Hello, kids! Today is our
last story.
We will get right to it.
Sinbad was still
recovering from his last voyage when his neighbor asked him to help
them on a journey. Sinbad did not want to go, but being a good neighbor
he said yes. This was supposed to be a quick trip, three islands, in
three days.
The crew loaded the ship
with supplies on Sunday night, and set sail early Monday morning. The
first island was the farthest away. It took almost two days to get
there. The ship sailed all day. By Monday night the crew was tired and
wanted to rest. They came upon an island and decided to stop for the
night.
Sinbad threw the anchor
overboard
and hopped off the boat. This island was different than most. There
were no trees, no plants and no sand. It was just a soft, smooth, gray
island. The rest of the crew brought some supplies off of the ship.
They piled up some wood and started a fire. Just as the fire got good
and hot, a blast of water shot out of the ground and put out the fire.
The crew was
confused. They quickly started another fire.
Just as it got good and
hot, the captain started yelling from the ship that there was a whale.
The crew looked around and did not see a whale. Just as they sat back
down, the island started to disappear under water. They were on the
whale. The rest of the
crew was near the head of the whale and ran and jumped back on board
the ship. Sinbad was exploring the island. He was near the tail.
As the whale was swimming off,
its tail came up and threw Sinbad up in the air and away from the ship.
The captain of the
ship, not knowing
that Sinbad did not get back on board sailed off. Sinbad was a good
swimmer. He swam all night. The next morning he reached another island.
As he got closer, he wondered if it was actually a real island. When he
was within reach, he picked up a big handful of sand. It was real. He
quickly ran to the nearest tree and got some fruit as he was very
hungry from all of the swimming. This island was the most beautiful
place he had ever been. There were beautiful flowers, clear rivers,
cool breezes and tons of fruit and vegetables.
After he ate and
rested, Sinbad decided to build a shelter. He gathered the materials
and built a nice little house. That evening he sat on the beach and
watched the whales in the ocean playing. The next morning Sinbad walked
all down the beach and back. He had never been so happy. Later that
day,
a ship came to the island. Sinbad greeted them. He offered them fruit
for some extra clothes. They traded and the ship left.
A few days later
another ship stopped. Sinbad greeted them and offered some fruit for
some spices. They traded and the ship left.
That is that last
anyone has ever heard from Sinbad. Many people think he stayed on the
island until he died.
Author's note: This story is actually the first voyage in
Sindbad's Seven Voyages. In the original story Sinbad does find himself
on the back of a whale. He also get left at sea when his crew forgets
about him and sails off without him. I kept those things the same. I
changed the first of the story. I wanted to show how generous Sinbad
is. I thought that by allowing Sinbad to choose his neighbors birthday
over his own wants shows how generous he can be. I did change what
happened on the whale's back
some. I could just picture a whale blowing water out of its blow hole
and putting out the fire. I also wanted to end the book somehow. Sinbad
did not seem to care about sailing as much as he cared about trading. I
wanted to make this island seem really attractive so that Sindbad would
want to live there. I also added the ships coming at the end and Sinbad
making trades with them. I figured this would make it the perfect place
for Sinbad. I hope by ending it with no one ever hearing from Sinbad
again that it makes people wonder if he is still alive making trades.
Bibliography:
The Arabian
Nights Entertainment (1898) edited by Andrew Lang:
Whale image from
DP
Photo web site.
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