Episode 237: Sinbad the Sailor (Part 2)
/Ahoy! Is that the return of Sinbad the Sailor? It is! We’re judging the luckiest/unluckiest man in folklore this week, as well as talking about the economics of coconuts and monkeys.
Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of xenophobia, drug use, natural disaster, drowning, cannibalism, death, murder, violence against women, illness, being buried alive, starvation, animal death, strangulation, slavery, poaching, and graverobbing.
Housekeeping
- Recommendation: This week, Amanda recommends Full Bloom HBO Max
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Transcript
AMANDA: Welcome to Spirits Podcast a boozy dive into mythology, legends and folklore. Every week, we pour a drink and learn about a new story from around the world. I'm Amanda
JULIA: And I'm Julia.
AMANDA: And this is Episode 237: Sinbad the Sailor, Part Two. Julia, we're finally at the other side of our cliffhanger!
JULIA: We're back at it, we're back at it with the world's luckiest and most unlucky man, and here we go.
AMANDA: I am so enriched by knowing the end of this journey and I know that you patreons and listeners will be too. But first and especially thank you and welcome to our newest patrons: Taylor!! with two exclamation points, Scott, and Jessica and Shaine. Thank you so very much for making room in your budget each month to support creators, specifically these creators.
JULIA: It's us!
AMANDA: And thank you to our supporting producer level patreons, Uhleeseeuh, Allison, Bryan, Debra, Hannah, Jane, Jessica K., Jessica S., Justin, Keegan, Kneazlekins, Liz, Megan Linger, Megan Moon, Phil Fresh, Polly, Captain Jonathan MAL-uh-kye Cosmos, Sarah, Scott, and Zazi. And of course, Julia, don't forget the legend level patrons, each of whom I think has like a smallish body of water in their home state or country where there's just a shadow under the lake occasionally, and then people take photos of it. And then the hashtag is like, #Nessie? only it's instead, Audra, Chimera or Change, Clara, Drew, Jack Marie, Jaybaybay, Ki, Lada, Morgan, Morgan H., Necroroyalty, Taylor, & Bea Me Up Scotty?
JULIA: I wasn't sure where you're going with that one, but I love it.
AMANDA: It's like #BeaMeUpScottySighting?
JULIA: Ah, yes!
AMANDA: You know?
JULIA: If you've listened to the podcast, you see a Bea Me Up Scotty sighting every week, because they support us.
AMANDA: It's quite true.
JULIA: Amanda, what have you been watching/listening to/reading lately? What's up? What's good in your world?
AMANDA: Oh, Julia, I was so delighted to see that there is a new season of Full Bloom on HBO Max, which is a flower competition show.
JULIA: Gasp! I know how much you love lightweight competition shows. So, I'm, I'm so happy for you.
AMANDA: Yeah, this is lovely. The people are really supportive of each other, and people are amazing. Like, they teach me the names of the flowers. Cause they all refer to flowers by their real names rather than like, those tall fuzzy ones. And it's very, very entertaining. And it's really stunning, like, the budget on the show is truly incredible, the flowers are beautiful. And at the end of the day, you know, even when someone loses, like the thing that they make is really pretty and everyone's really passionate about it. So it is very, very soothing feeling I highly recommend that there's four episodes of Season Two out right now, as of when we are recording this show. And there's a whole of Season One for you to catch up on too.
JULIA: Here's my thing about flowers is I feel like, like you said, I would watch that show. And I'd be like, “Wow, those are really pretty flowers!” And then I would not understand how they're judging at all. Even if the judges were like, "Well, clearly, you know, this section was not balanced correctly." I'd be like, "No, but it... flowers. They're pretty, what?"
AMANDA: Yeah, sometimes I am surprised by their feedback. But I think they do a pretty good job of saying they want you to like tell a story or like, this looks a little bit you know, lopsided or, hey, if you were going for this kind of effect, this would have been a more effective way, you know, to make it look like airy, or like big or balanced. And often it's sort of time management and like team, you know, organization. So it's not really like you're watching [3:01] like I have no fucking idea who's gonna win, like you, you know, the editing and the judging kind of gives you a good sense of what they're looking for.
JULIA: That's, that's a good highlight of a show for me is when the editing tells me what's going on.
AMANDA: I always feel like such a winner. I'm just like, I know who's gonna go home. And it's like, okay, man, it was it like all the clues that the whole show is giving you throughout its 45 minutes? Yeah, yeah! Well, speaking of judgment, I highly recommend, if any of you have not given it a go and you have five bucks a month, check out the Multicrew. This is Multitude’s membership program where people just like you help us to do and try weird and cool new things and sustain this whole project of running a podcast collective/production company. And we make a weekly podcast just for our members called Head Heart Gut where we use a very high intensity debate format to judge very low stakes topics such as best day of the week, which is what we are debating this month in June. I go so hard for Wednesday.
JULIA: A bold choice, Madam! A bold choice.
AMANDA: Let me just tell you, I love Wednesday. And I love my argument and I had real quality things to say and I have a whole structure, recording the judgment later this week to go out next week and I just I cannot wait I have really feel strongly about it. So if you want that plus the like two years of weekly podcast that you have to catch up on go to multicrew.club where you too can become a part of the Multicrew.
JULIA: It's a lot of fun, and it lets us do things that we wouldn't normally be able to do like test out new shows and stuff like that and do Head Heart Gut, which is delightful.
AMANDA: Yeah, and you get a shiny pin at one level. You get your name on a literal plaque in our actual office at one level, get stickers or postcard. It's good stuff, promise. Well, without further ado, Julia. I'm just I'm dying to know what happens to Sinbad. So folks, enjoy Spirits Podcast Episode 237: Sinbad the Sailor, Part Two.
JULIA: Amanda, welcome back to the story of Sinbad!
AMANDA: I have been waiting on tenterhooks for weeks.
