sit with him till the rest of the company arrived, when he caused
set on food and they ate and drank and made merry. Then Sindbad
the Seaman bespake them and related to them the narrative of




The Fourth Voyage of Sindbad the Seaman.



Know, O my brethren that after my return from my third voyage and
foregathering with my friends, and forgetting all my perils and
hardships in the enjoyment of ease and comfort and repose, I was
visited one day by a company of merchants who sat down with me
and talked of foreign travel and traffic, till the old bad man
within me yearned to go with them and enjoy the sight of strange
countries, and I longed for the society of the various races of
mankind and for traffic and profit. So I resolved to travel with
them and buying the necessaries for a long voyage, and great
store of costly goods, more than ever before, transported them
from Baghdad to Bassorah where I took ship with the merchants in
question, who were of the chief of the town. We set out, trusting
in the blessing of Almighty Allah; and with a favouring breeze
and the best conditions we sailed from island to island and sea
to sea, till, one day, there arose against us a contrary wind and
the captain cast out his anchors and brought the ship to a
standsill, fearing lest she should founder in mid-ocean. Then we
all fell to prayer and humbling ourselves before the Most High;
but, as we were thus engaged there smote us a furious squall