Famous Last Words Week 5

Thoughts of someone who knows french and browses the internet way too much

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So this week was a pretty busy one for me: got signed up for the MCAT, preparing a presentation on a scholarly article over epigenetics in psychosis, and I had an Ecology test. Not only that, but I'm studying for the MCAT itself, which is a mammoth of a task on its own. The main issue that a lot of people have when going into a full length MCAT test is the stamina factor: the new MCAT is 2 hours longer than the previous version and it'll require the student to be consistent throughout their performance. Thankfully, the new MCAT has their sections laid out like so: chemical and physical foundations of biological systems, sociological and psychological foundations of biological systems, biological systems and molecules, and critical reasoning. This gives a format that balances the time the student spends on the easier portions of the test relative to the harder portions.
   I think my best work in this class this week was my Storytelling, again, because I was able to find a way to make the original story's message more effective or just make the character's experiences more meaningful. This week I chose the Voyages of Sindbad, specifically the seventh and last voyage. I thought the original story was not very good at making Sindbad's experience very resolute in this tale. For me, the story's end is supposed to be the "punchline" of the entire plot, and I didn't get that impression when I read the original. The one modification that I wound up building into my retelling was that Sindbad experience different situations and creatures that he had encountered on his other adventures. I thought this would be a great way to show that Sindbad had indeed learned from all of his experiences and retained those lessons in his middle ages.

Essay: Reoccuring Motifs in the Voyages of Sindbad

"Sinbad the Sailor - Episode of the Whale", by Edmund Dulac (1914)

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   Arguably the most important motif that ties all the voyages of Sindbad is how he begins and ends his stories in Baghdad, his home city. This narrative mechanism serves quite a few purposes that carry weight both in the real world and in the world of the story.
   This narrative device could be seen as a call back to the sense of nationalism that this story brings to the nation of Baghdad. The story of Sindbad would surely not be nearly as popular as it was when it was conceived  compared to today. Back then, it would have been easy to see Baghdad as a homely paradise in an otherwise unforgiving world. Truth be told, most of the middle east back then was the forefront of discoveries in science and medicine, making the economy in places like Baghdad free to support the lifestyle of an up-and-about sailor like Sindbad. It would have definitely been an Arabian paradise in the middle of a treacherous desert land.
   Another way this mechanism is useful is to build on Sindbad's character. Despite it being a repetitive device, it says more and more about the sailor each time it is used. What I mean is that he always returns home, against all odds, either by effort or by chance. He is able to refuse the invitations of being adorned with riches for the rest of his life in a foreign land if he stays. He also manages to avoid death, even when he's stranded in the middle of a land or part of the sea that is unknown to him. The ability of Sindbad to involve himself in all these problems, yet find his way back home, seems fated. This transition of events also points to what I consider one of the key points of understanding the Sailor: his desire for adventure, but a sense of belonging as well.

