Chatterbox, 1905 Part 117

HEROES AND HEROINES OF FAMOUS BOOKS.

IV.--THE STORY OF SINBAD THE SAILOR

(From the 'Arabian Nights.')

There once lived in Bagdad a poor porter, whose name was Hindbad. One day, during the excessive heat of summer, he was carrying a heavy load from one end of the city to the other, and, just as he was feeling very tired of his burden, came upon a street refreshed by a gentle breeze.

The pavement was sprinkled with rose-water, and in a fine position, close to the street, stood a splendid mansion. Asking whose house it was, Hindbad was told that it was the residence of Sinbad the Sailor, 'that famous voyager who had sailed over all the seas under the sun.'

Hindbad could not help thinking how different this man's situation was from his own, and he exclaimed in a loud voice, 'Alas, what a difference there is between Sinbad and myself! I suffer daily a thousand ills, and find the greatest difficulty in providing my wretched family with bad barley bread, whilst Sinbad spends his riches freely, and enjoys every pleasure. What has he done to be so happy, or I to be so unhappy?'

As he said this, he struck the ground with his foot angrily, and stood there looking at the house, the picture of despair. As he remained thus, a servant came out from the great house, and, taking hold of his arm, said, 'Come, follow me; my master, Sinbad, wishes to speak with you.'

Very soon Hindbad was brought into the presence of the great man, who was surrounded by a crowd of officers and servants. He was a very grave and venerable person, with a long white beard. The poor porter felt very much afraid when he saw so much magnificence; but Sinbad drove away his fears by his kindness, and helped him to the choicest dishes.

After the feast Sinbad addressed Hindbad by the t.i.tle of 'brother,' and asked his name and profession. Hindbad answered him faithfully. Sinbad wished to know what it was he had said in the street, and this also Hindbad told him. Then Sinbad pointed out how foolish the porter's anger and envy had been, since he did not really know whether this wealth had not been won worthily by toil and hardship; and when Hindbad began to see that he had spoken without thought, Sinbad went on to give some account of his adventures in seven voyages that he had made on different seas. We shall not narrate the whole of these adventures during the various voyages, but shall only take two of them, one of which has pa.s.sed into a proverb.

When Sinbad was a young man, he spent the fortune he inherited from his father foolishly. But there came a day, happily while he was still young, when he saw his folly, and determined to use what was left of his fortune in a better manner. As a first step in this direction, he sought the advice of some merchants who traded by sea, with the result that he embarked with several of them in a vessel which they had fitted out at their united expense. It was a lovely day when they set sail, but before long the wind fell, and they were becalmed off a small island. The captain ordered the sails to be furled, and gave permission for those who wished to go ash.o.r.e. Amongst those who took advantage of the permission was Sinbad himself. He and his comrades sat down to lunch on one of the greenest parts of the island, and had just begun their meal, when the island suddenly trembled, and they felt a great shock. They at first supposed that it was an earthquake, but in this they were mistaken, for the island turned out to be nothing more nor less than a huge whale! The most active of the party jumped into the boat, while others threw themselves into the water to swim to the ship. Sinbad himself was still on the 'island' when it plunged into the sea. He had only time, as he sank, to catch hold of a piece of wood which had been brought to make a fire with. A breeze had sprung up, and the captain of the ship set sail, leaving Sinbad, whom he had possibly not missed, to the mercy of the waves.

At last a great wave dashed Sinbad, nearly exhausted, on to an island which, this time, he found to be really good firm earth. The men of the island were kind to him, and told him that had he been a day later he would very likely have perished from starvation, for on the following day they were leaving that part of the island, with the horses which they were to take to the King.

The King received Sinbad in a friendly manner, and the wanderer stayed in the chief city for some time. At length, one day, when he was standing near the harbour, he saw a ship come towards the land. It was loaded with goods, and as he was looking he saw his own name on some of the packages, and knew them to be those which he had left behind him in the vessel. On making inquiries of the captain, whom he recollected as the captain with whom he had formerly sailed, he was told that the parcels belonged to 'a merchant of Bagdad, named Sinbad.' Of course, it took but a short time to convince the captain that the man to whom he was speaking was the missing pa.s.senger. Sinbad related his adventures, and was soon in possession of his merchandise again. He selected from it some of the most valuable things, and presented them to the King of the island. He sold the remainder for a good sum of money, and at length returned in the ship to his native land, where he was received by his family and friends with great joy.

(_Concluded on page 354._)

[Ill.u.s.tration: "'My master wishes to speak with you.'"]

[Ill.u.s.tration: "He saw an old man, who seemed to be very weary."]

HEROES AND HEROINES OF FAMOUS BOOKS.

IV.--THE STORY OF SINBAD THE SAILOR.

(From the 'Arabian Nights.')

(_Concluded from page 351._)

Sinbad bought a magnificent house and grounds, and thought of settling down and forgetting all the disagreeable things that had happened to him; but this state of idleness did not please his active turn of mind, and he soon gave it up and took to his travels again. He made no less than seven voyages before he retired and settled down with his family.

On one of these voyages he was again wrecked, and after a narrow escape from drowning, was cast up on another island. He wandered along the sh.o.r.e for some time, and presently came upon a little stream. On the banks of this brook he saw an old man seated, who seemed to be very broken down and weary. 'I approached and saluted him,' said Sinbad to Hindbad, 'but instead of replying he made signs to me to take him on my shoulders and cross the brook, making me understand that he wanted to gather some fruit.' This Sinbad did, and when he had reached the other side of the stream with his heavy load, he stopped and asked the old man to get down.

