arabian nights tale

https://www.mirrorservice.org/sites/gutenberg.org/5/1/4/3/51432/51432-h/51432-h.htm

CONTENTS

	Page
The Fisherman and the Genie	1
The Story of the King of the Ebony Isles	17
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves	31
The Story of the Magic Horse	66
The Story of the Wicked Half-Brothers	100
The Story of the Princess of Deryabar	111

[Pg xii] 

[Pg xiii]

ILLUSTRATIONS

1.	Scheherazadè, the heroine of the Thousand and One Nights.
2.	And there in its midst stood a mighty Genie.
3.	When having brought into submission all the rest of my race.
4.	No sooner had the monarch seen them, so strange of form and so brilliant and diverse in hue.
5.	Thereupon the damsel upset the pan into the fire.
6.	Recalling the fisherman by a swift messenger.
7.	He arrived within sight of a palace of shining marble.
8.	The Queen of the Ebony Isles.
9.	Supposing me asleep, they began to talk.
10.	The cup of wine which she gives him each night contains a sleeping-draught.
11.	She went on to vent her malice upon the city and islands.
12.	Began to heap upon me terms of the most violent and shameful abuse.
13.	Thus by her wicked machinations the city became a lake.
14.	Great was the astonishment of the Vizier and the Sultan's escort.
15.	Their chief in a low but distinct voice uttered the two words "Open Sesame!"
16.	Ali Baba departed for the town a well satisfied man.
17.	As soon as he came in she began to jeer at him.
18.	Greater still was the exultation of a greedy nature like that of Cassim's.
19.	Mustapha doubted much of his ability to refrain from question.
20.	This way and that she led him blindfold.
21.	Having transformed himself by disguise.
22.	"Sir," said he, "I have brought my oil a great distance to sell to-morrow".
23.	She poured into each jar in turn a sufficient quantity of the boiling oil to scald its occupant to death.
24.	When Morgiana, who had remained all this time on the watch.
25.	Then for the last figure of all she drew out the dagger.
26.	At so arrogant a claim all the courtiers burst into loud laughter.
27.	As he descended, the daylight in which hitherto he had been travelling faded from view.
28.	He saw black eunuchs lying asleep.
29.	She gave orders for a rich banquet to be prepared.
30.	Till the tale of her mirror contented her.
31.	She cried: "O miserable man, what sorry watch is this that thou hast kept".
32.	All this time the Princess had been watching the combat from the roof of the palace.
33.	In the garden of the summer palace all was silence and solitude.
34.	Sat by the lake and solaced themselves sweetly with love.
35.	It was in vain that all the wisest physicians in the country were summoned into consultation.
36.	For many months he travelled without clue.
37.	And ever with the tears falling down from her eyes she sighed and sang.
38.	There appeared before him an old man of venerable appearance.
39.	Pirouzè, the fairest and most honourably born.
40.	Reaching his farthest wounded the giant in the knee.
41.	The lady advanced to meet him.
42.	A city among the Isles named Deryabar.
43.	Presently in the distance he perceived a light.
44.	The ship struck upon a rock.
45.	And presently, feeling myself lifted by men's hands.
46.	The Princess of Deryabar.
47.	She found to her grief the place where Codadad had lain left vacant.
48.	She and her companion arrived at the city of Harran.
49.	And taking her hand he led her to the apartments of the Queen Pirouzè.
50.	After these, maidens on white horses, with heads unveiled, bearing in their hands baskets of precious stones.

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[Pg 1]

THE FISHERMAN AND THE GENIE

There was once an old fisherman who lived in great poverty with a wife and three children. But though poorer than others he ever toiled in humble submission to the decrees of Providence, and so, at the same hour each day, he would cast his net four times into the sea, and whatever it brought up to him therewith he rested content.

One day, having cast for the first time, he found his net so heavy that he could scarcely draw it in; yet when at last he got it to shore all that it contained was the carcase of an ass.

He cast a second time, and found the draught of the net even heavier than before. But again he was doomed to disappointment, for this time it contained nothing but a large earthenware jar full of mud and sand. His third attempt brought him only a heap of broken old bottles [Pg 2]and potsherds: fortune seemed to be against him. Then, committing his hope to Providence, he cast for the fourth and last time; and once more the weight of the net was so great that he was unable to haul it. When at last he got it to land, he found that it contained a brazen vessel, its mouth closed with a leaden stopper, bearing upon it the seal of King Solomon.

The sight cheered him. "This," thought he, "I can sell in the market, where I may get for it enough to buy a measure of corn; and, if one is to judge by weight, what lies within may prove yet more valuable."

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