My dear sister, cried Dinarzade, next morning, at the usual hour, if
you be not asleep, I pray you go on with the story of the fisherman;
I am ready to die till I hear it. I am willing to give you that
satisfaction, says the sultaness: but, at the same time she demanded
leave of the sultan, and having obtained it, began the story again
as follows:
Sir, 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! cries
he, with 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 other trade but this to subsist by; and, notwithstanding all
the pains I take, I can scarcely provide what is absolutely
necessary for my family. But I am to blame to complain of thee; thou
takest pleasure to persecute honest people, and to leave great men
in obscurity, while thou showest favour to the wicked, and advancest
those who have no virtue to recommend them.
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 stone, shells, and mud. Nobody can
express his disorder; he was almost beside himself. However, when
day 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 this prayer, cast his nets the fourth
time; and when he thought it was time, he drew them as formerly,
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 lead, having the impression of a seal upon it. This rejoiced
him: I will sell it, says he, to the founder, 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 circumstance, 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 labour. 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 from it.
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 re-united 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 an unsizeable bulk, the fisherman
would fain have fled, but was so frightened that he could not go one
step.
Solomon, cried the genie immediately, Solomon, the great prophet,
pardon, pardon; I will never more oppose your will, I will obey all
your commands.--
Scheherazade, perceiving day, broke off her story.
Upon which Dinarzade said, Dear sister, nobody can keep their
promise better than you have done yours. This story is certainly
more surprising than all the former. Sister, replies the sultaness,
there are more wonderful things yet to come, if my lord the sultan
will allow me to tell them to you. Schahriar had too great a desire
to hear out the story of the fisherman, to deprive himself of that
pleasure; and therefore put off the sultaness’s death another day.