 tired of the everyday grind ever dream of a life of romantic adventure want to get away from it all we offer you escape escape transcribe do free you from the four walls of today for a half hour of high adventure you are living in a new and fabulous land surrounded by all that is generous and kind while your hosts heedless of your pleas are planning as is the custom of their country to kill you in a strange and terrible manner listen now as escape brings you the fantastic story of the voyagers of Sinbad it is related that there lived in bad dad a poor man called Sinbad the porter who earned his living carrying loads upon his back and head one day as he was sweating and staggering in the great heat he passed the door of a house which to him seemed to belong to a rich merchant where they sinned bad the porter set his load on the ground and sank onto a bench near the door marvel the scented air and the sounds of birds from within the gardens and after a few minutes the door opened and the sleeve came toward him in bad the porter followed and they went in and entered a great welcome be at your ease will you allow me to ask your name and your trade oh master I am called Sinbad the porter and I carry heavy loads for light payments water your name is the same as mine but I am called Sinbad the sailor I requested you to come here for I saw you sitting outside my door and your weariness and misery touched me master in the name of Allah do not blame me for my greed there is no need to be ashamed there's no shame in poverty when you have heard all my adventures you will understand what trials I have had to undergo to purchase the wealth you see about you with strange and terrible labors with calamities and misfortunes which are hardly credible seek yourself by my side but take of the food and wine you see about you and I shall relate to you my extraordinary voyages then perhaps you will have more faith than your own destiny which unknown to you has been written and as it is written must inevitably come to pass you must know oh honorable porter who bears the same name as myself that upon the death of my father I found myself possessed of a considerable fortune which I spent in the accustomed excesses of you and when I found that my purse was nearly empty I determined to travel and going to the market bought myself a lady a varied merchandise which was carried on board a ship just starting from Baghdad with other merchants we made excellent time across the seas trading to great profit from Ireland to Ireland until one day in mid-ocean a tempest came upon us and the great seas broke our ship to pieces and washed all who were aboard into the gulfs of the water thanks to Allah I found a plank and clinging to it for several days found myself thrown more dead than alive upon the beach of an island he is a stranger to our land see how he dresses he is from some unfortunate ship that is found would be on I'll have mercy on his soul oh he's alive oh stranger we thought you dead and we're about to carry your body for burial water water I shall die if I do not have water quickly carry him to the house and this they did and offered me food and water until having recovered I was taken to be presented to the king who received me with great joy for I was a stranger and it was the custom to behave in that passion and he said sin bad your escape has been a miraculous and wonderful story never more shall you want for that which you have lost I've instructed the grand was here to give you a sum of money and presence of your choosing I thank the king and because in his court I had seen a woman both noble and beautiful with whom upon sight I had grown to love I begged for her hand in marriage this gift he granted me and gave us a palace with servants and a following which was truly royal I lived in the calmness of supreme joy for many months and then I nourished the hope that I could leave the city and return to Baghdad here then was the beginning of the dreadful event which overtook me I returned to my wife after presenting my plea to the king and in my heart was a foreboding heavy and evil oh sin bad my treasure of treasures what has befallen that you should show such unhappiness I spoke to the king within the hour and is this reason for tears and more I have not spoken of it to you my love but of late I cherish the hope that we might return to my homeland to Baghdad I long for it both day and night it never leaves me I spoke of this desire to the king and he turned a deaf ear oh you should have spoken of this to me before you went to the king perhaps you have angered him no but oh I know I know it is the custom you are now a citizen of the land no citizen may leave it I would be a good cheer my treasure here we may live out our lives fruitfully in in great joy come I have a red bird to show you he was caught only this morning but I could not rid my mind of the fears which grew one upon the other I was virtually a prisoner in the land and then one day my neighbor's wife died and as he was my friend I went to him and tried to console it is Allah's will and I shall perish for it do not grieve more than his lawful oh my neighbor soon the agony will become softer and Allah will find you another wife may he prolong your days my friend how can you say that why it is the truth how can you wish me a long life when you know that I had but one hour to live one out why do you speak in that way what gloomy presentiments are these surely you would not think of killing yourself is it possible that you do not know the customs of our country I am confused oh my friend what custom is this it is a rule here a law that every husband must be buried alive with his dead wife and every wife buried alive with her dead husband but this cannot be in one hour's time I shall be committed to the earth with the body of my wife as Allah lives the customer detestable you must refuse the very thought of such a thing is it is the custom every man must conform to the custom of our ancestors now I bid you farewell or I must prepare myself for what is to come and as I stood in his house the friends and relations of my neighbor gathered formed a procession and the funeral went forward the woman's body was placed in an open casket dressed in her most beautiful garments and wearing the chief of her jewels and the husband walked beside the coffin we all proceeded with slow steps towards the place of burial where the man Abdul who had befriended me at the shore explained what was to happen there sin bad where the stone cover is being lifted it covers