The Story of the Fisherman

There was a certain fisherman, advanced in age, who
had a wife and three children ; and though he was in
indigent circumstances, it was his custom to cast his
net, every day, no more than four times. One day he went
forth at the hour of noon to the shore of the sea, and put
down his basket, and cast his net, and waited until it was
motionless in the water, when he drew together its strings,
and found it to be heavy: he pulled, but could not draw it
up : so he took the end of the cord, and knocked a stake into
the shore, and tied the cord to it. He then stripped him-
self, and dived round the net, and continued to pull until
he drew it out: whereupon he rejoiced, and put on his
clothes; but when he came to examine the net, he found in
it the carcass of an ass. At the sight of this he mourned, and
exclaimed. There is no strength nor power but in God, the
High, the Great ! This is a strange piece of fortune ! —
And he repeated the following verse : —

O thou who occupiest thyself in the darkness of night, and in peril I
Spare thy trouble; for the support of Providence is not obtained
by toil !

He then disencumbered his net of the dead ass. and wrung
it out; after which he spread it, and descended into the
sea, and — exclaiming. In the name of God ! — cast it again, and
waited till it had sunk and was still, when he pulled it, and
found it more heavy and more difficult to raise than on
the former occasion. He therefore concluded that it was
full of fish : so he tied it, and stripped, and plunged and dived,
and pulled until he raised it, and drew it upon the shore ; when
he found in it only a large jar, full of sand and mud; on
'he 'Efrit

seeing which, he was troubled in his heart, and repeated\«J
following words of the poet: —

angry fate, forbear ! or, if thou wilt not forbear, relent !
Neither favour from fortune do I gain, nor profit from the work of

my hands.

1 came forth to seek my sustenance, but have found it to be

exhausted.
How many of the ignorant are in splendor ! and how many of
the wise, in obscurity !

So saying, he threw aside the jar, and wrung out and
cleansed his net; and, begging the forgiveness of God for his
impatience, returned to the sea the third time, and threw
the net, and waited till it had sunk and was motionless: he
then drew it out, and found in it a quantity of broken jars
and pots.

Upon this, he raised his head towards heaven, and said,
O God, Thou knowest that I cast not my net more than four
times ; and I have now cast it three times ! Then — exclaim-
ing, In the name of God ! — he cast the net again into the
sea, and waited till it was still ; when he attempted to draw
it up, but could not, for it clung to the bottom. And he ex-
claimed. There is no strength nor power but in God ! — and
he stripped himself again, and dived round the net, and
pulled until he raised it upon the shore; when he opened it,
and found in it a bottle of brass, filled with something, and
having its mouth closed with a stopper of lead, bearing the
impression of the seal of our lord Suleyman.^ At the sight
of this, the fisherman was rejoiced, and said. This I will
sell in the copper-market ; for it is worth ten pieces of gold.
He then shook it, and found it to be heavy, and said, I

^ No man ever obtained such absolute power over the Jinn as Sulcyman
Ibn-Da'ud (Solomon, the .Son of David). This he did by virtue of a most
wonderful talisman, which is said to have come down to him from heaven.
It was a seal-ring, upon which was engraved " the most great name " of
God; and partly composed of brass, and partly of iron. With the brass lie
stamped his written commands to the pood Jinn; with the iron [which they
greatly dread], those to the evil Jinn, or Devils Over both orders he
had unlimited power; as well as over tne birds and the winds, and, as is
generally said, the wild beasts. His Wezir, Asaf the son of Barkhiya, is
also said to have been acquainted with " the most great name," by utter-
ing which the greatest miracles may be performed; even that of raising the
dead. By virtue of this name, engraved on his ring, Sulcyman compelled
the Jinn to assist in building the Temple of Jerusalem, and in various other
works.' Many of the evil Jinn he converted to the true faith; and many
others of this class, who remained obstinate in infidelity, he confined in
prisons. pen it, and see what is in it, and store it in my bag;
ind then I will sell the bottle in the copper-market. So he
took out a knife, and picked at the lead until he extracted it
from the bottle. He then laid the bottle on the ground, and
shook it, that its contents might pour out; but there came
forth from it nothing but smoke, which ascended towards
the sky, and spread over the face of the earth; at which
he wondered excessively. And after a little while, the
smoke collected together, and was condensed, and then be-
came agitated and was converted into an 'Efrit, whose
head was in the clouds, while his feet rested upon the ground:
his head was like a dome : his hands were like winnowing
forks ; and his legs, like masts : his mouth resembled a cavern:
his teeth were like stones; his nostrils, like trumpets; and
his eyes, like lamps ; and he had dishevelled and dust-coloured
hair.

When the fisherman beheld this 'Efrit, the muscles of his
sides quivered, his teeth were locked together, his spittle
dried up, and he saw not his way. The 'Efrit, as soon as
he perceived him. exclaimed. There is no deity but God;
Suleyman is the Prophet of God. O Prophet of God, slay
me not; for I will never again oppose thee in word, or rebel
against thee in deed ! — O Marid, said the fisherman, dost thou
say, Suleyman is the Prophet of God? Suleyman hath been
dead a thousand and eight hundred years ; and we are now in
the end of time. What is thy history, and what is thy tale,
and what was the cause of thy entering this bottle? WTien
the Marid heard these words of the fisherman, he said, There
is no deity but God! Receive news, O fisherman! — Of what,
said the fisherman, dost thou give me news? He answered.
Of thy being instantly put to a most cruel death. The fisher-
man exclaimed, Thou deservest, for this news, O master of
the 'Efrits, the withdrawal of protection from thee, O thou
remote!* Wherefore wouldst thou kill me? and what re-
quires thy killing me, when I have liberated thee from the
bottle, and rescued thee from the bottom of the sea, and
brought thee up upon the dry land? — The 'Efrit answered,
Choose what kind of death thou wilt die, and in what manner
thou i:halt be killed. — What is my offence, said the fisherman,
that this should be my recompense from thee? The 'Efrit
replied, Hear my story^ O fisherman. — Tell it then, said the
fisherman, and be short in thy words; for my soul hath sunk
down to my feet.