Here is a link to the reading unit

Storytelling Week: The Voyages of Sindbad- The Elephants Retold

7th Voyage, by H. J. Ford

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   Even in the throes of mid age, I found my mind and spirit lingering on the possibility of a final adventure. Many times I had gone abroad seeking the spoils of adventure, and every time I had managed to come back empty-handed... but never empty minded. I could tell tale upon tale, even beyond the six before this one. But this story is the last one, and the one that changed my entire perspective on what the rest of my adventures would mean to me for the rest of my days.
   Due to the perilous circumstances that I had braved before, word of my journeys had reached the Sultan of Baghdad. He and his vizier visited me in my humble home, which I had by this time strewn with ornate trinkets from my ventures, as well as the trappings of a stable home life that I then enjoyed. The Sultan asked me to take a message (along with other gifts) to another leader, the King of Serendib. Being promised a more luxurious accommodation of wealth and land to my sea-side home, I accepted.
   I do not have much to say of the journey to Serendibian lands, because it was a very peaceful journey. I almost wished I hadn't brought my entire crew with me, just so I could enjoy the solitary calmness of the ocean and the immaculate coasts of the lands that I visited before delivering my parcels. The King of Serendib accepted all gifts with great grace, and treated me and my crew delightfully. Then the King of Serendib showered us with treasure, many precious items that would make even my Sutlan blush by their purity and worth. After all our business concluded, my crew and I gave our highest praise and longing "farwells" and headed back to the coast of Baghdad. That is where the serene part of the story ends however.
  Our third day out at sea, my vessel encountered a gnashing storm, one that threatened even the fish below with the power of its waves. For three nights we battled this, which reminded me of my first adventures as a young man.  
   One early morning, with the storm still raging, the ship capsized completely. After moments that felt like eternities, the ship somehow righted itself. I heaved water from my throat and insides, catching my wind just as I was losing consciousness. Looking from the top to bottom, I saw none of my crew members. Below deck the treasure was still fastened, but this was the only fortune I was given. I could not man an entire ship on my own, and now that it was far out to sea, there seemed to be no hope. Again, this reminded me when I was stranded on a raft during one of my previous journeys.
   When the weather cleared, my vessel was then suddenly arrested by merchant pirates who confiscated everything I had to show for my trouble. The pirates then dropped me on an island, with nothing but a bow and a quiver of arrows. Their captain said,"Elephants roam this island. If you can have us 100 of their valuable ivories in a month, we will take you back to your homeland." Not being in a position to refuse, I begun my work.
   I used a tall tree to hunt all my game from: small mammals for food, and elephants for their ivory. However, elephants were much more difficult to subdue than I had thought. After many weeks of living on this island with only one day left, I had only collected only a quarter of the ivories that had been requested. I began panicking. "Would they kill me?", I thought, "Is this really how I reach my end?" Suddenly, through the brush I heard a rumbling. After they had cleared the first layers of foliage, I saw them: this was the same herd of elephants that I had been hunting for the past month. But they were all moving quickly in unison, and then I realized they were charging, right towards my tree. They crushed the truck like an avalanche, but somehow I remained unscathed. I was still terrified nonetheless, especially as the matriarch approached me. She gingerly picked me up with her trunk, which was clearly strong enough to snap me into pieces. She carried me away from my fallen tree and weapons, with the rest of the herd trailing behind her.
   We finally stopped at a large pit that must have stretched for a quarter of a kilometer. Inside this pit were the remains of hundreds of dead elephants. Still paralyzed with fear, I yet managed to see the matriarch pick up a piece of a dead elephant up and hold it to me: it was a large, elegant ivory. The herd, guided by the matriarch, started heading away when I realize: they brought me here so that I would not have to kill any more of them. Realizing that I might be saved by the mercy of an animal that I had showed none to, I cried to them "Thank you!"
   The next day I waited for the merchant pirates, but they did not show up. Instead, another ship, bearing the flag of Baghdad sailed along the coast towards me. On the port bow, the Sultan emerged and waved over to me. I was taken aboard and taken care of. I asked the Sultan, "How did you find me?"
   "My vizier interrogated a group of pirates who paraded as merchants, and they revealed your whereabouts.", the Sultan replied. He looked over my sorry state, "It is a pity that you did not manage to hang on to your treasure from the King of Serendib, and we were not able to recover it."
   "True,", I admitted,"but as a troop of locals here taught me: it is not the riches from a voyage that matters most, it is the journey itself."

(*Below this is the 1000 word mark*)

Author's Note: In this retelling of Sindbad's last voyage, I wanted to exploit a message that the original tales don't necessarily get across very directly in my opinion. We always get the idea that Sindbad is addicted to adventure, but he never admits that it is the thrill from embarking on a voyage that truly drives him. In this retelling he does admit it, but only after experiencing many familiar life threatening circumstances.
   So, its important to understand that Sindbad is a sailor who has gone on many adventures in search of riches. Each time he embarks, however, some unusual or life-threatening circumstance puts him and his crew on a completely different path than they originally intended. Sindbad usually winds up alone and is forced to find his way out of his predicament. He always succeeds through great tribulations, and makes it back to Baghdad (his home city) without any kind of treasure whatsoever. Yet he still tells his tales to all his family and friends, and vows to never go adventuring again, which he always winds up doing anyway because of his restless personality.

