The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 01 (of 10)
General
The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 01 (of 10)
Fairy tales -- Arab countries; Folklore -- Arab countries
Her sister, Dunyazad, said to her. "Pray finish for us thy story;" and
she answered, "I will if the King give me leave." "Say on," quoth the
King. And she continued:—It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that
when the Fisherman said to the Ifrit, "If thou hadst spared me I would
have spared thee, but nothing would satisfy thee save my death; so now
I will do thee die by jailing thee in this jar, and I will hurl thee
into this sea." Then the Marid roared aloud and cried, "Allah upon
thee, O Fisherman don't! Spare me, and pardon my past doings; and, as I
have been tyrannous, so be thou generous, for it is said among sayings
that go current:—O thou who doest good to him who hath done thee evil,
suffice for the ill-doer his ill-deeds, and do not deal with me as did
Umamah to 'Atikah."[101] Asked the Fisherman, "And what was their
case?" and the Ifrit answered, "This is not the time for story-telling
and I in this prison; but set me free and I will tell thee the tale."
Quoth the Fisherman, "Leave this language: there is no help but that
thou be thrown back into the sea nor is there any way for thy getting
out of it for ever and ever. Vainly I placed myself under thy
protection,[102] and I humbled myself to thee with weeping, while thou
soughtest only to slay me, who had done thee no injury deserving this
at thy hands; nay, so far from injuring thee by any evil act, I worked
thee nought but weal in releasing thee from that jail of thine. Now I
knew thee to be an evil-doer when thou diddest to me what thou didst,
and know, that when I have cast thee back into this sea, I will warn
whomsoever may fish thee up of what hath befallen me with thee, and I
will advise him to toss thee back again; so shalt thou abide here under
these waters till the End of Time shall make an end of thee." But the
Ifrit cried aloud, "Set me free; this is a noble occasion for
generosity and I make covenant with thee and vow never to do thee hurt
and harm; nay, I will help thee to what shall put thee out of want."
The Fisherman accepted his promises on both conditions, not to trouble
him as before, but on the contrary to do him service; and, after making
firm the plight and swearing him a solemn oath by Allah Most Highest he
opened the cucurbit. Thereupon the pillar of smoke rose up till all of
it was fully out; then it thickened and once more became an Ifrit of
hideous presence, who forthright administered a kick to the bottle and
sent it flying into the sea. The Fisherman, seeing how the cucurbit was
treated and making sure of his own death, piddled in his clothes and
said to himself, "This promiseth badly;" but he fortified his heart,
and cried, "O Ifrit, Allah hath said"[103]:—Perform your covenant; for
the performance of your covenant shall be inquired into hereafter. Thou
hast made a vow to me and hast sworn an oath not to play me false lest
Allah play thee false, for verily he is a jealous God who respiteth the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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