Fairy tales from the Arabian nights/The Story of the Fisherman and Genie. Part 1
THE STORY OF THE
FISHERMAN AND GENIE
PART I
HERE WAS ONCE a very old fisherman, so poor, that he could scarcely earn enough to maintain himself, his wife, and three children. He went every day to fish betimes in the morning; and imposed it as a law upon himself not to cast his nets above four times a day. He went one morning by moonlight, and coming to the seaside, undressed himself, and cast in his nets. As he drew them towards the shore, he found them very heavy, and thought he had a good draught of fish, at which he rejoiced within himself; but perceiving a moment after, that instead of fish, there was nothing in his nets but the carcass of an ass, he was much vexed. When the fisherman, vexed to have made such a sorry draught, had mended his nets, which the carcass of the ass had broken in several places, he threw them in a second time; and, when he drew them, found a great deal of resistance, which made him think he had taken abundance of fish; but he found nothing except a basket full of gravel and slime, which grieved him extremely. 'O Fortune!' cried he in a lamentable tone, 'be not angry with me, nor persecute a wretch who prays thee to spare him. I came hither from my house to seek for my livelihood, and thou pronouncest death against me. I have no trade but this to subsist by; and, notwithstanding all the care I take, I can scarcely provide what is absolutely necessary for my family.'
Having finished this complaint, he threw away the basket in a fret, and washing his nets from the slime, cast them the third time; but brought up nothing except stones, shells, and mud. Nobody can express his dismay; he was almost beside himself. However, when the dawn began to appear, he did not forget to say his prayers, like a good Mussulman, and afterwards added this petition: 'Lord, thou knowest that I cast my nets only four times a day; I have already drawn them three times, without the least reward for my labour: I am only to cast them once more; I pray thee to render the sea favourable to me, as thou didst to Moses.'
The fisherman, having finished his prayer, cast his nets the fourth time; and when he thought it was time, he drew them as before with great difficulty; but, instead of fish, found nothing in them but a vessel of yellow copper, which by its weight seemed to be full of something; and he observed that it was shut up and sealed, with a leaden seal upon it. This rejoiced him: 'I will sell it.' said he, 'at the foundry, and with the money arising from the produce buy a measure of corn.' He examined the vessel on all sides, and shook it, to see if what was within made any noise, but heard nothing. This, with the impression of the seal upon the leaden cover, made him think there was something precious in it. To try this, he took a knife, and opened it with very little trouble. He presently turned the mouth downward, but nothing came out, which surprised him extremely. He set it before him, and while he looked upon it attentively, there came out a very thick smoke which obliged him to retire two or three paces away.
The smoke ascended to the clouds, and extending itself along the sea and upon the shore, formed a great mist, which, we may well imagine, did mightily astonish the fisherman. When the smoke was all out of the vessel, it reunited itself, and became a solid body, of which there was formed a genie twice as high as the greatest of giants. At the sight of a monster of such unwieldy bulk, the fisherman would fain have fled, but he was so frightened that he could not go one step.
'Solomon,' cried the genie immediately, 'Solomon, great prophet, pardon, pardon; I will never more oppose thy will, I will obey all thy commands.'
When the fisherman heard these words of the genie, he recovered his courage, and said to him, 'Proud spirit, what is it that you say? It is above eighteen hundred years since the prophet Solomon died, and we are now at the end of time. Tell me your history, and how you came to be shut up in this vessel.'
The genie, turning to the fisherman with a fierce look, said, 'You must speak to me with more civility; you are very bold to call me a proud spirit.'
'Very well,' replied the fisherman, 'shall I speak to you with more civility, and call you the owl of good luck?'
'I say,' answered the genie, 'speak to me more civilly, before I kill thee.'
'Ah!' replied the fisherman, 'why would you kill me? Did I not just now set you at liberty, and have you already forgotten it?'
'Yes, I remember it,' said the genie, 'but that shall not hinder me from killing thee: I have only one favour to grant thee.'
'And what is that?' said the fisherman.
'It is,' answered the genie, 'to give thee thy choice, in what manner thou wouldst have me take thy life.'
'But wherein have I offended you?' replied the fisherman. 'Is that your reward for the good service I have done you?'
'I cannot treat you otherwise,' said the genie; 'and that you may be convinced of it, hearken to my story.
'I am one of those rebellious spirits that opposed the will of Heaven: all the other genii owned Solomon, the great prophet, and submitted to him. Sacar and I were the only genii that would never be guilty of a mean thing: and, to avenge himself, that great monarch sent Asaph, the son of Barakhia, his chief minister, to apprehend me. That was accordingly done. Asaph seized my person, and brought me by force before his master's throne.
