第20章 THE BOOK OF THE THOUSAND NIGHTS AND ONE NIGHT(18)

No sooner had it done speakingthan the King fell down dead and the head also ceased to live. And knowO Afrit （continued the fisherman）that if King Younan had spared the physician Douban，God would have spared him；but he refused and sought his death； so God killed him. And thouO Afritif thou hadst spared meI would spare thee；but nothing would serve thee but thou must put me to death；so now I will kill thee by shutting thee up in this vessel and throwing thee into the sea.'At this the Marid roared out and said'God on theeO fishermando not do that！Spare me and bear me not malice for what I didfor men's wit is still better than that of Jinn. If I did evildo thou goodin accordance with the adage'O thou that dost good to him that does evilthe deed of the evil-doer suffices him.'Do not thou deal with me as did Umameh with Aatikeh.'And what did Umameh with Aatikeh？'asked the fisherman. But the Afrit answered'This is no time to tell storiesand I in this duresse： let me out，and I will tell thee.'Quoth the fisherman'Leave this talk： I must and will throw thee into the seaand thou shalt never win out again；for I besought thee and humbled myself to theebut nothing would serve thee but thou must kill mewho had committed no offence against thee deserving this nor done thee any illbut only kindnessin that I delivered thee from duresse. When thou didst thus by meI knew thee for an incorrigible evil-doer；and know thatwhen I have thrown thee back into the seaI will tell every one what happened between me and thee and warn himto the end that whoever fishes thee up may throw thee in again；and thou shalt remain in the sea till the end of time and suffer all manner of torments.'Quoth the Afrit'Let me outfor this is the season of generosity；and I will make a compact with thee never to do thee hurt and to help thee to what shall enrich thee.'The fisherman accepted his proposal and unsealed the vesselafter he had taken the Afrit's pledge and made him swear by the Most High Name never to hurt himbut on the contrary to do him service. Then the smoke ascended as before and gathered itself together and became an Afritwho gave the vessel a kick and sent it into the sea. When the fisherman saw thishe let fly in his clothes and gave himself up for lostsaying'This bodes no good.'But he took courage and said to the Afrit'O Afrit，quoth God the Most High'Be ye faithful to your covenantsfor they shall be enquired of：'and verily thou madest a pact with me and sworest to me that thou wouldst do me no hurt. So play me not falselest God do the like with thee： for indeed He is a jealous Godwho delayeth to punishyet letteth not the evil-doer escape. And I say to theeas said the physician Douban to King Younan'Spare meso God may spare thee！'The Afrit laughed and started off inlandsaying to the fisherman'Follow me.'So he followed himtrembling and not believing that he should escape，and the Afrit led him to the backward of the town： then crossing a hilldescended into a spacious plainin the midst of which was a lake of water surrounded by four little hills. He led the fisherman into the midst of the lakewhere he stood still and bade him throw his net and fish. The fisherman looked into the water and was astonished to see therein fish of four colours，white and red and blue and yellow. Then he took out his net and cast and drawing it infound in it four fishone of each colour. At this he rejoicedand the Afrit said to him'Carry them to the Sultan and present them to himand he will give thee what shall enrich thee. And accept my excusefor I know not any other way to fulfil my pro mise to theehaving lain in yonder sea eighteen hundred years and never seen the surface of the earth till this time. But do not fish here more than once a day；and I commend thee to God's care！'So sayinghe struck the earth with his footand it opened and swallowed him upwhilst the fisherman returnedwondering at all that had befallen himto his housewhere he took a bowl of water and laid therein the fishwhich began to frisk about. Then he set the bowl on his head and going up to the palaceas the Afrit had bidden him，presented the fish to the Kingwho wondered at them greatlyfor that he had never seen their likein shape or kindand said to his Vizier'Give these fish to the cookmaid that the King of the Greeks sent usand tell her to fry them.'Now this was a damsel that he had received as a present from the King of the Greeks three days before and of whom he had not yet made trial in cookery. So the Vizier carried the fish to the cookmaid and said to her'These fish have been brought as a present to the Sultan and he says to thee'O my tearI have reserved thee against my stress！'So do thou show us to-day thy skill and the excellence of thy cookery.'Then he returned to the Sultanwho bade him give the fisherman four hundred diners. So he gave them to him and he took the money in his lap and set off homerunning and stumbling and falling and rising again and thinking that he was dreaming. And he bought what was needful for his family and returned to his wifeglad and happy. Meanwhile the cookmaid took the fish and cleaned them and set the frying-pan on the fire.

Then she poured in oil of sesame and waited till it was hotwhen she put in the fish. As soon as one side was doneshe fumed themwhen lothe wall of the kitchen opened and out came a handsome and well-shaped young ladywith smooth cheeks and liquid black eyes. She was clad in a tunic of satin，yarded with spangles of Egyptian goldand on her head she had a silken kerchieffringed with blue. She wore rings in her ears and bracelets on her wrists and rings on her fingerswith beazels of precious stonesand held in her hand a rod of Indian cane. She came up to the brazier and thrust the rod into the frying-pan saying 'O fishare you constant to your covenant？'

And when the cookmaid heard this she swooned away. Then the damsel repeated her question a second and a third time；and the fish lifted up their heads and cried out with one voice'Yes，yes：

Returnand we return： keep faithand so will we： Orif thou wiltforsakeand we'll do like to thee！'

With this the damsel overturned the frying-pan and went out by the way she had comeand the wall closed up again as before.