JULIA: Well, I'm just super glad that our relationship is not that of like Scheherazade and the king and I'm not just continuously telling you mythology stories in the hopes that you will keep me alive just so long as you find me entertaining.
AMANDA: You know, there are things that go on behind the scenes of, of your favorite podcast, but that is not one of them here.
JULIA: Thankfully, not. Instead, I feel like our relationship is much closer to Sinbad the Sailor and Sinbad the Porter. In that, our friendship only becomes stronger and stronger as I tell you sick-ass stories about monsters and sailors and stuff.
AMANDA: Aww! I mean, we don't hand each other piles of money and say, "Come back tomorrow." But I like that reading very much.
JULIA: But what if we did?
AMANDA: What if we did?
JULIA: At the very least, I'm not doing it in the most self aggrandizing way possible. So, I consider that a win.
AMANDA: I probably did initially meet you by like, collapsing on a bench crying near where you like, played kickball.
JULIA: That feels right.
AMANDA: I don't remember exactly. But that, that seems in character.
JULIA: We were both awkward children. It’s, it is what it is.
AMANDA: But look at us, we grew up to be creepy, queer adults and awkward kids everywhere, that is doable for you too!
JULIA: Pew! Pew! Pew! If you are listening to this, and you are not Amanda and you have not listened to the first part of the Sinbad the Sailor episode, what are you doing? Go back and listen to Part One! Otherwise, you're going to be in the middle of the voyages of Sinbad and you might not get all the references to trading a paperclip for a house that we're going to be making.
AMANDA: Yeah, the, the we got a framed narrative inside a frame narrative. We got Sinbad recounting his adventures and I am so eager for Part Two.
JULIA: Yes. With that disclaimer that you need to listen to Part One, we will get going with the story. So, when we left off with Sinbad the Sailor, he was sending away Sinbad the Porter promising him to tell the story of his Fourth Voyage the next day, and as he has all of the other times, Sinbad the Porter shows back up again is wined and dined, and then Sinbad the Sailor tells him the Fourth Tale. Once again, Sinbad the Sailor is tired of being rich in Baghdad since he's had all of these amazing adventures and stuff and civilian life just is leaving him bored, you know? As one does. So, off he goes to see yet again and just like all the other times, things go disastrously. You think that for once, maybe there wouldn't be a horrible storm or him getting abandoned on a deserted island or something like that. But then, there probably wouldn't be much of a story, right?
AMANDA: Quite true. And I wonder like what was, what was behind in Baghdad that he found so bad. Was there like a neighbor that he didn't want to see that often? And his social anxiety was such that he decided to like, take a job that would take him outside of the city/country/into the seas for months at a time? Maybe.
JULIA: I just feel like he is the epitome of you know, the like, "Money can't buy happiness." is the phrase but like--
AMANDA: Yes.
JULIA: --statistically, they have proven that money can buy happiness, but only up to a certain point.
AMANDA: Yes.
JULIA: And I think he's just living that money has bought him as much happiness as it can. And now he's just feeling unfulfilled, and now, he's gonna climb Mount Everest or something.
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: Don't do that.
AMANDA: Quite true.
JULIA: This time for Sinbad, there is a horrible storm and he and the rest of his crew are shipwrecked on an island. Also, as a side note, you know what I love about the Sinbad stories? He's never really the captain. He's usually just a regular sailor, despite the fact that he's just this incredibly wealthy merchant. Which honestly, respect.
AMANDA: I do like it. Yeah, it is very, like, I'm going to go on vacation [8:10], so rich, and as part of my vacation, I'm going to be a normie.
JULIA: He's a little bit Undercover Boss, but I'm not mad about it. Because he's not like being like, "Oh, well, I'm really seeing that the, the lives of my employees would benefit more if they, I gave them you know, a living wage and benefits. I'm not going to do that. But I can see it now."
AMANDA: lnstead, he just like buys one person a car and he's like, solved!
JULIA: Come on, bro!
AMANDA: No, no, it is not.
JULIA: The ship is wrecked. They're on this island where they discover a group of naked people who live on the island. Again, this kind of gets into that kind of like, "Ooh! These people who are not like us are savages." territory that we got into in the third voyage. Just a disclaimer for that. Just heads Up.
AMANDA: Lotta exotisizing happening.
JULIA: So, the people offer the crew this like herb or plant to eat. And Sinbad is like, "Well, hold on a second, because none of them are eating the herbs. I don't think I should eat the herb if none of them are eating the herbs." and so like on the sly, he doesn't eat it. But the rest of the crew they all chomp down on these herbs probably because they're shipwrecked and hungry and I don't blame them at all. But when they eat the herb, they turn into these kind of like mindless people. It makes them incapable of speaking in any sort of intelligible language and it really just feels like a story that they would tell in a Just Say No to Drugs campaign.
AMANDA: Yeah, yeah, no, totally. I mean, in terms of like a relatively bloodless way to like, get invaders away from you. I sort of respect the move, to be honest.
JULIA: If that was what they were doing, I would also respect the move.
AMANDA: Oh no!
JULIA: True to the kind of cannibalistic nature of the Third Voyage, it turns out--
AMANDA: Got it.
JULIA: --the people of the island were going to eat the crew members.
AMANDA: Okay.
JULIA: And they kind of just like, start feeding them similar to like, hogs for the slaughter.
AMANDA: Ahhh!
JULIA: Again, I'm seeing some real parallels to the Odyssey at this point, like the turning of the crew members into pigs to eat later. Or the Lotus eaters where you like, if you eat the Lotus, that it's a narcotic, and it causes you to forget your former life, and also you become like, extremely apathetic. So it's easy to, you know, do stuff to you.
AMANDA: Interesting.
JULIA: So, Sinbad knew what was up because he, you know, still had his wits about him. And so he refused to eat a lot, you know, because they were, he was like, "You're not gonna, you're not gonna slaughter me like a pig, just not gonna happen."
