On Sinbad's second voyage he was once
again shipwrecked. On this occasion he wound up on an island that could not
sustain life and he looked for a way to escape from his predicament. While he
was investigating the island he came upon a large circular object “that was at
least fifty paces round.”
While investigating the object Sinbad
noticed a huge black cloud hovering overhead and he remembered hearing sailors
tell of a wonderful bird called a Roc. The Roc is a mythological bird of huge
proportions and object that Sinbad was investigating was obviously a Roc egg.
“Sure enough
the bird settled slowly down upon it, covering it with its wings to keep it
warm, and I cowered close beside the egg in such a position that one of the
bird's feet, which was as large as the trunk of a tree, was just in front of
me. Taking off my turban I bound myself securely to it with the linen in the
hope that the roc, when it took flight next morning, would bear me away with it
from the desolate island.”
The next
morning, the roc left its nest and flew off to an distant island and upon
touching ground Sinbad released himself from the bird and ” as I wandered about, seeking
anxiously for some means of escaping from this trap, I observed that the ground
was strewed with diamonds, some of them of an astonishing size. This sight gave
me great pleasure, but my delight was speedily damped when I saw also numbers
of horrible snakes so long and so large that the smallest of them could have
swallowed an elephant with ease.”
Sinbad the
Sailor’s Second Journey
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