Children -- Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction; Children's stories; Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction; Fairy tales; Fantasy literature
“You may have it,” said Selim the Baker. “Yonder it is, and you are
welcome to it.”
So Selim the Fisherman put on the ring, and then went his way about
his own business.
That night, as he came home carrying his nets over his shoulder,
whom should he meet but the little old man in gray, with the white
beard and the black cap on his head and the long staff in his hand.
[Illustration]
“Is your name Selim?” said the little man, just as he had done to
Selim the Baker.
“Yes,” said Selim; “it is.”
“And do you wear a gold ring with a red stone?” said the little old
man, just as he had said before.
“Yes,” said Selim; “I do.”
“Then come with me,” said the little old man, “and I will show you
the wonder of the world.”
Selim the Fisherman remembered all that Selim the Baker had told
him, and he took no two thoughts as to what to do. Down he tumbled
his nets, and away he went after the other as fast as his legs
could carry him. Here they went and there they went, up crooked
streets and lanes and down by-ways and alley-ways, until at last
they came to the same garden to which Selim the Baker had been
brought. Then the old man knocked at the gate three times and cried
out in a loud voice, “Open! Open! Open to Selim who wears the Ring
of Luck!”
Then the gate opened, and in they went. Fine as it all was, Selim
the Fisherman cared to look neither to the right nor to the left,
but straight after the old man he went, until at last they came to
the seaside and the boat and the four-and-twenty oarsmen dressed
like princes and the black slaves with the perfumed torches.
Here the old man entered the boat and Selim after him, and away
they sailed.
To make a long story short, everything happened to Selim the
Fisherman just as it had happened to Selim the Baker. At dawn of
day they came to the island and the city built on the mountain.
And the palaces were just as white and beautiful, and the gardens
and orchards just as fresh and blooming as though they had not
all tumbled down and sunk under the water a week before, almost
carrying poor Selim the Baker with them. There were the people
dressed in silks and satins and jewels, just as Selim the Baker had
found them, and they shouted and hurrahed for Selim the Fisherman
just as they had shouted and hurrahed for the other. There were the
princes and the nobles and the white horse, and Selim the Fisherman
got on his back and rode up to the dazzling snow-white palace, and
they put a crown on his head and made a king of him, just as they
had made a king of Selim the Baker.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account