AMANDA: I'm gonna be the least appetizing looking thing for you.
JULIA: Yeah, and so, when the people of the island kind of look at him, they're like, "You're very thin and therefore not appetizing. You can wander around if you want. We'll, we'll send a guard with you, but like, we're probably not going to eat you, bro. You're not appealing at all."
AMANDA: Pretty good strategy.
JULIA: Yeah, so Sinbad kind of wanders around this island. They send a guard with him to kind of look over him. And Sinbad manages to escape the guard and lives in the wilds of this island for seven days, which is just really roughing it, you know what I mean? He's just kind of out there. Again, it feels like a thing a rich guy would do where it's like, "I'm just gonna go off the grid for a couple months, you know?"
AMANDA: "Yeah, really just disconnect to reconnect. You know what I mean?"
JULIA: Yes.
AMANDA: I haven't heard that phrase before. But it feels like something somebody has definitely said like at a Rich Person Burning Man.
JULIA: Almost assuredly. Oh, it's just Burning Man. Wow, you're right. It's just Burning Man. Except there's no other people. It's just you.
AMANDA: Yeah, I, I know. There is a core people who for whom Burning Man is like meaningful and, and it's [11:26]. But like, also, there are a bunch of people who do like glamping as Burning Man. And I think that's where somebody uttered this phrase, while like sipping an IPA.
JULIA: Absolutely, he's roughing it out on this island for seven days. And once again, because he is the luckiest man in the world, he manages to come across a ship full of merchants who are on the island collecting pepper on a faraway beach.
AMANDA: Okay, great.
JULIA: And as we know, because Sinbad is so likable and so incredibly lucky. The merchants are like, Yeah, man. Sure, come with us. We'll take you home with us. No problem. It's all good.
AMANDA: If you were Sinbad, would you carry just like a survival kit with you in your like, shoulder bag everywhere you went?
JULIA: I mean, at this point. Yeah, I think after the second time, you're like, you know what? It's, it's on me if this keeps happening.
AMANDA: Yeah, some flint, some utensils, a cup. Maybe some, some jerky? That sounds great.
JULIA: But I feel like that's something that all sailors should have all the time with them anyway.
AMANDA: Yeah, certainly.
JULIA: So, the merchants take him, they return to their homeland, which is an island that is run by this thankfully, benevolent king, supposedly. And he's like, “You know what, dude, you're my best friend. Sinbad. You and me. We're gonna be tight. It's all good. Do you want to stay here forever? You don't have to leave if you don't want to. And if you do, stay, I'll offer up this beautiful woman to be your wife. That seems cool. Right? You definitely want to stay, right?"
AMANDA: No?
JULIA: You ever been to a party where someone is just like, zoned in so much on you and your enjoyable and experience? And it makes it unenjoyable?
AMANDA: You know, Julia, I don't know if I have. But I definitely see what you mean. I've definitely been in a place where it's like the whole party is like doing its thing like moving to another location or like really into whatever their game they're playing. And I'm just like, not for me.
JULIA: I feel like I'm thinking more of like influencer events. You know what I mean?
AMANDA: Sure.
JULIA: Where it's like someone's just like very into you and wants to quote unquote get to know you, but really figure out a way that they can use you to like make--
AMANDA: Oh, yeah.
JULIA: --themselves more marketable.
AMANDA: Very true. Those excruciating small group transactions. I definitely am coming around. Yeah, you're right.
JULIA: Yeah. So Sinbad, after this very aggressive pitch is like, "Yes, that sounds sweet, actually. Awesome deal. I'm here for it. When do I get married?" And then he does. He gets married.
AMANDA: Wow!
JULIA: Married to this beautiful woman. And then, like on his wedding night, they're like, “Oh, heads up. By the way, if your spouse dies, you're gonna get buried alive with her and all of the family riches. Good luck and good health to you both!”
AMANDA: Oh, man. That's the worst postnup I've ever heard of.
JULIA: And of course, because this is Sinbad both the luckiest and most unlucky man on the face of the planet. His wife almost immediately becomes ill and dies.
AMANDA: Oh, yeah. Okay. I mean, RIP, her.
JULIA: And so Sinbad is like, "Hey, wait a second. I don't think I'm cool with this actually." And the people of the island are like, "Too bad, my guy!" and they bury him along with his wife's body in this like, huge communal tomb with only enough water and bread for about seven days.
AMANDA: I mean, this is horrible.
JULIA: It gets worse from here. I'm just going to let you know it gets worse from here.
AMANDA: Ok. Okay.
JULIA: So, Sinbad is in there for a week. He's running low on provisions. He's like slowly starving to death. He's on the verge of starving. And then another couple is brought into the communal tomb. This time it's a dead husband and a living wife. And Sinbad fucking wildly decides, "Okay, I'm not going to die here. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to kill this woman who is in the same boat as me and take her provisions so I can last another fucking week."
AMANDA: I thought we're gonna say they would get remarried and be like, "See, we're both living. Let us out!"
JULIA: That's what I thought! I was like, What is the clever way out of this? Not murdering a woman, certainly!
AMANDA: Damn! Stone cold, Sinbad.
JULIA: Yeah, it's just like a real dick move. Maybe like, you could have figured out a way for you both to get out like working together. But no, you have to kill her. Just. ugh! ugh!
AMANDA: Damn, I'm surprised. So she, she dies in the story, he kills her?
JULIA: Yep, he just, he bludgeons her to death.
AMANDA: Damn. Let's also step, one step backward and back into the frame narrative. Who's he telling the story around? Does he have a family with him in his home?
JULIA: Just as friends and family, yep. and the porter.
AMANDA: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, great, great, great. Yep, uh-huh.
JULIA: Another week goes by and he just keeps doing this. It's not just one murder. It's multiple murders that he does in order to stay alive. Like, every time someone is lowered down into the communal tomb, he kills the living spouse and takes all their provisions.
