THE FISHERMAN AND THE GENIE

There was once an old fisherman who lived in great poverty with a wife and three
children. But though poorer than others he ever toiled in humble submission to the
decrees of Providence, and so, at the same hour each day, he would cast his net four
times into the sea, and whatever it brought up to him therewith he rested content.
One day, having cast for the first time, he found his net so heavy that he could
scarcely draw it in; yet when at last he got it to shore all that it contained was the
carcase of an ass.
He cast a second time, and found the draught of the net even heavier than before.
But again he was doomed to disappointment, for this time it contained nothing but a
large earthenware jar full of mud and sand. His third attempt brought him only a
heap of broken old bottles [Pg 2]and potsherds: fortune seemed to be against him.
Then, committing his hope to Providence, he cast for the fourth and last time; and
once more the weight of the net was so great that he was unable to haul it. When at
last he got it to land, he found that it contained a brazen vessel, its mouth closed with
a leaden stopper, bearing upon it the seal of King Solomon.
The sight cheered him. "This," thought he, "I can sell in the market, where I may get
for it enough to buy a measure of corn; and, if one is to judge by weight, what lies
within may prove yet more valuable."
And there in its midst stood a mighty Genie.
Thus reckoning, he prised out the stopper with his knife, and turning the vessel
upside down looked for the contents to follow. Great was his astonishment when
nothing but smoke came out of it. The smoke rose in a thick black column and spread
like a mist between earth and sky, till presently, drawing together, it took form; and
there in its midst stood a mighty Genie, whose brows touched heaven while his feet
rested upon ground. His head was like a dome, his hands were like flails, and his
legs like pine trees; his mouth was black as a cavern, [Pg 3]his nostrils were like
trumpets, his eyes blazed like torches, and his wings whirled round and over him
like the simoom of the desert.
At so fearful a sight all the fisherman's courage oozed out of him; but the Genie,
perceiving him, cried with a loud voice, "O, Solomon, Prophet of God, slay me not,
for never again will I withstand thee in word or deed!"
"Alas!" said the fisherman, "I am no prophet; and as for Solomon, he has been dead
for nearly two thousand years. I am but a poor fisherman whom chance has knocked
by accident against thy door."
"In that case," answered the Genie, "know that presently thou wilt have to die."
"Heaven forbid!" cried the fisherman; "or, at least, tell me why! Surely it might seem
that I had done thee some service in releasing thee."
"Hear first my story," said the Genie, "then shalt thou understand."
"Well, if I must!" said the fisherman, resigning himself to the inevitable; "but make
it short, for truly I have small stomach left in me now for the hearing of tales."
"Know, then," said the Genie, "that I am [Pg 4]one of those spirits which resisted the
power and dominion of Solomon; and when, having brought into submission all the
rest of my race, he could not make me yield to him either reverence or service, he
caused me to be shut up in this bottle, and sealing it with his own seal cast it down
into the depths of the sea.
When having brought into submission all the rest of my race.

