THE HISTORY OF THE FISHERMAN
THERE was formerly an aged fisherman, so poor that he
could barely obtain food for himself, his wife, and his
three children. He went out early every morning to his
employment; and he had imposed a rule upon himself
never to cast his nets above four times a day.
On one occasion he set out before the morn had
disappeared. When he reached the sea-shore, he
undressed himself, and cast his nets. In drawing them
to land three times in succession, he felt sure, from
their resistance and weight, that he had secured an
excellent draught of fish. Instead of which he only
found on the first haul the carcass of an ass; on the
second, a large pannier failed with sand and mud; and
on the third, a large quantity of heavy stones, shells,
and filth It is impossible to describe his
disappointment and despair. The day now began to break,
and having, like a good Mussulman, finished his prayer,
he threw his nets for the fourth time.
Again he supposed he had caught a great quantity of
fish, as he drew them with as much difficulty as
before. He nevertheless found hone; but discovered a
heavy vase of yellow copper, shut up and fastened with
lead, on which there was the impression of a seal. "I
will sell this to a founder" said he, with joy, "and
with the money I shall get for it I will purchase a
measure of corn."
He examined the vase on all sides; he shook it, but
could hear nothing; and this, together with the
impression of the seal on the lead, made him think it
was filled with something valuable In order to find
this out, he took his knife, and got it open. He
directly turned the top downwards, and was much
surprised to find nothing come out; he then set it down
before him, and while he was attentively observing it,
there issued from it so thick a smoke that he was
obliged to step back a few paces. This smoke, by
degrees, rose almost to the clouds, and spread itself
over both the water and the shore, appearing like a
thick fog. The fisherman, as may easily be imagined,
was a good deal surprised at this sight. When the smoke
had all come out from the vase, it again collected
itself and became a solid body, and then took the shape
of a genie of a gigantic size. The genie, looking
[220] at the fisherman, exclaimed, "Humble thyself before
me, or I will kill thee." "And for what reason, pray,
will you kill me?" answered the fisherman; "have you
already forgotten that I have set you at liberty?" "I
remember it very well," returned he; "but that shall
not prevent my destroying thee; and I will only grant
thee one favor." "And pray what is that?" said the
fisherman. "It is," replied the genie, "to permit thee
to choose the manner of thy death. I can
[221] treat
thee no otherwise; and to convince thee of it, hear my
history:—
"I am one of those spirits who rebelled against the
sovereignty of God. Solomon, the son of David, the
prophet of God, commanded me to acknowledge his
authority, and submit to his laws. I haughtily refused.
In order, therefore, to punish me, he inclosed me in
this copper vase; and to prevent me forcing my way out,
he put. upon the leaden cover the impression of his
seal, on which the great name of God is engraven. This
done, he gave the vase to one of those genies who
obeyed him, and ordered him to cast me into the sea.
"During the first century of my captivity, I swore
that if any one delivered me before the first hundred
years were passed, I would make him rich. During the
second century, I swore that if any released me, I
would discover to him all the treasures of the earth.
During the third, I promised to make my deliverer a
most powerful monarch, and to grant him every day any
three requests he chose. These centuries passed away
without any deliverance. Enraged, at last, to be so
long a prisoner, I swore that I would, without mercy,
kill whoever should in future release me, and that the
only favor I would grant him should be to choose what
manner of death he pleased. Since, therefore, thou hast
come here to-day, and hast delivered me, fix upon
whatever kind of death thou wilt."
The fisherman was in great distress at finding him thus
resolved on his death, not so much on his own account
as for his three children, whose means of subsistence
would be greatly reduced by his death. "Alas!" he
cried, "have pity on me; remember what I have done for
thee."
"Let us lose no time," cried the genie; "your
arguments avail not. Make haste, tell me how you wish
to die."
Necessity is the mother of invention, and the fisherman
thought of a stratagem. "Since, then," said he, "I
cannot escape death, I submit to the will of God; but
before I choose the sort of death, I conjure you, by
the great name of God, which is graven upon the seal of
the prophet Solomon, the son of David, answer me truly
to a question I am going to put to you." The genie
trembled at this adjuration, and said to the fisherman,
"Ask what thou wilt, and make haste."
"Dare you, then, to swear by the great name of God
that you really were in that vase? This vase cannot
contain one of your feet; how, then, can it hold your
whole body?" "I swear to thee, notwithstanding,"
replied he, "that I was there just as thou seest me.
Wilt thou not believe me after the solemn oath I have
taken?" "No, truly," added the fisherman; "I shall
not believe you, unless I were to see it."
Immediately the form of the genie began to change into
smoke, and extended itself, as before, over both the
shore and the sea; and then, collecting itself, began
to enter the vase, and continued to do so, in a slow
and equal manner, till nothing remained without. The
fisherman immediately took the leaden cover, and put it
on the vase?" Genie," he cried, "it is now your turn
to ask pardon. I shall throw you again into the sea,
and I will build, opposite the very spot where you are
cast, a house upon the shore, in which I will live, to
warn all fishermen that shall come and throw their
nets, not to fish up so evil a genie as thou art, who
makest an oath to kill the man who shall set thee at
liberty."
The genie tried every argument to move the fisherman's
pity but in vain. "You are too treacherous for me to
trust you," returned the fisherman; "I should deserve
to lose my life, if I put myself in your power a second
time."
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