AMANDA: I hate it.
JULIA: Yeah, I also hate it. I was like, I don't know how you can redeem yourself in my eyes now, Sinbad. I don't think you can.
AMANDA: There's a real like, cycle of violence situation going on where it's like, "Hey, everybody, if we just like, stop policy nobody would have to die in the first place."
JULIA: There you go. There you go. So one day after he's apparently been doing this for a while he sees a small animal burrowing in the tomb and like, fo-, like burrows his way out of this tomb by following the animal. Eventually, he gets to the shoreline and he manages to hail a passing ship that picks him up, again. Because he is both the luckiest and unluckiest man in the world. Because it Sinbad, he takes a bunch of the like wealth that was you know, because I said they get buried with all--
AMANDA: Yeah, ohh!
JULIA: --of their like, family wealth and stuff. He takes a bunch of it with him. And of course, he does that typical trading thing that he does. So he's even richer by the time he gets back to Baghdad.
AMANDA: There's a real underlying metaphor for, for Capitalism here that I'm excited to unpack at the end of it.
JULIA: The story does kind of end with like, “Hey, by the way, I didn't keep all the wealth for myself this time I donated a bunch to like the mosques and like to the poor.” And that in my book, does not make up for the fact that you murdered a bunch of people to keep yourself alive and then robbed the grave that you were in.
AMANDA: Yeah!
JULIA: But sure my guy, whatever.
AMANDA: Whatever you say. Whatever helps you sleep at night, I guess.
JULIA: So now that he has admitted to murdering a bunch of people who never threatened his life at a party, Sinbad the Porter is like, "Oh, hot damn, my guy! This was your best story yet. How are you going to top this one tomorrow?" And I'm just like, that's not the reaction I would have had. And meanwhile, Sinbad the Sailor is like waggles eyebrows, "Come back tomorrow and you'll find out."
AMANDA: Eugh! I wonder how many times he's pulled this before?
JULIA: With how many people? Yeah, because he's so goddamn rich.
AMANDA: Is his staff and families just like I mean, this one's named Sinbad. I guess that's a cool development.
JULIA: Yeah. This one's just not a random dude that he pulled off the street.
AMANDA: Yeah, yeah.
JULIA: At least, he has the same name as him.
AMANDA: Like, ugh, it's the Night Four Feast again.
JULIA: Ugh! We all heard this one we know you've murdered a bunch of people. God damn it, Sinbad!
AMANDA: Someone is just like, mouthing along with his laugh lines like ah fu--!
JULIA: Brutal. So the porter shows back up the next day Sinbad the Sailor has got a whole party of people over again. And then he tells them all his Fifth Story. This time, Sinbad’s out there actually setting sail on his own ship as opposed to the first four where he was just the sailor.
AMANDA: Great.
JULIA: So he staffs the crew with a bunch of merchants from all over the world and off they go to trade more paperclips into diamonds or whatever they do.
AMANDA: Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep.
JULIA: But off they sail and as they're sailing, they pass an island and the crew sees this giant orb which Sinbad instantly recognizes to be the Roc's Egg which you'll remember from the first Sinbad episode. The Roc is the gigantic monstrous bird.
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: So the crew sees that the egg is like in the middle of hatching and they're like, "Oh, damn! Big bird! Free food!" and Sinbad is like, "Wait, no. Hey, no, this is the baby of a giant monster bird. Maybe don't." but the sailors are like, "But we're hungry!" and so they hatch it open, the egg and they roast the baby bird for food.
AMANDA: No! What the fuck?
JULIA: They're hungry sailors, man. I don't know.
AMANDA: Oh, my god.
JULIA: So true to form the Roc parents show back up and the sailors and Sinbad try to book it away from the island. But the Rocs are giant monster birds and so they start picking up boulders and dropping them onto the ship which destroys the vessel.
AMANDA: Oh, that's smart.
JULIA: So everyone is killed except for the luckiest man in the world, Sinbad. Who is back in some familiar territory floating on some driftwood in the middle of the ocean.
AMANDA: I mean, is he like, back out of it again? Does he have his like, train of thought that he thinks he's floating?
JULIA: I hope so. I feel like he's at this point. He's gonna be like, "What am I doing with my life? What's happening here?"
AMANDA: The fact that I have a routine for being stranded on a piece of driftwood in the sea probably should alarm me.
JULIA: Yeah. So eventually he drifts on to the shore of another island. Classic. This one is absolutely gorgeous. It's a lush forest. There's fruit hanging from trees within reach. There's a beautiful crystal stream going through it for drinking and as Sinbad approaches said stream, he sees this old man who is sitting at the edge of the stream. And the old man doesn't speak to sound bad, but he kind of like, just gestures across the stream, like, "Hey, carry me over there. I want to go get some fruit."
AMANDA: Sure.
JULIA: And Sinbad is like, "Yeah, okay, sure, this island is great, and nothing can go wrong here." And so he carries the old man across the stream. But the old man doesn't let go. Once they reach the other side. Instead, he wraps his legs around Sinbad's neck and makes him carry him from tree to tree so that he can gather fruit.
AMANDA: Okay, I'm very nervous to see how this ends.
JULIA: The problem is Amanda, this doesn't just like, go on for a few minutes or even a few hours, it goes on for days.
AMANDA: Yeah, there it is.
JULIA: So obviously Sinbad, just a mortal man, nothing super special about Sinbad other than the fact that he's extremely lucky. He is getting exhausted carrying this old man around. And so he realizes that he has to come up with some sort of plan to get out of this. So eventually, he manages to use, of all things, booze to get out of a situation.
AMANDA: Do tell.
JULIA: So he finds some grapes as he's carrying around this old man [21:13], getting him different fruits and whatnot. And he manages to make himself some wine. And he kind of puts on this big show of being like, "Oh, this wine is making things so much easier for me slurp slurp, slurp!" and the old man is like, "Oh, what's this, then?" And so he takes the wine from Sinbad and he drinks some of it and he just becomes like, so drunk that he loosened his grip on Sinbad and Sinbad manages to throw the old man off, kills him. Because the body count is stacking up here, my guy!
