The ifrit burst into laughter and stalked away, saying to the fisherman, “Follow me.”
The man walked after him at a safe distance to make sure he might have a chance to escape, and they went around the suburbs of the city and entered some woods. After marching through the woods, they came to a vast wilderness, and in the middle of it stood a mountain lake. The jinnee waded into the middle of it and cried again, “Follow me!”
After the fisherman did this, the ifrit told him to cast his net and catch some fish. The fisherman looked into the water and was astonished to see all sorts of different-colored fish—white, red, blue, and yellow. When he cast his net and hauled it in, however, he saw that he had caught four fish, each with a different color. He rejoiced a great deal, and even more when the jinnee said to him, “Carry these to the sultan and offer them to him as a gift. In return he’ll give you enough to make you a wealthy man. Now, you must pardon me, for I know of no other way of serving you. As you know, I have lain in the sea eighteen hundred years and have not seen the face of the world until just recently. Just remember not to fish here more than once a day.” Then the ifrit wished the fisherman Godspeed and said, “May Allah grant that we meet once again.” Thereupon the jinnee struck the earth with one foot and the ground parted and swallowed him up.
After his astonishment subsided, the fisherman took the fish and headed for the city. As soon as he reached home, he filled a clay bowl with water and threw the fish into it. Then he carried the bowl with the wriggling fish to the king’s palace, as the ifrit had told him to do, and offered them to the king, who was amazed by the sight, for never in his life had he seen such marvelous fish as these.
“Give these fish to the slave girl who does our cooking,” he said to his vizier, who carried the fish to the girl and told her to fry them.
After he had carried out his chore, the vizier returned to the king, who commanded him to give the fisherman four hundred dinars. After the fisherman received them, he ran home stumbling, falling, and jumping up, for he thought the whole thing was a dream. In reality, however, he bought everything his family wanted and was extremely joyful and happy to be with his wife once again.
In the meantime the sultan’s cook cleaned the fish and set them in the frying pan. Then she basted them with oil until one side was dressed. When she turned them over, however, the kitchen wall split open, and there appeared a beautiful and graceful lady with an oval face and black eyelashes. She wore a silk dress lined in blue. Large earrings adorned her ears, a pair of bracelets her wrists, while rings with priceless gems were on her fingers. In one of her hands she held a long rod of rattan cane, which she thrust into the frying pan, and she said, “Oh fish! Oh fish! Are you keeping your pledge?”
When the cook saw this apparition, she gasped and fainted. The young lady repeated her words two more times, and at last the fish raised their heads from the pan and spoke in an articulate way, “Yes! Yes!”
After this the young lady upset the frying pan and went away the same way she had entered. The kitchen wall closed behind her, and when the cook recovered from her faint, she saw the four fish charred black as charcoal, and they cried out, “His staff broke in his first bout.”
Once again the maiden fainted and fell to the ground. While she was in this condition, the vizier came for the fish, and when he saw her lying on the ground, completely dazed, he shoved her with his foot and said, “Bring the fish for the sultan!”
After recovering from her daze, she informed the vizier what had happened, and after getting over his astonishment, he sent for the fisherman. When the fisherman arrived, the vizier said to him, “I want you to fetch four more fish like those that you brought before.”
Accordingly, the man returned to the lake and cast his net. When it settled, there were suddenly four fish in it just like the first. He carried them straight to the vizier, who took them to the cook and said, “Get up now and fry these fish in front of me so I can see what’s going on here.”
The maiden arose, cleaned the fish, and put them into the frying pan over the fire. After a few minutes the wall split into two, and the young lady appeared as before. In her hand was the wand, which she thrust into the frying pan again, and she said, “Oh fish! Oh fish! Are you keeping your pledge?”
Suddenly the fish lifted their heads and repeated, “Yes! Yes!”
* * *
And Scheherazade noticed that dawn was approaching and stopped telling her story. When the next night arrived, however, she received the king’s permission to continue her tale and said,
When the fish spoke and the young lady upset the frying pan with her wand and left by the way she had come, the vizier cried out, “We must tell the king about this.”
So he went and told the king what had happened, and the king responded by saying, “I must see this with my own eyes.” The first thing he did was to send for the fisherman, whom he commanded to bring four other fish like the first. After the fisherman returned with the fish, the king rewarded him with four hundred gold pieces and turned to the vizier. “I want you to get up and fry the fish before me!” he commanded.
“To hear is to obey,” the minister replied. He had the frying pan brought to him, cleaned the fish, and set the pan with the fish in it over the fire. Suddenly the wall split in two, and out burst a black slave like a huge rock carrying a green branch in his hand.
“Oh fish! Oh fish!” he cried in loud and terrible tones. “Are you keeping your old pledge?”
In turn the fish lifted their heads from the frying pan and said, “Yes! Yes! We’re true to our word!”
Then the huge blackamoor approached the frying pan and upset it with the branch and left by the way he had come. After he had vanished from their sight, the king inspected the fish and found them all charred black as charcoal. Utterly bewildered, he said to the vizier, “This is truly a matter that should be made known to everyone, and as for the fish, there’s certainly something marvelous connected to them.”
