Week 5 Story: Sinbad's 8th Voyage
Despite all the madness that has been his life, Sinbad once again was set upon by a sense of unease in his quiet lifestyle. He could not content himself with the quiet retired life he deserved and once again longed for the adventures of his previous voyages. Taking the initiative, he acquired some goods to sell, a ship to carry him, and some merchants to accompany him on the voyage.
The voyage started as normal as any other, smooth seas and favorable winds. Then the sky darkened with clouds, the water became tumultuous, and the wind picked up and changed directions rapidly. Soon, his ship succumbed to the storm and he resigned himself to his watery grave.
When Sinbad regained consciousness, with a slight disappointment filling his soul, he found that he had once again survived against all odds and was once again alone with nothing but driftwood as company. He slowly drifted through the ocean until he landed on a beach. He soon had found fruit and fresh water to restore his spirit and looked around to take count of his surroundings. As he had grown accustomed to on his voyages, the place he was swept to was laden with treasures: diamonds the size of apples, ambergris everywhere, and gold was as present as grass. He rejoiced his good fortune, before remembering he was still stranded. He grabbed as much precious material as he could carry, and headed inland in search of civilization.
After traveling for many days, sustaining himself on the fruits of the trees around him, he reached a village. Well, he thought it was a village, but soon realized it was the most magnificent group of buildings he had ever seen! Every wall was made of pure gold, the streets were lined with rubies, then children played with diamonds as footballs in the grass. Sinbad stood at the edge of the village, mouth agape in awe.
He soon drew the attention of one of the residents, who came over to talk to him. "You do not appear to be from here," the man began, "but I can see from your appearance that you are a man of great nobility. My name is Sunja, it is an honor to meet you. Who are you, and what may I do to help you, sir?"
Sinbad's astonishment only increased. He was perceived as nobility, but he was in tattered rags from the shipwreck and had only light cloth coverings for his feet. After remembering that he had a voice, Sinbad replied, "I am Sinbad, a merchant. My ship was destroyed in a storm and I washed ashore several days ago. Why do you see me so highly?"
Sonja, taken aback by his incorrect assumption of Sinbad, replied, "Your dress certainly gives your social status away. None but the most honorable may afford cloth as you have."
Sinbad continued to try to explain how backwards Sunja's ideas were, that gold and jewels were more valuable than the ruined cloth he was wearing. By now, more of the natives had gathered at Sinbad's commotion, initially to see who this man of distinction was, then to marvel at the crazy man in king's clothes. Finally, Sinbad recovered enough to notice that the crowd was growing uneasy at his argument, and seeing his bargaining chip for passage home, offered his "ornate" clothing to anyone who would get him passage to his homeland.
This generosity was neither accepted or rejected outright. Instead, the people looked at each other, came to a silent agreement, and killed Sinbad. They buried his body outside of town in a grave deep enough to ensure no one would try to see it again and collectively attempted to block the entire experience from their memory.
Author's Note: This attaches to the end of the original Sinbad stories, sort of as an eighth voyage. While reading the stories, all I could think about was the ridiculousness of everything that happens to Sinbad: from his luck at surviving everything, always finding riches after he was lost, to always ending up with people who treat him nicely and refuse his generosity. I decided to have my own say in this story by placing him in an area where the value of things are flipped from what he knows. By the time he figures this out, he's already been labeled as crazy and dealt with as such.
Bibliography: The Arabian Nights, by Lang. Link
The voyage started as normal as any other, smooth seas and favorable winds. Then the sky darkened with clouds, the water became tumultuous, and the wind picked up and changed directions rapidly. Soon, his ship succumbed to the storm and he resigned himself to his watery grave.
When Sinbad regained consciousness, with a slight disappointment filling his soul, he found that he had once again survived against all odds and was once again alone with nothing but driftwood as company. He slowly drifted through the ocean until he landed on a beach. He soon had found fruit and fresh water to restore his spirit and looked around to take count of his surroundings. As he had grown accustomed to on his voyages, the place he was swept to was laden with treasures: diamonds the size of apples, ambergris everywhere, and gold was as present as grass. He rejoiced his good fortune, before remembering he was still stranded. He grabbed as much precious material as he could carry, and headed inland in search of civilization.
After traveling for many days, sustaining himself on the fruits of the trees around him, he reached a village. Well, he thought it was a village, but soon realized it was the most magnificent group of buildings he had ever seen! Every wall was made of pure gold, the streets were lined with rubies, then children played with diamonds as footballs in the grass. Sinbad stood at the edge of the village, mouth agape in awe.
He soon drew the attention of one of the residents, who came over to talk to him. "You do not appear to be from here," the man began, "but I can see from your appearance that you are a man of great nobility. My name is Sunja, it is an honor to meet you. Who are you, and what may I do to help you, sir?"
Sinbad's astonishment only increased. He was perceived as nobility, but he was in tattered rags from the shipwreck and had only light cloth coverings for his feet. After remembering that he had a voice, Sinbad replied, "I am Sinbad, a merchant. My ship was destroyed in a storm and I washed ashore several days ago. Why do you see me so highly?"
Sonja, taken aback by his incorrect assumption of Sinbad, replied, "Your dress certainly gives your social status away. None but the most honorable may afford cloth as you have."
Sinbad continued to try to explain how backwards Sunja's ideas were, that gold and jewels were more valuable than the ruined cloth he was wearing. By now, more of the natives had gathered at Sinbad's commotion, initially to see who this man of distinction was, then to marvel at the crazy man in king's clothes. Finally, Sinbad recovered enough to notice that the crowd was growing uneasy at his argument, and seeing his bargaining chip for passage home, offered his "ornate" clothing to anyone who would get him passage to his homeland.
This generosity was neither accepted or rejected outright. Instead, the people looked at each other, came to a silent agreement, and killed Sinbad. They buried his body outside of town in a grave deep enough to ensure no one would try to see it again and collectively attempted to block the entire experience from their memory.
Author's Note: This attaches to the end of the original Sinbad stories, sort of as an eighth voyage. While reading the stories, all I could think about was the ridiculousness of everything that happens to Sinbad: from his luck at surviving everything, always finding riches after he was lost, to always ending up with people who treat him nicely and refuse his generosity. I decided to have my own say in this story by placing him in an area where the value of things are flipped from what he knows. By the time he figures this out, he's already been labeled as crazy and dealt with as such.
Where Sinbad should have died eight times over. Link
Bibliography: The Arabian Nights, by Lang. Link
Hi Joe! That was a wild plot twist. I wasn't expecting it at all, although it was super interesting and an awesome take on the story. I like how you changed the values of the people around Sinbad to reflect the opposite of what he originally believes. The outrageous good luck in his stories do make them rather unbelievable and your story certainly gives the tales of Sinbad a more realistic ending.
ReplyDeleteWow, I really didn't expect that ending. I'll admit that I'm still not quite sure why they reacted so extremely, besides the theory that they might see him trying to trade his clothes as that of an insane man.
ReplyDeleteI always find it interesting when people write sequels to the stories they read; it results in some interesting and unique tales. People who see tattered clothes as signs of nobility and jewels as worthless... I wonder if it's because they have an abundance of the latter, but have trouble acquiring good cloth? You never mentioned their clothing, so I'm curious as to what they were wearing. Was it just intact clothing, or made of a different material?