Essay Week 5: The Restlessness of Sindbad

            Sindbad is an interesting character. He inherits a large sum of money from his parents, decides to sail with a band of merchants, and survives seven voyages of epic proportion. The interesting quality of Sindbad isn’t in the fact that he loves adventure. Any young person, especially one who is the protagonist of a story, can be expected to crave a little adventure. The interesting thing about Sindbad is that he experiences some of the most frightful and terrifying things that one could experience when out at sea, yet still he wants more. Of course, immediately after each voyage he tells himself that he will be content to live a quiet life, but at the start of each story to follow, he grows tired of his quiet life. Time and time again, Sindbad trades his safe, restful life for a daring and dangerous adventure.

            Sindbad experience some of the most terrible fates in each of his seven voyages. On his very first voyage, Sindbad and his company are shipwrecked by a whale they mistook for an island. This would most certainly be a dramatic first experience for a sailor. Sindbad expresses this feeling at the end of the first voyage, when he decides to “forget [his] past sufferings” and “live happily…in the enjoyment of all the pleasures of life.” However, at the start of the second voyage, we find Sindbad has become restless and tired of an “idle life.” He then goes on another voyage, where again he becomes shipwrecked and faces terrible adversity. This is the theme throughout all seven voyages.

Sindbad Fleeing From Giants. Web Source: Un-Textbook

            One thing that could explain Sindbad’s constant desire to return to the sea is the marvelous fortune that always results. In the midst of every misfortune, Sindbad always finds himself with a plethora of treasures and befriends powerful kings and merchants. When he returns home from the voyages, he is always far richer than when he had set out.

Read the full story here!

Storytelling for Week 5: The Foolish Beneficiary

Shortly after my parents passing, I was told that I would be the sole beneficiary to a large inheritance. I was shocked when I was told this bitter-sweet news for, while I had never wanted for much of anything, I had never thought my parents to be of wealthy means. Our home was not extravagant, we did not own much land, and we walked to places we need to go. Our lives were no different than those of our peers. What was the purpose of amassing such a large sum of currency if we never spent more than what we needed?

Immediately, I began to dream of all that I would buy with my inheritance! I would live in a home so large that I would be able to sleep in a new room every day of the week! I would buy acres and acres of land with a pond to fish in and horses to ride on. I would never walk when I went into town; instead, I would buy a carriage and have a drive take me wherever I needed to go. I would live above all others, for that was my heritage.

On the day I officially received my inheritance, I went to the bank to collect a portion to purchase my carriage. When I collected the money, I witnessed the most peculiar thing. When I grabbed the first bill in the pouch I received from the banker, it flew away. Thinking that the wind had simply carried off the weightless paper money, I decided to spend my silver and gold coins instead. However, when I touched the first gold coin, it jumped away from me. I was astonished as I watched the coin jump several times on the ground until it finally sprouted two wings and flew away! Surely, I thought, I must be dreaming! I reached in the pouch for a second coin, and again I watched as it grew wings and flew away.

I quickly closed the pouch in fear that this cursed money would all fly away before I could return to the bank. When I went inside the bank, I told the banker of the bizarre circumstances that led to my return. When he heard my story, he did not look the least bit surprised. He told me that this is not a rare experience among young beneficiaries to large inheritances. The money easily flies from their hands because they do not understand the importance of holding on to it. They did not earn the money, so they intend to quickly spend it on that which they do not need. Before they know it, the money has all flown away and they are left with nothing in their old age.

After hearing the banker share his wisdom, I decided to place the money back into the bank. There it would remain until I could find a way to properly invest it. I did not want to end up penniless in my old age.

(14th-century sequins)

Author’s Note: This story is very loosely based on the First Voyage of Sindbad. In the beginning of the story, young Sindbad inherits a large sum from his parents. He spends it recklessly and finds that, if he manages it poorly, it is as if the money grows wings and flies away. He then decides to put it to good use and becomes a merchant and goes on crazy voyages. I really just expanded one sentence of the story.

Bibliography: 

"First Voyage", from The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898).

Week 5 Reading Diary: Voyages of Sindbad

Sindbad: First Voyage: What a valuable lesson for Sindbad to learn! That if you are not careful with your money it will grow wings and fly away without a trace. I'm a Dave Ramsey kind of guy, so this stuck out to me.

Second Voyage: I love the way he kicks around the diamonds, since they are worthless to him in his situation.  Plus, the purpose of this voyage wasn't for riches, which he did get, but for adventure.

Third Voyage: I don't understand why they went back to the castle! If they were able to build rafts, they should have been able to build a shelter for the nights.
I like how Sindbad keeps finding his old crew and merchandise at the end of the stories.
Fifth Voyage: Surely this man is some sort of adrenaline junkie. With his constant restlessness, I would not be surprised to see him die in the seventh voyage. I didn't like when his shipmates killed and ate the roc
Sixth Voyage: I really wish that Sindbad would be able to share his fortune with his companions. In every voyage, all of his companions die and he is the sole survivor. It is madness.
Seventh Voyage: Nothing can be more true than when the merchant who took Sindbad as a slave said, "you must be under the special protection of Heaven." That's the only explanation for how Sindbad survived every voyage. Like the fifth voyage, I was upset about the killing of the elephants. At least the elephants provided Sindbad and the merchant with a way to collect ivory without hunting the elephants.