Sinbad the Sailor Learn English through story level 2

part one

there was once a sailor from baghdad

called sinbad

he made seven long voyages in his life

they were all full of adventures

he met many strange people and saw many

strange things

when he was old he liked telling people

about his adventures

and they liked listening

this is the story of his second voyage

when i returned home from my first

voyage i lived a comfortable life in the

city for some years

then i began to get bored

i dreamt of sailing the seas again

i wanted new adventures

one morning i packed my chest and

traveled to the port of basra

there was a good strong ship in the

harbour and it was ready to sail

i got on it

we traveled from port to port and from

ireland to ireland

the other passengers on the ship were

merchants and when we stopped they

bought and sold things

soon i began to do the same

weeks and months passed pleasantly but

without adventure

then

one day the wind took our ship to a

strange and beautiful island

there were trees with delicious fruit

flowers of many colors and streams of

sweet water

the air was full of the songs of birds

but there weren’t any people

the other passengers started to explore

the island

i was tired so i sat under a tree

i ate some of the delicious fruit from

the trees

and drank some of the sweet water from

the streams

then

i fell asleep

when i woke up i looked around

i was alone on the island i looked out

to sea and saw my ship on the horizon

i began to feel afraid

oh poor me i said

what shall i do now

i walked around the island for an hour

or more

then i climbed a tall tree

i can get a better view of the island

from the top of a tree

i thought

i looked left and right but i saw only

trees flowers birds the sea and the sky

then

i looked more carefully

there was a big white object in the

distance

i decided to go and have a look at it

when i got nearer i saw that it was a

dome

i touched it and walked around it

it was very smooth and very big

but there were no doors or windows in it

suddenly it became dark

i looked up and saw an enormous bird

above me

it covered the sun

a rock

i said to myself

and this white dome is her egg

i remembered a traveller’s story about

these birds

it said that rocks caught elephants for

their babies to eat

just at that moment the bird landed on

top of her egg and soon she was asleep

i quickly took off my turban and tied

one end of it to the rock’s foot and the

other around my waist

perhaps this bird will take me to a land

where there are cities and people

i thought

i waited all night

in the morning the rock woke up and flew

away

and she took me with her

she didn’t take me very far

we landed on the side of a mountain

i quickly untied my turban

and hid behind a rock

the rock picked up a huge snake in its

talons and flew away

i looked around me

i saw a lot more snakes

they were sleeping among the rocks

this

is a terrible place

i thought

there was fruit to eat and water to

drink on the island but there are only

snakes here

part two

i walked down into the valley

there weren’t any trees or flowers only

sand and rocks

the small stones under my feet sparkled

in the sunshine

i looked at them more carefully

they weren’t stones

they were diamonds

then i knew where i was

this is the valley of diamonds

i said to myself

nobody escapes from here

i began to feel very afraid

i looked around

the snakes were still asleep among the

rocks

their bodies were as thick as tree

trunks

they’ll wake up when it is dark

i thought

and come out to look for food

i must find a safe place to sleep

tonight

perhaps there are some caves here

it was beginning to get dark

and i could hear the snakes

they were waking up

i walked faster

soon i found a cave

it was big and dark inside but the floor

was dry

this is a good place to sleep

i thought

i’ll put a big rock in the mouth of the

cave to keep the snakes out

i’ll be safe here until the morning

i went in and looked around

at the back of the cave i could see two

small red lights

two eyes

there was a huge snake there

she was sitting on her eggs

she was looking at me

i ran out of the cave

it was completely dark in the valley now

and the snakes in the rocks were coming

out

they made a terrible noise

i was very afraid

i decided to stay in the cave

one snake is better than a hundred

i thought and she is more interested in

her eggs than she is in me

so

i found a rock and closed the cave

i was awake all night

i could hear the snakes outside

the noise was terrible

the snake at the back of the cave sat on

her eggs and looked at me

when i saw the first light from the sun

i moved the rock and went out

it was quiet

the snakes were asleep so i left the

cave and started walking down the valley

suddenly something fell out of the sky

and landed at my feet

it was a big piece of meat

then another piece of meat fell out of

the sky

i was very surprised

but i remembered another traveller’s

story about the valley of diamonds

the story said that diamond merchants

never came into the valley because it

was a very dangerous place

but they had a very clever way of

getting the diamonds out

they stood on the tops of the mountains

and threw big pieces of meat down into

the valley

the meat was soft so the precious stones

stuck to

it at midday rocks and eagles flew down

into the valley

they picked up the pieces of meat and

carried them up to the tops of the

mountains

when the birds landed the merchants

shouted loudly and made a lot of noise

the birds were afraid

and flew away

then the merchants took the diamonds out

of the meat and put them into chests

this was the only way of getting the

diamonds out of the valley

later the merchants sold the precious

stones in the cities for a lot of money

the story gave me an idea

i filled my pockets with the biggest

diamonds i could find

then i tied myself to a piece of meat

with my turban

soon an eagle came down

it picked up the piece of meat and me

and flew up to the top of a mountain

with it

as soon as we landed there was a lot of

noise and shouting

the bird was afraid and flew away

i untied myself quickly and started to

run

hey you stop

a man shouted

i stopped

don’t hurt me sir i said

i’m an honest man

i don’t want your diamonds

i took three big diamonds out of my

pocket

look i said

take these i picked them up in the

valley

and i gave him the stones

the man was very happy and thanked me

he took me to meet his friends

they were all diamond merchants they

gave me food and drink and listened to

my story

one of them said

you’re the first man to escape from this

valley

i traveled with them for many weeks

we visited many countries

and we had many adventures

i gave them diamonds

and they gave me food and drink

in one port there was a ship that was

going to basra

i was tired of traveling and i wanted to

see my family again so i got on it

from basra i traveled back to baghdad i

was happy to be home again

i was a rich man

i gave many presents to my family and

money to the poor people of the city

i enjoyed my comfortable life at home

but after a few years i started to get

bored

i wanted to travel the seas again

and have new adventures

you