Here is a link to the story

Bibliography:
The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang (1898)

Reading Diary B: The Voyages of Sindbad

Fifth Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor, by Gustave Doré

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In the Fifth Voyage, Sindbad actually shows enough savvy to buy his own ship and hire his own crew, which would give them much more incentive to look for him if he went amiss again. This happens, of course, after he and his crew escape a pair of angry rocs. Sindbad is thrown from his ship when one of the large stones that the angry birds volley destroy the vessel. He washes up on a paradise island, apparently, and encounters an old man. He attempts to help this elder wade across a stream, but he is suddenly choked by the decrepit man. Sindbad attempts to escape, but every time he gets up to walk away, the old man resumes tightening his grip. Sindbad receives some respite when he is able to drink the wine juice from a wild gourd. Realizing how it benefits Sindbad, the old cretin snatches the gourd to the last drop. This makes the old man drunk and woozy enough for Sindbad to escape.


Sindbad sets his expedition far away from the Persian Gulf for the Sixth Voyage, after resting back in Baghdad from his previous incursion of course. Due to a storm that drives him and his crew off course, they land in the "most dangerous spot upon the whole wide sea", according to the captain. Upon the island that they were stranded, Sindbad watches as his crew mates both make their graves and die in them from starvation. Not willing to let himself face the same fate, Sindbad makes a raft so that he can escape. He rides the raft down the river of the strange land, only to meet a group local natives. Sindbad is rescued by them and is kept well, telling his story to them which leaves them in astonishment. He returns to his own country after seeing the mountain that Adam was banished out of Paradise through.


On the Seventh and final Voyage, Sindbad once again feels the pangs of adventure tugging at him, and this time to deliver a letter to King of Serendib to establish friendship. He sets out with not just a letter, but many gifts in order to appease the foreign King. He delivers all of these things to the King of Serendib without issue, and received many presents himself from the nation's leader. After this, however, Sindbad and his crew are assaulted by pirates and have all their precious belongings confiscated. After this ordeal, his crew is rescued by a merchant, who recruits them to hunt elephants on a nearby island with the rest of his crew. Eventually, Sindbad fells one of them, and buried it so that the merchant would be able to recover the tusks when he returned. One day, after months of hunting elephants from the same tree (as per the merchant's request), Sindbad is attacked by a herd of the same type of elephants he killed. They bring him to a burial ground of elephants, so that he won't kill any more of their number by weaponized means. Indeed this works, and Sindbad appeases the merchant by the wealth of tusks that he collects. After this Sindbad returns to Baghdad and retires for the rest of his days, spreading his tales to family and friends.

Reading Diary A: The Voyages of Sindbad

The Voyages of Sindbad, from e_chaya

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In the First Voyage, we are introduced to Sindbad as a character as well as get a taste of his story's general mode of progression. His story isn't as rousing for an adventure story as Odysseus's by comparison, but rather it focuses much more on the culture of the time. This gives it a sort of "grassroots" feel to the whole narrative, because we're constantly reminded throughout the story of Sindbad's origins.

For the Second Voyage, we get to see Sindbad as a character that's incomplete without a journey to quest on. This becomes the driving force for all of his expeditions: no matter what kind of material wealth he hopes to attain while traveling abroad, on a subconscious level he is driven by the need for adventure. For Sindbad it's not the goal, but it's the journey that makes it all worth while. After all, he surely didn't plan on encountering the roc or the Valley of Diamonds that he had been dropped into.

During the Third Voyage, we get a sense of Sindbad's courage and cunning against the horrors of the world. Again, many parallels could be drawn to the tale of Odysseus and the Cyclops, but Sindbad's story in facing the giant emphasizes slightly different narrative aspects to the Odyssey. Now it is becoming apparent that not only is Sindbad a man of scheming, but one of sound survival instinct.

Now on the Fourth Voyage, we see the more sensitive side of Sindbad emerge, but not before his crew of shipmates are ambushed and stuffed by cannibal savages. Upon escaping from them, he helps a foreign kingdom and its ruler advance their technology (most notably with horse saddles and spurs), and in gratitude of Sindbad, the king of this place gives him many gifts and a beautiful wife. Sindbad grows to be very fond of this kingdom, and even attends a grieving neighbor when his wife dies. It's this kingdom's custom to bury the living spouse with the dead one, and ultimately Sindbad must escape from this when his own wife falls to illness. He does however, and manages to make it back to Baghdad.