AMANDA: Oh, god! He could have just like, rehomes him in a place with a lot of fruit trees nearby.
JULIA: But then he, he kills the man, he flees to the shore and again, is rescued by a passing ship. Again, luckiest man in the world.
AMANDA: I also love that there is so much boat traffic past these like, incredibly dangerous islands.
JULIA: Just is. They know better than to stop there, I guess. So once he's onboard this ship, he tells the crew about the old man and they're like, "Damn, son, that's the old man of the sea. He's a trickster. And he usually ends up strangling his victims. You're super lucky you managed to escape!"
AMANDA: I mean, can you think of any other examples of a trickster being fully just like kills in mythology? I feel like that's rare.
JULIA: It's very rare. And it's usually done by like, a demigod or something.
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: Like someone who has power of their own.
AMANDA: Damn.
JULIA: So he managed to do that. That's pretty impressive. Maybe he just thought he killed him. And the guy was just like, drunk and was like, "Oh, yes, I'm dead now."
AMANDA: "Wah! I'm tired of you! Go away."
JULIA: The ship takes Sinbad to this small town nearby in a new port, where coconuts are the main source of trade.
AMANDA: Cool.
JULIA: And weirdly, the story gets into a lot of detail about the coconut. So basically, it's like coconut collection on the island is really dangerous because on this island, the palm trees are too tall to climb and gather coconuts from but the palm trees are also full of monkeys. So, what the merchants do is that they throw rocks at the monkeys who then retaliate by throwing down the coconuts which is dangerous but apparently the best way of getting the coconuts, so they risk it.
AMANDA: I think that's super smart. I love it.
JULIA: Yeah, but like if a monkey throws a coconut at you and it wacks you in the head, ya dead.
AMANDA: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know.
JULIA: Especially from that height.
AMANDA: You really have to like duck and cover. Like, you know, come out, throw the rock hide back behind some kind of wall.
JULIA: Put the monkey's probably smart enough to wait until you come back out again to be like, "Oh, there's that motherfucker.” then throw the coconut back at you."
AMANDA: And for any fellow Survivor fans because we talked about climbing coconut trees. I'm just gonna say Ozzy Don't worry, I said it. I know it. You know it. Everybody knows it. Let's move on.
JULIA: Okay, so Sinbad ends up making a bunch of money selling coconuts naturally, because he's an incredible merchant and set sail back to Baghdad, rich again, and finishing the story of his Fifth Voyage, he passes off some of the riches to Sinbad the Porter again and tells him just like before, "Oh, hey, come back tomorrow for the next story, my guy."
AMANDA: You would think that by now Sinbad the Sailor would be like, "I keep coming home rich after bad things happen? What if I tried to come home with less wealth? What if I go out trying to give it all away? What would happen then?"
JULIA: What if?
AMANDA: What if?
JULIA: So we'll return for the Sixth Voyage of Sinbad just as soon as we get a refill.
AMANDA: Let's go!
SPONSORS
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AMANDA: Julia is something that I find really difficult is finding clothing that I think is super cute, and is the price I need. Because often I'll be like, Oh, look at that shirt. Oh, nope! $200, I don't think so. And it's something that I really, really appreciate that Stitch Fix, our other sponsor today is that you tell them straight away what clothing you're looking for, not just in terms of the size and the style and the you know, the sort of occasion that you want it to be, but also your budget and they will send you quality items that fit the budget, you tell them in advance. So they don't be like oh, oops, we included this like a great dress that you would totally love to keep, but it is too expensive for you. They bring it exactly in the range that you need, which is amazing. And as you all know, Stitch Fix is super flexible, super easy to use. You don't have to make a subscription even, you can just do it once, do it on demand or have automatic deliveries of your fix. You pay a $20 styling fee for each box and that 20 bucks gets credited automatically toward any pieces that you keep. There are no hidden fees, returns and shipping are always free and easy. It's awesome. They include a prepaid return envelopes, you don't even have to like, go scrounging around your house for a box or tape because it's self adhesive, it's so good.
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AMANDA: So get started today at stitchfix.com/spirits, where you'll get 25% off when you keep everything in your Fix at a stitchfix.com/spirits for 25% off when you keep everything in your Fix. stitchfix.com/spirits. Julia, I heard once from this function of beauty copy points document that sense is the body's most underappreciated of the senses, perhaps have you heard that before? Have you thought about that?
JULIA: I think that's true. I mean, as we've talked about on the show smelling ghosts, probably the least likely thing to happen in terms of ghostly encounters.
AMANDA: But the most impactful, perchance and I think it's totally true. I've definitely had that experience in life where you catch a whiff of something and it brings back an incredible and vivid memory and I love when that happens. I also love that every morning I know that I can start my day with a little moment of Zen because I have delicious eucalyptus scented Function of Beauty hair products including some conditioner that I just bought in a little rose scent. A very like light [27:46] light scent and it was a little wisp of scent a little nice steamy cloud of something lovely that it has my name on the bottle, it's the color I picked out. It really is truly customized to me and that is really nice and makes me feel quite fancy every single morning.
JULIA: Yeah, also it's summertime so I am starting to like smell the roses on the like, summer breeze and every time I get into my shower and I washed my hair like I did this morning I can also smell that beautiful like summer rose scent so I feel you there I love that. And it's not just like floral scents they also have stuff like Tropical Mango and Sweet Peach and Crisp Pear. Which I love saying, Crisp Pear.
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JULIA: That's functionofbeauty.com/spirits to let them know you heard about it here and to get 20% off your order, functionofbeauty.com/spirits.
AMANDA: Fabulous. Now, let's get back to the show.