So he summoned the fisherman and said to him, “You’d better fear for your life, fisherman, if you lie to me! Where did you catch these fish?”
“From a lake lying in a valley behind that mountain which you can see from your city,” he replied.
“How many days’ march is it from here?” the king asked.
“Your majesty, it’s only a half hour from here.”
The king was puzzled by this reply, but he quickly ordered his troops to get ready for an excursion. The fisherman had to lead the way as guide, and under his breath he began cursing the jinnee. They walked until they had climbed the mountain and descended into a great desert which they had never seen before in their lives. When they reached the valley set between four mountains and saw the lake with the red, white, yellow, and blue fish, they were even more astounded. The king stood fixed to the spot in amazement and asked everyone present, “Has any one of you ever seen this lake before?”
They all responded by saying that they had never seen the lake before, and they also questioned the oldest inhabitants they met, men well stricken in years, but each and every one of them responded that he had never seen such a lake in that place.
“By Allah,” said the king, “I shall neither return to my capital nor sit upon the throne of my forebears until I learn the truth about this lake and these strange fish.” He then ordered his men to dismount and set up camp all around the mountain. Then he summoned his vizier, a minister with a great deal of experience, sagacious, perceptive, and well versed in such affairs. “I’ve something in mind that I want to tell you about,” the king said. “My heart tells me to travel forth tonight all alone and to search out the mystery of this lake and its fish. I want you to take my seat at the tent door and say to the emirs, viziers, nabobs, and chamberlains that the sultan is sick and has ordered you not to let anyone enter his tent. Be careful that you don’t let anyone know my plans.”
Since the vizier did not oppose his plan, the sultan changed his clothes, slung his sword o
ver his shoulder, and left by a path which led up one of the mountains. He marched the entire night until dawn arrived, and he continued walking even then until the heat became too much for him. After resting for a while, he resumed his march and continued through the second night until dawn, when he suddenly noticed a black point in the far distance and said to himself, “Perhaps someone there will be able to tell me about the mystery of the lake and its fish!”
As he drew near the dark object, he realized that it was a palace built of dark stone plated with iron. One side of the gate was open, while the other was shut. The king’s spirits rose high as he stood before the gate and rapped lightly. Hearing no answer, he knocked a few more times, yet nobody came. “Most likely it’s empty,” he said to himself. So he mustered up his courage and walked through the main gate into the large hall, where he cried out, “Holla, anyone here? I’m a stranger and traveler in need of food!” He repeated his cry two more times, but there was still no reply. So he made up his mind to explore the place, and he boldly strode through the vestibule into the very middle of the palace, but he did not find anyone.
The palace was furnished with silken materials that had gold stars on them, and there were hangings over the doorways. In the middle of the palace was a spacious court with four open salons set off on the sides. A canopy shaded the court, and in the center was a flowing fountain with four lion statues made of gold, spouting water from their mouths that was as clear as pearls. Birds were flying freely all around the place, and there was a net of golden wire set over the palace that prevented them from flying off. In short, there was everything imaginable in this palace except human beings.
The king was amazed by all this, but he felt sad that he had found no one who could reveal to him the mystery of the lake, the fish, the mountains, and the palace itself. When he sat down near the fountain to ponder the situation, however, he soon heard a mournful sigh that seemed to come from a grieving heart. The sultan sprang to his feet and followed the sound until he encountered a curtain draped over the entrance to a chamber. After raising it, he saw a young man sitting upon a couch about three feet above the ground. He was a handsome man and well-proportioned. His forehead was as white as a flower, and his cheeks were rosy. The king rejoiced and greeted him, while the young man, who was wearing a crown studded with gems, remained seated in his caftan of silken stuff lined with Egyptian gold. His face was sad with the traces of sorrow as he returned the royal greeting and said, “My lord, your dignity demands that I rise to greet you, but I can only beg your pardon for failing to do so.”
“You have my pardon,” the king said. “Please regard me as your guest who has come here on a special mission. I would appreciate your telling me the secret of this lake and its fish and about this palace and your loneliness and why you are grieving.”
When the young man heard these words, he began to weep so much that his bosom became drenched with tears. The king was astounded by such an outburst and asked him, “What’s causing all these tears, young man?”
“Why shouldn’t I weep when I am in the condition that I’m in?” responded the youth, who put out his hand and raised the skirt of his garment. Immediately the king realized that the youth’s lower half was stone down to his feet, while his upper half was human and alive. Upon seeing this, the king was full of compassion and cried out, “Alas, young man, my heart goes out to you! In truth, you heap sorrow upon my sorrow. I had only wanted to ask you about the mystery of the fish. But now I am concerned to hear your story as well. Do not put me off, young man. I want you to tell me your entire tale right now.”
“Lend me your ears, your sight, and your insight,” he replied.
“All are at your service!” the king stated.
“My situation is highly extraordinary,” the youth said, “and so is that of the fish. And if my tale could be engraved somewhere for all to see, it could serve as a wonderful warning.”
“Why is that?” asked the king.