a well of great depth that is where they lower the body yes and afterwards the husband will be put in he will surely die is there no escape none a large jar of water and seven loaves will go with him then the stone cover will be replaced as it is Britain so must it be look he suffers this to be done with no complaint it would be useless slowly my neighbor was lowered into the well and then as Abdul had spoken the stone cover was replaced and we all returned once we had come I was sick with fear at what I had seen in all my travels never had I witnessed so barbarous a custom and though my love for my wife was great my fear was greater the only consolation I could find was in the thought that I should be the first to die and therefore I would not suffer the burial alive but this consolation was vain for a short time afterwards my wife fell ill of a strange malady you will be well again oh my love no no never again I'm so weak the day becomes is my love my treasure do not speak in this way I have sent for the highest positions in the land they will bring ointments with which to cure you my jewel you must live you must where are you sin bad sin bad she lingered on for a little time and then in spite of all the cares I could give she died my grief and horror knew no bounds and I had no doubt as to my fate when the king came to visit me and consoled me over my approaching end oh sin bad I grieve for you as do your true friends master my eyes have overflowed with weeping until they have become dry there is nothing left for me but to beg at least for my own life this cannot be but I am a stranger it is not just that I should have to suffer by your law he's not my loss the loss of my wife sufficient agony to bear my friend it is the custom the law but I shall walk beside you in the procession and weep with you for I am exceedingly fond of you sin bad and so it was done we came to the well beside the mountain which overlooked the sea and my dear wife's body was lowered into it and then in spite of my struggles and lamentations ropes were fixed under my arms and tying a jar of water and seven loaves of bread to my back they began to lower me into the well oh no I do not deserve this I cannot die like this no their voices came from a greater and greater distance echoing the mournful whale about me until the sounds became lost in the blackness down and deeper was I lowered and then I reached the bottom the rope end was released from above and I saw the light of the opening disappear as they replaced the great stone cover and went their ways I was alone in that fearful underground place alone with only the dead for my companions we will return to escape in just a moment but first smart young ladies over 18 who are style conscious and love their country will find that they look first-rate in the uniform of the United States Army or Air Force ask at your nearest recruiting office and find out which of the many fascinating openings fits you best and less than serve with honor defense is everybody's job and now back to escape I stood for long moments after the stone cover had been replaced over the well and then my eyes became accustomed to the semi darkness and I took note of this mortuary cave which I found to be strewn with old and new bodies it filled me with indescribable horror but being determined not to die out of hand I made careful inspection of the cave it was very high and stretched further than the eye could reach and I noticed that many precious jewels and ornaments of gold and silver rested in countless numbers upon the ground these I realized where the useless possessions of the dead or two or three days I live thus ever searching for a way out until I heard the stone cover of the wall being removed and a woman's body was lowered in its coffin she in turn was followed by her mortal husband I heard his cries of fear as he descended and as with myself the rope hurtle down after him a stone cover was replaced at first he did not see me and I saw that he was a huge and powerful man he fell to the ground and beat himself in the face and stomach with his fists hear me your friend who is there answer me for the love of Allah who is it I cannot see you who are you do not come nearer be in peace so my friend I am but sinned by the sailor who was put into this place but a few short days ago you are human you are alive but I thought to all who came here died the bread and water gives this nourishment for a little while in that time we may seek an escape there is no escape it is Allah's will I curse the woman I married that you should bring me to such an end no speak gently out her friend it is more the fault of yourself than hers you should have seen to it in life that this horrible thing this law would be abolished it is the custom no man can stop it it is the custom with these words he covered his head with his arms and rocked to and fro weeping and crying out against his destiny and his departed wife I withdrew for him or it suddenly came to me that in this brute I would have much to fear I had eaten and drunk sparingly but my once were little when compared with the girth of the stranger and therefore I hid my remaining food and water and resolved to use them only in a most secret manner but after the passing of two days I knew that my companion had eaten his seven loaves with huge appetite and was watching me to discover the hiding place of my own stores we are brothers of sin bed give me but a slice of your bread else I must starve there is but enough left for myself to give to you will hasten my death as well as your own then tell me where you have concealed it that I may better imagine the taste of bread and water even though I may not share it with you and then in an unguarded moment he discovered the place where I had concealed my poor scraps and dregs of water with a mighty lunch he tore all from me like a wild beast began to devour the food wait you leave nothing for me for you then but live in peace with the knowledge that I did not have to bring it from you I saw them that I should have to kill this man at the earliest moment for in his eyes I perceived a madness that would mean a more dreadful death for me than starvation I left him then and went to search for a weapon with which to defend myself and amongst the finery and wealth upon the ground I found a jewel dagger and this I hid in my clothes and determined to use when the man again felt the pains of hunger I promise upon my word that I shall share with you there is more bread more water you have hidden it in another place