The Oriental Story Book: A Collection of Tales

  THE HISTORY OF THE SPECTRE SHIP.

  My father had a little shop in Balsora; he was neither rich, nor poor,but one of those who do not like to risk any thing, through fear oflosing the little that they have. He brought me up plainly, butvirtuously, and soon I advanced so far, that I was able to makevaluable suggestions to him in his business. When I reached myeighteenth year, in the midst of his first speculation of anyimportance, he died; probably through anxiety at having intrusted athousand gold pieces to the sea. I was obliged, soon after, to deemhim happy in his fortunate death, for in a few weeks the intelligencereached us, that the vessel, to which my father had committed hisgoods, had been wrecked. This misfortune, however, could not depressmy youthful spirits. I converted all that my father had left intomoney, and set out to try my fortune in foreign lands, accompaniedonly by an old servant of the family, who, on account of ancientattachment, would not part from me and my destiny.

  In the harbor of Balsora we embarked, with a favorable wind. The ship,in which I had taken passage, was bound to India. We had now forfifteen days sailed in the usual track, when the Captain predicted tous a storm. He wore a thoughtful look, for it seemed he knew that, inthis place, there was not sufficient depth of water to encounter astorm with safety. He ordered them to take in all sail, and we movedalong quite slowly. The night set in clear and cold, and the Captainbegan to think that he had been mistaken in his forebodings. All atonce there floated close by ours, a ship which none of us hadobserved before. A wild shout and cry ascended from the deck, atwhich, occurring at this anxious season, before a storm, I wonderednot a little. But the Captain by my side was deadly pale: "My ship islost," cried he; "there sails Death!" Before I could demand anexplanation of these singular words, the sailors rushed in, weepingand wailing. "Have you seen it?" they exclaimed: "all is now over withus!"

  But the Captain had words of consolation read to them out of theKoran, and seated himself at the helm. But in vain! The tempest beganvisibly to rise with a roaring noise, and, before an hour passed by,the ship struck and remained aground. The boats were lowered, andscarcely had the last sailors saved themselves, when the vessel wentdown before our eyes, and I was launched, a beggar, upon the sea. Butour misfortune had still no end. Frightfully roared the tempest, theboat could no longer be governed. I fastened myself firmly to my oldservant, and we mutually promised not to be separated from each other.At last the day broke, but, with the first glance of the morning-red,the wind struck and upset the boat in which we were seated. After thatI saw my shipmates no more. The shock deprived me of consciousness,and when I returned to my senses, I found myself in the arms of my oldfaithful attendant, who had saved himself on the boat which had beenupturned, and had come in search of me. The storm had abated; of ourvessel there was nothing any more to be seen, but we plainly descried,at no great distance from us, another ship, towards which the waveswere driving us. As we approached, I recognised the vessel as the samewhich had passed by us in the night, and which had thrown the Captaininto such consternation. I felt a strange horror of this ship; theintimation of the Captain, which had been so fearfully corroborated,the desolate appearance of the ship, on which, although as we drewnear we uttered loud cries, no one was visible, alarmed me.Nevertheless this was our only expedient; accordingly, we praised theProphet, who had so miraculously preserved us.

  From the fore-part of the ship hung down a long cable; for the purposeof laying hold of this, we paddled with our hands and feet. At lastwe were successful. Loudly I raised my voice, but all remained quietas ever, on board the vessel. Then we climbed up by the rope, I, asthe youngest, taking the lead. But horror! what a spectacle was therepresented to my eye, as I stepped upon the deck! The floor was redwith blood; upon it lay twenty or thirty corpses in Turkish costume;by the middle-mast stood a man richly attired, with sabre in hand--buthis face was wan and distorted; through his forehead passed a largespike which fastened him to the mast--he was dead! Terror chained myfeet; I dared hardly to breathe. At last my companion stood by myside; he, too, was overpowered at sight of the deck which exhibited noliving thing, but only so many frightful corpses. After having, in theanguish of our souls, supplicated the Prophet, we ventured to moveforward. At every step we looked around to see if something new,something still more horrible, would not present itself. But allremained as it was--far and wide, no living thing but ourselves, andthe ocean-world. Not once did we dare to speak aloud, through fearthat the dead Captain there nailed to the mast would bend his rigideyes upon us, or lest one of the corpses should turn his head. At lastwe arrived at a staircase, which led into the hold. Thereinvoluntarily we came to a halt, and looked at each other, for neitherof us exactly ventured to express his thoughts.

