The Seven Voyages of Sindbad the Sailor 11

" Nay ¹, Sindbad. Heaven forbid that I should covet ² your riches; I will rather add to them, for I desire that you shall not leave my kingdom without some tokens of my good will." He then commanded his officers to provide me with a suitable lodging ³ at his expense, and sent slaves to wait upon me and carry my raft and my bales to my new dwelling ⁴ place. You may imagine that I praised his generosity ⁵ and gave him grateful thanks, nor did I fail to present myself daily in his audience chamber ⁶, and for the rest of my time I amused myself in seeing all that was most worthy ⁷ of attention in the city. The island of Serendib being situated ⁸ on the equinoctial line（赤道
，昼夜平分线）, the days and nights there are of equal length. The chief city is placed at the end of a beautiful valley, formed by the highest mountain in the world, which is in the middle of the island. I had the curiosity to ascend ⁹ to its very summit, for this was the place to which Adam was banished¹⁰（驱逐，流放） out of Paradise. Here are found rubies ¹¹ and many precious things, and rare plants grow abundantly, with cedar ¹² trees and cocoa palms. On the seashore and at the mouths of the rivers the divers ¹³ seek for pearls, and in some valleys diamonds are plentiful ¹⁴. After many days I petitioned the king that I might return to my own country, to which he graciously consented. Moreover, he loaded me with rich gifts, and when I went to take leave of him he entrusted ¹⁵ me with a royal present and a letter to the Commander of the Faithful, our sovereign lord, saying, "I pray you give these to the Caliph Haroun al Raschid, and assure him of my friendship." , ,I accepted the charge respectfully, and soon embarked ¹⁶ upon the vessel ¹⁷ which the king himself had chosen for me. The king's letter was written in blue characters upon a rare and precious skin of yellowish colour, and these were the words of it: "The King of the Indies, before whom walk a thousand elephants, who lives in a palace, of which the roof blazes with a hundred thousand rubies, and whose treasure house contains twenty thousand diamond crowns, to the Caliph Haroun al Raschid sends greeting. Though the offering we present to you is unworthy of your notice, we pray you to accept it as a mark of the esteem ¹⁸ and friendship which we cherish for you, and of which we gladly send you this token, and we ask of you a like regard if you deem us worthy of it. Adieu, brother." , ,The present consisted of a vase carved from a single ruby ¹⁹, six inches high and as thick as my finger; this was filled with the choicest pearls, large, and of perfect shape and lustre²⁰（光泽）; secondly ²¹, a huge snake skin, with scales as large as a sequin, which would preserve from sickness those who slept upon it. Then quantities of aloes wood, camphor, and pistachio-nuts; and lastly, a beautiful slave girl, whose robes glittered with precious stones. , , ,As soon as I had declared my errand I was conducted into the presence of the Caliph, to whom, after I had made my obeisance ²³, I gave the letter and the king's gift, and when he had examined them he demanded of me whether the Prince of Serendib was really as rich and powerful as he claimed to be. , ,"Commander of the Faithful," I replied, again bowing humbly ²⁴ before him, "I can assure your Majesty ²⁵ that he has in no way exaggerated his wealth and grandeur ²⁶. Nothing can equal the magnificence of his palace. When he goes abroad his throne is prepared upon the back of an elephant, and on either side of him ride his ministers, his favourites, and courtiers. On his elephant's neck sits an officer, his golden lance in his hand, and behind him stands another bearing a pillar of gold, at the top of which is an emerald as long as my hand. A thousand men in cloth of gold, mounted upon richly caparisoned elephants, go before him, and as the procession moves onward ²⁷ the officer who guides his elephant cries aloud, ' Behold ²⁸ the mighty ²⁹ monarch ³⁰, the powerful and valiant ³¹ Sultan of the Indies, whose palace is covered with a hundred thousand rubies, who possesses twenty thousand diamond crowns. Behold a monarch greater than Solomon and Mihrage in all their glory!'" , ,Long essays,nay,whole books have been written on this.许多长篇大论的文章 ，不
，应该说是整部整部的书都是关于这件事的
。,We do not covet anything from any nation.我们不觊觎任何国家的任何东西。