he give me but a scrap of morsel I beg you there is no more we must lie down and I know you have more you do not suffer as I do tell me for the love of Allah there is no more another day passes I shall die hear me or sin bad share with me your remaining food and together we shall prolong our lives I have no more you devoured the last of it his hands tightened about my throat and as I felt my senses departing I summoned all my strength to withdraw my dagger from its place and plunge it into his body with a great sigh he fell away from me and to the ground where he died and once more I was alone with the dead three days and more past my food and water came to an end and I gave myself up to Allah's will it was then that I heard a noise of living breath and a movement as a step somewhere in the deeper recesses of the cave a great hope ruin me for here was another being like myself and I saw a dark shape huddled against the wall who is it who are you have mercy oh master mercy I am old old and frail have mercy I did not see you lowered into the cave nay I was not I come from the outside the outside there is an escape from this place yes then why have you come here in my wickedness I seek the wealth of those who are fallen in here I beg of you do not kill me for it I am old and weak and the treasures can do the dead no good no I will not kill you but you must lead me from this place I would gladly but my age is upon me I'm too weak I must rest no now now for unless I reach food and drink I shall surely die then perhaps for I perceive that you are strong in limb perhaps you would carry me for my weight is but that of an autumn leaf this will I do good old man climb upon my shoulders and lead me the way from this accursed place and to my great joy he did as I bad him and after traveling countless passages we came upon a hole which had been burrowed in the earth and then sin to the open air about me were trees bearing the most succulent of fruits and a silver stream was at my feet I made to put the old man down to save my hunger and thirst did not move rather he pressed his thighs more tightly around my neck and weighed down upon my shoulders with all his weight and a great fear took me I tried to throw the old man to earth but he replied by pressing my throat until I was half strangled and then he kicked me in the stock until I got up now take me to the tree over there for I am hungry I desire to pluck of the fruits upon it go just strangling me go then perhaps I shall allow you to feed as befits a beast of bird all that day and night stayed upon my shoulders and I was no better than a beast of burden in the morning I was aroused by a great kick and urged on to find his breakfast with blows from his fists and feet I had never suffered such humiliation of spirit or discomfort of body I could find no way to rid myself of him and I cursed the virtuous impulse which had led me to help him rather I thought I should have remained in the cave to die in peace and then one day after weeks of servitude I found a good what is the purpose of that strange object lying before the tree over there it is a good old man a good what manner of thing is this it has many uses in my land it is a receptacle for wine wine you speak with strange words sin bad what is wine wine it has been long since I tasted of it but it is a sensation so delicate that one senses cannot encompass the pleasure brought about by its use how how is it made with the grape then you must make me wines in bed go pick up the gourd and make me wine and I saw in his command an idea and I did as I was bitten I squeezed the grapes of a prolific vine into the good and allowed it to ferment and when the fermentation had ceased he ordered me to taste of it to test its quality well sin bad it is very fair old man and you drank it all yourself well upon carried the wine to his lips and drank it to the last drop and through the good far off among the trees wine began to work on his brain first he danced and did down my shoulders and then half collapsed the slack muscles with a rapid movement I threw the old man to the ground and fell upon him and smashed his skull pieces with a rock and thus he died may Allah have compassion upon his soul I made my way to the shore where destiny willed I should find a party of sailors who had disembarked from an anchored ship to hunt for water and fruit on hearing my tale they marveled and explained that I had been a captive of the old man of the sea and I was the first to had not been strangled then they took me to their ship where the captain received me kindly and we set sail after many days and many adventures whereby I increased my wealth I arrived once again in Baghdad and brought unto myself this place where we sit together Allah is good how marvelous are your tales now my friends in Baghdad the porter consider the labors which I have accomplished and the difficulties with which I have overcome and tell me if your estate of porter has not made for a more tranquil life than that which destiny reserved for me as Allah is with you my master I no longer regret my station for all your riches I could not endure such as you have described my friend and neither shall you have to and sin bad the sailor ordered fine garments brought to sin bad the porter and when he was clothed in these he gave him pieces of gold and appointed him to be his major domo so that the two lived together in perfect friendship and joy escape has brought you the voyages of sin bad adapted and directed by Antony Ellis starring Ben Wright as sin bad feature in the cast with Joseph Kearns Ted DeCorsia Whitfield Connor her Butterfield Parley Bear Amanda Blake Georgia Ellis Larry Thor and Kurt Martell the music for escape was composed by Rimsky Corsicoff and conducted by Leith Stephens next week you are in command of a ship sailing with sealed orders into an ocean fraught with danger while the enemy whom you seek is lying and wait for the moment when they will close in and strike leaving you no escape so listen next week when escape brings you Anthony Ellis's exciting story of adventure on the high seas all night Van Heflin stars on suspense's thrilling production the case of Marie Celeste in a tale well calculated to keep you in suspense Van Heflin stars as a mass murderer on a ship at sea remember it's tomorrow night on most of the same CBS radio stations another hair-raising episode of suspense this is Roy Rowan speaking and remember John Lund as yours truly Johnny dollar brings you colorful mystery Tuesday nights this is the CBS radio network