'Solomon, the son of David, commanded me to quit my way of living, to acknowledge his power, and to submit myself to his commands; I bravely refused to obey, and told him I would rather expose myself to his resentment than swear fealty, and submit to him, as he required. To punish me, he shut me up in this copper vessel; and to make sure that I should not break
King Solomon and the Rebellious Genie
prison, he himself stamped upon this leaden cover his seal, with the great name of God engraven upon it. Then he gave the vessel to one of the genii who submitted to him, with orders to throw me into the sea, which was done, to my sorrow.
'During the first hundred years' imprisonment, I swore that if anyone would deliver me before the hundred years expired, I would make him rich, even after his death: but that century ran out, and nobody did me the good office. During the second, I made an oath that I would open all the treasures of the earth to anyone that should set me at liberty; but with no better success. In the third, I promised to make my deliverer a potent monarch, to be always near him in spirit, and to grant him every day three requests, of what nature soever they might be: but this century ran out as well as the two former, and I continued in prison. At last, being angry, or rather mad, to find myself a prisoner so long, I swore that if afterwards anyone should deliver me, I would kill him without mercy, and grant him no other favour but to choose what kind of death he would die; and, therefore, since you have delivered me to-day, I give you that choice.'
This tale afflicted the poor fisherman extremely: 'I am very unfortunate,' cried he, 'to have done such a piece of good service to one that is so ungrateful. I beg you to consider your injustice and to revoke such an unreasonable oath; pardon me, and heaven will pardon you; if you grant me my life, heaven will protect you from all attempts against yours.'
'No, thy death is resolved on,' said the genie, 'only choose how you will die.'
The fisherman, perceiving the genie to be resolute, was terribly grieved, not so much for himself as for his three children, and the misery they must be reduced to by his death. He endeavoured still to appease the genie, and said, 'Alas! be pleased to take pity on me, in consideration of the good service I have done you.'
'I have told thee already,' replied the genie, 'it is for that very reason I must kill thee.'
'That is very strange,' sad the fisherman, 'are you resolved to reward good with evil? The proverb says, "He who does good to one who deserves it not is always ill rewarded." I must confess I thought it was false; for in reality there can be nothing more contrary to reason, or to the laws of society. Nevertheless, I find now by cruel experience that it is but too true.'
'Do not lose time,' replied the genie, 'all thy reasonings shall not divert me from my purpose; make haste, and tell me which way you choose to die.'
Necessity is the mother of invention. The fisherman bethought himself of a stratagem. 'Since I must die then,' said he to the genie, 'I submit to the will of heaven; but, before I choose the manner of death, I conjure you by the great name which was engraven upon the seal of the prophet Solomon, the son of David, to answer me truly the question I am going to ask you.'
The genie finding himself bound to a positive answer trembled, and replied to the fisherman, 'Ask what thou wilt, but make haste.'
The genie having thus promised to speak the truth, the fisherman said to him, 'I wish to know if you were actually in this vessel. Dare you swear it by the Great Name?'
'Yes,' replied the genie, 'I do swear by that Great Name that I was; and it is a certain truth.'
'In good faith,' answered the fisherman, 'I cannot believe you. The vessel is not capable of holding one of your feet, and how is it possible that your whole body could lie in it?'
'I swear to thee, notwithstanding,' replied the genie, 'that I was there just as thou seest me here. Is it possible that thou dost not believe me after this great oath that I have taken?'
'Truly, I do not,' said the fisherman; 'nor will I believe you unless you show it me.'
Upon which the body of the genie was dissolved, and changed itself into smoke, extending itself as formerly upon the sea and shore, and then at last, being gathered together, it began to re-enter the vessel, which it continued to do by a slow and equal motion in a smooth and exact way, till nothing was left out, and immediately a voice said to the fisherman, 'Well, now, incredulous fellow, I am all in the vessel; do not you believe me now?'
The fisherman, instead of answering the genie, took the cover of lead, and speedily shut the vessel. 'Genie,' cried he, 'now it is your turn to beg my favour, and to choose which way I shall put you to death; but it is better that I should throw you into the sea, whence I took you: and then I will build a house upon the bank, where I will dwell, to give notice to all fishermen who come to throw in their nets to beware of such a wicked genie as thou art, who hast made an oath to kill him that shall set thee at liberty.'
The genie, enraged, did all he could to get out of the vessel again; but it was not possible for him to do it, for the impression of Solomon's seal prevented him. So, perceiving that the fisherman had got the advantage of him, he thought fit to dissemble his anger. 'Fisherman,' said he, in a pleasant tone, 'take heed you do not do what you say, for what I spoke to you before was only by way of jest, and you are to take it no otherwise.'
'Oh, genie!' replied the fisherman, 'thou who wast but a moment ago the greatest of all genii, and now art the least of them, thy crafty discourse will avail thee nothing. Back to the sea thou shalt go. If thou hast been there already so long as thou hast told me, thou mayst very well stay there till the day of judgment. I begged of thee, in God's name, not to take away my life, and thou didst reject my prayers, I am obliged to treat thee in the same manner.'
