World classic, retold in simple Mandarin
Sinbad the Sailor
辛巴达航海
Sinbad the Sailor (辛巴达航海, Xīnbādá hánghǎi) is a fairy tale, retold in simple Mandarin as a 5-chapter story with audio for learners at about HSK 2 (Elementary).
Retold from One Thousand and One Nights: a poor porter meets a rich sailor with his own name and hears how the sea, a giant bird, a giant and a sly old man made him rich.
Meet the voices
- Narrator · 旁白 — A warm old storyteller who sets the scene.
- Sinbad the Porter · 挑夫辛巴达 — A tired, poor porter who grumbles about his hard life.
- Sinbad the Sailor · 辛巴达 — A clever, kind, rich traveler who tells stories of his voyages.
- Captain · 船长 — A big, loud sea captain who loves his crew.
- Salim · 萨利姆 — A cheerful young sailor who loves to cook.
- The Giant · 巨人 — A huge, grumpy giant who loves soup and stories.
- The Old Man of the Sea · 老爷爷 — A tiny sly old man who will not let go.
- Diamond Merchant · 商人 — A diamond merchant who throws meat into the valley from the cliff top.
5 chapters, one journey
Chapter 1: Two Sinbads
两个辛巴达
A poor porter named Sinbad meets a rich man with the very same name, who tells him how he got his wealth, starting with an island that was not an island.
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Chapter 2: The Roc and the Diamonds
大鸟和钻石
On his second voyage, Sinbad is left behind beside an egg as big as a house. To escape he trusts a giant bird, and lands in a valley of diamonds and snakes.
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Chapter 3: The Giant's House
巨人的家
A storm sends Sinbad and Salim to a giant's stone house where the owner is looking for supper. Sinbad's only weapon is a very long bedtime story.
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Chapter 4: The Old Man of the Sea
海边的老爷爷
Sinbad kindly carries a frail old man across a stream, but the old man will not let go. Then Sinbad hears a voice from a ship that he never thought he would hear again.
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Chapter 5: Home, Rich
回家
Sinbad gets his lost goods back, sails home to Baghdad rich, and shows the porter what his money really cost.
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Key words in Sinbad the Sailor
Behind the story
The voyages of Sinbad come from One Thousand and One Nights, a collection of tales from the Middle East told over many centuries. In the frame story, a clever woman named Scheherazade tells one tale after another so that she can stay alive.
Chinese readers know the collection as 一千零一夜, and the sailor as 辛巴达. The tales are popular in translation, in picture books and in school reading lists, and Sinbad is remembered as the brave traveler who always finds a clever way home.
Did you know?
- In the old tales, Sinbad tells seven voyages, and this book retells some of them in five short chapters.
- The roc is a giant bird from Arabian and Persian legend, said to be strong enough to carry an elephant.
- The Chinese title 一千零一夜 means One Thousand and One Nights.