Prevod

It is also told that a man from the Maghreb traveled through many lands, crossing deserts and seas, until fate cast him upon an island, where he remained for a long time. Then he returned to his own country, bringing with him the shaft of a feather from the wing of a young roc that was still in its egg and had not yet come into the world. That shaft could hold a waterskin’s worth of water. It was said that the wing of a young roc, when it first emerged from the egg, was a thousand fathoms long. People marveled at the shaft when they saw it. This man’s name was Abd al-Rahman al-Maghribi, but he was known as al-Sini because he had spent so much time in China. He used to tell of many wonders, among them how he had once sailed upon the Sea of China … But dawn overtook Shahrazad, and she fell silent, leaving her tale untold.

When it was the four hundred and fifth night

She said: It has reached me, O fortunate King, that Abd al-Rahman al-Maghribi al-Sini used to tell of many wonders. Among them was his account of sailing upon the Sea of China with a company of men. They sighted an island in the distance, and their ship anchored there. Finding it vast and spacious, the people aboard went ashore to gather water and firewood, taking axes, ropes, and waterskins with them; and this man went along. On the island they saw an immense, gleaming white dome, a hundred cubits high. They made toward it and, drawing near, discovered that it was a roc’s egg. They began striking it with axes, stones, and pieces of wood until it split open, revealing a young roc as huge as a towering mountain. They plucked feathers from its wing, though they could pull them out only by joining forces, even though the chick’s feathers were not yet fully grown. Then they took as much of its flesh as they could carry and brought it aboard, cut away the base of a feather at the end of its hollow shaft, unfurled the ship’s sails, and voyaged all night until sunrise, with a favorable wind speeding them on their way. While they were thus sailing, the roc came toward them like an enormous cloud, bearing in its talons a rock like a mighty mountain, larger than the ship itself. When it was directly above the ship, it dropped the rock upon her and all aboard. But the ship was moving swiftly and raced ahead, so the rock fell into the sea with a tremendous crash. God had decreed their safety and delivered them from destruction. They cooked the meat and ate it. Among them were old men with white beards, but when morning came, they found that their beards had turned black; and afterward, none of those who had eaten the meat ever grew gray. They used to say that their youth had returned and gray hair had been kept at bay because the stick with which they had stirred the pot came from the arrowwood tree. Others said it was because of the flesh of the young roc. This is indeed among the most wondrous of wonders.