The genie omitted nothing that might prevail upon the fisherman. 'Open the vessel,' said he; 'give me my liberty, I pray thee, and I promise to satisfy thee to thy heart's content.'
'Thou art a mere traitor,' replied the fisherman; 'I should deserve to lose my life if I were such a fool as to trust thee. Notwithstanding the extreme obligation thou wast under to me for having set thee at liberty, thou didst persist in thy design to kill me; I am obliged in my turn, to be as hard-hearted to thee.'
'My good friend fisherman,' replied the genie, 'I implore thee once more not to be guilty of such cruelty; consider that it is not good to avenge oneself, and that, on the other hand, it is commendable to return good for evil; do not treat me as Imama treated Ateca formerly.'
'And what did Imama do to Ateca?' replied the fisherman.
'Ho!' said the genie, 'if you have a mind to hear, open the vessel: do you think that I can be in a humour to tell stories in so strait a prison? I will tell you as many as you please when you let me out.'
'No,' said the fisherman, 'I will not let you out; it is vain to talk of it. I am just going to throw you to the bottom of the sea.'
'Hear me one word more,' cried the genie. 'I promise to do thee no hurt; nay, far from that, I will show thee how thou mayest become exceedingly rich.'
The hope of delivering himself from poverty prevailed with the fisherman.
'I might listen to you,' said he, 'were there any credit to be given to your word. Swear to me by the Great Name that you will faithfully perform what you promise, and I will open the vessel. I do not believe you will dare to break such an oath.'
The genie swore to him, and the fisherman immediately took off the covering of the vessel. At that very instant the smoke came out, and the genie having resumed his form as before, the first thing he did was to kick the vessel into the sea. This action frightened the fisherman.
'Genie,' said he, 'what is the meaning of that? Will you not keep the oath you just now made?'
The genie laughed at the fisherman's fear, and answered: 'No, fisherman, be not afraid; I only did it to please myself, and to see if thou wouldst be alarmed at it; but to persuade thee that I am in earnest, take thy nets and follow me.' As he spoke these words, he walked before the fisherman, who took up his nets, and followed him, but with some distrust. They passed by the town, and came to the top of a mountain, from whence they descended into a vast plain, and presently to a great pond that lay betwixt four hills.
When they came to the side of the pond, the genie said to the fisherman, 'Cast in thy nets and catch fish.' The fisherman did not doubt of catching some, because he saw a great number in the pond; but he was extremely surprised when he found that they were of four colours—white, red, blue, and yellow. He threw in his nets, and brought out one of each colour. Having never seen the like, he could not but admire them, and, judging that he might get a considerable sum for them, he was very joyful.
'Carry those fish,' said the genie, 'and present them to the sultan; he will give you more money for them than ever you had in your life. You may come every day to fish in this pond; and I give you warning not to throw in your nets above once a day, otherwise you will repent it. Take heed, and remember my advice.' Having spoken thus, he struck his foot upon the ground, which opened and swallowed up the genie.
The fisherman, being resolved to follow the genie's advice exactly, forebore casting in his nets a second time, and returned to the town very well satisfied with his fish, and making a thousand reflections upon his adventure. He went straight to the sultan's palace.
The sultan was much surprised when he saw the four fishes. He took them up one after another, and looked at them with attention; and, after having admired them a long time, he said to his first vizier, 'Take those fishes to the handsome cook-maid that the Emperor of the Greeks has sent me. I cannot imagine but that they must be as good as they are fine.'
The vizier carried them himself to the cook, and delivering them into her hands, 'Look,' said he, 'here are four fishes newly brought to the sultan; he orders you to dress them.' And having so said, he returned to the sultan his master, who ordered him to give the fisherman four hundred pieces of gold of the coin of that country, which he accordingly did.
The fisherman, who had never seen so much cash in his lifetime, could scarcely believe his own good fortune. He thought it must be a dream, until he found it to be real, when he provided necessaries for his family with it.
As soon as the sultan's cook had cleaned the fishes, she put them upon the fire in a frying-pan with oil; and when she thought them fried enough on one side, she turned them upon the other; but scarcely were they turned when the wall of the kitchen opened, and in came a young lady of wonderful beauty and comely size. She was clad in flowered satin, after the Egyptian manner, with pendants in her ears, a necklace of large pearls, bracelets of gold garnished with rubies, and a rod of myrtle in her hand. She came towards the frying-pan, to the great amazement of the cook, who stood stock-still at the sight and, striking one of the fishes with the end of the rod, said, 'Fish, fish, art thou in thy duty?'
