The only way is to

The next morning, the crew, at the command of the captain, set sail and weighed anchor, and sailed on. After twenty days of drifting at sea, in which no land was found, no bird was seen, and our fresh water was used up, the captain said anxiously:

"Gentlemen, we have run out of fresh water. What shall we do?"

"The only way is to find land as soon as possible."

"By Allah Almighty God, I have lost my way and do not know where to drive so that I can reach the shore as soon as possible."

Even the captain said so, and we didn't know what to do. People were so overwhelmed with grief that they wept and prayed and begged Allah to show us a way out.

That night we felt the deepest pain and despair. The poet sings well:

How many dreary nights have passed,

Unbearable suffering makes the baby grow old quickly.

But when the dawn appears on the horizon,

The blessing of Allah comes to my side.

After a long night at last, the next morning, just as the sun rose in the east, a high mountain came into view. At the sight of land, we couldn't help but jump for joy and hug each other. Then the ship docked. The captain gave orders:

"Go ashore at once and split up to find water."

When we got ashore, we split up to look for water, but we couldn't find it. We are feeling more and more difficult because of the lack of water. I walked on and reached the top of the hill in one breath. I looked up and saw a wide circle behind the hill, with the faint outline of the city. I was overjoyed and called out to my companions. They heard the sound and came to me. I said:

"See the city there? There's no shortage of water. Come, let us go to the town, and we will fetch some water, and some food, fruit, and other necessities for our voyage."

"We were afraid that the people of the city would regard us as heretics against them and put us to death without asking. You know, people who are arrogant and desperate to take risks are not worthy of praise. The poet sings well:

As long as heaven and earth remain the same,

Risk-takers who get out of trouble are not praised.

So we don't want to risk our lives."

"I have no right to force you to do what you don't want to do, but I can go to the city with my two brothers."

"And we don't want to risk our lives, so we can't go with you." My two older brothers objected to it to my face.

"I don't mind if you two don't go, but I'm determined to go anyway. Allah the Almighty will bless us. You two wait, I'll be back in a moment."

I left the crowd and my two brothers and started for the city.

When I went into the gate, I saw a man sitting on a stone bench. On the man's arm hung a brass chain, to which fourteen keys were fastened. So I knew that he was the keeper of the city gates, and that there were fourteen gates in the city. I walked over to him and said,

"Hello!

He ignored me. The second and third time I asked, he still didn't answer. It wasn't until I put my hand on his shoulder that I realized something was wrong. I looked at him carefully and suddenly realized that he was a stone man. I couldn't help but sigh:

"What a strange thing! A man who carves in stone is no different from a real person in every respect except that he has no thought and no speech. He is so vivid that he can pass himself off as real."

I left the stone man at the gate and went into the city. I strolled through the streets, approaching every one I saw for a closer look, but all I saw were stone men.

I went from the food market to the cloth market and saw shops full of merchants and people who came to buy things, but they were all stone people. The shop was filled with goods of all kinds, all made of stone. I walked into a fabric store and saw that the fabric looked like a bead net. I reached out to touch it, but as soon as I touched it, it crumbled into dust. There was a money chest in the shop, and I opened one of them, and found the gold coins in a sack. I reached for it, and the sack turned to dust, but the gold coins remained the same. So I collected as many gold coins as I could. Then I thought to myself, "If my brothers had come with me, they would have been desperate to enjoy this treasure without an owner."

Then I found more gold and silver in other shops, and I could not take any more, so I reluctantly left and continued to wander about in other parts of the town. As before, I saw all kinds of different faces of people, even cats and dogs and other animals were stone.

I went to the gold and silver market again, saw the merchants sitting in the shop, all kinds of gold and silver jewelry filled the container. As soon as I saw this, I threw away the gold coins which were by my side, and, choosing at random from among the jewels, went out of there happily. In front of me was the jeweler's market, and I hastened to see the jewelers sitting in their shops. In front of them were copper vessels filled with pearls, agates, jades, and all kinds of colored precious stones and diamonds. So I threw away the gold and silver jewelry around me and tried to pick up and carry as much as I could from the various precious jewels and jades. I am very sorry that my two brothers did not come with me, otherwise why would they give up these priceless jewels?

I walked on, carrying my jewels, and passed a gate, most exquisitely decorated and beautiful, within which sat on benches in the hall well-dressed servants and mandarin-looking men made of stone. I tried to touch one of them, and his clothes fell from him in a web. Through the gate hall, in a splendid palace, one could also see a number of stone civil and military officials, gorgeously dressed, one of them wearing a Persian crown, sitting on a jewelled seat.

I left the hall and went to the harem. There was also a large drawing-room in the harem, and the Queen was sitting in a red and gold chair with jewels in it. She wore a coronet of precious jewels on her head, and around her sat a group of beautiful court ladies, all in colorful and gorgeous dresses; Some eunuch-like men stood by to serve them carefully. The drawing-room had been peculiarly decorated, it was magnificently furnished, and the transparent crystal balls which hung there were priceless treasures; The whole of the drawing-room was decorated with amazement and admiration. I had to throw away the jewels and stones I had collected around me, and then I had to select from the great treasures in the living room. I did not know which to choose, for it seemed to me that the place was one of the few treasures in the world.

Then I went through an open door and up forty steps, when I heard the sweet recitation of the Koran. I looked towards where the sound had come from, and saw a silk curtain of gold bands and pearls, through which the sound had come. I lifted the curtain, and a door, decorated in a stunning way, came into view. Stepping inside the door, it was like being in a treasure house. In the room sat a girl, slender and beautiful, who, with her most splendid dress and precious jewels, looked more like a fairy than ever before, just as the poem said:

The beautiful dresses make one feel the bright spring,

The red side and cheeks set one in a rose garden,

The bright Beidou seemed to hang on her forehead,

The other stars were just the necklace she wore on her chest,

If she had worn a rose-leaf dress,

The leaf will drink from her for beauty.

If she spit into the sea,

The bitter water will become sweeter than honey.

If she and ZhuZhang version man make,

An old man will instantly become a fierce young man.