Skip to main content

What Is Up With These Fish? || Reading Notes: The Voyages of Sindbad Part A

Seriously, there are some weird fish in this story...

  • I like the way that he just casually mentions some really strange things:
    • Fish that were "two hundred cubits long"
    • Fish that had the heads of owls
    • Huge snakes that could swallow an elephant
    • A valley full of diamonds.
    • Camphor trees big enough to shade a hundred men.
    • Fish that looked like a camel
    • Fish that was "like a cow" with skin thick enough to make shields out of
    • The cavern he was trapped in just happened to have diamonds and rubies and emeralds strewn about the floor
  • Lots of bird riding.
The Roc

  • Honestly, Sindbad is incredibly lucky. Or he's making a lot of things up. Either way, it's a good story.
  • Tells a story of how rhinoceros fight elephants, transfix them on their horns, get elephant blood in their eyes, and then get carried away by a roc. He then suggests that if the listener doesn't believe this story they should "go to Rohat and see for yourself." 
    • I feel like this is either him bluffing about a lie or a subtle dig at people who criticize without experience. 
  • He always seems to make it home a rich man.
  • There is a great sense of hospitality among all the people he meets after some unfortunate accident. This is reminiscent of the Greek idea of xenia.
  • Despite his fortune in always returning home with great wealth, he is never satisfied with a quiet life.
Bibliography:
Unit: The Voyages of Sindbad
From: The Arabian Nights' Entertainments
By: Andrew Lang
Illustrator: H.J. Ford
Photo Credits:

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Hobbies, Hopes, and... I'm Out of H Words || An Introduction

Everyone keeps telling me to change my major... Welcome to the blog! My name is Rhys and I am a senior Psychology major! When I'm not scrambling to complete my degree, I work as a 3D printing student specialist for OU Libraries and as a lab assistant for the OU Visual Neuroscience Laboratory.  I'm looking forward to graduating this summer after a study abroad trip to Scotland.  Move In Day! When I'm not at work or school, I spend my time entertaining a variety of hobbies including programming, circuit building, 3D art, animation, and design, 3D printing, video production, visual effects, and cooking! I spend quite a lot of time working on all of these things, which has led to a running joke among my family and friends that I declared the wrong major.  3D World Animation I'm always looking to learn new skills. I honestly love learning and school. In fact, I plan on pursuing a career in academia as a psychology researcher. Essentially, I plan on never lea

Comment Wall

And Then They Rested... Let's Discuss! Welcome to my discussion board! My storybook is linked above as "And Then They Rested...". Enjoy and thanks for the feedback! Photo credits: Let's Discuss!

Week 5: The Eighth Voyage

As you know, I had resolved to never go to sea again. My terrible fortune at sea and the hardships that I endured after my last voyage guaranteed that I would not find the prospect of a water voyage appealing again. However, I had not been home in Bagdad for more than two years when I felt the pull of adventure calling me again. Disdaining to travel by boat, I instead put together a caravan with wonderous goods from my own stores and set out with many other traders whom I knew. We did a brisk trade all the way to the Indies, growing richer and richer as we traveled. But alas! On our return to Bagdad, we were set upon by bandits. Half a dozen of our caravan lay dead before we surrendered. When at last we gave in to our captors, we were bound hands and legs and left upon the desert while the bandits drove our horses and camels away. Sprawled on the desert floor, I cursed my wanderlust. We wept at our misfortune and thrashed about, desperate to loosen our bindings. The heat of t