Section 1
A generous fortune was my father’s endowment for me and during my early years I wasted a major portion of it on lavish life: however, my mistakes became obvious to me, and I understood that by weak handlers like me, wealth can vanish and easily shrink. Due to my wasteful lifestyle, as I also perceived, I had shamefully squandered my time or the world’s priceless resource. I gathered the rest of my possessions, and staggered by my revelations I put for sale to the top bidder all my inheritance in an open auction. Afterward, with some sea traders, I sealed a contract: I also sought counsel from the most potent advisors and set off to Balsora. With a determination to increase my wealth, I joined a group of traders under sail on a ship that we fixed together.
We commenced our voyage and headed towards the East Indies as we were supposed to pass the Persian Gulf which across its widest part is seventy leagues, as it is commonly held. Its right side is shaped by the Arabia Felix coasts, and its left side is by the coasts of Persia. The sea of Indies along with the eastern sea itself is immense. The coasts of Abyssinia are its borders from one side, and to the isles of Vakvak, it is stretched for 4,500 leagues. Sea sickness visited me at first, but I quickly regained myself, and later on, that disease left me. We either traded or bartered our goods at the islands where we arrived during our voyage. While sailing a little island looking like a green meadow halted us one day. It was nearly at the same level as the water's surface. We rolled up the sails by the captain’s order, and he let us land on the island, if we wanted to, and I was among those who wanted.
We were engaged with food and drinks to shake away the sea fatigue when suddenly a trembling of the island put us in a terrible shaking.
Those still on the ship discerned the island’s shattering and called us onboard to quickly relaunch the voyage, or else we were gone because it turned out to be a whale’s back which we regarded as an island. Those who were deft enough reached the sloop, while swimming was the others’ choice; as for me, when the whale submerged into the sea, I was still on its back. Only a piece of wood, taken from the ship for fire, was in my hands which I could get hold of. The captain settled to make use of the fortunate wind that shot up and after having on board those from the sloop and several of those who swam, he stretched his sails; thus, I failed to rejoin the ship as it set off for its voyage.
So my fate was left to the waves’ whimsies, and both that day and the next night I tried to survive. I lost my powers the following morning but was brought to an island by a gay wave when I had already lost my grit to struggle. If it were not for some tree roots, stocked there by fortune’s help to rescue me, I could hardly manage to get up as the bank was tall and rocky. Till the sun rose, I lay down on the soil half breathless, afterward, as weak as I was because I both strained myself harshly and craved food; I crawled and by good fortune, I bumped into some edible herbs and superb spring of drinking water that restored me greatly. Into the island, I further progressed and finally reached a fine plain and at a great distance I beheld a greasing horse. Torn between optimism and terror I approached it unaware whether it would be my loss or my salvation. From underground, though, I heard a man’s voice who asked for my identity coming close to me hurriedly. Once I narrated my adventure to him, he grabbed my hand and guided me into a cave where I saw some people who were as astounded as I was upon meeting them.
I managed to inquire about their vocation in such an abandoned place once I devoured some food they gave me. It turned out they were King Mihrage’s grooms and they used to take the horses that belonged to the king of the island to that place year after year. The following day they were to return home, and I would surely get lost if I appeared there a day later, because, without someone’s guidance, I would not manage to reach the inhabited part of the island that was rather far off.
To their island’s capital, they set out with their horses the next morning and I was soon introduced to King Mihrage as I was taken by his people. The King wanted to know how I happened to find myself in his territories and who I was. My hardships troubled him very much, once I had answered all his inquiries. Afterward, upon his command, I was to have everything I needed, and it was duly followed by his quite sympathizing and courteous officers.