"Now when I had lain there prisoner for a hundred years, I swore in my heart that I
would give to the man that should release me all the treasures attainable in heaven
or earth. But when none came to earn so great a reward in all the hundred years that
followed, then I swore that I would give to my liberator earthly riches only; and
when this gift also had lain despised for yet another hundred years, then would I
promise no more than the fulfilment of three wishes. But thereafter finding that all
promises and vows were vain, my heart became consumed with rage, and I swore
by Allah that I would only grant to the fool that should release me his own choice of
the most cruel form of death by which he should die. Now therefore accept that
mercy which I still offer and choose thy penalty!"
[Pg 5]When the fisherman heard this he gave himself up for lost, yet he did not the
less continue by prayer and supplication to entreat the Genie from his purpose. But
when he found that there was no heart left in him to be moved, then for the first time
he bestirred his wits, and remembering how that which is evil contains far less
wisdom than that which is good, and so falls ever the more readily into the trap
prepared for it, he spoke thus: "O Genie, since thou art determined on my death,
there is yet a certain thing touching thine honour that I would first know. So, by the
Ineffable Name, which is the seal of Solomon, I will ask thee one question, and do
thou swear to answer it truly."
The Genie was ready enough to give the oath as desired. Then said the fisherman,
"How is it that one so great as thou art, whose feet o'er-step the hills and whose head
out-tops the heaven—how can such an one enter into so small a vessel to dwell in
it? Truly, though mine eyes tell me I have seen it, I cannot any longer believe so
great a marvel."
"What?" cried the Genie, "dost thou not believe what I have already told thee?"
[Pg 6]"Not till I have seen it done can I believe it," said the fisherman.
Thereupon, without more waste of words, the Genie, drawing his limbs together and
folding himself once more in a thick veil of smoke, descended from his vast altitude
into the narrow neck of the brazen vessel till not one shred or film of him remained
to view. Then the fisherman with a quick hand replaced the leaden stopper, and
laughing, cried to the Genie, "Choose now, thou in thy turn, by what manner of death
thou wilt die."
The Genie, hearing himself thus mocked, made violent efforts to escape; but the
power of the seal of Solomon held him fast, and the fisherman, ceasing not all the
while to revile him for the treachery and baseness which were now to receive their
due reward, began to carry the vessel back to the sea's brink. "Now," said he, "thou
shalt return to the place whence I drew thee! And here on the shore I will build
myself a hut, and to every fisherman that comes near I will say, 'Look that you fish
not in these waters, for herein lies bound a wicked genie that has sworn to put to a
cruel death whoever dares to release him.'"
[Pg 7]"Nay, nay," cried the Genie, "I did not mean what I said! Ask of me now, and
I will give you all the treasures that the world contains, or that your heart can find in
it to desire, if only you will set me free!"
The fisherman, being of a mild spirit and with no heart for revenge, sat down to
consider what he should do, and all the while the imprisoned Genie continued to
appeal to him for compassion with loud promise and lamentation. So at last, the
fisherman, having the fear of God before his eyes, after he had extracted from the
Genie a most solemn vow to leave him unharmed, drew out the stopper of lead and
released him.
No sooner was he out and restored to his true form than the Genie, turning himself
about, lifted his foot and with his full strength smote the brazen vessel far out to sea;
and the fisherman, beholding that act, began to repent him of his mercy and to
tremble again for dear life.
But the Genie, seeing his fear, broke into huge laughter, and striding on ahead of
him cried, "Come, fisherman, and follow me, for now I will lead you to fortune!"
[Pg 8]Meekly at his heels went the old fisherman, and leaving behind them the
habitations of men they ascended a mountain and entered upon a desert tract guarded
by four hills, in the centre of which lay a broad lake. Here the Genie stopped, and
pointing to a place where fish were swimming in abundance bade the fisherman cast
in his net. The fisherman did as he was told, and when he drew in his net he found
that it contained four fish each of a different colour, a red, a white, a blue, and a
yellow: never in his life had he seen the like of them. The Genie bade him take and
offer them to the Sultan, assuring him that if he did so they should bring him both
fortune and honours. Then he struck the ground with his foot, and immediately the
earth opened its mouth and swallowed him as the dry desert swallows the rain.
The fisherman, wondering no less at his safe deliverance than at the marvel of these
occurrences, made his way in haste to the city; and there presenting himself at the
palace he begged that the four fish might be laid at the Sultan's feet, as a humble
offering from the poorest of his subjects.
[Pg 9]No sooner had the monarch seen them, so strange of form and so brilliant and
diverse in hue, than his longing to taste of them became strongly awakened; so, by
the hand of his Vizier, he sent them to the cook to be prepared forthwith for the royal
table. As for the poor fisherman, he received no fewer than four hundred pieces of
gold from the Sultan's bounty, and returned to his family rejoicing in an affluence
which surpassed his utmost expectations.

No sooner had the monarch seen them, so strange of form and so brilliant and
diverse in hue.
The cook meanwhile, proud of an opportunity to exhibit her culinary skill on dainties
so rare, scaled and cleaned the fish and laid them in a frying-pan over the fire. But
scarcely had she done so when the wall of the kitchen divided, and there issued forth
from it a damsel of moon-like beauty richly apparelled, holding a rod of myrtle in
her hand. With this she struck the fish that lay in the frying-pan, and cried—
"O fish of my pond,
Are ye true to your bond?"
And immediately the four fishes lifted their heads from the frying fat and
answered—
[Pg 10]
"Even so, the bond holds yet;
Paid by thee, we pay the debt.
With give and take is the reckoning met."
Thereupon the damsel upset the pan into the fire and retired through the wall in the
same way that she had come, leaving the four fish all charred to a cinder.
Whereupon one upset the pan into the fire.

The cook, beholding her labour thus brought to naught, began to weep and bewail
herself, expecting no less than instant dismissal, and was still loud in her
lamentations when the Vizier arrived to see if the fish were ready.
Recalling the fisherman by a swift messenger.