  "Master," said my faithful servant, "something awful has happenedhere. Nevertheless, even if the ship down there below is full ofmurderers, still would I rather submit myself to their mercy orcruelty, than spend a longer time among these dead bodies." I agreedwith him, and so we took heart, and descended, full of apprehension.But the stillness of death prevailed here also, and there was no soundsave that of our steps upon the stairs. We stood before the door ofthe cabin; I applied my ear, and listened--there was nothing to beheard. I opened it. The room presented a confused appearance; clothes,weapons, and other articles, lay disordered together. The crew, or atleast the Captain, must shortly before have been carousing, for theremains of a banquet lay scattered around. We went on from room toroom, from chamber to chamber finding, in all, royal stores of silk,pearls, and other costly articles. I was beside myself with joy at thesight, for as there was no one on the ship, I thought I couldappropriate all to myself; but Ibrahim thereupon called to my noticethat we were still far from land, at which we could not arrive, aloneand without human help.

  We refreshed ourselves with the meats and drink, which we found inrich profusion, and at last ascended upon deck. But here again weshivered at the awful sight of the bodies. We determined to freeourselves therefrom, by throwing them overboard; but how were westartled to find, that no one could move them from their places! Sofirmly were they fastened to the floor, that to remove them one wouldhave had to take up the planks of the deck, for which tools werewanting to us. The Captain, moreover, could not be loosened from themast, nor could we even wrest the sabre from his rigid hand. We passedthe day in sorrowful reflection on our condition; and, when nightbegan to draw near, I gave permission to the old Ibrahim to lie downto sleep, while I would watch upon the deck, to look out for means ofdeliverance. When, however, the moon shone forth, and by the stars Icalculated that it was about the eleventh hour, sleep so irresistiblyoverpowered me that I fell back, involuntarily, behind a cask whichstood upon the deck. It was rather lethargy than sleep, for I plainlyheard the sea beat against the side of the vessel, and the sails creakand whistle in the wind. All at once I thought I heard voices, and thesteps of men upon the deck. I wished to arise and see what it was, buta strange power fettered my limbs, and I could not once open my eyes.But still more distinct became the voices; it appeared to me as if amerry crew were moving around upon the deck. In the midst of this Ithought I distinguished the powerful voice of a commander, followed bythe noise of ropes and sails. Gradually my senses left me; I fell intoa deep slumber, in which I still seemed to hear the din of weapons,and awoke only when the sun was high in the heavens, and sent down hisburning rays upon my face. Full of wonder, I gazed about me; storm,ship, the bodies, and all that I had heard in the night, recurred tome as a dream; but when I looked around, I found all as it had beenthe day before. Immoveable lay the bodies, immoveably was the Captainfastened to the mast; I laughed at my dream, and proceeded in searchof my old companion.

  The latter was seated in sorrowful meditation in the cabin. "Omaster," he exclaimed as I entered, "rather would I lie in the deepestbottom of the sea, than pass another night in this enchanted ship." Iasked him the reason of his grief, and thus he answered me:--

  "When I had slept an hour, I awoke, and heard the noise of walking toand fr
o over my head. I thought at first that it was you, but therewere at least twenty running around; I also heard conversation andcries. At length came heavy steps upon the stairs. After this I was nolonger conscious; but at times my recollection returned for a moment,and then I saw the same man who is nailed to the mast, sit down atthat table, singing and drinking; and he who lies not far from him onthe floor, in a scarlet cloak, sat near him, and helped him to drink."Thus spoke my old servant to me.

  You may believe me, my friends, that all was not right to my mind;for there was no delusion--I too had plainly heard the dead. To sailin such company was to me horrible; my Ibrahim, however, was againabsorbed in deep reflection. "I have it now!" he exclaimed at length;there occurred to him, namely, a little verse, which his grandfather,a man of experience and travel, had taught him, and which could giveassistance against every ghost and spectre. He also maintained that wecould, the next night, prevent the unnatural sleep which had come uponus, by repeating right fervently sentences out of the Koran.

  The proposition of the old man pleased me well. In anxious expectationwe saw the night set in. Near the cabin was a little room, to which wedetermined to retire. We bored several holes in the door, large enoughto give us a view of the whole cabin; then we shut it as firmly as wecould from within, and Ibrahim wrote the name of the Prophet in allfour corners of the room. Thus we awaited the terrors of the night.

  It might again have been about the eleventh hour, when a stronginclination for sleep began to overpower me. My companion, thereupon,advised me to repeat some sentences from the Koran, which assisted meto retain my consciousness. All at once it seemed to become livelyoverhead; the ropes creaked, there were steps upon the deck, andseveral voices were plainly distinguishable. We remained, a fewmoments, in intense anxiety; then we heard something descending thecabin stairs. When the old man became aware of this, he began torepeat the words which his grandfather had taught him to use againstspirits and witchcraft:

  "Come you, from the air descending, Rise you from the deep sea-cave, Spring you forth where flames are blending, Glide you in the dismal grave: Allah reigns, let all adore him! Own him, spirits--bow before him!"

