Opening, part 4 · page 21 2101Then, to the great astonishment of the king, the eyes opened, and the head said, "Your majesty, open the book."102The king did so, and finding that the first leaf stuck against the second, he put his finger in his mouth, to turn it more easily.103He did the same thing till he reached the sixth page, and not seeing any writing on it, "Physician," he said, "there is no writing."104"Turn over a few more pages," answered the head.105The king went on turning, still putting his finger in his mouth, till the poison in which each page was dipped took effect.106His sight failed him, and he fell at the foot of his throne.107When the physician's head saw that the poison had taken effect, and that the king had only a few more minutes to live, "Tyrant," it cried, "see how cruelty and injustice are punished."108Scarcely had it uttered these words than the king died, and the head lost also the little life that had remained in it.109That is the end of the story of the Greek king, and now let us return to the fisherman and the genius.110"If the Greek king," said the fisherman, "had spared the physician, he would not have thus died.111The same thing applies to you.112Now I am going to throw you into the sea."113"My friend," said the genius, "do not do such a cruel thing.114Do not treat me as Imma treated Ateca."115"What did Imma do to Ateca?" asked the fisherman.116"Do you think I can tell you while I am shut up in here?" replied the genius. "117Let me out, and I will make you rich."118The hope of being no longer poor made the fisherman give way.119"If you will give me your promise to do this, I will open the lid.120I do not think you will dare to break your word."121The genius promised, and the fisherman lifted the lid.122He came out at once in smoke, and then, having resumed his proper form, the first thing he did was to kick the vase into the sea.123This frightened the fisherman, but the genius laughed and said, "Do not be afraid; I only did it to frighten you, and to show you that I intend to keep my word; take your nets and follow me."124He began to walk in front of the fisherman, who followed him with some misgivings.125They passed in front of the town, and went up a mountain and then down into a great plain, where there was a large lake lying between four hills.126When they reached the lake the genius said to the fisherman, "Throw your nets and catch fish."127The fisherman did as he was told, hoping for a good catch, as he saw plenty of fish.128What was his astonishment at seeing that there were four quite different kinds, some white, some red, some blue, and some yellow.129He caught four, one of each colour.130As he had never seen any like them he admired them very much, and he was very pleased to think how much money he would get for them.131"Take these fish and carry them to the Sultan, who will give you more money for them than you have ever had in your life.132You can come every day to fish in this lake, but be careful not to throw your nets more than once every day, otherwise some harm will happen to you.133If you follow my advice carefully you will find it good."134Saying these words, he struck his foot against the ground, which opened, and when he had disappeared, it closed immediately.135The fisherman resolved to obey the genius exactly, so he did not cast his nets a second time, but walked into the town to sell his fish at the palace.136When the Sultan saw the fish he was much astonished.137He looked at them one after the other, and when he had admired them long enough, "Take these fish," he said to his first vizir, "and given them to the clever cook the Emperor of the Greeks sent me.138I think they must be as good as they are beautiful."1 2← previousOpening, part 3next →Opening, part 5↑ back to The Arabian Nights EntertainmentsThis page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/4/page/2/