On hearing her account of what had occurred, the Vizier was greatly astonished, but
feared to bring so strange a report to the Sultan's ears while the cravings of the royal
appetite were still unsatisfied; so recalling the fisherman by a swift messenger, he
bade him procure in all haste four more fish of the same kind, promising to reward
him according to the speed with which he accomplished the task. So spurred, and by
the additional favour of fortune, the fisherman fulfilled his mission in an
astonishingly short space of time; but no sooner was the second lot of fish placed
upon the fire in the Vizier's presence [Pg 11]than once again the wall opened, and
the damsel, appearing as before, struck the frying-pan with her rod, and cried—
"O fish of my pond,
Are ye true to your bond?"
And immediately the fish stood up on their tails in the frying fat and replied—
"Even so, the bond holds yet;
Paid by thee, we pay the debt.
With give and take is the reckoning met."
Whereupon she upset the pan into the fire and departed as she had come.
The Vizier, perceiving that so strange an event might no longer be kept from the
royal knowledge, went and informed the Sultan of all that had occurred; and the
monarch, as soon as he had heard the tale, now rendered more eager for the
satisfaction of his eyes than he had previously been for the indulgence of his appetite,
sent for the fisherman, and promised him yet another four hundred pieces of gold if
he could within a given time procure four more fishes similar to those he had already
brought on the previous occasions.
[Pg 12]If the fisherman had been prompt at the Vizier's bidding, he made even
greater speed to fulfil the royal command, and before the day was over—this time
in the presence of the Sultan himself—four fish, of four diverse colours like to the
first, were cleaned and laid into the pan ready for frying. But scarcely had they
touched the fat when the wall opened in a clap like thunder, and there came forth
with a face of rage a monstrous negro the size of a bull, holding in his hand the rod
of myrtle. With this he struck the frying-pan, and cried in a terrible voice—
"O fish from the pond,
Are ye true to your bond?"
And when the fish had returned the same answer that the others had made before
them, without more ado the negro overturned the pan upon the fire and departed as
he had come.
When the Sultan's eyes had seen that marvel, he said to his Vizier, "Here is mystery
set before us! Surely these fish that talk have a past and a history. Never shall I rest
satisfied until I have learned it." So causing the fisherman [Pg 13]to be brought
before him, he inquired whence the fish came. The fisherman answered, "From a
lake between four hills upon the mountain overlooking the city." The Sultan inquired
how many days' journey it might be, and the fisherman replied that it was but a
matter of a few hours going and returning. Then to the Sultan and his court it seemed
that the old man was mocking them, for none had heard tell of any lake lying among
the hills so near to that city; and the fisherman, seeing his word doubted, began to
fear that the Genie was playing him a trick; for if the lake were now suddenly to
vanish away, he might find his fortunes more undone at the end than at the beginning.
Yet the Sultan, though his Vizier and all his court sought to dissuade him, was firmly
resolved on putting the matter to the proof; so he gave orders that an escort and
camping tents should be immediately got ready, and, with the fisherman to guide,
set forth to find the place that was told of.
And, sure enough, when they had ascended the mountain which all knew, they came
upon a [Pg 14]desert tract on which no man had previously set eyes; and there in its
midst lay the lake filled with four kinds of fish, and beyond it stretched a vast and
unknown country.
He arrived within sight of a palace of shining marble.

At this sight, so mysterious and unaccountable, of a strange region lying

unbeknownst at the gates of his own capital, the monarch was seized with an
overwhelming desire to press forward in solitary adventure to the discovery of its
secret. To the cautious counsels of his Vizier he turned a deaf ear; but since it would
not be safe for his subjects to know of his departure on an errand so perilous, it was
given out that he had been stricken by sudden sickness. The door of the royal tent
was closed, and at the dead of night the Sultan, admitting none but the Vizier into
his confidence, set out secretly on his adventure.
Journeying by night and resting by day, he arrived on the third morning within sight
of a palace of shining marble which, with its crowd of domes and minarets, stood
solitary among the hills. No sign of life was about it, and when he drew near and
knocked at the gates none came to answer him. Then, finding the doors [Pg
15]unfastened, he took courage and entered; and advancing through chambers where
gold lay as dust, and by fountains wherein pearls lay poured out like water, he found
only solitude to greet him.
Wandering without aim among innumerable treasures unguarded and left to waste,
the Sultan grew weary, and sat down in an embrasure to rest. Then it seemed to him
that not far off he could hear a sorrowful voice chant verses of lamentation.
Following the sounds with wonder he came to a curtained doorway, and passing
through found himself in the presence of a fair youth richly dressed, seated upon a
couch and bearing upon his countenance tokens of extreme grief and despondency.
To the Sultan's proffered greeting the youth returned salutation, but did not stir from
his seat. "Pardon me," he said, "for not rising; but my miserable condition makes it
impossible." Having said this he again broke into doleful lamentation; and when the
Sultan inquired as to the cause of so many tears, "See for yourself," he cried, "what
I am now made into!" And lifting the skirt of his robe he revealed himself all stone
from his waist [Pg 16]to the soles of his feet, while from the waist upwards he was
as other men. Then as he observed upon his visitor's countenance the expression of
a lively curiosity and astonishment, "Doubtless," he went on, "as you now know the
secret of my miserable condition you will wish also to hear my story." And he related
it as follows:—