STORY OF THE POOR FISHERMAN

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 ass, he was
much disappointed.
Vexed with having such a bad
haul, when he had mended his
nets, which the carcase of the
ass 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
genius, 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 genius? Tell me your
history and how you came to be
shut up in that vase."
At this, the genius 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 genius; "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 genius, "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.
"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
genius, "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
genius.
"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 genius 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 genius," 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 genius as you are, who
vows to kill the man who frees
you."
At these words the genius 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."
Written By : Ajit Hari Sahu