Page 136 - Musings 2022

● Second journey - When Hindbad came the next day, there was delicious food and wine

on the table. Sindbad invites him and the other guests to eat, then begins recounting his
exciting journey.

Sindbad told them how after some time he started to feel like going on the journey again. He
took his cargo and left with the sailors. They went to the islands and sold their goods.

One day they reached an island where there was greenery all around and the trees were full of

fruits. Water was flowing from the springs, but surprisingly no man was visible there. That
place was completely deserted. He wondered why there was no population on such a fertile

island. This meant that there must be some trouble there. he decided that he
Will not stay on that island for long. But when Sindbad’s companions were roaming here and

there on the island eating fruits, he went to sleep under a tree.

When Sindbad opened his eyes, he found that his companions and the ship had gone back. He
thought that if he climbed higher, it would be easier for him to see far away.

Sindbad climbed a tree and looked towards the sea, but he did not see any ship. He saw a big
white thing lying on the island. He got down from the tree and walked towards it.

Seeing this, Sindbad got scared. Nothing was visible due to the sudden darkness at an unknown
place. So the danger had increased. He didn’t understand what to do.

When it got dark, Sindbad thought it was going to rain. He saw a cloud coming towards him.

But it was not a cloud, it was a huge bird. Sindbad remembered the story he had heard about
the bird by the sailors. That bird was called ‘Rock’. He realised that that white ball would be

his egg.
The rock came down and covered the egg with its wings and sat down. Sindbad kept looking

at him. When Rock sat down, Sindbad took off his turban and tied himself tightly to his leg.

He thought, ‘Tomorrow morning it will fly in search of food. Then I will get out of this island.
Maybe this way my life can be saved.

The next morning the Rock took off with heavy wings. He went on crossing many seas and
earth. He landed on an island far away from the sea. Sindbad became unconscious for a while.

Before he fainted, he remembered that he was tied to the feet of a bird and he was going to fly

it into the sky. It was a very dangerous game. He could fall off her feet at any time and fall
anywhere.

Sindbad saw that he was in a narrow valley surrounded by steep cliffs. There were heaps of
diamonds all around in the valley, but there were also hundreds of small and big snakes. He

had never seen such snakes in his life. Even the smallest snake could swallow an elephant.

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