And the young man began to tell
The Tale of the Enchanted Prince
I’ll have you know, my lord, that my sire was king of this city, and his name was Mahmud, lord of the Black Islands and ruler of what are now these four mountains. He reigned threescore and ten years, after which he died, and I was appointed sultan in his place. I took my cousin as my wife, the daughter of my paternal uncle, and she loved me with such abounding love that whenever I was absent she did not eat or drink until she saw me again. She had been living with me for five years when, on a certain day, she went to the Hammam bath and stayed there a long time. After asking the cook to get everything ready for our supper, I went into the palace and lay down on the bed where I was accustomed to sleep. Then I requested two maidens to fan my face, one sitting by my head and the other at my feet. But I was restless because my wife was absent, and I could not sleep. Though my eyes were closed, my mind and thoughts were wide awake. Soon I heard the slave girl at my head say to the one who was at my feet, “How I pity our poor master! His youth is being wasted, and it is all on account of our mistress, that cursed whore, who’s betraying him!”
“Yes, you’re right. May Allah curse all faithless women. Our talented master deserves something better than this harlot who sleeps with someone else every night.”
“Is our master dumb and foolish?” asked the slave girl who sat by my head. “Why doesn’t he question her?”
“Shame on you!” the other replied. “Our master doesn’t know what she’s doing, nor does he have a choice. She drugs his drink every night before he goes to bed. So he sleeps deeply and doesn’t have an inkling about where she goes and what she does. But we know that after giving him the drugged wine, she puts on her richest clothes and perfumes. Then she goes away until the break of day, when she comes back to him and burns a pastille under his nose so he can awake from his deathlike sleep.”
When I heard the slave girl’s words, I was livid with rage, and I thought night would never fall. Soon, however, my wife returned from the bath, and we had dinner together. Afterward, as was our custom, we sat half an hour together and got ready to drink some wine. When she called for the particular wine I used to drink before sleeping and handed me the cup, I pretended to drink it but actually poured the contents into my bosom. Soon I lay down and let her think that I was asleep. Suddenly she cried out, “Sleep out the night, and never wake again. By Allah, I loathe you and your whole body. My soul is disgusted from living with you, and I can’t wait for the day when Allah will snatch away your life!”
Then she rose and put on her most beautiful dress and dowsed herself with perfume. Moreover, she slung my sword over her shoulder, opened the gates of the palace, and went on her evil way. So I got up and followed her as she threaded her way through the streets until she came to the city gate, where she said some words that I could not understand. All of a sudden the padlocks dropped by themselves as if broken, and the doors of the gate opened. She went through (and I after her without her noticing anything) and walked until she came to the garbage heaps and a reed fence built around a round-roofed hut of mud bricks. After she entered the door, I climbed onto the roof and managed to look inside without being seen. There I saw my wife approach a Negro slave with his upper lip like the cover of a pot, and his lower like an open pot—lips which could sweep up sand from the gravel floor of the cot. To boot, he was a leper and a paralytic, lying upon some sugar-cane trash and wrapped in an old blanket and dirty rags. She kissed the ground before him, and he raised his head so as to see her and said, “Woe to you! Why are you so late? Some of my black brethren were here with me for a while, and they drank their wine and had their young ladies. But I could not drink because you were absent.”
“Oh my lord,” she said, “my heart’s love, don’t you realize that I’m married to my cousin, whose very looks I loathe, and I hate myself when I am in his company? And if I were not afraid for your sake, I would not let a single sun rise before turning his city into a heap of rubble, and the ravens would c
roak, the owls hoot, and the jackals and wolves would run amok and loot. Indeed, I would have all the stones of the city removed to the back of the Caucasus.”
“You’re lying, damn you!” the slave responded. “Now I’m going to swear an oath by the valor and honor of blackamoor men (and don’t think that our manliness is like the poor manliness of white men) that from this day forth, if you stay away from me until this hour, I will reject your company, nor will I glue my body to your body and strum and belly-bump. Do you think you can play fast and loose with us, you cracked pot, just so we can satisfy your dirty lust? You stink! Bitch! Vilest of the vile whites!”
When I heard his words and saw what was going on between these two wretches, the world became dark all around me, and my soul no longer knew where it was. Meanwhile my wife stood up weeping humbly before the slave and said, “Oh my beloved, oh light of my eyes!” And she did not stop weeping and abasing herself until he deigned to accept her pleas. Then she was quite glad, stood up, took off her outer garments, and said, “Oh master, what do you have here for your slave to eat?”
“Take off the cover of the pot,” he grumbled, “and you’ll find some boiled bones of rats we dined on. Pick at them and then go to that slop pot, where you’ll find the rest of some beer that you may drink.”
So she ate, drank, and washed her hands. Afterward she went and lay down by the side of the slave on the cane trash, and after stripping herself stark naked, she crept in with him under his dirty cover and rags. When I saw my wife do this deed, I completely lost my head and climbed down from the roof. After I entered the hut, I grabbed the sword which she had with her and I was determined to slay them both. First I struck at the slave’s neck and thought that death now beckoned him.
Arabian Nights Page 7