MIDROLL
JULIA: So this time, Amanda, since we are closing out our stories with Sinbad I decided to go for a drink that would kind of close things out as well, which is why I chose the Sailor's Sunset, which is dark rum, Campari, a mixture of like citrus juices and ginger beer. So, it's kind of like a Dark and Stormy but it's got the bitterness of like, a grapefruit juice and also the Campari.
AMANDA: It is extremely tasty. I really like this one.
JULIA: You know, it feels like a summer drink but like the end of the night, summer drink rather than like, I've been at the beach all day and I'm pounding these back, you know?
AMANDA: Totally, and I feel like ginger beer might be slightly overused, like, you know, it's quite popular, but I really love it. I love that it's popular. It's like the right amount and kind of bitter and sweet for me. It's like little carbonation, not like super, super carbonated. I'm really into it.
JULIA: plus a little bit of spicy because you know, the ginger is a little spicy.
AMANDA: Exactly.
JULIA: If you get the extra spicy ginger beer, too. That always makes it so much better in my opinion.
AMANDA: Yeah, I know. I really like it too.
JULIA: So like the old red sky at night, sailor's delight. Let's get delighted by the sixth and seventh voyages, which hopefully feature less murder of innocent people.
AMANDA: Let's do it, Julia.
END OF MIDROLL
JULIA: So once again, Sinbad is telling the story of how he is bored as hell being rich in Baghdad. And this time his friends and family are like, "Dear God, man, don't you realize every time you go to sea something horrific happens."
AMANDA: There you go. Also pretty sure Baghdad is one of the best cities to be rich in. That city is full of wonders.
JULIA: Uh-huh. But of course Sinbad is like, "Nah, I got this." and he sets out again. This time, he actually travels overland leaving Baghdad and then going to India before setting sail out of India. So I think his hope was maybe leaving from a new place, maybe his luck would change but of course it doesn't.
AMANDA: Like a time loop. You gotta change some variables just like start changing one at a time. See what happens.
JULIA: Yes, so this time Sinbad’s ship quickly become shipwrecked on the mountainous side of a like, island mountain that is so dangerous. It is said that no sailor has ever returned from it. So good, great vibes going in there.
AMANDA: It's Sinbad bait.
JULIA: Like there are literally bones littering the areas, it’s that dangerous.
AMANDA: Ahh, Sinbad, he looks at that and says, "Uh-huh."
JULIA: "This will be my new place." So with no real way of getting off the island, things are looking pretty bleak for Sinbad and his crew. Sinbad is out there watching his fellow sailors starve to death while he's trying to ration his own food so that he can survive. Didn't murder anyone this time to get more rations, thankfully, so that's something. But near-death is usually when Sinbad comes up with his best ideas. So he comes up with a way of crafting a raft that will allow him to float through a river that flows out of and through the mountain.
AMANDA: Cool.
JULIA: So he gets on the raft. The Voyage takes a long time. Seemingly several days, though, it's really hard to tell because there's no daylight inside of this mountain. On the plus side for Sinbad though, as is usually the case the walls of the caves that he's floating through are covered in precious stones and he gathers them as he goes, because why not.
AMANDA: This man.
JULIA: You would hope that it would have like you know, mangoes and stuff like that on the walls but no, no precious gems. Can't eat those, though Sinbad, can you?
AMANDA: No, you know, a thing you can eat is way more valuable than a thing you can trade.
JULIA: That's true, especially when you're almost dead. So when he finally gets out of the mountain, he finds this beautiful city, which is the City of Serendib which is on an island that is now modern day Sri Lanka.
AMANDA: Nice.
JULIA: So Sinbad, who is all about making friends with kings and who didn't learn anything from befriending the last king last time, apparently, quickly becomes besties with the king of Serendib, mostly by telling him the stories of his previous voyages.
AMANDA: Classic.
JULIA: Classic. He's doing the same thing with the Sinbad the Porter right now. It's all he has going for him. He's rich, and he has fun stories. That's it. He's got no good personality. So the king is like, "You're welcome here for as long as you'd like to stay. Maybe you can explore my beautiful kingdom." and Sinbad's like, "You know what, I'm gonna take you up on that. That sounds fun." So what he does is he climbs a mountain in the story, which the story claims is the tallest in the world, which I don't think is true on Sri Lanka, but I could be wrong. And the weird part is supposedly, according to the story, this is the location of the Garden of Eden like this is where Adam was cast out of.
AMANDA: I mean, that is the general correct region of the world from what people sort of estimate.
JULIA: Yeah. But who can say? In this one there's specifically like oh, tallest mountain in the world. Adam was there, Garden of Eden is at the top.
AMANDA: Quite like a propagandastique tourism lingo where the king is like, "Obviously, all these are true facts that will make you objectively think were the best."
JULIA: Yes, obviously. So he goes on this little side quest, there's not much to like report on other than the fact that he did it and he returns back to the king like, "Okay, I think it's time for me to head back to Baghdad. Love this place! But I miss home a lot like my family, my friends are there." So back to Baghdad I go." and the king is like, "That's fair, my guy. Here, do me a favor, bring these gifts back to Harun Al-Rashid who you might remember is historically the ruler, the Caliph from this period, and so bring these gifts to him so that he might know that we should be friends. And the gifts are pretty great. Like there's a cup that's carved out of a single ruby there is a skin of a serpent that will prevent anyone from becoming sick.
AMANDA: Damn.
JULIA: And then just like a bunch of gems and like amber grease and whatnot.
AMANDA: I was gonna say, very important if you're a messenger between heads of state to check the gifts.
JULIA: Yes.
AMANDA: Make sure you're not delivering something that's gonna get you executed.
JULIA: No, pretty good gifts though, they're all good.
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: King of Serendib, tight guy.
AMANDA: Good gift giver.