But then a strange thing happened. 'This old man,' said Sinbad, 'who appeared so decrepit, nimbly threw his legs, which I now saw were covered with a hard skin, over my neck, and seated himself on my shoulders, at the same time squeezing my throat so tightly that I expected to be strangled. I was so alarmed that I fainted away.' The old man, however, would not loose his hold, but made his prisoner carry him and gather fruit for him, and work for him generally, without paying him any money or allowing him any liberty, merely raining down blows on him for all that he did.

But at last, one day, Sinbad's opportunity came. The old man having taken a drink which Sinbad had prepared for him out of some grapes he found, became drowsy, and began to sway about on the shoulders of his carrier, who, understanding how things were, threw his burden to the ground, and thus got rid of him. Overjoyed at being once again free, he walked towards the sea-sh.o.r.e, and here, to his great joy, he met some people who belonged to a vessel which had anch.o.r.ed there to get fresh water. He told them of his adventures, and they a.s.sured him that he had fallen into the hands of the Old Man of the Sea, adding, 'You are the first whom he has not strangled; he never left those whom he had once mastered till he had put an end to their lives. The sailors and merchants who land here never dare approach him except in a strong body.'

No doubt _Chatterbox_ readers have often heard the phrase, 'The old man of the sea,' which is only another term for a weight that we have taken upon ourselves and cannot shake off. Thus, if a man is in debt, and cannot get clear, the debt is said to be a veritable 'old man of the sea' to him who carries the burden.

All Sinbad's fatigue at last ended, and he arrived happily at Bagdad, where he lived a quiet and worthy life till the hour of his death.

Hindbad, when he heard the tale, was obliged to admit that the man whose riches he had so envied had not won them without fearful perils, and that his own miseries, as compared with those undergone by the owner of the mansion, were as nothing; and Sinbad, remembering what he had once suffered himself, behaved kindly and generously to the porter, making him his friend, and promising him that all his life he should have reason to remember Sinbad the Sailor.

AFLOAT ON THE DOGGER BANK.

A Story of Adventure on the North Sea and in China.

(_Continued from page 349._)

CHAPTER XVIII.

The Pages and Ping w.a.n.g were among the first twenty to pa.s.s in at the town gates, and the latter at once crossed over to an inn and peeped in at the door. The glance he gave satisfied him, and he beckoned to Charlie and Fred to enter. It was not an attractive-looking place, but there was a smell of roast pork, that made the hungry travellers sniff with delight.

The dining-room into which Ping w.a.n.g led the way was very dirty, and until Charlie and Fred were told what the room was they had no idea that it was there that they were to breakfast. They sat down on a form at a little, bare wooden table, and before long were enjoying a hearty meal of roast pork and tea.

'And now,' Fred said, when they had satisfied their healthy appet.i.tes, 'I should like to lie down and sleep.'

'So should I,' Charlie declared. 'What kind of beds do they have here?'

'We can lie on the floor here if we like,' Ping w.a.n.g answered.

'I'll do so,' Charlie said, and down he went on the floor, turned his face to the wall, rested his head on his arm, and closed his eyes: Fred followed his example at once.

Ping w.a.n.g waited until his friends were asleep, and then, having satisfied himself that their pigtails were not slipping off, and that there was nothing about their appearance to attract attention, he lay down beside them.

All three slept soundly until the landlord came in and awoke Ping w.a.n.g, who had an argument with him about the price of roast pork.

'What is our next move?' Charlie asked, quietly, when the landlord had left the room.

'To go and see my cousin,' Ping w.a.n.g replied, 'to warn him of the danger which threatens his brother and all other Christians.'

Ping w.a.n.g found his cousin--a fan-maker--at his shop. He had heard of the Boxers' intentions the day before, and had already been to his brother to warn him and his friends. This was indeed good news, and Ping w.a.n.g was anxious to tell his friends of it, but dared not, for his cousin's work-people were in the next room, and would probably hear them speaking English. He told his cousin, however, that his friends, who were standing at the door, were Englishmen, a piece of news which caused the fan-maker much uneasiness. He begged Ping w.a.n.g not to introduce him to the Englishmen, and urged him to get them out of the town as quickly as possible. Ping w.a.n.g chatted with him for a few more minutes and then departed.

The streets were now crowded with people, and Ping w.a.n.g whispered to his friends not to speak on any account until they were safe at another inn.

He led them through numerous narrow streets, and was within a hundred yards of the inn where he hoped to get a room when a man came running along the street, shouting wildly, slashing about with a whip, and driving the people back against the houses on either side. Ping w.a.n.g pushed the Pages back quickly and stood in front of them.

A few moments later Charlie and Fred understood the cause of the excitement. A gorgeous palanquin was borne rapidly past them, but not so quickly that they were unable to see the occupant. He was a fat, cruel-looking man, and took no notice whatever of the kowtowing of the people. On his head he wore a yellow cloth, such as the Boxers had worn on the previous evening, and this was regarded, as it was meant to be, as a sign that he was in sympathy with the Boxer movement.

'Chin Choo,' Ping w.a.n.g muttered, as the palanquin pa.s.sed out of sight, and Charlie and Fred knew that they had seen the murderer of their friend's father, and the possessor of the treasure which they had come to China to secure.

The inn to which Ping w.a.n.g led his friends was the best in Kw.a.n.g-ngan.

It was roomy, fairly clean, and was the only place of its kind that was two storeys high. The other inns had but one storey.

Ping w.a.n.g took a room on the first floor, and they entered into occupation at once.

'Let us sit in the middle of the room,' Ping w.a.n.g said, 'and then, if we talk very quietly, there will be no fear of any one hearing that we are not talking Chinese.'