Week 5 Story: Sinbad's Second Voyage

My second voyage started out good, but I should've known it wouldn't last.  After sailing for 3 days we came to an island to rest.  Bountiful with lush greens and flowers, there seemed to be no human life.  Overtook by it's beauty I began to explore the island.  Unfortunately, seeming as though I was overtaken by the beautiful scenery, I wandered too far and lost my way.  After many hours I finally made to the top of a hill where I could overlook the island and see where I was.  What I saw was very disheartening.

Sailing away in the ocean was my ship, along with my crew. How could they forget about me? I tried to cry out to them but it was no use, they were gone.  Unsure of what to do next I sat down with my head in my hands.  Next thing I know I am being picked up off the ground and hoisted into the air by what seems to be ginormous claw.  I looked up, and sure enough I was being carried away by a giant eagle to my death.  I thought about throwing myself into the sky to plummet to my fate, but before I could do so, the eagle dropped me into its big next and flew away. 

In the nest was a giant egg that could easily crush me.  Great, I am going to be baby food when this egg hatches I thought.  However, relieved that the mother eagle was gone momentarily I sat down leaning against the egg trying to formulate a plan.

Not soon after I pressed my back up against the egg, the egg pushed back! Oh no, it's already happening I thought to myself.  The egg began to shake some more and begin to crack open revealing a baby chick inside.  New with life, the baby chick stretched out of its broken shell and rubbed its fuzzy head against me.  To my surprise this was the cutest, sweetest chick I'd ever seen!

Usually baby chicks can't fly until they are at least a few months old, but this chick magically stretched out its wings and flew out into the sky and circled right back to the nest landing next to me.  If only I could get it to carry me down from this nest and into that nearby valley before I have to deal with the wrath of the mother eagle.  The starts must have been in line for me that day because no later that that thought popped into my head that the baby bird scooped me up by my turban, flew me down out of the nest and to the nearby valley and set me softly on the ground and then flew away. 

To my relief, I was greeted by a group of travelers who were also on the island trying to collect great riches.  I explained to them my misfortunes and they agreed to let me travel with them back to Bagdad. 

Me being whisked away by mother eagle. 

Author's note: Inspired by the original second voyage from The Voyages of Sinbad by Andrew Lang, I put my own personal twist on what took place.  In Lang's version, Sinbad falls asleep on the island and wakes up to see that his ship and crew are gone.  While he is walking the island trying to figure out what he will do next, he finds a giant fuzzy white object that turns out to be an egg from a giant roc.  At nightfall the roc settles upon the egg and Sinbad attaches his turban to the roc's foot in hopes that it will carry him away to somewhere with humans in the morning.  His plan succeeds and in the morning he is carried away by the eagle.  

Reading Notes: The Voyages of Sinbad, Part B

The second half of The Voyages of Sinbad was almost the exact same as the first.  Sinbad continued to go on voyages where he encountered near death experiences, made it home safely, and then got bored and decided to go on another voyage.  I thought the second half was very repetitive and a little boring.  After his sixth voyage he made it a point to go on no more because of his age but alas, he went on a seventh when the commander asked him to deliver a letter to the King of Serendib in return for his friendship.  Sinbad carried out the task, again merely escaping death and finally returned home to never travel again and live with all of his riches.

Sinbad on his 5th voyage.  Web Source. 

Reading Notes: The Voyages of Sinbad, Part A

I chose to read The Voyages of Sinbad for my reading this week because in the description it said that it was much like The Odyssey, which I read last week and quite enjoyed.  It also read that many inspirations for The Voyages of Sinbad came from the The Odyssey and that was not an exaggeration! I was shocked at how similar many of the stories were between the two readings.  Much like The Odyssey, in The Voyages of Sinbad, Sinbad the main character is a merchant that loves to travel the world and collect great treasures.  Throughout this reading, Sinbad goes on 4 voyages, all of which have almost deathly encounters.  The voyage that resembled The Odyssey the most was Voyage 3, which involved a giant that held Sinbad and his companions hostage and ate them slowly.  They merely escaped by stabbing him in the eye with boiling rods in his slumber and fled the island on makeshift rafts that they had made from driftwood.  This is almost identical to a situation that Odysseus occurred during his journey home.  Part A of this reading was very exciting and I am looking forward to reading Part B!

Sinbad fleeing on a makeshift raft. Web source.