  I must confess I did not put much faith in this verse, and my hairstood on end when the door flew open. The same large, stately manentered, whom I had seen nailed to the mast. The spike still passedthrough the middle of his brain, but he had sheathed his sword. Behindhim entered another, attired with less magnificence, whom also I hadseen lying on the deck. The Captain, for he was unquestionably of thisrank, had a pale countenance, a large black beard, and wildly-rollingeyes, with which he surveyed the whole apartment. I could see himdistinctly, for he moved over opposite to us; but he appeared not toobserve the door which concealed us. The two seated themselves at thetable, which stood in the centre of the cabin, and spoke loud andfast, shouting together in an unknown tongue. They continually becamemore noisy and earnest, until at length, with doubled fist, theCaptain brought the table a blow which shook the whole apartment. Withwild laughter the other sprang up, and beckoned to the Captain tofollow him. The latter rose, drew his sabre, and then both left theapartment. We breathed more freely when they were away; but ouranxiety had still for a long time no end. Louder and louder became thenoise upon deck; we heard hasty running to and fro, shouting,laughing, and howling. At length there came an actually hellish sound,so that we thought the deck and all the sails would fall down upon us,the clash of arms, and shrieks--of a sudden all was deep silence.When, after many hours, we ventured to go forth, we found every thingas before; not one lay differently--all were as stiff as woodenfigures.

  Thus passed we several days on the vessel; it moved continuallytowards the East, in which direction, according to my calculation, laythe land; but if by day it made many miles, by night it appeared to goback again, for we always found ourselves in the same spot when thesun went down. We could explain this in no other way, than that thedead men every night sailed back again with a full breeze. In order toprevent this, we took in all the sail before it became night, andemployed the same means as at the door in the cabin; we wrote onparchment the name of the Prophet, and also, in addition, the littlestanza of the grandfather, and bound them upon the furled sail.Anxiously we awaited the result in our chamber. The ghosts appearedthis time not to rage so wickedly; and, mark, the next morning thesails were still rolled up as we had left them. During the day weextended only as much as was necessary to bear the ship gently along,and so in five days we made considerable headway.

  At last, on the morning of the sixth day, we espied land at a shortdistance, and thanked Allah and his Prophet for our wonderfuldeliverance. This day and the following night we sailed along thecoast, and on the seventh morning thought we discovered a city at nogreat distance: with a good deal of trouble we cast an anchor into thesea, which soon reached the bottom; then launching a boat which stoodupon the deck, we rowed with all our might towards the city. Afterhalf an hour we ran into a river that emptied into the sea, andstepped ashore. At the gate we inquired what the place was called, andlearned that it was an Indian city, not far from the region to whichat first I had intended to sail. We repaired to a Caravansery, andrefreshed ourselves after our adventurous sail. I there inquired for awise and intelligent man, at the same time giving the landlord tounderstand that I would like to have one tolerably conversant withmagic. He conducted me to an unsightly house in a remote street,knocked thereat, and one let me in with the injunction that I shouldask only for Muley.

  In the house, came to me a little old man with grizzled beard and along nose, to demand my business. I told him I was in search of thewise Muley; he answered me that he was the man. I then asked hisadvice as to what I should do to the dead bodies, and how I musthandle them in order to remove them from the ship.

  He answered me that the people of the ship were probably enchanted onaccount of a crime somewhere upon the sea: he thought the spell wouldbe dissolved by bringing them to land, but this could be done only bytaking up the planks on which they lay. In the sight of God andjustice, he said that the ship, together with all the goods, belongedto me, since I had, as it were, found it; and, if I would keep it verysecret, and make him a small present out of my abundance, he wouldassist me with his slaves to remove the bodies. I promised to rewardhim richly, and we set out on our expedition with five slaves, whowere supplied with saws and hatchets. On the way, the magician Muleycould not sufficiently praise our happy expedient of binding thesails around with the sentences from the Koran. He said this was theonly means, by which we could have saved ourselves.

  It was still pretty early in the day when we reached the ship. Weimmediately set to work, and in an hour placed four in the boat. Someof the slaves were then obliged to row to land to bury them there.They told us, when they returned, that the bodies had spared them thetrouble of burying, since, the moment they laid them on the earth,they had fallen to dust. We diligently set to work to saw off thebodies, and before evening all were brought to land. There were, atlast, no more on board than the one that was nailed to the mast.Vainly sought we to draw the nail out of the wood, no strength wasable to start it even a hair's-breadth. I knew not what next to do,for we could not hew down the mast in order to bring him to land; butin this dilemma Muley came to my assistance. He quickly ordered aslave to row to land and bring a pot of earth. When he had arrivedwith it, the magician pronounced over it some mysterious words, andcast it on the dead man's head. Immediately the latter opened hiseyes, drew a deep breath, and the wound of the nail in his foreheadbegan to bleed. We now drew it lightly forth, and the wounded man fellinto the arms of one of the slaves.

