Reading Notes: Sinbad Part B

Sindbad rafting down the caverns (Illustration from Wikimedia Commons)

Sindbad
 In his final voyages, Sindbad does seem to be learning from his previous experiences. He warns his fellow merchants to leave the roc's egg alone in his fifth voyage and decides to travel by land rather than by sea on his way home from his seventh and final voyage. He also seems to get luckier and luckier. The elephant's in the final voyage don't really even try to kill him though he has killed several members of the herd. It seems like they've learned it's no use just the same as I have. Sindbad is rather invincible so the intrigue in his stories lie in their ridiculous and unpredictability rather than in suspense concerning what will happen next. The seventh story is really a departure from the pattern in that his voyage starts rather smoothly and escapes death rather easily which in some ways is refreshing but also a tad disappointing. He also really seems content to stay at home in Baghdad prior to the seventh voyage. He must be convinced to leave instead of stay. In my opinion this voyage needs a twist ending or a return to form.

Charting Sindbad's Voyages Continued

Voyage Number	Cause of Near Death	How He Escapes	Riches Gained
5	Parent roc’s return to baby roc who his fellow merchants kill	Rode a piece of driftwood to a nearby island
5	Forced to give piggyback rides to an old man of the sea nonstop	He gets the old man drunk	Gains pearls on ride home
6	Ship caught in current and driven into an unscalable mountain	Builds raft and rides down river into cavern	Rubies, emeralds, rock crystal, ambergris, and precious stuffs
6	Starvation on raft	Found by friendly men in Serendib	Food, king’s favor and riches
7	Ship captured by pirates	Submitted and sold as slave
7	Killed elephants, herd uprooted the tree he was in	Dropped in the elephant’s burial ground	Ivory and freedom to return home

Andrew Lang, A Thousands Nights' Entertainments