The fisherman, having finished this prayer, cast his nets the fourth time; and, when he thought it was time, he drew them, as formerly, with great difficulty; but, instead of fish, found nothing in them but a vessel of yellow copper, that, by its weight, seemed to be full of something; and he observed that it was shut up and sealed with lead, having the impression of a seal upon it. This rejoiced him; I will sell it, says he, to the founder, and with the money arising from the product, buy a measure of corn. He examined the vessel on all sides, and shook it, to see if what was within made any noise, and heard nothing. This circumstance, with the impression of the seal upon the leaden cover, made him to think there was something precious in it. To try this, he took a knife, and opened it with very little labour; he presently turned the mouth downward; but nothing came out, which surprised him extremely. He set it before him, and, while he looked upon it attentively, there came out a very thick smoke which obliged him to retire two or three paces from it.
This smoke mounted as high as the clouds, and extending itself along the sea, and upon the shore, formed a great mist, which, we may well imagine, did mightily astonish the fisherman. When the smoke was all out of the vessel, it reunited itself, and became a solid body, of which there was formed a genie twice as high as the greatest of giants. At the sight of a monster of such unsizeable bulk, the fisherman would fain have fled, but was so frightened that he could not go one step.
Solomon, cried the genie immediately, Solomon, the great prophet, pardon, pardon; I will never more oppose your will: I will obey all your commands.—Scheherazade, perceiving it day, broke off her story.
Upon which Dinarzade said, Dear sister, nobody can keep their promise better than you can keep yours. This story is certainly more surprising than the former. Sister, replies the sultaness, there are more wonderful things yet to come, if my lord the sultan will allow me to tell them you. Schahriar had too great a desire to hear out the story of the fisherman to deprive himself of that pleasure, and therefore put off the sultaness's death another day.
The Tenth Night.
Dinarzade called her sister next night when she thought it was time, and prayed her to continue the story of the fisherman; and the sultan being also impatient to know what concern the genie had with Solomon, Scheherazade continued her story thus;
Sir, the fisherman, when he heard these words of the genie, recovered his courage, and says to him, Thou proud spirit, what is this that you talk? it is above eighteen hundred years since the prophet Solomon died, and we are now at the end of time: Tell me your history, and how you came to be shut up in this vessel.
The genie, turning to the fisherman with a fierce look, says, You must speak to me with more civility; thou art very bold to call me a proud spirit. Very well, replies the fisherman, shall I speak to you with more civility, and call you the owl of good luck? I say, answers the genie, speak to me more civilly, before I kill thee. I have only one favour to grant thee. And what is that, says the fisherman? It is, answers the genie, to give you your choice in what manner you wouldst have me to take thy life. But wherein have I offended you, replies the fisherman? Is this the reward for the good service I have done you. I cannot treat you otherwise, says the genie; and that you may be convinced of it, hearken to my story.
I am one of those rebellious spirits that opposed themselves to the will of Heaven; all the other genies owned Solomon, the great prophet, and submitted to him. Sacar and I were the only genies that would never be guilty of so mean a thing: And, to avenge himself, that great monarch sent Asaph, the son of Barakia, his chief minister, to apprehend me. That was accordingly done; Asaph seized my person, and brought me by force before his master's throne.
Solomon, the son of David, commanded me to quit my way of living, to acknowledge his power, and to submit myself to his commands: I bravely refused to obey, and told him, I would rather expose myself to his resentment, than swear fealty, and submit to him as he required. To punish me, he shut me up in this copper vessel; and to make sure of me that I should not break prison, he stamped (himself) upon this leaden cover his seal, with the great name God engraven upon it. Thus he gave the vessel to one of the genies that submitted to him, with orders to throw it into the sea, which was executed to my great sorrow.