  "Who bore me hither?" he exclaimed, after he seemed to have recoveredhimself a little. Muley made signs to me, and I stepped up to him.

  "Thank thee, unknown stranger; thou hast freed me from long torment.For fifty years has my body been sailing through these waves, and myspirit was condemned to return to it every night. But now my head hascome in contact with the
earth, and, my crime expiated, I can go to myfathers!"

  I entreated him, thereupon, to tell how he had been brought to thishorrible state, and he began--

  "Fifty years ago, I was an influential, distinguished man, and residedin Algiers: a passion for gain urged me on to fit out a ship, and turnpirate. I had already followed this business some time, when once, atZante, I took on board a Dervise, who wished to travel for nothing. Iand my companions were impious men, and paid no respect to theholiness of the man; I, in particular, made sport of him. When,however, on one occasion he upbraided me with holy zeal for my wickedcourse of life, that same evening, after I had been drinking to excesswith my pilot in the cabin, anger overpowered me. Reflecting on whatthe Dervise had said to me, which I would not have borne from aSultan, I rushed upon deck, and plunged my dagger into his breast.Dying, he cursed me and my crew, and doomed us not to die and not tolive, until we should lay our heads upon the earth.

  "The Dervise expired, and we cast him overboard, laughing at hismenaces; that same night, however, were his words fulfilled. Oneportion of my crew rose against me; with terrible courage the strugglecontinued, until my supporters fell, and I myself was nailed to themast. The mutineers, however, also sank under their wounds, and soonmy ship was but one vast grave. My eyes also closed, my breathstopped--I thought I was dying. But it was only a torpor which held mechained: the following night, at the same hour in which we had castthe Dervise into the sea, I awoke, together with all my comrades;life returned, but we could do and say nothing but what had been doneand said on that fatal night. Thus we sailed for fifty years, neitherliving nor dying, for how could we reach the land? With mad joy weever dashed along, with full sails, before the storm, for we hoped atlast to be wrecked upon some cliff, and to compose our weary heads torest upon the bottom of the sea; but in this we never succeeded. Now Ishall die! Once again, unknown preserver, accept my thanks, and iftreasures can reward thee, then take my ship in token of mygratitude."

  With these words the Captain let his head drop, and expired. Like hiscompanions, he immediately fell to dust. We collected this in a littlevessel, and buried it on the shore: and I took workmen from the cityto put the ship in good condition. After I had exchanged, with greatadvantage, the wares I had on board for others, I hired a crew, richlyrewarded my friend Muley, and set sail for my fatherland. I took acircuitous route, in the course of which I landed at several islandsand countries, to bring my goods to market. The Prophet blessed myundertaking. After several years I ran into Balsora, twice as rich asthe dying Captain had made me. My fellow-citizens were amazed at mywealth and good fortune, and would believe nothing else but that I hadfound the diamond-valley of the far-famed traveller Sinbad. I leftthem to their belief; henceforth must the young folks of Balsora, whenthey have scarcely arrived at their eighteenth year, go forth into theworld, like me, to seek their fortunes. I, however, live in peace andtranquillity, and every five years make a journey to Mecca, to thankthe Lord for his protection, in that holy place, and to entreat forthe Captain and his crew, that He will admit them into Paradise.

  * * * * *

  The march of the Caravan proceeded the next day without hinderance,and when they halted, Selim the Stranger began thus to speak to Muley,the youngest of the merchants:

  "You are, indeed, the youngest of us, nevertheless you are always infine spirits, and, to a certainty, know for us, some right merrystory. Out with it then, that it may refresh us after the heat of theday."

  "I might easily tell you something," answered Muley, "which wouldamuse you, nevertheless modesty becomes youth in all things; thereforemust my older companions have the precedence. Zaleukos is ever sograve and reserved; should not he tell us what has made his life soserious? Perhaps we could assuage his grief, if such he have; forgladly would we serve a brother, even if he belong to another creed."

  The person alluded to was a Grecian merchant of middle age, handsomeand strongly built, but very serious. Although he was an unbeliever,(that is, no Mussulman,) still his companions were much attached tohim, for his whole conduct had inspired them with respect andconfidence. He had only one hand, and some of his companionsconjectured that, perhaps, this loss gave so grave a tone to hischaracter. Zaleukos thus answered Muley's friendly request:

  "I am much honored by your confidence: grief have I none, at leastnone from which, even with your best wishes, you can relieve me.Nevertheless, since Muley appears to blame me for my seriousness, Iwill relate to you something which will justify me when I am moregrave than others. You see that I have lost my left hand; this camenot to me at my birth, but I lost it in the most unhappy days of mylife. Whether I bear the fault thereof, whether I am wrong to be moreserious than my condition in life would seem to make me, you mustdecide, when I have told you the STORY OF THE HEWN-OFF HAND."