SINDBAD THE SAILOR
Author:
Anonymous
First edition:
The Seven Voyages of Sindbad the Sailor is a tale within The Arabian Nights, a collection of Persian, Arabian and Indian folk tales handed down through several centuries
Main illustrators:
Doré Giannini Kelek Le Foll Rouil Strang
In short:
This is the story of Sindbad, a sailor born in Bagdad, and his seven voyages around the world. Initialy, he undertakes the voyages to restore his lost fortune, but then seing that he is eager for adventures, goes on sailing the oceans. He encounters giant birds, huge serpents, cannibals and other monsters. He is buried alive and he is sold into slavery. He arrives at the shores of fantastic countries, like on his seventh voyage at the country of Elephants. Despite his many misfortunes he always manages to amass a fortune and return home a rich man.
Some scholars suggest that the tales of Sindbad's adventures in turn influenced Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe and Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels.
Selection of edition:
Sindbad le Marin, illustrated by Gustave Doré, Maxwell, 1865.
Sindbad the Sailor, illustrated by William Strang and J.B Clark, 1896.
Sindbad le marin, illustrated by Giannini, Gautier-Languereau, 1989.
Les Aventures de Sindbad le Marin, illustrated by Kelek, Hatier, 1992.
Sindbad le Marin, illustrated by Alain Le Foll, Delpire, 1970, rééd. Actes Sud, 1996.
Sindbad le marin, adaptated by Stéphanie Laslett, illustrated by Helen Cockburn, Hachette, 1996.
Sindbad le marin, illustrated by Christophe Rouil, Hachette, 1997.
Adaptations:
The Seven Voyages of Sindbad the Sailor, American film by Nathan Juran, 1958.
Excerp of the tale:
"I had inherited considerable wealth from my parents, and being young and foolish I at first squandered it recklessly upon every kind of pleasure, but presently, finding that riches speedily take to themselves wings if managed as badly as I was managing mine, and remembering also that to be old and poor is misery indeed, I began to bethink me of how I could make the best of what still remained to me. I sold all my household goods by public auction, and joined a company of merchants who traded by sea, embarking with them at Balsora in a ship which we had fitted out between us.
We set sail and took our course towards the East Indies by the Persian Gulf, having the coast of Persia upon our left hand and upon our right the shores of Arabia Felix. I was at first much troubled by the uneasy motion of the vessel, but speedily recovered my health, and since that hour have been no more plagued by sea-sickness.
From time to time we landed at various islands, where we sold or exchanged our merchandise, and one day, when the wind dropped suddenly, we found ourselves becalmed close to a small island like a green meadow, which only rose slightly above the surface of the water..."