JULIA: And Sinbad is like, "Awesome! Love this! I will give them to the Caliph as soon as I get back." which he does. The Caliph is like, really touched by the sign of friendship and the gifts but his advisors are like, "Wow, look at all these, these riches that they have. Maybe we should go over there and take those from them. What about that?"
AMANDA: Oh, no! it like, backfired.
JULIA: But Al-Rashid is like, "No, this king showed generosity and we're not going to go ahead and do all that. That's cool. It's fine." And then Sinbad the Sailor returned home with the gems and stuff that he had taken out of the scary mountain, and once again, was very, very rich.
AMANDA: Oh, Sinbad. Do you ever just keep you warm at night, bud? But do they? Do they though, Sinbad? Do they listen to your story, Sinbad?
JULIA: And with that he sends Sinbad the Porter home with even more money than he had given him the previous night and tells him to come back for the final story, the next night. And here we go. The Seventh and Final Voyage of Sinbad.
AMANDA: I'm so ready.
JULIA: So for once Amanda, the story starts with Sinbad the Sailor actually not wanting to return back to the sea. He's had enough adventures, thank you very much, and is living more than comfortably with the riches that he has made from his voyages. But Sinbad the Sailor is called upon by Harun Al-Rashid, who asks him, "Hey, I really liked the gifts that the king of Serendib sent home with you do me a favor and bring him these gifts from me."
AMANDA: Okay?
JULIA: And Sinbad is like, huhhh! big sigh, "Fine, yes. Okay, one last job."
AMANDA: Oh, Sinbad. Like I know, again because this is frame narrative he makes it home alive, but it's just like this is the one where you die, Sinbad.
JULIA: You would think, you would think. So, shockingly, shockingly, he manages to make it to Serendib without any trouble. The King gets his gifts. He says, "Thank you very much." And then back to Baghdad, Sinbad goes. But of course, it's never that easy, Amanda. It's never that easy with Sinbad.
AMANDA: Nope.
JULIA: Luckiest and unluckiest man in the world. On the return home, he and his ship and his crew are captured by pirates who takes Sinbad and sell him as a slave to a rich merchant.
AMANDA: Oh, no!
JULIA: This merchant figures out pretty quick that's in bad it's actually like pretty good with a bow and decides, "Okay, how can I use this for my profit?" You know, like a capitalist. And he tells him that what he needs to do is he needs to hide in a tree and then shoot and kill an elephant as it stampedes by.
AMANDA: Don't love it, but so far I'm like, he could make it out of this alive.
JULIA: Sinbad manages to achieve this pretty easily and they bury the elephants so that they can come back and get the bones later and sell them as ivory. Side note, ivory is a fucked up luxury item. Please don't buy ivory. It's actually illegal to sell African elephant ivory in the US. And the only way of selling pre existing items made of ivory in the US is one, if it contains less than 200 grams of ivory or two, if it's at least a century old.
AMANDA: That's like a big apple just for reference.
JULIA: Yes, yes, that's a big apple. That's good description of it.
AMANDA: Thanks for the PSA.
JULIA: Yeah, PSA: You can't buy it, don't try. And you shouldn't try because poaching is terrible. Anyway, Sinbad keeps killing elephants because poaching is terrible. Keeps doing it in the same way where he hides in the tree elephant stampedes by kills it, they bury it. But the problem is, as we know, elephants are smart as hell. And they realize what's up and then one day they surround the tree that Sinbad is in and they're like, "My guy. Come here." And one of them picks him up and they take him to an elephant graveyard.
AMANDA: Oh, fuck, I hate this.
JULIA: Obviously, like the elephants cannot speak but they kind of gesture at all the elephant skeletons.
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: And they're like, "Hey, listen, if you're gonna collect ivory, do it from those of us who are already dead instead of killing those of us who are still alive, please?"
AMANDA: Okay, I just thought they were kind of like, look what you have wrought. But I mean, that's sadly pragmatic, you know?
JULIA: Yeah. And for people who don't know elephants do kind of like have a place where either the elephants go to die or they take their dead. So, elephant graveyards are a thing.
AMANDA: Yeah, they have long memories, mourning rituals. It's truly staggering and kind of makes you aware of yourself as a fellow animal. It's pretty amazing.
JULIA: Yeah, Sinbad is like, "Damn, that's a great point, elephants." And so he goes back to the merchant to tell him about this elephant graveyard and how the elephants basically are telling them, "Hey, you can harvest our ivory more ethically."
AMANDA: Yeah, or like if the choice is between you killing us and you not killing us. I guess grave robbing us is the second best option.
JULIA: But it's like a grave robbery where someone is like, opens the casket, "Here you go."
AMANDA: I mean versus murdering your kid, I guess.
JULIA: Yes.
AMANDA: But I also hate the idea. I mean, I know you're not saying it's good but like I, I also hate the idea of them like stealing elephants skeletons.
JULIA: Yes, ivory is bad all around. But if you're going to have the choice between harvesting ivory from a dead elephant that is already dead versus killing an elephant for its ivory, the dead one.
AMANDA: I didn't expect this conversation whatsoever, I have to tell you.
JULIA: There you go. So Sinbad tells the merchant about this the merchants like, "Damn, I'm kind of surprised that you're still alive because I've done the archer in the tree trick a bunch of times, and the elephants keep killing everyone who has done it."
AMANDA: Oh, wow.
JULIA: Which like damn, dude, like, at least warn someone that that's usually the outcome, I guess.
AMANDA: Geez.
JULIA: But the merchant is like, "Well, now that we're going to take it from the already dead elephants. I guess you're free to go, take some ivory with you. And, you know, get out of here, scamp!" And so Sinbad obviously gets out of there pretty quick. First on the merchant ship, but then Sinbad has finally learned his lesson. So he's like, Okay, you know what, I'm going to take this ship just to the next port over and then we're gonna hit home overland. No more ocean for me.
AMANDA: There it is, bud.
