Download the audio

Many, many years ago, in the beautiful city of Baghdad there lived a very poor young man, whom everyone called Sinbad the Porter.

This nickname was no accident. In fact, in order to survive, Sinbad was forced to carry heavy cargo, living off the coins he was given for this strenuous service.

“Poor me!” bewailed(gemia) the young man as he made his way through the streets. “What a sad fate mine is!”

No one paid any attention to his words, until one day his grumbling (quejas) reached the ears lf the owner of a beautiful palace, who, peering out(asomádose) of his window, gestured for him to enter. Stepping inside, Sinbad the Porte was dumbstruck(estupefacto).

“Who gets to live in a palace like this?!” he thought.

Passing through cool courtyards full of water fountains, flowerbeds and plants, he reached a spacious sitting room.

“We share the same name,” said an old man seated on velvet cushions. “My name is Sinbad too – although they call me Sinbad the Sailor.”

“What do you want with me?” asked Sinbad the Porter.

The old man waved his hand, inviting him to take a seat on a small carpet of pearls and diamonds.

“I have heard how you bemoan(lamentar) the life which fortune has dealt you,” the old man said to the young one. “Let me tell you about mine.”

Sinbad the Sailor told Sinbad the Porter about how he had inherited a large fortune upon his father’s death, but he had quickly foolishly squandered(despilfarrado) it.

“Suddenly,” the old man explained, “I was mired in misery. Weary(cansado) of going hungry, I headed to the port, determined to throw myself into the water and put an end to my terrible misfortune.”

When Sinbad the Sailor was about to hurl(arrojarse) himself into the water, he spotted a merchants’ vessel approaching.

“They offered me work as a mariner, and I accepted. I’d always have time to die later…” said the old man. “We sailed for several weeks before we finally reached an island. Upon disembarking, the earth shook (tembló, se agitó) and we were all tossed(lanzados) into the air. It was no island, but the back of an enormous whale!” exclaimed Sinbad the Sailor.

Speechless(mudo), the young Sinbad the Porter was transfixed(paralizado) listening to his host(anfitrión).

“I grabbed hold of a board and let myself be carried away by the current,” Sinbad the Sailor continued. “When I thought I was practically dead, I woke up on a beach.”

“A few days later I boarded another vessel. But my next voyage was no more fortunate than the first. A powerful gale(vendaval) destroyed the ship.”

“I was beginning to despair,” the old man explained, “when a sea swell threw me upon  a rock, which I clutched at with all my strength.”

The elder Sinbad’s tale held the younger Sinbad spellbound.

“When I was about to die of thirst, a giant eagle swept down from the sky, scooped me up with its talons and carried me off…”

The young Sinbad could not believe his ears.

“After several hours of flight, the eagle(águila) suddenly released me from its talons and dropped me onto a heap of straw. And, as if that wasn’t lucky enough, just two steps away I spotted a huge chest full of gold and diamonds.”

“On a nearby beach, I found an abandoned life boat,” Sinbad the Sailor went on. “I climbed in and began to paddle… I was not only alive, but also very rich.”

Back in Baghdad, Sinbad the Sailor had everything he could ever want, from the finest clothes to the most exquisite desserts.

“And a plate of food every day?” the boy asked, amazed. The old man bellowed with laughter.

“I had it all,” he explained. “Everything except for a way to escape from the boredom… (aburrimiento)”

“So it came about, that one good day,” the old man went on, “I set off once again on an adventure…”

“What is an adventure?” asked Sinbad the Porter.

“It’s hard to explain…” Sinbad the Sailor replied. “The fact is, that one moonless and starless(sin estrellas) night, in the midst of the ocean’s most utter(absoluta) darkness, a fire-breathing dragon appeared!”

“When I realized that everything had caught on fire,” the old man explained, “I dove into the water… Luckily, then a huge lightning bolt lit up the sky and a peal of thunder shook the world… The dragon fled(huyó) in fear and the rain put out the dwindling(disminución) fire…”

“And what happened next?” asked Sinbad the Porter anxiously. “I don’t know exactly, but I awoke on a beach surrounded by gnomes all waving spears(lanzas), knives(cuchillos) and axes(hachas) at me.”

The two were so at ease (tan a gusto) there, one telling his stories and the other listening, that neither Sinbad the Sailor nor Sinbad the Porter realized that night was falling.

“The gnomes lifted me up(me levantaron) and carried me into the forest… There, in a clearing, they laid me at the feet of a towering(descomunal) giant, who licked his lips(relamió sus labios) at the sight of me…”

“Did he want to eat you?” Sinbad the Porter blurted out impatiently.

“Everything led(llevaba) me to suspect the worst,” answered the old man.

“But life is full of surprises,” said the older Sinbad. “Just when the giant was about to eat me in one bite, a little fly flew into his nose. His sneeze was so strong that the gnomes went flying through the air, as did I even, flung(arrojado) far away…”

Sinbad the Sailor fell into a torrent of rushing water much like a waterslide(tobogán de agua). It swept him into a mighty river, which carried him far, far away.

“When the current died down,” said the elder, “I swam(nadé) to shore(orilla) and fell asleep… When I woke up…”

“What? What happened?” the young man inquired.

“A band of ivory(marfil) merchants were pointing their rifles at me,” Sinbad the Sailor replied. “You shall be our slave and hunt elephants for us,” they announced.

“So I strode into the jungle in search of elephants, where I found one that had fallen into one of the traps set by the ivory traders(comerciantes),”  Sinbad the Sailor continued. “ I felt so sorry for it that I let it go.”

“Thank you, Sinbad,” the animal said to me. “As you have a good heart, I have a surprise for you: I am not actually an elephant, but a bewitched(hechizado) genie, and I will help you.”

The elephant suddenly turned into a little man, rolling out (desenrollando) a beautiful carpet of pearls and diamonds at Sinbad’s feet.

“Get on,” said the genie. “It will take you wherever you wish.”

Sinbad the Sailor did as he was told, and the carpet, as if carried by the wind, took flight.

“A few hours later, the golden domes of Baghdad were sparkling at my feet,” the old man said. “And the carpet brought me to this palace, which is now my home…”

“And the carpet?” asked the boy. “What happened to it?”

“Why, you’re sitting on it!” the old man exclaimed.

And then, as if by magic, Sinbad the Porter felt something lift him off the floor and carry him over to the window, through which a shining moon was beginning to appear.

“Where are you going?” Sinbad the Sailor asked him from the window, grinning from ear to ear (sonriendo de oreja a oreja).

“To travel the world!” replied the young man, thrilled (emocionado). “I, too, am called Sinbad!”

And so he departed on that magic carpet, in search of his own adventures. 

Download the audio