Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 5.djvu/185

159 O my lord,” answered he; “there are divers bales of merchandise in the hold, whose owner was drowned at one of the islands in our way; so his goods abode in our charge and we purpose to sell them and note their price, that we may carry it to his people in the city of Baghdad, the Abode of Peace.” “What was the merchant’s name?” asked I, and he answered, “Sindbad;” whereupon I straitly considered him and knowing him, cried out to him with a great cry, saying, “O master, I am that Sindbad of whom thou speakest and these are my goods; for, when the fish sank under us and we were plunged into the sea, God threw in my way a great tub of wood, of those the crew had used to wash withal, and the winds and waves carried me to this island, where, by God’s grace, I fell in with King Mihrjan’s grooms and they brought me hither to their master. When the latter heard my story, he entreated me with favour and made me his harbour-master, and I have prospered in his service and found acceptance with him.”

When the master heard what I said, he exclaimed, “There is no power and no virtue but in God the Most High, the Supreme! Verily, there is neither conscience nor good faith left among men!” “O captain,” said I, “what mean these words, seeing that I have told thee my case?” And he answered, saying, “Because thou heardest me say that I had with me goods whose owner was drowned, thou thinkest to take them without right; but this is forbidden to thee, for we saw him drown before our eyes, together with many others, nor was one of them saved. So how canst thou pretend that thou art the owner of the goods?” “O captain,” said I, “listen to my story and give heed to my words, and my soothfastness will be manifest to thee; for falsehood is of the fashion of the hypocrites.” Then I recounted to him all that had befallen me since I left Baghdad with him up to the time when we