Week 5 Story: The Mutiny Against Sindbad

"We're not going!"

The captain stands there, shocked. He's never had an entire crew threaten a mutiny, let alone threaten one before they have even embarked on their journey.

"Why must you say these things? Let us embark on our journey as planned," replies the captain.

"Not as long as that Sindbad is traveling on the ship. That man is bad luck," retorts the crew, "Every single voyage he embarks on, nearly the entire crew ends up perishing!"

"I can understand your trepidation, but fear not. This voyage is not a dangerous one, you are the most experienced and talented crew that I have been around, and I promise that we will make it out alive," assured the captain. After all, they did have a vast amount of experience traveling the seas with him. But he could see in their eyes that they did not expect to return alive.

Dejected, Sindbad rose from his seated position. He could not bear to see the hatred that these sailors had for him, some of whom even traveled with him on his previous voyages, rescuing him when they found him stranded. Hearing them say they wished he did not travel with them, he felt compelled to finally speak up.

"Fellow sailors," said Sindbad, "I am pained to know that you do not wish for me to join you on your journey. It is not my fault that I have been through these experiences. In many cases, it was the others with me who caused such chaos that led to my adventures."

One of the sailors scoffs at Sindbad and exclaims, "So because of that, you expect us to be ready to die and become just another chapter in your book? What kind of man has every other crew he's sailed with perish on their journey? If I hazard a guess, I would say that you were responsible for all of their deaths!"

"I handpicked him for his experience and expertise on the waters and I believe he is a capable mariner. Why would I risk my own life by bringing him aboard if I did not believe we would survive?" questions the captain.

"The Caliph demanded you bring him along! That's what happened on his seventh voyage, and I assume it's the same story this time around. I doubt a man with your experience would be so asinine as to bring along someone as reckless and cursed as Sindbad," cries the crew.

"One way or another, there will be a crew on that ship within the hour. If you do not board with myself and Sindbad, I will make sure you never set foot on any vessel again. I do not have time to waste with you and your trivial fears," remarks the captain.

Sindbad looks towards the ground, noticing how weathered his feet have become from all of his adventures. Escaping along the river, flying with the Roc, surviving the Old Man of the Sea. Defeated, he whispers, "I must stay so as not to threaten the ship and its survival. If the crew does not wish for me to join them, I shall stay and tend to my home. All I wanted was one voyage that did not result in disaster."

Sindbad leading a caravan on one of his voyages

Source: Wikipedia

The captain looks towards Sindbad, then back at the crew. "We're not leaving this man behind. We will be the voyage that breaks the spell of luck that Sindbad has experienced on the sea. We don't sail without all of you, nor without Sindbad. Anyone who does not want to give this man his one wish in life is less of a man than anyone."

The crew looks at each other, contemplating their next move. After a few moments, their decision has been made. "We shall sail with Sindbad, just this one voyage. However, if it does threaten the same ending as his previous seven, all we ask is that Sindbad ensures we survive in exchange for volunteering for this mission."

Sindbad quickly agrees, excited that he is able to make one last voyage. The crew piles onto the ship, and sails off into the horizon.

Author's Note: Each of Sindbad's seven voyages are stories of near peril for Sindbad, and on many of these voyages, Sindbad found himself as the only sailor to survive, having watched many die in front of him, leaving him as the only one who can recount their deaths. I wanted to write a story looking at how the crew might react to the possibility of sailing with Sindbad, having read about his perils and the threat of imminent harm they might face when sailing with him. While the stories might have been exaggerated, the sailors still would likely want no part of his presence.

The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang, illustrated by H.J. Ford (1898)

Reading Notes: Sindbad, Part B

The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang, illustrated by H.J. Ford (1898)

Fifth Voyage
This time, Sindbad travels on his adventure on a ship that was his own, although he did bring fellow merchants with him. They stopped on an island, where they found a Roc egg similar to the one that Sindbad saw earlier, although this one was in the process of hatching. The other sailors with him hacked through the shell and killed the baby bird, eating the bird in the process. This angered the parent birds, who caught up to the sailors and their ship, sinking it with large rocks. Sindbad washed ashore on an island yet again, and met an old man who appeared frail, so he helped the man out. However, the man enslaved him, forcing him to carry him on his back. Sindbad managed to hollow out a gourd and fill it with grapes, turning it into wine, and the old man drank it, at which time Sindbad threw him off his shoulders. He then escaped with merchants, who were amazed that he had escaped from the Old Man of the Sea, took him to their land, where he gathered coconuts in order to obtain the money to pay to travel back home.

Sindbad carrying the Old Man of the Sea

Source: Wikipedia

Sixth Voyage
Instead of leaving from Bagdad for his sixth voyage, we see Sindbad travel to India, where he leaves on a new expedition. Their boat becomes caught in a storm, and they crash into an island where it is said that no one ever returns home. All of the other sailors perish on this island, but Sindbad noticed a fresh water river, which instead of emptying into the sea, turned and went into a cavern. He built a raft and gathered up many gems that he found on the island and in the cavern, and rode the raft through the cavern and into a new, strange land called Serendib. After some time, Sindbad requests to return home, and is allowed to return, taking with him gifts for his own king, which he does graciously. The Caliph in his home of Bagdad is initially skeptical of the gifts, which came from the Sultan of the Indies, but after Sindbad tells of this man's kingdom, the Caliph believes him, and gives Sindbad many gifts before he returns home.

