonder at it myself,” Sindbad replied.

The sixth voyage brought him to the most dangerous place yet. A powerful current dragged his ship toward a high rocky mountain, where the wreckage of many ships lay. There was no way to escape by sea.

Precious stones could be found along the shore, but the food was running out. No treasure could take the place of bread and water.

Sindbad noticed a river disappearing into a dark cave beneath the mountain.

“If the water flows somewhere, perhaps it can carry me out of here,” he decided.

He built a small raft from the wreckage, took a little food and a few precious stones, and let the current carry him into the darkness.

For a long time, there was nothing around him but the sound of water. Then Sindbad fell asleep.

When he awoke, he saw sunlight and people on the shore. The river had carried him to the beautiful country of Serendib.

The local king listened to Sindbad’s story and welcomed him with great respect. When the sailor prepared to return home, the king sent gifts for Baghdad’s ruler, Caliph Harun al-Rashid.

Sindbad returned and delivered the presents with honor.

### The Seventh and Last Voyage

After his sixth journey, Sindbad firmly decided never to go to sea again.

But one day, the caliph summoned him.

“You know the way to Serendib, and the people there remember you. Take my reply and these gifts to their king.”

It was difficult to refuse, so Sindbad set out for the last time.

The voyage to Serendib went well. The king received the caliph’s letter and thanked the messenger generously.

On the way home, sea robbers captured Sindbad’s ship. He lost his possessions and found himself far from home. He had to work for a merchant who traded in ivory.

The merchant ordered Sindbad to watch the elephants in the forest. But Sindbad did not want to harm the animals without need.

One day, a huge herd surrounded the tree where he was sitting. One elephant gently lifted Sindbad with its trunk, placed him on its back, and carried him deep into the forest.

There was a wide natural valley where old elephant tusks lay—the tusks of elephants that had reached the end of their lives naturally.

Sindbad understood. It was as if the elephants were showing people that they need not hunt them for ivory.

He told the merchant what he had seen. The merchant was delighted by the discovery.

“You’ve brought me more than I could have hoped for,” he said. “From now on, you are free, and you’ll have a share of the profits.”

At last, Sindbad returned to Baghdad.

He fell silent and looked at Hindbad.

“My friend, behind every jewel in this house is a memory of a storm, a dark cave, or a night on a strange shore. I learned to value not treasures, but the chance to come home.”

“Now I understand,” said Hindbad. “When you see only the end of someone’s journey, it’s easy to think the road was easy.”

Sindbad smiled and invited him to visit again. From then on, they often shared meals, and the old sailor helped the porter build a life in which hard work did not take all his strength.

Sindbad himself never searched for another adventure.

People say that sometimes, in the evening, he still went up to the roof of his house and looked toward the roads to the sea. He listened to the wind.

But whenever the wind seemed to call him on a new voyage, Sindbad only laughed.

“No, my friend. Seven times was quite enough.”

May this story leave a little light in your heart ✨