Arabian night: - Season 1 - Episode 5

6 years ago

Arabian night: - Season 1 - Episode 5

(The Story of the Fisherman)

Sire, there was once upon a time a
fisherman so old and so poor that he
could scarcely manage to support his wife
and three children. He went every day to
fish very early, and each day he made a
rule not to throw his nets more than four
times. He started out one morning by
moonlight and came to the sea-shore.

He undressed and threw his nets, and as he
was drawing them towards the bank he
felt a great weight. He though he had
caught a large fish, and he felt very
pleased. But a moment afterwards, seeing
that instead of a fish he only had in his
nets the carcase of an a-s, he was much
disappointed.

Vexed with having such a bad haul, when
he had mended his nets, which the
carcase of the a-s had broken in several
places, he threw them a second time.

In drawing them in he again felt a great
weight, so that he thought they were full
of fish. But he only found a large basket
full of rubbish. He was much annoyed.

“O Fortune,” he cried, “do not trifle thus with me, a poor fisherman, who can
hardly support his family!”
So saying, he threw away the rubbish,
and after having washed his nets clean of
the dirt, he threw them for the third
time. But he only drew in stones, shells,
and mud. He was almost in despair.

Then he threw his nets for the fourth
time. When he thought he had a fish he
drew them in with a great deal of
trouble. There was no fish however, but
he found a yellow pot, which by its
weight seemed full of something, and he
noticed that it was fastened and sealed
with lead, with the impression of a seal.

He was delighted. “I will sell it to the
founder,” he said; “with the money I shall
get for it I shall buy a measure of wheat.”

He examined the jar on all sides; he
shook it to see if it would rattle. But he
heard nothing, and so, judging from the
impression of the seal and the lid, he
thought there must be something
precious inside. To find out, he took his
knife, and with a little trouble he opened
it. He turned it upside down, but nothing
came out, which surprised him very
much. He set it in front of him, and
whilst he was looking at it attentively,
such a thick smoke came out that he had
to step back a pace or two. This smoke
rose up to the clouds, and stretching over
the sea and the shore, formed a thick
mist, which caused the fisherman much
astonishment. When all the smoke was
out of the jar it gathered itself together,
and became a thick mass in which
appeared a Genie, twice as large as the
largest giant. When he saw such a
terrible-looking monster, the fisherman
would like to have run away, but he
trembled so with fright that he could not
move a step.

“Great king of the genii,” cried the
monster, “I will never again disobey
you!”

At these words the fisherman took
courage.

“What is this you are saying, great Genie?

Tell me your history and how you came
to be shut up in that vase.”

At this, the Genie looked at the fisherman
haughtily. “Speak to me more civilly,” he
said, “before I kill you.”

“Alas! why should you kill me?” cried the
fisherman. “I have just freed you; have
you already forgotten that?”
“No,” answered the Genie; “but that will
not prevent me from killing you; and I am
only going to grant you one favour, and
that is to choose the manner of your
death.”

“But what have I done to you?” asked the
fisherman.

“I cannot treat you in any other way,”
said the Genie, “and if you would know
why, listen to my story.

“I rebelled against the king of the genii.

To punish me, he shut me up in this vase
of copper, and he put on the leaden
cover his seal, which is enchantment
enough to prevent my coming out.

Then he had the vase thrown into the sea.
During the first period of my captivity I
vowed that if anyone should free me
before a hundred years were passed, I
would make him rich even after his
death. But that century passed, and no
one freed me. In the second century I
vowed that I would give all the treasures
in the world to my deliverer; but he
never came.

[B] “In the third, I promised to make him a
king, to be always near him, and to grant
him three wishes every day; but that
century passed away as the other two had
done, and I remained in the same plight.

At last I grew angry at being captive for
so long, and I vowed that if anyone
would release me I would kill him at
once, and would only allow him to
choose in what manner he should die. So
you see, as you have freed me to-day,
choose in what way you will die.”

The fisherman was very unhappy. “What
an unlucky man I am to have freed you! I
implore you to spare my life.”

“I have told you,” said the Genie, “that it
is impossible. Choose quickly; you are
wasting time.”

The fisherman began to devise a plot.

“Since I must die,” he said, “before I
choose the manner of my death, I conjure
you on your honour to tell me if you
really were in that vase?”

“Yes, I was” answered the Genie.

“I really cannot believe it,” said the
fisherman. “That vase could not contain
one of your feet even, and how could
your whole body go in? I cannot believe
it unless I see you do the thing.”

Then the Genie began to change himself
into smoke, which, as before, spread over
the sea and the shore, and which, then
collecting itself together, began to go
back into the vase slowly and evenly till
there was nothing left outside. Then a
voice came from the vase which said to
the fisherman, “Well, unbelieving
fisherman, here I am in the vase; do you
believe me now?”

The fisherman instead of answering took
the lid of lead and shut it down quickly
on the vase.

“Now, O Genie,” he cried, “ask pardon of me, and choose by what death you will
die! But no, it will be better if I throw you
into the sea whence I drew you out, and I
will build a house on the shore to warn
fishermen who come to cast their nets
here, against fishing up such a wicked
Genie as you are, who vows to kill the
man who frees you.”

At these words the Genie did all he could
to get out, but he could not, because of
the enchantment of the lid.

Then he tried to get out by cunning.

“If you will take off the cover,” he said, “I will repay you.”

“No,” answered the fisherman, “if I trust
myself to you I am afraid you will treat
me as a certain Greek king treated the
physician Douban. Listen, and I will tell
you.”