The fish having answered nothing, she repeated these words and then the four fishes lifted up their heads all together, and said to her, 'Yes, yes; if you reckon, we reckon; if you pay your debts, we pay ours; if you fly, we overcome, and are content.' As soon as they had finished these words, the lady overturned the frying-pan, and entered again into the open part of the wall, which shut immediately, and became as it was before.
The cook was greatly frightened at this, and, on coming a little to herself, went to take up the fishes that had fallen upon the hearth, but found them blacker than coal, and not fit to be carried to the sultan. She was grievously troubled at it, and began to weep most bitterly. 'Alas!' said she, 'what will become of me? If I tell the sultan what I have seen, I am sure he will not believe me, but will be enraged.'
While she was thus bewailing herself, in came the grand vizier, and asked her if the fishes were ready. She told him all that had happened, which we may easily imagine astonished him; but, without speaking a word of it to the sultan, he invented an excuse that satisfied him, and sending immediately for the fisherman, bade him bring four more such fish, for a misfortune had befallen the other ones. The fisherman, without saying anything of what the genie had told him, but in order to excuse himself from bringing them that very day, told the vizier that he had a long way to go for them., but would certainly bring them to-morrow.
Accordingly the fisherman went away by night, and, coming to the pond, threw in his nets betimes next morning, took four such fishes as before, and brought them to the vizier at the hour appointed. The minister took them himself, carried them to the kitchen, and shut himself up all alone with the cook: she cleaned them and put them on the fire, as she had done the four others the day before. When they were fried on one side, and she had turned them upon the other, the kitchen wall opened, and the same lady came in with the rod in her hand, struck one of the fishes, spoke to it as before, and all four gave her the same answer.
After the four fishes had answered the young lady, she overturned the frying-pan with her rod, and retired into the same place of the wall from whence she had come out. The grand vizier being witness to what had passed said, 'This is too surprising and extraordinary to be concealed from the sultan; I will inform him.' Which he accordingly did, and gave him a very faithful account of all that had happened.
The sultan, being much surprised, was impatient to see it for himself. He immediately sent for the fisherman, and said to him, 'Friend, cannot you bring me four more such fishes?'
The fisherman replied, 'If your majesty will be pleased to allow me three days' time, I will do it.' Having obtained his time, he went to the pond immediately, and at the first throwing in of his net, he caught four fishes, and brought them at once to the sultan. The sultan rejoiced at it, as he did not expect them so soon, and ordered him four hundred pieces of gold. As soon as the sultan had received the fish, he ordered them to be carried into his room, with all that was necessary for frying them; and having shut himself up there with the vizier, the minister cleaned them, put them in the pan upon the fire, and when they were fried on one side, turned them upon the other; then the wall of the room opened, but instead of the young lady there came out a black man, in the dress of a slave, and of gigantic stature, with a great green staff in his hand. He advanced towards the pan, and touching one of the fishes with his staff, said to it in a terrific voice, 'Fish, art thou in thy duty?'
At these words, the fishes raised up their heads, and answered 'Yes, yes; we are; if you reckon, we reckon; if you pay your debts, we pay ours; if you fly, we overcome, and are content.'
The fishes had no sooner finished these words than the black
man threw the pan into the middle of the room, and reduced the fishes to a coal. Having done this, he retired fiercely, and entering again into the hole of the wall, it shut, and appeared just as it did before.
'After what I have seen,' said the sultan to the vizier, 'it will not be possible for me to be easy in my mind. These fish without doubt signify something extraordinary.' He sent for the fisherman, and said to him, 'Fisherman, the fishes you have brought us make me very uneasy; where did you catch them?'
'Sir,' answered he, 'I fished for them in a pond situated between four hills, beyond the mountain that we see from here.'
'Know'st thou that pond?' said the sultan to the vizier.
'No, sir,' replied the vizier, 'I never so much as heard of it: and yet it is not sixty years since I hunted beyond that mountain and thereabouts.'
The sultan asked the fisherman how far was the pond from the palace.
The fisherman answered that it was not above three hours' journey.
Upon this, there being daylight enough beforehand, the sultan commanded all his court to take horse, and the fisherman served them for a guide. They all ascended the mountain, and at the foot of it they saw, to their great surprise, a vast plain, that nobody had observed till then, and at last they came to the pond which they found really to be situated between four hills, as the fisherman had said. The water of it was so transparent that they observed all the fishes to be like those which the fisherman had brought to the palace.
The sultan stood upon the bank of the pond, and after beholding the fishes with admiration, he demanded of his emirs and all his courtiers if it was possible that they had never seen this pond, which was within so little a way of the town. They all answered that they had never so much as heard of it.
'Since you all agree,' said he, 'that you never heard of it, and as I am no less astonished than you are, I am resolved not to return to my palace till I know how this pond came here, and why all the fish in it are of four colours.' Having spoken thus he ordered his court to encamp; and immediately his pavilion and the tents of his household were pitched upon the banks of the pond.