ssary to keep myself alive, the inevitable
moment came when, after swallowing my last morsel of food, I began to
wonder if I must after all die of hunger. Then, worn out with anxiety
and fatigue, I fell into a deep sleep, and when I again opened my eyes
I was once more in the light of day; a beautiful country lay before me,
and my raft, which was tied to the river bank, was surrounded by
friendly looking black men. I rose and saluted them, and they spoke to
me in return, but I could not understand a word of their language.
Feeling perfectly bewildered by my sudden return to life and light, I
murmured to myself in Arabic, "Close thine eyes, and while thou
sleepest Heaven will change thy fortune from evil to good."

One of the natives, who understood this tongue, then came forward
saying:

"My brother, be not surprised to see us; this is our land, and as we
came to get water from the river we noticed your raft floating down it,
and one of us swam out and brought you to the shore. We have waited
for your awakening; tell us now whence you come and where you were
going by that dangerous way?"

I replied that nothing would please me better than to tell them, but
that I was starving, and would fain eat something first. I was soon
supplied with all I needed, and having satisfied my hunger I told them
faithfully all that had befallen me. They were lost in wonder at my
tale when it was interpreted to them, and said that adventures so
surprising must be related to their king only by the man to whom they
had happened. So, procuring a horse, they mounted me upon it, and we
set out, followed by several strong men carrying my raft just as it was
upon their shoulders. In this order we marched into the city of
Serendib, where the natives presented me to their king, whom I saluted
in the Indian fashion, prostrating myself at his feet and kissing the
ground; but the monarch bade me rise and sit beside him, asking first
what was my name.

"I am Sindbad," I replied, "whom men call `the Sailor,' for I have
voyaged much upon many seas."

"And how come you here?" asked the king.

I told my story, concealing nothing, and his surprise and delight were
so great that he ordered my adventures to be written in letters of gold
and laid up in the archives of his kingdom.

Presently my raft was brought in and the bales opened in his presence,
and the king declared that in all his treasury there were no such
rubies and emeralds as those