JULIA: That's what he does. And he manages to get back to Baghdad without further incident and Sinbad plans on staying there, never to head back out to sea again. And this is kind of where Sinbad finishes his tale and the Porter Sinbad is like, "Yeah, okay, damn, son. You, you did go through a lot of hardships, way more than I did as a porter." But Sinbad is like, "Nah, listen, take this gold. It should be enough to support you and your family and make sure that you'll never have to work to be a porter again."
AMANDA: I am so suspicious. I'm sitting here like with my muscles tensed.
JULIA: And that's it. That's where the story ends.
AMANDA: That's it?
JULIA: He sends him off with enough money to like, live comfortably and support his family for the rest of his days and he doesn't have to work ever again.
AMANDA: Oh, my god.
JULIA: Yeah.
AMANDA: I'm pretty stunned. I did not see that one coming.
JULIA: And thus ends the story of Sinbad the Sailor. And, Amanda, we've been telling stories of Sinbad for a long time now. Obviously, there was that DreamWorks movie that I mentioned in the first episode, but there have been numerous films and animated features about Sinbad. From the 1935 Sinbad the Sailor by Ub Iwerks. Even Popeye, The Sailor meets Sinbad in 1936. In 1947, a live action film in Technicolor explored the, quote, eighth Voyage of Sinbad in which he searches for and discovers The Lost Treasure of Alexander the Great.
AMANDA: This is blowing my mind. They've had like IP universes since then.
JULIA: Yeah. And it's not just Hollywood that's been retelling Sinbad stories. There are plenty of films made about him by Indian filmmakers, and even found a pretty well known one that was done by a Ukrainian team.
AMANDA: Cool.
JULIA: But a question, Amanda, that has been the question that historians have had and, and various folklorist have had, and that is, was Sinbad the Sailor real?
AMANDA: I mean, besides real in our hearts and minds?
JULIA: Or rather, was he inspired by a real person from history? Like I mentioned in the, in this episode, and in the earlier episode, the stories of Sinbad are set during the reign of Harun Al-Rashid, who ruled from 789 to 809. Some scholars believe that Sinbad may have been inspired by the Persian trader named Soleiman Al-Tajir, who is known as Soleiman, The Merchant, and he travelled by sea to India and China and notably wrote an account of his voyages sometime around 850. So it's not quite the right timeframe. But you know, how things are when you're retelling history sometimes, like the stories predate or, you know, the timelines get messed up.
AMANDA: Yeah. Or you're like, hey, a, a little while ago, or when the storyteller maybe was that age like you kind of, you know, you set it in your mind the time that feels right.
JULIA: Yeah, one of the more interesting things that this guy, Soleiman, The Merchant noted during his travels was he visited the city of Guang Zhao in Southern China. And a cool thing that he noted was that the Chinese used fingerprint records to record newly arrived travelers. Which honestly, I always thought that like fingerprint records were something that was a little bit more modern, I guess. So it's very cool to find out that that was not the case, and I was wrong.
AMANDA: Totally.
JULIA: So Al-Tajir, you're eventually became well known in his time for his travels, and perhaps more importantly, to our story and to his connection to Sinbad the Sailor, his riches. Alternatively, the people of Oman have long claimed that Sinbad was a sailor from the City of Sohar. Though, as you heard from our story, most sources claim that he is from Baghdad. But what's really cool is an Irish Omani team in 1988 set out to prove whether or not Sinbad and Al-Tajir's voyages were, like, in fact possible and weren't just like people blowing smoke, you know, and they did so in a replica of a ninth century ship using only period navigational tools. And they managed to set sail and were able to successfully sail from Oman to Southern China.
AMANDA: Damn, that's amazing.
JULIA: Isn't that so cool?
AMANDA: That is so cool. I mean, Oman kind of makes sense geographically like being on the Arabian Peninsula. You know, it makes sense you can have access to both India and Persia, Afghanistan, all those places. But I love that that was just what they wanted to spend like several months slash years doing.
JULIA: I love it too. It's so freakin cool. So Amanda, while there isn't a clear obvious real quote unquote, Sinbad. We do know that there were fearless and intrepid sailors who were out there taking voyages just like he took just with a little bit less, you know, giant monstrous birds and old man tricksters.
AMANDA: Totally, Julia. I was enraptured by the story. And I see now you said that you've gotten down a rabbit hole just reading a bunch of these translations and a bunch of stories. I want to crack open a volume right now and check out one of the other sort of hundreds of stories available.
JULIA: Yeah, I would love to do some more 1001 Nights stories in the near future. A lot of them are like, obviously, this story, Sinbad is an extremely well-known one. There's like Aladdin, there's Alibaba, you know? But I would love to kind of dig into some lesser known ones that maybe won't take two episodes to really dig into all the details of. But I-I think we would have a fun time doing that.
AMANDA: Well, I love this. I love that this was new to me. And I got to enjoy it like so many millions probably have kids and adults have over time. Man, that's a good story!
JULIA: It is, it is there's a lot of unnecessary murder that happens in there.
AMANDA: Sure, sure, sure, sure.
JULIA: But like, there's a lot of unnecessary murder in Greek mythology and stuff, too. So it's not, it's not anything like that we haven't seen before.
AMANDA: Yeah, in fact, a lot less suffering than I would imagine, overall. A lot of near death escapes and there was not as much gratuitous suffering in the first half, let's put it that way.
JULIA: Listen, he cheats on his wife less than Odysseus does, that's a win for me.
AMANDA: And he does redistribute at least some of his wealth.
JULIA: That is true. We know that to be true. Well, I'm glad you enjoyed that this adventure into the voyages of Sinbad the Sailor, Amanda.
AMANDA: I did. And you know, next time I go on a month-long journey where I have a history really of being stranded in almost impossible to get out of situations. I'm going to pack my survival kit and carry it with me every day. But I'm also just going to remember...
JULIA: Stay creepy.
AMANDA: Stay cool.
Transcriptionist and Editor: Krizia Casil