The Fisherman and the Jinni
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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The Fisherman and the Jinnee is the second top-level story told by Shahrazad in the One Thousand and One Nights, which was told by a woman to stop an evil king that always murders his wives.
Synopsis
There was an old, poor fisherman who cast his net four times a day and only four times. One day he went to the shore and cast his net. When he tried to pull it up, he found it to be heavy. When he dove in and pulled up the net, he found a dead donkey in it. Then he cast his net again and netted a pitcher full of dirt. Then he cast his net for a third time and netted shards of pottery and glass. On his fourth and final try, he called upon the name of God and cast his net. When he pulled it up he found a copper jar with a cap that had the seal of Solomon on it. The fisherman was overjoyed, since he could sell the jar for money. He was curious of what was inside the jar, and removed the cap with his knife. A plume of smoke came out of the jar and condensed into an Ifrit (powerful genie). The fisherman was frightened, although initially the Jinnee did not notice him. The Jinnee thought that Solomon had come to kill him. When the fisherman told him that Solomon had been dead for many centuries, the Jinnee was overjoyed and granted the fisherman a choice of the manner of his death.
The Jinnee explained that for the first hundred years of his imprisonment, he swore to enrich the person who freed him forever. For the second century of his imprisonment, he swore to grant his liberator great wealth, but nobody freed him. After another century, he swore to grant three wishes to the person who freed him, yet nobody did so. After four hundred years of imprisonment, the Jinnee became enraged and swore to grant the person who freed him a choice of deaths.
The fisherman pleaded for his life, but the Jinni would not concede. The fisherman decided to trick the Jinnee. He asked the Jinni how he managed to fit into the bottle. The Jinnee, eager to show off, shrank and placed himself back into the bottle to demonstrate his abilities. The fisherman quickly put the cap back on and threatened to throw it back to the sea. The Jinnee pleaded with the fisherman, who began to tell the story of "The Wazir and the Sage Duban" as an example of why the Jinnee should have spared him.
After the story, the Jinnee pleaded for mercy, and swore to help him in return for being released. The fisherman accepted the bargain, and released the Jinnee. The Jinnee then led the fisherman to a pond with many exotic fish, and the fisherman caught four. Before disappearing, the Jinnee told the fisherman to give the fish to the Sultan. The fisherman did so and was rewarded with money for presenting the fishes. Every time a fish was fried, a person would appear and question them, and the fish answered. When the fish would be flipped in the pan, it would be charred. Awed by the sight, the Sultan asked the fisherman where he got the fish and went to the pond to uncover their mystery. When he reached his destination, the Sultan found a young man who was half man and half stone. The young man recounted his story, as the story of "The Ensorcelled Prince". The Sultan then assisted the Prince in his liberation and revenge. They became close friends, and the fisherman who first found the fish was rewarded with his son being appointed the Sultan's treasurer, and the Sultan and the prince married the fisherman's two beautiful daughters.
References
- (1955) The Arabian Nights Entertainments, New York: Heritage Press
