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:

The Roc

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