Seventh Voyage
Sindbad sets off on one last voyage, after the Caliph requests he transport gifts to the king of Serendib, which he agrees to do after the Caliph says it must be him who does it. He was successful in delivering these gifts, and after being asked to stay for a time by the King of Serendib, leaves with many gifts for the Caliph. Unfortunately, during their journey, his ship is attacked by pirates, who sell them into slavery. He is bought by a rich merchant, who has him hunt elephants for their ivory tusks. After a time, the elephants uprooted the tree that Sindbad hunted them from. However, instead of killing him, they took him to their graveyard, which contained many of the ivory tusks that his master was after. He escaped to his master's home, and told him of this sight with much more ivory than he could ever imagine. As thanks for showing him all this ivory, the master allows Sindbad to leave, as he was the only slave not to be killed by the elephants. He gives him many treasures to take home with him, and he returns home, paying respects to the Caliph before having his story written for all to read, and thus ending his seventh and final voyage.

Reading Notes: Sindbad, Part A

The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang, illustrated by H.J. Ford (1898)

First Voyage
Sindbad and some other sailors traveled across Persia, selling and trading their merchandise. Often they would stop and take breaks on various islands. One fateful day, however, the island they stopped on was a sleeping whale, which awoke at the starting of a fire by the sailors. Sindbad was not able to re-board the ship, and washed onto an island, which he would call home after being welcomed by the king. After some time, a ship stops at the island where Sindbad now resides, and he finds that this is the same ship from which he had disappeared some time before. Despite the captain believing he is lying, Sindbad eventually gets the captain to recognize him and welcome him back, glad to find out that he had not perished as they had believed.

Second Voyage
Once again, we see Sindbad lost and alone without a ship. This time, he is left behind after he falls asleep on an island while they are stopped, and awakens after the ship has already sailed away. Climbing into a tree, he sees a large white object, and is stunned to discover that it is a bird's egg, a bird known as the Roc, with legs as large as tree trunks. He takes advantage and ties himself to the bird, escaping the island, but also becoming stuck in a valley filled with massive serpents and many diamonds. He had heard tales of this bird and this valley, but did not believe they were true until now. After seeing merchants throw large pieces of meat into the valley in hopes that a bird will pick it up, and the meat be filled with diamonds, he gathers as many diamonds as he can, and clings to the piece of meat, being carried out by an eagle. The merchants were distraught initially that he had come with the meat instead of diamonds, but after telling his tale, he offered them some of his diamonds, and traveled with these merchants, eventually making his way back home once again.

The Valley of Diamonds by Maxfield Parrish

Source: Wikipedia

Third Voyage
Because two voyages ending in an adventure was not enough, Sindbad left on yet another voyage. This time, the entire crew is forced off of the ship, on what the captain said was the worst island for them to have landed on. Searching, they find a castle, but it is inhabited by a massive giant with one eye, who would select one of the crew each night, roast them, and eat them. After a few nights of fear, Sindbad and the other sailors set off to make rafts for escape during the day, and attacked the giant that night, blinding him by stabbing his eye with multiple spits. The giant, however, returns the next day with many more giants, who sink all but one raft as the sailors try to escape, which Sindbad is fortunately on. On their next island, the two remaining sailors with Sindbad are eaten by a snake on consecutive nights. He builds a crude shelter, successfully hiding from the snake who could not break through to Sindbad. That next day, Sindbad spots a ship in the distance, and is brought aboard the ship. While purchasing some items that belong to a perished sailor, he discovers that it is the same boat captain from his second voyage, and that these items were his from that trip. The captain is elated, and takes Sindbad back to Bagdad, thus completing his third voyage.

Fourth Voyage
For the fourth time, Sindbad heads out on a voyage, this one rocked by a hurricane that destroys the ship and kills most of the sailors. Sindbad and the remaining sailors wash ashore on an island, where they find huts, and are captured by the inhabitants. The inhabitants offer copious amounts of food to the sailors, all of whom except Sindbad eat with great fervor, before being killed and eaten once they have been fattened up. Sindbad, on the other hand, ate very little, and was left alone by his captors, who he manages to escape from. He runs into people who are amazed that he was not eaten as his fellow sailors were, and take him to their homeland. He impresses the king of this land, as well as many high-ranking officials with the gifts of saddles for their horses, and is offered a beautiful wife as part of his repayment. However, Sindbad is distraught when he learns that this island has a custom where if your spouse dies, you must be buried along with them. Alas, his wife passes, and he is buried with her, barely surviving. He kills someone else who is buried with their spouse to gain their rations, surviving long enough on these to discover another entrance to the cave they are buried in. He manages to escape, being found by another boat, who fortunately takes him back to Bagdad to complete his fourth voyage.