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
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