[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Foreign](https://indike.org/pramana/inf) › [Islamic world](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl) › [Persian](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa) › [Story books adapted from India](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa) › [سندبادنامه](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa.sindbadnama) › [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa.sindbadnama~en-mt) › 120 # سندبادنامه 120 English (machine translation) 120 - **Language:** English ### [120.1](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa.sindbadnama~en-mt.120.1) A terrible beast, fast-running, eating little, traveling far, bearing the prize away from gazelles in desire and in galloping; crossing the desert, mountain-like, bearing endurance gladly, carrying loads all night until daybreak, plucking thorns all day until nightfall; like the wind and running water, racing through desert and through valley, like fire and heavy earth, in the mountains and in the resting place; the star astonished at its intent, bewildered by its countless tricks, the leagues of its gallop stretching from the border of al-Ṭāʾif to Khotan. When the king saw its stature and massive form, it found favor in his eyes and assumed a great place in his heart. He commanded the chief of the elephant-drivers to train it and teach it the arts of retreat and attack, motion and stillness, charge and wheeling, turning and assault, so that it would be fit for battle and the arena, and worthy to be ridden by kings. The elephant-driver did homage, and according to the king’s command, for three continuous years he fulfilled the conditions of service and the requirements of obedience in training and instructing it. When the period of training reached its conclusion, the king ### [120.16](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa.sindbadnama~en-mt.120.16) Story of the King of Kashmir and the Elephant-Driver ordered that the elephant be presented to him, so that the king might mount it and see the ultimate effect of his training. As soon as the king mounted it, the elephant leaped from its place like a lion, set its face toward the open plain like the wind, and began running like a wild ass or a boar through lowlands and heights, and set out across wilderness and waste like a violent gale or an adverse wind. From the beginning of the day until the end of night it ran in this manner, while the shah was atop it like a chick of the ʿAnqā upon mountain peaks, and like driftwood amid the surging waves of the sea, bewildered and anxious. However much he sought to order the elephant to halt, it would not enter the domain of obedience, nor did it fit within the bounds of possibility, and with the continuous course and succession of movements, dismounting became impossible and unattainable. Finally, at the time of the evening prayer, when the elephant suffered exhaustion from hunger and became in need of fodder, it turned toward its customary stable and familiar abode, and when it reached its resting place it grew calm. The shah, with great agitation and intense rage, descended from atop the elephant to the ground, and commanded that they cast the elephant-driver beneath the elephant's feet. When the elephant-driver observed the signs of punishment and the fierceness of the shah's wrath, he knew that the fire of his displeasure was ablaze, and that his weary nature was in distress. He said to himself: "The sea has no neighbor, and the sultan has no friend." ## Linked texts (1) - [سندبادنامه](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa.sindbadnama.120.1) — Ẓahīrī Samarqandī, Persian --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa.sindbadnama~en-mt.120](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa.sindbadnama~en-mt.120) · Pramāṇa