Say me then,
wilt thou undertake the charge and land and sell them as other
merchants do?" I replied, "Hearkening and obedience to thee, O my
lord, and great is thy kindness to me," and thanked him. Whereupon
he bade the sailors and porters bear the bales in question ashore, and
commit them to my charge.
The ship's scribe asked him, "O master, what bales are these, and
what merchant's name shall I write upon them?" and he answered: "Write
on them the name of Sindbad the Seaman, him who was with us in the
ship and whom we lost at the roc's island, and of whom we have no
tidings. For we mean this stranger to sell them, and we will give
him a part of the price for his pains and keep the rest till we return
to Baghdad, where if we find the owner we will make it over to him,
and if not, to his family." And the clerk said, "Thy words are
apposite and thy rede is right." Now when I heard the captain give
orders for the bales to be inscribed with my name, I said to myself,
"By Allah, I am Sindbad the Seaman!" So I armed myself with courage
and patience and waited till all the merchants had landed and were
gathered together, talking and chattering about buying and selling.
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