Know then, said he, that I am one of the heretical Jinn:
I rebelled against Suleyman the son of Da'ud; I and Sakhr
the Jinni ; and he sent to me his Wezir, Asaf the son of
Barkhiya, who came upon me forcibly, and took me to him
in uionds, and placed me before him : and when Suleyman saw
me, he offered up a prayer for protection against mc, and
exhorted me to embrace the faith, and to submit to his
authority; but I refused; upon which he called for this bottle,
and confined me in it, and closed it upon me with the leaden
stopper, which he stamped with the Most Great Name : he
then gave orders to the Jinn, who carried me away, and
threw me into the midst of the sea. There I remained a
hundred years ; and I said in my heart. Whosoever shall liber-
ate me, I shall enrich him for ever : — but the hundred years
passed over me, and no one liberated me : and I entered upon
another hundred years ; and I said. Whosoever shall liber-
ate me, I will open to him the treasures of the earth ; — but
no one did so : and four hundred years more passed over me,
and I said, Whosoever shall liberate me, I will perform for
him three wants: — but still no one liberated me. I then
fell into a violent rage, and said within myself. Whosoever
shall liberate me now, I will kill him ; and only suffer him
to choose in what manner he will die. And lo, now thou hast
liberated me, and I have given thee thy choice of the manner
in which thou wilt die.

When the fisherman had heard the story of the 'Efrit, he
exclaimed, O Allah ! that I should not have liberated thee but
in such a time as this ! Then said he to the 'Efrit, Pardon
me, and kill me not, and so may God pardon thee; and destroy
me not, lest God give power over thee to one who will destroy
thee. The Marid answered, I must positively kill thee ; there-
fore choose by what manner of death thou wilt die. The
fisherman then felt assured of his death ; but he again im-
plored the 'Efrit, saying. Pardon me by way of gratitude
for my liberating thee. — Why, answered the 'Efrit, I am
not going to kill thee but for that very reason, because thou
hast liberated me.— O Sheykh of the 'Efrits, said the fisher-
man, do I act kindly towards thee, and dost thou recompense
me with baseness? But the proverb lieth not that saith, —

We did good to them, and they returned us the contrary; and such,

by my life, is the conduct of the wicked.
Thus he who acteth kindly to the undeserving is recompensed in

the same manner as the aider of Umm-'Amir.'

The 'Efrit, when he heard these words, answered by say-
ing, Covet not life, for thy death is unavoidable. Then said
the fisherman within himself. This is a Jinni, and I am a man;
and God hath given me sound reason; therefore, I will now
plot his destruction with my art and reason, like as he hath
plotted with his cunning and perfidy. So he said to the
'Efrit, Hast thou determined to kill me? He answered, Yes.
Then said he, By the Most Great Name engraved upon the
seal of Suleyman, I will ask thee one question ; and wilt thou
answer it to me truly ? On hearing the mention of the Most
Great Name, the 'Efrit was agitated, and trembled, and re-
plied. Yes ; ask, and be brief. The fisherman then said,
How wast thou in this bottle? It will not contain thy hand
or thy foot ; how then can it contain thy whole body ? — Dost
thou not believe that I was in it? said the 'Efrit. The fisher-
man answered, I will never believe thee until I see thee in
it. Upon this, the 'Efrit shook, and became converted into
smoke, which rose to the sky and then became condensed,
and entered the bottle by little and little, until it was all
enclosed; when the fislierman hastily snatched the sealed leaden
stopper, and, having replaced it in the mouth of the bottle,
called out to the 'Efrit, and said. Choose in what manner
of death thou wilt die. I will assuredly throw thee here into
the sea, and build me a house on this spot ; and whosoever
shall come here, I will prevent his fishing in this place, and
will say to him, Here is an 'Efrit, who to any person that
liberates him, will propose various kinds of death, and then
give him his choice of one of them. On hearing these words
of the fisherman, the 'Efrit endeavoured to escape ; but could
not, finding himself restrained by the impression of the seal
of Suleyman, and thus imprisoned by the fisherman as the
vilest and filthiest and least of 'Efrits. The fisherman then
took the bottle to the brink of the sea. The 'Efrit exclaimed,
Xay ! nay ! — to which the fisherman answered, Yea, without
fail ! yea, without fail ! The Marid then addressing him with
a soft voice and humble manner, said. What dost thou intend
to do with me, O fisherman ? He answered, I will throw thee
into the sea ; and if thou hast been there a thousand and
eight hundred years, I will make thee to remain there until
the hour of judgment. Did I not say to thee. Spare me, and
so may God spare thee ; and destroy me not, lest God destroy
thee? But thou didst reject my petition, and wouldst noth-
ing but treachery; therefore God hath caused thee to fall
into my hand, and I have betrayed thee. — Open to me, said
the 'Efrit, that I may confer benefits upon thee. The
fisherman replied, Thou liest, thou accursed ! I and thou are
like the Wezir of King Yunan and the sage Duban. — What,
said the 'Efrit, was the case of the Wezir Yunan and the
sage Duban, and what is their story? The fisherman an-
swered as follows.